Overview
Since there doesn’t seem to be any serious legit guide on how to get better at CSS, I’m going to publish this to help people that are new to the game/franchise or just suck after all this time. If you want information on specifics like finding servers or getting achievements then I’m afraid this guide just isn’t for you. I’ll be going over how to not get killed so easily, common strategies used by many CS players, general areas to kill enemies or complete map objectives, use the weapons and items provided, and the core basics. Whether or not this guide gets high ratings and featured on the front page I don’t care since I’m writing this for fun and out of boredom.
Shooting Guns Properly
Unlike kiddie shooters like COD and Battlefield, in Counter-Strike the guns are programmed to be very realistic in terms of gameplay and physics. All shooters have guns varying by firing rate, damage, acurracy, and range, but few games like CS for example vary in recoil, weight, price, standing vs moving accuracy, and spray pattern. In general, you will want to practice with each gun first either by yourself or with bots before against other players to get the feel of each weapon to develop skill and preferences. Each gun category specializes in specific situations and has advantages over the others, but realistically you’re gonna want to almost have pistol and rifle with you in every game.
Due to these unique differences, that means unlike COD you cannot keep shooting like Rambo, expect the bullets to go exactly or within a certain radius of where you aim, and unable to blindly go wherever the enemies are. Once you have gotten the basics, it’s important to remember to fire in short bursts of usually 2-3, sometimes 4 bullets at a time unless using snipers while in a neutral position, such as standing, crouching, or in rare cases slowly moving. Depending on the gun’s spray pattern, you can flick your mouse in a way that coincides with it for easier kills and headshots. Speaking of which, for most guns you’ll want to shoot for the head or neck areas and only those with high recoil/inaccuracy should be aimed towards the chest.
The crosshair is one of the most crucial elements in CSS that can either make or break your killing streak in competitive matches. Go to Options > Multiplayer and then you may change the color, thickness, and opacity of the in-game crosshair to your liking. I heavily recommend a somewhat thick and static crosshair with a bright color that contrasts with the environment (yellow is a horrible choice as the skyboxes are sunny).
You can choose to add the center dot or to change the size depending on your monitor size or preferences as well. Always put the crosshair above chest level to neck or head when walking so that you do not have to spend what little time needed to kill your enemies, even if using guns with incredibly low accuracy.
Because Counter-Strike’s gunplay is so different from other shooters like Overwatch, once you stop playing for even just a few weeks you’ll begin to detoriate in mechanical skill. It’s always recommended to re-acquire or develop fast reflexes and reaction to have the best advantage possible over others. Make sure you always shoot as soon as you see and aim at the enemy regardless if they don’t notice you otherwise they’ll simply kill you first. There’s not much to say other than practice makes perfect, and I suggest you either go to deathmatch or gungame servers to do that or simply download training maps from sites like GameBanana.
Some weapons with low accuracy and poor range are better for shooting in the chest, while highly precise weapons like snipers and scoped rifles should be used situationally. Also, if you miss or the enemies notice you first, it’s best to strafe (moving side to side) while shooting back to lower their accuracy and maybe prevent or reduce your chance of death. For snipers and scoped rifles, you should always use the scope unless extremely close to the enemy and aim anywhere but the legs – except for Scout which requires headshot. Shotguns and machine gun (and some SMG’s) can be
shot constantly without stopping when in close range as they do a lot of damage, though in some instances can be used at short-medium range for easy headshots.
Secondary & Equipment
Again as opposed to other shooters, Counter-Strike requires players to peform specific objectives depending on if they are terrorist or counter-terrorist. Much like in real life, these people will use other items aside from just military-grade firearms to finish the job. Secondary weapons include pistol(s), knife, and grenades, while equipment consist of defusal kit for counter-terrorists and nightvision goggles for both teams. Mastery of these is important when you are outnumbered, outmatched, wanting to ambush the other team, or complete the mission objective.
Pistols have very low recoil in CSS (differs in other CS games) so it’ll be much easier to improve with this gun type than any other. Since pistols have low magazine with some having low ammo, it’s best to only use it when: a) you are low on money or your primary is absolute garbage, b) you are within very close range of enemy and have a long-range primary, c) you do not want to attract attention because of dead teammates, being outnumbered, preventing enemy from completing objective, etc., d) you are low on primary ammo or just want to kill the last enemy lol. You can just practice using pistols with bots instead of with real human players to get better. Since pistols are very weak, it’s best to shoot very fast and make sure you can accurately kill.
Knives might seem trivial and don’t have much to it other than swipping and stabbing it to kill your enemy but in rare instances when it’s appropriate, they can be deadly. You should almost NEVER use knives as you essentially make yourself an easy target for opponents and you’ll probably piss off your teammates for being so stupid. Only use it in these situations:
->You manage to sneak up close behind an enemy’s back
->Enemy is distracted by teammate as you sneak up on them
->Other team is completely blinded by smoke or flashbang
->You’re about to die/fail mission, low on ammo, and hiding
->Gamemode or server requires you to use knife to kill others
There are two types of knife attacks – left click is quick but weaker attack and right click is slow but stronger attack. You’ll want to always use the other attack to avoid the enemy killing you first and also the bots somehow are weak to it as well (but have no issue killing you with the weaker attack). Much like guns, aim the crosshair towards to the neck or head for most damage.
Other uses of knife includes breaking windows, damaging or pushing away small props, and holding it when you want to move fast or if you have a heavy gun.
Grenades might seem limited to specific situations and are one-time use, but when used properly they can either help you kill the enemy or avoid their sight, as well as confusing them when attempting the mission objective. There are three types of grenade: helium for dealing damage, flashbang that blinds and deafens those in its range, and smoke that covers a small area with…smoke for tactical purposes. Make sure to always buy grenades unless you are very broke or you’re in a map which grenades are useless (far range or lacking tight spaces).
When throwing, make sure to throw it slightly farther than where you want it to go as they will fall faster at farther distances due to gravity. Sometimes you’ll want to throw it without being seen to avoid being noticed and to successfully ambush the enemy. Aim your crosshair over a prop used for cover, like a crate or barrel, or in areas people usually camp like windows and corners. If there is a wall, door, or other flat surface, you may throw the grenade there for it to bounce off and reflect to another area that you want. That is by far the most difficult feat to pull off and requires trial and error – although it’s best to throw at such a surface near a midpoint, hallway/tunnel, or site . Proper knowledge of angles can do wonders to help you land the grenades.
For the curious and those trying to go pro, you can throw grenades from a distance very far away from your intended destination. To pull this off, you must go through trial and error and calculate how high you must throw and test your results by noclipping to the destination itself. Once you’ve mastered this, you are essentially unstoppable with grenades.
Let’s start off with the easiest and one accessible to both sides: nightvision goggles. These let you see well in dark areas where enemies love to camp or can blend into. For the most part, simply increasing the gamma brightness level through the in-game settings and your monitor settings is enough to render this item useless. But for those with crappy monitors or for some maps like de_train, it’s best to buy them only when you have enough money or keep dying from hidden enemies.
Now for the one you’ve been waiting for: the defusal kit. This is somewhat expensive but mandatory for defusal maps, so it’s better to neglect grenades or sometimes a better pistol (the default CT pistol is well rounded) and primary for this. Pressing and holding down the use key is all there to using it; however, the terrorists sure as hell won’t make it that easy for you.
Always make sure the site is clear of any enemies by shooting or throwing grenades at places they can enter or hide first. Then stand in a position that lets you easily fend off incoming enemies or have teammates protecting you if otherwise. Remember that the bomb lasts for 40 seconds so get there fast but don’t rush too much as that can let enemies kill or hinder your progress. WIthout a defusal kit, you can still defuse bombs but they take twice as long instead of the usual 5 – as long as you don’t blow up, the bomb can even be defused within 0.1 seconds.
Managing The Economy
It’s crucial to have enough money to buy the weapons you want, but most importantly not waste them even if it may seem tempting. This isn’t just for helping players in pistol and early round, it’s also useful if the enemies are too tough or other teammates are struggling. This section will be breif and shoter than the other ones as it’s not that significant.
When low on money and early on in the match, buy cheaper weapons and avoid buying items that are not necessary like nightvision goggles or all the grenades allowed. If a certain weapon is a bit more expensive but is powerful enough to let you win money quickly, then buy it instead – an example would be buying armor and p225 compact instead of just armor on t side. Of course more expensive weapons are more powerful but are not always better, such as auto shotty or full auto snipers. Buying them early on will prevent you from buying armor and other critical items.
If teammates are doing badly, you can help them out by buying cheap weapons for them and donating it while buying mid-range ones for yourself. Remember that enemies tend to target those with OP weapons to eliminate powerful threats so it’s not always a good idea to constantly buy Deagle and AWP even if it’s in your budget. Such high-end guns should only be bought in later rounds, if the map relies more on it, or if the other team sucks so bad.
Secondary items and equipment should be bought depending on map as well as when budget allows it. Some maps are tight-spaced like de_inferno so buying grenades is better than say buying a good primary gun early on. Not everyone needs to buy the same equipment as competitive teams should assign roles to each individual member. When teammates do die, you can then pick up their items and even exchange guns with the dead bodies of enemies!
Common Tactics Used
Crouch-Jump: This technique literally is crouching and then jumping to give you an extra boost to reach slightly high ledges and crates.
Running with Secondary: You should always run with your knife, pistol, or grenade as you approach the enemy and then switch to primary just before confronting them.
Splitting Up As CT: In defusal maps, while teaming up is good, you should decide who should defend site and lookout for enemies until the terrorists arrive.
Grouping As T: Terrorists have the advantage in hostage maps (and CT shouldn’t damage hostages) while they have better weapons so it’s also good in defusal maps.
Quick-Sniping: Once you get used to shooting, you can try immediately shooting as soon as you use the sniper scope and exit out by switching weapons.
Communication: Not just simply telling others what to do or positions, but using radio commands and describing important details in little time as possible.
Strafing: Moving side to side can be used in conjuction with shooting, aiming, throwing, or jumping to evade bullets, distract enemy, or get better shots.
Hiding The Bomb: When setting up or defusing the bomb, it’s best to use props and/or smoke grenade to hide oneself to make it harder for the other team to stop you.
Bunnyhopping: As its name implies, jumping to gain an agility advantage over others; make sure you follow other guides for more information.
Console Commands: Many experienced CS players will ajust non cheat-flagged commands to reduce lag, improve framerate, or other tweaks to get a better advantage.
DIsabling/Reducing Settings: Lowering or turning off some graphical settings like anti-aliasing, vertical sync, and detail effect can help in performance.
How To Not Die
The last and probably most important part of the guide in case you are a terrible player and can’t git gud even if your life depended on it. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my long and detailed guide, and to practice offline or on modded servers before jumping into competitive servers to play against other people. Remember to rate, comment, favorite, and share after you’re done with reading my guide to acknowledge the effort I’ve put in.
Never let yourself be an open target by stupidly walking out to an open area where you can easily shoot the enemy but they can just as easily kill you. Try to aim near the edge of a wall, door, or prop without exposing yourself too much, but make sure to avoid areas where enemies will be sure to check before going further. In case you’re spotted, always hide back to where you were peaking if you failed to shoot or kill the enemy even after strafing and repeat. Hiding in dark places or areas where you can camouflage with the environment based on your character skin can help too – just watch out for people prefiring or throwing grenades at where you camp!
As explained in the previous section, many techniques like bunnyhopping and strafing should be used to make yourself an extremely hard target. Even basically absurd mechanics like jumping and circling the enemy can also be enough to prevent them from shooting or killing you. There’s not much else for me to explain so I’m just writing this because I have OCD.
Going after the enemy alone (unless very well concealed) can be deadly and frustrating for your team if you’re found and outnumbered. Be sure to always be with your team, even if it’s just one teammate and be ready to call them out in case you spot the enemy or are screwed. When teammates are with you, you can always go behind or near them to prevent death or to allow yourself to barely take cover as you combine your firepower to take down the other team. Even as you’re about to die, telling them critical details can warn them too.
Throw a HE grenade or flashbang as soon as you see so many enemies appearing, and you suspect you might easily die or take heavy damage. Throw smoke grenade as a diversion to trick enemies to assuming you’re approaching the area you smoked only to take another route. Try to even use multiple grenades one after another that is right for the situation. Finally, if you’re about to die then hold on to a HE grenade and have it explode as you die.