Apex Legends’ heirlooms are some of the most sought-after items in the game, but their drop rates have always been notoriously low. Recent Korean regulations forced Respawn Entertainment to reveal the actual chances of obtaining an heirloom, and the odds are even slimmer than players might have imagined. According to their statement, players have just a 0.045% chance—roughly 9 in 20,000 packs—of finding an heirloom through Apex Packs. This disclosure came in response to Korea’s new transparency laws, which require developers to clearly list drop rates for in-game items.
In Apex Legends, heirlooms can either be obtained through regular Apex Packs or guaranteed after opening 500 packs. Alternatively, players can unlock heirlooms during special collection events. While the odds of unlocking one in a normal pack have been described as “less than 1%” in the past, this new revelation provides players with a more accurate—and sobering—understanding of their chances.
Players can purchase Apex Packs using in-game currency, but with such a low drop rate, obtaining an heirloom would require either incredible luck or significant spending, with some players needing to invest hundreds of dollars or spend thousands of hours to get their hands on one. Fortunately, there is a guaranteed system in place, ensuring players receive an heirloom after opening 500 packs if they don’t get lucky before then.
For those chasing cosmetics, the news isn’t all bleak. Respawn also revealed that Apex’s drop rates are influenced by duplicate protection, which slightly increases players’ odds of unlocking new cosmetic items over time. However, given Apex’s enormous catalog of items, it’s unclear just how much duplicate protection impacts players without many cosmetics in their collection.
The sheer number of heirlooms in the game and the overlap between them and Prestige skins (which use the same currency) means that players looking to collect all available cosmetics will face an uphill battle. Even with protections in place, the combination of a massive item pool and the extremely rare drop rate means that unlocking all cosmetics will take most players thousands of packs.
As Respawn pushes for more transparency, it’ll be interesting to see if more regions adopt similar regulations, forcing other developers to disclose the odds behind their loot boxes and in-game purchases. While Apex Legends remains one of the most popular battle royale games, the low odds for heirlooms illustrate the challenges many players face in unlocking premium content, potentially sparking debates over the fairness of such systems in the gaming community.