Scout

The Steyr Scout 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 AWP. Compared to the Hunting Rifle, it has an identical magazine capacity, higher reserve ammunition, and higher damage, but significantly lower rate of fire due to its bolt-action nature.

The Scout's main draw is its impressive accuracy for a sniper rifle: while it shares its accuracy and crosshair bloom with the Hunting Rifle, its bolt-action nature lets the crosshair reset after every shot. This makes it very accurate even when moving, and it has the fastest reload of its type, making it surprisingly capable of attacking while on the move and having the least vulnerability out of all sniper rifles while reloading. In combination with a Laser sight, its accuracy improves significantly to the point it can perform hit-and-run tactics. Thanks to it being bolt-action, it is also very difficult to run out of ammo with the Scout. Despite this, its fire rate is a notable drawback, as the user is likely to get swarmed by a horde and is left vulnerable if they miss their shots. Its additional damage is also not sufficient to make up for its 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 worst primary weapon to use against The Tank and The Witch.

Overall, the Steyr Scout is more suited for long-range engagements that require constant repositioning. Due to its unique traits for a sniper rifle, it is ideal to treat the Scout like a "Special Tier" weapon: depend on your actual secondary weapon (a Melee weapon or Pistol variant) for large hordes, while using the Scout as a "secondary" for stragglers and emergency engagements.

Like all international Counter-Strike: Source weapons, the Steyr Scout 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

 * 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 depend on your 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, especially if one misses shots.
 * 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.
 * Although its damage is not sufficient enough to make a difference against most Special Infected compared to using a Hunting or Sniper Rifle, the Scout is capable of one-tapping Spitters at very high ranges.
 * Along with the AWP, the Scout has the unfortunate quirk of starting a reload 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.

Pros

 * Very accurate sniper even when moving; accuracy improves significantly with a Laser Sight, making it good on the move.
 * Fastest reload speed of all sniper rifles.
 * Second highest bullet damage of any non-shotgun/Special Tier firearm.
 * Very difficult to run out of ammo due to its bolt-action nature and high reserve ammunition.
 * Stays in place while reloading, keeping the flashlight centered.
 * Fires faster if the user immediately shoves after every shot.

Cons

 * Second lowest rate of fire of all non-Special Tier weapons, which doesn't compensate for its high bullet damage.
 * 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, including sidearms. A single P220 Pistol deals 75 more damage every second than this weapon when both are fired at their fastest.
 * Extremely slow reload if reloaded from empty, due to the bolt animation having a fixed pause before the actual reload animation starts.
 * Shoving to make the Scout fire faster will quickly cause melee fatigue.