Fade – is a type of skin that is used for many weapons and knives. Its characteristic look cannot be confused with anything else: a characteristic texture with a color gradient is superimposed on the surface of the object, the location of which depends on the pattern index. Because of this, not all fade-skins are equally valuable. Some pattern-index values give a successful coloring, in which one or two colors occupy most of the body.
The pattern-index can take values from 1 to 1000, which means that each Fade-skin in CS:GO has a thousand and one variations. This parameter determines how the three main colors – purple, pink, and yellow will be distributed over the surface. Gray may appear as a fourth component, but it is not normally counted – the more visible gray is, the less the skin is valued.
What do the percentages mean?
The main characteristic of such a skin – percentages, which describe how much of the surface is covered with colored texture. This value usually ranges from 80-100%. Skins with 100% Fade – are the most valuable as they have coloring covering the entire body. However, even this is not the limit: some knives, such as Falchion, have a texture on the handle, which can result in a maximum value of 110%.
Some knives, namely Karambit and Talon, have several values at once. For example, if the coloring of «carambita» is described as 70/29/1, this means that 70% of its surface is colored pink, 29% purple, and 1% yellow.
It is also useful to know that although the pattern index can vary between 1 and 1000, this does not mean that each number will correspond to a unique coloring. Due to the fact that the number of texture arrangements is limited, they will be repetitive. Consequently, the chance of getting a rare skin is slightly increased, because you need not a specific pattern-index, but one of a couple dozen possible ones.
What does the cost of a skin depend on?
Thus, the two main parameters that affect the cost of skins with fade in CS:GO – are float and pattern index. For knives, float is particularly important even though the range of float values is small (0 to 0.08). Thus, Fade knives are only found in the states «A little worn» and «Straight from the factory», but the uniform skin coloring makes even small scratches clearly visible. Because of this, it's important to thoroughly inspect the skin before purchasing. For example, the Karambit Fade, even at low float, may have noticeable scuffs on the areas where the blade connects to the hilt, and this will lower its price. But it also happens that with a higher degree of wear and tear, the scratches are better placed and not conspicuous.
So, if you decide to buy a Fade knife in CS:GO, here is what you need to pay attention to:
- Check not only the value float of the skin, but also how the scratches are located on a particular copy.
- Check the value of the pattern index.
- Make sure it is in the list of pattern-indexes with the coloring you want for the skin in question. Otherwise, there is a risk of buying a skin with 99% Fade – at a glance similar to a rare skin, but without 100% coverage.
Fade skins for knives discussed above – are the most popular, but there are also variants for Specialist Gloves and for several guns. So, if you want to (and have the funds), you can build yourself a pretty impressive inventory.