League of Legends Is Bringing Back Hextech Chests

Riot Games is bringing back Hextech Chests as a routine League of Legends reward after an outcry from players lamented the removal of the loot boxes, Riot announced this week. The Hextech Chests were previously frequent rewards from certain milestones and achievements in League of Legends which were opened with keys, but once the new battle pass system rolled out, they were relegated only to the store so that players could purchase them with real money. Now, they’re coming back and will be integrated into the Act system League adopted this season.

A dev update video featuring Riot’s Meddler and Pabro was shared this week to address the Hextech Chest situation. Since their removal, Hextech Chests have frequently been either a subject of conversation or a pivot topic for pretty much anything League-related with nearly every social post devolving to some form of “Hextech Chests when?” comment from League players. After hearing so much about it from the community, Riot has relented on its stance.

“It’s clear that for many of you, Hextech Chests weren’t just a way to get stuff,” Pabro said. “They were an important part of making your time in League feel rewarding. We didn’t fully grasp how much this mattered to you, and that led us to make changes that missed the mark. As a result, Chests are coming back.”

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Pabro continued to say that Hextech Chests will return to League as rewards in Act 2 which is starting soon. In lieu of these free chests, players will no longer get two of the free skins that were given away via the battle pass in Act 1. While this does mean that the skins you’ll get from the Hextech Chests will be much more random than set skins in the battle pass, many players felt that the Hextech Chests were better options seeing how if a set skin was for a champion you didn’t play, there was very little incentive to progress to that point in the battle pass.

“Starting in Act 2, which is the patch next week, you’ll be able to earn up to ten Chests and Keys per Act,” Pabro said. “Eight will be spread throughout the free Pass instead of the Seasonal skin and the 1350 or Lower Skin, because you’ve told us you prefer Chests. Now we’re bringing Chests back through the Pass instead of through Champion Mastery because we want to ensure that they’re accessible regardless of different playstyles. Whether you play modes with random champions selection or free choice whether you play a wide variety of champions or just a few, we want to support that.”

In addition to those Hextech Chests, two more loot boxes will be distributed through the game’s Honor system. Regardless of where you’re getting the Hextech Chests from, Riot stressed that they’ll be identical across the board, so the rates at which you can get different kinds of loot are the same no matter what.