If you’ve ever queued into an Apex match and seen a teammate spinning a shiny Wraith kunai or Pathfinder boxing glove mid-lobby, you know how coveted heirloom sets are. These ultra-rare melee cosmetics come with custom animations, voice lines, and banner frames that make your main legend feel totally unique. If you’re asking how do i get heirloom shards in apex legends, you’re not alone — thousands of players grind every season trying to unlock these items without dropping hundreds of dollars. I’ve been playing Apex since launch, unlocked three heirlooms so far without spending more than the occasional battle pass, so I’m breaking down everything you need to know to earn them fairly, no glitches or hacks required.
How Do I Get Heirloom Shards in Apex Legends: The Only Legitimate Methods
First, let’s get one critical fact out of the way: Respawn only distributes heirloom shards through Apex Packs, the game’s loot box system. There are no other official ways to earn shards right now, no matter what random TikTok or sketchy website tells you. You are guaranteed to get 150 heirloom shards before you open your 500th Apex Pack, which is exactly the number you need to buy one full heirloom set of your choice. You can get shards much earlier than the 500-pack pity mark too — I pulled my first set at 127 packs, and plenty of players get them even sooner.
The key to earning shards without spending extra money is maximizing the number of free Apex Packs you earn through regular play. You can get free packs from all of these sources:
- Level up your account: Every level from 1 to 500 gives you at least one Apex Pack, with bonus packs every 10 levels after level 20. If you reset your account prestige after hitting level 500, you can earn even more packs as you re-level.
- Complete battle pass tiers: Each free and premium battle pass gives between 15 and 25 Apex Packs across 110 tiers. You don’t need to buy the premium pass to earn packs from the free track, so even free-to-play players can stack packs every season.
- Claim limited-time event rewards: Many seasonal events, anniversary celebrations, and community challenges give free Apex Packs as completion rewards. Even small events like the annual Apex Anniversary give out 5+ free packs just for logging in and playing a few matches.
- Earn them from ranked rewards: Higher ranked splits (Platinum and above) often give multiple Apex Packs as end-of-split prizes for both casual and competitive players. You can earn packs for both Battle Royale and Arenas ranked modes.
It’s worth repeating: any site or video promising free heirloom shards without opening Apex Packs is a scam. Never share your EA account login with any third-party site claiming to give free heirloom shards — these sites will steal your account, steal your payment info, or infect your device with malware. There are no loopholes here, stick to official methods only.
How to Track Your Apex Pack Count to Avoid Wasting Effort
Most players have no idea how many Apex Packs they’ve opened over their time playing, which means they have no clue how close they are to the 500-pack pity timer. That’s a big missed opportunity, because knowing your count lets you plan your grind accordingly. Tracking your pack count lets you plan when you can expect your guaranteed shards, so you don’t waste money buying packs you don’t need.
You can request a full list of every Apex Pack you’ve ever opened from EA support, or use widely available community pack trackers that don’t require you to enter your account login. These trackers let you input your account level, battle pass completion history, and event participation to get a close estimate of how many packs you’ve opened so far.
For example, if you track your count and find you’ve already opened 430 packs, you only need 70 more to guarantee your shards. That means you can focus on grinding the remaining battle pass tiers that give free packs instead of spending cash on random packs. The pity timer never resets, even across seasons, so you don’t lose progress when a new season drops or you take a break from the game for a few months.
Common Mistakes That Slow Down Your Heirloom Shard Grind
Even if you play regularly, small mistakes can add months to your grind for shards. The most common mistake I see is players buying single Apex Packs with Apex Coins instead of saving for 10-pack bundles. 10-pack bundles always come with one free bonus pack, so you get 11 packs for the price of 10, which gets you to the pity timer faster if you do choose to spend money on packs.
Another big mistake is skipping free battle pass tiers that give Apex Packs. A lot of players stop grinding the battle pass once they unlock the legendary skin or legend they want from the free track, but the last 20 tiers of every battle pass usually have 3 to 4 free packs that bring you much closer to your shards. Even if you only play a few matches a week, it’s worth knocking out those last few tiers before the season ends.
The silliest mistake I see all the time is players falling for “heirloom glitch” videos that make them waste time doing useless in-game actions. I’ve seen players spend hours dropping in specific locations, quitting matches early, or equipping specific skins because a random social media video told them it boosts their heirloom drop rate. Respawn has confirmed multiple times that drop rates are completely random outside of the fixed pity timer. There is no way to manipulate your heirloom shard drop rate, so don’t waste time trying tricks that don’t work.
What to Do Once You Get Your Heirloom Shards
When you finally open a pack and see that flash of red heirloom shards on your screen, it’s easy to get excited and spend them immediately. But it’s better to take a minute and think before you click buy, because you can’t refund shards once you spend them. I made the mistake of spending my first set of shards on Bangalore’s heirloom when I almost never play her, and I still regret it years later.
First, make sure you’re picking an heirloom for a legend you actually main regularly. If you only play Octane 80% of the time, don’t waste your shards on a Crypto heirloom just because it looks cool. You’ll get way more use out of a set for a legend you play every week.
Second, remember you don’t have to spend them right away. Respawn releases 2 to 3 new heirlooms every year, so if your favorite legend doesn’t have an heirloom yet, you can save your shards until it drops. You can hold onto heirloom shards indefinitely, so there’s no rush to spend them as soon as you get them. You can also save shards for prestige skins, which also cost 150 shards and come with multiple tiers of customizable skins, animations, and finishers for popular legends.
If you do decide to spend them immediately, take a minute to preview the full heirloom set first, not just the melee weapon. Most heirlooms come with custom banner poses and voice lines that you’ll see way more often than the melee skin itself, so make sure you like those too before you commit.
At the end of the day, getting heirloom shards takes patience, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to get them. If you’re still asking how do i get heirloom shards in apex legends, stick to earning free Apex Packs through regular play, track your pack count, and avoid scams that promise fast free shards. I’ve unlocked three sets over four years of casual play, so it’s totally possible even if you don’t play every single day. The best part is, once you hit that 500 pack pity timer, you’re guaranteed to get them, so every pack you open brings you one step closer to that cool melee skin you’ve been eyeing.