Like any decent live-service game, Counter-Strike 2 has an in-game store. Actually, it has more than one!Today, the CS.MONEY Blog is diving deep into The Armory. What is it, how do you farm stars the right way, and where should you spend them? We will answer all these questions and take a quick look at how prices for older skins have changed. Let us get into it!
The most important part of the game is having fun. And you’ll definitely enjoy the game more if you’ve got awesome skins. So where do you get cool skins without spending too much? Of course—on CS.MONEY!
What is The Armory Battle Pass?
The Armory is a built-in store with a pass system. You cannot just buy things directly with real money there. Everything is sold for “stars” that you earn by playing CS2. The devs added this store in the fall of 2024 to replace the old operations, and they have been updating it regularly ever since.
How does this store work?
It is pretty simple. To get the currency, you need passes. Each pass costs 16 dollars. You can have up to five passes active at the same time, and each gives you a max of forty stars. You do not get the stars right away, you earn them by playing. On average, it takes about two or three competitive matches to get one star.
What can you buy with these stars?
Even though The Armory has dozens of items, there is a catch. You cannot buy things directly, except for one limited skin and cases. Instead, Valve offers a bit of a gamble. You are not buying an item, you are buying a chance to get one. You can trade your stars for a chance to drop:
- Skins from exclusive collections.
- Weapon charms.
- Stickers.
You can buy a limited skin directly with stars, and you can do the same with cases in the store. Your chances of getting a specific item depend on its rarity. Pulling an M4A1-S Fade, for example, is way harder than getting a knife out of a case.ng five BPs, you can collect up to 200 credits in total.
Chances to get skins from new CS2 Collections (in %)
Unlike the previous ones, such as the Anubis Collection, the new CS2 Collections have reduced the number of skin rarities. Instead of six, it’s now five. This has affected the chances of getting skins of different rarity types. Before, the odds of getting a Covert skin was about 1 in 4000, ten times harder than getting a knife out of a case, now the chances are as follows:
- Covert – 0,13%
- Classified – 0,66%
- Restricted – 3,3%
- Mil-Spec – 16,53%
- Industrial – 79,37%
Thus, the odds to drop a Covert skin is 1 in 768, and for Restricted it’s already 1 in 29. Note that this only applies to new Collections! For a new Gallery Case, the chances of getting a knife or rare skins have not changed.
How many times can you buy The Armory pass?
As many times as you want, but only five passes can be active at once. The good news is that experience is not split between them — it counts toward all active passes at the same time. In other words, if you activate five passes and start playing, all five will progress at the same speed.
This makes star farming much faster, but you’ll need to spend $80 upfront.
What is the best way to spend stars to make your money back?
In short, you can spend stars on almost anything if you’re ready to wait a year or even two. Making your money back quickly is much harder, because it mostly depends on luck. The most predictable option, with almost guaranteed return, is buying cases with stars.
One star is worth 40 cents, and one case costs two stars, which equals 80 cents. After the Gallery Case was removed from the store rotation, its price slowly went up and now sits at 93 cents. It may not look impressive, but that’s still 15% growth over a year. Not bad by investment standards.
Outside of cases, things get riskier. Here’s why: for about half of the items in The Armory, the average return on investment is above one. That means buying them can be profitable in the long run, with a 5–25% chance of profit. Out of one hundred purchases, maybe ten or twenty will be profitable, but those wins can cover the losses from the rest.
Are charms and stickers worth it?
Charms became a big trend in 2025, but by 2026 their prices stabilized. Just like skins, their average return is above one, but the chance of profit is still low. However, there are some important details:
- Some stickers are more expensive because they are used in popular crafts. High demand makes them easier to resell at a profit.
- Some stickers have already left the store, and more rotations are expected in the future. That means limited supply.
So, you can definitely grab stickers and charms from The Armory, but you have to understand that this is a long game. You might be holding them for two or three years.
How do you farm stars in The Armory the fastest?
The ultimate lifehack is parallel farming. If you buy and activate five passes at once, you can earn stars five times faster for the exact same amount of playtime. Let us be real though: unless you get crazy lucky, this method will turn your 80 dollar pass investment into roughly 95 dollars. So on average, your profit is about 15 dollars for hours and hours of grinding.
Which CS2 mode is best for farming stars?
Just like at launch, the fastest way to complete a pass is playing Premier mode. It’s even better if you play in a full five-player team. A coordinated squad can speedrun matches and earn stars as fast as possible. Still, it takes many hours and games to fully complete a pass.
Prior to May 2026, it was also effective to play Deathmatch. However, Valve recently capped the XP gained per match, so now it is not worth playing DM or Arms Race.
Are there ways to make the farm stars even faster?
There are ways to farm stars faster, but we strongly advise against using them. The star system is not perfect, and there are always ways to abuse it. However, abusing these methods can lead to punishment.
Many players remember the story of streamers and traders who received a one-year trade ban after finding a way to earn full pass experience in just a few hours.
Back then, you could say they got lucky. Not being able to trade skins for a year is unpleasant, but it’s not as scary as a permanent ban. Will Valve be that forgiving next time? Very unlikely.
Let’s sum it up. The best way to farm The Armory pass is in Premier mode, with a full team, and with five passes activated at once. Do not try to exploit system loopholes, it will backfire. You can invest your stars into almost any item if you’re ready to wait a year or two before selling. The safest option is buying cases and selling them after supply drops. Just remember: safe doesn’t mean guaranteed.
The Armory pass is really just a fun way to make your hundredth match on Dust 2 or Mirage feel more rewarding, not some insane financial investment.
