How to unlock legends in Apex Legends

Every new account in Apex Legends is given six free characters to choose from to play the battle royale. That’s less than a third of the possible characters players can use in the game, however: the rest must be unlocked before fans can play as them.

The good news for new players is there are multiple ways to unlock characters, and they can be unlocked for free. That’s because there are multiple types of currency in Apex, and two specific types of currency that can be used to unlock legends: Legend Tokens and Apex Coins.

Unlocking a legend with Apex Coins

Apex Coins are the fastest way to unlock legends for most new players. It is, on the other hand, the most expensive way to unlock new legends since Apex Coins must be purchased in the store on most occasions. They will sometimes be given away as part of a battle pass reward or in an event prize tracker, but most of the time, players will add to their Apex Coin total by purchasing them in the store. 

To purchase Apex Coins, players must go to the store tab in the Apex Legends lobby. Once in the store tab, players will see a small prompt for Apex Coins in the top right corner of their screen, just below the number of Crafting Metals the player has. Once the player hits the corresponding button or key, they can purchase Apex Coins. 

After the Apex Coins have been purchased, players can unlock legends by navigating to the Legends tab. All the legends the player has unlocked will appear in their legend portraits in color, while locked legends will show up in black and white. Simply select the legend you wish to unlock, and when the game asks you if you want to unlock a legend, you can do so with Apex Coins by selecting “Unlock with Apex Coins.”

Each legend costs 750 Apex Coins to unlock, so choose wisely. 

Unlocking a legend with Legend Tokens

Legend Tokens are a different currency in the game that can only be used to unlock new legends and purchase specific recolor skins in the store. The nice part about Legend Tokens? They’re absolutely free! Players unlock Legend Tokens by gaining experience points and leveling up their account. Every time the account reaches a new level, the player receives 600 Legend Tokens.

While this is certainly a more cost-effective way to unlock new legends, it does have one drawback: unlocking legends this way takes a lot more time. New legends cost 12,000 Legend Tokens to unlock. In the early stages of a player’s account, this might feel like an insurmountable hill to climb. But if players progress and continue to play the game consistently, it’s not uncommon for them to never have to pay to unlock a legend again. Since legend tokens can’t actually be used to unlock most items in the game, it’s surprisingly easy to save them up.

Once players have enough Legend Tokens, they can unlock a new legend with those tokens the same way they unlocked a legend with Apex Coins. When the game asks if you want to unlock a legend, just select the “Unlock with Legend Tokens” option.