Riot Games Offers Solutions for League of Legends Loot Frustrations

Riot Games is changing the way that various parts of League of Legends’ loot system to alleviate some frustrations players have been feeling.

With the start of the preseason period, the game’s loot system underwent significant changes that converted IP into Blue Essence and also modified the way that essence works when it comes to earning and spending it through champion and skin shards. New leveling capsules worked in tandem with the uncapped leveling system, but with all these changes came some issues regarding the cost of some upgrades and the overall value of the loot drops.

In a post on the League of Legends boards, Riot Cactopus provided details on some of the ways that this loot system will be changing in the next few patches shortly after the full loot probability table was published. It should also be noted that each patch that’s attached to the various issues is just a target release and doesn’t guarantee that that’s when the loot change will go through.

Upgrade Ultimate and Mythic Shards for Free (Patch 8.5)

The first issue that’s being addressed is a bitter sweet scenario that some lucky players are likely familiar with: Getting a rare (and expensive) skin shard.

Ultimate and Mythic skins are some of the most expensive options that players can find through loot boxes, skin shards that are cause for celebration if they drop from a Hextech Chest. However, with these shards comes a huge price tag that’ll result in disenchanting a ton of other ward skin shards or champion skin shards just to get the skin. Disenchanting is always an option, but it feels pretty lousy to disenchant such an expensive skin.

To fix that frustration, Riot Cactopus said that certain skin shards will now be auto-redeemed once they drop without the need of any Orange Essence.

“Ultimate and Mythic skins will now drop as auto-redeeming permanents (no orange essence required to upgrade them),” Riot Cactopus said. “If you already own the skin, you’ll be able to disenchant the permanent for orange essence. DJ Sona permanents, for example, will disenchant for 1625 OE.”

No More Low-value Champ Shards or Ward Skins From Chests (Patch 8.5)

Two more changes tentatively scheduled for Patch 8.5 deal with the rough feeling of buying a Hextech Chest only to be met with a cheap skin that’ll barely earn players any Blue Essence with a similar change dealing with ward skins and Orange Essence.

“Now, when you get a champ shard out of a Hextech chest, it’s guaranteed to be for a champion worth at least 4800BE,” Riot Cactopus said.

It’s important to note that this change only applies to Hextech Chests which means that players still have a chance of getting lower-valued skin shards through Honor Capsules and those earned through leveling up.

As for the ward skin shards, low-value shards will still be dropped through chests, but players will receive 150 Orange Essence with every ward skin regardless of the ward’s value.

New Cosmetic-only Masterwork Chests (Patch 8.7)

In the loot table reveal that was seen above through our previous coverage, you might’ve noticed the Masterwork Chest that was blended in among all the other stats and figures. These new chests are solutions for players who have all the Blue Essence and champions that they need, chests that only drop cosmetic items.

“New cosmetic-only “Masterwork” chests (165 RP each or 225 RP with a key) will be made available in the store,” Riot Cactopus said.

These chests have their own loot probabilities as well as the possibility of some bonus drops, those stats found below.

Masterwork Chests

• Skin Shard – 70% of openings
• 525 Orange Essence – 10% of openings
• Emote Permanent – 10% of openings
• Ward Skin Shard + 150 Bonus Orange Essence – 10% of openings

Bonus Drops

• Gemstone – 3.6% of openings
• Bonus Chest + Key – 10% of openings

Cheaper Champion Mastery Costs (Patch 8.5)

Like the finding of high-value skin shards, upgrading a champion mastery score to the next level is also a double-edged sword. Taking a champ’s score to the next level is League’s primary way of showing off your proficiency with the champ, but considering the opportunity cost is greater given that it costs Blue Essence like champions, it’s not an easy decision to make if you’re trying to save up for a champion.

To fix that frustration, the cost of upgrading a champion’s mastery score is being reduced by nearly 1,000 Blue Essence, though it still won’t be cheap.

“The Champion Mastery 6 upgrade cost will be reduced by 800BE to 2450BE. Champion Mastery 7 will be reduced by 950BE to 2950BE,” Riot Cactopus explained.

The full boards post along with links to previous loot discussions can be seen here.