Counter-Strike: Source basic guides

[Cuchillo_Baishan]

This was made mainly for total beginners...for archival purposes and over several posts, I'm going to rescue here some ancient interesting material that has disappeared from the internet, or is in danger of being removed forever. When the sources are still miraculously alive, I'll post the links of the places where that material was found.

Whisper's Wiki - Introduction to Counter-Strike:



Whisper's Wiki - Basic War Strategy Guide:



Whisper's Wiki - Counter-Strike: Source Bomb Plant Locations



This is no longer easy to find online, so I'm hosting it myself. Edit: found Whisper's website, the original author, but not the wiki, though.

[Cuchillo_Baishan]

How to beat an Awp



Ahh, yes... the awp, nearly every game has its own "ultimate sniper rifle" equivalent and they usually have the same basic properties: deadly accurate, long range zoom, instant kills with nearly every bullet, and an explosive "boom" that shakes the walls of the battlefield and makes every opponent second guess exposing his body. Who wouldn't love it!? Oh, that's right... you... the dude on the other end of the scope who's brains are about to leave a nasty stain on the wall. Don't worry my friend, all is not lost; the awp can be beat, even in the hands of the most elite snipers, and we'll show you how!

The Awp's Weaknesses

Okay, so we've covered what makes the awp deadly... instant kills, check. But this comes with a price, the game is more balanced than the "n00b cannon" whiners would lead you to believe. The awp has many weaknesses...

Awpers usually give away their position - That booming sound of raw power may make the awper feel powerful, but after 1 shot he just gave away his approximate position. The hunt is on...
An awper is a sitting duck - The gun can't be fired with even the most remote accuracy while moving, and "no scoping" is an art very few can dream to master. This means he has to stop, flick the zoom, and then line up the next shot.
1 bullet at a time - The awp gives you 1 shot at a time, there's not panic spray and pray mode. If an awper misses his shot, you've got a couple of seconds to make a move before he's going to fire again... use them wisely because he may not miss again.
You know where they are - This isn't desert storm. I hate to break the "get into the game" frame of mind, but the fact remains that once you've played a map a few times you probably know where the awpers like to camp.
Field of view - This isn't quite as big a weakness for the good awpers that can quickly scan areas and/or use reduced zoom, but in general an awper is looking down their scope trying to line up a shot, if they're not cornered down a 1 entrance hallway you may have an opportunity to see them first with your wider field of view.
You can buy one too - If an awper is pinning you down, and he's such a "n00b", then buy yourself one and duke it out!

How to hunt the hunter

Use the weaknesses above to your advantage... locate the awper, hunt him down and finish him off before he gets a chance. Here are some of the key tactics in your arsenal once you find him:

Throw a Flash - If you know his location, you can flash him. Hit him hard and make your move... you've only got a few seconds though, so make them count.
Rush him - If you are in relatively close quarters with an awper you can often dodge their scope and charge him. Scoped weapons are pretty tough to control in face-to-face combat, especially with a spray from an automatic weapon.
Burst fire - 1 bullet in the head from an AK47 or M4 is really all it takes to kill someone... even long range, who needs an awp at all? You better be fast and have your aim well trained though.
Stealth - Usually there is more than 1 way to reach an awper. You may have to take out all his teammates guarding the back entrance first, but it there is almost always a way to get in behind him. If you can do it he won't have a chance... his eyes are too focused down the narrow scope to see you coming.
Bate the shot - You can often bate an awper to take his shot by quickly exposing a sliver of your body around a wall, or even taking a fake shot into the wall before you step out. Once you hear his shot, you have a small window of opportunity to make a move before he can fire again... take him out or use it move to new cover closer to the enemy.
Enter the Matrix - Yes, I realize the bullet is instantaneous and you won't be dodging it quite like Neo, but this is a serious tip. If an awper takes his shot and misses, you have a huge timing advantage... you know when he'll fire again. Count the seconds, let him think he's got you lined up again, then quickly dodge the next shot. It only takes a slight movement, and with a little practice can be done (within reason).

Awp vs. Awp

Alright hotshot, so you think you have what it takes to duke it out on a level playing field? I'll save the specifics of awping in general for another article, but "bating the shot" as described above combined with tactics from our article on angles on how to use the map to your advantage are probably 2 of the keys to an awp war.



Introduction to Angles

What are angles?



The term "angle" in Counter-strike is used to define one's line-of-sight in the game. The better your angle, the better line-of-sight you will have on your target(s).

Most players do not realize that having a bad angle may make them visible to their opponent(s) even if they cannot see them. This is why knowing angles on every map is important. The good news is that once you understand how angles work, you'll minimize times when you'll be shot from places you could not see.

In the examples below, the terrorist on dust2 can clearly see the counter-terrorist, yet the counter-terrorist cannot see the terrorist. The terrorists have the angle advantage.




Why?

The problem the CT faces is that he is much closer to the obstacle(double-doors) blocking his line-of-sight, than that of the terrorist. Because the terrorist is much further away from the double-doors, he has a much greater angle of sight, and is able to pick off the CT much easier. Therefore, in dust2, the terrorists have a superior advantage through middle; only an extremely skilled CT awper should dare pick the terrorists.

The general rule

There is a general rule to follow to maximize your angle of sight:

"It is better to be as far back as possible from a obstacle(corner) than to be close up."

It is important that you understand that this rule only applies if your opponent is "playing the same angle". If you and your opponent have different obstructions blocking your line-of-sight, being further away could be a disadvantage. This is why it's of key importance to know and learn the angles for every map; where to stand to maximize your angle of sight.



Grenade Tactics



Grenades are one of the most important aspects of CS: Source. One Flashbang can kill your whole team or save your whole team; it's as simple as that.

The Flashbang

As I just mentioned, the Flashbang is a very powerful tool in CS: Source, but how do you use them? Well this is quite simple in theory; in summary: keep them unexpected and high. Protecting yourself from a Flashbang directly above you is almost impossible, even if you duck and look into a corner you still get flashed for a few seconds. Try it yourself, throw a Flashbang into the air, look at the ground and see the WSoD (White Screen of Death).

Another advantage of throwing Flashbangs high is that they are harder to spot, therefore the enemy has less time to react. There are some positions where it's not possible to get the Flashbang high into the air without making yourself vulnerable. In these cases you need to get the Flashbang just about round the corner when it goes off. This makes it almost impossible to avoid unless your enemy was looking away in the first place. To do this throw the flash at the floor about a meter away from where you want it to go and it will bounce around the corner.

Identifying Decoys

Avoiding Flashbangs takes a lot of practice. It requires fast reactions and a lot of thinking. You may think it's as easy as turning away, but it is much harder than that if you want to reap all the benefits. Many times even identifying the grenade being thrown at you can be difficult. As Achtung mentions in his article for Smoke grenades, they can be used as fake Flashbangs. Smoke grenades look nearly identical to the Flashbang apart from the fact that they are primarily grey with no yellow stripes on them. This can be used to identify a decoy. Now, if you turn away from an HE grenade, it can be fatal as you get hit for a lot more damage in the back than if you remained facing the exploding grenade. Obviously HE grenades are far easier to spot than a Smoke grenade decoy. The He grenade is an entirely different shape, it's green and if that's not enough for you, it sounds a lot deeper and clunkier when hitting walls or objects than Smoke or Flash grenades.

Flashbangs are the most useful grenade for disorienting your opponent and can act as a decoy too. A single Flashbang can flash multiple defending opponents; giving you the upper hand as they will have no clue what's going on. They can't tell if you are rushing or not, so they will call for backup. At this point you can then rush another site, or pick off the rotators.

The HE Grenade

The HE grenade is also a useful tool, although not as useful as the disorienting Flashbang overall. The most important tactic implemented with He grenades is the "double nade". Two or more defending players both throw their grenades into a confined space where the enemy could be rushing (such as long A on de_dust2). Even if the HE grenades do not end up not right next to the enemy, as long as each grenade does 50 damage to the enemy player, then they will be dead because there are two or more grenades. This "double nade" tactic in Counter-Strike Source broadens the AOE (area of effect) by increasing the damage.

TIP

Remember, as I mentioned in the Flashbang section, you take less damage in the front with a HE grenade than the back, so if you see one coming in your direction, look at it and jump backwards. HE grenades are really one of the main reasons to buy body armor. Wearing body armor decreases the damage taken from grenades by quite a bit

A quick guide to smoke grenades

Smokes are used commonly, and quite obviously, to protect teammates from snipers, or to block enemy sight as you (or your team) advance. There are other applications these little guys can be used for however:

-As a decoy. For example, throwing a smoke in de_dust2 as T over the middle building to the stairs of short A, or over the doors of long a while your team boogies in an opposite direction.
-As cover while you pot shot at known peeking locations of enemies.
-As a fake flash. Throw it and run right behind it! A large portion of players will turn their backs or run away, giving you a great chance to get right up behind them before they even realize they've been duped.

There are however, some tactics that any player can employ to counter a smoke.

-Double tapping known peek locations that are covered in smoke.
-Tossing some frags into the smoke to tear apart any foe trying to sneak through it.
-Make an effort to note the color of a grenade to ensure it's actually a flash before taking evasive actions. If you see it's just a solid grey grenade, you have time to set your crosshairs up and just wait for the enemy to run into them.
-Or quite simply, using your radar to target enemies through smoke. This works even better as more of your teammates are in the area, as their enemy blips will also update your radar.

You can use the radar to aim your shots! With enough headshot practice, you should be able to judge where head level is, then use the radar to line 'em up and take 'em down.



All this guides originally made by nextlevelgamer.com, still available online as of march 2020 and there are a few more on CS: Source tactics, check the link.

[Cuchillo_Baishan]

Location callouts of the most popular, and competitive maps...

de_cpl_mill




de_season




de_cbble




de_dust




de_dust2




de_cpl_strike




de_inferno




de_nuke




de_train




de_aztec




...and overviews of the official maps.




The location callots were originally made by members of the Veterans Of America (http://www.voanet.com) gaming community, which is long gone. Some of them are still kept online at the writing time by NextLevelGamer.com, others not.

I'm not sure who made the overviews, possibly Valve. I found them alive and rescued them from here.

[Cuchillo_Baishan]

These guides were grabbed from http://www.counterstrikestrats.com/, before they sink into the internet abyss forever.

Counter Strike Guide and Tips



Counter-Strike: Counter-Terrorist Side Guide and Tips



Counter-Strike: Terrorist Side Guide and Tips