How to Unlock Heirloom Weapons in Apex Legends

Apex Legends might be a fast-paced, extremely challenging battle royale filled with colorful characters but even when the ring is closing and World’s End is facing yet another crisis, there’s always room for a bit of fashion. I’m not talking about the skins you can craft or unlock through Apex Packs, though. Those are wonderful, sure, but the real prize, the item that makes everyone in the game pay attention to you is an Heirloom Weapon. Easily the most coveted cosmetics in Apex Legends, many players have sunk hundreds of hours into the game and never had the satisfaction of dropping into a match without one of these monumentally cool killing devices at their side, leading to the commonly asked question: How do I unlock an Heirloom Weapon in Apex Legends?

I have the answer for you and it’s both much simpler and more tedious than you might expect. So if you’re looking to equip Octane with his Stim-filled Butterfly Knife or finally bring an opponent down with Pathfinder’s Boxing Gloves, I’ve thrown together a guide on how to unlock whichever Heirloom you so desire.

What Are Heirloom Weapons?

Firstly, let me just set the stage for what you’re trying to achieve for those new players who may have heard of Heirloom Weapons but are still a bit in the dark when it comes to how they actually function in Apex Legends. Generally, when switching to melee, your character will take out their fists and start slugging away with a series of punches that clear far more ground than you’d ever expect. An Heirloom Weapon, when equipped, will replace their knuckles with a stylish item created specifically for them. Now, while you’d think that chopping away at foes with Revenant’s gigantic Scythe would deal more damage than just his bare hands, you’d be mistaken. Heirloom Weapons are purely cosmetic and have zero mechanical impact on how you play Apex Legends. Well, that’s not necessarily true. We all know that you play better the cooler you look, that’s just basic science.

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Aside from the slick cosmetic, it’ll also grant the Legend a unique animation that they can trigger whenever they want. Once again, it’s just a flashy way of reminding yourself that you look rad in the middle of a match, which can be a real confidence boost if you truly need it. Oh, unlocking an Heirloom will also grant a unique Banner Pose and an Intro Quip but those are much less impressive, I think we can all agree. The Heirloom Weapons that currently exist in Apex Legends include:

• Wraith’s Hope’s Dusk: A pitch-black kunai with a glowing purple blade.
• Wraith’s Hope’s Dawn: A silver kunai with a glowing golden edge.
• Bloodhound’s Raven’s Bite: A stylish combat axe with intricate etchings.
• Lifeline’s Shock Sticks: A set of drumsticks that double as defibrillators or stun batons.
• Pathfinder’s Boxing Gloves: A set of blue boxing gloves with a screen that mimics Pathfinder’s chest display.
• Octane’s Butterfly Knife: A flashy butterfly knife that also carries a dose of Octane’s speed stim.
• Mirage’s Too Much Witt: An Academy Award-style statue depicting Mirage that bears a plaque that reads, “Best Competitor in a Battle Royale – Based on skill, but mostly looks.”
• Caustic’s Death Hammer: A massive mallet with a skull on the back that can be loaded with a small canister of Nox gas.
• Gibraltar’s War Club: A glowing hatcher gifted to Gibraltar by his ex-boyfriend.
• Bangalore’s Cold Steel: A Pilot’s knife covered in gold.
• Revenant’s Dead Man’s Curve: A massive scythe with a retractable blade.
• Revenant’s Death Grip: A variant of the Dead Man’s Curve
• Rampart’s Problem Solver: A gigantic two-handed wrench that also dispenses gum.
• Wattson’s Energy Reader: A scanning device that includes four electric tethers attached to a handheld screen.
• Crypto’s Biwon Blade: A collapsible Jikdo, a unique Korean sword.
• Valkyrie’s Suzaku: A Japanese spear that includes an etching of a bird on the blade.
• Loba’s Garra de Alanza: A Kitana-esque fan with a sharpened edge.
• Seer’s Showstoppers: A pair of golden sickles.
• Ash’s Strongest Link: A set of electrified nunchucks
• Horizon’s Gravity Maw: A mace with a miniature black hole for a head.
• Fuse’s Razor’s Edge: A heavy metal guitar with some sick power chords.

How to Get Heirloom Weapons in Apex Legends

Now, let’s get to the good stuff: How exactly do you go about adding one of these bad boys to your roster? You’re gonna want to keep your four-leaf clover and lucky rabbit’s foot nearby for this since the cheapest way is purely down to chance. To unlock an Heirloom Weapon, you’ll need to crack open an Apex Pack (or loot box, to use the more general term) that contains a bunch of Heirloom Shards. These can then be exchanged for a single Heirloom Weapon of your choice.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. Players have a 0.2% chance of opening such a box, making Heirloom Shards easily the rarest item in all of Apex Legends. If you’re looking at that percentage and wondering how it could ever be possible, Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that the odds do increase in your favor the longer you play. There is an in-game “pity timer” that increases the longer you go without opening a crate of Heirloom Shards. Fans have calculated that players are guaranteed a bundle of Heirloom Shards within their first 500 Apex Packs, which can still take ages but it’s certainly doable. Apex Legends is generally rather generous when it comes to dishing out Apex Packs, often providing them to players for every second level-up. The monthly Season Pass also includes a bunch of them, meaning you can gain a few bonuses on the side.

Waiting on the pity timer isn’t the only way to unlock an Heirloom Weapon though. See, Apex Legends often holds what it describes as “Collection Events” which are themed in-game periods where a bunch of unique cosmetics are added to the game’s shop. Players can earn Collection Event Packs by completing certain challenges, thus unlocking the new items added to the game. These Collection Events also usually introduce a new Heirloom Weapon into Apex Legends, so to sweeten the deal, players who manage to unlock every new event-themed cosmetic are granted the coveted cosmetic everyone is after. If you’d rather not play for hours on end hoping to luck into the Event’s skins, then you can just buy them all from the in-game store. Be warned though, this can be incredibly pricy, often clocking in at over $150 if you want the whole set.

Still, that’s how you unlock Heirloom Weapons in Apex Legends.