“	Snipers lose when their positions are discovered. First, conceal yourself. Don't continue to fight if your position is known.	”
–Chika Amatori about Snipers, in Tamakoma First.[1]

A Sniper (狙撃手(スナイパー), Sunaipā ^?) is a Border agent who specializes in the use of Sniper Triggers.

Specifics

The Sniper position is one of the 9 official positions available to Border agents, one of the 7 directly involved in combat, and one of the 4 a trainee can seemingly be.^[2] Any combatant who have scored the most points with an Sniper Trigger out of all the Triggers in their set are counted as Snipers^[3].

Overview

Snipers specialize in long-ranged combat, utilizing three types of rifles: Egret, Ibis and Lightning.^[4] The first two in particular can compete with or even surpass Attacker Triggers in power, but their predictable trajectory and the low rate of fire make them unsuitable for repeated shots.^[5] Since the long-range provides an advantage also to enemies, allowing them to dodge relatively easily once the Sniper's position is discovered, and since Snipers are extremely vulnerable at close range, they have stealth at the core of their fighting style.^[6] They generally sneak around the battlefield, constantly hiding their Trion signature with Bagworm^[7] and looking for high ground to easily take out their targets. When their position is discovered, which, due to the muzzle flash and the sound of the blast, often occurs after they open fire, they have no choice, but to get away as quickly as they can, finding a new hiding spot. Many Snipers have good trion reserves since their Triggers require a large amount of it per shot and since they must wear Bagworm at all times in combat situations. Patience, dedication, and flexibility are other traits valuable in a Sniper.

In the Squad's formation, Snipers are generally at the far back, either assisting their teammates or acting individually to silently and swiftly eliminate the enemies. Since they can reverse the conditions of a Squad with a single pull of the trigger, Snipers are considered game-changers in Border. Furthermore, a hidden Sniper is a highly valuable ally, because the enemy will be forced to constantly watch out for lines of fire and be unable to access certain areas altogether.

Joint Sniper Training

The Sniper position is probably the one that requires the greatest amount of skill, which may be one of the reasons both official and Trainee Snipers have daily joint practice sessions to hone their capabilities in multiple areas.

• Unknown Sniper drill: Snipers fire at dummies located in various points of a city-like environment.^[8] The conditions are identical to those of the Radar Search Drill, suggesting they might be the same.
• Standard Sniping Drill (通(つう)常(じょう)狙(そ)撃(げき)訓(くん)練(れん), Tsūjyō Sogeki Kunren ^?): Participants shoot a 50cm target 100m away. It moves farther away every five shots.^[9]
• Stealth and Target Acquisition Drill (補(ほ)足(そく)・掩(えん)蔽(ぺい)訓(くん)練(れん), Hosoku Enpei Kunren ^?): Participants are sent to random locations inside a virtual stage where they must find and hit other Snipers. There is no muzzle flash or sound, and Radar cannot be used. Five points are awarded for a hit, two deducted for getting hit. The same target cannot be shot twice.^[10] It was also noted to be a way to test a Sniper's aptitude at stealth.^[11]
• Radar Search Drill (レーダー サーチ訓(くん)練(れん), Rēdā Sāchi Kunren ^?): Using Radar, agents search out and shoot various targets. Non-designated targets do not count towards their score. When one target is hit, the next immediately comes up. An agent's score is determined by how many targets they shot within the given time.^[12]

Drill Scores and Rankings

Unknown Sniper drill (Jan. 8):

• Tōru Narasaka: 1/128^[13]
• Ken Satori: 4/128^[13]
• Chika Amatori: 41/128^[13]
• Izuho Natsume: 112/128^[8]

Standard Sniping Drill (Feb. 10):

• Tōru Narasaka: 1/128^[14]
• Chika Amatori: 24/128^[14]
• Izuho Natsume: 47/128^[14]
• Yuzuru Ema: 99/128^[15]
• Isami Tōma: 126/128^[15]

Stealth and Target Acquisition Drill (Feb. 16):

• Tōru Narasaka: 1/127 (Points: 188; Kills: 38; Deaths: 1)^[16]
• Ken Satori: 2/127 (Points: 159)^[16]
• Yoshito Hanzaki: 4/127 (Points: 148)^[16]
• Atsushi Hokari: 5/127 (Points: 147; Kills: 31; Deaths: 4)^[16]
• Tetsuji Arafune: 7/127 (Points; 141; Kills: 29; Deaths: 2)^[16]
• Shōhei Kodera: 9/127 (Points: 136)^[16]
• Akane Hiura: 11/127 (Points: 129)^[16]
• Taichi Betsuyaku: 13/127 (Points: 125)^[16]
• Chika Amatori: 19/127 (Points: 104; Kills: 22; Deaths: 3)^[17]
• Yuzuru Ema: 25/127 (Points: 86; Kills: 18; Deaths: 2)^[17]
• Isami Tōma: 51/127 (Points: 60; Kills: 12; Deaths: 0)^[17]
• Izuho Natsume: 64/127 (Points: 47; Kills: 15; Deaths: 14)^[17]

Radar Search Drill (Feb. 23):

• Izuho Natsume: 41/135^[18]

Stealth and Target Acquisition Drill (??):

• Kazuto Tonooka: 3/?^[11]

Solo Points

Since points fluctuate constantly, most of the following scores are likely to be obsolete.

• No. 1 Sniper,^[19] Isami Tōma: 12,042+^[20] (Feb. 5)^[21]
• No. 2 Sniper,^[22] Tōru Narasaka: 9,721+^[23] (Feb. 5)^[21]
• Yuzuru Ema: 9,721+^[23] (Feb. 5)^[21]
• Tetsuji Arafune (Egret): 8,349^[24] (Feb. 5)^[21]

List of Snipers

There are currently at least 135 Border agents who specialize in the use of Sniper Triggers^[18] however, less than 30 of them are official agents, and the identity of only 17 of them is known, corresponding to those Snipers who take part in Rank Wars.^[25] Notable former Snipers include Mirai Hatohara and Akane Hiura.^[26][27]

The following Snipers are listed by their Squad's ranking at the end of the most recent season of Rank Wars. When known, their individual ranking in the Sniper class is reported under their name.

Snipers
Isami Tōma Fuyushima Squad 1st 4th Overall	Hayato Uno Kusakabe Squad ???	Ken Satori Arashiyama Squad ???	Tōru Narasaka Miwa Squad 2nd
Shōhei Kodera Miwa Squad ???	Tōichirō Momozono Katagiri Squad ???	Chika Amatori Tamakoma Second ???	Yuzuru Ema Kageura Squad ???
Kōji Oki Ikoma Squad ???	Haruaki Azuma Azuma Squad ???	Kazuto Tonooka Yuba Squad ???	Taichi Betsuyaku Suzunari First ???
Tetsuji Arafune Arafune Squad ???	Atsushi Hokari Arafune Squad ???	Yoshito Hanzaki Arafune Squad ???	Yukito Otokawa Ebina Squad ???
Tokiya Saitō Tokiwa Squad ???
Trainees
Izuho Natsume

Trivia

• In Chapter 187 Viz translated the Stealth and Target Acquisition Drill as the Concealed-Support Drill.

References