Absurd Minds

What are some good habits I can develop Tu o be a good awper? What are some habits I need to actively avoid developing?

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Palms and Ace?

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If you are gonna play a defensive AWP style, hold angles. I try and hold the angles as tight as I can, so as to expose less. If you are playing aggressive, you want to be fast, and be super OCD about every angle that you can get shot from. Also you have to be accurate because if you miss while you are pushing, someone will just spray you down. Don't use 1 scoped sensitivity, it makes you really jerky, I use 0.9 because I can still flick but also keep accurate and still. If you were to train yourself to be better, top priorities would be.
1. Angles
2. Accuracy
3. Flick shots
4. Consistency

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To clarify, I'm looking for awp-specific habits, not just things like hold good angles or move after a kill, which can apply to every weapon. Thanks for the tip about zoom sensitivity. I have mine at one but I will try lowering it.

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I think zoom sens is preference.

The main thing for an awper is game sense. Because you doesn't have peripheral vision while scoped, it's much more important to know where every member of your team is and where you are vulnerable from. You really want to work on reflexes and muscle memory. Knowing angles more than regular players (i.e. having the proper xhair placement so that when you peek, lets say on mid on d2, you already are lined up exactly where you need to be). Timing is very important; when I awp, my tactic is to BARELY peek a corner (like 1 or 2 pixels of visibility) and shoot them through the wall when they peek and then retreat.

I guess I don't see how this is different from other guns, either. :/ I'm talking about things like if/when to quick switch when shooting, quick switching to knife instead of pistol so you can get into cover faster, play X position when your teammates are Y, when to play aggressive, etc. Things that don't apply to any other gun except the awp. Advice like "Develop game sense" is something that everybody should be doing all the time regardless of their weapon of choice.

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I scroll up when I quick switch, it just feels better to me. Only double zoom when you absolutely have to otherwise use 1 zoom almost all the time, it is just a lot easier to "manage" things with even though it might be hard at farther distances.

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Oooo I get it now.

Quickswitching: Don't do it. It's faster to shoot and wait than it is to shoot and quickswitch.
If you are trying to quickly retreat around a corner, pull out your knife because the awp is slow and clunky. You should pull out your pistol though if you are concerned about the enemy peeking you in this vulnerable position. When retreating and full out running away, I shoot towards the enemy with my pistol to further dissuade them from peeking me.
It's difficult to say when an awper should be playing what positions and when to be passive/aggressive because it depends on the specific situation.
I think the awper should be peeking first, with a rifler next to him/her for support/cover fire if the shot misses.

Practicing KZ or Bhop will benefit an awper since you are usually going from a static position to "I NEED TO GTFO".

P.S. I hate double-scoping. I almost always miss. It just feels so wrong to me. That must be preference as well since palms likes to double-scope.

Here is what I would add. My thoughts are from old school 1.3, where I used the AWP a lot, but thus far I've found they apply to CSGO as well.

1) Patience..... avoid the urge to run find the last enemy on the map and kill him. You will typically be at a disadvantage, and you are risking a lot of eco. AWPing is camping most of the time, so get used to that way of thinking.

2) One big difference I've found between CSGO and 1.3 (and I made a thread asking about this myself), is that quick-switching is no longer really advantageous (as Travie pointed out above). At least, not in terms of speed to fire 2 shots. However, there is still a use for quick switching, mainly for repositioning. On dust2 for example, say you are CT and watching Long A from the bombsite, but you are by yourself and want to turn and watch catwalk. Whether you fire a shot or not while looking Long A, quick-switch to your pistol to reposition yourself and then zoom back in again on catwalk. It makes it quicker and easier to reposition and also gives you a better field of view. I personally never quick switch to knife as I don't think the movement speed difference between knife and pistol is enough to warrant it. I would much rather have a pistol in my hand in case I need to fire off a couple shots. Additionally, I quick-switch by moving my mouse wheel 1 position to pistol. Knife is 2 positions away from my AWP and I don't want to be 2 positions away. I guess this depends on which technique you use to quick-switch.

3) Flick shots will become important as you improve with the AWP, but I would recommend not getting too flick happy while you're getting started. I would take the extra second to make sure your aim is correct before firing. You may take damage this way, but you will one-shot your opponent so there is a good chance you will still survive; whereas if you miss the flick shot, you are dead. As you practice your flick shots, they will become more reliable and you can start using them more and more.

4) Since the AWP is very slow to reload, I wouldn't reload it unless you have good reason to believe there are no enemies close by. You are probably just better off relying on your pistol skills. Now that the Desert Eagle has recently been improved, the AWP/DE combo will be very popular and powerful once again I think. So buy a pistol you are comfortable with whenever you can when you have the AWP.

5) Rarely use the double-zoom (as mentioned above). There are some spots I will use it though, such as if I am AWPing as a T on dust2 and looking through the double-doors from spawn. I feel I have a better chance of tagging a CT running past while double zoomed than while single zoomed, but this may just be me.

6) Consider changing your “objective oriented mind-set” in certain situations. Let's say you are 1 vs 2 and have to re-take a bombsite to win. You may feel comfortable pulling this off with an AK or M4, but you are much harder pressed to do this with an AWP. Even if you do get a good peek and kill one of your opponents, the other opponent will either kill you instantly or at least know exactly where you are at and should position himself to counter the fact you have an AWP. You will be hard pressed to get 2 kills AND defuse the bomb. You will likely help your team out more by saving your AWP for the next round due to its power and expense. Additionally, you should set yourself up with a good angle covering one of the obvious exits from the bomb site (some place you have cover to duck behind), so that you can kill off the enemies as they flee the bomb site before the bomb goes off. This will also help your team out by making the enemy re-buy weapons.

7) Distance is your friend, so find long-range positions as much as possible and avoid short-range positions. Just like the P90 excels in close-quarter tunnels, the AWP sucks, and vice versa. When you miss a shot (or face multiple enemies) at distance, you can often still survive. At short range you are almost always dead.

8) This point may be obvious, but still worth mentioning as it is a major difference from using the other weapons: Don't aim for the head! You want to aim for the chest so you have the best chances of connecting. Make sure your cross-hair is above the waist as leg shots (and crotch shots) won't kill.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. If I think of something else later, I will add it. I'm still working to get my AWP skills back myself, but I feel all of the above have helped me when using the AWP.

Understandable. I use my number buttons to quick switch. For me it takes the same time to press number 2 to pull out my pistol as it is to press number 3 to pull out my knife. Knife vs pistol, you move faster with knife, and an advantage is an advantage. I don't think it makes much of a difference in regular competitive play. On a professional level, that would be the type of thing they would consider and be thinking about. But for our purposes, I think you are right; the SLIGHT speed advantage is almost negligible.

About point number 6. I think that is one of the situations that change depending on the circumstances. If I had an awp 1v2 on Dust2 and I was long, I would go for it. If I had an awp 1v2 on Dust2 and I was b tunnels, I wouldn't push in unless I got a frag from tunnels (which they shouldn't be peeking if they know I have an awp). But it isn't the awpers job to plant the bomb. They are a support person for the objective; killing/tagging people as they cross connectors, watching everybody's back, making the long range frags.

Jabberwock, thank you. I will be sure to concentrate on your tips as I am practicing.

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My pleasure!

One thing that I see way too much with beginner to decent awpers; moving as you shoot. Especially with the new update that it crucial not to do

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Ya, good point Redman. If you move while shooting other guns, you may still get a kill. Moving while firing the AWP you have no chance. The most relevant application of this principle is that you will often want to strafe or move right after you fire a shot. Make sure you get the shot off first before you start to strafe, otherwise you may think your aim was on, but the nano-second you started moving first ruined it.