How to get any Overwatch skin

Overwatch skins are some of the best items in the game, giving each hero a new and unique look. Some of them are easy to get, others are frustratingly hard and seem impossible. Unfortunately, some are unobtainable, but for the most part, any player can obtain most skins in Overwatch.

Common skins

The shared skins are the default skins for each character. You don’t have to try to get these as they are automatically unlocked and auto-equipped for each individual character.

Rarely

The rare skins are the color swaps of the common skins. They can be found in every loot chest or purchased at any time for 75 gold. Each individual Loot Crate contains a rare item, but this can also include other rare items such as voice lines.

epos

The epic skins are the special color changes and sometimes house a small change to the character model. They are obtained from every Loot Crate and can be purchased at any time for 250 Gold. Blizzard has stated that an epic item (not specifically a skin) should appear every five and a half loot crates on average.

Legendary

Legendary skins are some of the best in the game, completely transforming a character’s appearance. There are some awesome regular Legendaries, with at least four available for each character. They can be obtained from regular loot crates and appear once every 13.5 crates on average. They can also be bought at any time for 1000 gold.

Overwatch League

These skins are recolors of the common skin for each character and show the team colors for Overwatch League teams. They cost 100 Overwatch League Tokens each. Of course, a player currently cannot get OWL tokens as it is off-season, but can buy 100 tokens for $4.99. If a player links their Twitch and Blizzard accounts during the season, they can earn a single OWL token for each completed map they watch.

All-Access Pass for the Overwatch League

Available for $29.99, the Overwatch League All-Access Pass gives a player additional content as they watch the Overwatch League, but it also unlocks a few special skins. It unlocks the colored away skins for each team. The All-Access Pass also gives owners access to the Overwatch League gray skins for specific characters, a gray version of the default skin with the OWL logo on it. Some Overwatch League gray skins are only available by cheering for a certain number of bits on the Overwatch League official Twitch stream.

event epics

Event-specific epic skins are only available during their respective event (and the Anniversary Event when all skins are available). They cost 750 gold at their inaugural event, but drop to 250 gold in year two and every year thereafter. They can also be obtained from Loot Crates. The spawn rate of event skins is the same as regular items of the same quality, but is calculated separately. This means that during an event, normal epic skins and event epic skins do not interfere with each other, but still have the same drop rate.

Event legends

Event Legendaries are without a doubt one of the greatest skins in Overwatch. They are only available during their respective event (and during the Anniversary Event) and initially cost 3000 gold. The second time a skin becomes available, it costs 1000 gold for each player. They can also be obtained from Loot Crates, just like any other event skin.

Origins Edition Skins

There are only five Overwatch: Origins Edition skins: Soldier: 76, Pharah, Widowmaker, Tracer, and Bastion. This is a special edition of the game and costs $20 on top of the base game for PC. This is the only way to get these skins.

BlizzCon skins

There are currently only three BlizzCon skins, one for each year that Overwatch was available. These are only available if a player has purchased a physical or virtual BlizzCon ticket. The skins were for Winston in 2016, Bastion in 2017, and this year’s skin is for Sombra, which is still available for any player willing to buy the BlizzCon virtual ticket.

Pink Mercy

This skin was only available for a short promotion to raise money for breast cancer research. It cost $20, with proceeds going to the charity. It is unknown if this skin will be available again for a future promotion.