Overwatch Archives 2021 event: Legendary skins, weekly challenges, more

The Overwatch Archives event is back for another year of action as the 2021 iteration brings all new Legendary skins, all the classic PVE missions, along with a revamped rewards system. 

After much speculation, the fan-favorite Archives event is finally back for another spin in Overwatch. The unique celebration allows players to dive into earlier PVE missions ranging from 2017’s Uprising to 2019’s Storm Rising.

On top of the PVE experiences, there’s also a ton of fresh cosmetic content on offer. Unique weekly challenges provide some of the goods while a handful of new skins will be available in limited-time loot boxes.

This time around, there’s a difficult twist on the cooperative mode that’ll force you into a new playstyle each week. Here’s everything you need to know.

Overwatch Archives 2021 Weekly Challenges

This time around, Archives rewards are earned in a unique way. Rather than the traditional format of having to win a set amount of games per week, you’ll now have more options than ever before.

Simply playing in the weekly PVE activities will earn you Stars. The harder the difficulty you’re playing at, the more Stars you’ll earn. Earn enough in each week and you’ll be able to grab every single item on offer.

In order to spice things up beyond the normal difficulty modifiers, distinct challenges are on a weekly rotation. Some have enemies dropping lava on the ground while others lock out Support heroes entirely. Below is a complete rundown on the weekly rotation for the event.

Week 1

• Earn double credit for Uprising Missions
• Molten Cores – Enemies drop Lava on death
• Glass Cannon – Players have 50% less health and increased damage
• Bulletproof Barriers – Enemy barriers are invulnerable
• Earn 10 stars to unlock player icon, 20 stars to unlock spray
• Earn 30 stars to unlock Corredor Lucio (Epic)

Week 2

• Earn double credit for Retribution Missions
• Surgical Strike – Only critical hits do damage to enemies
• Close Quarters – Enemies can only be damaged if a player is nearby
• Sympathy Gains – Damaging enemies heals other enemies
• Earn 10 stars to unlock player icon, 20 stars to unlock spray
• Earn 30 stars to unlock Subaquatic Zenyatta (Epic)

Week 3 

• Earn double credit for Storm Rising Missions
• Blood Moon – No Support heroes and healing is reduced; heal yourself by doing damage
• Storm Raging – Some heroes are enraged; killing them spreads the rage
• Thunderstorm – Enemies damage all nearby players
• Earn 10 stars to unlock player icon, 20 stars to unlock spray
• Earn 30 stars to unlock Camouflage Mercy (Epic)

Overwatch Archives 2021 event Legendary skins

Regardless of what you’re playing throughout the event, you’ll be earning Archives loot boxes as usual. This year, five brand new Legendary skins are contained in these purchasable items, along with a heap of other cosmetics.

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All the usual player icons, sprays, and emotes are available, plus another three Epic skins to boot.

Cavalry Tracer

Blizzard Entertainment

Cheers love, the cavalry is literally here!

Mousquetaire Widowmaker

1776 Soldier: 76

Polyanitsa Zarya

Blizzard Entertainment

Zarya, now complete with actual armor.

Bushi Genji

With the Archives event now live for another year, make sure you jump in quick to collect everything.

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Certain weekly items will be rotated out in a matter of days, though you’ve got until April 27 to claim the Legendary cosmetics.