HLTV Rating Explained: From 1.0 to Rating 3.0

The HLTV rating is a single number that sums up how well a professional player performed in a match, event or period. It is published by HLTV, a Counter-Strike news and stats site. Fans quote it all the time, so it helps to know what goes into it. This guide covers how it works today and how it got here. Details were checked on 1 November 2026.

What does the HLTV rating measure?

The rating compares a player's stats to an expected average. A score of 1.00 means average performance. Above 1.00 is better than average, and below 1.00 is worse. Over a CS2 event, the average across all players is designed to stay at 1.00.

It is not the same as a K/D ratio. It combines several parts of a player's game, such as damage and survival, into one figure. It is also unrelated to your own matchmaking number. Your CS2 Premier rating is Valve's matchmaking score, not an HLTV stat.

How has the rating changed over time?

HLTV called Rating 3.0 the biggest overhaul since 2.0. Older numbers were calculated with older formulas, so be careful when comparing players across eras.

How does Rating 3.0 work?

Rating 3.0 is built from six sub-ratings:

• Kills
• Damage
• Survival
• KAST, the share of rounds with a kill, assist, survival or trade
• Multi-kills
• Round Swing

The old Impact rating is gone. Round Swing and the multi-kill rating take its place. Assists now count as 40 damage, the CS:GO value. Trade denials and failed trades also feed into the sub-ratings.

Economy adjustment

Not every kill is equally hard. Killing a player on a starter pistol with a rifle is easier than winning a rifle duel. Rating 3.0 groups duels by the cost of each player's armour and best weapon. A kill is then weighted by how likely that duel was to be won.

HLTV gave an example. On the T side, a rifle-against-rifle kill was worth about 1.10 points. A kill on a starter pistol was worth about 0.54. The aim is to reduce the value of eco frags. Our guide to CS2 weapon prices explains why loadout cost matters so much.

Round Swing

Round Swing measures how much each action changes a team's chance of winning the round. It looks at the map, side, economy, bomb status and players alive. Credit is shared using final damage, damage share, flash assists and trades.

It is zero-sum. Saving a weapon after a lost round no longer pads the number. Early kills and multi-kills earn less per kill, with diminishing returns. HLTV said top players over a season sit around +4% per round.

Why can a rating mislead?

A single number cannot capture everything. Keep these limits in mind:

• Role: entry fraggers die early more often, and support players spend utility for others. Our guides to the entry fragger and support role explain why.
• Sample size: one map can swing wildly. Look at a full event or a season.
• Opponents: strong numbers against weak teams mean less.
• Version: make sure you compare ratings from the same formula.

The best use of the number is as a starting point. If a player's rating looks surprising, open the match and check the context. Watching the rounds, or a pro demo, often explains more than the stat line.

Where to find HLTV ratings

Player stats pages show overall, T-side and CT-side ratings. With Rating 3.0 they also show Round Swing and multi-kill figures, plus a toggle for eco-adjusted stats. Match pages show ratings on the scoreboard. For team-level comparisons, see our guide to CS2 team rankings.

Sources and checks

Rating details were checked on 1 November 2026 against HLTV: Introducing Rating 3.0, HLTV: Introducing Rating 2.0 and HLTV.org (Wikipedia).

HLTV rating Rating 3.0 CS2 stats CS2 esports