How to get competitive points in Overwatch 2

The secret to unlocking golden weapons.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2 is filled with a multitude of different currencies, and the now-reworked competitive points are one of those many. The competitive points can be earned throughout your travels in the OW2 landscape and are worth keeping a tab on.

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The Overwatch devs like to reward gamers for their hard work in competitive queues, and that’s where all these points come from. All you have to do is put the work in.

All types of currency in Overwatch 2

  • Overwatch Coins are the new base currency. With these coins, players can buy anything in their rotating shop, the battle pass, and select items from the hero gallery.
  • Legacy Credits are a currency only available to players who played the original game and transferred from their Overwatch account to their Overwatch 2 account upon the game’s release. Legacy Credits can only be used to purchase select cosmetics from the original Overwatch game.
  • Overwatch League Tokens are earned by watching the various Overwatch League matches on streaming platforms and can be used to buy professional league skins.
  • Competitive Points are earned by playing and winning competitive matches in the current season. Players receive the most points for a win, a few for a draw, and none for a loss.
  • Legacy Competitive Points are competitive points that have expired from previous competitive seasons. Competitive points become legacy competitive points at the end of the season closest to the end of the calendar year.

How to earn competitive points in Overwatch 2

The only method of earning competitive points in Overwatch 2 is to play the game’s competitive mode and win or draw your matches. If you’ve only played Quick Play, you’ll have to try your hands at Competitive to earn this type of currency. Queuing for the competitive mode is unlocked in Overwatch 2 after winning 50 matches in Quick Play.

For those who’ve stayed on Quick Play through their entire Overwatch playtime, there are slight differences in competitive play, aside from the matches being higher stakes and earning you a rank. Your usual payload matches feature another side, meaning you’ll have to stop the enemy from pushing the payload if you’ve already pushed.

You also won’t be able to leave your matches without a penalty and if an OW2 teammate leaves you won’t get another player replacing them.

How many competitive points per win do I earn in Overwatch 2?

Ana, Lucio, Orisa, and Zarya fighting on Paraíso in Overwatch 2
A battle between tanks on Paraíso in Overwatch 2. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To earn competitive points, however, you need to win, or at the very least draw your games. Players earn 10 competitive points for a win, five for a tie, and zero for a loss.

At the end of each season, players will also receive competitive points based on what OW2 rank they end the season at. Players are rewarded based on the role in which they have the highest current rank. With season nine’s competitive rework, the number of bonus points given per rank may have changed from previous seasons.

Additionally, Blizzard has started to periodically do mini-competitive seasons for modes that aren’t a permanent fixture, like Mystery Heroes and Deathmatch. Those have their own separate end-of-season rewards that are similar but slightly less than what you get for playing the standard competitive season. Players can find the exact rewards for a given mini-competitive season by visiting the “Competitive” tab on their “Challenges” page in the game.

Do I receive competitive points from losses in Overwatch 2?

No, you won’t be receiving any Overwatch points for your losses. These points can only be acquired after draws and wins.

What can I buy with my competitive points in Overwatch 2?

Whole team battle on Midtown Overwatch 2.
Doomfist going head-to-head with Winston. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Competitive points allow you to purchase weapon variants in Overwatch 2. While it might not sound like a lot, each hero has a weapon variant which changes depending on who you pick. For instance, B.O.B. will turn gold or jade as well as Ashe’s trusty rifle. Junkrat’s various gadgets will all turn gold or jade as well. Ana’s sleep dart, Kiriko’s healing ofuda papers, and heaps more get a recolor once you fork out the points.

An image showcasing one of Tracer's pistols in the new Jade variant, with a price tag of 3000 competitive credits.
3,000 credits later and you’ll have beautiful green pistols. Image via Blizzard Entertainment.

Starting in Season Nine, which weapon variant you can buy depends on which type of competitive points you have. Golden weapons can only be purchased with legacy competitive points, while jade weapons are purchasable with current competitive points. Current competitive points will roll over and become legacy points at the end of the calendar year. Blizzard has stated they may be reworking the legacy points system so players can still use current points to buy golden guns and not be forced into waiting or buying a jade variant instead.

The gold and jade weapons for each hero cost 3,000 competitive credits. This usually takes a while to collect, and the competitive credit limit caps at 6,000 credits. Once you’ve reached the max, you’ll have to buy yourself a spiffy new weapon for a hero in order to earn more.

OW2 players usually spend their competitive credits on colored weapons for the heroes they play the most often. So if a player on your or the enemy team has a gold or jade gun equipped, it might mean the character they are playing is their main.

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Author
Nadine Manske
Nadine is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She covers VALORANT and Overwatch with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region and marginalized genders in esports. Before joining Dot Esports as a freelance writer, she interned at Gen.G Esports and the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her favorite Pokémon is Quagsire.
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Harrison Thomas
CS:GO, Overwatch, and Valorant Staff Writer - Played CS:GO since 2012 and keep a close eye on other titles. Give me a game and I'll write about it. Ranks are private information. Contact harry@dotesports.com
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Max Miceli
Senior Staff Writer. Max graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism and political science degree in 2015. He previously worked for The Esports Observer covering the streaming industry before joining Dot where he now helps with Overwatch 2 coverage.