Heirlooms are easily the most coveted items in all of Apex Legends, with custom animations, voice lines, and melee skins that make your main legend feel totally unique. For years, most players assumed you had to drop hundreds of dollars on Apex Packs to get your hands on them, but that’s not the case at all. If you’ve been grinding matches for months and wondering how do you get free heirloom shards in Apex Legends without draining your bank account, you’re in the right place. All the methods we’re covering are 100% approved by Respawn, no hacks or sketchy workarounds required.
How Do You Get Free Heirloom Shards in Apex Legends Via Regular Apex Pack Drops?
The most reliable way to earn free heirloom shards is through the built-in pity system for Apex Packs. Every player is guaranteed to get 150 heirloom shards (enough to unlock any heirloom in the game) for every 500 Apex Packs they open, no exceptions. That means you don’t have to spend a single dollar to hit that pity threshold, which is the most reliable answer to how do you get free heirloom shards in Apex Legends for consistent grinders. You don’t need to buy the premium battle pass to earn packs that count toward your heirloom pity counter, every pack you earn for free counts exactly the same as a paid one.
You can earn free Apex Packs nonstop just by playing the game normally. From account level 2 to 500, you get one free pack per level up, which adds up to 499 packs alone, almost enough to hit pity right there. Every season’s free battle pass track includes 5 to 6 free Apex Packs just for earning XP through matches, and limited-time events almost always throw in a few extra packs as free tier rewards. Even after you hit level 500, you still get a free Apex Pack for every 10 levels you earn via battle pass XP, so you never stop progressing toward that pity drop. I have a casual friend who only plays 2 to 3 matches a night, and he hit his first heirloom shard drop at 127 packs, way before the 500 pack pity mark, so random drops do happen if you’re lucky.
Earn Free Heirloom Shards Through Limited-Time Collection Events
If you don’t want to wait years to hit the 500 pack pity threshold, limited-time collection events are the fastest way to earn free heirloom shards. Every collection event features 24 limited-time cosmetic items, and if you collect all 24 before the event ends, you get a free guaranteed heirloom for the featured legend, or the option to take 150 heirloom shards if you don’t want that specific legend’s heirloom. This method is perfect for players who have a favorite legend and know their heirloom is coming up in a future collection event, and it’s a much faster answer to how do you get free heirloom shards in Apex Legends than waiting for 500 packs.
Many players unlock full collection event rewards for free by saving crafting metals across 2-3 seasons ahead of a featured legend’s heirloom drop. Most collection event items are craftable with standard crafting metals, and the lower rarity items cost very little to unlock. A full set of 24 collection items usually costs around 12,000 crafting metals if you don’t get any free items, but every event’s free reward track gives you 2 to 3 collection items for free just for playing matches during the event, which cuts that cost down by almost 20%. Casual players earn roughly 3,000 to 4,000 crafting metals per season just from opening free Apex Packs, so saving for 3 seasons gives you more than enough to craft all required items without spending a cent. The only downside is that you have to plan ahead, and you can’t waste your crafting metals on random skins you don’t really want if you’re saving for an heirloom.
Take Advantage of Community and Developer Giveaways for Free Heirloom Shards
Respawn and official Apex Legends partners run free heirloom shard giveaways all the time, especially during big milestones like game anniversaries, new season launches, or major esports tournaments. These giveaways are 100% legitimate, and you don’t have to be a top player or spend any money to enter. Most official giveaways only require you to link your EA account to your social media or Twitch account, or complete a simple in-game challenge to be entered into the random draw. During the 5th Apex Legends anniversary, Respawn gave away 150 heirloom shards to 500 random players who watched an hour of official Apex esports content on Twitch, and I know two casual players who won that giveaway.
Trusted content creators also run heirloom shard giveaways regularly to reward their communities, usually for viewers who subscribe to their channel, watch their streams, or leave a comment on a video. Only enter giveaways hosted by verified official accounts or trusted partnered creators to avoid scam links that steal your EA account details. If you’re not sure if a giveaway is legitimate, follow these simple rules:
- Never share your EA account password, two-factor authentication codes, or payment details with anyone running a giveaway
- Prioritize giveaways posted on official Apex Legends social media channels, or creators who have over 10k followers and a history of legitimate giveaways
- Check if the giveaway requires you to complete in-game challenges first, as official Respawn giveaways rarely ask you to visit external sites to enter
You can win free heirloom shards from giveaways even if you only play a few matches a week, as most giveaways have no player level or match count requirements. I’ve seen three regular viewers of my favorite small Apex streamer win heirloom codes in the last year, so you don’t have to be a big name in the community to get lucky.
Avoid Common Scams That Promise Free Heirloom Shards
For every legitimate way to earn free heirloom shards, there are 10 scams trying to steal your account or your money, so it’s important to know what to avoid. The most common scam is the "free heirloom shard generator" site, which claims it can add thousands of heirloom shards to your account for free if you enter your EA ID and complete a survey. These sites are 100% fake, they either steal your account login details or make you watch hours of ads for no reward. Respawn will never contact you via DM to offer free heirloom shards in exchange for your account details, so any message you get claiming to be from a Respawn employee offering free shards is a scam.
Another common scam is people selling "heirloom accounts" on Discord or third-party marketplaces for cheap. These accounts are almost always stolen, and the original owner can recover the account as soon as you pay for it, leaving you with nothing. Even if you get access to the account, Respawn bans accounts that are bought or sold regularly, so you could lose all your progress with no warning. Report any scam posts or messages you see to EA support to help keep the Apex community safe for all players. It’s always better to wait a few extra months to earn your heirloom legitimately than to risk losing the account you’ve spent years grinding on.
At the end of the day, getting free heirloom shards in Apex Legends takes a little patience and planning, but it’s totally possible without spending a cent. You can grind free Apex Packs to hit the 500 pack pity counter, save crafting metals for collection events, or enter legitimate giveaways to get your hands on the rare cosmetic set for your main. If you’ve been asking how do you get free heirloom shards in Apex Legends, sticking to these legitimate methods will get you there eventually, and you won’t risk losing your account to scams along the way. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get them right away – half the fun of earning an heirloom is the grind leading up to that big drop notification popping up on your screen.