Update: The article has been updated with a more accurate information about earning Battle Pass XP
I was given an early access to Overwatch 2 by Blizzard so I took a good look at the Battle Pass system and how long or how much you need to pay (either in real money or Overwatch Coins) to unlock the rewards.
Okay, so we all know (hopefully) that you can earn Battle Pass XP to unlock rewards like cosmetics (charms, souvenirs, skins, etc) and most importantly, the new hero of a season (like Kiriko on Season One of Overwatch 2) and also the Mythic skin (like Genji’s Mythic Skin on Season One on Overwatch 2).
Kiriko is available to be unlocked on Tier 55 of the Battle Pass and Genji Mythic Skin on Tier 80 – which is the last Tier to unlock. How do you unlock them and what options are available?
How to unlock Overwatch 2 Battle Pass Tiers
The obvious way to unlock the Battle Pass Tiers is by getting Battle Pass Experience (XP) which will then unlock the item. From what I see here, to unlock a Battle Pass Tier on Overwatch 2, 10,000 Battle Pass XP is required. You can see your progress on the Battle Pass screen so for example on my account here, I already have 3,000 XP to unlock Tier 2 (which requires 10,000XP). Each Tier requires the same 10,000 XP (from Tier 1 to Tier 80) to unlock.
Some Battle Pass Tier rewards are available only on the Premium track so if you want to get these, you’ll have to first unlock the Premium Battle Pass with either $10 of real money or 1,000 Overwatch Coins that you can earn in-game. Thankfully, you don’t need to get this if you want to unlock a new Hero.
Kiriko is on Tier 55 under the Free Tier (though you can get her instantly if you purchase the Premium Battle Pass).
How to get Coins in Overwatch 2
To get Overwatch Coins in game, you can spend A$7.50 or complete the Weekly Challenges (and possibly other ways in game later?). Complete 4 weekly challenges to earn 30 coins, 8 challenges to earn 20 coins, and 11 weekly challenges to earn 10 coins. They aren’t much to be honest and I hope there are more ways being announced later to earn these.
How to get Battle Pass XP in Overwatch 2
To get Battle Pass XP, you can earn these through completing Challenges like Daily, Weekly, Season, Lifetime, and Hero Challenges. Complete 1 daily challenge to earn 3,000 XP, 2 daily challenges to earn 3,000 XP, and 3 daily challenges to earn 3,000 XP (so 9,000 XP in total for completing 3 daily challenges). Which means, you technically can unlock one Tier of Battle Pass if you play every day and complete the daily challenges (minus 1,000 XP).
Completing each weekly challenge will also grant you 5,000 XP (and the Overwatch Coins that I explained earlier).
There are also Season Challenges which grant you more Battle Pass XP which means you can earn these every season as they reset:
There are also Lifetime and Hero Challenges (there’s nothing on the Hero Challenges screen at the moment) but you may only be able to earn these once as it sounds like they won’t reset each season.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find games to play with the others who have the early access (due to time difference) so I’m not sure if you’ll be earning Battle Pass XP in game without completing challenges (i.e by just playing the game or winning matches). It looks like you do, but I can’t confirm yet how much you’ll be earning by completing a match.
A video from Gamespot (around 1:50 mark) seems to confirm you’ll earn Battle Pass XP after completing a match, an extra if you win the match, and an extra for consecutive matches.
You’ll also get 100-500XP when picking a less-popular role, like flexing or dps (surprisingly!), so it’s pretty generous in a sense here to earn Battle XPs.
So, long story short: it seems that if you want to unlock the best rewards in game like the Mythic Skin, you’ll have to first spend 1000 Overwatch Coins to unlock the Battle Pass Premium Track. And on top of that, you’ll have to grind the Battle Pass XP to get what you want each Tier. Overwatch 2 Season One has up to Tier 80, which means you’ll need to get 80,000 Battle Pass XP to get to Tier 80!
If you have a lot of Overwatch Coins somewhat though, you can unlock the Battle Pass Tiers using your Overwatch Coin. Unlocking a Tier requires 200 Overwatch Coins so if you want to get that Genji Mythic Skin right away, you’ll need 16,000 Overwatch Coins!
It sounds a lot to grind but if you buy the Premium Battle Pass of the Season, you’ll get a 20% XP Battle Pass Boost – so you can do the math as you earn more Battle Pass Experience from playing the game and completing your Daily, Weekly, and Seasonal challenges.
So the best strategy is to definitely spend 1,000 Overwatch Coins at the beginning of each season so you can gain Battle Pass XP bonuses from the start. And if you don’t think you want anything from the current season’s Premium Battle Pass Tier, save those Coins for the next season.
I’ve been playing Overwatch 1 almost every day and looking forward to play Overwatch 2. I definitely like how you can get a Premium Battle Pass in Overwatch 2 using in-game resources compared to some other games that require you to make a purchase with real money. While it’s sad that I can’t brag about Overwatch giving you new heroes without having to do anything anymore, it still is free to unlock them and if you are playing the game regularly, you’ll get there in no time (and without having to spend a dime).
