Hextech Crafting is an in game system that allows you to earn a bunch of loot, including skins, champions and other cosmetic items through gameplay and purchases in a semi-random loot box system. By using Hextech keys to open chests you can get random rewards like skin shards, champion shards and essence.
There are 3 types of chests:
In recent updates the system has changed a few times, Gemstones to Mythic Essence and nerfs for non paying players. With new skins and exclusive content only available through Mythic crafting the system is more important than ever. Now you have even more chances to get the items you want, like Mythic skins Ashen Knights and Hextech exclusives like Dreadnova Darius.
Hextech Crafting was introduced in 2016 as a gameplay reward system to give players access to skins, champions and other in game content through semi-random loot box mechanic. You can earn chests and keys through gameplay or buy them from the in game store. This means that you can unlock free skins just by playing games.
At first the system was a good behavior reward system for players who are honor 2 or above also known as good boys in Riot’s Eyes. If you don’t flame and are on your best behavior you should be honor 2 or above at all times as any punishment will drop you to Honor 1 or below. Although right now Riot Games is aggressively monetizing Hextech Crafting through semi-random gacha like system.
All types of chests follow a specific drop rate pattern so you get diverse and valuable content over time. Hextech system also has "bad luck protection" so you won’t go too long without getting a skin shard or other high value item.
In 2024 League of Legends changed the way you can earn Hextech chests, away from the old S-ranking system to a new system based on Mastery Marks. To acquire Hextech chests now you need to complete seasonal milestones for each champion by playing multiple games and meeting specific grade requirements. While this new system gives more rewards in theory it comes at the cost of more grind and effort.
Note that to earn Marks of Mastery and the Mastery chests you first need to reach at least level 5 of Mastery Level. If you want to learn how you can quickly raise your mastery level it's as easy as playing games with your champion and hitting high grade scores to progress faster. We have a guide on how to earn an S and how mastery grading system works here.
Seasonal Milestone Grades Needed Rewards
| Seasonal Milestone | Grades Needed | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1x B Grade, 4x D- and up | 1x Mark of Mastery Hextech Chest (up to 6 available per split) |
| 2 | 1x A Grade, 4x D- and up | 1x Mark of Mastery |
| 3 | 1x S Grade, 4x D- and up | 2x Marks of Mastery Hextech Chest (up to 25 available per split) |
| 4 | 1x S Grade, 4x D- and up | 2x Marks of Mastery Champion Title unlocks until next split |
| 5+ (infinite) | 3x S Grades, 7x D- and up | 1x Mark of Mastery |
Mastery chests are the only 100% free content available right now.
The 2024 chest reward system changes have been met with some backlash in the League of Legends community. While you can earn more chests per split (up to 25) it requires way more effort and grind than the old system.
Old System:
New System:
Comparison:
The result is a system that rewards long term grinding over short term high performance. While dedicated players will get more chests overall, the process is much longer and less rewarding for players who perform well in fewer games.
The new system seems to be created to entice purchasing chests and reward grinders instead of skilled players on the Summoner's rift.
Mastery Chests contain one of the following:
Mastery chests have a chance to include bonus items that make each chest more valuable. These bonus items are on top of the main loot:
As of 2024, Hextech chests are no longer available through S-rankings in regular games. They are only available for purchase in the in-game shop or special events. This is part of the shift to focus on grinding for mastery rather than rewarding individual performance in a single game.
Masterwork Chest is a premium loot box that has higher drop rate for skin shards and Mythic Essence. Unlike regular Hextech chests, Masterwork Chest is designed to give players access to more exclusive content and guaranteed rewards through milestone systems. Here’s how Masterwork Chests work and how you can get Mythic Essence through this system.
Masterwork Chests contain the following items with specific drop rates:
Masterwork Chests have bonus drops, including Mythic Essence, the highly sought after currency to craft Mythic skins and other exclusive items:
Masterwork Chests are one of the ways to get Mythic Essence. In addition to random drops, Mythic Essence is tied to Masterwork Milestones which guarantee Mythic Essence as a reward after a certain number of chests are opened.
This way you can get Mythic Essence regularly through a mix of chest openings, special events and in-game milestones, so it’s more accessible to those who buy Masterwork Chests and related content.
Check our Mythic Essence Guide here.
We try to keep the drop rates up to date and accurate but you can check them yourself in European Union and some other places where game developers are forced by local regulations to publish them.
Check it by going to hextech crafting section in the client and click on any unlockable content and then the question mark at the top. (See screenshot)
When opening Hextech or Masterwork chests you may get skin shards or champion shards. These shards can be upgraded into permanents or disenchanted into Essence, a currency to unlock or craft other content.
Players can reroll skin shards or champion shards by combining three shards to get a random skin permanent shard or champion permanent shard. This reroll system allows you to use unwanted shards to get rare or more expensive content without Orange or Blue Essence.
Hextech keys are needed to unlock chests and are mostly earned through the Honor system. Players who behave well and get honors from teammates are regularly rewarded with key fragments which can be combined to get full Hextech keys.
Players can get up to 12 key fragments per month by good behavior in game. These fragments are given randomly after game and there’s a monthly limit so even the most honorable players are capped on how many keys they can get for free.
For players who want more keys or want a faster way Hextech keys are available in the in-game store.
Earning keys through gameplay and buying them from the store ensures both F2P and P2P players have access to chests and the loot inside.
One of the best way to get keys in bulk is through game pass events. Whether you have bought a pass or not you will get some event points. You can use those points to buy a full key for 60 points. That’s 3 chests for 180 points compared to 1 event orb for 200 points.
So if you have a stock of chests just sitting there waiting for you to open them take advantage of that little loophole until it’s available. I personally stopped buying orbs since I found out about it. It’s very useful if you’re a little bit toxic and can’t maintain honor 2 for constant supply of new keys.
In 2024, League of Legends changed the Hextech Chests to Mastery Chests as part of the reward system overhaul tied to champion mastery. Previously players used to get Hextech chests by achieving S- rank or higher either individually or through premade teammates, up to one chest per champion per season. This system was focused on individual game performance. You can read more about that in the Mastery Chests section of this article.
In 2022, League of Legends switched from Gemstones to Mythic Essence as the main rare currency for crafting exclusive loot. This updated the crafting system making Mythic Essence the unified currency for Mythic skins, Hextech exclusives and other premium content.
Availability of the skin through hextech loot crafting depends on the type of the skin. Any skin that had limited availability or was locked behind very specific event is not available.
Here is a full list of skins that are not obtainable through Hextech Crafting:
If you want to get an account with one of these skins you will have to buy an account with it already unlocked.
You can do that through our Buy a Skins Account section. Where you can filter by a champion and skin from the list off available accounts.
Thankfully a huge chunk of otherwise not unlockable skins - Legacy Skins are available ONLY through Hextech Crafting. For a full list of Legacy Skins check our article here - (note that it’s continuously getting bigger).
Note that all skins from Mythic Vault though available from Hextech Crafting have very low odds. Read the Drop Rates Section to learn more.
Your in-game behavior affects your ability to get loot such as key fragments and chests. Players who get punished for negative behavior like chat restrictions or temporary bans will be unable to get Hextech Crafting rewards during the punishment period. Even after the punishment is over players may need to show consistent good behavior before they can get rewards again.
Yes, new skins will be added to the loot pool for Hextech chests but not immediately after they are released. Riot adds newly released skins to the Hextech system a few days after they are in the store so wait at least a day before expecting to get a new skin in your chest rewards.
Loot Milestones are reward systems tied to the number of chests or capsules you open. For Masterwork Chests, milestones give Mythic Essence after every 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 chests opened, with rewards increasing as you progress. Event Capsules also have milestone tracks that give additional Mythic Essence and other rewards after opening a certain number of capsules during special events.
Hextech Crafting is a fun and rewarding way for League of Legends players to get skins, champions and other cosmetic content. Through regular play, the Honor system and strategic use of Masterwork Chests, Mythic Essence and Loot Milestones players can get the most rewards and get the most rare and exclusive content. Be good, take advantage of special events and know how to craft and disenchant shards to get the most out of the Hextech system and grow your loot collection.
