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Tactical - Dangerous Tools
In an average games the majority of players will buy sub-machine guns or assault rifles. These are all very well, but they are vulnerable from other types of attacks. This page will outline some of the more dangerous tools in a CS game.
Snipers
Snipers are vital in large levels with open areas. They are ideal for covering the main assault team, they are quiet and deadly. Most good snipers will choose the AWP as their weapon of preference as it has a one-shot kill ability. A good sniper will place himself up high where he can see the battle field with ease. He will also probably place himself in the darkest place possible to prevent people from seeing him. Although the AWP makes a very loud noise, chances are you will be dead before you get close enough to hear it, and because of it's one shot kill ability if you do hear it chances are you will die that same second.
A classic example of where snipers are good is in cs_militia. Sniper cover up on the roof of the house one of the best moves any team make, whether it's the T's defending of the CT's clearing up or covering the rest of the team. If the T's have effective snipers on the roof during the start of the game the CT's can forget attacking the front. Joined with an assault team sniper are even more deadly. While the enemy is engaging your assault team on the ground you are free to pick them off, as they will be too busy with the people in front of them.
Be careful though, although a sniper is a deadly tool, he is not invulnerable. Because of their effectiveness they are also the first player to be targeted. If you can eliminate the snipers your team is free to advance. Sniper rifles are also very powerful, so they give a lot of kick, aiming one to get a kill has to be done with great care. If you are a sniper you have to be the first one into position, if the enemy get a sniper into position first he will get you every time (unless he can't aim).
Once in position you become the effective killer mentioned above, but you still have one major vulnerability. Close combat. As soon as the enemy get close to you, your sniper rifle becomes as useful as a banana with atittude. Unless you can pull off a fluke shot while jumping around like a loony trying to avoid bullets. A decent hand gun is imperative for snipers, most snipers will go with the Desert Eagle as it is very powerful, and will take out the enemy in a couple of shot. Be warned though, it only holds 7 bullets in a clip, and a total of 35. You may want to use the Sig handgun, this is nowhere as powerful as the D-eagle, but it holds a lot more rounds, and is extremely accurate.
A sniper has to be a good aim, chances are he will only get one chance to take out the enemy, after that he is useless.
How to use a sniper rifle:
Get into position, crouch down (to increase accuracy, and reduce your size). Zoom into your first level zoom and pan the area you are covering, unless you are covering a large area then stay zoomed out. When you spot your enemy track him on first level zoom, with your crosshair's bulleye just in front of the direction he is moving. You may want to zoom in to second level zoom depending on how fast the enemy is moving, and at what distance. Kill him ASAP, just don't miss.
When you start a round select your handgun, then when you have to switch to it quickly you only need to press 'Q' which will switch back to your previously used weapon.
Grenades
Take one HE (high explosive) grenade, and drop it by your feet. Then proceed to try and get even closer to it. This should in theory kill you. Although you may notice, it doesn't. It just hurts you a lot. But you then go out and catch a bullet, that will kill you.
HE Grenades are very effective, but you can only carry one, so use it with care. If you encounter a corner with some bad guys round it, hurl in a HE grenade first. It will be a lot easier to kill them then. Be careful though, they may well send one in your general direction. As soon as you see one, run (preferably away from it), a few feet can make all the difference.
Flash bangs are another type of grenade, equally as useful, if not more. You can carry 2 of these. A flash bang will briefly blind whoever is in the vicinity. This allows you to attack them without the worry of being seen. Playing on public servers you will notice the poor attempts people make at using these grenades. The time players stay blind is very brief, and can be reduced more by turning away from the grenade.
Flash bangs can be used for two primary functions. Attacking and slowing. If you are blind you will not rush, so flash bangs can hold up an entire team if placed correctly. On levels such as de_dust where those who rush win, a well placed flash bang will force the other side to stop and take cover. This will give you time to set up and prepare for your next move.
Putting a flash bang round the corner will blind the enemy, and they will not moving, this allows you to attack them safely. You have to be swift, and careful. It's easy to blind yourself in the process, so a good trick is to bounce the flash off a wall and round a corner, this will give you extra cover. As soon as the flash explodes you have to attack, if you don't there will be a very angry bad guy waiting for you.
Grenades are fairly easy to avoid, as you see one, run away from it, if it's a flash bang try and get behind a wall - just don't look at it. Remember to turn around as soon as flash bangs have gone off otherwise the attackers will just shoot you in the back.
The final type of grenade is a smoke grenade. These aren't very popular, mainly due to Valve's mess up in the 1.1.0.8 Half-Life patch. They just reduce your frame rate. The main use of them is to cut off snipers - they hardly ever provide enough cover to prevent somebody from seeing you are there, but they usually do prevent snipers from getting shots at you. If you have a T junction, it's a smart move to put a smoke grenade down one way so you can attack safely the other way.
Knife
This is an under-rated weapon, a few well placed slashes will take 100% health off of an enemy. There are two actions to a knife. Slash and stab. Stabbing takes a lot more off the enemy, but does take longer, and you can't slash/stab straight away after it has finished.
Knifes come into play in mad gun battles that go wrong. From time to time you will find you have spent your primary and secondary clip and the enemy is reloading his gun ready to finish you off. The trick here is to leap at him with a knife and slash at him. This usually takes them by surprise, and will kill them before they have time to react. As they don't have any ammo either then their only choice is to switch to a knife, which takes time.
Be careful though, don't use it if your enemy has still got another gun with ammo in it. Other wise you will die - very quickly.
When engaging in knife fights, you should try and stab your oponent in the head first then slash at him to finish him off. Aim just above the head, and you usually get it dot on. Being able to jump about is also handy. If you can jump away from your attack while slashing at him, you can get away without a scratch.