Agent Hitboxes in CS2 (CSGO) | Everything you need to know

Feel like players with agent skins are immortal? You just scored one of the most beautiful headshots of your career, and your opponent was still standing? Nothing new; happens to all of us from time to time. However, is that really because of the different character models? Today, you will learn all about CS2 (CSGO) character hitboxes and if agent skins impact them in any way!

What Are Hitboxes?

A hitbox is an invisible zone on a character model that receives a specific amount of damage when hit. We could say that it is an "invisible skeleton" that is composed of duplicated geometric figures (usually rectangles or cubes). In Counter-Strike it was always just rectangles, but after complaints from the competitive CS2 (CSGO) players, Valve decided to implement circles for the new character hitboxes.

Was that a nerf? Actually, we believe that this change made the game a little more consistent, especially that sometimes that playing on 64-tick rate servers could feel like "playing against a team without heads”.

In CS2 (CSGO) (as in most FPS games), the head hitbox registers the most damage. As of now, the damage distribution for each character's hitbox looks as follows:

Are All Hitboxes The Same For Every CS2 (CSGO) Agent?

Yes, all hitboxes are actually the same for every character model in CS2 (CSGO), and this is an absolute must for any FPS game. Sure, a person with a helmet in real life has a better chance of surviving on the battlefield than one without a helmet, but it doesn't matter in a competitive game, where it should all be about muscle memory. Without that, we couldn’t really call the game “balanced”.

To sum up – unlike recoil patterns, hitboxes never change, regardless of the character model, map, side you’re playing at, etc.

You can actually check any character model hitbox by using one of the sv_cheats commands – sv_showlagcompensation 1 (and if you’re into such stuff, be sure to take a look at this article: Best CS2 (CSGO) SV_Cheats Commands).

Can You Gain Any Advantage With CS2 (CSGO) Agent Skins?

Okay, we know that it is impossible to manipulate hitboxes using other character models, but can you gain any significant advantage with agent skins? No, not really. Well, there are some agents that blend into the background, and every so often you can surprise your opponent, but generally speaking, agent skins don't change anything in practice.

Moreover, sometimes using agent skin can actually result in a disadvantage. A great example is Cmdr. Frank 'Wet Sox' Baroud, who is wearing a backpack.

Even though the backpack itself will not register any damage when we get shot at it, elements like that can reveal our location, especially when we are setting out to hide in a specific spot. It’s even a bit like giving our enemies an opportunity for a little Wallhack, and that’s just unnecessary.

So, maybe agent skins are not as overpowered as you thought. But you know, they can’t be, that could kill the competitive aspect, and we don’t want that. Still, some of them are truly worth buying, especially if you are a fan of playing on specific maps!