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Overview


The K&M .45 Tactical, more commonly known as the USP, is one of the pistols featured in Counter-Strike, Xbox Counter-StrikeCounter-Strike: Condition Zero, and Counter-Strike: Source.

Before being replaced by the P2000 in Global Offensive, the USP was the default spawn pistol for the Counter-Terrorists in the series. However, a successor of the USP was added in the Arms Deal update for Global Offensive as the USP-S, taking up the same slot as its replacement.

Overview[]

The USP (Universale Selbstladepistole or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) of Oberndorf am Neckar as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns. In the Counter-Strike series, the USP pistol is the USP Tactical, a variant of the default USP, and it is capable in firing 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP rounds.

In-game, the USP is the spawn pistol for the Counter-Terrorist team, but is also available for purchase by both teams. A CT player will receive an USP at the start of a round if it is the first round in a half, they died in the last round, or if they ended the last round without a sidearm. If players wish, they may also purchase one from the buy menu for $500, which is not team-locked, making the USP the only silenced weapon that can be purchased by the Terrorists.

The USP is a popular weapon due to its power, often being kept during the pistol round and sometimes for many rounds after. A single headshot from the USP can kill an unarmored opponent, and the weapon has a very good accuracy to back up its damage.

It is the only pistol that can be equipped with a silencer. The silencer is not attached when receiving the weapon, and can be manually attached (and detached) with the secondary-fire feature (Right Mouse button by default). With the silencer, the USP is much quieter when firing, but deals less damage (though still enough to make a one-hit headshot kill) and has higher innacuracy, two thirds of unsilenced accuracy to be exact.

The magazine size is relatively small, and the reload time is considerably longer. The vertical recoil when fired rapidly is quite strong, making the pistol more focused on tapfiring accurately than spraying rapidly.

If equipped at the same time with the MAC-10 or KM UMP45, the USP will share an ammo pool of 100 rounds with them as they all share the same cartridge, only in GoldSrc Counter-Strike games.

The USP is unable to attach its silencer if combined with the Tactical Shield, as the Tactical Shield's alternate fire overrides the USP's alternate fire. It applies the same for the Glock-18 and its burst-fire mode.

The USP is the only firearm the VIP can use in Assassination. He is limited to 12 rounds in reserve and cannot purchase additional ammunition.

Bots in Source will randomly attach the silencer, making them quite unpredictable on their approach with the weapon in question.

Properties[]

Counter-Strike (and Condition Zero)
Hitbox Primary Attack Secondary Attack
Unarmored Armored Unarmored Armored
Head 132 66 116 58
Chest & Arm 33 16 29 14
Abdomen & Pelvis 41 21 36 18
Leg 24 24 21 21
Red signifies a fatal hit.
Counter-Strike: Source
Hitbox Primary Attack Secondary Attack
Unarmored Armored Unarmored Armored
Head 134 67 118 59
Chest & Arm 33 16 29 14
Abdomen & Pelvis 41 21 36 18
Leg 24 24 21 21
Red signifies a fatal hit.

Tactics[]

  • The USP is a suitable pistol for all ranges as it's reliable, and its fair amount of damage per bullet makes the USP a good pistol for picking off enemies from a distance. It is highly recommended to use when enemies are scattered and alone.
  • The USP, alongside the Five-SeveN and the Deagle are the most useful long range pistols. The Deagle has high damage, the Five-SeveN has good accuracy and damage, and the USP trades a little damage for far more accuracy than both (standing).
  • If you are planning on using the USP's silencer, attach it at freeze time so you have it ready later.
    • Aiming at the head and fighting at close range is advised due to the lower effective damage.
    • The attachable silencer is good for killing enemies from behind, before they notice you. Due to the lower damage, it is not recommended for straight combat.
  • For close battle, fire continuously, target the head for the first two shots. Then move down to the stomach starting the third shot. Chances are your next shot will hit their head.
  • If you meet more than 2 enemies at close, retreat at once and use your primary; if your primary is a sniper rifle or you have no primary weapon, try to engage one enemy at a time.
  • If you cannot handle the high innacuracy of the Desert Eagle, this or the Five-seveN could be a good sidearm of choice.
  • The USP has good accuracy, therefore, it can easily eliminate enemies without armor or/and helmets in pistol rounds.
  • Unlike the Glock, the USP has vertical recoil. Players should pull down the crosshair when firing it as fast as possible.
  • The USP in Counter-Strike: Source is easier to use and is more effective than its older game counterparts, due to the recoil being significantly decreased and making rapid fire more accurate. If you wish to score headshots however, you have to aim a little higher or bullets will normally strike the chest, which cannot score an instant kill in the pistol round, due to the reduced vertical recoil in Source.
  • In Deleted Scenes, enemies will still detect you if you use a weapon's suppressor. While the M4A1 silencer's close-range damage increase can still be useful, the K&M .45 Tactical's silencer is completely useless against non-players.
  • Because of the long length of the silencer, exercise caution when hiding near a corner as the long silencer may poke out of there, revealing your position. Point the weapon towards the inside of the corner.

Appearances[]

The K&M .45 Tactical in the Deleted Scenes deals slightly less damage than its multiplayer version. Additionally, the silencer it can equip has become virtually worthless as enemies can detect you regardless of whether it is equipped and it reduces damage even further. The weapon appears in the following missions:

  • Counter Terrorist Training: Provided at the weapons counter at the shooting range.
  • Recoil: The player starts the level with the weapon.
  • Hankagai: The player starts the level with the weapon.
  • Alamo: The player starts the level with the weapon. No ammo for the weapon appears in the level.
  • Fastline: The pistol is lying in front of the player after waking up from being knocked out in the first half of the intro, and after killing the Terrorist arming the bomb, the pistol is lost. The officer the player meets after waking up again provides .45 ACP ammo, however, suggesting that at one point the player was intended to keep the weapon.
  • Truth in Chaos: The player starts the level with the weapon.
  • Run!: The player starts the level with the weapon.
  • Miami Heat: The player starts the level with the weapon.

The K&M Tactical .45 is used by grenadier Counter-Terrorist NPCs, one appearing in Building Recon, who throw HE Grenades at enemies. NPCs that wield the pistol can also be seen in Secret War, Motorcade Assault, Downed Pilot, Fastline, and Pipe Dream, only actually used by NPCs in Motorcade Assault and Fastline.

Achievements[]

Weapon
K&M Tactical .45 Expert K&M Tactical .45 Expert
Kill 200 enemy players with the KM Tactical .45.

Bugs & Exploits[]

  • Prior to Counter-Strike: Source, the silencer attaching/detaching animation can be skipped by starting the animation and then quickly switching to another weapon before switching back.
  • A rare glitch may occur when picking up the weapon from a player killed while attempting to attach/remove the silencer, in which the new owner would play both animations in an infinite loop, unable to use the weapon.

Trivia[]

  • When taking the silencer off the K&M .45 Tactical, it is simply the sound of it being attached reversed. The same applies for the Maverick M4A1 Carbine.
  • The weapon was originally planned to be colored in black in Counter-Strike. However, the blue-purple color was used instead, although the world model still retains its black finish.
  • The USP appears in every Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes mission that takes place in Japan, as well as the M3.
  • In the Counter-Strike Beta, the USP's reload sound and draw sound remains the same as the Glock-18 in Counter-Strike 1.6.
    • The odd blue-purple tint is likely intended to be modeled after the stainless steel version in real life.
    • The USP in Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes used the same black finish as seen in the world model and its silencer is quite different.
    • Also, originally in the Counter-Strike Beta, it had a flashlight mounted below the gun barrel. Starting from Beta 6.5, it was removed.
  • Before Counter-Strike: Source, the safety for the USP is observed to be on, which should make the pistol unable to fire.
  • The K&M .45 Tactical in Counter-Strike: Source has .40 S&W marked on the side, suggesting it is based on the real-world USP40 (the base model) that was introduced in January 1993, though the weapon is coded to use .45 ACP rounds like the USP45 design introduced in May 1995.
  • A small hole appears in the cocking serrations on the slide of the USP during its reloading animation, which promptly vanishes when the reloading is done.
  • The USP in the GoldSrc Counter-Strike games will always have a suppressor attached in third-person perspective, regardless of actual suppression. This is fixed in Counter-Strike: Source.
  • Some bots in Source will automatically attach the silencer by themselves but some others will not use it or will remove the silencer.
    • This behavior can be seen in older game by adding scripts; the same applies to the M4A1.
  • The USP's Condition Zero viewmodel in re-used in Counter-Strike Online and Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies, but uses the same firing sounds and reload animations of the USP in Counter-Strike 1.6. This applies the same to the Dual ElitesXM1014, TMP, Galil, Scout, SG 550, and the Krieg 552, but some of the viewmodels are slightly different from the Condition Zero viewmodel.

External links[]

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