Thread: AWP tips

If you are a fellow AWP user and want to contribute, please do so. I don't claim to be an expert but I do have moderate success with the AWP in both pub and league play. Since we have a nice thread on countering the AWP, I figured we should have one on using it.

• I move a lot with the awp. Use your radar and your ears so you don't get flanked, and reposition after kills. Don't double peak unless you are confident. If you are always in the same spot (even during the same round) somebody will work out a plan to get you.
• When you are being a mobile awp, don't scope until you see the target. Practice quick switching so you can scope and shoot at almost the same time. This is how you will kill multiple targets rushing you vs. just one good kill and then dying.
• Quick switch instead of letting the awp scope out and back in automatically. That takes too long.
• Be ready to use your sidearm to defend once enemies get too close and then go right back to your awp for the people still approaching at medium to long range.
• Flash for a retreat when they bumrush you, which means you pick your spots carefully.
• Only when you know where an enemy is coming from and you have serious range should you scope in and wait for him to peak. Don't do this for long at the start of rounds or anything like that. This is a dangerous situation to be in, and it's how most people play with the awp. Camping is not how to use this gun, but it's one of the useful side-products.
• If you are rushing into a site with your team, try to get the first pick from safety and then let 2-3 guys with SMG and Rifles lead the way. They can get that guy sneaking on a corner better than you and you can pop in right behind and get the long range guys that are trying to pick them. Think about subway to A on Season. You can try a corner pick on the stairs or an upper A pick and let your team clear horshoe while you wait a half-second, then you pick elbow and cat to support the team. That's a proper AWP usage in the push when you have mixture of CQC and M/LRC.

If I had more time I would clean this up a bit, but the overall message is - don't get the awp and camp a spot and stay scoped in all the time. Support your team. Get an opening, cover them on the assault, get the hard picks, etc.

Here's some of my thoughts on how to awp properly.

1. Be mobile and aggressive. You do no one any good by sitting back in the same spot round after round picking the exact same spot every round. You need to be with your team and supporting them at all times. Examples would be on d2, watching the dd at mid so your team can get cat better, or hopping in pit and picking off guys in site while your team moves up to the site, getting that first pick into the site and letting your team clear the rest of the site while you support them.

2. Learn to quick scope, it will save you a lot. Quick scoping is pretty much zooming in on your target after you start moving your unzoomed cross hairs on them. It is by far and away the hardest thing to do with an awp and takes loads of practice. I think I have done almost 200 hours on muscle memory maps just practicing quick scoping.

3. If you are not able to quick scope or you have a superior advantage in location pre aim everything. If you can preaim where guys are going to peek, or cross over a certain you already better yourself as an awper 10 fold. This makes for either getting the first or second guy in the rush and pretty much scaring the rest of the team into backing off and reverting somewhere else.

4. And like Rad already said, know when to retreat and how to retreat. As an awper you are more valuable to your team alive than dead. This does not mean you abandon the objective or dont go for it entirely. It means you are putting yourself in a better position to kill the other team, OR delay any sort of rush coming towards you or a choke point. Flashes and smokes are your best friend.

5. Communicate with your team. Nothing pisses me off more than awper who does not relay any information at all. With that gun it is your responsibility to relay any and all information to your team. How many at what site, picks you got and where, is a spot open, etc. You have a better viewing angle and advantage to relay this crucial information to your team, so do it.

Keep the tips coming. I want more people to embrace the weapon instead of fearing it and maybe this can help.

I didn't spell it out, but I aim at my targets unzoomed (you develop a pretty good idea of where your crosshair is without resorting to the old school put a dot on your monitor trick). Then when I quick scope and shoot I may just barely move my mouse to hit the target. That means that the technique of always keeping your aim where targets may appear is even more crucial with the AWP. The less time you spend aiming the quicker you can kill your opponent.

Some people may have heard me joking about how I like to use the awp like a pump shotty. It's very possible to charge in and kill people in CQC with the awp, but it's also very risky. This is also done with quick scoping. Don't take the risk of a noscope. To some people observing (due to lag, etc.) it may at times look like a noscope but they are almost always quick scopes with those short range kills.

The only I can add is I use a bind so I can buy the AWP faster haha


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

I need to setup this bind because I hit b 4 6 or b 4 5 depending on team and it's slowww...

regarding jump shooting... (good tip)

When it's awp vs awp, you have a couple of tricks.

1. don't slow peak. ever. you're dead.
2. if it's a map like dust 2 and you can change your vertical position on the screen, you can do this (don't strafe back into the same spot)
3. You can use a crouch vs non-crouch
4. Jump normal, land then shoot
5. Jump and then hit the opposite direction and land short, shoot (so the awp traces your body and where it would normally land you aren't there)
6. use a screen from another player running across for you to trail and pick
7. run farther than normal and then double back for a quick shot (good for big open areas)

None of these are a guarantee against a good player, but the tip is to never slow peak because if they are already scoped in on your spot they will see you peaking before you see them, and possibly even see your shadow (like on d2).

p.s. don't try to awp when you haven't slept in 4 days.

These are all really helpful tips. I'm by no means a elite awper, but ever since I started scrimming I've been trying to pick it up. I will definitely try to use some of these tips and practice in the servers and deathmatch servers.

One thing I do different than most people I've played with is how I quick switch.

I actually hit my number keys above WASD to switch from awp -> pistol -> awp so I can be primed for my next scope+kill.

Most people I've played with use the actually quick switch button, but I think you have to hit it twice to get back to the awp. My theory is that I can use my ring finger + middle finger to do this quicker than I could hitting the same key twice with one finger. This may not be an advantage for you, but I wanted to throw it out there for people who may have been like me and not liked the default quickswitch method.