Despite its simplicity compared to other competitive games, Counter-Strike is one of the hardest FPS titles to improve in. It’s easy to play and feel like your aim isn’t getting better and this often comes from a lack of solid practice, so keep reading to learn about the ways you can improve your mechanics.
There is no singular thing that makes a Counter-Strike player good, but the things that remain the foundation of skill in any FPS (especially Counter-Strike) are your mechanics. No matter how many strategies you know or how complex your utility is, at the end of the day, you need to be able to eliminate your opponent and there are several skills to practice to do that more effectively. These skills vary in complexity, but the constant across them is that they require deliberate, consistent practice to hone.
There is rarely a shortcut to improving something as instinctual as aim, but you can improve over time by learning the things that make up what is known as your mechanics.
The first thing you should do before starting to improve your skills is to find your sensitivity. If you play Counter-Strike on a new computer, the first thing you’d notice is that the sensitivity is off and there’s a reason for that: it is how you aim. Aiming is hitting a nail on the head and sensitivity is how you make the hammer fit you.
True sensitivity (aka eDPI) is calculated by multiplying your in-game sensitivity (pictured below) by your mouse’s DPI (ex. 1.5 sens, 800 DPI = 1200 eDPI). This means that playing on 400 DPI with 2.0 sensitivity is effectively the same as playing on 800 DPI with 1.0 sensitivity. The DPI you play with is not super relevant as long as you are consistent, though 400 and 800 are the most common among Counter-Strike players.
In-game sensitivity is what you’ll need to find to bring out your best mechanics. This is subjective as whatever feels best is ultimately fine, but there are a few things to consider. The vast majority of pro players have an eDPI between 600 and 1000 (on a DPI of 400 that means sensitivity between 1.5 and 2.5). This is probably quite a bit lower than what most are used to and it’s because, on average, better players use lower sensitivity. The average eDPI of a low Silver is 3000 and for the highest ranks it’s 1000.
Credit: www.tobyscs.com/optimal-mouse-settings-csgo/
This isn’t to say you can’t have a high sensitivity, but if you want to improve your mechanics and your eDPI is towards the Silver side of this chart, consider lowering it to within the 1000-2000 range. This is one of the most common things holding people back as many don’t realize how high their sensitivity is. It can take time to adjust, but a lower sensitivity is better for your aim, so give it a try.
Getting down to the nitty-gritty, the most important aspect of mechanics is what most people think of when they hear aim: your ability to put your mouse where the opponent is. This is the basic idea behind aiming and while it isn’t the only factor, it is the most essential because you exercise this skill in every fight you take.
Practicing this skill can be difficult as there is nothing you can learn to instantly improve your ability. However, there are two main ways to improve your raw aim, and both have advantages and disadvantages.
Get into a game of Deathmatch and just play for a while. It can be Valve’s official Deathmatch or community servers if you want a greater challenge. Do this consistently for around a half hour a few times a week, really focus on the game when you play, and you will see improvements over time. This is simple and easy because the goal when you’re playing is simple: kill opponents before they kill you.
The main benefit is that you’re playing on real maps against real players, which makes the experience similar to an actual game and gets you accustomed to playing against dynamic targets. It’s fast-paced and you don’t need to think much because the tempo is set by other people, and you can track progress easily through your KD.
Some people are opposed to this method as it can become mindless and easy to lose focus, meaning the practice isn’t as effective. People also come from everywhere on the map, meaning you aren’t learning useful angles for real matches. In Deathmatch, you’re doing a lot at once and this can distract you from practicing your aim, but it is a fun and easy way to improve mechanics.
Search “aim bots” on the Steam workshop, download any map, and just kill bots. They can be stationary, run toward you, or just be random. Spend around a half hour a few times a week on the map just killing bots. This can be less engaging than a deathmatch because you have to set the pace, but it is aim practice at its purest and will work your mechanics more directly.
Practicing in aim bots gives you the most control over how you practice. You can pick the range, the number of opponents, and the pace at which you kill because you are on your own. This allows you to be more precise and deliberate with how you practice. Your attention won’t be split between running around, predicting positions, and shooting because it’s just you and some bots.
This can be hard for some people to do though because it requires you to hold yourself accountable. No one is running around killing you if you play poorly so you need to make sure you’re actually practicing and not just sitting on the server. It’s also harder to track progress because instead of seeing your KD improve, you only feel the aim getting sharper.
Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Your choice will come down to personal preference and the most important thing is to be consistent with whichever you choose and commit to focused practice regularly.
The core idea behind raw aim is to put your crosshair where the enemy is. Crosshair placement takes that idea one step further and is the ability to put your crosshair where the enemy will be. This is less of something you practice (though you do practice it) and more of a concept you realize gives you an advantage, meaning this can improve your game quickly. Despite this, using it involves more thought than the instinct of raw aim and you will need some experience to do it effectively.
The easiest way to know if you’re doing this well is to pay attention during a match and see how often your crosshair is close to the enemy when they enter your screen. Are they appearing right where your crosshair is, or do you have to adjust every time because you’re looking down or in another direction? If you answered the latter, then you need to work on crosshair placement.
Here is a common angle you would hold as a CT on Dust II and two images, one where the crosshair placement is good (left) and one where it is bad (right):
If you catch yourself holding angles like the right picture, there are a few ways to fix it:
This is the single best tip to improve your aim. Put your crosshair higher so whenever you shoot you aren’t hitting the body, you’re going for the head. While the head is a smaller target, you only need to land a shot or two to kill instead of many. This works great for tapping and bursting rather than spraying, which will be discussed in more detail later.
When you’re holding an angle, don’t have your crosshair right against the wall. The enemy likely won’t peek slowly and if you hold the angle too tight, you won’t have time to react before shooting. Put your crosshair a little off the wall instead and give yourself time to respond so when you click, you kill.
This is one of the skills that separate good players from great ones. As you’re playing, be aware of where the enemy usually peeks from. This varies not only by the map but by position and what’s happening in the round. The idea is to try and picture where the enemy is based on your knowledge and team communication, guess where they are going, then aim there. This can be as simple as holding where players walk onto the site when the round starts or as complicated as predicting enemy movements in a clutch with no information. It’s easier said than done and you’ll never be perfect, but over time you will improve and it will bring your game to a whole new level.
While the majority of aiming is what you do to get the enemy in your crosshair, that’s not how you kill them. What you do after you get them in your sights is just as important as getting them there and there are two main ways to take out the enemy: tapping and spraying. Both have advantages and disadvantages, so choosing which to use during a fight is a crucial part of your mechanics.
The goal of tapping is to make every shot as accurate as possible. This is done by shooting slowly with space between every shot instead of holding down the trigger. This is one of the most reliable ways to eliminate the opposition because when you tap, you have complete control over your gun. You should aim at the head and be sure to not tap too fast or the accuracy will not reset between shots. Using the dynamic crosshair can help you visualize accuracy reset and get comfortable with the timing across different weapons.
Tapping is extremely effective at long ranges as you need to be as precise as possible on a smaller target. It is also useful in mid-range fights, especially if the enemy doesn’t know your position because if you tap the head, they have no chance to fight back. It can be difficult if the enemy is moving or very close because it’s harder to get a clean shot. Tapping is a reliable and fast way to kill enemies if your aim is sharp and it is an essential part of Counter-Strike.
The natural instinct of most Counter-Strike players is to spray at an enemy when they see them and while it does have its uses, spraying is more difficult and situational than tapping. When you spray, you hold the trigger to fire full-auto and this can kill more enemies quicker, but it is less reliable as spraying is extremely difficult. Every gun has a different recoil pattern, and these are hard to learn and execute, especially in the heat of a gunfight. However, if you practice the recoil and use it in the proper situations, spraying can be an excellent tool for your mechanics.
Spraying is great at close-mid ranges as the enemy is closer to you and it’s easier to land multiple shots on them, especially when tapping might be difficult. Spraying is not a great idea at long range as the recoil will be practically impossible to control enough to hit a smaller target, so always tapping is preferable. Spraying can be great to take down enemies fast, especially if you aren’t very confident in your aim, but it is hard to do and situational so remember to think before you spray.
Mechanics are the foundation of every Counter-Strike player’s skill and while many things outside of them can improve your game, ultimately, your mechanics are what will define much of your ability as a player. There are different parts of your mechanics from raw aim to how you shoot, and each is important to practice when getting better. There is no silver bullet to improving as skills take time to learn, but with the right mindset and a good plan, you can always push your game to new heights. Practice is the thing that separates the bad from the good and intelligent practice is what separates the good from the great, so use what you’ve learned, hop on the server, and get started.
