CS2 Skin Wear Levels Explained: How Each Condition Looks and What It Costs

A Factory New AK-47 Redline and a Battle-Scarred one are the same skin with the same pattern. One can cost five times the other. The only difference is wear level. Get it right and you build a sharp loadout on a budget. Get it wrong and you overpay for a label nobody can see in-game.

This guide is about the practical side of wear. We cover what each of the five conditions actually looks like and roughly what each costs relative to the others. Then we get into which wear level to buy for your goal: a clean loadout, a smart investment, or the best look for the least money. If you want the deep technical breakdown of the number behind it all, that lives in our CS2 float value guide. Here, we keep it visual and practical.

What wear level actually means

Every CS2 skin has a wear level, decided by a hidden number called the float value. The float is a decimal from 0.00 to 1.00. It gets locked in the moment a skin is created and never changes afterward. Lower numbers mean a cleaner skin, higher numbers mean more visible scratches, fading, and damage.

That float places every skin into one of five named conditions. The condition is what you see on the marketplace, and it drives a skin’s price alongside its rarity and pattern. Two things are worth remembering. The wear is purely cosmetic and never affects how the gun shoots. It is also permanent, so no skin ever “wears down” from being used.

The five CS2 wear levels

Here are the five conditions, their float ranges, and what to expect from each:

Wear level	Float range	Appearance	Relative price
Factory New (FN)	0.00 – 0.07	Pristine, no visible wear	Highest
Minimal Wear (MW)	0.07 – 0.15	Very light scratches	High
Field-Tested (FT)	0.15 – 0.38	Noticeable but moderate wear	Mid
Well-Worn (WW)	0.38 – 0.45	Heavy scratching and fading	Low
Battle-Scarred (BS)	0.45 – 1.00	Heavily damaged, faded colour	Lowest

These five tiers are universal across every skin in the game. What changes from skin to skin is how dramatic the jump between tiers looks, which is where things get interesting.

Factory New

The cleanest tier. Colours are at their brightest, patterns are sharp, and there is no visible scratching. Factory New is what collectors and showcase players chase, and it carries the highest price by a wide margin. On some skins the difference between FN and the next tier down is barely noticeable; on others it is night and day.

Minimal Wear

A small amount of light scratching, usually only visible if you look closely. For most players, Minimal Wear is the sweet spot. You get a skin that looks almost identical to Factory New in actual gameplay for a noticeably lower price. A Minimal Wear skin sitting near the bottom of its range (close to 0.07) can be almost impossible to tell apart from FN.

Field-Tested

This is the most common tier you will see on the market, and it covers a huge float range from 0.15 to 0.38. That width matters. A Field-Tested skin at 0.16 can look nearly as clean as Minimal Wear, while one at 0.37 can look almost Well-Worn. Field-Tested is where most players actually buy, because the price drop from MW is significant and many skins still look great here.

Well-Worn

A narrow, awkward tier squeezed into 0.38 to 0.45. Scratching is obvious and colours start to fade. Well-Worn is the least popular condition for most skins because it looks rough without being cheap enough to feel like a bargain. There are exceptions, which we will get to.

Battle-Scarred

The roughest tier, running all the way from 0.45 to 1.00. Heavy wear, faded colours, and bare metal showing through. Battle-Scarred is the cheapest way to own almost any skin, and for some finishes it looks far better than its reputation suggests.

How much does wear actually change the price?

Wear is one of the biggest price drivers in CS2, but the size of the gap varies enormously by skin. Factory New is the pricier condition in roughly 95% of cases. The actual multiplier ranges from as little as 1.5x on skins that hide wear well, to a typical 5-10x, all the way up to 20x or more on bright finishes where every scratch shows. A Factory New MP9 Bulldozer, for instance, can run several hundred dollars while its Battle-Scarred version sits under $100.

A few patterns hold true across most skins:

• The FN premium is steepest on clean, bright finishes where scratches are obvious. A Factory New AWP, where the body is mostly visible, commands a big premium over worn versions.
• The gap shrinks on dark or busy finishes where wear is hard to see anyway. On some skins, a Field-Tested looks 95% as good as Factory New for half the price.
• Tier boundaries create sudden jumps. A skin at 0.149 (Minimal Wear) can cost meaningfully more than the same skin at 0.151 (Field-Tested), even though they look identical.

This is exactly why checking the exact float, not just the condition label, matters when you are spending real money.

When Battle-Scarred actually looks good

Here is the part most wear guides skip. Battle-Scarred does not always mean ugly. On certain finishes, high wear creates something collectors actively hunt for.

The clearest example is the AWP Asiimov. Above roughly 0.95 float, its scope turns completely black. The community nicknamed it the “Blackiimov,” and these high-float versions sell for several times the price of a normal Battle-Scarred Asiimov.

Patina finishes are another case. Skins like the AK-47 Case Hardened do not scratch in the usual sense. Instead they darken as float rises, so a Battle-Scarred Case Hardened keeps its entire blue pattern intact and just looks deeper in tone. Blue-gem patterns get collected even in Battle-Scarred condition for exactly this reason.

The lesson: before you write off a Battle-Scarred skin as a cheap compromise, check what finish type it uses. Sometimes the worn version is the one worth owning.

Which wear level should you buy?

This depends entirely on your goal. Here is a straightforward way to decide.

If you want the best-looking loadout on a budget: Buy Minimal Wear or low-float Field-Tested. You get a skin that looks clean in-game without paying the Factory New premium. For most skins, nobody will ever notice the difference during a match.

If you are buying for investment or collection: Factory New holds value best and has the most prestige, especially low-float FN. Collectors pay for condition, and the FN supply only shrinks over time as people hold onto clean copies. Knives are the classic long-term hold here, and our top 10 CS2 knife skins guide breaks down which ones keep their value best.

If you want the cheapest version of an expensive skin: Battle-Scarred is the entry point. Just check the finish type first. On bright painted skins it will look rough, but on dark or patina finishes it can look surprisingly good.

If you care purely about how it looks in-game: Honestly, Field-Tested is enough for most skins. The camera distance and motion of actual gameplay hide most wear. Save the money for a better skin rather than a better float on the same one.

How to check a skin’s wear before buying

The condition label alone does not tell you where in the tier a skin sits, and that can mean a big visual difference. To check properly:

1. Open the skin listing and find the inspect link
2. Paste it into a float checker like CSFloat
3. Look at the exact float, not just the tier name
4. For Field-Tested especially, a float near 0.15 is far cleaner than one near 0.38

In-game, you can right-click any skin in your inventory and hit inspect to see its wear rating directly. The Steam Community Market only shows the condition label, so for serious buying a third-party float checker is essential. And once you have found the skin you want, our guide to trading CS2 skins safely covers how to complete the deal without getting scammed.

Common wear-level mistakes

A few errors cost players money constantly:

• Overpaying for Factory New on a skin where it barely shows. On dark finishes, FN and Field-Tested can look nearly identical in-game. The premium is wasted.
• Buying by label alone. A “Field-Tested” could be a near-clean 0.16 or a rough 0.37. Without the float, you are gambling.
• Dismissing Battle-Scarred entirely. On the right finish, BS is either a great bargain or a sought-after collector look.
• Assuming wear changes over time. It never does. The float is locked forever.

Frequently asked questions

What are the CS2 wear levels in order? From cleanest to most worn: Factory New (0.00–0.07), Minimal Wear (0.07–0.15), Field-Tested (0.15–0.38), Well-Worn (0.38–0.45), and Battle-Scarred (0.45–1.00).

Does wear level affect how a gun shoots? No. Wear is purely cosmetic and has zero impact on performance. A Battle-Scarred AK fires exactly like a Factory New one.

Which wear level is best value for money? For most players, Minimal Wear or low-float Field-Tested offers the best balance. You get a near-clean look without paying the Factory New premium.

Can a skin’s wear level change over time? No. The float value that sets the wear is locked permanently when the skin is created. It never changes, no matter how long you use it.

Why is Field-Tested so common? Because it covers the widest float range, from 0.15 to 0.38. More skins fall into it than any other tier when they drop or are unboxed.

Are Battle-Scarred skins always cheaper? Usually, but not always. High-float collector pieces like the Blackiimov AWP Asiimov or Battle-Scarred blue-gem Case Hardened patterns can sell for premium prices.

The bottom line on wear levels

Wear level is one of the two biggest things deciding what a CS2 skin looks like and what it costs. Learn the five tiers and remember that Field-Tested covers a massive range. Always match the wear to your actual goal rather than chasing the cleanest label by default. For most players, the smart move is a low-float Field-Tested or Minimal Wear that looks great in-game and leaves money for the next skin.

For more skin guides, market updates, and trading advice, our CS2 skins hub has you covered throughout 2026.