State of Decay: Year-One
72 Achievements
60-80h
Steam
The Sniper
Earn 25 Headshot Streaks (Breakdown Level 4 or Higher).
2.9%
How to unlock the The Sniper achievement in State of Decay: Year-One - Definitive Guide
John McLarren
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
This one seems like it might be hard but it is actually quite easy (though a bit time consuming). The first thing you'll need to do is get to breakdown level 4 and make sure you have a hero who has maxed out shooting (Most military heroes have this).
Now, select that hero and go into your skill page (up on the d-pad) and scroll down to special abilities. Hopefully you have not assigned one yet, or have already assigned the necessary skill: Focus Aim.
Now, equip a gun that is either automatic (AR/SMG/LMG) or Semi-automatic (Pistols/Carbines). The reason for this is that Focus Aim slows down time so much a bolt action or pump shotgun will take way too long to get 5 shots off. A silencer is not really needed, but it might help keep you from getting swarmed once Focus Aim runs out since you will have little to no stamina left.
Now, find a horde. This is the easiest group of zombies to target since they are all normal and will not contain SWAT zombies which can not be shot in the head. Get close enough so you feel comfortable lining up shots, zoom in if you are able to (Click LS) and press
while aiming with your gun and time will slow down. Take your time and line up your shots to get the 5 headshots. If you find you are running out of stamina to quickly eat a snack before going into Focus Aim and it should deplete slower.
Now, select that hero and go into your skill page (up on the d-pad) and scroll down to special abilities. Hopefully you have not assigned one yet, or have already assigned the necessary skill: Focus Aim.
Now, equip a gun that is either automatic (AR/SMG/LMG) or Semi-automatic (Pistols/Carbines). The reason for this is that Focus Aim slows down time so much a bolt action or pump shotgun will take way too long to get 5 shots off. A silencer is not really needed, but it might help keep you from getting swarmed once Focus Aim runs out since you will have little to no stamina left.
Now, find a horde. This is the easiest group of zombies to target since they are all normal and will not contain SWAT zombies which can not be shot in the head. Get close enough so you feel comfortable lining up shots, zoom in if you are able to (Click LS) and press
while aiming with your gun and time will slow down. Take your time and line up your shots to get the 5 headshots. If you find you are running out of stamina to quickly eat a snack before going into Focus Aim and it should deplete slower.
6 Comments
Just wanted to mention a couple of things I noticed when going for this achievement.
1. You can't leave aiming mode when going for the 5 head shots. Therefore if you stop aiming and then aim right after it will cancel the streak and start over.
2. If you shoot one in the head and that same bullet hits another one anywhere but the head it will cancel the streak (a double headshot is fine). You will need to stop aiming and restart.
3. It seems you can only get one headshot streak while aiming. Meaning if you shoot ten zombies in the head it still only counts as one.
4. It seemed that the controller would vibrate while I was getting headshots and stop if I took too long in between headshots. It still seemed to vibrate even if I didn't get a headshot so it might not be best to go by this.
Hope this helps some people. Also I'm not entirely sure about #3 and #4 but it seemed like that was the case for me
1. You can't leave aiming mode when going for the 5 head shots. Therefore if you stop aiming and then aim right after it will cancel the streak and start over.
2. If you shoot one in the head and that same bullet hits another one anywhere but the head it will cancel the streak (a double headshot is fine). You will need to stop aiming and restart.
3. It seems you can only get one headshot streak while aiming. Meaning if you shoot ten zombies in the head it still only counts as one.
4. It seemed that the controller would vibrate while I was getting headshots and stop if I took too long in between headshots. It still seemed to vibrate even if I didn't get a headshot so it might not be best to go by this.
Hope this helps some people. Also I'm not entirely sure about #3 and #4 but it seemed like that was the case for me
By UnrealKarnage76 on 24 Jul 2015 00:22
THANKS ALOT for this.... I didn't even know you could do that and I am almost finished the game (achievement wise)
By Kanchanaburi on 02 Jun 2015 06:25
Archer Spense
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
you need 5 back-to-back head shots within @ 3-4 seconds for a head shot streak.
John's solution is excellent, but I didn't use or like focus aim, so here's the method I used:
need:
maxed shooting stat
a semi-auto gun (as in 1 shot per squeeze of
without any sort of delay inbetween. if gun is full automatic gun, remember you can turn it to semi-auto pushing 
while holding 
)
either find a horde or kite around zombies until you have 5.
when ready to shoot, if you aim close to a zombies head and tap, you will notice the game will auto target the zombie's head for you. That's target, not lock-on. It's still possible to miss if the zombie's head is bobbing around too much or moves out of position. But if you're quick with your shooting, its very easy to get 5 quick consecutive head shots.
tips:
- best to do this in the middle of a wide open street
- if you've got running zombies, move backwards while you shoot at them. careful not to back up into crap behind you that could obscure your vision.
- it is possible to sort of summon zombies by holding and spamming 
. The taunt will reveal passive zombies on your radar as white dots. Keep taunting, and they will aggro. Some will even spawn out of thin air.
- swat zombies typically run faster than running zombies, so its possible to separate them from normal zeds by letting them chase you far enough where you can kill them without hassle.
good luck
John's solution is excellent, but I didn't use or like focus aim, so here's the method I used:
need:
maxed shooting stat
a semi-auto gun (as in 1 shot per squeeze of
without any sort of delay inbetween. if gun is full automatic gun, remember you can turn it to semi-auto pushing while holding )either find a horde or kite around zombies until you have 5.
when ready to shoot, if you aim close to a zombies head and tap
, you will notice the game will auto target the zombie's head for you. That's target, not lock-on. It's still possible to miss if the zombie's head is bobbing around too much or moves out of position. But if you're quick with your shooting, its very easy to get 5 quick consecutive head shots. tips:
- best to do this in the middle of a wide open street
- if you've got running zombies, move backwards while you shoot at them. careful not to back up into crap behind you that could obscure your vision.
- it is possible to sort of summon zombies by holding
and spamming . The taunt will reveal passive zombies on your radar as white dots. Keep taunting, and they will aggro. Some will even spawn out of thin air.- swat zombies typically run faster than running zombies, so its possible to separate them from normal zeds by letting them chase you far enough where you can kill them without hassle.
good luck