CS2 Charms (Keychains) Explained

What are CS2 charms?

Charms - also called keychains - are small cosmetic trinkets that hang off your weapon, added to Counter-Strike 2 in the October 2024 Armory update. They physically dangle and swing as you move, so they add a personal touch to a gun without changing its skin.

Each charm is its own tradable, marketable inventory item with its own market price, separate from the weapon it's attached to. One charm attaches per weapon at a time.

Charms are purely cosmetic - they have no effect on a weapon's stats, accuracy, recoil or hitbox. They're decoration, nothing more.

Where charms come from

Charms drop from Charm Capsules, which you open directly like sticker capsules - no key required (only weapon cases need keys). Each capsule holds a themed set of charms spread across rarity tiers.

The charm you pull from a capsule is random and weighted by rarity, so a single capsule can give you anything from a common charm worth a few cents to a rare one worth far more. The rarest charms in a capsule are the hardest to pull and the priciest on the market.

As a capsule stops being sold or is discontinued, its charms get scarcer over time - the same supply dynamic that makes older sticker capsules appreciate.

Charms vs stickers - the key difference

Charms and stickers are both weapon accessories, but they behave very differently once applied. A sticker is CONSUMED when you scrape or remove it - a pricey sticker loses most of its value the moment it touches a gun, which is why expensive stickers are usually kept unapplied.

A charm is REUSABLE: it isn't destroyed when you apply it. You can remove a charm from one weapon and move it to another, and it returns to your inventory intact.

That makes charms much lower-risk to actually use than premium stickers - you can show off a valuable charm on your favourite weapon and still move it or sell it later without losing the item.

How charm value works

A charm's price is driven by the same forces as stickers: its rarity tier, which capsule it came from, how popular the design is, and how much supply exists. Rare charms from a popular or discontinued capsule command the highest prices.

Because charms are reusable, an expensive charm isn't 'spent' by being displayed - so demand comes from collectors and from players who simply want to run it, both of which support the price.

On skins.ai you can browse every charm with live prices compared across marketplaces to see what each is worth and where it's cheapest to buy.

How to apply and remove a charm

In your inventory, select a weapon and choose to apply a charm, then pick the charm you want - it attaches to the gun and dangles in-game.

To move it, remove the charm from the weapon; because charms aren't consumed, it goes straight back to your inventory and can be applied to a different gun. There's no penalty for experimenting with placements.

You can keep one charm per weapon at a time, and swap it for a different charm whenever you like.

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