In our first blog ‘The Weapons’ we introduced you to four categories of Counter Strike weapons – melee, pistols, shotguns and submachine guns. Let’s see what the other firepower available to players is.
Rifles
Rifles are one of the most-used but also expensive weapons in Counter Strike. They do extremely high damage but also have recoil and slow you down. Some rifles have unique firing modes, which are appropriate for different ranges. There are two subclasses of rifles – regular ones and sniper rifles.
Regular rifles
Regular rifles are seen in the later rounds of the game when players manage to accumulate some wealth. Because of their firepower, aim is not that important, but effectiveness increases considerably if you crouch down and go for a headshot. Rather than using continuous fire, it is more effective to use short bursts as to ensure that the recoil doesn’t ruin your aim. The regular rifles available in the game are IMI Galil, FAMAS, AK47 (personal favorite), M4A1 carbine, SG-552 commando and AUG.
Sniper rifle
All sniper rifles have telescopic sights and some of them are even banned on certain servers due to their devastating firepower. Before playing online with a sniper rifle, it is a good idea to first practice with bots as it takes a great amount of skill to use this weapon class effectively. Usually pro players combine a sniper with a pistol as the former are extremely bad in close-quarter combat. The sniper rifles in the game are Scout, G3/SG-1, SG-550 Commando and the AWP ~ Arctic Warfare Police .338 Lapua Magnum Sniper Rifle.
Machine guns
There is only one machine gun available in Counter Strike – the M249-SAW. It is highly expensive at $5750 compared to AUG’s cost at $3500. It has one of the highest firing rates and is usually used as a spray gun. While often considered a weapon used by novice players, the machine gun can actually be quite accurate when you are firing a shot at a time and can be used to snipe almost as effectively as with a rifle. To be honest, we have yet to see professional players use the M249-SAW in competitive environment. However, against amateurs it could be highly effective, especially if the opponent makes the mistake of grouping together in one place.