If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that loot boxes are back in Overwatch 2. After being removed when the game transitioned to a Battle Pass system, they made a return in time for season 15, giving players another way to earn cosmetics.
How to earn loot boxes in Overwatch 2
Unlike in the original Overwatch, you can’t purchase loot boxes in Overwatch 2 with real money. Instead, you earn them through gameplay. Right now, there are three main ways to get them:
| Method | Number of loot boxes | How to get them |
|---|---|---|
| Battle Pass (Free Track) | One Legendary Loot Box | Earned by progressing through the Free Battle Pass |
| Battle Pass (Premium Track) | Two Legendary Loot Boxes | Earned by progressing through the Premium Battle Pass |
| Weekly Event Challenges | 10 Standard Loot Boxes | Play five matches (win counts as two) and then 15 matches |
There’s also a Discord Quest, which rewards you with five Loot Boxes for playing Overwatch 2 for 15 minutes after accepting the quest via Discord. The quest ends on Feb. 25, but it can be difficult to find if you don’t know your way around Discord.
- Join the Discord server for Overwatch.
- Open Discord and go to Discover (the compass in the bottom left corner of the app).
- You should see a page of different quests you can accept, with the Overwatch one being “PERKED UP QUEST.”
- Accept the quest.
- Play for 15 minutes with Discord open (or just have the game open!).
- Go back to Discord’s Discover page and claim your reward.
- Get a code from Discord.
- Redeem it via Battle.net.
Since the Discord quest only requires 15 minutes of playtime, it’s the fastest way to grab loot boxes right now. Just make sure you accept the quest via the Discover tab in Discord before hopping into a match!
How the Weekly Challenges work
If you’re looking to farm loot boxes through the weekly event challenges, here’s how it works:
- First challenge: Play five matches (or win three, since wins count as two). Reward: Five Loot Boxes.
- Second challenge: Play 15 matches (or win eight). Reward: Five Loot Boxes.
That’s a total of 10 loot boxes per week, making this one of the most efficient ways to stock up.
What’s inside loot boxes in Overwatch 2?
Overwatch 2 loot boxes contain four cosmetic items, just like in the original game. However, there are some restrictions:
| Item type | Available in loot boxes? |
|---|---|
| Emotes | Yes |
| Highlight Intros | Yes |
| Skins | Yes |
| Sprays | Yes |
| Souvenirs | Yes |
| Victory Poses | Yes |
| Voice Lines | Yes |
| Weapon Charms | Yes |
| Weapon Variants | No (Earned through Competitive) |
| Shop/Battle Pass Cosmetics | No (Brought in the Shop or via the Battle Pass with points) |
| Crossover Cosmetics | No (Brought in the Shop during crossover events) |
Blizzard confirmed that Battle Pass and Shop-exclusive items won’t appear in loot boxes. That means if you’re hoping to unlock a seasonal or crossover skin, you’ll still need to buy it directly.
However, the system is much more generous than before when it comes to duplicates. Instead of getting credits for duplicate items, the game will reroll the loot box until it gives you something you don’t own. If you somehow already own everything, the game will give you an I.O.U. that can be redeemed for a future item.
Loot box rarity and drop rates in Overwatch 2
There are only two types of loot boxes in Overwatch 2: Standard and Legendary. Here’s how their drop rates work:
Standard loot box drop rates
| Rarity | Drop rate |
|---|---|
| Legendary (Orange) | 5.10 percent |
| Epic (Purple) | 21.93 percent |
| Rare (Blue) | 96.26 percent |
| Common (White) | 97.97 percent |
- Every Standard Loot Box contains at least one Rare item.
- Within five consecutive boxes, you’re guaranteed one Epic item.
- Every 20 boxes, you’re guaranteed one Legendary item.
Legendary loot box drop rates
| Rarity | Drop rate |
|---|---|
| Legendary (Orange) | 100 percent |
| Epic (Purple) | 21.93 percent |
| Rare (Blue) | 96.26percent |
| Common (White) | 97.97 percent |
Every Legendary Loot Box guarantees at least one Legendary cosmetic. If you’re after high-tier skins, these are your best bet, but they’re only obtainable via the Battle Pass.
Can you hoard loot boxes in Overwatch 2?
If you were someone who loved hoarding loot boxes in the original game, bad news—Blizzard won’t let you stockpile them this time. Any unused loot boxes will be opened automatically at the end of the season. So, if you plan to save them up for a big opening session, you’ll need to do it before the season ends.
Read the full article here