Unusual

Unusual Napper's Respite
Level 73 Hat
★ Unusual Effect: Circling Heart
After a long day of burning scouts.

“

There is nothing unusual about this man's head! Click to listen — The Soldier on Unusual hats

”

Unusual quality is an item quality used on cosmetic items, taunts, and weapons. Unusual items have special attached particle effects, and are considered to be some of the rarest items in Team Fortress 2. There are currently 740 cosmetic items that can have one of 86 total effects, 56 taunts that can have one of 15 total effects, and 10 weapons that can have one of 4 effects. The only methods of obtaining an Unusual item are by unlocking a Mann Co. Supply Crate with a Mann Co. Supply Crate Key (at an about one in one hundred, or 1.00%, chance of unboxing), purchasing one on the Steam Community Market, getting a Taunt Unusualifier as a bonus for unboxing a case, or via trading.

Unlike regular items which can only be obtained from specific crates, any item obtainable in Unusual quality can be unboxed from any given crate, however the particle effects obtained depends on the series of crate the unusual item was obtained from. So, to unbox a cosmetic item with a "Series One" effect, a "Series One" crate must be opened, and so forth.

People in the TF2 community, mostly traders, call effects in generations or gens. Gen 1 unusual effects are the 14 effects from crates of Series #1 to Series #25. Gen 2 effects are all the unusual effects from crates of Series #26 to Series #57. Gen 3 is the last generation of effects from crates of Series #59 onwards. Other series such as the Robotic Boogaloo and the Scream Fortress effects are simply classified as their own effect sets.

The hexadecimal color code for Unusual items is #8650AC.

Other Unusual Items

Two special items of Unusual quality were introduced with the Scream Fortress Update: the Haunted Metal Scrap, and the Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker. However, unlike regular Unusual items, the Unusual Metal Scrap is dropped for any player who has taken part in defeating the Horseless Headless Horsemann with a melee weapon, while the Headtaker can be obtained by crafting it from a blueprint that includes the Unusual Metal Scrap. Besides bearing the Unusual quality, the Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker is statistically identical to the Eyelander. In addition, neither of these items has an attached particle effect. Due to these characteristics, these two Unusual items are not considered as valuable as regular Unusual items.

Unusual Effects

See also: Particle effects

Standard Series

Standard Unusual effects can be found in specific crate series.

Gen 1

The first generation of standard Unusual effects was added in the Mann-Conomy Update. They can be obtained in crates Series #1 onward.

Series 1 Unusual effects
Cosmetic effects
	Green Confetti	Purple Confetti	Haunted Ghosts	Green Energy	Purple Energy	Circling TF Logo
	Massed Flies	Burning Flames	Scorching Flames	Searing Plasma	Vivid Plasma	Sunbeams
	Circling Peace Sign	Circling Heart

Gen 2

The second generation of standard Unusual effects was added in the August 18, 2011 Patch. They can be obtained in crates Series #26 onward.

Series 2 Unusual effects
Cosmetic effects
	Stormy Storm	Blizzardy Storm	Nuts n' Bolts	Orbiting Planets	Orbiting Fire	Bubbling
	Smoking	Steaming

Gen 3

The third and current generation of standard Unusual effects was added in the June 19, 2013 Patch. They can be obtained in crates and cases Series #59 onward.

Series 3 Unusual effects
Cosmetic effects
	Kill-a-Watt	Terror-Watt	Cloud 9	RED	BLU	Dead Presidents
				Aces High
	Miami Nights	Disco Beat Down

Community Sparkle

An exclusive Unusual effect was added in the First Community Contribution Update. It is automatically applied to Community and Self-Made items.

List of Community Sparkle effects
Cosmetic items	Taunt	Weapon

Scream Fortress Series

Scream Fortress Unusual effects can be found in specific Scream Fortress crates. During Scream Fortress events, they're available in all other crate series.

Very Scary Halloween Special

The first Scream Fortress generation of Unusual Effects was added in the Very Scary Halloween Special. They could be obtained in any crate during the event.

List of Very Scary Halloween Special Unusual effects
Cauldron Bubbles	Cloudy Moon	Eerie Orbiting Fire	Flaming Lantern

Spectral Halloween Special

The second Scream Fortress generation of Unusual Effects was added in the Spectral Halloween Special. They could be obtained in any crate during the event.

List of Spectral Halloween Special Unusual effects
Harvest Moon	It's a Secret to Everybody	Knifestorm	Misty Skull	Stormy 13th Hour

Scream Fortress V

The third Scream Fortress generation of Unusual effects was added in the Scream Fortress V update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event.

List of Scream Fortress V Unusual effects
Arcana	Chiroptera Venenata	Darkblaze	Demonflame	Hellfire	Poisoned Shadows	Something Burning This Way Comes	Spellbound

Scream Fortress VI

The fourth Scream Fortress generation of Unusual effects was added in the Scream Fortress VI update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event.

List of Scream Fortress VI Unusual effects
Cosmetic items
	Amaranthine	Bonzo the All-Gnawing	Ghastly Ghosts Jr	Haunted Phantasm Jr	Stare from Beyond	The Ooze
Taunts
	Ghastly Ghosts	Haunted Phantasm

Scream Fortress VII

The fifth Scream Fortress generation of Unusual effects was added in the Scream Fortress VII update. They could only be obtained by opening a Gargoyle Case during the event. They can still be obtained by opening a Gargoyle Case.

List of Scream Fortress VII Unusual effects
Ancient Eldritch	Death by Disco	Eldritch Flame	Ether Trail	It's a Mystery to Everyone	It's a Puzzle to Me	Nether Trail

Scream Fortress VIII

The sixth Scream Fortress generation of Unusual effects was added in the Scream Fortress VIII update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event. They can still be obtained by opening a Creepy Crawly Case.

List of Scream Fortress VIII Unusual effects
Cosmetic items
	Neutron Star	Starstorm Insomnia	Starstorm Slumber	Tesla Coil
Taunts
	Hellish Inferno	Infernal Flames	Infernal Smoke	Spectral Swirl

Scream Fortress X

The seventh Scream Fortress generation of Unusual effects was added in the Scream Fortress X update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event. They can still be obtained by opening a Violet Vermin Case.

List of Scream Fortress X Unusual effects
Cosmetic items
	Brain Drain	Clairvoyance	Galactic Gateway	Head of Steam	Omniscient Orb	Open Mind	Ring of Fire	The Dark Doorway
	The Eldritch Opening	Vicious Circle	White Lightning
Taunts
	Acidic Bubbles of Envy	Flammable Bubbles of Attraction	Ominous Night	Poisonous Bubbles of Regret	Roaring Rockets	Spooky Night

Scream Fortress XI

The eighth Scream Fortress generation of Unusual effects was added in the Scream Fortress XI update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event. They can still be obtained by opening a Spooky Spoils Case.

List of Scream Fortress XI Unusual effects
Cosmetic items
	Abyssal Aura	Ethereal Essence	Fifth Dimension	Ghastly Grove	Menacing Miasma	Mystical Medley	Twisted Radiance	Valiant Vortex
	Verdant Vortex	Vicious Vortex	Violet Vortex	Wicked Wood
Taunts
	Accursed	Bewitched	Eerie Lightning	Enchanted	Jarate Shock	Nether Void	Static Mist	Terrifying Thunder

Smissmas Series

Smissmas Unusual effects can be found in specific Smissmas crates. During Smissmas events, they're available in all other crate series.

Smissmas 2019

The first and current Smissmas generation of Unusual effects was added in the Smissmas 2019 update. Currently, they can be obtained in any crate.

List of Smissmas 2019 Unusual effects
Cosmetic items
	RED	BLU	Fragmented Gluons	Fragmented Photons	Fragmented Quarks	Fragmenting Reality	Frozen Icefall	RED
	Defragmenting Reality							Pyroland Daydream
	BLU	Refragmenting Reality	Snowblinded	Snowfallen	Sparkling Lights
	Pyroland Daydream
Taunts
	Arctic Aurora	Festive Spirit	Good-Hearted Goodies	Magical Spirit	Winter Spirit	Wintery Wisp

Robotic Boogaloo

An exclusive generation of Unusual effects was added in the Robotic Boogaloo update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event. They can still be obtained by opening a Robo Community Crate.

List of Robotic Boogaloo Unusual effects
Anti-Freeze	Electrostatic	Green Black Hole	Memory Leak	Overclocked	Phosphorous	Power Surge	Roboactive
Sulphurous	Time Warp

Love & War Update

An exclusive generation of Unusual effects was added in the Love & War Update. They can be obtained through Taunt Unusualifiers.

List of Love & War Update Unusual effects
'72	Fountain of Delight	Holy Grail	Mega Strike	Midnight Whirlwind	Screaming Tiger	RED	BLU
						Showstopper
Silver Cyclone	Skill Gotten Gains

End of the Line Update

An exclusive generation of Unusual effects was added in the End of the Line Update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event. They can still be obtained by opening an End of the Line Community Crate.

List of End of the Line Update Unusual effects
Death at Dusk	Frostbite	Molten Mallard	Morning Glory

Gun Mettle Update

An exclusive generation of Unusual effects was added in the Gun Mettle Update. They can be obtained through Decorated cases.

With the introduction of the Jungle Inferno Update, the Energy Orb effect has been removed from the Unusual effect pool due to issues with it disappearing and/or not fitting some weapons properly. Only the three remaining effects can be obtained now.

List of Gun Mettle Update Unusual effects
Cool	Energy Orb	Hot	Isotope

Invasion Community Update

An exclusive generation of Unusual effects was added in the Invasion Community Update. They could be obtained in any crate during the event. They can still be obtained by opening a Confidential Collection Case or a Quarantined Collection Case.

List of Invasion Community Update Unusual effects
Abduction	Ancient Codex	Atomic	Electric Hat Protector	Galactic Codex	Magnetic Hat Protector	Nebula	Subatomic
Voltaic Hat Protector

Major Bug

Since the recent Summer 2019 update, the price for the Unusuals have dramatically decreased. The term 1% chance for the Unusuals when unlocking a crate is no longer in effect as players can almost get an Unusual cosmetic every time they open a crate. The crates that were once about 0.03 cents(US) on the Steam Community Market but they have also increased dramatically increased as more people buy it to get more Unusuals.

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Update history

September 30, 2010 Patch (Mann-Conomy Update)

• [Undocumented] Added Unusual quality.

August 18, 2011 Patch (Manno-Technology Bundle)

• [Undocumented] Added Stormy Storm, Blizzardy Storm, Nuts n' Bolts, Orbiting Planets, Orbiting Fire, Bubbling, Smoking, and Steaming unusual effects.

August 23, 2011 Patch

• Fixed sunbeams effect.

October 27, 2011 Patch (Very Scary Halloween Special)

• [Undocumented] Added Cloudy Moon, Eerie Orbiting Fire, Flaming Lantern, and Cauldron Bubbles unusual effects.

October 26, 2012 Patch (Spectral Halloween Special)

• [Undocumented] Added Knifestorm, Misty Skull, Harvest Moon, It's A Secret To Everybody and Stormy 13th Hour unusual effects.

May 17, 2013 Patch (Robotic Boogaloo)

• [Undocumented] Added Anti-Freeze, Electrostatic, Green Black Hole, Memory Leak, Overclocked, Phosphorous, Power Surge, Roboactive, Sulphurous, and Time Warp unusual effects.

June 5, 2013 Patch

• Attachment point and offset for particle effects on unusual hats can now be adjusted from the character loadout screen.
• Fixed a bug that would cause unusual effects to float in the air over dead players.
• Fixed a bug that would cause unusual effects to show incorrectly sometimes when spectating other players.

June 19, 2013 Patch

• [Undocumented] Added Aces High, Cloud 9, Dead Presidents, Disco Beat Down, Kill-a-Watt, Miami Nights, and Terror-Watt unusual effects.

October 29, 2013 Patch (Scream Fortress 2013)

• [Undocumented] Added Arcana, Chiroptera Venenata, Darkblaze, Demonflame, Hellfire, Poisoned Shadows, Something Burning This Way Comes, and Spellbound unusual effects.

December 20, 2013 Patch

• Unusual effect positioning can now be adjusted for all Cosmetic-slot items.
• Unusual Circling Effects have been given a new origin.
• Unusual effects for all Cosmetic-slot items are now visible in the loadout panel and character HUD.

June 18, 2014 Patch (Love & War)

• [Undocumented] Added '72, Fountain Of Delight, Holy Grail, Mega Strike, Midnight Whirlwind, Screaming Tiger, Showstopper, and Skill Gotten Gains unusual taunt effects.
• Added the Mann Co. Audition Reel. Contains taunts and a rare chance at an unusual taunt.
• Updated Mann Co. Crates to display which Unusual Series they can potentially output.

October 29, 2014 Patch (Scream Fortress 2014)

• [Undocumented] Added Amaranthine, Bonzo The All-Gnawing, Ghastly Ghosts, Ghastly Ghosts Jr., Haunted Phantasm, Haunted Phantasm Jr., Stare From Beyond, and The Ooze unusual effects. Also added Ghastly Ghosts, and Haunted Phantasm unusual taunt effects

November 4, 2014 Patch

• Renamed two Unusual effects
  • Haunted Phantasm Jr to Ghastly Ghosts Jr
  • Attrib_Particle86 to Haunted Phantasm Jr

December 8, 2014 Patch (End of the Line Update)

• [Undocumented] Added Death at Dusk, Frostbite, Molten Mallard and Morning Glory unusual effects.

January 9, 2015 Patch

• Fixed the Mega Strike unusual taunt effect showing through walls

February 18, 2015 Patch

• Fixed some Unusual particle effects not drawing correctly.

July 2, 2015 Patch (Gun Mettle Update)

• [Undocumented] Added Isotope, Hot, Cool, and Energy Orb unusual effects.

August 18, 2015 Patch

• Fixed character loadout menus so they display the particle effects for all equipped Unusual items.

October 6, 2015 Patch (Invasion Update)

• [Undocumented] Added Abduction, Atomic, Subatomic, Electric Hat Protector, Magnetic Hat Protector, Voltaic Hat Protector, Galactic Codex, Ancient Codex, and Nebula unusual effects.

October 12, 2015 Patch

• Fixed Unusual versions of the Taunt: Burstchester not displaying their Unusual effects.

October 28, 2015 Patch (Scream Fortress 2015)

• [Undocumented] Added Death by Disco, It's a mystery to everyone, It's a puzzle to me, Ether Trail, Nether Trail, Ancient Eldritch, and Eldritch Flame unusual effects.

October 29, 2015 Patch

• Fixed the Invasion Unusual effect "Subatomic" being off-center.

July 28, 2016 Patch

• Fixed not seeing particle effects for Unusual versions of Baseball Bill's Sports Shine, Ritzy Rick's Hair Fixative, and Texas Slim's Dome Shine.

October 21, 2016 Patch (Scream Fortress 2016)

• The chance to receive an Unusual item from a case opening has been increased during the event
• All cases and Mann Co. Supply Crates will grant Halloween 2016 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects
• [Undocumented] Added Neutron Star, Tesla Coil, Starstorm Insomnia, Starstorm Slumber, Hellish Inferno, Spectral Swirl, Infernal Flames, and Infernal Smoke unusual effects.

November 18, 2016 Patch

• Returned Unusual drop chances and possible particles effects to their original values now that Halloween has ended.

November 21, 2016 Patch

• Taunt Unusualifiers apply non-Halloween Unusual effects now that Halloween has ended.

June 2, 2017 Patch

• Fixed the Neutron Star unusual effect being occasionally displaced after the player respawns.

December 13, 2017 Patch

• Fixed a rendering issue with the Spectral Swirl unusual effect.

December 21, 2017 Patch (Smissmas 2017)

• Fixed a rendering issue with the Misty Skull unusual effect.

October 19, 2018 Patch (Scream Fortress 2018)

• Added Brain Drain, Open Mind, Head of Steam, Galactic Gateway, The Eldritch Opening, The Dark Doorway, Ring of Fire, Vicious Circle, White Lightning, Omniscient Orb, and Clairvoyance unusual cosmetic effects.
• Added Ominous Night, Flammable Bubbles of Attraction, Acidic Bubbles of Envy, Roaring Rockets, Cauldron Bubbles, and one more unusual taunt effects.

October 25, 2018 Patch

• Updated the Roaring Rockets unusual taunt particle effect.

October 30, 2018 Patch

• Updated the Roaring Rockets unusual taunt particle effect.

December 19, 2018 Patch (Smissmas 2018)

• Updated the Starstorm Slumber unusual effect to fix a display problem.

Bugs

• With enough player movement, Unusual effects from the Invasion update (Subatomic, Atomic) will become off-center from the player's head.
  • Unusual effects from the End of the Line update (Morning Glory, Death at Dusk, Molten Mallard) also show similar bugs, except parts of the particle effect (sun, duck respectively) drift a huge distance away from the player.
• One end of the particle effect on Kill-a-Watt and Terror-Watt may randomly attach to temporarily random areas of a map, causing the effect to stretch from the point through any walls to the wearer's head.
• Sometimes an Unusual effect floats in the air separated from the player's model instead of sticking to the cosmetic item.
  • This can occur when a player taunts.
  • Effect may also appear on the player's abdobmen, or chest; it may also disappear along with the cosmetic.

Unused content

Currently unused Unusual effects
Cosmetic effects
	AAA_AAA	balloon	beams1_newstyle	beany_green	beany_hearts	beany_target
	beany_tf	circling_glow	circling_skull	crisp_spotlights_cones03	halo	orbit
	orbit_fullmoon_cloudy	sparkler_green	sparkler_orange	sparkles1	sparkles2	sparkles3
	spray_confetti	storm_blood	stormcloud	symbols_parents_ice	test

Trivia

• The effect named "It's A Secret To Everybody" is a reference to a popular phrase in the video game series The Legend of Zelda. The effect itself appears to be a reference to the moon in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
• The effect named "Something Burning This Way Comes" references the fantasy horror novel by the name Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury; the title is itself a reference to the Shakespeare piece Macbeth, towards a specific line in Act 4, Scene 1.
• The effect named "Dead Presidents" refers to a slang term used to describe U.S. currency, which comes from the fact that most U.S. banknotes depict deceased Presidents.
• The effects named "Sulphurous" and "Phosphorous" are references to the chemical elements Sulfur/Sulphur and Phosphorus.
• The effect named "Chiroptera Venenata" is rough Latin for "Poisonous Bat".
• The effects named "It's a mystery to everyone" and "It's a puzzle to me" are references to two emotes from the Something Awful forums. The effect itself has a ghost orbiting around.
• One of the dances the skeletons does in the effect "Death By Disco" might be a reference to the battle stance of Papyrus, a character in Undertale.
• The effects named "Kill-a-Watt" and "Terror-Watt" are references to the measures of electrical power kilowatts and terawatts.
• Community contributors whose Unusual effects are accepted through the Steam Workshop are awarded a Self-Made Unusual Cap.
• Some unusual items (such as the Finder's Fee, or items with the Community Sparkle effect) cannot be unboxed and are given to certain players for finding major bugs in the game, or somehow contributing to the game in some form.
• The effect named "Skill gotten gains" is a play on the phrase 'Ill gotten gains' meaning money obtained through illegal acts.
• The first ever unusual ever unboxed was a Stout Shako with the effect of Circling Peace Sign.

See also

• Hats
• Particle effects