Valve kicks off CS:GO pistol changes with Tec-9 nerf

CS:GO's Tec-9 is often the pistol of choice on the Terrorist side: it's cheap, deals decent damage and has a high rate of fire. But now Valve has announced a nerf to the gun that will kickstart wider changes to pistols in the game. It wants to "emphasise skillful use of the weapons", you see.

While the Tec-9's first shot will be slightly more accurate, spraying down an enemy will be more difficult because accuracy when firing rapidly will be reduced. The magazine and reserve ammo capacity will drop to 18 and 90, from 24 and 120 respectively.

The changes will "emphasise aiming while retaining the weapon’s high mobility", Valve says—basically, you'll have to pick your shots rather than just spamming left click.

The changes, now in beta, were announced on the CS:GO blog. There's no details yet on what pistol is up next, or how other weapons will be changed, but expect similar tweaks soon.

So, in preparation, why not read Fredrik's guide for improving your pistol play and Stefan's guide to choosing the right weapon?

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Samuel is a freelance journalist and editor who first wrote for PC Gamer nearly a decade ago. Since then he's had stints as a VR specialist, mouse reviewer, and previewer of promising indie games, and is now regularly writing about Fortnite. What he loves most is longer form, interview-led reporting, whether that's Ken Levine on the one phone call that saved his studio, Tim Schafer on a milkman joke that inspired Psychonauts' best level, or historians on what Anno 1800 gets wrong about colonialism. He's based in London.