Free vs Premium Battle Pass:
Is It Worth Buying?
We ran the math on every reward tier, calculated the real cost-per-item, and compared it to market prices. Here's the honest answer.
What Is the Battle Pass?
VvW's Battle Pass is a seasonal reward track that runs alongside each 8-week season. It has 80 tiers, divided into two tracks: Free and Premium. All players progress through tiers by completing daily/weekly quests and earning XP from normal gameplay. The Premium track unlocks with a one-time seasonal purchase.
Premium Battle Pass: 1,000 Bloodcoins (~$9.99 USD equivalent). A "Battle Pass Bundle" at 2,800 Bloodcoins ($24.99) includes the pass + 20 tier skips + exclusive bundle cosmetic.
Free Track Rewards
- Tier 5: 200 Gold
- Tier 10: Uncommon gear piece
- Tier 15: 300 Gold
- Tier 20: Rare gear piece
- Tier 25: 500 Gold
- Tier 30: 50 Bloodcoins
- Tier 40: Rare gear piece
- Tier 50: Avatar Frame (free)
- Tier 60: 500 Gold
- Tier 70: Epic gear piece
- Tier 80: Title: "The Persistent"
- Tier 1: Exclusive pet skin
- Tier 5: +400 Gold bonus
- Tier 10: Epic gear piece
- Tier 15: 150 Bloodcoins
- Tier 20: Weapon skin (season-exclusive)
- Tier 30: Armor set piece
- Tier 40: Legendary gear piece
- Tier 50: Full animated avatar border
- Tier 60: 200 Bloodcoins
- Tier 70: Exclusive mount skin
- Tier 80: Title: "Blood/Pack Overlord"
Real Cost Analysis
The standard "is it worth it" question requires knowing what you're actually getting per dollar. Let's break down the Premium track by reward category:
Bloodcoin Refund
Premium track includes 350 Bloodcoins spread across tiers (150 at T15, 200 at T60). The pass costs 1,000 Bloodcoins. Net cost after refund: 650 Bloodcoins (~$6.49). This is important — if you plan to buy next season's pass anyway, the refund effectively rolls forward.
Gear Value
Premium track includes 1 Legendary and 2 Epic gear pieces. Market value of these items on the auction house:
- 1× Legendary piece: 8,000–15,000 gold (varies by slot)
- 2× Epic pieces: 2,500–4,000 gold each
- Total gear value: ~13,000–23,000 gold
Converting at typical exchange rates (~50 gold per 1 Bloodcoin from crafting resale), that's a 260–460 Bloodcoin equivalent. Even conservatively, the gear alone covers 25–45% of the pass cost.
Cosmetic Value
Season-exclusive cosmetics (pet skin, weapon skin, mount skin, animated border) don't have direct gold values — they're never re-released and can't be traded. If cosmetics matter to you, their subjective value is effectively unlimited. If they don't matter, their value is zero.
Playtime Required
Reaching tier 80 requires approximately 120–150 hours of total playtime over the 8-week season (~15–19 hours/week). You can hit tier 80 comfortably logging in daily and completing weekly quests without grinding. Skipping weeks will leave you short — estimate:
- Casual (1–3 hours/day): Reaches tier 60–70
- Regular (2–4 hours/day): Reaches tier 75–80
- Heavy (4+ hours/day): Reaches tier 80 by week 5, idle after
The Legendary gear piece is at Tier 40 — roughly halfway. Casual players who don't reach tier 40 pay full price but miss the best loot reward. If you can't commit to at least 8–10 hours/week, you may want to skip the premium upgrade this season.
Who Should Buy?
You'll reach tier 80, collect the Legendary piece, 350 Bloodcoin partial refund, and all cosmetics. Net cost after refund and gear value is effectively negative if you sell the gear. Strong buy.
Season-exclusive cosmetics are never re-released. If you want the mount skin or animated border, this is your only chance. The pass is the cheapest way to get them.
You'll likely hit tier 40–60. You get the Legendary piece (T40) and some Bloodcoins, but miss the mount skin (T70) and title (T80). At 650 effective Bloodcoin cost, the value is marginal. Only buy if you care about the Legendary gear specifically.
You won't reach Tier 40. You'd pay 1,000 Bloodcoins for Epic gear and Bloodcoin refunds you won't fully collect. The free track's Epic at T70 is enough for your play level. Save the coins.
VvW is entirely playable without the premium pass. The free track provides real gear upgrades. The Legendary at T40 premium is a nice-to-have, not a competitive requirement.
Battle Pass vs Direct Shop Purchases
As an alternative, all cosmetics in the Battle Pass eventually appear in the seasonal shop at 1,500–2,500 Bloodcoins each. If you're only interested in one specific cosmetic (say, the mount skin), buying the pass at 1,000 coins is actually cheaper than waiting for the shop — even if you don't reach tier 70.
The VvW Battle Pass is better value than most games in the genre. The 350-coin partial refund, the Legendary gear piece, and the cosmetic density make it genuinely worthwhile for regular players. It is not pay-to-win — nothing in the premium track provides a competitive advantage that can't be earned via normal gameplay.
Buy if you play 10+ hours/week. Skip if you're under 5 hours/week. The break-even point is roughly tier 40 — if you're confident you'll reach it, the pass pays for itself in gear value alone.
For more economy guides, see Crafting vs Buying: When to Do Each and Advanced Gold Farming Methods.