- "Players cycle through a random rotation of weapons every 45 seconds, every player using the same weapon at each change. Perks are earned for consecutive kills, eventually leading to a score multiplier. When you die, you lose these bonuses. There's a bonus round at the end of the match, where kills are worth twice the number of points. The winning player is the one with the highest score at the end of the match. Success in Sharpshooter depends on how fast you can adapt to each weapon change and kill players consecutively. "
- — Call of Duty ELITE Description.
Sharpshooter is a Wager Match game mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Like all other wager match game modes, Sharpshooter consists of six players competing in free-for-all gameplay. In Sharpshooter all players start off with the same randomly selected weapon. Gameplay progresses for 45 seconds with players trying to rack up as many kills as possible with the randomly selected starting weapon. With each of their first four consecutive kills the player earns a perk, as described below (See Bonuses section).
After 45 seconds, a new randomly selected weapon will be selected and all players will have to use this new weapons for the next 45 seconds of gameplay. This 45 second rotation continues for 5 minutes and 15 seconds, allowing for the use of seven randomly selected weapons. There is neither a defined order in which the weapons cycle, nor any way to predict what the starting weapon or subsequently selected weapons will be.
Players are equipped with infinite ammo to prevent players from going dry in the middle of a match effectively stalling gameplay. Each randomly selected weapon may or may not also be equipped with a single randomly selected attachment in Call of Duty: Black Ops, or up to two randomly selected attachments in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Any weapon can be selected during the game, including the Grim Reaper or Death Machine, which in normal game modes can only be obtained through the use of a Care Package. Valkyrie Rockets, however, despite being obtained by the same means as the Grim Reaper or Death Machine in regular gameplay, are not in the weapon rotation in Sharpshooter.
Time Limit
There is no set score limit, but gameplay ends after 5 minutes and 15 seconds, allowing for seven weapon rotations. The last round of the game is the "Sharpshooter Round," meaning that all players get twice as many points per kill, which can lead to players quickly catching up and bringing many games down to the wire. A player who has earned the 2x score multiplier perk (earned after attaining four consecutive kills in a single life) will earn 400 points per kill during the Sharpshooter round until killed, at which time the player will begin earning 200 points per kill upon respawn.
Point System
- 100 points(10 in Black Ops II) - Kill with current weapon
- 25 points(5 in Black Ops II) - Kill by knifing
This is to try and motivate players to get kills with weapons that they may be particularly unfamiliar with, such as the special weapons, pistols, or launchers, which see more limited multiplayer use in the Player match playlists.
Bonuses
- Sleight of Hand Pro (After 1 kill)
- Lightweight Pro (After 2 consecutive kills)
- Steady Aim Pro (After 3 consecutive kills)
- x2 Score (After 4 consecutive kills)
Bonuses are lost upon death. However, if someone gets an afterlife kill, they will spawn with the Sleight of Hand.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops II, the bonuses are:
- Toughness (After 1 kill)
- Lightweight (After 2 consecutive kills)
- Extreme Conditioning (After 3 consecutive kills)
- x2 Score (After 4 consecutive kills)
Weapon and Attachment Weightings in Random System
Early research is indicating that neither the weapon classes nor the weapon attachments are equally weighted. Players often see abnormally high instances of dual-wielded weapons in Sharpshooter. Of weapons that are randomly selected with an attachment, approximately 27.9% of weapons are equipped with Dual Wield. This ratio is approximately 32.3% higher than its expected prevalence of 21.1%. Another example is the occurrences of pistols vs. sniper rifles. Pistols should be randomly selected approximately 14.7% of the time while sniper rifles should be randomly selected 11.8% of the time. However, pistols appear approximately 21.4% of the time (a 45.7% increase over their expected prevalence) and sniper rifles only appear approximately 5.0% of the time (a 57.5% decrease over their expected prevalence).
Trivia
- This is the only Wager Match featuring earnable perks.
- Sharpshooter and Sticks and Stones are the only Wager Match games to not be featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
- There is a glitch in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance, where if the player sprints or aims down their sights just as the timer for the current weapon runs out for it to be switched for a new one. If the player executes the glitch properly, they will retain the current weapon and it will not be switched.
Gallery
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