An Apex Legends Heirloom has received impressive new animations — but it’s getting a “lazy” recolor

The topic of Heirlooms has resulted in heated debates in the Apex Legends community. The item type is made up of coveted melee weapons of the highest possible rarity, and they even have their own must-see animations. That said, those wanting an Heirloom have long only been guaranteed one after buying 500 of the game’s lootboxes — or Apex Packs. Well, the kunai Heirloom for Legend Wraith has surprisingly now earned more animations, though a leaked recolored version and an alleged unlock method for it have players furious.

Just moments into the launch of Apex Legends Season 16, YouTuber The Gaming Merchant was one of several Wraith fans to discover that her Hope’s Dusk Heirloom has learned a few new tricks. For instance, the blade can now be thrown into Wraith’s portal before returning to the Legend with glimmering blue light surrounding it. Another new animation even lets Wraith pull up a note and photo from Wattson which reads: “My favorite ghost XOXO – W.”

Although the Easter eggs are delightful finishing touches for those who worked hard getting the Mythic-rarity kunai, the admiration has been quickly overshadowed by its supposedly leaked “Hope’s Dawn” recolor. As shown by an in-game screenshot from prominent Apex dataminer KralRindo, the incoming variant evidently shares the same appearance as the original but trades in its blue outer glow for bright orange.

The Apex community has since not wasted any time criticizing the apparent recolor. Reddit user Kuzco Sensei had many upvoting in agreement after expressing, “Thank goodness I had low expectations.” Redditor Aromatic_Difference8 then followed up the comment by replying: “All recolors are lazy. Just create a different skin and give the recolors for free.” This then left players wondering how the tool could be unlocked, hoping it would come at no cost for those who unlocked the original Heirloom.

Related: All Legend buffs and nerfs in Apex Legends Season 16

By all appearances, this is likely not the case. Proven leaker SomeoneWhoLeaks recently took to Twitter to claim the recolored Heirloom could be exclusive to an upcoming Imperial Guard Collection Event. Even more worrisome, they shared alleged code detailing it can only be owned by unlocking all 24 of the event’s cosmetics, and it is not clear if it will be available in the Mythic Store once the event ends.

For now, fans should still take these claims with a grain of salt, especially as developer Respawn Entertainment has yet to officially reveal the Heirloom. However, it has certainly not been an easy last few days for Apex Legends players nonetheless. Despite the latest season debuting earlier this week, those on Xbox have already found themselves struggling to play the battle royale without lag and connection issues. Season 16’s new Team Deathmatch mode has also been under fire for its own problems, ultimately resulting in changes to its format and ruleset.