Like many of the free-to-play games that have emerged across the past few years, Apex Legends diversifies how its players unlock cosmetics through a variety of currencies. It is a trend that many of its contemporaries have also implemented. However, Apex Legends' economy is a little more complex than a simple binary between common and premium, as it boasts multiple currencies that each serve a unique purpose.
To offer some variety to progression through Apex Legends' unlockables and access added content, Respawn Entertainment divided the various aspects of the game's market between four main currencies: Apex Coins, Legend Tokens, Crafting Metals and Heirloom Shards. While there is some overlap between them, each has a specific use and a specific way to earn it.
Apex Coins
Apex Coins is Apex Legends' most versatile currency, able to unlock nearly everything in the game. With Apex Coins, players can purchase each new battlepass, offering prizes for players to progress through over the course of the season. From the in-game store, players can use Apex Coins to purchase the latest premium skins, charms and Apex Packs, Apex Legends' equivalent of the loot box. Plus, Apex Coins can be used to instantly unlock all the Legends the game has to offer.
Being the game's only premium currency, Apex Coins are primarily gained through microtransactions. However, there are ways to earn Apex Coins that won't require players to enter their credit card details. As well as each season bringing a premium battle pass, Apex Legends simultaneously offers a free equivalent. Here, players will be able to earn a few hundred Apex Coins at no cost.
Like similar games in the market, purchasing a single premium battle pass can possibly fund the next. By reaching level 100, players will have earned enough Apex Coins to acquire the battle pass for the next season. For those knowing that they'll be sinking some time into Apex Legends, the purchase of a premium battle pass can work out to be a very sustainable investment.
Legend Tokens
Legend Tokens are a much more straightforward alternative to unlocking new Legends. Upon starting Apex Legends, most of the diverse character roster will be locked, with every new character added since launch in 2019 needing to be purchased. Legend Tokens are used to unlock these Legends, as well as being used to purchase skins through the in-game store. However, for those skins, players will need to own the original version of that skin first.
Perhaps the easiest currency to earn, Legend Tokens are gained purely through leveling up, meaning that all players need to do to unlock new characters is play the game. With every level advanced, players are rewarded with 600 Legend Tokens, and every Legend in the game costs 12,000 Legend Tokens. Though that sounds steep, in context, that requires a player to level up 20 times to save up enough. It might take some time, but it's certainly doable.
Crafting Metals
Crafting Metals are used to craft any of the cosmetics available in any Legend's customization tab. Here, players can craft skins for their favorite weapons, quips, emotes, holosprays, finishers and various aspects of the Legend's banner. However, this only covers the base cosmetics available for each character and does not include premium items found in the store.
Crafting Metals are earned fairly simply, found most commonly in Apex Packs or through treasure packs found in rounds of battle royale and the battle pass. In Apex Packs, Crafting Metals will be given when the reward would have been an item the player has already unlocked, in an amount half of the value of said item. For example, a legendary item costs 1,200 Crafting Metals. If the Apex Pack were to gift a duplicate of an already unlocked legendary item, the player received 600 Crafting Metals instead.
Heirloom Shards
Heirloom Shards are Apex Legends' most elusive currency, used to unlock Heirloom Sets from the in-game store. These sets contain a character-specific melee weapon used in place of the standard unarmed melee strikes, as well as a corresponding quip and banner pose. The Heirloom melee weapons do not deal any more damage compared to a regular melee strike, however, but they do add a touch of extra personalization as well as feeding into the game's lore.
Each non-event-related Apex Pack a player opens has less than one percent chance of containing Heirloom Shards. But, these numbers are tracked, and if 499 packs are opened without Heirloom Shards being found in one, the 500th is guaranteed to hold them, ensuring that devoted players will be rewarded for their continued support.