Nova

Overview

Gallery

Nova
Game(s)
Price	$1200
Origin	Italy
Caliber
Magazine capacity	8 / 32
Firing mode(s)	Pump-action
Rate of fire	68 RPM
Used by	Counter-Terrorist Terrorist
Counterpart	XM1014
Movement speed(units per second)	220 / 250 (88%)
Kill Award	$900 (Competitive) $450 (Casual)
Damage	26 (1 pellet) 243 (1 shot)
Recoil Control	1 / 26 (4%)
Accurate Range	3.2 m
Armor Penetration	50%
Penetration Power	0
Hotkey	B-2-1
Entity	weapon_nova

“The Nova's rock-bottom price tag makes it a great ambush weapon for a cash-strapped team.”
―Official description

For the Nova's predecessor, see M3.

The Nova is a pump-action shotgun that appears in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It replaces the M3 from early Counter-Strike games.

Overview

This Italian shotgun fires 8 rounds of 12 gauge ammunition, as with other shotguns in the game. It can be purchased by both the Counter-Terrorists and Terrorists. It has a slow rate of fire like the M3, but does slightly more damage. Furthermore, the pump of the Nova is slightly faster than the M3, thus enabling users to have a better chance of getting a kill while in combat. The Nova is the replacement for the M3 Shotgun from previous titles and, as with all the other shotguns, the Nova has a 3× kill award multiplier in Classic Competitive whilst in Classic Casual, it's $450 per kill.

Nova is the only weapon in the game with zero penetration power, making this is the only firearm that cannot penetrate through walls.

Properties

Hitbox	Primary Attack
	Unarmored	Armored
Head	106	52
Chest & Arm	26	13
Stomach	32	16
Leg	19	19
Each shot contains 9 pellets.
Red signifies a fatal hit.

Advantages

• Cheap, compared to the most of the other shotguns
• Deadly at close range against unarmored or armored enemies
• $900 kill reward in classic competitive
• The Nova has the lowest pellet spread compared to the other shotguns
• Deadly at longer ranges than other shotguns

Disadvantages

• Low rate of fire
• There is a chance that medium range shots won't instantly kill
• Low armor penetration and zero wall penetration
• Slightly lower rate of fire compared to the Sawed-Off and MAG-7 (68 RPM vs. 71 RPM)

Gameplay

Tactics

• Because of the Nova's low spread, users can easily strafe while firing at an enemies head or torso. Also, if all pellets hit a target (even with full armor), it can inflict heavy damage on a target.
  • This makes the Nova ideal for maps with lots of enclosed areas or tight choke-points.
  • The Nova is excellent to use while on the move if the tactic is to search and destroy in small maps.
  • It may be necessary to lead the shot if the target is on the move as well.
  • Moreover, this shotgun is slightly more suitable for medium-ranged combat. Try to aim at the head for maximum damage.
  • Be warned, however, the Nova inflicts the lowest damage for a shotgun, so be sure to take two shots when firing at unaware enemies.
  • Go for headshots if possible due to the low damage and low armor penetration.
• When playing in a competitive match, the Nova acts as an effective anti-eco investment. Enemies who lost the pistol round are unlikely to buy armor and will be easily dispatched.
• Do not let the Nova's poor armor penetration deceive you; because of the volume of pellets fired per shot and the low spread of its shot, it is still effective at close range against armored opponents.

Counter-Tactics

• Avoid close proximity with enemy users.
• More powerful shotguns should give an edge to the player in fighting off Nova users.
• Kevlar + Helmet massively reduces damage (around 50%), giving the player time to return fire.
• Rifles and submachine guns are normally sufficient to counter users.
• Keep strafing; enemies with this shotgun will usually have a hard time in aiming at fast moving targets as the shotgun has a low rate of fire. If your primary weapon has low movement speed and ROF and you're surprised by a shotgunner at close range, try switching to pistol and scoring a quick headshot.

Achievements

• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Weapon Specialist

Nova Expert Kill 100 enemies with the Nova.

Trivia

• The Nova shares its reloading animations with the Sawed-Off and shares the same pump sound from the Sawed-Off and the MAG-7.
  • The pumping sounds of the Nova are reused from Left 4 Dead 2 Pump Shotgun.
• On the left side of the weapon, there is a print that says 'BENETTI'. This is most likely an intentional corruption of Benelli (the manufacturer of the Nova) to prevent copyright infringements. The print can clearly be seen by inspecting (pressing "F" in game) the Nova.
• Although the Nova in-game has an 8-round magazine capacity, the in-game model depicts it with the standard 4-round tube magazine.

External link

• Benelli Nova at Wikipedia.