4 Pro Crosshairs for CSGO, How to Select the Best One
Choosing the right type, no! The best CSGO crosshair to play with may seem like a matter of personal preference; however, there are many aspects you should take into consideration before making that decision. Understand that fitting yourself with the right crosshair could help you learn game mechanics a lot faster and give you a slight edge in combat over your opponents. Even amongst pro players, there are many interesting differences between CSGO pro crosshair selection. In this guide, we are going to take a closer look at everything regarding the right crosshair for CSGO from types to overall settings.
Types of CSGO Crosshairs: Reticle Shape
First, let’s take a look at the different crosshair shapes available.
CS:GO is unique when it comes to setting up your crosshair as it allows a wide array of customisations through console (default key ~) use. Taking into consideration all the different settings we have, only a few valid options are then available to choose.
The Cross Shaped CSGO Crosshair
Probably the most common amongst all crosshairs and arguably the best crosshair for CS GO, regardless of what game you’re playing. This is not surprisingly the most popular choice amongst pro and casual players. The cross is very diverse as it allows players to be accurate and retain proper vertical target alignment. Last but not least, CS:GO makes it possible to have a dot inside the cross, giving you high accuracy, while visual obstruction is mostly dependant on opacity and the chosen length of the lines of the cross itself.
The cross is advised for most beginning players, as it is just an excellent and versatile choice. It will also serve you well in future FPS games to come.
This reticle shape is used for the vast majority of real-life scopes and attachments, which shows how effective it is.
Examples:
(To get this crosshair, copy and paste the following in console: cl_crosshairalpha 255; cl_crosshaircolor 1; cl_crosshairdot 0; cl_crosshairgap -2; cl_crosshairsize 2; cl_crosshairstyle 4; cl_crosshairusealpha 1; cl_crosshairthickness 1; cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0;)
CSGO Dot Crosshair
Also common, but harder to use. To get the most out of this crosshair, a certain amount of experience in weapon recoil is necessary as crosshair bloom will have virtually no effect. If you are using a dot as your crosshair you won’t have any reference for vertical target alignment, which can be a drawback for beginning players. Although this crosshair provides you with the most screen real estate and thus almost no visual obstruction, it comes with disadvantages that can only be combatted by understanding recoil patterns and in general, having a solid aim.
Probably the best example in the game and according to many the best player throughout CS:GO history: Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev.
(To get this crosshair, copy and paste the following in console: cl_crosshairalpha 255; cl_crosshaircolor 0; cl_crosshairdot 1; cl_crosshairgap -999; cl_crosshairsize 1; cl_crosshairstyle 4; cl_crosshairusealpha 1; cl_crosshairthickness 1; cl_crosshair_drawoutline 0; cl_crosshair_sniper_width 1; cl_crosshaircolor_b 0; cl_crosshaircolor_g 255; cl_crosshaircolor_r 0;)
The Square Shaped Crosshair
Not widely used, but a solid choice nonetheless. The square shape is commonly used in CS GO in combination with crosshair bloom. Also, the square itself is made very small so when standing still, it’s similar to using the dot. This tends to be used by people who spray their guns often up close, while always wanting to be as accurate as possible from a distance. The idea is that while spraying (and praying) you have less visual obstruction towards your target. With crosshair bloom turned on, it gets some vertical alignment, although as a reference it’s a lot less reliable than the cross.
On the pro scene, you will rarely see this being used, so if you are not used to this kind of reticle shape, it’s not recommended.
Example:
(To get this crosshair, copy and paste the following in console: cl_crosshairsize “0.5”; cl_crosshairthickness “5”; cl_crosshairusealpha “1”; cl_crosshairalpha “200”; l_crosshairgap “-5”; cl_crosshair_drawoutline “0”; cl_crosshair_outlinethickness “0”; cl_crosshairdot “0”; cl_crosshairstyle “4”; cl_crosshaircolor “5”; cl_crosshaircolor_r “50”; cl_crosshaircolor_g “250”; cl_crosshaircolor_b “50”;)
The T-Shape Crosshair
The T-shape crosshair trades a bit of your vertical alignment for more screen space, which is why quite a few players are slowly adopting this setting. However, just like the square crosshair shape, it’s still rare to see a pro player using it.
Example:
To activate the T-shape, just head over to the crosshair section in the settings menu. See below for a short guide on how to find it.
- Colours and Alpha (aka opacity).
Now we have to take a look at the colour and opacity of our crosshair.
When it comes to choosing the right color for your crosshair, there are a lot more don’ts than do’s. The general idea is to choose something bright so you can always spot it instantly. Bright green, yellow, blue, cyan, .. The color you choose must have good contrast with the ones already in the game. Don’t go for a black crosshair; you won’t be able to hide in the dark anymore. Don’t choose white or flashbangs will become your worst nightmare.
Opacity is an entirely personal preference as it only changes the visibility of the crosshair. The less opaque (lower the Alpha), the more visual obstruction you would get. If you’re very comfortable with the position of your crosshair and if you’re very familiar with the game in general, then you should increase the opacity of your crosshair, so you never miss a frame or tell. For beginner-level players, it is advised to start with a very visible, bright crosshair with low opacity, that is guaranteed to be the best CSGO crosshair.
- Crosshair bloom (aka static or dynamic crosshair)
Choosing a static or dynamic crosshair determines if crosshair bloom is turned off or on respectively. Crosshair bloom is for some players very helpful and for others just annoying as it manages whether or not your crosshair visually shows how accurate your next shot will be. This means as you crouch, walk, run, jump or shoot; your crosshair will change the size to let you know how accurate you are.
Most pro players play without crosshair bloom as they understand recoil patterns and the general weapon mechanics. Still, there is a good amount of pro’s who prefer it turned on.
If you are a beginning player, it’s advised to always have this option on, at least until you get a good understanding of CS:GO weapons.
Summary
Taking everything into consideration, we notice that for players at beginner level you really can’t go wrong with the classic cross, with or without a center dot or bloom enabled, it is %100 the best CSGO crosshair. Enabling crosshair bloom will make sure you get visual indications into the mechanics of your guns, which is, when starting a game, essential—accurate, excellent vertical target alignment aid, highly visible.
As your knowledge and experience progress and you feel yourself getting very comfortable with certain guns, you should for sure try out some other shapes and setups. Make sure that the reticle shape you choose fits your gameplay. You all about going up close and personal, try the square. You all about one-tapping heads, can’t go wrong with a dot.
- Setting up your crosshair, a quick tutorial
First of all, we’re going to head over to the settings menu, then select the game tab and finally scroll down to or click the crosshair section. Here we can select what type of crosshair we can select:
By selecting any of the ‘Classic’ crosshairs, we get a more advanced menu which will make it a lot easier to explain all of the options made available to us.
The classic crosshair menu should look like this:
Here you can play with a wide variety of options. The visual aid will show you your crosshair in different surroundings. Alternatively, you can also use the console to change the appearance of your crosshair.
If you have other suggestions for the best CSGO crosshair selections, do leave a comment below.
Enjoy & go ham!
