Following the release of CS2's one-year anniversary update, the community quickly figured out the fastest ways to gain XP for the Armory-Pass. Valve has now stopped some of these (hilarious) methods.
Just one day after the release of CS2's biggest update yet, Valve had to roll out another patch.
How has Valve prevented further XP-farming?
Most notably, they "adjusted the score calculation in Casual, Competitive, and Wingman to exclude knife and utility damage".
Throughout various game modes, players focused on earning XP as fast as possible. The most popular map in CS2's casual mode, Dust 2, became the hotspot of XP-farming.
Try to play a real match of dust 2 casual after the update challenge (impossible) pic.twitter.com/eZsctwsCYI
— Ozzny (@Ozzny_CS2) October 4, 2024
Within seconds of the rounds starting, the entire middle area was filled with molotovs and fire grenades.
As for the Deathmatch mode, players would meet up on certain positions and trade knife-kills.
Another example from Dust 2:
Is this a new way to farm stars? pic.twitter.com/pawqPiTCse
— SkinsMonkey (@skinsmonkey) October 6, 2024
The only way for players to now farm damage, counting towards progress in said Armory-Pass, is by bullet-damage.
As you can see below, there are still ways to gain XP a little faster. This is an example of teams agreeing to meet in tunnels:
This is how CS2 players earn XP after the update.cc: r/GlobalOffensive/W1ntermu7e https://t.co/SDQKRUUrKX pic.twitter.com/YTEwZBkKUf
— Counter2Leaks (@Counter2Leaks) October 5, 2024
People were also making fun of the Dust 2 casual mode:
What's the hype about this new game mode? pic.twitter.com/wMCgCmj5LB
— Cyan1de (@akaCyanide) October 4, 2024
What do you think about Valve's actions on the XP-farming? Is it justified to punish a part of the community like this?