Using your sniper rifle | Hints Sniper Elite III Guide

It's worthwhile to get to the vantage points and climb up the observation towers.

In Sniper Elite III you can deal with the enemies in a number of ways, wherein your main weapon is your sniper rifle. It's a good idea to properly prepare for each usage of your rifle, and the most important issue is to find a suitable firing position. During your exploration of the area, look around for various elevations, vantage points (the edge of the cliff, for instance), observation towers, and Sniper Nests, which are marked in a unique manner. Using those type of places will allow you to have a broader view on your surroundings, as well as eliminating the enemies from the furthest distance possible.

The binoculars are useful in finding and marking the enemies.

After taking up a convenient firing place, it's a good idea to equip binoculars now. Using them will allow you an easy and quick method of locating of nearby enemies, as well as those who are several dozens or hundreds meters away from you. If you are playing on a lower difficulty level than Authentic, you can also use binoculars to mark the enemies you've previously located. It's an immensely useful function, especially when you are dealing with enemies who are well hidden, or when there are a lot of watchmen patrolling the area (you won't get surprised with an enemy coming out of nowhere).

The red diamond informs you of the place your bullet will hit.

After making the proper arrangements, you can proceed to aim your weapon at the enemy - although it's good to remember about a few key features:

• The distance to the target - the further the enemy you want to shoot is from you, the higher you must aim your gun (you must make vertical adjustments to your crosshair). Note: on the lowest difficulty level available in the game (Cadet), the principles of ballistics are inexistent and you don't have to make any adjustments to your aim at all.
• The power and the direction of the wind - the information about the wind can be found in the top of the screen. In this case, you must make horizontal adjustments to your aim. Note: on the Cadet and Marksman difficulty levels the wind doesn't affect the trajectory of the bullet. The adjustments must be made to the opposite direction to the marker - if it's extended to the left, you must tilt your crosshair to the right.
• Heartbeat - the lower the heartbeat, the more stable your aim is, resulting in more accurate shots. Try to sprint as little as possible, and if it's necessary and you can't avoid it, try to at least wait a few seconds to calm your heart down before firing any shots.
• Holding breath - by holding breath, the concentration bar will systematically deplete. Try to make your shot before it's completely empty. Note - you can hold your breath only when your heartbeat is below 80 hits per minute. If you want to have a slow motion to kick in during the time you're holding your breath, your heartbeat must be below 65 hits per minute.
• Diamond icon - unless you are playing on the highest difficulty level, after holding your breath an icon of a diamond may appear on the screen. The icon informs you about the place where your bullet will hit upon firing, meaning that you don't have to adjust your aim completely on your own, according to the distance to the target and the wind. Note - the red diamond means that the bullet will be able to hit the target. A gray diamond means that the target is blocked by some kind of obstacle (a tree, bush, building, etc.)