League of Legends Season 1 has changed how players can obtain Hextech Chests, confusing fans who wonder if the game is even still free-to-play.
New skins and new champions have always played a huge role in League of Legends. Whether players buy skins using real-life money or acquire them from chests or orbs, many adore personalizing their favorite champions with new and interesting skins. One of the most reliable ways to acquire these skins was by opening Hextech Chests to get skin shards.
But with the launch of League of Legends Season 1, Riot Games has changed how players can get free skins. The first step to do this was by changing how players acquire Hextech Chests, and many fans believe the moves are centered in a desire to force pays to pay up more often with real money.
Riot Games has removed multiple free ways to get Hextech Chests in League of Legends.
Previously, players could acquire Hextech Chests through multiple means. These included a mastery system that rewarded players for playing well with their favorite champions, as well as grinding through ranked rewards. Players could also get a chest by achieving an S rank with a champion for the first time in a given playing cycle.
One of the primary ways players previously acquired Hextech Chests was the mastery system. Players had to get set ranks with specific champions to increase their mastery. Increasing a character’s mastery rewarded the player with in-game goodies including Hextech Chests. After the Season 1 update in LoL, the only mastery rewards players get is experience for the battle pass. And the battle pass also feels stingier for many players when it comes to acquiring new rewards.
Now, the only way to get Hextech Chests in League of Legends is through buying one for 125 Riot Points. Since a Hextech Key is required to open a Hextech Chest, most players must spend 195 Riot Points to open a chest for a chance to get a preferred skin.
While League of Legends is still technically free-to-play, players will struggle to acquire more than a handful of skins every season and the blue essence currency used for purchasing new champions has become harder to come by, meaning it’s less f2p than it once was.
According to the Noxus Season One developer update, the biggest change in League of Legends is the revamped battle pass system. Now, free-to-play players are guaranteed two skins from the free pass. The first is the thematic skin that demands players reach level 20. The second is a random skin that costs 1,350 RP or less and is achievable by reaching level 45.
Additionally, players can get a randomized victorious skin for winning 15 ranked games every split. Not to mention, the free pass includes other in-game goodies such as emotes, champion capsules, and more.
However, the biggest downside of this change is that it’s much harder for free-to-play players to get more expensive skins. The free pass only gives players a skin that costs 1,350 RP or less, which means more costly skins are off the table unless players spend money to get Hextech or Masterwork Chests.
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