TF2 War Paints and Decorated Weapons: Grades, Wear and Value

Weapon skins reached TF2 in 2015, and today they work differently from skins in most games. Instead of a skin being locked to one gun, a War Paint is a tool you apply to the weapon of your choice. Grades, wear, Strange counters and Unusual effects all stack on top. Those layers are why one paint can sell for $2 in one condition and nearly $300 in another.

From Gun Mettle skins to War Paints

Decorated weapons arrived with the Gun Mettle Update on July 2, 2015. That update introduced four weapon collections, Teufort, Craftsmann, Concealed Killer and Powerhouse, plus the Decorated quality, contracts and the first weapon cases. Each skin was tied to a specific weapon.

The Jungle Inferno Update on October 20, 2017 replaced that model with War Paints. A War Paint can be previewed on any compatible weapon and then applied to create a decorated version of the one you pick; the TF2 Wiki counts 44 paintable weapons. Several Gun Mettle patterns came back as War Paints, and those re-releases carry a "Mk.II" tag, such as Iron Wood Mk.II and Plaid Potshotter Mk.II.

New paints have arrived regularly since, mostly in community-made collections released with Smissmas, Scream Fortress and summer updates. As of October 14, 2026, tf2skins.gg tracks 1,672 items in its War Paint catalog.

Grades: rarity is fixed

Every War Paint and Decorated weapon has one of six grades, from most common to rarest: Civilian, Freelance, Mercenary, Commando, Assassin and Elite. A paint's grade is intrinsic, so a given pattern always has the same grade.

Keyed War Paint cases start at Mercenary. By community testing compiled on the TF2 Wiki, the split is about 80% Mercenary, 16% Commando, 3.2% Assassin and 0.8% Elite, with a separate chance of about 10% for a Strange result and about 1 in 150 for an Unusual. Keyless War Paint cases earned through contracts start at lower grades, top out at Commando, and never give Strange or Unusual items.

One catch for Steam shoppers: on the Steam Community Market, every Decorated item's name shows in the same off-white color regardless of grade, so check the grade in the item details.

Wear: five conditions

Each paint also has a wear level: Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, Well-Worn or Battle Scarred. Any grade can come in any wear. Community testing puts case odds at 10%, 20%, 40%, 20% and 10% respectively, which makes Factory New the scarce end.

Each War Paint also carries a random pattern seed set when it's created. The seed can't be changed, even after trading, and it controls exactly how the pattern lands on the weapon. The Steam Market's "Inspect in Game" option lets you preview a listed paint's exact pattern before buying, and War Paints have had individual Steam listings since November 1, 2017.

What condition does to price

Wear moves prices sharply, especially at the top. Lowest Steam listings as of October 14, 2026, for one popular paint:

Factory New carries a large premium over Minimal Wear, and the Strange version multiplies everything. The Strange Bonk Varnished War Paint (Factory New) had just two Steam listings, with a highest buy order of $173.69, so the ask is a ceiling rather than a settled price.

The ladder isn't always smooth. For the Strange Deadly Dragon War Paint on the same day, Battle Scarred listed at $15.50 while Well-Worn listed at $11.21. With a handful of listings per condition, small quirks like that are common.

Strange and Unusual paints

A Strange War Paint produces a Strange weapon with a visible Stat Clock that counts kills. Civilian-grade items, which don't normally come in Strange, can get one from the Civilian Grade Stat Clock tool. Since January 2018, Strangifiers can no longer be used on War Paint items.

Unusual War Paints add a particle effect to the weapon. Keyed War Paint cases offer three weapon effects: Hot, Cool and Isotope. A fourth, Energy Orb, appeared on Gun Mettle-era weapons but has effectively been retired since Jungle Inferno. Unusual paints are among the thinnest markets in TF2; as of October 14, 2026, the Unusual Yeti Coated War Paint (Minimal Wear) had a single Steam listing at $1,355.00 and a best buy order of $33.58.

Trade-ups

Since Smissmas 2017, War Paints can be used in Mann Co. Trade-Ups: ten items of one grade become one item of the next grade up, drawn from the collections represented in your inputs. Results that land in a War Paint collection arrive as an unapplied paint. Trade-ups are a way to turn piles of cheap paints into a chance at something better, but outcomes are random and the expected value depends entirely on current prices.

Reading War Paint prices safely

Decorated weapons produce some of the strangest numbers in TF2 data. On tf2skins.gg's market cap rankings, the Team Charged Panic Attack (Field-Tested) ranked 34th as of October 14, 2026, because its two Steam listings were priced at $1,557.18 each. Its highest buy order was $0.11. That rank says nothing about value; it shows how thin listings inflate market cap.

Before buying any paint or decorated weapon:

1. Compare the ask with the best buy order. A wide gap means the listing is a hope, not a price.
2. Check the grade and wear in the details. Steam names don't show grade.
3. Inspect the pattern. Use "Inspect in Game" so the seed matches what you expect.
4. Price the paint, not just the weapon. An unapplied paint can go on any compatible weapon, so it often sells differently from an applied one.
5. Compare venues. Third-party listings are sparse for rare paints, but the comparison page shows where they exist.

Risk note

War Paint prices rest on small, specialized audiences. New collections arrive every year, which can pull attention away from older paints, and rare conditions often have only a few listings. Buy paints for the look you want, and treat high-end Strange or Unusual paints as illiquid collectibles rather than stores of value.