Counter Strike Tips : Part III

CounterStrike Tips: An introduction

So you just started playing Counterstrike? With more than 200,000 players online at any given point in time, it remains one of the most popular first person shooter computer games. Let me guess. You’re probably getting "pwned." You swear you’re shooting directly at the person, yet it seems the bullets don’t even touch him. On the other hand, your opponents take you down in seconds with a finely placed headshot. Let me try to help.

Here are some Counterstrike Tips for the weapons used in the game:



1. Knife: Ahh, the knife. It has two different attacks, the primary attack (fast, but weak) and the secondary attack (slow, strong) So what should you use? In a knife fight, you want to deal the most damage as possible. Therefore you want to go for the UPPER BODY. For beginners, I recommend going at the upper body with the fast attack so you guarantee yourself a hit. As you get better go with the slow attack for even more damage. An addition tip: jumping toward you opponent with the knife and aiming for the head is also an effective and deadly method. If you’re jumping and your opponent is slashing at your heard, what is he going to hit? Your feet, of course, for a measly 8 pts of damage.

2. Pistols- Don’t underestimate the power of the pistol. While it is a secondary weapon, it can save your life when you run out of ammo.

Here are some Counter Strike Tips for the most commonly used pistols in the game:



A: USP Tactical: The counter-terrorist default pistol. This is one of my favorite pistols in the game. It has a relatively fast rate of fire so get ready to work your pointer finger and press that that left mouse button as fast as you can! The USP has a low recoil so aim for the upper torso/head for maximum damage.



B: Glock: The default counter-terrorist pistol. I don’t particularly like it. It packs less punch than its counter-terrorist counterpart and its rate of fire is slower. However, it does have a 3-round burst alternate fire mode which is particularly powerful if fired into the upper torso/head. However the 3 round burst mode has a even slower rate of fire than semi-automatic mode so you better make sure you take your opponent out with the first burst. An effective tactic for the burst would be firing into an opponent and then strafing right or left and then unloading another 3 rounds burst to take him out. Obviously this only works in close quarters battle.



C: Desert Eagle: Now, we’re talking! This baby packs quite a punch than the regular pistol. This along with the USP Tactical is usually the sidearm of choice for most CSers, especially snipers. Three well placed shots to the upper body is usually enough to take down even an armored foe. However, one has to beware of this weapon’s recoil. It jumps up a bit after every shot. Therefore I recommend you aim your first shot into the upper part of your opponent’s abdomen. Successive shots will hit higher and higher in your opponent’s body. Unfortunately, the Deagle is a close range weapon. It’s accuracy from afar is horrible.

This concludes Part One of my Counterstrike Tips.

Counter Strike Tips: Part II

Counter Strike Tips
Part II

3. Shotguns- Shotguns are close quarters weapons! Go up close to a wall. Fire. See how the shells spread apart into 8 bullets that fit the shape of a torso? Experience firing at the wall at different distances. (not in a real online game, of course!) You eventually see how close you need to be for the shotgun to be effective.



A: M3 Pump Action Shotgun: Best used when bunny hopping. Run up to them and bam! It’s pump action so choose your shots wisely.


B: XM1014: Fully automatic but each successive shot get less and less accurate because of the recoil. Just run up close and gun with bunny hopping of course.




4. SMG- The only SMG really worth talking about is the MP5.



A: MP5: Pretty much the most popular gun in all of Counterstirke. It is dirt cheap and has a high rate of fire. It is also pretty accurate even if you use LONG BURSTS (like 6 six shots), compared to the rifles (shorter bursts). It pretty weak against armored foes and in long range battles against rifles, you might be outgunned. Use in it close to medium distance combat settings.

5: Rifles


A: SG-552 Commando/Steyr AUG: Pretty much the same gun. They both pack quite a punch, but have tremendous recoil even with burst. My advice is to use the zoom and fire one shot burst very fast.



B: Ak47: The most common terrorist rifle in the game. A pretty much automatic headshot if you aim for the chest and shoot. Don’t count on its accuracy on automatic though. Four round bursts is where its at.



C:M4A1: The most common counter-terrorist rife in the game. Pretty accurate in long distances when used with 4 round bursts and packs quite a punch short and long distances. Relatively, easy to use, just duck, point, fire a burst. You be using this baby a lot.

Counter Strike : Tips and Tricks

Tips and Techniques

Beginning of Round
RULE #1- Always buy an HE grenade before anything else. You'll find this incredibly useful later on in the round because after your teammates have weakened the other team, throwing an HE grenade will most likely kill a few opposing players then if you threw it at beginning of round. RULE #2 - You'll want to purchase either full armor or just kevlar vest. Going into battle without armor is more or less shooting yourself in the foot. Those are the two primary rules that you must follow at the beginning of the round. If not, you'll most likely end up dead or not fragging anyone. RULE #3 -Iif you don't have enough money to buy a submachine gun or your favorite rifle, go for a solid pistol with full ammo. A strong pistol is 100 times more efficient then an MP5 or AK-47 with 30 bullets. After you've done the following, you'll be able to do some virtual rampaging.

Aiming and Proper Shooting Technique
This section is by far the most important factor in your Counter-Strike playing career. If your shooting and aiming techniques are poor, the other players will always have an advantage over you. Here are the proper techniques of shooting/aiming- 1) Try to aim above the CT's/T's belt. If you shoot a player above the belt, it will cause more damage then in the leg for example. After you've worked on just hitting the players above the belt, try aiming for the head. With any gun, 2-6 head shots will either kill them or severely injure them 2) Pulse your fire button correctly. Regardless what gun you purchase, your going to want to pulse your fire button. When I say pulse I mean fire bursts of bullets (usually 2-4 bullets a burst). This will increase your aim to another level. Now, if you have a highly inaccurate gun (AK-47 for example), your going to want to shoot off bursts of bullets as much as possible. If you can master the art of shotting bursts of bullets from the AK, you soon become a great Counter-Strike player. This rule goes for any other gun but I highly stress it with the AK-47. 3) Jump and strafe whenever possible.

When you're in battle, it is much more difficult to hit a target that is moving and jumping around then it is to hit a stationary one. Also, by jumping, it forces your crosshair to hit the upper part of the opposing team's bodies. Hence, increasing the chances of getting head shots and upper body shots. This technique is for advanced players, but soon enough, you'll be able to do this yourself. So don't try this when you first start out. Lastly, proper sniping technique. Regardless what rifle you're using, try to crouch and shoot when possible. Crouching will increase your aim and prevent you from moving easily. Second rule of sniping is if your ping is 10-110, try to lead the shot the most minute bit in front of the players movement. Now, if you have 120-150 ping, you'll want to increase the amount of length between your shot and the players movement. If you have 160-200+ ping, it becomes very difficult to snipe and most likely your better off not sniping at all. Some people can pull it off, some can't. It's obvious that the AWP is by far the more powerful rifle in the game, but, is it the most sufficient?

Not at all. The scout, a gun that is less played then the AWP, is a great gun. If you think about it, once you shoot a player with the scout, it stops them from moving them temporarily which leaves you to easily shoot him again. By shooting him twice with a scout, you'll probably kill him or at least hurt him badly. The rule of trying to hit above the belt also goes for sniping guns (except for the AWP, guaranteed kill regardless where shot). Some of you newbies out there are going to shoot a guy through a wall with an AWP and not kill him. I know, you'll probably be saying, "WTF?! I shot that f00 with AWP, he should have been fragged :D!" Wrong, depending on the thickness of the wall, the bullet will not penetrate at full speed, hence, not hitting the opposing player will full force. My recommendation, don't try sniping until you get good with all other guns.

Cheating
Regardless how much you suck the big one, NEVER NEVER NEVER cheat. Simple as that. By cheating, you're 1) Throwing away all skills which you had previously worked on 2) Not being at all l337 3) Showing lack of respect for the greatest game ever created 4) Overall, showing no regard for the reason why Counter-Strike was created, to have fun for yourself and the other around you playing.

Clans
This is not a necessity, but it can and will help in any Counter-Strike player's career. Joining a clan will not only let you practice with a group of organized, well talented players, but also let you experience the game from a professional standpoint. After joining a clan, Counter-Strike is still just as fun, but you appreciate it more and then you most likely will want to get better at the game.

Tips for longer life
1) For far ranges, Crouch, Aim, shoot in 2shotburst to the chest.
2) Never, ever blast full-auto like a madman when u see your enemy a few feet away. Your bullets will most probably miss.
3) If u are close enough to recognise his gun, unlike the above. For god sake shoot his head off!
4)Always reload after a kill. AK eats bullets like a cow eat grasses.
5)For goodness sake, keep your stealth. Don't be a madman blasting at nothing! You will wake up the whole city, annoucing where u are.
6)The AK-47 has movement stopping power. Once the enemy is hit, its hard to escape the second round and so on and forth.
7)Don't scan. The rate of fire is not as high as mp-5. concentrate your fire and your enemy will be down faster then u expected.

Camping
The word is uttered with disdain and contempt, but "camping" is, when used properly, a legitimate and effective strategy.

Remember that, unlike death match games such as Quake, Counterstrike is a team-based game played within an attack-and-defend scenario or variation thereof. In the "hostage rescue" scenarios, for example, the Terrorists are on the defensive, attempting to hold off the attacking Counter-Terrorists. Likewise, in the "defusion" maps, the CTs defend their turf from the bomb-toting Ts. In either case, one side is occupying an area with the intention of keeping the other side out. Concealing yourself in a static position that offers you good visibility as well as the element of surprise is a sensible way to defend. Real combatants call this "digging in." Frustrated CS players call it "camping."

Granted, an attacker who "digs in" accomplishes almost nothing. Counter-terrorists who camp in a "hostage rescue" map, for example, are nothing more than counter-productive – unless the Terrorists venture outside in search of their enemy. (This isn’t likely to happen, though, since as of B6 the Ts will win the match if they still have their hostages when the time runs out; they may as well wait it out inside until the entire team can afford heavy weapons.) But a defender who controls access to his enemy’s objective is simply doing his job.

A Case in Point: When you’re the last Terrorist left in Canyon Siege because all of your teammates have dispersed individually across the map (and been taken out one-by-one by a cohesive CT team), you’d be amazed at how many attackers you can waste by hiding out in the vent room. Position yourself in the corner by the door, facing the vent. Listen for someone climbing up to the vent opening. When a CT crawls through the opening, the first body part you see is his head – an instant kill. Also, listen for attackers approaching the door and either fire through the door or whack ‘em as soon as they slide it open. When all is said and done, you have single-handedly held off the CTs, kept your hostages, and won the match.

(Conversely, CTs should toss several grenades through the vent before entering in order to clear nasty buggers like me out of that room. Don’t expect the hostages to survive, though.)

The other form of "camping" involves moving stealthily across the map towards your objective and taking every opportunity to ambush enemy players along the way. It is amazing that as effective as sneaking is (holding SHIFT while moving), almost no one does it.

Grenade trickery
This is a rather short strategy description, but it works well.

Often when you are on a small team playing against another small (OR large) team, rushing or hiding simply doesn't work. Often in this case, a team will have to use their brains rather than sheer firepower. One way to do this is through making your enemy think you're doing what you're not.

You know that there are three types of grenades available to you in CS. This strategy focuses on mainly the HE grenade and the smoke grenade combined, but a flash grenade can easily take the place of the HE. We will still need the cover of the smoke grenade for this.

One man can be designated the "stay-behind" grenade tosser. He will purchase these two grenades, and take it solo as quickly as possible to a popular spot in the map. He might choose to wait a few seconds at his destination, but that can be either helpful of harmful depending upon the speed at which the enemy approaches the location. This man should probably station himself in the entrance that his team members would usually take to enter this location. Still on his side of the entrance, one smoke bomb or flash bomb can be thrown into the open to blind any players of the other team. After they are most likely to be "disabled," throw in the HE grenade for the extra look of an oncoming attack, and run (or walk) like hell to catch up with the rest of your team.

This is why we have one man carrying this grenade. How often is it that a single player will stock up on every type of grenade? Not very often, so most players will assume multiple attackers. Meanwhile, the rest of the team takes a stealth entrance to swing in behind the enemy players awaiting the attack force from the choice location. Sometimes the teams may still clash, but there is a good chance that the enemy team players will still be waiting for the smoke to clear, while what they're really waiting for is their death from behind.

Flashbang
One of the least used items in Counter-Strike is the flash bang (aka Concussion Grenade). Throwing one in to a room full of the opposing team will score you some quick kills, especially if it's a small room with only one exit. Throwing flash bangs out in the open is a bad idea though, you'll blind and hurt any team members in the area and leave them defence less against anybody on the opposing team that wasn't affected buy the blast. Comunication if very important when using flash bangs. Until Goose puts "Fire in the hole" back, always tell your team before you throw one so that they can move or turn around. There's nothing worse then a pissed team member that was just killed by your flash bang. Also don't be a jerk and throw them at your team for fun, even if FF is off, it still hurts them!.

Stalking
As you probably know by now, 90% of Counter-Strike servers play with foot steps on. The first step is to make sure you have a good sound card and speaker system (2 speakers can do it). If your sound card sucks and you've got some money just go out and buy an Diamond MX300 or an SBLive! Value. They'll run you about $100 bucks, but it's well worth it. What you view on screen is just as important as what you hear, don't make your ears mad, they love you ( :D :D :D ). Any speakers should do, you really won't need to get new ones, unless you feel like spending the money. Now while in CS when you hear footsteps look around. Try to center on the area that sounds the loudest while looking at it, that should be where the guy is.

Well how do you prevent others from hearing you? Simple! Just crouch or walk. If you don't know how to walk, bind a key to +speed (bind "x" "+speed" in console, replace x with whatever key you want to use).When you hear someone around you walk or crouch and you should be silent. Ladders make the most noise, be sure to duck while climbing them.

The Other Skills in Counter-Strike
When one sees multiple enemies in the game all looking directly his way, you would expect that person to immediately turn and run. Yet, few do this, instead, they tend to begin firing and die a short time later, having accomplished little. In CS, just like real life, your life is the most important thing in the game, for if you are dead, you cannot do anything and will actually harm the team in terms of morale. Instead, a veteran player should be able to realize within 1/10 of a second that he is facing against impossible odds (unless they are all standing in a tight group so that one rifle burst will take them all out). Then he will jump back into whatever cover he came out of, and use his radio to call for backup. His teammates should soon be arriving (if they are not too busy themselves), in which time he can position himself to one of an advantage instead of disadvantage. The enemies, usually feeling confident due to their superior numbers will often charge forward to attack that lone soldier. However, having now had time to position himself to a better position, that veteran player should be able to instead surprise his pursuers with a deadly ambush (by himself even). Because he knows where his enemies should be emerging from, and his enemies do not know where he is hiding, he should have the opportunity for a first shot, first kill scenario. If he feels confident at killing all of his enemies, he will continue to fire. If he is not, then he will have left himself another fallback position in which he can again repeat the process with even fewer enemies (and perhaps some backup too).

Another thing people often do wrong is the deployment of smoke grenades. I often see them thrown at my feet just as I was about to enter into a firefight. A fragmentation grenade or even a flash bang would obviously have been better at defeating or deterring me. But instead, I can use the smoke grenade to my advantage against them as I simply stand inside the smoke and use it as my cover. I will be able to see my enemies while it will take them several moments longer to acquire me as a target.Instead, the smoke grenade should be one of the most useful tools in the game. One of the jobs that the smoke grenade excels at is separating the enemy. In the map Dust, a favorite tactic of CTs is to stand on opposite sides of the tunnel shaped like a "T" through which all the terrorists must pass. As soon as a terrorist moves so into the upper part of the "T", he will instantly be attacked upon in both directions, leading to a very quick death. Even if all the terrorists were to charge through together. They would still take incredibly heavy casualties if they make it at all, even facing against a relatively small force of CTs. Instead, if the terrorists were to throw a smoke grenade down one end of the tunnel, and run down the other, they would easily win. The smoke would obscure the view of the defenders on one end of the tunnel, and they would be unable to target the terrorists charging the other direction. Another method of using a smoke grenade effectively is to block snipers. A sniper usually will select an area of low vulnerability (few angles for others to shoot at him) while still retaining a wide FOV (where everyone must pass). With the new CS 6.5 patch, a running sniper is a dead sniper. So, he will be crouching, and if a smoke grenade were to land near him, in his field of view, the sniper will either be vulnerable to a charge close in, or he must change his position, turning him into a running sniper. A smoke grenade can also be used for ambushes, if a team has good cooperation. A smoke grenade in the entrance of a large room or area will block the view of anyone brave enough to venture in. Once he clears the smoke, everyone in the room will be able to see him, and he will be quickly dispatched. For the reason described above, many people will hesitate chasing an enemy through a smoke grenade. This also leads to opportunity since whoever threw the grenade can use the time to get behind his enemies and kill them.

Many people who play CS are quite predictable. They tend to move the same way over and over again. For instance, I will see them sneak out from behind a crate, take a few pot shots at me, and then sneak back. If I was not aware of there being an enemy behind that particular crate, he might hit me once or twice while I did not even have the time to react and return fire. However, I will then see him come out from behind that same crate and move to almost the same position and try to target me again. However, in the time it took him to duck back and come forward again, I have already moved to a new position far away from where I had been. Furthermore, I have also leveled my crosshair to where he was bound to pop-up, right at the head level. While he searched for me, I will have made sure to put a bullet or two into his head before he finished. So the lesson here is-don't be predicable. Mix things up. If you popped out from this side of the crate the first time, pop out from the left the second, or even not at all. If you must come out from the same side again, don't just do exactly what you did before, jump out from cover, and attempt to dodge until your opponent's fire is thrown off by the recoil (described below) and then fire back. If you get shot at, don't stand in the same place trying to get shot at again. If you know where the fire is coming from, then immediately get into a position so that you can return fire with at least equal footing. If you don't know where they are shooting at you from, then don't make it easy for them by standing still! Jump around, strafe, and dive for the nearest cover. Try to find your assailants by lowering your arc of vulnerability (its at 360o when you are in an open field!) It can easily be done by standing next to a wall, (which lowers it to 180o) or even better, a corner (then its only 90o). Basically get to where there are less positions from which enemies can shoot at you from (by positions I mean any arbitrary point from which there is a clear LOS to you.) Again, any time you cannot see an enemy, make it hard for them to shoot at you, even if you do not think there are any in the area. While still on the subject of predictability, I also see many people who will use an advantageous place to kill me quickly (camping). I do not mind this, because many times they will do the same thing at the same place again, and I will kill them this time. If you are going to defend in such a way, don't use the same place over and over! Rotate between the places that you know and try to throw off your opponents that way. If you are one of those people who likes to attack instead, then simply remember all the places that you have seen opponents "camp" and either be ready to kill them, or if that's not possible, simply avoid them. When clearing these spot remember the vulnerability issue described above, clear only one spot at a time and don't ever believe that no one could be there. That one time you don't think there is anyone will be the time when you die. Often the best way to clear a "campground" is not to play it cautiously, but instead jump in aggressively and kill that opponent who is not expecting someone to be so aware of his presence.

The final thing is the game mechanics, and specifically how accuracy works. Every submachine gun in this game will have a bullet spread in the shape of a circle. The size of the circle is quite small and as a result, it is useful to shoot them continuously unless engaging enemies at long range. On the other hand assault rifles all exhibit what I call the "T" effect, in that its bullet spread is in the shape of a "T". The first 3-4 bullets (6-7 when scoped) will usually land exactly where the crosshair was aiming, at the bottom of the "T". The next few bullets will then kick up, forming the stem of the "T". If gunfire is continued, the kick will not only go up but also in a random direction (to the left, middle, or right). Finally the muzzle climb will max out and then the bullets will sweep left and right, forming the top of the "T". What does this mean? Not much, unless you know what to do with it. While playing, simply remember that if you do not use the scope in your gun, keep the bursts to 3-4 rounds (unless using the AK-47, in which case 2-3 rounds). If you need to fire more and it is close range, push your mouse forward. In scoped fire, you should never, fire more than 9 rounds, because the jerking motion of the scope makes it impossible to push the mouse down a correct amount when coupled with the fact that your aim sweeps left to right and the fact that your opponent is far away. Use this knowledge in accordance with what with discussed above and you will easily be able to defeat your opponents. It is also recommended that you move between bursts if absolutely no cover is available, since at least you will be harder to hit during the time that you are not firing. At close range even submachine guns and pistols become extremely deadly if you aim before you fire since a few head shots will fell any opponent. Add to this the controllability of these guns while moving, and assault rifles no longer are superior anymore. But you must also remember wall penetration of a rifle when in such a situation because I like to shoot opponents through walls if they decide to hide behind a thin object. Simply understanding this fact should make you more effective in choosing your cover, but also remember that CS HAS NO PENETRATION TEXTURES, meaning that a rifle round will pass through five inches of granite just as easily as it wood pass through five inches of Styrofoam (if there were such a texture in the game).

These tips will not help you unless you consciously use them. And also, if you get killed, don't just chalk it up to bad luck of lack of skill, but instead pinpoint exactly the thing or things that you did wrong to get killed. Then don't do it again the next time. If you combine these time while at the same time improving your accuracy etc. through practice, you will soon become a much, much better CS player.

Improve yoru Game

Learn to buy your weapons and equipment quickly

Time is money, as they say. The faster you can buy your weapons and equipment, the faster you can get out there and get either prepare your assault or mount your defense. Instead of using the mouse to navigate the menus, use keyboard shortcuts, or buy scripts. Buy quickly, start quickly.

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.

Combat

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.

Shooting

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.

Armor and Grnades

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.

Learn to deliver grenades effectively

Grenades can be very effective weapons -- they can soften up the enemy for a push, finish off an entrenched and already injured foe, or provide cover where none is available. But to use them, you need to be able to throw them accurately, and know not to try throwing them when you're open to enemy fire. Aim above your target, depending on distance, so that gravity can drop the grenade down into your opponent. Lobbing is the key.

General Tips

Use say_team/radio/voice chat to coordinate with your teammates

Use radio commands, or -- better still -- voice chat via a good headset to communicate with your teammates. The radio commands -- or in the worst, case just using the say_team command -- can help organize your team, but there's nothing better than being able to talk directly to your teammates and have them be able to talk back. If you're a serious Counter-Strike player, you should have a microphone and have your voice chat subsystem configured. Consider the difference between using the canned "Enemy spotted" radio chatter and simply saying, "One in the building on the left, and one sniping from the roof on the right." Voice chat can easily turn even a group of intermediate players into a well-oiled killing machine.

Use hud_centerid

Enabling hud_centerid prints the identifying string -- the text that identifies the person currently under your crosshairs and indicates whether they're friend or foe -- just under the center of the screen, instead of in the lower-left corner. This is a far better place for it to appear, since the center of the screen is where your eyes will tend to be looking in the first place. This helps avoid excessive unnecessary eye movements -- concentrate on the center of the screen.

Flash and Climbing

Counter Strike Tips, Use hud_fastswitch

Enable hud_fastswitch in your client. This will allow you to select weapons without having to hit the trigger in order to select them. Every second counts; having to hit the weapons category key and then the left mouse button takes time, and sometimes it's time that you don't have. Note that hud_fastswitch won't help when you have multiple types of grenades; in those cases you'll have to select the type you want and then hit the trigger to select it. But for all other weapon categories primary, secondary, knife, and bomb (for the Terrorists in a bomb/defuse map) -- this will allow an instance switch. Sometimes a single keystroke or mouse click can mean the difference between life and death.

When climbing ladders, do so quietly

Normally, when climbing (or descending) ladders, a fair amount of distinctive noise is made; if you're using this to gain access to an enemy-controlled location, this sound can give you away. You can substantially reduce this noise by holding down the crouch key while moving up or down; this reduces the amount of noise that you make to about half: It's still audible, but it's far less noticeable than the normal volume. Particularly if there is background noise, such as gunfire -- hopefully provided by your teammates -- this can make a stealthy incursion much more possible. Another little-known tweak is that you can turn sideways on the ladder (so you're facing the side) and use the strafe keys to get some added speed when moving on the ladder. For instance, get on the top of the ladder, face off to the left, and then hold down the backward, strafe left, and crouch modifiers; this increases your movement speed substantially without making more noise. Crouch while climbing or descending a ladder; you'll make much less noise.

Smoke and Flash

Use smoke grenades to provide cover when none is available

Smoke grenades can help provide cover when you're under sniper fire and won't survive a charge. Note that smoke billows out of the grenade slowly, in a rotating pattern -- so make sure you're on the right side of the smoke if you want to take advantage of its cover. Note that the obscurity goes both ways -- if they can't see you, then you can't see them. Excessive use of smoke grenades is often considered exploitative, since it is sometimes used to malicious reduce frame rates for others. Use smoke for cover -- but quickly, before the smoke fades away and leaves you exposed.

Use flashbang grenades before charging

Flashbangs are one of the secret weapons of Counter-Strike. Flashbangs blind their opponent, for a period of time that depends on their proximity to the blast. A flashbang at close range, for instance, can leave the victim completely incapacitated for a full ten seconds -- an eternity in close quarters combat. When you know the enemy is lurking around a corner, a flashbang can be a devastating softening up weapon: Throw the flashbang, blind your enemy, and then charge and finish him off. Note that due to their relatively short duration, flashbangs are not very useful unless they are followed up with an immediate charge. Needless to say, take care not to flashbang yourself or your own team.

Snipers and Vents

Snipers and Vents

Don't hop when covered by good snipers

It's common in first person shooter games for players to hop to avoid enemy fire by making themselves a harder target. But when under watch from very good snipers, hopping can in fact be counterproductive. In normal gravity, in the process of jumping, one's path becomes very predictable -- a good sniper will aim at the bottom of the parabola and pick you off as you land on the ground. To counter this, hoppers can perform mid-air maneuvers in order to try to make their paths less predictable, but in general (especially with the anti-hopping measures coming in 1.4) it's best to just avoid hopping when you know you're under close scrutiny from snipers -- it won't help you avoid getting hit. Hopping can help make you harder to hit, but not when your opponents are experienced snipers watching you closely.

Open grates and vents with knives instead of bullets

When on a map with destructible grates or vents, it's often best to open them with a knife instead of a gunfire. Even the most sturdy vents will fall to a knife thrust (the alternate attack), which is reasonably fast and will make considerably less noise than an (unsilenced) firearm. Particularly when coupled with timing -- open a grating when there is nearby gunfire to cover the sound -- a knife, or at least a silenced USP or Colt, can make an effective tactic for sneaking up on an enemy. A knife thrust (or at least a silenced firearm) is the best way to open a destructible grating or vent.

Moving Around

Take advantage of background noise when being stealthy

Running at normal speed makes noise; so does opening moving boxes, and opening grates or vents. Walking instead of running will eliminate the noise you make when moving, but to move or open things you generally must make some amount of noise, potentially giving your position away to the enemy. When you're being stealthy, it's in your best interest to wait until there is ambient noise -- such as gunfire -- to make your move. This way the noise you make is less likely to be noticed among the din. If there's no background noise available, you can make your own -- throw a grenade as a decoy. Take advantage of background firing and grenade explosions to make your move.

Avoid jumping in low gravity (low gravity)

On servers with low gravity, the worst thing you can do is jump. It sends you sailing through the air in a nice, slow arc, making you an easy target. More importantly, though, your firing accuracy is severely reduced when jumping -- most rifles are nearly useless at even short range when in the air. If gravity is low, whatever you do -- don't jump.

Cover and Reload

Cover when reloading

When you are reloading you are at your most vulnerable. Different weapons take different amounts of time to reload. The shotguns -- the M3 and XM1014 -- have the most rapid reloading mechanism: You can reload them one round at a time, and fire between rounds. As for the rest of the weapons, they must be reloaded one magazine at a time. It's best to take cover when reloading -- don't continue your assault, and avoid enemy contact until you've finished reloading. When reloading, take cover and avoid getting the enemy's attention.

Don't habitually reload after a kill

Many single player games that are superficially like Counter-Strike encourage players to reload almost instinctually after they score a kill, since the next enemy will be around the corner waiting for them. In Counter-Strike this a bad idea, since your enemies will often travel in groups. Instead, conserve ammunition by only using as much as you need to kill your target, and then wait until a lull in the fighting before reloading. Suppress the urge to immediately reload after every kill. Instead wait until you know there are no enemies nearby.

Pinning Enemies and Ammunition

Use high-explosive grenades to finish off injured, pinned-down enemies

Grenades are good for softening up the enemy before a charge. They really come into their own, though, when you're fighting against an enemy at moderate distance who has already taken some damage. If he has nowhere to run, then you can toss a HE grenade right into his lap and there's little he can do about it. It is particularly effective when your target is in a confined area where they cannot move about much. Corner them, pin them down, injure them, and then finish them off with a grenade.

Switch to sidearm when out of ammunition in a firefight

Out of ammunition with your primary weapon? Switch to your sidearm, or, in the worst case, your knife. Practice this; if you know you're about to have an encounter with an enemy around the corner and already have a few rounds left in your primary, switch to your sidearm early so that you don't waste time switching mid-fight. If you get caught reloading, you can still switch to your sidearm (although obviously your reload won't have completed so your primary will still be out of ammo). Be ready to switch to your sidearm at a moment's notice.