What do the individual values of the CS2 skins mean? (Finish Catalog, Pattern Index, etc.)

Almost every Counter-Strike player has wondered at some point what stats like the Finish Catalog or Finish Style actually mean. In this article, we’ll explain exactly what each of the skin’s attributes means, what they reveal about the skin, and why they’re important.

What attributes do we mean exactly?

When you look at a skin in Counter-Strike, as shown in the image below, you can hover your mouse pointer over the “I” icon to see some stats. We’ll use these exact stats to explain everything you need to know.

Finish Style (lacquering)

Let's start with the top attribute: Finish Style, or "Lackierung" in German. The Finish Style is actually pretty irrelevant to you as a player or even as a trader.

The "Finish Style" is important if you want to create your own skins. In Counter-Strike, anyone can create skins and upload them to the Workshop. Many of the skins available in Counter-Strike were actually created by players themselves.

When creating skins, you can choose from nine different finish styles (paint jobs). These nine different styles are inspired by the real world and reflect actual painting techniques that can be used.

But what influences the finish style in Counter Strike?

In the game, the finish style affects how worn the skin looks; that is, with some finish styles, the skin develops scratches as its condition deteriorates, while with other finish styles, the color becomes paler as the condition worsens, for example.

If you want to learn more about the different finish styles, you can here, in the Counter Strike Workshop to find out more.

Finish Catalog (paint catalog)

The next attribute is the Finish Catalog, also known as the paint catalog. You can think of the Finish Catalog as the skin's ID, so to speak. 

Here's an example to make it easier to understand; after that, you'll fully grasp what the Finish Catalog is saying:

As you may know, there are skins available for various weapons, such as the Case Hardened Skin. All Case Hardened skins have the Finish Catalog 44, regardless of whether you are looking at an AK-47 Case Hardened or a Bowie Knife Case Hardened.

As with any rule, the Finish Catalog also has some exceptions. There are some skins with the same name but different Finish Catalog IDs on different weapons.

However, you can always be sure that a skin on the same weapon will always have the same Finish Catalog. It's not possible for the same weapon to have the same skin twice but have a different Finish Catalog.

Pattern Template - Pattern Index (pattern template)

The Pattern Template—or Pattern Index—is very interesting for all skin enthusiasts. Even casual Counter-Strike players have probably come across it at some point while looking up information on rarer skins, such as Blue Gems. 

The pattern template determines how the weapon is placed on the pattern texture and thus decides how the skin ultimately looks.

With a case-hardened skin, for example, the pattern index determines how much blue the skin has and where the blue is.

However, there are also skins where the pattern doesn't matter. One example is the Glock-18 Candy Apple. The color layout for this skin always looks the same, regardless of the pattern index.

If you'd like to learn more about exactly how the Pattern Index works, feel free to check out our dedicated article on the Pattern Index over.

Wear Rating - Float (degree of wear)

The last attribute is the wear rating (often referred to as float). This should be known to every Counter Strike player who is at least a little familiar with skins.

The wear level determines the skin's condition—ranging from brand-new to battle-worn. The skin is assigned a value between 0 and 1, and depending on that value, it is classified as the corresponding condition.

In the following chart, you can see how the "Float" value (wear level) corresponds to the five states of Counter-Strike skins:

To learn more about the float value, check out here over. There, we'll explain everything again in detail, including how the wear rating works.

Summary - These values are important

As you may have noticed, it always depends on what you want to do to know which attributes are relevant to you.

For the average player who occasionally buys skins, the only stats that really matter are Float and, sometimes, the Pattern Index.

The Pattern Index is often important for traders. 

The Finish Catalog is particularly important to the skin creator.

This article has given you a basic understanding of all the attributes of a Counter-Strike skin, so you can now focus on the attributes that are relevant to you.