While most CS2 players who’ve built a decent library of CS2 skins know about the basics of the different classifications of skins like Float Value or Rarity Tiers, a majority of them aren’t aware of how the Patterns & Index numbers affect the value of a particular CS2 skin. To help you get a better idea of how they work, here’s a complete CS2 skin Patterns & Index guide.
Join Our CS2 Pro Course
CS2 Skin Patterns & Index Explained
CS2 skins can be classified into two main categories. The first is those skins that use fixed designs, and the second type includes skins within specific patterned collections. Most of the skins that you are probably familiar with use fixed designs. For example, the AK-47 Redline, the M4A4 Desolate Space, and the AWP Asiimov use a fixed design. The only difference between two AK-47 Redlines might be that one could have more scratches than the other.
On the other hand, CS2 skins that are part of specific pattern collections can have a wide range of appearances depending on their pattern seed or index. Let’s consider the Karambit Case Hardened skin, for example. All Case Hardened skins use the Case Hardened skin template as shown in the image below, and whenever a Case Hardened skin is unboxed, it receives a random portion of the Case Hardened template. Because of that, two Case Hardened skins can look completely different depending on what portions of the template they get.
Now for the fun part. As you can see in the comparison image below, a Karambit Case Hardened can be bluer or have more of a yellowish or gray color, depending on the portion of the template they get. And if you think that the completely blue one looks great, then you have an eye for quality since Karambit Case Hardened variants with more blue portions are much more expensive than regular ones and are classified as Blue Gems.
So, how do you tell if a particular Karambit Case Hardened is a Blue Gem besides its looks? Well, that’s where the Pattern Seed & Index come into play. You see, whenever a pattern-based skin gets unboxed, they get a Pattern Seed or Index represented by a number based on what portion of the pattern they got. When you inspect a particular weapon skin, you can see its Pattern Seed number in the info and confirm if it’s correct.
Learn CS2 The Right Way
Conclusion
While CS2 skins might seem simple, like cosmetic items for any other game, things can actually get quite complicated once you start diving deep into the CS2 skins ecosystem. Fortunately, one of the most complicated parts of CS2 skins, Patterns & Index, is probably now much clearer to you.
