Sniper Mechanics

[Mousikos]

I have a bad habit of trying (and failing) to HS when I try to play sniper.... I think I think about it weird so I have a question.

Does the sniper bullet actually take time to travel through the air or is the lag caused by my slow reaction time? That's to say, if me and enemy are paused in one frame, with my sniper aimed on his head when i pull the trigger, should it hit regardless of where he is next frame? Or should I aim slightly ahead of his head, or where he will be in next frame?

Edit: This is assuming no lag

[Felix-The-Ghost]

Some people have "flinches" when they fire which offsets their aim before recoil happens (this is player specific, not game specific)

[ExodusS]

The hitbox is not perfect, plus IIRC they modified it during the switch between the 1.0 and 1.1 to "prevent lag" or something like that.

[Orynge]

I know they modified it in the switch so that the head hitbox was actually the size of the head, rather than you just having to aim above the shoulders.

[Roflcopter]

The hitbox was changed from 1.0 -> 1.1. It's smaller now.

When you fire you're firing against an onscreen image. This lags behind the actual game state and therefore you may actually click too late.

Decreasing input lag is a huge topic. Disable vsync, get a mouse with higher polling, get a known low-latency monitor, keep your frame-rate high.

Also consider disabling "enhance pointer precision" and using MarkC's patch in Windows. But note, I haven't used Windows in ages, so this advice may be bad. I think Vanquish has paid more attention to the state of Windows competitive play, ask him.

[MykeGregory]

You don't need to lead the target..
Its a hit scan weapon.

[Waffles]

the bullet, like every weapon in ac minus the grenade, hits "instantly." As larry said, there are many other factors to consider. When I play vs laggers, i try and aim a little behind them, but still on the body.