All About Pattern Index in Counter-Strike Skins: A Key Concept in the Skin Industry
The Counter-Strike community isn’t just made up of fans who enjoy playing the legendary shooter or following the competitive scene. Big money, various “tricks,” and life hacks are also found outside the server, such as on the Steam marketplace. If you’ve ever been interested in skins, you’ve probably come across the term “rare pattern.” In this article, we’ll break down what this term means, but before diving into unique cases, let’s cover the basics you need to understand.
The Process of Creating Skins and How Patterns Fit In
To grasp the meaning of the term “pattern,” it’s important to have at least a basic understanding of the skin creation process. To create artwork for a weapon in Counter-Strike and design your own skin, you need to download the texture maps. From there, you must decide whether to color each element individually or create a general design that randomly overlays the weapon’s parts. This choice determines the type of pattern for your skin: dynamic or static. Keep this in mind as we’ll return to it later.
In brief, the process involves transferring the finished texture onto a 3D model, adjusting the float value, uploading the designs to the Steam Workshop, and awaiting approval from VALVE. The key takeaway is that the pattern is the artwork that “wraps” around the item’s body. Think of it like wrapping a car in a film: the specialist either cuts a piece to cover the whole body or prepares separate fragments for the hood, door handles, trunk, and so on. We’ve simplified the skin creation process here, but it’s enough for the purpose of this article.
How Does the Pattern Affect the Appearance of a Skin?
The pattern is essentially the artwork applied to the weapon’s body, so it logically plays a crucial role in the item’s visual appeal. However, beyond the image itself, the pattern also determines how the texture will be applied to the weapon. There can be up to 1,000 variations, as the pattern index ranges from 1 to 1,000. Essentially, this means the same artwork will be applied in a thousand different interpretations. Now, let’s revisit the concept of “dynamic” and “static” patterns.
Static patterns are straightforward. The skin’s creator has pre-positioned all elements of the design on the relevant parts of the weapon and didn’t want to disrupt the integrity of the art. For these skins, it doesn’t matter what pattern number you get, but you’ll have to check for yourself if the pattern is static. Counter-Strike doesn’t provide specific indicators for patterns, so the best way is to examine a few versions of the item with different pattern numbers. If you notice no difference, you can ignore this parameter.
A great example of a dynamic pattern is the AWP | PAW. The design includes many different images of cute cats and dogs randomly arranged across the weapon. Each pattern index (from 1 to 1,000) determines the placement of these animals on the sniper rifle. If you want a specific cat or dog in a prominent spot on the weapon, you’ll need to find the right pattern. How can you find such a skin among thousands? More on that later (spoiler: the SIH extension can help).
Dynamic patterns can also be divided into two types: random and vertical/horizontal. We’ve covered the random type—where the artwork is applied randomly. In the second case, the pattern shifts only horizontally or vertically. You can notice this on the Glock-18 | Moonrise, where the cityscape and moon shift only horizontally, like a timeline in a video editing program or a track’s progress bar. This skin is also known for having “rare” patterns, which you’ve probably heard of and we mentioned earlier. The third artwork in this series features a star on a raised part of the body. Many users hunt for this “perfect placement,” and finding it on the marketplace is difficult because they are bought up quickly. Why do people desire them so much? Let’s continue.
How the Pattern Affects Item Rarity and Value
It’s no secret that nearly every material industry has its collectors and fans of rare items. As you might have guessed, Counter-Strike is no exception. Some players’ collections reach seven-figure sums in dollars, and some of the most expensive transactions often involve rare pattern indices. Recently, an AK-47 | Case Hardened with pattern 670, known as the Blue Gem, was sold for $1,000,000. The pattern’s texture mimics metal corrosion, and collectors highly value the dominance of blue in this dynamic pattern. The 670 variant is considered the best, and people are willing to pay astronomical prices for it.
Other expensive examples of dynamic patterns involve skins from the Doppler collection. This mainly applies to knives, where players hunt not for specific values but for particular ranges. The Doppler texture contains three colors that randomly mix to create various variations. These variations have designations called Phases. The most expensive knives are those completely covered in one color: green, red, or blue, also known as Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire. Players are also willing to pay extra for certain color combinations, such as the “Black Pearl” pattern. So, if you get your hands on one of these knives, be sure to check its pattern index and determine its Phase.
Let’s now move on to more affordable options. Apart from the Glock-18 | Moonrise, another skin with a rare pattern is the P250 | Nevermore. The artwork features a raven, which can be nearly invisible due to the dynamic, random pattern. Look for rare pattern values where the raven is most visible, and you can add a rare item to your inventory with potential for profit.
How to Search for Items with Rare Patterns Using SIH
We promised to reveal the secret of finding rare patterns. The Steam Inventory Helper extension allows you to view the pattern indices directly on the item’s marketplace page. You don’t need to launch the game every time, switch windows, or minimize your browser—a difficult task for users with weaker PCs. Simply sort the items, look for the desired pattern numbers, and only enter the game to inspect the item in question. If you’re interested in Doppler skins, you can enable the Phase display function in the settings to simplify your search.
To make your search even easier, just enter the desired pattern value in the designated field (they’re quite easy to find online). If there’s an item with that pattern on the marketplace, it will be highlighted in the list. Even if you don’t find the item you want, don’t be discouraged — try looking for that pattern in different wear grades, and to switch between them conveniently, don’t forget to use SIH.
