The odds of getting an heirloom from packs has always been low in Apex Legends, but the devs have been forced to reveal the actual chance of getting one thanks to a new law in Korea. As it turns out, those odds are even lower than you’d think.
Though Apex Legends is extremely popular and has hundreds of thousands of players at any given time, seeing an heirloom is fairly rare. There’s a reason for that.
While getting an heirloom is guaranteed after opening 500 packs or from completing certain collection events, there’s a chance of getting one from normal Apex Packs as well. Though it’s widely known that the chance of getting an heirloom is slim, the actual probability wasn’t clear until now.
In the previous iteration of the store, the odds were concealed by being listed as “less than 1%” without any additional clarity as to just how low less than 1% really was.
An update on minimum global drop rates for Apex Packs: https://t.co/tcO1MFhgt0 pic.twitter.com/CWhH1qXPFW
— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) October 8, 2024
According to a statement from the official Apex Legends X account, the drop rate for heirlooms from a pack is 0.045%. This isn’t just less than 1%, it’s a fraction of a fraction of 1%.
“Recently, new regulations were introduced in Korea which require more detailed drop rate disclosures. In maintaining our commitment to transparent and consistent communications, we are providing all players globally with the same information,” they said, explaining their reasoning behind releasing these numbers so many years after Apex Legends’ release.
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And, while it’s still true that getting an heirloom will reset that counter of 500 for getting your hands on one, making it still cost either hundreds of dollars or thousands of hours to get an heirloom unless you get really, really lucky.
Converted to a fraction, 0.045% equals out to around 9 out of every 20000 packs containing an heirloom. If that guaranteed roll at 500 wasn’t in place, these cosmetic items would be really, really rare.
Considering just how many heirlooms are in Apex Legends and that Prestige skins are unlocked through the same currency as heirlooms are, it’d take most players thousands and thousands of packs to unlock everything. That said, there is some good news in the statement.
Other than that heirloom rate, it’s been cleared up that drop rates for other cosmetics increase based on duplicate protection. Although, with Apex having thousands of cosmetic items, it’s not clear how much duplicate protection affects players who don’t already own a ton of items in Apex.