The SSG 08 costs just $1,700 and is the budget sniper rifle.
The AWP costs $4,750 and is effectively a one-hit killing machine.
The two autosnipers both cost $5,000 and are practically the same in every way, as discovered
in my previous comparison video.
Because of this, my main focus in this video will be on the AWP and scout though I will
occasionally throw in the autosnipers for comparison.
Unlike the autosnipers, bolt-action rifles such as the SSG 08 and AWP need to be reloaded
after every shot.
This means that they have a lower firerate and that you have to click for every shot,
and between these you're vulnerable for about a second.
Even when you are able to fire again, it pays to take a fraction of a second to aim since
your inaccuracy will be reduced during this time.
You see people doing noscopes, but it's not always a good idea since the accuracy when
unscoped is rather poor.
Here's a result of 40 shots, each 2 seconds apart.
The autosnipers are best, closely followed by the SSG 08 and the AWP trailing way behind.
However, zoom in and the tables are turned.
The SSG08 is poorest, followed by the autos and with the AWP sporting the most accuracy.
Bear in mind that I compared scoped accuracy at 4,096 units, a distance further than any
situation you'll encounter in-game.
Zooming in with the weapons gives you an unquestionable advantage- here's the AWP at 512 units when
scoped in, just to give you a taste of how accurate it can be when compared with noscope.
But that's not the end of the story.
I said earlier that it's best to stay scoped for a while before firing for maximum accuracy.
It turns out that the amount of time you need to do this for varies with each weapon.
The SSG 08 only takes 3/10 of a second to get to 90% accuracy and half a second for
all of it.
Although the AWP and Autosniper have a HIGHER accuracy, it takes far longer to achieve this.
In fact, it takes the AWP about 0.7 seconds and the autosniper 0.9 seconds to match the
SSG 08 for accuracy and over a second to get to their maximum accuracy.
This makes the more expensive snipers better for defending from an entrenched position,
rather than for quick-scopes and reaction shots which is what the SSG 08 excels at.
In addition to this, here are the firerates for the weapons.
Of course, the autos are the best but what's interesting is that the SSG08 reloads .2 seconds
faster than the AWP.
This, as well as earlier factors, make the SSG08 the best sniper to use for Quake3 players
who jump about taking pot-shots at people.
If you fire at the fastest possible speed with snipers, the AWP and SSG08 will not become
more inaccurate with later shots since time-wise they're far enough apart to reset accuracy
already.
The autos, however, will have a recoil pattern which I covered in the previous video.
Quick-switching will NOT speed up reload rate for any sniper in any situation.
There is an invisible timer that leaves you standing there unable to fire until it's up,
even if the animation for it ended seconds before.
The reason that quick-switching is still useful is because it allows you to get out of the
scoped mode without having to cycle through the zooms and you can maintain more mobility
whilst doing so.
Onto damage.
All of the snipers deliver considerably more damage than the other rifles in CS:GO.
The autos deliver the least and they take either one headshot or 2 regular hits to take
down enemies regardless of armour.
The scout has the added bonus of killing enemies with one hit in the stomach if they don't
have armour, and the AWP kills people instantly anywhere apart from in the legs, but even
that will reduce them to low health.
The damage fall-off is just 1% for the AWP and 2% for the others for every 500 units,
making them effective at long range.
Which is kind of what you'd expect.
All snipers share the joint greatest penetration value in the game.
I'll study exactly how this compares with other weapons in another video, but it can
pass through 4 surfaces, making a 5-man possible.
I'm not going to theorize on how I managed this when I have only managed 4 since, but
at least now you know it can be done.
Combine the penetration with increased damage and less distance drop-off and it makes spamming
walls an effective tactic, particularly with the autos which have the disposable magazine
capacity and high fire-rates.
The kill reward is $300 if you eliminate players with either the scout or the auto snipers.
The AWP earns you just $100.
Combine this with the AWP's high cost and your economy will be at a disadvantage if
you choose to be a sniper with this weapon.
Clip size for all snipers is, in my opinion, very generous.
Autos have 20 shots each which is more than enough for most situations- in fact, it makes
it a great weapon to spam down the middle of Dust2 with at the beginning of the round.
Aside from that the autos don't have much purpose for the rushing T-side, but hey.
The AWP and SSG08 both have magazine sizes of 10, but bear in mind that there's also
a delay between each shot since they're bolt-action.
Movement speed is fascinating.
The AWP restricts you to 200 units a second, or 150 when scoped.
The auto snipers weigh in at 215, or 150 when scoped... while with the SSG08 lets you move
at 230 units even when scoped in!
Firing when moving is a no-no with all snipers, but the SSG 08 remains the best of the bunch.
Yet another bonus for Quake players.
But the biggest bonus is jumping accuracy.
We've all heard about this and it's true- the SSG 08 becomes almost fully accurate while
jumping, particularly around the peak of the jump.
The horrendous problems with CS:GO's hitboxes deliver a double whammy, making the sniper
in question difficult to hit while pulling this stunt.
The AWP also has a strange perk.
If you land while in scoped mode the inaccuracy is just a 1/3 compared with landing when unscoped.
When it comes to reloading, the SCAR20 auto sniper is the fastest, followed by the SSG08
and then the AWP, with the G3SG1 coming last.
If I had to guess I'd say that this will be changed at some point since it seems excessive
for a gun that's so similar to the SCAR20 in almost every other way to have such a drawback.
All weapons take 1.05 seconds to equip and to fire apart from the AWP which takes 1.3
seconds, cementing its place as a heavy weapon that requires planning to use.
The zoom power of the weapons tells the same story.
All snipers zoom in the same amount with the first level of zoom, but the AWP has a stronger
second level of zoom than the others.
If used properly this can work to its advantage but you have to be aware of the increased
tunnel vision that you'll encounter with this weapon.
All snipers slow players down when hit.
Apart from the G3SG1, they all slow people down to 40% when shot in the legs, or 35%
elsewhere.
The G3SG1 only slows them down to 65% in the legs or 50% elsewhere.
Not sure why it's worse in this regard, I suspect Valve of updating this at some point
and of rendering this entire video obsolete!
Oh and none of the snipers fire tracers.
Just thought I'd throw that in there.
In conclusion, the SSG 08 is a cheap and powerful tool in the right hands.
It has fast accuracy bonuses and the jumping perk mentioned previously makes it annoying
to face in combat.
The reduction in damage compared with more expensive snipers is more than compensated
for by its low price.
The AWP is the big Daddy of CS:GO weapons.
The body and arms are also one-hit kill areas with this weapon, but the down-side is that
it's a slow weapon to use and you're a sitting duck in close-quarters combat.
It has its place in the game but isn't always the best choice, depending on situation and
the economy of your team.
The autosnipers have been mentioned before.
The SCAR-20 is the superior weapon and its use on CT-side suits its strengths in defuse
maps.
At just $250 more than the AWP it's a decent alternative that comes into its own when fending
off multiple enemies at once.
All weapons have their place within the game, a good player will understand that and will
choose their weapon accordingly.
Thanks again to SlothSquadron who helped to get the facts and figures correct for this
video, check out a spreadsheet of figures that he and BlackRetina have made in the description
of this video.