There’s something in here for everyone.

Valve has been almost silent for a short while regarding Counter-Strike 2 updates, and today we know why — The Armory update has arrived!

The huge CS2 update, which dropped on Oct. 2, is about as close to a new operation as you can get. The Armory Pass works similarly to the last few operations in that you can earn credits to spend on a wide range of cosmetic items.

From awesome new weapon skins to the addition of weapon charms and new stickers, there's something for everyone in the Armory Pass. Also included in today's patch are a competitive map pool shake-up, plenty of animation and network fixes, and a few bug fixes.

Here's the full patch notes for The Armory update in CS2.

Three new weapon collections and a case!

Just a few new skins to choose from. (Image via Valve)
Just a few new skins to choose from. (Image via Valve)

The Armory update comes jam-packed with new cosmetics, with three new weapon collections, a new case, and two sticker capsules bringing over 100 new items to CS2.

The Overpass 2024 collection has been revamped, headlined by the AK-47 B The Monster featuring iconic graffiti straight from the map. The Graphic and Sport & Field collections include vibrant and unique skins and can be obtained by spending battle pass credits earned after you activate a pass.

The same goes for the Gallery Case, which includes 17 new skins and a chance at the Kukri Knife. You'll need to spend credits for the case, then buy a key, before you can open the case. The Elemental Craft and Character Craft sticker collections will also set you back a battle pass credit.

Finally, for a whopping 25 credits, you can pick up the Desert Eagle Heat Treated. This skin is "unique in its wear and pattern" according to Valve, and looks very much like the Case Hardened skins of old.

Weapon charms have finally arrived in Counter-Strike

You'll need the Armory Pass to get your hands on a charm. (Screenshot by esports.gg)
Some match the new skins! (Screenshot by esports.gg)
Epic. (Screenshot by esports.gg)

Move over Rainbow Six and VALORANT. Valve has made a massive leap forward in weapon cosmetic technology with the addition of weapon charms! In total, 33 charms come packaged with the Armory Pass including the Missing Link collection (small versions of agent skins outfitted in cool costumes) and the Small Arms collection (tiny weapons in different colors).

Weapon charms have been in hot demand in CS2 since their popularity shot through the roof in other FPS games. If you want to get your hands on the new charms, you'll need to fork out for the Armory Pass — or pay a premium for one when they hit the Steam Market.

Italy enters the competitive map pool

Authentic. (Screenshot by esports.gg)
Iconic. (Screenshot by esports.gg)
A masterpiece. (Screenshot by esports.gg)

The competitive map pool in CS2 has ballooned to a record 12 maps following the addition of Italy today. Italy arrived with CS2 back when the game was released with a massive visual overhaul. One of the prettiest maps in the pool, Italy now lands alongside Office in the Hostage Group.

This doesn't mean we'll see Italy in Premier or at esports events just yet, but its late addition to the competitive pool may point to Valve expanding the main "game modes" available in comp for players.

Full The Armory patch notes and additions in CS2

The Armory

  • The Armory features three new weapon collections, two charm collections, two sticker collections, the Gallery Case, and the Heat Treated Desert Eagle.
  • Purchase and activate an Armory Pass to start earning Armory Credits.
  • Make progress toward credits whenever you earn XP with an active Armory Pass.
  • Redeem credits for items in the Armory.

Weapon Charms

  • Introducing Charms: dynamic items you can apply to your favorite weapons. Currently available exclusively in the Armory.
  • Drag and drop Charms to precisely place them on the weapon of your choice. A weapon can have one charm attached at a time.
  • Use a Charm Detachment to detach the Charm from a weapon. The Charm will return to your inventory and can be reused.
  • Redeeming a Charm from the Armory grants three complimentary Charm Detachments. Additional Charm Detachments are available for purchase.

Inventory and Items

  • All items acquired from the in-game store (including the Armory), Trade Offers, and Steam Community Market are now subject to a seven-day re-trade and re-market restriction.
  • All stickers, patches, and charms available on the Steam Community Market, in the Armory, or on friends' Steam Inventory web pages can now be previewed on your own inventory items.
  • Removed the ability to delete weapon cases from your inventory.
  • Added sticker scrape level selector when applying new stickers to weapons.
  • Added precise sticker wear level selector when scraping existing stickers on inventory weapons. Any applied stickers can only increase their sticker scrape level.
  • Added a way to immediately remove existing stickers from inventory weapons in addition to sticker scraping.
  • Added nametag module preview on the actual items when applying nametags.
  • Fixed several cases where applying nametags or stickers would unequip the weapon from your loadout.
  • Customizing a base weapon that's currently equipped will now auto-equip the newly customized version.

Animation

  • Improved character posing when on large slopes.
  • Made feet pin and unpin differently for all use cases to help remove aggressively leaned characters (AKA the MJ lean).
  • Pin/unpin IK logic is now not affected by poor server ping times.
  • Feet IK now repositions to idle pose if the feet have pinned at a largely different pose to that authored.
  • Re-authored run, walk, and crouch content to fix wide/scissor leg posing when traversing.
  • Changed ladder animations and behavior so characters' heads are much more representative of where the player camera is, including characters now displaying crouch correctly when on ladders.
  • Removed popping when crouching or uncrouching while jumping and reduced leaning on jump animations.
  • Fixed the character's pose popping when falling off a ledge.
  • Fix for many cases where the character's posing would subtly pop when traversing with slow-moving weapons.

Gameplay

  • Flashbangs and HE grenades no longer prematurely detonate when they exceed their "stuck bounce" limit.

Graphics

  • Added a Display selection dropdown for non-windowed Fullscreen mode to the Video settings screen.
  • Fixed graphics artifacts for fire effect in the Advanced Video tab.

Audio

  • Fixed a bug where UI sounds wouldn't position correctly when in-game.
  • Fixed an issue where step sounds would play for the local player but fail to broadcast to other players and vice-versa.
  • Fixed an issue where ragdoll water splash sounds would erroneously play on living players.
  • Fixed a case where voice chat didn't work on community serversFixed a case where incoming voice chats would sometimes never close.

Networking

  • Added telemetry option to display graphs of network jitter and misdelivery.
  • Changed how packet misdelivery is measured. Previously, if packets arrived out of order, this could be counted as misdelivery even if it was corrected and did not impact gameplay. Also, jitter was not considered, even though excessive jitter can disrupt smooth gameplay. The new measurement method will only count reordered packets as misdelivered if they impact gameplay. Furthermore, if the network jitter exceeds a threshold where gameplay is affected, the packets are counted as misdelivered even if they are not dropped and arrive in order.

Workshop

  • Added optional 3rd layer to environment blend shader.
  • Added biplanar mapping as an option for environment shaders.
  • Added optional wetness layer, paintable in Hammer on environment materials with the feature enabled.
  • Added color correction, roughness, and normal adjustments to foliage shader and static overlays.

Miscellaneous

  • Removed support for command line options that were intended for development purposes only

Maps

  • Ancient
    • Fixed some disappearing geometry.
    • Fixed some cases where players could detect player movement through water from across the map.
    • Fixed some pixel peeks.
    • Fixed a case where player shadows could be seen through geometry.
    • Adjusted some clipping for better player movement
  • Anubis
    • Fixed some missing collisions.
    • Nudged some geometry and clipping that were blocking grenade throws.
    • Improved clipping on some floors for more predictable grenade throws.
    • Fixed a pixel peek.
    • Adjusted clipping in a few areas for better player movement.
  • Dust 2
    • Fixed some clipping at the B site.
  • Italy
    • Added to competitive matchmaking.
    • Fixed bird animations.
  • Mirage
    • Fixed some C4 stuck spots
  • Nuke
    • Fixed a pixel walk.
    • Fixed some C4 stuck spots.
    • Fixed some gaps in geometry where items could get lost.
    • Fixed some disappearing geometry.
  • Overpass
    • Adjusted some grenade clipping to prevent bad grenade bounces.

If you're after more, check out Valve's official Oct. 2 The Armory patch notes here! Explore more news and content about CS2 at esports.gg.