Counter-Strike Weapons

German censorship laws caused Valve to port certain weapons from Counter-Strike: Source into the game sold in the German market. There are five Counter-Strike Weapons: Combat Knife, H&K MP5, SIG SG552, Steyr Scout and Accuracy International AWSM.

All CSS Weapons were made available for all PC players after The Last Stand update in 2020. Initially, this page was created to assist players owning the German version of the game or who play with someone who does.

Combat Knife
"Grabbin' a bread slicer."

- Ellis

The Combat Knife is a slashing weapon, similar to a Katana or Machete, but with a higher speed, this weapon can spawn in any campaign, although it is rare to find more than two in a given campaign. Despite the Combat Knife's smaller size, its reach or range matches that of any other melee weapon.

Melee Mechanics
Melee weapons replace Pistols in the secondary weapon slot. Unlike Pistols, close combat weapons never need to be reloaded and cannot run out of ammo (excluding the Chainsaw). They have two main drawbacks: a limited reach and (with a few exceptions) relatively long cooldown periods. Close combat weapons cause minimal friendly fire damage to the Survivors, even on Advanced and Expert difficulty levels (the Chainsaw is an exception).

These weapons are extremely effective. All melee weapons, on all difficulties, kill Common Infected and most Special Infected in one hit, aside from the Charger (which takes two — but see point below), the Witch (which takes four), and the Tank (which takes twenty, excluding the Chainsaw). Due to their death effects, it is generally advised to melee neither the Boomer (unless there is no choice) nor the Spitter (unless it is possible to move away immediately from the resulting acid splash).

The melee weapons appear to do more damage if an Infected's head or upper body is targeted. With the correct timing it is possible to kill a Charger with one hit while he is charging, allowing a Survivor to "level" a charge without first dealing damage to the Charger and to gain the achievement LEVEL A CHARGE.

H&K MP5
The H&K MP5 belongs to the submachine gun class. If it has been allowed to spawn, it can spawn anywhere in a campaign, especially in safe rooms. It has a lower fire rate than the other Submachine Gun variants in the game, but to balance this, the H&K MP5 has slightly higher accuracy than the standard ones whilst its damage is nearly identical to that of the Silenced Submachine Gun (although, due to the lower fire rate, its damage per second is still equal to that of the former).

As with the Assault Rifle, it occupies the "middle ground" of the Submachine Gun variants on account of its adaptability to meet the demands of nearly every combat situation.

Tactics

 * Best used at medium-long range, as its rate of fire is lower, thus giving it low effectiveness in close combat. Take advantage of its accuracy!
 * Best combined with a Magnum Pistol for long range and Special Infected.
 * During Hordes, keep a distance from the main body of them. You do not want to get surrounded by a Horde without a melee weapon.
 * Always shoot in bursts to save ammo and to preserve its high accuracy.
 * With Special Infected at long ranges, always crouch and shoot in longer bursts.
 * With Incendiary and Explosive ammunition, wait until the Common Infected get closer to you and shoot in bursts. This will drastically decrease the chance of wasting precious ammo upgrades.

Pros

 * High accuracy at medium ranges.
 * Very large reserve ammo supply.
 * Higher damage compared to the regular Submachine Gun and similar to the silenced one.
 * Easiest submachine gun to conserve ammo with due to the lower fire rate.

Cons

 * Lowest rate of fire of the submachine guns.
 * Burst shooting is not as effective as other submachine guns although the method is advisable.
 * Lower damage per second than dual P220 Pistols, if the pistols are fired as fast as possible.

Krieg 552 Commando
The SIG SG-552 is a fully automatic assault rifle, very similar in capability to the standard in-game Assault Rifle. It has a 2x scope which accentuates its long range accuracy, much like a Hunting Rifle or a Sniper Rifle, but not nearly to the same degree as either of these weapons. Using the scope also reduces the weapon's rate of fire.

When used without sighting through the scope the SG-552 has extremely tight crosshairs when fired from a standing-still posture on account of the fact that it is a hybrid assault-sniping rifle. The damage per shot is the same as the Assault Rifle, but it fires two more shots per minute. Reloading time is longer than that of the Assault Rifle, but is still faster than the Combat Rifle.

Tactics

 * This weapon is suitable for all ranges due to its scope and high rate of fire. When using the scope, the rate of fire will decrease, compensating for accuracy.
 * To preserve ammo, shoot in short bursts, or use the scope to limit its rate of fire.
 * Instead of crouching for long ranges, take advantage of the scope, as the accuracy will be pretty high.
 * When using an ammo upgrade, try your best to fire single shots and use the scope for medium range to prevent waste of precious ammunition.
 * Best accompanied with a melee weapon to preserve ammo in indoor areas and when surrounded by Infected.

Pros

 * Highest rate of fire of all weapons except submachine guns.
 * When using the scope, it is very accurate.
 * Suitable for practically all ranges.
 * Fast reloading time although a little slower than the Assault Rifle.
 * When equipped with laser sights the accuracy will be increased significantly. The scope will have basically perfect aim.

Cons

 * If a careless player uses the weapon in full auto the whole time the ammo reserves will rapidly deplete.
 * Low damage per shot compared to the other assault rifles, but same as the M16.
 * Difficult to fire single shots.
 * Not very accurate at medium range while mobile.
 * Sacrifices effectiveness for versatility. At long range, the Hunting Rifle and Sniper Rifle are both more accurate and deal more damage per second. At mid or close range, the Assault Rifle reloads faster without sacrificing damage output and the AK-47 deals more damage per second.

Steyr Scout
The Steyr Scout is a bolt-action sniper rifle.

The magazine capacity, accuracy, and damage are very similar to the Hunting Rifle, but the rate of fire is significantly lower. In combination with a Laser sight, this weapon has extremely high accuracy even while the Survivor is running. Despite this, many players claim that it is arguably better to choose a Sniper Rifle or Hunting Rifle as they have a much higher rate of fire.

A glitch may occur while firing the weapon. When firing consecutive shots, the next shot can be fired before the breech is closed and locked. However, this is because the bolting animation is calibrated for an attack interval of 1.05s sharing the interval of AWP than 0.90s.

Tactics

 * At longer ranges, the Steyr Scout is good to take down wanderers (in higher difficulties) due to its high penetration, especially in narrow areas.
 * It is very advisable to have a melee weapon as a secondary weapon as the Steyr Scout is accurate while moving in medium ranges but is a very poor choice against a horde in close proximity.
 * High areas are good for this sniper rifle since the Infected will have more difficulty reaching you and you can shoot them from further away.

Pros

 * Very accurate sniper even when moving.
 * Inflicts high damage per shot.

Cons

 * Low rate of fire, although not as slow as the Accuracy International AWSM.
 * A very poor choice against a Horde.
 * Out of all the weapons in the game, it would take the longest to kill a Tank. Even the pistols would do much better. On Normal, it would take 48 seconds to kill the Tank with it. In comparison, the pistols dual-wielded would take 20.
 * Lowest Damage Per Second of any weapon in the game. All other weapons in the game have a higher DPS, including sidearms. A single P220 Pistol deals 75 more damage every second than this weapon when both are fired at their fastest.

Accuracy International AWSM
The Accuracy International AWSM is a bolt-action sniper rifle but, unlike the other "German version" weapons, there is no Left 4 Dead 2 weapon that matches it precisely. This rifle inflicts a high amount of damage per shot — second only to that dealt out by Shotguns measured on a per-shot basis.

It has the slowest rate of fire (excluding the Grenade Launcher) of any firearm in the game and its accuracy whilst moving is very low so it is only effective against a Horde in narrow environments when standing still. This rifle comes into its own when engaging enemies such as weaker Special Infected from afar. However using it against a Witch or Tank is not recommended due to its low rate of fire. Compared to the Steyr Scout, the AWSM inflicts slightly more damage per second on account of its powerful .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge.

Tactics

 * Take advantage of its accuracy and higher damage per shot to take down Special Infected from far away.
 * Better accompanied with a melee weapon because of its extremely low rate of fire.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Always stand still or crouch while using the AWSM, especially when using ammo upgrades.

Pros

 * Highest damage per shot of the all firearms except shotguns and the Grenade Launcher.
 * Second highest sniper magazine capacity.
 * The highest total damage of all weapons, except the Tier 2 shotguns and the AK-47.

Cons

 * Low fire rate, behind all weapons except the Grenade Launcher.
 * Too slow to use 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 AWSM 41 seconds to kill the Tank with it, while the pistols dual-wielded would take 20.
 * Lower Damage Per Second than any weapon in the game, except the Steyr Scout. All other weapons in the game have a higher DPS (including sidearms). The pistols deal 65 more damage every second than the AWSM when both are fired as fast as possible.