At the beginning of every round in casual and competitive play, you can choose between
a number of weapons, grenades and other items that will help you to win.
For now we'll just focus on the basics, but take it from me- there is a lot of depth to
this element of the game.
When the round starts, simply press the B button to access the buy menu.
You'll see these categories which can be opened by clicking on them, or by pressing the corresponding
buttons.
Pistols are the only option on the first round.
For the most-part they're cheap and don't do much damage.
The odd ones out are the deagle, which is very powerful but difficult to use, and the
CZ-75, a controversial automatic pistol that is almost like a compact rifle.
It used to be a lot better than it is now but it's still great for taking people down
at close-range.
Just be aware of the limited ammo.
Rifles are where most of the good weapons are located.
They're effective against armour, are accurate and can fire long distances.
There are also sniper rifles here, though I recommend you know how to use them before
buying them in proper matches!
Even with all the money in the world, most people will opt for something from the rifle
category as they're versatile weapons that can be used to great effect in the majority
of situations that Counter Strike can throw at you.
Fun fact: if you're new to the game, you may find the cheaper rifles better than the more
expensive ones since their spray patterns are much smaller, making recoil easier to
compensate for.
Experiment with the Famas and galil and see how you perform.
SMGs combine the damage of a pistol with the fire-rate of a rifle.
They're often ignored in CSGO since they're bad against armoured enemies, but they do
have uses.
Their spray is easy to control and they reward you more money than most weapons do when you
kill somebody with them.
There's one SMG that stands out from the others- the P90.
It's the most expensive, but may be chosen instead of rifles due to its fast rate of
fire and the sheer damage it can cause in close quarters combat.
Heavy weapons are gambles.
They consist of shotguns and machine guns, which can be effective but only if used in
a specific situation.
You can forget the machine guns if you want to do well- they're simply too expensive and
too difficult to use to justify.
Shotguns are a cheap way of equipping yourself with a dangerous close-quarters weapon and
they reward you a lot of money if you kill somebody with them.
Know the maps well before getting these.
Some weapon slots give you a choice.
For example, as CTs you can either have a P2000 or a USP-S as your starter pistol.
They both favour different play-styles- it's up to you to decide which one you'd rather
use- but you must choose before starting a game by going to the main menu, INVENTORY,
LOAD OUT.
You can see that I currently have the USP-S selected.
If I want to replace it with the P2000 instead, I do this.
Easy.
The only other choices you have are in the fourth pistol slot and the CT's choice of
rifle.
I can toggle between the CT and T loadout by clicking on this icon in the middle.
That's as far as I'm going to cover it in this video, since the decisions are worth
a video in their own right.
They're all there for a reason- it's up to you to test them out for yourself.
You can hold up to 3 grenades in casual play, and 4 in competitive.
You're limited to one of each type apart from the flash bangs, of which you can hold two
of in competitive play.
They deserve a video of their own since there's too much to say here.
Most rounds I prioritise weapons and armour over buying grenades, but there are some occasions
where choosing grenades instead can benefit your team.
Like I said, it's a complicated topic.
Only get them if you know how to use them.
Too many people simply buy grenades just because they can and then waste them.
All this money quickly adds up- don't get into the bad habit of throwing away money
on items that aren't going to help you!
And finally, gear.
Armour is a great idea to get as soon as possible, even if it means you have to get a cheaper
weapon to afford it.
You'll find a weapon here as well.
The Zeus is like a slightly longer-ranged one hit kill knife that can only be fired
once.
It's not often seen in serious games but is great for embarrassing and enraging your foes.
Last but not least, defuse kit.
Only Counter Terrorists can get this.
It normally takes 10 seconds to defuse the bomb, but with a kit it takes just 5.
But should you buy one?
That $400 investment could go towards a couple of grenades, a helmet or a better weapon instead!
Plus, it's not as though every round the terrorists even manage to plant the bomb, and even if
they do it's often either defused in time or not attempted at all.
The chances of needing a defuse kit are small, but if you lose because you don't have one,
your team will HATE you.
As far as I'm concerned, as long as a few of your team-mates have them then you don't
need to worry if money is tight.
Buying one is always considered a 'smart' thing to do and you'll never be criticised
for doing so.
If you have money to spare, a defuse kit is a good investment, or else, wait until a teammate
dies and pick up theirs.
On hostage rescue maps, it's replaced with a Rescue Kit that reduces the time it takes
to pick up a hostage from 5 to 1 second.
It's not quite as essential as a defuse kit is but you're vulnerable while picking hostages
up so if you don't trust your teammates to be there to cover you, it might be worth getting
one.
Ideally you use the time before the round starts to buy things.
You really want to be ready to move the moment you can so that you can get the best position
possible.
Because of this it is important to get familiar with the buy menu and to memorise where your
favourite weapons are so that you can buy them quickly.
If you're struggling with this, it IS possible to make it so that you can buy certain items
just by pressing buttons on your keyboard- I'll link to a guide in the description of
this video.
And finally, did you know that you can return to the buyzone after the round starts?
You can see where it is on the radar.
Make sure you're in the buyzone and this icon will appear on the side of the screen, signifying
that you can now buy items.
In casual play you can use it for the first 45 seconds, in competitive just the first
20.
What's most useful about this is that it lets you re-stock your ammunition!
Simply walk into your buyzone and your ammo will automatically be replenished for free.
This is particularly useful for weapons such as the CZ-75, which has very little reserve
ammunition.
And that covers the basics of the buy menu.
Now it's time to move on to the scoreboard, HUD and radar!
You can make it any colour you want.
Even BROWN!