CS:GO is one of the world’s most popular online games, where players compete against one another in intense matches in a round-based game mode, with one team trying to blow up the target, while the other team does everything they can to foil their plans. Because the competition can get so serious, the developers have added some features to the game, which allow players to communicate with those from the other team.
In the past, one of the main features that was used for communication between teams was the sprays. Players who placed a spray somewhere on the wall on the map could showcase their custom, individual picture, which they had set as a spray in their Counter-Strike client. Thanks to this, players could spray virtually whatever they wanted, all over the maps.
While sprays have not been available in the game for a long time now, in CSGO they appeared again under the guise of CSGO graffiti. Here’s all you need to know about the CSGO graffiti box items, how to use them, and what they can be worth!
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What Is The CSGO Graffiti?
In the previous versions of Counter Strike, players could freely edit how their spray looks like. All you had to do, was go into the CSGO game settings, find the spray option and upload custom artwork to the game. This could be a simple jpg, or even a moving gif image. Later versions of Counter Strike allowed users to even upload higher resolution images for their spray, although the image itself would still appear as a tiny spray in-game.
While this feature was dearly beloved by almost all Counter Strike players, it sadly introduced some serious issues to the game. For one, on public servers, there was almost zero control as to what the players can spray on the map. Like many other cases where users get absolute freedom of expression, most sprays were very often vulgar, either showing explicit swear words or sexual acts. This was a very important issue that Valve needed to tackle, as explicit sprays like these could further affect the PEGI rating of the game.
Although it was a very controversial decision, Valve hasn’t moved the custom spray patterns from previous versions of the game to CSGO. One of the significant changes introduced in the original Counter Strike: Global Offensive was the lack of player-customizable spray patterns. Instead, the game now allows players to apply graffiti to any surface on the map, provided they have the appropriate graffiti boxes in their CSGO inventory.
What Are The CSGO Graffiti Boxes?
In an update released on October 6th, 2016, Valve has brought sprays back to CSGO, with an introduction of graffiti boxes. Instead of setting up a personalized spray, players who have a graffiti box in their inventory can equip it, in order to receive one graffiti pattern, which they can later apply to any surface in the game. Unlike sprays, which players could use freely, each sealed graffiti box holds only 50 uses. This means that you can apply the same graffiti patterns 50 times before the box is consumed.
The CSGO graffiti functions pretty much exactly the same as sprays in the original Counter Strike. When you press the spray button (T in default settings), you will bring up the spray preview. You can place your graffiti pattern over virtually any surface on the map, and if you’re satisfied with the placement, you have to simply press the main fire button to spray your graffiti pattern. This will place the graffiti on a selected surface and consume one charge on the graffiti box. If you have multiple graffiti patterns available, you can cycle through them with an alternate fire button while in the preview mode. Bear in mind, that while graffiti can be fun to use, you’re pretty much a walking target when you have the preview mode enabled. Because of this, it’s important to keep a lookout for when and where you use your graffiti patterns.
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How Can You Get CSGO Graffiti Patterns?
A single CSGO graffiti box is an individual item, that you can use in order to show other players in a match your spray pattern. There are two different types of graffiti patterns in the game at the moment:
- Monochrome graffiti patterns
- Multi-colored patterns
The simple monochrome graffiti boxes can be obtained as a reward for leveling up. Whenever you gain a level, there’s a chance that you will obtain one of the basic graffiti patterns for your inventory.
However, if you want to get your hands on high-grade graffiti patterns, you’ll need to cough up some money. Multi-colored graffiti patterns in CSGO can only be obtained by purchasing a graffiti box.
Just like weapon skins, graffiti boxes can be purchased like any other items, from other CSGO players. If you’re interested in getting a specific graffiti pattern for your game, you’ll be happy to know, that even the graffiti boxes with the highest rarity rarely break the $15 ceiling. As a matter of fact, most high-grade graffiti can be bought cheaply at the Steam community market, or at any other CSGO trading website.
In Conclusion
Although not providing quite as much freedom as the original CSGO sprays, the graffiti feature is a great way to customize the game to fit your liking. If you ever want to learn more about the game, be sure to check out the rest of our blog, where we regularly publish new tips, tricks, and guides to CSGO! Also, if you’re feeling lucky, make sure to check out the free CSGO (CS2) skins giveaways at SkinsMonkey!
A true gaming enthusiast, especially Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rust. At SkinsMonkey, he is involved in creating game guides based on his own experience.
