Most players are drawn to Overwatch for the exact same reason: the characters. Its roster, 32-strong, is filled with varying aesthetics and character styles while totally overflowing with charm and sass—in equal proportions.
We all have our favourite characters—for me, that’s Lucio and Sombra—but unless you’ve been playing consistently since release, chances are you’ve missed out on some amazing skins. Fortunately, most of these are obtainable throughout the year when the right event rolls around. However, some skins were given out one time only. Meaning there are plenty of fantastic skins that are in the game, but impossible to obtain—at least currently.
Here are ten of our favourites.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know this skin even existed until this week! French for Angel of Death, Widowmaker’s Ange De La Mort skin gives seriously gloomy vibe to Widowmaker turning her into a cold-hearted force to be reckoned with—wait… She always was a cold-hearted force to be reckoned with…
The skin was available for three weeks back in Summer 2021, making it a rare sight in the game today.
Also hailing from 2021, Lucio’s biker-gang Corredor skin is incredibly unique, slapping a spiked helmet onto his head and a fully blown engine onto his back. The flaming colour scheme, contrasted by his jet-black shirt makes this skin pop each and every time it’s seen on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, it was only available for one week back in 2021.
A true fan-favourite, Sombra’s iconic Demon Hunter skin was initially available only to holders of 2018 Blizzcon tickets. But, due to popular demand, it reappeared a few years later in a week-long challenge where players could get it again.
Unfortunately for me—as a Sombra main—I missed it both times!
Hopefully it will rear it’s head once more, as it’s almost undeniably the character’s best skin.
A fantastic pastel pink, two pigtails and a good cause—what’s not to love about Pink Mercy? Oh, the fact we can no longer get it!
Back in 2018, Blizzard ran a charity event to support breast cancer research, offering up the Pink Mercy skin to people who donated. Needless to say, any players who joined the game after the event sadly couldn’t obtain the skin. Which is a shame, as it’s an awesome design raising awareness of a good cause!
It may not be the most impressive skin out there, but it is a seriously prestigious skin in the community. Offered up to holders of Blizzcon 2017 tickets (less than a year after Overwatch’s release), this Winston skin is for the true die-hards of Overwatch. Featuring a pale face and a swish blue-black theme to his body armour, the skin is one of the rarest in the game.
It’s so sought after, in fact, that one fan supposedly paid over $200 for an account with the skin!
Dark, moody and incredibly cool. This Vampire skin may be one of the most impressive skins for Baptise. Unfortunately, it was only available in 2019. We can only hope they’ll bring it back.
The hair changes colour. Green for speed boost, yellow for healing. Do I need to say more? This iconic, flashy skin for Lucio is a must-have for any wall-riding main. Unfortunately, if you became a Lucio main after 2019’s Pacific All-Star series you’re all out of luck, doomed to see other Lucio mains donning this impressive skin.
To commemorate JJoNak’s MVP Overwatch League series in 2018, the team put together the Zen-Nakji skin. The story goes that JJoNak loved octopodes (yes that’s the correct plural!), and there’s a famous Korean dish called San-nakji. Thus Zen-Nakji was born… Zen with an octopus head, launching orbs of octopodes at enemies. Yes, when you think about it it’s incredibly weird, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an amazing skin we wish we could still get!
Mei’s MM-Mei skin is notable for switching up Mei’s cutesy aesthetic for one which looks a little more intimidating. When initially announced, Blizzard received some backlash for the design, notably relating to Mei’s cornrows which some dubbed as cultural appropriation. Regardless on what you stand on the matter, the skin is striking—especially when that boxing glove is finishing off your frozen hero.
Slightly more understated than some of the other skins on this list, Ana’s Bastet skin has been a fan-favourite ever since it was obtainable. It’s reference to the Ancient Egyptian mythological goddess Bastet (or Bast) is incredibly fitting, as Bastet was the goddess of protection, and the bringer of good health—exactly like a good Ana player.
While Blizzard continues to release new timed-only skins, we can only hope that they make more available for players at a later date. After all, we all want the best skins for our favourite characters but can’t be expected to be playing 24/7!
That said, if you’re in dire need of getting your hands on one of these skins, you can get your hands on them if you buy an Overwatch account holding specific skins! It’s not perfect, but I suppose it’s the only workaround for now!