Hextech Crafting and Mastery - Frequently Asked Questions

You can earn a hextech chest with the following conditions:

- You must not have earned a hextech chest this season with the champion that you are playing.
- You must have a hextech chest available to you. (This can be seen in your profile)
- You must own the champion that you are playing with.
- You, or someone in your premade group must earn an S- rank or higher.

Hextech keys can be earned from a win, regardless of mastery score. This gets increasingly more difficult, which is explained further down this FAQ.

Chests and keys can be earned in any game mode where champion mastery is enabled (IE: Where you get a champion mastery score after the match).

Essences are used to forge content from shards. Orange essence is used for skins, and blue essence for champions and mastery levels.

Yes you can! However it's recommended to wait at least 24 hours after a new item hits the store before trying to get it (IE: Rerolling champion shards), as the content is not immediately available in hextech crafting.

The hextech crafting system is random, and can include content that you own already, as well as content that you can't yet use (IE: Skins for unowned champions).

For now, you can re-roll shards to guarantee a piece of content you don't own, or you can disenchant already-owned shards to help you create permanent content from shards you don't own.

Champion mastery up to level 5 is earned by playing champions in any supported game mode. After the game, you earn points, which will eventually take you up to level 5 if played long enough.

Levels 1-5 can be earned with any skill level with enough time invested - however playing better and getting better scores makes this much quicker to achieve!

Champion Mastery Tokens are used to upgrade to level 6 and 7 mastery. These can only be earned on Summoner's Rift game modes (Blind, Draft and Ranked), unlike other elements of hextech crafting which can be earned in other modes.

Specific requirements differ, and can be found below in the FAQ's for Champion Mastery level 6 and 7.

Champion Mastery level 6, unlike previous levels, is designed to reflect skill more than time invested. The requirements to earn level 6 are:

- Be playing a supported game mode (See above question: What are Champion Mastery Tokens, and in what modes can I earn them?)
- Already level 5 mastery with the champion you're trying to master
- Earn an S- or above to earn a mastery token. Two of these are required.
- Combine your two tokens with:
1) 500 champion essence OR
2) A champion shard for that champion OR
3) A permanent champion shard for that champion.

This will then upgrade you to level 6 mastery!

Like with Champion Mastery level 6, level 7 is geared more towards skill than time invested. The requirements to earn level 7 are:

- Be playing a supported game mode (See above question: What are Champion Mastery Tokens, and in what modes can I earn them?)
- Already level 6 mastery with the champion you're trying to master
- Earn an S or above to earn a mastery token. Three of these are required.
- Combine your three tokens with:
1) 600 champion essence OR
2) A champion shard for that champion OR
3) A permanent champion shard for that champion.

This will then upgrade you to level 7 mastery!

Champion Grades are determined by a number of factors that take the following into consideration:
- The performance in your role
- The champion you're playing
- Where you're playing

This is percentile driven, earning a high score means you performed in the top x% of players in that champion/position combination.

For example, we look at an Annie going mid differently from an Annie going support. We take a series of performance metrics and compare how you did to all other players in your region in that specific champion/position combination.

Specific's have not been given out, however to earn an S+ it has been stated you must be in the top 2% of players.

Hextech is partially intended to reward positive players. We highly believe in reform, but that is something that has to be shown.

As such, finishing your behavioural restriction will not automatically entitle you to earn hextech loot. The system will permit you to earn hextech loot once it believes you have reformed - this differs per person, and can be as quick as within a week, or as long as months, depending on your behaviour in games after your restriction.

The drop rate for key fragments is a curve, not a line. With each fragment you earn, the chance to earn your next one goes down. This number resets roughly every thirty days after you earn your first key fragment.

As such, people who play regularly and earn a lot of their key fragments at the start of the month will feel like they're not earning key fragments any more, however this is due to the amount earned earlier in the drop-rate period. Once this resets, you will notice you will earn key fragments at that faster rate again.

This information is not given out - however keys can only be earned on a win. Your chances are also slightly increased by the amount of players you are premade with.

"Based on the current tuning rates it's possible to earn 4 keys (12 fragments) in a 4 week period..." (Source)

Hextech Annie can be unlocked by forging ten gems together. Gems are currently a rare possibility from any chest.

There is also a possibility of getting Hextech Annie when you reroll skin shards and permanents, as well as a chance of getting a Hextech Annie skin shard from opening a box.

You cannot earn limited skins (IE: Championship Riven) from hextech crafting, however you can earn legacy skins.

If you already own all champions, you have a few options available to you:

- Disenchanting shards for blue essence for mastery
- Rerolling 3 champion shards when a new champion is released (waiting at least 24 hours!) will guarantee you the new champion.


There may be additional uses in the future.

Essences can be obtained from:

- Opening chests (random) can earn either blue or orange essence.
- Disenchanting loot you do not want to redeem (Blue for champions, Orange for Skins/Ward Skins, etc.)
- Purchasing and disenchanting champion shards for blue essence. - Combining champion shards can sometimes result in blue essence also.

Champion shards require essence to unlock, whereas a champion permanents do not. Also, champion permanents have a golden border, whereas champion shards do not as shown below: