Anthem microtransactions - how much do they cost and what can you buy in the Anthem store?

We all know that this is part of the scenery for many games now, so try not to get too worked up about Anthem microtransactions - at least the items available are just cosmetic and shouldn't provide a competitive advantage. Generally all of the important items in Anthem such as weapons, javelins, and other gear are obtained by levelling up and playing, with Anthem microtransactions reserved for modifying the appearance of your mech, unlocking fancy emotes, and other shiny trinkets to make you look jazzy. These items are purchased using Coins and Shards, and while you are free to spend money on them they're not in any way essential. This is everything you need to know about the Anthem store and how Anthem microtransactions work, as well as an explanation of what the various types of currency like Coins and Shards mean.

How much do the Anthem microtransaction currencies Coin and shards cost?

There’s two kinds of cash to spend on Anthem microtransactions. You can earn Coins in-game, and also pay real cash on Shards. To spend either you can visit the Forge in Fort Tarsis or access the Featured tab to see what’s on offer.

These are the Shard pricings currently:

500 Shards - $4.99/£3.99
1050 Shards - $9.99/£7.99
2200 Shards - $19.99/£15.99
4600 Shards - $39.99/£31.99

In terms of real cost it means something like an armor pack will cost around $8/£7. The exact maths is fuzzy because nothing you can buy quite lines up with the Shard packs on offer.

What can you buy in the Anthem store?

The Anthem store will refresh and rotate its content every week and these are the things you can splash out on.

Armor packs - 61,000 Coin / 850 Shards

These unlock different armor pieces for your Javelins that let you change the appearance of various chest, arm and leg pieces.

Materials - 12,000 Coin / 300 Shards

Materials can be applied to any of your Javelins and will change the texture and pattern on them. For example two of the options currently on sale are the Metal: Diamond Plate and Fabric: Canvas Honeycomb options.

Emotes - 18,000 Coin / 400 Shards

You can change your emotes in Animations when you go to the Forge. Your starters includes an arrival and victory emote and three you can use to communicate in-game. Currently the store has ‘Gum on Shoe’ for the Colossus costing 18,000 Coin / 400 Shards.

Crafting items

There’s no crafting materials on sale at the moment but the in-game messaging suggests it’ll be along soon. So it’s worth waiting for the weekly refresh if you’re in the market for this sort of things.

If you want to start crafting bits and pieces for yourself, make sure you're caught up with everything related to Anthem Ember locations.