Apex Legends Crafting Metals & Legend Tokens Farming Guide

Read This First

Apex Legends is free to play, has no tradeable currency, and sells nothing that affects a match. EA states that it does not sell items that offer a gameplay advantage. Everything in this guide is cosmetic currency and unlock currency. If a site offers to sell you Crafting Metals or Heirloom Shards for cash, EA says Crafting Metals cannot be bought or gifted, so treat that offer as a scam.

Most pages about Apex “farming” are written by booster shops and talk about boosting rank. This one is about the currencies the game itself hands out. For the rank and account-level side, see our Apex Legends leveling and ranked guide.

The Five Currencies

Currency	How you get it	What it does	Status
Apex Coins	Bought with real money. Some come back from the Battle Pass.	Packs, store items, the Battle Pass	Confirmed
Crafting Metals	Only from Apex Packs. Not purchasable, not giftable.	Crafts cosmetics. Cannot craft Legends, packs or Coins.	Confirmed
Legend Tokens	Playing matches and leveling up. 600 per level starting at level 4.	Unlock Legends, recolors, reroll daily challenges	Confirmed
Heirloom Shards	Apex Packs only. Under 1% chance per pack.	Mythic Store heirlooms	Confirmed
Exotic Shards	Battle Pass or real-money purchase.	Artifact items	Confirmed

The important detail is that Crafting Metals and Legend Tokens come from two different loops. Crafting Metals are a by-product of packs. Legend Tokens are a by-product of levels. Packs themselves also come from levels, so both loops feed off one thing: account XP.

What Crafting Actually Costs

EA's help page lists the base crafting costs by rarity, and what a duplicate pays back.

Rarity	Craft cost	Duplicate refund	Wiki range (some items)
Common	30	15	30
Rare	60	30	60 to 160
Epic	400	200	400 to 800
Legendary	1,200	600	1,200 to 2,400

The first three columns come from EA (Confirmed). The wiki column (Reported) shows higher costs for some items, which probably reflects premium or event pricing. Check the cost shown on the item in the crafting menu before you spend.

What the refund rate tells you. A duplicate is worth exactly half of its own craft cost. So an Epic duplicate gives 200 and a Legendary duplicate gives 600. Two Legendary duplicates therefore pay for one Legendary craft. This is the whole economy in one sentence: the game gives metals only when it would otherwise give you something you own.

The Pack Schedule

EA's FAQ spells out how packs arrive from leveling. We added up the totals ourselves.

Account levels	Pack frequency	Packs in that band
2 to 20	One every level	19
22 to 300	One every two levels	140
305 to 500	One every five levels	40
Total to level 500		199

Our arithmetic, based on EA's schedule (Confirmed schedule, our totals). EA also says a level-up gives “an Apex Pack, Legend Tokens, or both,” so some levels may give tokens instead of a pack. Treat 199 as an upper bound.

The cost curve is steep. The pack rate falls from one per level to one per five levels as you climb. But the XP needed per level does not fall. The wiki (Reported) lists 18,000 XP per level from level 58 onward. By that time, a level costs the same XP but pays out far fewer packs. The first 20 levels are by far the best pack value in the game.

Legend Tokens: The Predictable One

Legend Tokens are the most predictable currency, because EA gives an exact rate: 600 per level starting at level 4. Past level 500, EA says you keep earning tokens by gaining enough XP in matches.

Spend	Token cost	Levels it takes (at 600 per level)
Unlock a new Legend	12,000 Reported	20
Legendary skin recolor	10,500 Reported	17.5
Reroll a daily challenge	200 to 1,000 Reported	Under 2

The costs come from the wiki and the levels column is our division. If you want a specific Legend, the numbers say you should not reroll challenges casually. One 1,000-token reroll costs almost two levels of token income.

Heirlooms and the 500-Pack Rule

Heirloom Shards are the one currency that feels like gambling. EA says the chance is under 1% per pack, and that you are guaranteed shards once if you open 500 Apex Packs under its conditions. The wiki says one drop is 150 shards. Two consequences:

Level rewards alone fall well short of 500 packs. Our total above is at most 199 from leveling.
A pack costs 100 Coins, or 10 for 1,000. Reaching 500 by purchase is 50,000 Coins at the 10-pack rate (our arithmetic). That is not a farm. It is a purchase, and this guide does not recommend it.

Heirlooms are also tied to event windows. The wiki says Collection Events can award shards, so check which event is live before you chase them.

Using the Wishlist

The one lever you really control is the wishlist. EA says you can pick five Legends and two weapons to influence which items packs lean toward, and you can change them five times per season for free before it costs Legend Tokens. Practical use: choose the Legends whose skins you actually want, not the ones you play, because the point of the loop is to turn pack drops into the items you want to craft.

The Battle Pass Loop

The Battle Pass is the other big source of Crafting Metals. The wiki (Reported) describes the premium track as paying 1,200 Apex Coins and 1,200 Crafting Metals, and says the Coin refund is enough to buy the next season's pass. It also lists the standard pass at 950 Coins with 100 levels plus ten bonus levels. That page's detail dates from about Season 10, so the pass price and structure may have changed. EA's FAQ confirms the general idea: a free track for everyone and a premium track, with a mix of cosmetics, currency and packs, and your player level never resets while your Battle Pass level does.

The honest value check. If you only play casually, the free track plus level packs is the whole story. The paid track matters only if you finish it, because the rewards that offset its cost sit at the end.

What Changed in 2026

Two seasons are worth knowing for loot context. Season 28 launched on February 10, 2026 and, according to Dexerto, removed ranked Drop Zones and removed Knockdown Shields from the loot pool. Season 30 “Marked” launched on August 4, 2026 with reduced high-tier loot spawn rates on all maps and new Corrupted Attachments, according to esports.gg. None of those changes alter how Crafting Metals or Legend Tokens are earned, which is the point: the currency loop is stable, and what changes is how fast a match gets you XP.

A Routine That Matches the Numbers

Weeks one and two. Level to 20. Every level is a pack. Do not spend Legend Tokens on rerolls.
Set the wishlist. Five Legends, two weapons. Keep the free changes in reserve.
Craft only Epic and Legendary items you want. Rare and Common crafting is poor value because a duplicate refunds half.
Let Legend Tokens stack to 12,000 if you want a new Legend. That is 20 levels of income.
Treat heirlooms as a bonus, not a goal.

Common Mistakes

Buying “Crafting Metals.” EA says they come only from packs.
Crafting low rarities. You waste metals you can only get from duplicates.
Chasing Heirloom Shards with Coins. At under 1% per pack, the expected cost is large.
Spending tokens before choosing a Legend. A new Legend costs 12,000 and tokens cannot be refunded.

Apex Legends Apex Legends Leveling & Ranked Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you farm Apex Coins for free?

Not directly. EA says Apex Coins have to be bought with real money. The one free source it mentions is the Battle Pass, which can pay some Coins back as a reward.

What is the fastest way to get Crafting Metals?

There is no grinding method. Crafting Metals only come from Apex Packs: either as the replacement for a duplicate item or as a Battle Pass reward. Packs come from leveling up, so the real answer is to play and level.

Do Legend Tokens come from packs?

No. EA lists Legend Tokens as earned by completing matches and leveling up. They cannot be bought, found in packs or gifted.

How many packs do I need to open to get Heirloom Shards?

EA's help page says Heirloom Shards drop at under 1% per pack and are guaranteed by the 500th pack opened under its rules. The wiki adds that a drop is 150 shards.

Is it worth buying Apex Packs with Coins?

EA lists a pack at 100 Coins, or 10 for 1,000. Because duplicates turn into Crafting Metals worth half the item's crafting cost, a pack is a poor way to buy one specific skin. Crafting is the way to target an item.

Do my currencies carry across platforms?

If you merge profiles with cross-progression, EA says the account with the highest level becomes your primary profile and your Apex Coins, Crafting Metals and Legend Tokens are merged, with some exceptions it lists on its FAQ.

Sources

Confirmed items come from EA's own pages that we could read directly. Reported items come from the community wiki and fan sites and can lag behind the game. Last checked September 30, 2026.

MMODude Editorial Team

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