AWM-S

The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Covert or AWC, known in-game as the AWM-S (Arctic Warfare Magnum - Supressed), is a Sniper Rifle that uses the .308 Subsonic (Olive) Ammunition and was released in the v0.5.0 "" update on July 26, 2018. It is one of the rarest weapons in the game along with the M249, CZ-3A1, M4A1-S and 15x Scope.

Release 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 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.

And presenting the long awaited arrival of melee weapons! Scattered about the Island you'll discover various hand-to-hand tools, such as the wood axe, which deals massive damage to obstacles and can clear those pesky green ammo crates. You may also stumble upon a cache of knives, which are identical to fists in power, but far exceed them in style."

Background
The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed and manufactured by the British 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 different from what the in-game is named from, AWM, or the Arctic Warfare Magnum.

Info
The AWM-S Sniper Rifle uses the .308 Subsonic ammunition type, and is the only weapon in the game to do so. It does 180 damage per shot and the same for headshots (formerly 200 damage and 300 damage for headshots). The only way to get the AWM-S is from Golden Airdrops, 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 three bolt action rifles in the game, the other two being the Mosin-Nagant and the SV-98. This weapon has low bullet velocity for a Sniper Rifle, making it harder to aim at moving targets.

Tips

 * The AWM-S boasts the highest damage per bullet in the game, beating out even shotguns. This makes it extremely useful in close quarters; a shot from the AWM-S is the fastest way to kill lightly to medium armored players.
 * Despite being a Sniper Rifle, the AWM-S is not useful over extremely long distances; its bullets are slower than those of the other Sniper Rifles and it has an extremely limited supply of .308 Subsonic Ammunition.
 * Using the AWM-S when it has little ammo remaining is dangerous, as the player may run out of ammo in a fight. Be ready to loot another gun if this happens.
 * Like any Sniper, when shot, they players movement speed will decrease for a small amount of time, prevent this by switching to another weapon and return to the Sniper. This is called quick-switching

With this weapon

 * The AWM-S is a Sniper Rifle that does extremely high damage that is paired well with Shotguns and LMGs.


 * The AWM-S can be used for close range, due to its high damage that beats even Shotguns, mid-range, and long range, which makes it very useful in combat.
 * 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 1 shots kills a Player 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, 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 and get a easy kill.
 * The AWM can be used for a LMG due to its long range, and a Shotgun due to its high damage.
 * The Ammunition for the AWM-S, the .308 Subsonic, is rare, so be sure not to waste any. If you do get low on ammo, find a Wood Axe from the Wood Axe crates 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 most importantly, the .308 Subsonic.
 * This weapon is very useful for fighting many people at once, since 1 shot knocks 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.
 * The AWM can shoot down almost all Obstacles in 1 hit, making it very useful. Shoot the Obstacle down using the AWM (thought LMGs are more preferred, since it's a waste of 1 precious bullet), then finish them off using you secondary weapon.
 * Pair with a high damaging Assault Rifle, such as the SCAR-H or BAR M1918, use the Assault Rifle to lower your opponent's health down, then switch to your AWM and kill them in 1 shot (If they have less than 70 health, even with MAX armor).

Against

 * Try making the AWM opponent waste all their bullets, or make them waste 5, since the AWM has pretty long reload time, while they're vulnerable, attack them.
 * DO NOT stop moving, they can kill you in one easy snipe
 * Make sure that there's at least one Obstacle in between you and the AWM user, hiding behind an Obstacle always helps, even if it gets destroyed in 1 hit
 * Unlike what most people think, the AWM is not the best weapon in really long ranges, due to its low velocity

Countering

 * The AWM-S does 180 damage per bullet, which mean that it is the most damaging weapon in the game, being able to kill you in 1 shot, beating out even Shotguns. The best thing to do when you see an AWM user is to run and wait for other enemies to injure them first, then you can attack. If you have good enough armor and good weapons, you can challenge them. If you have low to mid armor and decent weapons, the best thing to do is to run, since it does 180 damage, you will most likely die in 1 hit. But, if you're really skilled and you think the AWM user is noob and can't snipe, go on and fight the AWM user, but beware though, one lucky hit may end your life. There is no perfect counter, but the best thing to do is to move around, preferrably with high Adrenaline since the AWM-S has the lowest velocity of all the Snipers, they'll most likely miss. If you have high enough (MAX) armor, you can take one hit, even though it'll leave you with about 30 health normally and 19 health if its a headshot. NOTE: You still die in 1 shot even if you have MAX armor due to fallout (different ranged snipe lead to differrent damage).

Pros

 * Deals the highest damage out of any weapon in the game
 * Great range
 * Very accurate

Cons

 * Limited ammo
 * Low magazine
 * Slow bullet velocity

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

Sounds
Firing

Reloading

Swapping To

Cycling

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 200 Damage with 300 Damage Headshots. Now, it deals 180 Damage, and headshots deal no extra damage.
 * It is the first suppressed weapon added to surviv.io. Another came shortly after, in the river update. (M4A1-S)
 * 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 really 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 also called the "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.
 * A Youtuber Duckio stated 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.