AWP

"I’m gonna grab this range rifle."

- Bill

"Gonna scope some Smoker ass with this."

- Coach

The AWP (short for Arctic Warfare Police) is a Tier 2 weapon in Left 4 Dead 2. It is a bolt-action variant of the Hunting Rifle, being one of the two bolt-action firearms in the game along with the Scout. In addition to having the second highest magazine capacity of any sniper rifle, this rifle inflicts a high amount of damage per shot — second only to that dealt out by shotguns measured on a per-shot basis. This makes it effective for engaging Common Infected and weaker Special Infected from afar, and makes it good for engaging the Horde in narrow environments.

In exchange for its high-caliber rounds, the AWP is very slow in many areas: it has the slowest rate of fire of any firearm (excluding the Grenade Launcher), the slowest reload speed (excluding the shotgun family when reloaded from empty and the Grenade Launcher), and its accuracy drops heavily whilst moving. When scoped in, it also has very strong recoil after every shot, meaning it is difficult to use against extremely distant targets. Its additional damage is also not sufficient to make up for its very poor rate of fire, giving it worse damage-per-second than a single P220 Pistol; due to this, it is extremely poor against Special Infected up close, and it is the second worst primary weapon to use against The Tank and The Witch, along with the Scout.

Overall, the AWP should be treated like a "Special Tier" weapon, and users should cover their team from behind to prevent being overwhelmed by infected. Depend on your actual secondary weapon (a Melee weapon or Pistol variant) for large hordes, while using the AWP as a "secondary" for stragglers and emergency engagements.

Like all international Counter-Strike: Source weapons, the AWP was only available in the censored German version of the game prior to The Last Stand Community Update. As of said update, it is half as likely to replace any Tier 2 Sniper Rifle variant spawned.

Tactics

 * Take advantage of its accuracy and higher damage per shot to take down Special Infected from far away.
 * It is better accompanied with a melee weapon because of its extremely low rate of fire and bolt-action nature.
 * Always keep the distance from the Common Infected, as you can easily get surrounded by them with no defense if you do not have a melee weapon.
 * Always stand still or crouch while using the AWP, especially when using ammo upgrades.
 * Players using this gun should be the last of the group to kill the few Common or Special Infected left behind and to give extra penetration when facing Hordes.
 * Although its damage is not sufficient enough to make a difference against most Special Infected compared to using a Hunting or Sniper Rifle, the AWP is capable of one-tapping Spitters at very high ranges.
 * Along with the Scout, the AWP has the unfortunate quirk of reloading much slower when empty, since there is a long pause between the bolt-action animation and the actual reloading animation. To avoid this, it is recommended to reload with one bullet remaining in the magazine, or interrupt the bolt animation by shoving.
 * Unlike the shotguns, players can skip the bolt animation by shooting and shoving at the same time to increase DPS. However, it should not be done too many times with a brief interval to prevent melee fatigue.

Pros

 * Highest damage per shot of the all firearms except shotguns and the Grenade Launcher.
 * Second highest sniper magazine capacity (20 rounds).
 * The highest total damage of all weapons, excluding Tier 2 shotguns and the AK-47.
 * Firing and shoving at the same time can increase its DPS.

Cons

 * Low fire rate, behind all weapons except the Grenade Launcher.
 * Very high recoil when scoped, making the user take more time to line up the next shot.
 * Slowest reload time of all non-shotgun non-special tier primary weapons; reload starts even slower if reloaded from empty, due to the bolt animation having a fixed pause before the actual reload animation starts.
 * Terrible weapon of choice as self-defense when surrounded by Infected.
 * Extremely bad for Crescendo Events.
 * Out of all the weapons in the game, it takes the second longest time to kill a Tank, behind even the pistols. On Normal, it would take the AWP 41 seconds to kill the Tank with it, while the pistols dual-wielded would take 20.
 * Second lowest damage-per-second out of all weapons in the game (including sidearms), except the Scout. The pistols deal 65 more damage every second than the AWP when both are fired as fast as possible.
 * Firing and shoving at the same time may introduce melee fatigue if done too many times, rendering the user temporarily vulnerable during the melee shove cooldown.

Gallery
AWP AWP