CS2 AWP rifle displayed in the weapon inventory

AWP Guide for Counter-Strike 2

Damage, the scope, the $100 kill reward, and when it is worth $4,750.

The AWP kills with one shot anywhere above the legs. It does 115 damage with 97.5% armour penetration, so a single hit to the chest or stomach kills an armoured player out to about 144 metres, and a headshot kills at any distance you will meet on a map. It costs $4,750 and both sides can buy it.

The trade-off is everything around that shot. The AWP pays $100 a kill, the least of any gun except the Zeus, fires once every 1.5 seconds, and carries only 15 rounds in total since the March 2026 ammo rework. Without the scope it is accurate only to 1.9 metres, and with the scope up you move at 100. This page goes through the numbers, the scope, when to buy it, and the skins and cases.

Last checked

September 2026

Weapon stats checked against CS2 build 1.41.7.6.

AWP at a Glance

The full stat sheet, straight from the game.

Every number below comes from the game build of 18 March 2026. Two of them define the AWP: 115 damage and 97.5% armour penetration. Together they mean one hit to the head, chest or stomach kills, armour or not. What it gives up is time and money - one shot every 1.45 seconds, 15 rounds in total, and $100 a kill.

Damage and money

Price	$4,750
Kill reward	$100
Side	CT and T
Base damage	115
Armour penetration	97.5%
Headshot multiplier	4x
Damage lost at 500 units	1%
Wall penetration	250%
One-tap range, helmet	Any distance on a map
One-tap range, no helmet	Any distance on a map

Handling and ammo

Rate of fire	41 RPM (one shot every 1.45 s)
Magazine	5
Reserve	10 (15 total)
Reload	3.67 s (mag in at 2.00 s)
Deploy	1.25 s
Mobility	200, scoped 100 (knife is 250)
Tagging power	65%
Accurate range, standing	1.9 m (scoped 69.3 m)
Running inaccuracy	257.5 (scoped 178.7)
Recoil	No set pattern
Console command	`give weapon_awp`

The weak spot is everything outside the scope. Unscoped, the AWP is accurate only to 1.9 metres, so a shot without the scope is a gamble at almost any range. Scoped, you move at 100, less than half the knife's speed, and after each shot you have 1.45 seconds before the next one. It also takes 1.25 seconds to pull out, and a March 2026 change cut its ammo from 35 rounds to 15.

AWP Damage & Armour

What one bullet does, and how many it takes.

Everything here assumes a full-health player at close range. Armour means kevlar on the body and a helmet on the head. The general rules behind these numbers are on the weapons hub.

Damage per bullet

Hitbox	No armour	Armour	Bullets to kill, no armour	Bullets to kill, armour
Head	460	448.5	1	1
Chest and arms	115	112.1	1	1
Stomach	143.75	140.2	1	1
Legs	86.25	86.25	2	2

Legs are the only hitbox that doesn't kill in one shot: 86.25 damage leaves a full-health player on 13.75, enough for any other gun to finish. Everything above the belt is a kill, with or without armour.

Where the AWP holds up

The AWP loses only 1% of its damage for every 500 units of distance, the least of any gun. Only the chest has a limit you might ever reach:

Shot	Works up to
Head, helmet or not - 1 bullet	Any distance on a map
Stomach, armour or not - 1 bullet	Any distance on a map
Legs - 2 bullets	Any distance on a map
Chest, no armour - 1 bullet	6,953 u (about 176 m)
Chest through armour - 1 bullet	5,694 u (about 145 m)

Damage is multiplied by 0.99 for every 500 units of distance, and it drops smoothly in between. Past 145 metres a chest hit through armour leaves the player on a few points of health.

What this means in a fight

With the AWP, the question is never how many bullets you need - it is landing that one shot. A miss costs 1.45 seconds before the next shot, and with 15 rounds for the whole round, every miss also costs a fifteenth of your ammo. That is why the rest of this page is mostly about accuracy and money rather than damage.

AWP Scope & Accuracy

Why the AWP is only as good as the moment you shoot it.

The AWP has no spray to learn. It fires once every 1.45 seconds, so recoil never stacks up. Accuracy comes down to being scoped in and fully stopped when you fire.

Without the scope

Unscoped, the AWP is accurate only to 1.9 metres standing, and its running inaccuracy is 257.5 - worse than any rifle. A shot without the scope is a gamble at almost any range; it only makes sense when the opponent is right in front of you.

With the scope

The right mouse button brings up the scope, and a second click zooms in further. Scoped, the accurate range goes from 1.9 to 69.3 metres, the longest of any gun. The price is speed: with the scope up you move at 100 instead of 200, and running inaccuracy only drops to 178.7, so the scope does not make shooting on the move work.

Between shots

After each shot the AWP needs 1.45 seconds before it can fire again, and the scope comes off while the bolt cycles. If the first shot misses, the opponent usually has that time to shoot back or get out of sight. With 5 rounds a magazine and 15 rounds in total, each miss also costs a noticeable share of your ammo.

Moving and stopping

Scoping in will not make the AWP accurate on the move. Stop first: tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key. With the AWP this matters more than with any other gun, because there is no second bullet to correct a miss.

When to Buy the AWP

What an AWP round costs, and what the $100 kill reward does to your money.

The AWP is the most expensive buy most players make in a round, and it pays back the least per kill. Its value depends on how much money you and your team have, not only on how well you shoot it.

What a full buy adds up to

Item	Price
AWP	$4,750
Kevlar + helmet	$1,000
Defuse kit (CT)	$400
Smoke	$300
Flashbang	$200
Total	$6,650 (CT), $6,250 (T)

A full buy with an M4 costs $5,400, with an AK $4,700. The AWP buy is $1,250-1,550 more for the same armour and grenades.

The $100 kill reward

Every AWP kill pays $100, a third of a rifle's $300. Three kills in a round pay $300 with the AWP and $900 with a rifle. Over a half, that difference means the player holding the AWP rebuilds money slower than the rest of the team.

AWP or a rifle

The AWP costs $1,850 more than an M4 and $2,050 more than an AK. What it buys is a one-shot kill to the head or stomach at any distance you will meet on a map, and to the chest through armour out to about 145 metres. Rifles only one-tap with a headshot, and the M4s and FAMAS never one-tap a helmet at all. What it costs, beyond the money, is the time between shots and speed with the scope up (see Scope & Accuracy).

Keeping it alive

An AWP you survive with is $4,750 you don't have to spend next round. That is why saving an AWP in a lost round is more common than saving a rifle: dropping it costs the team the price of an extra full buy.

AWP vs Other Snipers

What the AWP does better, and what it gives up.

The AWP wins on damage - it is the only sniper that kills with one body shot. It loses on price, kill reward and time between shots. The table below has all the numbers side by side.

vs SSG 08

The other bolt-action sniper, $3,050 cheaper, and it pays $300 a kill. It one-taps a helmeted head at any distance too, but its 88 damage needs two hits to the chest, armour or not. It fires a little faster, once every 1.25 seconds, carries 30 rounds, and moves at 230 against the AWP's 200. Scoped it is accurate to 47.2 metres against 69.3. Details in the SSG 08 guide.

vs SCAR-20 and G3SG1

The two auto-snipers cost $250 more than the AWP and pay $300 a kill; the SCAR-20 is CT-only and the G3SG1 is T-only. They fire 240 rounds a minute, one shot every 0.25 seconds, and need two chest hits through armour - 0.25 seconds from the first to the second, against the AWP's single shot. A helmeted headshot kills at any distance. Scoped, they are accurate to 66.3 metres and move at 120. Each holds 20 rounds, 60 in total. Details in the SCAR-20 and G3SG1 guides.

vs scoped rifles

The AUG and SG 553 cost $1,450-1,750 less, fire in full auto, and have scopes that reach 37-38 metres. Only the SG 553 one-taps a helmet at range, and neither kills with one body shot. More in the AUG and SG 553 guides.

Sniper Stats Table

All four snipers side by side, with the AWP already open.

This is the same table as on the weapons hub, but filtered down to snipers. The AWP row is open with its damage per hitbox and full stats, and it is already ticked for comparison with the SSG 08, SCAR-20 and G3SG1 - all four at once.

Click a column header to sort. Each sniper row shows the gun without the scope, and the scoped numbers are in its card under variants. The full table with all 36 weapons is on the weapons hub.

Click any weapon for damage per hitbox, full stats and variants.

	Weapon	Type	Price	Kill $	Damage	Armour pen	RPM	Mag	Total ammo	HS kill vs helmet

Stats from the CS2 Weapon Spreadsheet, game build of 18 March 2026. Shotgun damage is per pellet. Headshot ranges are converted from game units at 39.4 units per metre. Zeus and knife values come from the game files rather than the sheet.

AWP Skins & Cases

AWP skins by market listings and price, and where they come from.

Three ways to look at AWP skins. Most listed are the ones with the most offers across the markets I track, in other words the ones currently offered most often. Most expensive are the skins that stay expensive even in their cheapest wear. Cheapest are the ones that stay cheap even in their best wear. Prices update every 15 minutes, and the range on each card runs from the cheapest variant to the most expensive one, wear and StatTrak included.

Mil-Spec Grade

Capillary

$0.56 - $8.10

View prices →

Restricted

Atheris

$2.89 - $29.42

View prices →

Industrial Grade

Safari Mesh

$0.10 - $14.24

View prices →

Classified

Duality

$2.46 - $80.38

View prices →

Covert

Printstream

$35.37 - $297.66

View prices →

Restricted

Pit Viper

$0.76 - $11.11

View prices →

Restricted

Worm God

$1.78 - $8.91

View prices →

Classified

Mortis

$2.71 - $14.45

View prices →

All of them, with a price for every wear, are on the AWP skins page.

Cases with AWP skins

Every case that can drop an AWP skin, newest first. The number under each case is how many AWP skins it holds.

AWP skins that never came from a case

Some AWP skins come from map collections, operations, or the Armory instead of cases. Collections marked "souvenir" also come in souvenir packages from Majors.

The 2018 Nuke Collection1 skin · souvenir

The 2021 Mirage Collection1 skin · souvenir

The 2021 Train Collection1 skin

The Achroma Collection1 skin

The Anubis Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Arabesque Collection1 skin

The Boreal Collection1 skin

The Canals Collection1 skin

The Cobblestone Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Control Collection1 skin

The Dead Hand Collection1 skin

The Dust Collection1 skin

The Genesis Collection1 skin

The Gods and Monsters Collection2 skins

The Graphic Design Collection1 skin

The Harlequin Collection1 skin

The Havoc Collection1 skin

The Italy Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Lake Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Norse Collection1 skin

The Overpass 2024 Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Overpass Collection1 skin · souvenir

The Radiant Collection1 skin

The Spy Tech Collection1 skin

The Train 2025 Collection1 skin · souvenir

Browse all CS2 cases and all collections, or check what your own skins are worth with the Inventory Value Calculator.

Common AWP Mistakes

Small habits that cost rounds, and what the numbers say instead.

Reloading after every fight

Since the 18 March 2026 update, a reload throws away whatever is left in the magazine and takes a full one from your reserve. The AWP has only two spare magazines of 5, so a reload with two rounds still in the gun throws away two of your 15 for the round. How this habit caught me out is in the AK-47 guide.

The second reload mistake is reloading when you are not safe. From pressing R to being able to shoot again the AWP needs 3.7 seconds. Only reload when you are sure nobody can swing on you for almost four seconds.

Shooting without the scope

Unscoped, the AWP is accurate only to 1.9 metres. Past that, a shot without the scope may hit, but you can't count on it. If an opponent is that close and you are not scoped, a pistol is often the safer choice.

Moving with the scope up

Scoped, you move at 100 - half of the AWP's normal speed - and running inaccuracy only drops to 178.7. Walking between angles scoped makes you slow and doesn't make the shot land. Scope in when you stop, and counter-strafe before you shoot: tapping the opposite movement key brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key.

Aiming low

A leg hit does 86.25 damage and leaves the player alive. A stomach hit kills in one shot at any distance you will meet on a map, while a chest hit through armour works out to about 145 metres. Keep the crosshair at chest height or above. The numbers are in Damage & Armour.

Staying in the fight after a miss

After a shot the AWP needs 1.45 seconds before it can fire again, and the scope comes off while the bolt cycles. If the first shot misses and the opponent has seen you, that is usually enough time for them to kill you. Step out of sight and take the next shot from a new angle or a moment later.

Buying it when the team can't afford a full buy

The AWP buy costs $1,250-1,550 more than a rifle buy and pays a third of a rifle's reward per kill. If buying it means a teammate goes without armour or a rifle, the round is often better with two rifles. More in When to Buy.

More Snipers

The other three snipers in CS2, plus the two scoped rifles.

// Both · $1,700 · the other bolt-action

SSG 08

The SSG 08 bolt-action is a low-damage but very cost-effective sniper rifle, making it a smart choice for early-round long-range marksmanship.

Read the guide →

// CT · $5,000

SCAR-20

The SCAR-20 is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that trades a high rate of fire and powerful long-distance damage for sluggish movement speed and big price tag.

CT auto-sniperopen →