Good control over spray patterns is an absolutely necessary skill to have if one wishes to climb up the competitive ladder in Counter-Strike. So, it’s no wonder that players are wondering if the release of CS2 has in any way impacted the spray control mechanics that they have spent countless hours mastering. Let’s find out!
Does CS2 Have Different Spray Patterns Than CS:GO?
Spray patterns have remained untouched by CS:GO’s transition to CS2. However, gamers, including professional players, have reported that shooting feels a little off in CS2, with successful spraydowns being much harder to perform.
Since there are numerous videos on YouTube showing the apparent spray pattern difference in CS:GO and CS2, we decided to test it for ourselves. And, unsurprisingly, we found out that spray patterns indeed remain unchanged. We’ve showcased this in the video below by synchronizing the two clips so that the impact on the wall can be easily compared.
However, this still doesn’t address the uncountable testimonies by players about them having a difficult time recovering spray control. Valve has yet to provide an official explanation for why spray patterns feel different in CS2. In the absence of official insight, however, fans have taken it upon themselves to come up with a plausible theory.
Why Do Spray Patterns Feel Different In CS2?
One interesting theory circulating in the CS community states that the perception of CS2 having different spray patterns is simply our mind being fooled by the new gun and location sounds. While we might not realize it, even a subtle change in sensory information has a huge impact on our gaming experience and performance.
Take, for example, Valorant, a game in which weapon skins come with different kill sounds and visuals. Now, we don’t know about you, but we swear that picking up a Prime Vandal mid-round gives you aimbot. And we’re not alone in this seemingly irrational belief, as many pro players have reported a boost in confidence and aim while playing with certain skins.
Nevertheless, another factor that plays a huge role in defining spray control is the server tick rate, and once again an r/GlobalOffensive member has come up with a very plausible theory that might very well be the actual explanation.
According to the user, u/-Exodus, the introduction of the new sub-tick rate has enabled the game to record every input between two ticks, giving the server the ability to precisely tell what sequence of events took place within a small interval.
This means that any weapon can now request your view-angles the moment a new bullet is fired rather than waiting until the end of a tick to do so. In simple words, CS2 is more accurate than CS:GO, and players now have to control the same amount of recoil in less time.
So, if you’ve been struggling with spray control in CS2, you’ll have to train yourself to follow the same CS:GO spray pattern but a little faster.
If this theory turns out to be true, it’d mean that Valve has finally fixed the spray control lag problem in CS:GO, even though players had just become accustomed to it and now will have to learn the spray control that was initially intended.
Conclusion
While CS2 preserves the spray pattern mechanics that were present in CS:GO, factors such as different gun sounds and the new sub-tick server make the experience a little bit different. If you found our article informative, make sure to check out more CS2 guides from our team: Are CS2 Smokes The Same As CS:GO Smokes? and Is CS2 Anti-Cheat Better Than CS:GO?