Apex Legends is many things to many people but a crafting game it is not. There is a crafting element in the game but it is only for cosmetic items and is more a grind than game right now. If you want to get to grips with how it all works, this tutorial is going to discuss how to get Crafting Metals in Apex Legends and what to do with them once you have them.
It is the best battle royale game around right now and will only get better. It’s a solid, well-designed loot shooter and is only going to improve. It even does microtransactions right and what other game can say that?
Apex Legends uses three currencies, Crafting Metals, Apex Coins and Legend Tokens. You can earn them all within the game or you can buy Apex Coins for real money. We use Crafting Metals for many of the unlocks so that’s what I’m concentrating on here.
Crafting isn’t a part of the game in the same way it is in Anthem. In Apex Legends, you can craft weapon skins, Legend skins, banners, quips and finishers. All those things you see as unlocks in the Legend menu can be crafted or bought. As most of us aren’t made of money, we craft them.
How to get Crafting Metals
Currently, the only way to get Crafting Metals is through Apex Packs. The only way to get Apex Packs is to level up or buy them. Fortunately, leveling up is the easy bit. Shoot lots of players, become champion a few times and you’re golden. You can buy them too if you want.
The drop rate is slow. I mean really slow. I have been playing for over a month and only have 120 Crafting Metals. I have a couple of unlocks so I would estimate I had maybe 350 in total. They vary due to RNG but a typical drop might only give you 15 Crafting Metals. You might get more if you’re lucky but this seems typical.
Buying Apex Crates is not guaranteed to drop Crafting Metals either. The game uses the loot box method so it’s down to RNG whether you get Crafting Metals or not and in what quantity or level. Unless you can afford it, buying Apex Crates purely for Crafting Metals doesn’t make sense right now.
Unlocks have tiers the same as weapons and armor in Apex Legends. Common unlocks cost 30 crafting metals, Rare 60 crafting metals, Epic 400 crafting metals and Legendary cost 1200 crafting metals. That’s not cheap!
There are apparently 1,880 unlockable items in Apex Legends. With the cheapest costing 30 Crafting Metals, you’re going to need to play for a very long time to get them all!
How to use Crafting Metals
You will see the total number of Crafting Metals you have in the top right of your lobby screen. It’s the blue icon next to Legend Tokens and Apex Coins. If you want to use some of your currency, it is very easy to do.
- Open the Apex Legends lobby and select a Legend or weapon you want to unlock.
- Select the item from skins, banners, quips, finishers, or weapon skin.
- Right click the specific item.
- Select the Unlock button that appears in the bottom right.
The total will be deducted from your pile of Crafting Metals and the item will be unlocked. Select it again to use it on your Legend or weapon.
Unlocking skins in Apex Legends
Many skins and cosmetic items in Apex Legends have a dual value. Some have a Legendary Token value as well as Crafting Metals and you can unlock them either way. As the earning potential for Legendary Tokens is higher, this is a viable way to unlock as well.
The two purchasable Legends Caustic and Mirage are purchasable this way and so are some of the others.
Games that have multiple currencies can fall foul of being overly complicated, but again Apex Legends gets the balance right. One balance I don’t think it has right is the drop rate, amount or cost to unlock. Other EA games like Star Wars Battlefront use a similar crafting materials unlock system but is more generous. It doesn’t take anywhere near as long to unlock something there as it does in Apex Legends. I am hoping that this is one of the area being considered for post-launch balancing. We shall see.
Do you think the drop rate and cost is fair? Want to keep it as it is? Don’t care about cosmetic items? Tell us your thoughts below!
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