Shattered Web Week 7 tips to beat new Guardian AI, challenges

By Nick Johnson

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Jan 2, 2020

Reading time: 6 min

Shattered Web’s week seven ups the difficulty from the previous weeks, focusing on two fairly tough Guardian missions and a technical headshot challenge on Dust 2.

Despite how overwhelming the Dust 2 challenge seems, many players have come out the other side saying they feel like they’ve improved after completing it.

Here are tips and tricks for each one of Shattered Web’s week seven challenges followed by the best strategies for beating the two new Guardian missions.

Shattered Web Week 7 Challenge Tips

  • Pace Yourself – “Get 10 Kills with the Desert Eagle in Casual: Hostage Group”

Pace Yourself is one of the easier challenges this week, requiring players to kill 10 others with the Desert Eagle. The Casual: Hostage Group is made up of Militia, Agency, Office, Italy, and Assault, and unfortunately not all of these maps are well suited to the Deagle. But with the sheer amount of players in a casual server, it won’t take long for players to finish this one.

Quick tip? The kills don’t have to be headshots.

Two to three shots from a Deagle will drop an opponent, so the key here is not to spam the trigger. Unless the enemy is literally within touching distance, a “shot, pause, shot” rhythm is going to net players 10 kill faster than panic spam.

  • They Never Stood A Chance – “Get two Sniper Rifle kills in Danger Zone.”

In what is an easier version of week four’s “Scouting Mission,” “They Never Stood A Chance” only requires two kills instead of five with a sniper rifle.

And yes, players can indeed get an AWP or an auto sniper in Danger Zone. They’ll never be lying around the map, but any and all rifles can drop from the late-game supply crates.

Just like week four, surviving the early game while stockpiling cash is a player’s best bet. There is no requirement to finish the mission in a single game, either, so getting one kill in a Danger Zone match means that the player still made progress. 

It’s not worth fighting over a supply crate at the end of the match. The risk of pushing crates late-game for just a chance at an AWP is silly when Danger Zone players can just have the weapon they need delivered to them.

  • Target Acquired – Get 25 Headshot kills in a single Deathmatch: Dust 2 match.

This challenge can be rough, but we managed to complete it in three tries. The abundance of AWPs, other players on the earlier Negev and Nova challenges, and the fact that Valve deathmatch servers aren’t free-for-alls combine to make Target Acquired kind of a pain. At least, until the player embraces it.

Once warmed up, new players especially will feel like they’ve been playing the game all wrong. Counter-Strike has always been about precision. Precise timings, executes, taps, and sprays all come together to make CSGO an intricate beast that rewards those who take the time to slow down and learn.

That’s what Target Acquired does. Players can’t whip around corners, spraying wildly for this challenge. They’re forced to pie out angles and make precise shots and minute adjustments. If anything, this is the best challenge that Shattered Web has brought to CSGO so far.

It might be frustrating at first, but once players accept the requirements, they’ll walk away from the challenge feeling like they’ve improved.

  • How Hard Could It Be? – Get 10 Round wins in Competitive: Dust 2.

Not that hard, really. Besides avoiding Dust 2 during peak play hours, the only real tip for this one is the defenders should stay away from the traditional AWP mid. A decent alternate setup is two rifles at the B site with one watching mid and another rifler in CT as support and to listen for movement on catwalk. The AWPer either goes for the long pick, supports his long rifler, or holds catwalk.

Guardian Mission Tips and Tricks for Mirage and Cache

  • That’s Not Allowed! – “Get 2 unscoped AWP Kills in Guardian Cache.”

In the first of two Guardian missions included in week seven, players are tasked with defending Mirage’s B bombsite from multiple waves of attackers. “That’s Not Allowed” is a ton of fun.

There are some quirks to this mission. Firstly, no weapon kills, including knife kills, grant kill reward money. The only way for players to earn the cash for the AWP is through the round-win bonus.

But we have the foolproof strategy. Since the unscoped kills count for both players, one player should save for at least the first three rounds, while the second player mops up the enemies.

As the CTs start with a P250 and full armor, the early rounds against the Glock train bots shouldn’t prove difficult. As the attackers move on to AK-47s and Galils however, even a single wrapping enemy spells doom for the mission.

There are three main entry points for the attacking bots: tree room, heaven, and the B main entrance. While one player hugs the CT wall at headshot, the other should either crouch pit or hide newbox. Once the players can tell where the rush is coming from, reposition accordingly.

By round four or five, an AWP should be within reach.

Once a player has the AWP, it really is as simple as lining up some unscoped shots. As long as players don’t move, the shot will land near the dead center. Sticking close to the headshot wall can actually land players a collateral kill as the bots move in.

We recommend that players toss decoys toward checkers and cross their fingers. The same idea applies if they come from B main. A second player should smoke heaven and tree room and draw the bots into the room for an easy score.

  • Coordinated Attack – “Get 35 Kills in Guardian: Mirage.”

“Coordinated Attack” is the community’s first look at Valve’s new bot scripts that have enabled CSGO’s AI friends to pull off a trademark A execute on Mirage to perfection. With smokes, flashes, and the sound of pounding footsteps, players might actually think they’re in a competitive match.

As far as tips go, players that decide to stand behind the smokes and fail to use any utility of their own are in for a long haul. Flashes, incendiary grenades, and forward defensive smokes all increase the chances of at least one player living long enough to finish the round.

Remember, if the attackers even manage to plant the bomb, the players fail. There is no opportunity for a defuse.

At around round three, the AI will throw jungle, stairs, and CT smokes before pop flashing out of palace. The pop flash doesn’t come out every time, but if players smoke or molly ramp and palace, the mission is a cakewalk. 

Negevs and SCARs are fun, but players should pick up an AK or krieg as soon as the bots start dropping them. Even one bullet is enough to convince a bot to stop planting and reposition, so choosing weapons that players are comfortable with is key.

Unlike Cache, players receive full reward money for each kill, so an early SMG ramp rush in the second and third rounds will set the defenders up till they hit 35 kills.

All in all, week seven is an impressive demonstration of everything that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has to offer. This is week is a great time to bring friends into the Counter-Strike fold, especially with the IEM Katowice 2020 qualifiers starting on January 16.