Me personally, I prefer using the term “stolen” for this activity so as not to confuse what has actually happened. In this instance the word “snipe” is being used to describe the action of stealing the spot from someone else, not ripping you off for FPs (more on that in a moment). The term snipe is also used when someone outside of your lock thread takes a position on your GB, even if it’s for the lock amount you were looking for.

It is not standard practice however to lock anything at less than a 1.8 rate, so anything below that is always, without fail, a snipe. Considering how this game works it is very rare to find a place where you will always receive non-profit locks, so it is accepted that an Arc profiting but giving you a minimum of 1.8 isn’t sniping if that’s what you expected to receive by making your GB safe for that amount. So there can be an exception to that definition whereas the person is not looking for a non-profit lock. Now, this particular definition can be muddied by the fact that some folks use 1.8 or 1.85 leveling threads, or they never go above a 1.9 leveling thread despite there being above-80 Arcs in the lock thread, and thus those Arcs are making a profit. Since no one can add 6 or more FPs (and someone else adding 5 FPs will only get them 4th place), you have successfully locked your spot and sniped the GB. For example, if you are without an Arc and see a GB with 10 FPs left to complete the level, and 3rd place is open for a return of 10 FPs, you would be able to lock your spot for 5 FPs invested, and thus you will profit 5 FPs upon level. This is far easier to do with an Arc in tow, but having an Arc is not necessary. This means that you have invested FPs into a GB to secure a spot (so no one can pass you), and when the GB levels you will receive more FPs back than you have placed. In my experience, the main idea and definition of sniping is to turn a profit on a GB lock once the GB levels. Unfortunately, there are a couple definitions for this, so we need to review each. To begin, we need to understand what sniping even is, because you cannot perform an action without first knowing the action. Obviously these thoughts here can only sum up so much, but hopefully this helps to bring some clarity to the topic at hand. Sniping, a term that is used often among those who understand the beauty of a level 80+ Arc and lock threads, but can be hotly debated on just what exactly it means, and how it occurs.

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