CS Tips

Fire automatic weapons in short bursts

Almost all automatic weapons have massive accuracy penalties for sustained fire. Some weapons, such as the AK47, are almost entirely useless when the trigger is held down, even at short range; some, such as the M4A1, hold up better. The key issue is to fire in short bursts, giving a brief pause between for the accuracy to improve (indicated by the contracting crosshairs). How short a burst you want and how long a delay depends on the weapon: the Colt is sufficient for three-shot bursts with brief delays; the AK warrants two-shot bursts with slightly longer delays. One weapon, the UMP, has almost constant accuracy with sustained fire, but unfortunately does not do much damage. Only hold down the trigger at point-blank range. Fire in brief, short bursts.

Aim at the upper chest

Counter-Strike has positional damage; how much damage a hit does depends on where it lands. Maximum, of course, is the head; normal damage is done to the torso, and considerably less damage is done to the extremities. For example, the AWM is normally a one-shot kill weapon, but an AWM hit to the extremities is not fatal. The best place to aim, therefore, is the mid-to-upper chest; hits will tend to land in the nominal area, thus doing reasonable damage. Given that almost all weapons have significant recoil, the tail end of each burst will land higher than the chest, which will result in a better than average number of headshots. Just like in real combat, you want to aim at the trunk.

Switch to knife or pistol for rapid movement

One's movement speed depends on which weapon is currently readied. Knives and pistols have the least encumbrance; submachine guns have some; rifles have more; and the largest weapons -- the AWM and the Para -- have the most, requiring the holder to move at a slow walk (which has the side benefit of not making much noise). When a player has one of these guns and has to make a quick move, equip your knife or pistol in order to move faster. Switch back to your primary weapon when you reach your destination and continue the fight. Switch to a knife or pistol for fast movement, and then switch back.

Be aware of accuracy problems while moving, on ladders, in water, or in air

Learning how to use weapons in Counter-Strike depends most strongly on judging weapon accuracy. All weapons have reduced accuracy when firing -- most players are fully aware of this. But the accuracy problems are not just limited to normal movement. A host of other behaviors can also severely limit accuracy, yet only the more experienced players are aware of it. In particular, when climbing a ladder, one is subject to the same accuracy penalties as when one is moving. If you are climbing a ladder and an enemy is waiting for you at the top, this puts you at a massive disadvantage -- even at very close range, your shots are unlikely to land many hits. The same accuracy penalties are also in place when one is swimming in water (but not when one is merely standing in water), and when one is in the air, such as on a low gravity server. Make sure you know the situations in which accuracy is reduced and you'll be a much better player.

Learn to stop just before firing sniper weapons

All weapons have some loss of accuracy when they are fired by a moving shooter. This is especially true of the sniper weapons -- the Scout, AWM, G3, or SG550 -- which are not only less accurate, but in fact nearly useless when fired while moving. The conflict here is that any competent player knows that keeping moving is an important part of play -- particularly when a sniper war is taking place. The solution is to stop moving just a split second before firing; this will allow fully accurate shots even though the shooter was moving just a moment before. Particularly when using cover, this can be very effective -- you can pop out of cover, top, and fire, all within a fraction of a second. Remember: strafe, stop, fire.

Heavily favor armor to weapons when low on funds

Armor is absolutely essential in a game with even somewhat realistic weapons. Without armor, only a few midsection shots will bring even a completely healthy player down, and without a helmet, any headshot will. (A helmet won't protect from sniper rounds to the head, but something is better than nothing.) When buying at the start of the round, always factor in armor cost when choosing your weapons so that you don't find yourself out of money after you buy your weapons and ammunition. Always buy the armor/helmet combination if you can afford it; it is well worth the extra $350.