The stabilizer and extra zoom unlocks are essential - they are incredibly useful. I also find the APM Mines to be invaluable as well, especially if you are hunkered down in a sweet spot to prevent someone from snatching your dog tags. Depending on how much latency you have, to hit moving targets aim just ahead of where they are running to - your mouse-click reaction time isn't instantaneous. As for the sniper unlock (the Zeller-H Advanced Rifle), I have found the extra 10 dmg it does to be invaluable, though the two less rounds per magazine to be occasionally annoying.
If you are finding you are "just missing" people, even the occasion stationary one, and your latency is fairly low, consider using a fire key bound on the keyboard. Some people have the tendency to jink the mouse slightly when left-clicking to fire, causing their aim to skew. If you find this happening, bind your fire key to something like Spacebar, or any key you can press with your left thumb. This way you can still use ASDF to move with your left fingers, your left pinky for sprinting (left shift) or hitting the dirt prone (Z), while leaving your thumb free to fire even if you're moving. You'll of course have to rebind your jump key somewhere else, and get used to firing with your left thumb, but your aim can improve with this alternative.
I have a bunch of other tips (I'm a sniper myself in BF2142), but many of them are map-dependent. General rule of thumb: Limit the number of kills you deal in any given location, and then move. People tend to remember where you were when you killed them (not in all cases, but many), so they will hunt for you (and maybe even counter-snipe). In real life, solo snipers tend to only shoot once at any given spot to maximize... well... living, but since this is BF2142 you can get away with more.
If you are finding you are "just missing" people, even the occasion stationary one, and your latency is fairly low, consider using a fire key bound on the keyboard. Some people have the tendency to jink the mouse slightly when left-clicking to fire, causing their aim to skew. If you find this happening, bind your fire key to something like Spacebar, or any key you can press with your left thumb. This way you can still use ASDF to move with your left fingers, your left pinky for sprinting (left shift) or hitting the dirt prone (Z), while leaving your thumb free to fire even if you're moving. You'll of course have to rebind your jump key somewhere else, and get used to firing with your left thumb, but your aim can improve with this alternative.
I have a bunch of other tips (I'm a sniper myself in BF2142), but many of them are map-dependent. General rule of thumb: Limit the number of kills you deal in any given location, and then move. People tend to remember where you were when you killed them (not in all cases, but many), so they will hunt for you (and maybe even counter-snipe). In real life, solo snipers tend to only shoot once at any given spot to maximize... well... living, but since this is BF2142 you can get away with more.
