Important facts to know about CS:GO/CS2 weapon skins
The popularity of CS:GO/CS2 skins changes with time, but there are certain features that influence their price and popularity. Below we describe certain characteristics you need to look at to determine, what the best CS:GO skins are.
First, let’s look at the Float Value. It describes how shiny or battered the skin looks. The higher it is, the more scratches you will see on the body of the weapon. Note, that, unlike in many modern games, this value remains the same when you are using the weapon, so its quality won’t deteriorate with time. It is determined when the instance of a gun drops from the case and pertains to the same value forever. Naturally, the probability to get a CS:GO gun skin with lower float isn’t high, which is why Factory New skins are the most desirable.
For some items, you need to look not only at float value but also at pattern index. This is a value within the range from 1 to 1000, which determines how exactly the texture is applied to a weapon model. This works for weapons with geometric and abstract patterns, or for fade skins. If the weapon has just some pictures or graffiti painted on it, the pattern index won’t usually influence its placement.
At last, each CS:GO and CS2 weapon skin is characterized by its rarity, from “Consumer” to “Covert”. As you may have already guessed, it influences the probability of getting the skin, so “Covert” quality is valued the most. Many skins have versions with StatTrak (which tracks your kills obtained with this weapon), which are usually more expensive. Some skins have Souvenir instances, which can be obtained only during events.
Where to get info about CS:GO weapon skins?
There are several options to obtain info about CS:GO skins. If you do not own skin but want to have a look at its animation and feel in the game, you can head over to the dedicated unofficial servers created solely for this purpose. After joining them, you can get desired weapons via console commands and run around with them for as long as you want. It is not considered cheating, because it happens within an unofficial server and you do not actually get skins to your account.
Another useful option is to check a Steam Community Market or some third-party website, which gathers the actual data about CS:GO skins. There, you can check how the weapon with various float values will look and how it is affected by the pattern index. Often the pages of each skin are accompanied by additional information, such as float value range, rarity, collection, etc. It is good to know such things before looking for a good deal because all of these features of the skin influence its price.
You can also search for skin demonstrations and reviews on YouTube if you are curious about how the skin looks in the game and what animation it has, but do not want to deal with unofficial servers.
What types of weapon skins exist in CS:GO/CS2?
All CS:GO/CS2 items can be divided into several categories, according to their type and usage in the game. Here are their brief descriptions:
Guns and rifles are the most numerous category in CS:GO. If you talk about CS:GO skins, guns are what come to mind first. Many of them are cheap and easily obtainable.
Knives are more expensive, because the probability of the drop is extremely low. Some knives are especially rare and valued, for example, skins with a “Fade” pattern and certain indexes.
Gloves are even rarer than knives. If you plan to buy such an item of good quality, you will have to spend about 100$, and probably more.
Stickers are used to decorate guns. Some have special effects or hidden meanings that reveal when you scratch them. A weapon with some stickers applied to it often costs more.
Agent skins change your character’s look in the game. There are some people who don’t like them, as they think that they can make you more visible to your enemy, But most agent skins do not have this flaw, so they are often bought for players who want to look fancy.
Each category has its own pricing trends, so it is useful to study some CS:GO skins lists before buying or selling to get basic information about prices and players’ preferences.
What are the most valued CS:GO weapon skins?
All parameters described above determine, how much will the CS:GO skin cost and how many players will desire to obtain it. As in any other market, the prices are determined by the balance of supply and demand, so the rarer skins often rise in price. Some skins get expensive because the supply is limited, some get more expensive over time, and some get lots of attention from the start due to unusual patterns or some other unique elements. Here is the overview of CS:GO skins, which grabbed the most community attention in the beginning of 2023:
AWP Gungnir was released in 2019 within the Norse collection and belongs to the most sought-after skins to this day. The main reason for its popularity is aesthetical: it features the image of the Odin spears surrounded with intricate engravings reminiscent of Northern mythology. The price of the skin can vary from around 8-9 thousand dollars.
M4A4 Howl became a rarity not because it belongs to the best CS:GO weapon skins, but because of the copyright issues. The artist used a stolen image, and as a consequence, the weapon finish was removed from the cases about a month after the release. This item is the only one, which has “Contraband” rarity due to being in fact unobtainable. Consequently, its current price is about 13 thousand bucks and expected to grow.
AK-47 Case Hardened per se is not the rarest of the CS weapon skins, but there is a version with the certain pattern index which gets extremely valuable. Due to the texture colors perfectly fitting the weapon shape it can cost up to 150 thousand dollars.
AWP Souvenir Dragon Lore was one of the most talked about skins in 2022 because some deals where it was included and made into the news. As we have mentioned above, the Souvenir version of the skins drops only during major championships. They belong to the collections which are tied to certain maps, and the Dragon Lore one isn’t currently in a competitive map pool. Thus, there are very few Dragon Lores on the market, and a Factory New will cost about 452 thousand dollars.
The most famous knife skins in CS:GO
We decided to move this list of CS:GO skins into a separate category, because knives are an object of special attention for many players. There are twenty-one types of knives in CS:GO, and skins can be applied to 19 of them. There are more than four hundred knife skins, and this doesn’t describe the full diversity of these items, as there are many items where pattern index can drastically change the look. Here are some of the most valued knife skins:
Karambit Case Hardened (Blue Gem) is called a legendary knife for a reason: it is literally unique, and no duplicate for it exists in game. Obviously, there are many Karambit Case Hardened knives, but they all have different pattern indexes. The one we talk about has the pattern index 387, making the blade all-blue. Its current holder, Newb Rage, was recently offered about 1,4 million for the item and declined. For now, we can only wonder, how much will it cost in the future.
Another example of a valuable knife, which price even seems low after what you have read about the previous one, is Crimson Web skin set. This group of Counter-Strike weapon skins was released in 2014 and soon become a rarity used by players to show their status. For a Factory New version one will pay around 12 thousand dollars, depending on the knife type. And even for this money, it will take some time to find one, as they rarely appear on Steam Community Market or other trading sites.
Karambit Doppler has several variations, depending on the pattern index defining the distribution of various colors along the blade. The most expensive ones are those, where the blade is covered in one color. The types of Karambit Doppler are called “Phases”, and many of them may cost about 1000$. But some surpass this mark by far: for example, a Karambit Doppler (Sapphire) with StatTrak will cost about 9000$.
It is also worth noting, that in knives higher float causes a more significant drop in price than in other CS:GO skins sets. When the blade has a colorful pattern, each scratch is more distinct and consequently catches attention.
How many weapon skins are there in CS:GO/CS2?
It is impossible to describe all CS:GO skins in one article, as there are more than one thousand of them. The is a great style variety, so whether you like colorful anime pictures or realistic khaki patterns, futuristic guns, or pistols with vintage engravings, you will find something to your taste. It is often a good idea to look for thematic loadouts, which are weapon lists or collections structured about some theme, such as space, steampunk, or anime.
If more than one thousand weapon finishes are not enough for you, head over to Steam Workshop to explore skins created by other players and use the in-game. While there are no official ones, so they are not traded on the market, some of them are definitely worth trying out. Moreover, new skins in CS:GO are added on a regular basis. The developers look through the Steam Workshop and choose several skins each year, based on the community's opinions, the skin's popularity, and the expected style of the collection they are choosing their skins for.
There are various ways to put your hands on CS:GO skins, and you can even obtain them for free. If you play regularly, you will get cases, and you always have a chance to get some rarer gun or even a knife. But, realistically speaking, while opening them and hoping for the best can be engaging and fun, if you want a particular item, it is much easier to buy it at Steam Community Market or a reliable third-party site, such as Skin.Land.
Now you know, what features of the skins are important and which weapon finishes are the most famous in the history of CS:GO. Time to start building your own collection!
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