- "For the last time I'm not a Recon main"
- ―Apinkcow
Recon, along with Thief, is one of the two free basic Assassin class in CRITICAL STRIKE.
Appearance[]
The class has a device of sorts with an antenna coming out of it. Recon holds a firearm that looks like a shotgun, and a remote control on its other hand. They are also wearing particularly large boots.
Overview[]
Recon is a ranged assassin that focuses on controlling the fight with its stealth capabilities. It is noteworthy that Recon is the only class capable of prolonged cloaking without any notable limitations. Pairing this along with the CQB nature of Recon makes it suitable for ambushing players, giving Recon its unique identity. Aside from the effective playstyle, Recon is backed by a kit that packs a punch, allowing him to deal a chunk of damage to the enemy's health bar with a meatshot, while also chipping down or even finishing off their opponent with their bomb, which functions similarly to Stalker's AB2 move. Additionally, the bombs Recon place can remain for a significant period of time on the arena until it is detonated, giving Recon adequate control on the map by allowing them to punish opponents that are desperate for health.
However, although they have unmatched cloaking capabilities, they can still reveal their positions when attacking, and classes with AoE attacks can immediately uncloak Recon, making classes such as Bomber particularly hard to tackle. To make matters worse, Recon lacks an adequate health bar in order match toe to toe with other classes that are more CQB oriented, making Cloak an essential move in order for them to output any meaningful damage to their opponents. It also can self-damage, which can quickly kill you as fast as your opponents.
Summary: Good cloaking, good chip and okay burst, but is easily countered by good chip and burst classes.
Strengths[]
- High close-range damage
- Above-average mobility
- Zoning bomb
- 'Best' cloaking mechanic in-game
- Aerial capabilities
Weakness[]
- Below average health
- Weak against high ranged classes
- Self-damaging attacks
- Slightly uncontrollable movement
Movesets[]
| AttacK | Name / Preview | Description | Status Effects | Damage | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK |
Shotgun Spread Bullet Barrage  |
Shoot 5 bullets that do 4 damage each in a consistent spread. This ability will only consist of start-up unless under stealth. Under Short Hop, fire 7 bullets at your cursor in a cone-spread, each deal 4 damage. |
N/A | 4x5 / 4x7 | 1.2s |
| AB1 | Short Hop
 |
Leap in your moving direction, activating Bullet Barrage. | N/A | N/A | 4s |
| AB2 |
Remote Control C4 The Agency Provides  |
Plant a C4 on the ground, and on a player if on contact, which will turn completely transparent to other players shortly. The C4 has gravity and under Short Hop, activating this ability will hop backwards and drop the bomb. If recast, detonate the bomb, dealing 5 damage with extra damage based on the missing HP, up to 25 and knockback players hit. You will also deal 5 self-damage and also self-knockback yourself. The explosion will be faster if you recast while the C4 is in mid-air. |
N/A | 5 + (??) / 5 | 4s |
| CRT | Shadow Cloak
  |
Stealth for 3s. Using any abilities will remove the stealth. But planting a C4 will not remove the stealth. The blinking rate's cap is at 0.3s. Using ATK to cancel stealth will increase the cooldown by 2s. Cooldown will start when stealth wears off. |
N/A | N/A | 5s |
| AttacK | Name / Preview | Description | Status Effects | Damage | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK | Shotgun Spread
 |
Shoot out 4 bullets that do 5 damage each in a shotgun spread. | N/A | 5x4 | 1s |
| AB1 | Bullet Barrage
 |
Jump up and shoot 7 short-ranged bullets at your cursor that do 3 damage each in a circle pattern. | N/A | 3x7 | 5s |
| AB2 | Remote Control C4
 |
Jump backward and leave a bomb. Upon recasting this ability or waiting for 10s will detonate the bomb, dealing 5 damage with 50% of the player hit's missing HP (caps at 40). |
N/A | 5 + 50% | 5s |
| CRT | Shadow Cloak
|
Stealth for 3s. Using any abilities will remove the stealth. Cooldown will start when stealth wears off. |
N/A | N/A | 5s |
| AttacK | Name / Preview | Description | Status Effects | Damage | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK | Recon Shoot
|
Rapidfire: Shoot out 4 bullets constantly that do 5 damage each in a line. Shotgun: Shoot out 4 bullets that do 5 damage each in a shotgun spread. |
N/A | 5x4 | 0.5s / 0.6s |
| AB1 | Switch Mode
|
Toggle between Rapidfire and Shotgun mode. The default is Rapidfire mode. |
N/A | N/A | 0.3s |
| AB2 | Shadow Cloak
|
Toggle your Stealth, slowly drain your Stealth meter. If you take damage during Stealth, your stealth will be cancelled. |
N/A | N/A | 0.3s |
| CRT | Remote Control
|
Shoot out a projectile that stick to terrains, recasting will detonate the projectile, explode and deal 20 damage. | N/A | 20 | 4s |
Tips and Tricks[]
- Use your CRT to your advantage, it can easily give you an advantage against a foe.
- AB1 is your solid mobility move, and can deal extreme burst damage with practice. (5-25 damage). However, do note that it has spread, meaning your target has to be at a slightly higher elevation than you when you use AB1 in order to reach the scary potential of 25 damage.
- AB2 is very deadly to foes with low HP, due to it scaling based on missing HP. Bait foes into the bomb in order to deal massive damage.
- AB2 is not just an attack move, it can be used in combination with AB1 for mobility.
- You can take damage from your own bomb, if you have low HP and walk into your bomb you will regret everything.
- Don't rely on your cloak too heavily, as it has a very short duration.
- On other note, you should only use CRT when you are approaching an opponent or to hide and dodge your opponent's attacks.
- CRT can be used as a running tool for heal cubes. However, try to be slightly erratic in your movement when doing so.
- ATK is an okay pressure tool. It can do close-range, but not really any medium range damage. Very similar to Fairy's ATK.
- Do not count on all of your projectiles hitting. Instead count the number of HP the player hit descended after you do the combo.
Combos[]
AB2 > ATK > AB1 - Detonating your bomb nearby a player and using shotguns is a quickly execution.
ATK > AB1 > ATK
- This is a great chipping combo. However, if you really caught your enemy off-guard, you can pull in an AB2 to deal high damage.
- You can replace ATK with AB2 so that it becomes a bait combo, which makes your opponent chase you when you use AB1 and if they step in, just recast AB2.
- On this second variation, you can manage to run far away if they are too scared to go through your bomb.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Recon is one of two classes that receives two reworks.
- Recon, however, despite being a rework from Rework Rumble, it only has their moveset remade, rather than differently reworked.
- In April Fools 2023, Recon's CRT's duration was unlimited until an ability was cast.
- Before CS5 arrived, Recon shot out a rectangular projectile instead of releasing a drone with AB1.
- Recon wasn't a basic class until CS4.
- Recon's former name, Ghost is not to be confused as the one in CS2-3, separated from Nightvision (which is Ghost's former name).
- In early CS2, Recon used to wield single hidden blade on its right arm, making its class melee only, later changed to dual discs.
- Recon's ability 1 used to go invisible after 1 second of activation, later changed to reveal per 2 seconds.
- In early CS2, Recon don't reveal (stealth break) after taken damage before next update of recon.
- Recon's previous CRT ability is the original version of new Ghost's CRT ability.
- Surprisingly, new Ghost utilizes both playstyle of old Recon and removed class Technomancer.
Update History[]
- v5.7.0:
Recon was reworked.
- v5.8.0:
- AB1's damage: 5x7 > 3x7.
- CRT's duration: 3.5s > 3s.
- v5.8.6:
- CRT's cooldown will only start when stealth wears off. Cooldown is reduced from 8s to 5s.
- v5.8.9:
- Permanently reworked for the second time.
- v5.9.0:
- ATK's range is reduced.
- ATK's bullet RNG is removed, now only fire 5 bullets in a consistent spread.
- v5.9.2:
- ATK/ALTATK: Hit caps removed.
- ATK/ALTATK/CRT->ATK: Per-pellet damage increased. (3 -> 4).
- ALTATK: Bullet Barrage spread fixed to be more consistent (also reduced).
- AB2/ALTAB2: Self-damage no longer applies Gray HP.
- AB2/CRT: Now innately invisible when planted on terrain, rather than having to wait for it to go invisible.
- CRT: Blink rate is now capped at 0.3s.
- ATK: Cooldown increased. (1.1s -> 1.2s)
- AB2: Cooldown increased to 4s.
- AB2: Damage capped from 30 to 25, minimum damage lowered from 10 to 5.
- CRT->ATK: Cooldown increased. (0.5s -> 1.2s)
- CRT->ATK: Using ATK to cancel CRT will increase CRT cooldown from 6s to 7s
- v5.9.4:
- ATK: Projectiles now spawn closer.
- AB1: Jump height reduced by 30%
- AB1/AB2: Kickback angle reduced
- AB2: Cool-down increased (3s -> 4s)
- CRT: Afterimage range increased by 20%
- v5.9.7:
- ATK: Increased bullet size by 20%.
- AB2: No longer stops you in place.
- ATK: Bullets spawn closer.
- AB2: Changed damage to 30% of missing hp with a minimun of 5. (20% -> 30%) Removed bonus damage of 5.
- Since Recon’s rework has been in the game for a while, we took a look at common feedback provided for their kit and addressed the most common complaints. First, their ATK should feel far more consistent and rewarding with the bullet changes, as previously the bullets would start too far from their gun to be used effectively. ATK is now more in line with how it was before their rework. Second, AB2 causing you to stop moving did not feel great to use, so it no longer stops your movement when activating the ability. The damage formula has also been changed to rely solely on Missing HP without adding +5 damage, and the percentage has been lowered so that the bomb only does high damage when the opponent is low, instead of dealing 25 damage at half health.
