Making R8 A Better CS:GO Weapon

It’s both peculiar and sad to talk about CS:GO weapons: M4A1-S/AK47 and AWP are the meta, heavies are dead, while almost half of the weapons are never used. But the most forgotten gun of them all is, of course, the Revolver. Nobody needs the poor R8. Even for fun. Why this happened, and how could Valve fix it? CS.MONEY Blog tries to answer these two questions.

And we still have the GameChanger Hub going on, where you can pump up your inventory! And in this article we’ve hidden two parts of promo code that will help you do that.

In this post:

The Good, The Bad, The R8

Things have always been sad about the R8 Revolver. When Valve originally released it, it was a pocket AWP. Just aim the body and instakill, simple as… the AWP. Too imbalanced, though. In a matter of days, the development team has cut R8’s stats and nerfed it right into the grave.

Too low on ammo, meagre movement speed, no rate of fire, mediocre accuracy. The Revolver absorbed all the worst qualities it could. On top of this, there are two more nuances: its price and pistol slot. R8 will cost you 600 bucks, and at the same time, it takes Desert Eagle’s place in your inventory. It’s just unbelievably poor. No one needs this. Let’s try to figure things out and find a solution.

There are three ways to change R8 for good. All of them are from other games. Let’s see how they can be applied in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

SlothSquadron Idea

The first and easiest example is a mod by SlothSquadron. 2.0 version, to be precise. Here, the mod’s creator proposes the following changes:

Set the price to $700
Increase total ammo from 16 to 24
Reduce damage from 86 to 69 units
Reduce shooting accuracy when jumping/climbing
Improve shooting accuracy in alternate mode
Increase movement speed from 220 to 230
Improve accuracy recovery rate from firing

This idea is simple and doesn’t change the gun’s main feature: shot delay. Just like the original version, SlothSquadron works with +0.2 seconds to cock and fire. R8+ as a result. It will forgive more errors in handling and allow players to be more aggressive in the game. In addition, the alternative shooting option can be at least a little useful at a distance instead of R8 being a shotgun of its own.

The first part of the promo code: 6Y0.

However, this option does not fix the same pre-shot delay and its move speed penalty associated with cocking the hammer. This kind of R8 still is not even close to a valued competitive weapon. But it could become at least a nice gun to buy from time to time to have fun shooting enemies. Imagine being killed with an R8? Full roast.

Red Dead Global Offensive

CS:GO’s R8 is based on the Smith & Wesson 327. Both in the game and in real life, this revolver is a double-action: it’s called this way because pulling the trigger performs two actions simultaneously, cocking the hammer and releasing it for a shot.

Before the double-action revolvers gained popularity, there were single-action revolvers. Their trigger only released the hammer, and the shooter had to cock it manually. Most often, people did it with their thumbs. We’ve already seen single-action guns in video games: this is how Arthur Morgan, the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, had to deal with them.

RDR2 has the single-action mechanic implemented as follows: until the trigger is cocked, the sight is grey. To cock the trigger, players need to press the fire button. After that, the sight turns white. Pressing the fire button with the hammer cocked results in a shot. And start again. As a result, each revolver shot requires two clicks to be done.

In CS:GO, this can be implemented in a similar way. Although, Valve will have to downgrade R8. Here’s the idea: with your first button press, you only cock the trigger; with your second button press, you shoot. In this case, the pre-shot delay has to be reworked from simply time to additional action. As a result, players with R8 can make their first shots immediately, but shooting queues will require more time and actions.

Overwatch & Rainbow Six Siege Ideas

The Overwatch character roster has its own cowboy: Cassidy’s arsenal includes a hat, a cloak, and obviously a revolver. His gun is called “Peacemaker”, and it has severe recoil. Each shot throws the camera up and slowly returns to its initial position. Only after the camera position is back, can you make the next shot. Second part of the promo code: 4S5.

In addition to the camera behaviour, there’s another interesting thing about “Peacemaker”. Cassidy himself does not cock the trigger; instead, the gun auto-arms after firing. It sounds a little absurd, but a similar mechanism is implemented in real life in automatic revolvers. For example, this is how the Mateba MTR works.

This rework option has an obvious disadvantage: if the revolver automatically cocks the hammer after firing, how will it differ from the Desert Eagle? Good question! That is why we need Peacemaker’s second feature: unbearable recoil.

Trying to balance a powerful revolver with strong recoil doesn’t sound innovative. The Rainbow Six Siege development team already did that. In Siege, the French Operators have LFP586 revolvers at their disposal, hinting at a real-life Smith & Wesson model 586. A mighty gun with extreme recoil. After each shot, the camera noticeably goes up, so spamming shots from this revolver is unrealistic.

Here is the third option: remove any R8 shooting delay, leave the current damage, but add intense recoil. R8’s sight must fly sky-high after each shot to stop spam attempts. As a result, CS:GO’s revolver can become a compelling and very cocky Desert Eagle alternative.

Unfortunately, The R8 Revolver did not take root in CS:GO. It’s just a pure gimmick. This gun is not just dull, no, the R8 frustrates you with the discomfort. Still, Valve’s development team has an easy way out of this situation: to rework the revolver, adjust what the community has suggested, or simply borrow real-life guns. It is a pity that, most likely, the R8 will merely rot in its niche near the Saw-Off shotgun, M249 and PP-Bizon.