With the release of Apex Legends Season 21, the game has introduced a boatload of new changes. This includes a new legend with void abilities, Alter, a Broken Moon map update, the solos mode, and well, a new in-game currency. Yes, the leaks were indeed true, Apex Legends has introduced a new in-game currency called Exotic Shards.
To help you make sense of what this new currency is, how you get it, and what you can do with it, we have come up with this detailed Exotic Shards explainer.
What are Exotic Shards in Apex Legends?
As mentioned above, Exotic Shards is a brand-new currency that has been added to Apex Legends with the release of Season 21. This currency sits alongside existing options such as Apex Coins, Heirloom Shards, Crafting Metals, and Legend tokens.
How can you get Exotic Shards?
Unlike the Heirloom Shards that are luck-based drops from Apex Packs (or obtainable in once-a-year Anniversary events) and Crafting Metals or Legends Tokens which you earn by playing the game, Exotic Shards need to be purchased with real-world money. This is the primary way to get your hands on this new currency. Here is how much Exotic Shards cost in US Dollars:
- 10 shards – $9.99
- 40 shards (+10 Bonus) – $39.99
- 80 shards (+30 bonus) – $79.99
Moreover, in an official blog post, Respawn said that “we may see small amounts earnable in future via events or Battle Pass.” The Season 21 battle pass (Premium, 950 Apex Coins) awards players with 10 Exotic Shards.
What can you buy using Exotic Shards?
As for what you get, well, Exotic Shards is the currency that enables you to customize the universal heirloom — Apex Artifacts. You can change the base (the blade design), theme (the skin or design of the heirloom), and power source (glow and animations) of your Apex Artifacts; the only one in the game right now is the Katar.
Each of these customization options costs 10 Exotic Shards, and you need to unlock them in sequential order. So, to get a complete set, you need 50 Exotic Shards, where the final 10 Exotic Shards are spent on one of the many new death box skins in Apex Legends.
In addition, Respawn has introduced a new “Exotic Shop” in Season 21 of Apex Legends to sell recolors of reactive weapon skins from previous seasons’ battle passes. Currently, at the time of writing, you can buy the “Mythic Coil” r99 skin and the “Overheat” Flatline skin.
Opinion: Are Exotic Shards worth the money?
The addition of exotic shards feels unnecessary and unjustified. In my opinion, Respawn could’ve simply expanded on the existing currencies in-game to let people customize the melee items or weapon skins.
Moreover, many players have Heirloom Shards just sitting in-game without any purpose as they spend $160-$300 on Collection events to get brand-new cosmetics and unlock the newest heirloom automatically. The devs could’ve let players use their Heirloom Shards to unlock these customizations or should let them convert them to Exotic Shards.
That’s not the biggest issue with the new currency, though. It’s what Respawn is selling to players — recolors of existing battle pass skins for 50 Exotic Shards (aka USD$40). Apex Legends players have taken to Reddit to complain about it, saying that it’s “insulting” that Respawn is selling them battle recolors for $40. Many also called them “overpriced” while some gunned for the overall monetization of the game, calling it the “worst” out of all the games they play regularly.
What’s my stance on it? As someone who’s been an Apex Legends player for over 4 years, I’m not a fan of the new currency. Exotic Shards don’t need to be in the game. Selling the recolors under the guise of a new currency is demeaning to the players. However, I do not oppose the battle skins being recolored and sold in the shop.
I, as a matter of fact, missed out on the reactive Flatline skin from Season 4 and would be happy to pay money to buy it. Plus, I would love some other reactive weapon skins to get recolors, but not at the current price. The exorbitant price is completely unjustified. It is, of course, less than the $160 Peackeeper reactive skin recolor sold during a Collection event but still $40 is too much for slapping new colors or textures on an existing skin.
Respawn, I know, you are seeing the graph grow with players buying reactive skin recolors with Exotic Shards in Season 21. However, I request you to take a step back and reflect on your monetization practices. I will gladly spend $40 on a skin bundle, but asking the same amount for a battle pass skin recolor is actually insulting to us, your players.
