How to Aim in CS2: Peek, Pre-aim, Tracking & How to Practice?

A good aim is the cornerstone of a successful game in any team shooter and CS2 is no exception. Your aiming skills allow you to kill enemies efficiently and stay alive longer than anyone else. To begin with, contrary to popular belief, professional players' aim is not as great as it may seem to beginners and players with low, medium, and even high skill levels. In the case of a concept unhinged from reality, people are accustomed to imagining that playing any shooter game, including CS2, is a competition of speed and precision of aiming at targets that randomly appear on the screen.

They are only partly correct, though. For more casual shooters, that's exactly how it works. In Counter-Strike, this alone works only up to a certain level. Going beyond this level while continuing to use only your reflexes is very difficult and makes no sense. Of course, you can train on aiming maps till you fall, but different aiming-related techniques will help you play effectively. Let's look at the main factors that affect the effectiveness of aiming, explore cs2 aim tips, and understand how to get a better aim in cs2.

What Needs to Be Adjusted for a Good Aiming?

Mouse sensitivity

So, if you want to know how to aim better in cs2, you first need to adjust your hardware. Mouse settings in CS2 can greatly affect the accuracy and efficiency of the game. The first thing you need to do is to choose the appropriate DPI (dots per inch) for your mouse. The optimal value can vary from mouse to mouse, but on average, using values between 400 and 800 DPI is recommended.

You should also adjust the sensitivity of your mouse in-game. It is recommended to start with a setting of 2.0 in-game and 400 DPI on your mouse. However, if you feel that you can't aim accurately, try lowering the mouse sensitivity to reduce the speed of the cursor movement.

It's important to realize that mouse settings are individual and should fit your playing style and personal preferences. Don't be afraid to experiment with the settings and check their effectiveness regularly.

Crosshair

It is extremely important to customize the crosshair. There are many opinions regarding the best type of crosshair, which depends on the player's preferences and gaming style. But in general, it can be recommended to use simple crosshairs with a minimum number of elements.

In addition, you can experiment with the settings of thickness, color, and shape of the crosshair, as this will allow you to find the ideal option. But don’t get too carried away and choose too bright colors or unusual shapes, as this can lead to disorientation in the game.

What Does Aiming Include?

To learn how to aim in cs2, you must understand basic aiming techniques. Once you know these techniques, you will understand how to properly prepare for aiming to maximize your chances of hitting the target. Therefore, there are three key techniques and how to get a better aim in counter-strike 2: peeking, pre-aim, and tracking. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Peek

To learn how to improve cs2 aim, you must first learn how to survive an encounter with the enemy. For this purpose, there is a special technique called peeking. The essence of peeking is quickly looking out from behind a corner or other obstacle and noticing the enemy. After that, you should either open fire or hide immediately behind cover so the enemy doesn’t hit you.

Knowing exactly cs2 shooting types can significantly improve your game performance.

Types of peeking

We can distinguish five types of cs2 aiming tips for peeking. These are:

1. Normal peak

In this case, you simply peek from the cover and either shoot or run backward. Great for information gathering or firefights. It's important not to stick out your character model too much, or you may get a bullet instead of a frag.

1. Shoulder Peak

This type consists of not sticking out the character model completely but only the shoulder or arm. This way, if you provoke the enemy into firing, you will take the least damage.

1. Wide peek

This one implies coming out from behind the cover entirely. As you can guess, this comes with a higher risk of being hit than all the other techniques. However, it's the only way to clearly see what's happening at a distance.

1. Jiggle peek

This is a series of small sweeps in opposite directions. This technique allows you to check positions without coming under enemy fire.

1. Crouching peek

Like the wide peek, you come out from behind cover but crouch at the last moment. This way, you will deceive the enemy's expectations and force him to aim more, which can be fatal.

Pre-aim

Practicing on the best CS2 aim training maps can help you refine your aiming skills.

As the name implies, pre-aim is a technique of preliminary positioning of your crosshair at the point an enemy may appear. It is performed both after the enemy's and your own peek.

What is pre-aim for?

Pre-aim is essentially the basis of cs2 tips for better aiming, the foundation on which the aim is based. The main task of pre-aim is to predict where the enemy will come from. Most of the maps in the game are designed in such a way that there is a shelter before each exit where you can ambush the enemy. Thus, you can predict that if you stick out from around the corner and there is an enemy, his model will be at a certain level. This level is where you need to keep the crosshairs on, and it’s even better if you keep it at the level of the enemy's head. By positioning the crosshairs in advance, you will have an advantage in reaction time.

Is pre-aim more important than aim?

Despite all its merits, pre-aim is not a panacea. In almost every match, you find yourself in random situations that can only be coped with using crazy-fast responses. Therefore, keep the crosshair on the head, but do not forget about the training.

Pre-aim movement

An example of moving with the crosshair preliminary positioned. While moving and getting around the corners, the player should avoid resting the crosshair on the floor, walls, and other objects and instead position it in the area where an enemy may appear. This simplifies the subsequent aiming in the event of encountering an opponent.

It is crucial to understand that your crosshair does not always need to be held at the head center level. It is still okay if you have it slightly higher, slightly lower, to the left or to the right of the head center.

There are many guides available on how to get better at CS2, from improving aim to learning game strategy.

Tracking

Tracking means keeping the crosshair on the enemy when they're moving. In CS2, you constantly deal with moving targets, and the ability to consistently hit your opponent no matter what is an extremely important skill to make your aiming better.

Why is tracking necessary?

The enemy is unlikely to stand still while you shoot at him. Therefore, learning how to keep the enemy in your crosshairs and quickly adapt if the enemy changes their direction is essential. Mastering tracking allows you to choose the best moment to attack and quickly react to the enemy's change of position.

When tracking is most effective

Tracking works best at short ranges. The most obvious example is pistol rounds, where opponents quickly drift from side to side. This is where players who are good at tracking earn the advantage and can do a headshot. Tracking is not so much a shooting technique as it is a tool to improve shooting by tapping, bursting, and spraying.

How to Practice Each Stage of Aiming

Before we move directly to practical tips on how to get a better at aiming in cs2, let’s first review the types of shooting, as aiming techniques for each will be slightly different.

Types of shooting

Tapping

Tapping is single-shot shooting, with the head being the priority of aiming. This shooting technique is effective at medium and long ranges and is particularly good in pistol rounds.

Bursting

Bursting is a short burst of two or three shots. Thanks to the possibility of combining it with strafing (moving sideways), it makes you much more mobile. It is usually used in medium to close ranges to quickly dispatch your opponents without losing too much aiming.

Knowing how to counter strafe in cs2 will help you successfully eliminate opponents in most game situations.

Spraying

Spraying is continuous controlled firing. During a fire from any automatic weapon, its recoil shows a certain pattern. Knowing this trajectory and taking into account the peculiarities of the weapon, you can control the spread. However, even knowing perfectly well the recoil pattern of a particular weapon, it is still only usable at short distances and with great tracking skills.

Now, let’s get into how to improve aim in cs2 for each stage:

How to Practice Your Peek

There are three main tips to improve aim at cs2 that must be taken into account for peeking to be truly effective: preparation, timing, and skill.

1. Preparation echoes pre-aim and involves keeping your aim at the right elevation to be  ready to have the enemy in your sights. You can also orient yourself to the sounds from the zoom click to catch the right moment or throw a flashbang.
2. The timing you need depends on your weapon and the type of peek you're using, and  the location. For example, when retaking B on Dust 2, it's perfect to peek at the door when a teammate is climbing through the window. His actions will distract the enemy for a split second.
3. As for skill, it all comes down to training. Everyone knows that accuracy decreases during movement. Therefore, to hit accurately, you need to stop or change the direction of movement. This can be done by using the Control key or pressing the movement key in time to move to the opposite side from the direction of the drift. Your main goal when picking is to confuse your opponent and hit him before he hits you.

Maps for peeking practice:

1. Training: Bot Aim V4C
2. Fast Aim/reflex Training Map [SP vs Bot] / aimtraindriving

How to Practice Your Pre-aim

Naturally, when doing a pre-aiming, it is necessary to consider the map peculiarities, height difference, and the distance to the target. It may sound difficult, but it's easier than it seems.

Besides dedicated maps for this purpose only, the best way to intuitively train to keep your crosshair positioned at the right height is by playing such game modes as DM and Retake. These modes offer a hardly predictable development of events, which implies you will repeatedly encounter opponents whose heads are positioned at different levels. In addition, due to the higher respawn frequency, the player respawns already with a centered crosshair.

Maps for pre-aim practice:

1. Any competitive map with training mod
2. Training Center 1.5c
3. training_aim_csgo2

How to Practice Your Tracking

There are no special tricks to practicing tracking. You just need to get used to the speed of your opponents in the game and adapt your mouse movements to them. You can do this on target practice maps with the ability to set the speed of the bots.

Understanding the cs2 spray patterns is crucial to mastering the game's shooting mechanics.

To practice tracking, first try movement in one direction only. Then, choose some random bot and try to keep your aim on it. This can be quite a difficult exercise, especially for players with high mouse sensitivity and insufficient mouse space. If you practice for an hour or so and still fail to track your bot target, try lowering your sensitivity.

Once you've practiced it enough, you can make it more difficult with higher speeds and random movement.

Maps for tracking practice:

1. Aim Botz

FAQ