AWM-S

The **Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Covert**, or **AWC**, known in-game as the **AWM-S**, is a Sniper Rifle in-game that uses the .308 Subsonic Ammunition and was released in the v0.5.0 "Air drop it like it's hot" update on July 26, 2018.

## Update Note

"The good folks at PARMA are now making regular supply runs over the island, releasing air drops with precious cargo. These special crates contain rare and quality loot, including extra rare weapons and items that can only be found in the air drop. The cargo plane will make regularly timed visits to the Island, but you can also get air drops on demand by finding and firing a flare gun."

## Background

The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle is a bolt-action Sniper Rifle series designed and manufactured by the British arms company Accuracy International. It has proved popular as a civilian, police, and military rifle since its introduction in the 1980s. The rifles have some features that improve performance in very cold conditions, without impairing operation in less extreme conditions. The Arctic Warfare Covert is the real name for the weapon but it is known in-game as the AWM, or the Arctic Warfare Magnum.

## Info

The AWM-S Sniper Rifle uses the .308Subsonic Ammunition type and is the only other weapon in the game to do so besides the Mk 20 SSR. It does 180 damage per shot and does not make Headshots, while formerly it did 300 damage and 350 damage for headshots. The only way to get the AWM-S is from Golden Air Drops, Hardstone Boulders, or Hardstone Blocks. It has many similarities with the SV-98 with the slow fire rate, both being Sniper Rifles, and the high damage. It is one of only six sniper rifles in the game. This weapon has low bullet velocity for a Sniper Rifle, making it harder to aim at moving targets. The tracer of the .308 Subsonic is also very dark, so this means that wary players may be able to dodge the bullet.

## Strategies

### Using

* Use the AWM-S along with a Vector, SPAS-12, MAC-10, or any weapon with a ton of spread (e.g. PKP Pecheneg).
* The AWM-S makes for an excellent close range and far range combat gun, due to enemies being unable to dodge the bullet. However, similarly to the M870 and the SPAS-12, missing a shot can be fatal due to the slow rate of fire.
* The AWM-S pairs well with Shotguns the most and LMGs.
* Try to shoot when your opponent isn't moving, moving opponents are hard to target, especially with the AWM's low velocity for a Sniper.
* The AWM-S bullet can kill a Player in 1 shot with almost any type of armor, so try to slow your enemy down and aim carefully to make sure you hit them.
* Quick-switching makes you move faster and will counter out the delay after you fire.
* Since it's suppressed, when sniping from long distances, your opponent won't even know that you shot them.
* But still, the enemy sometimes can see your bullet shot from your AWM-S, so be careful at close ranges, it may give them a high chance of watching the black bullet.
* Move around your opponent, plan where to shoot (when planned, don't move your cursor, wait when you move to them), then move at the opposite side of where you're planning to shoot, that'll confuse your opponent, and then shoot at them with your already aimed cursor.
* Holding your secondary weapon will make you less wanted.
* Hold your secondary weapon, then quickly switch to the AWM-S and get an easy kill.
* The AWM-S can substitute for an LMG or DMR due to its long range, and a Shotgun due to its high damage.
* The Ammunition for the AWM-S, the .308Subsonic, is rare, so be sure not to waste any. If you do get low on ammo, find an Armor-Piercing Melee Weapon, such as the Wood Axe, and find the large Ammo Crates which can give you any type of ammo, even the rare ones such as the .50 AE, the Flare ammo, and the one you target for, the .308 Subsonic.
* This weapon is very useful for fighting many people at once since 1 shot can knock one person out. If you're fighting squads, aim and shoot, then hide and heal. After you're on 75% health or higher, cook a grenade and throw it at them, either they all die or one or more person is on low health, then you can finish them off with the AWM-S.
* The AWM-S can shoot down almost all Obstacles in 1 hit, making it very useful. Shoot the Obstacle down using the AWM-S (though LMGs are more preferred since it's a waste of 1 precious bullet), then finish them off using your secondary weapon.
* Pair with a BAR M1918 or high damaging Assault Rifle, such as the SCAR-H, M4A1-S, use the gun to lower your opponent's health down, then switch to your AWM-S and kill them in 1 shot (If they have less than 70 health, even with max armor).
* If your enemy is near an explosive such as a Barrel, shoot it to kill them with its explosion.
* Quickswitching to another sniper rifle is a good tactic wherein you could hit them with the AWM-S to lower them down and quickly switch to your secondary sniper rifle to kill them.
* Hide between two trees (the bush is too small) and wait. When someone walks by, shoot them, and if they don’t die then quickly switch to your secondary weapon and finish them off.

### Countering

* Try peeking out from behind cover to trick the sniper into wasting bullets, as the AWM-S has a slow reload and limited ammunition capacity.
* **DO NOT** stand still or attempt to medicate whilst in the open, even a unskilled sniper can kill you with one well-placed shot.
* Make sure that there's at least one Obstacle in between you and the AWM-S user, hiding behind an Obstacle always helps, even if it gets destroyed in 1 hit. Every shot will waste one more ammo in the precious and low supply the user has.
* Unlike what most people think, the AWM-S is not an ideal weapon at very long ranges, due to its slow velocity for being a Sniper Rifle.
* The AWM-S does 180 damage per bullet, which means that it is the second most damaging weapon in the game, being able to kill you in 1 shot. To avoid being hit, gain adrenaline with Sodas and Pills, then move back and forth or in random motion, this will make it harder to land a shot.
* If you are very close by to a player with an AWM-S, then you should try using a melee weapon or shooting with a high DPS weapon with a short barrel like the MAC-10 or the MP220 as the AWM-S is the longest weapon in the game, meaning it will be hard for the AWM-S user to place shots accurately.
* Many players are so excited to have the AWM-S, that they forget about their other weapons and use it even at close range. Exploit this by using any method you can to counter, such as dodging and then rushing them with an automatic shotgun.
* Surprisingly, you only take around 80 damage if you have full armor, so don't be too afraid to charge at an AWM-S user.
* You can also use another Sniper that loads one at a time, like the Mosin Nagant or the Model 94. You can also use a Sniper with a high magazine, like the SV-98.
* You can also use the other .308 Subsonic weapon, the Mk 20 SSR, though, like the AWM-S, has limited ammo (Only spawns in Savannah mode)
* If possible, try to use a dual SV-98 or dual Mosin-Nagant or mixed to deal a big chunk of damage. (Assuming you hit them both times)
* Hide, and ambush the AWM-S user with a ”insta-kill” weapon (MP220, dual G18C, MAC-10, Vector, and Saiga-12), this will surprise them and since this is CQC, they will have trouble hitting you due to the long barrel.

## Pros and Cons

### Pros

* Deals the second highest damage out of any weapon in the game
* Great range
* Very accurate
* High fire rate for a sniper rifle
* Very long barrel to reduce the time to hit the Enemy
* Useful for clearing obstacles (though you will waste one of your bullets)

### Cons

* Limited ammo
* Low magazine
* Slowest Sniper Rifle bullet velocity
* Huge recoil
* Easily spotted
* Lengthy 3.5 second reload and when empty 3.6 from the Half Cycle
* Attracts players

## Rarity

The AWM-S is one of the rarest weapons in the game, only spawning in Golden Air Drops, Hardstone Blocks, and Boulders. It never spawns as a normal ground loot and is highly sought after.

 File:Screen Shot 2018-12-05 at 9.22.12 AM.png
 File:Screenshot 2019-05-20 at 10.16.12 PM.png
 File:Awm-snow-map.png
## Sounds

* Firing
* Reloading
* Half Cycle (When Mag is Empty)
* Cycling and Swapping To

## Trivia

* Despite using "subsonic" ammunition, the AWM-S has a higher bullet velocity than most weapons in the game, even though those weapons use supersonic ammunition.
* Previously, the AWM-S dealt 300 Damage with 350 Damage Headshots. Now, it deals 180 Damage, and headshots no longer occur.
* It is one of only 7 suppressed weapons present in surviv.io, the others being the M4A1-S, the CZ-3A1, the Groza-S, the OTs-38, the VSS, and the Mk 20 SSR.
* The AWM-S had a temporary nerf to the ammunition capacity to give it only 1 round instead of 5. It was changed later back to 5, but with an increased reload time.
* The "AWM-S" in-game is actually an AWC (Arctic Warfare Covert), not an Arctic Warfare Magnum. The AWC is an integrally suppressed version of the AW. This has been confirmed by Justin, a developer and is further confirmed by the weapon's ID, which is "`awc`".
	+ Furthermore, the real-life AWM uses either the .300 Winchester Magnum or .338 Lapua Magnum, while the AWC fires 7.62 NATO (.308 Winchester) ammunition. This would actually make the weapon's ammunition type correct, while the name of the weapon remains incorrect.
	+ As the AWC uses 7.62 NATO, it should actually have a capacity of 10 rounds instead of 5.
* The sprite for the AWM-S has no iron sights, meaning that in reality, it would be very difficult for a player without a scope to aim the weapon.
* The sprite also seems to have no suppressor which would mean it would have an Integral suppressor which means a built-in suppressor.
* A Youtuber, Duckio, claimed that the AWM-S can penetrate through the Pan. However, this was proven false.
* Like the Mosin-Nagant, it can spawn in woods mode, despite being restricted to LMGs and Shotguns. This is due to the fact you can obtain it via Hardstone Blocks.
* The AWM-S’s worldview sports what seems to be a scope, contrary to the sprite, which has no scope.
* The AWM-S deals exactly 99 damage on body shots when you have a lvl. 3 vest
* The AWM-S had it's own, new, different world image on Snow Maps. It is the only gun to be reskinned only for one event.
	+ The reskin on the Snow Map can be a reference to the **Arctic** Warfare, the company which manufactured it.
	+ Although there is no confirmation of this in the code yet, it seens that the AWM-S used to do more damage in the older versions of the game.
	+ This is probably because of the removal of the headshots feature.
	+ The 2020 version of the Snow Map gave the AWM-S no reskin, making another factor that Kongregate had messed up on.

## Gallery

052F28B8-A5AE-479F-8693-93339A65CB6E.gifA Survivr shooting another survivrAwm-s spawn.pngAn AWM-S that spawned from a Hardstone BoulderScreenshot 2018-12-14 at 4.59.08 PM.pngA fellow survivr holding a Katana, Saiga-12, and an AWM-S during the Frozen Deserts event.Image (2).pngA survivr holding the **AWM-S** along with the Saiga-12 and a 15x ScopeLucky 2 .pngA fellow survivr holding an AWM-SScreenshot 2019-02-25 at 6.20.08 PM (1).pngAn AWM-S and M4A1-S in the inventory.SURVIV AWM.pngA survivr with an AWM-SNewawm!.jpg*Photo from surviv.io Twitter*Awm-0.pngDouble AWM-SScreenshot 2018-07-31 at 9.59.57 AM.pngA survivr holding the AWM-S (old skin)AC0ED430-8CAD-4A77-AE80-2C7C2D7B8FA1.pngAWM-S reskin during the Snow-covered island updateA9F01613-9155-48FF-A5D0-8A160BF6EA82.jpeg2 AWM-Ss in the HUDEyeBunker3.PNGAn AWM-S spawned in the Halloween Map's Eye Bunker

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