Riot shares the thought process behind choosing legendary skins

William Davis Published 12/03/2021

Understanding the thought process behind which champions are being chosen for new skins can be hard, so Riot recently gave players an explanation.

As more champions are being added to League of Legends every year, it’s getting harder to provide all champions with new skins. This has resulted in certain champions being without new skins for years, making fans of those specific champions frustrated. In a recent Ask Riot blog, Riot explains the thought process behind choosing champions for new skins. More specifically, Riot explains how they choose which champions to make legendary skins for.

Ask Riot: We’re talking Legendary skins, League Displays, and ridding the Rift of meanies????

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— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) March 11, 2021

Legendary skins are fairly exclusive and take time for Riot to design, which is why they aren’t being mass-produced. This puts Riot in a position where they have to choose carefully which champion will get the next legendary skin in line. To make this decision, Riot is looking at a few different factors.

The first thing Riot looks at is to prioritize champions that are broadly popular. This will usually be a champion that is viable in any sort of meta. A perfect example of a popular champion in any given meta is Thresh, or a champion like Lee Sin that will always be picked up in solo queue.

After finding a broadly popular champion, Riot is looking at the big thematics of the year, to identify potential legendary skin candidates. Riot base this on the following factors.

How recently a champion has received a new skin, to make sure new skins don’t stack up on the same champion.
How well the champion fits into the thematic of the new skin concept.
What the champion’s current catalog of skins looks like. To avoid making several skins for a champion with the same theme.
How much Riot can elevate the fantasy by taking a skin to the legendary level.

In some cases, Riot even chooses a specific champion and builds up a fitting thematic around it. Recent examples of this are the recent Spirit Blossom skins, where Thresh and Ahri.

LoL skins

Who has the most legendary skins in LoL?

Cho’Gath is one of the fortunate champions to have more than one legendary skin. The big void monster has two legendary skins, which is his Battlecast and Gentleman skin. Gentleman Cho’Gath was one of the first legendary skins to be introduced to League of Legends, which is also why it doesn’t have the same amount of in-game effects and new voice overs as the newer ones.

A few other champions also have two legendary skins, such as Thresh and Lee Sin.

How much does a legendary skin cost?

A legendary skin in League of Legends is priced at 1820 RP. These skins are more expensive than the regular skins at 975 RP and epic skins sitting at 1350 RP. The reason for this is that legendary skins often have a more detailed design, which provides the specific champion with new in-game effects, dances, taunts, etc.

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