Riot announces new League of Legends exalted skins tier days after more layoffs, but you can't get it the usual way—instead, you'll have to roll the dice

GamesMOBALeague of LegendsRiot announces new League of Legends exalted skins tier days after more layoffs, but you can’t get it the usual way—instead, you’ll have to roll the diceWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Riot Games)

Character holding a weapon

Riot announced a new Exalted Skins tier for League of Legends just days after the publisherlaid even more people offin order to ensure “we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond.”

“Exalted is a new skin tier that fits into what we define as a ‘luxury good’ last December,” a developer says in ablog post. “Over this past year, we’ve continued to refine what luxury goods are and where they exist in our catalog. Exalted skins are for players who want hyper-inclusive skins.”

At the end of last year, Riot announced that it would be restructuring its business model. Despite saying that “League is about playing better, not spending money” inthat blog post, the publisher also announced a higher tier of skins that would be classified as “luxury goods.” These come in the form of Mythic Variants like Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin and Breakout True Damage Ekko, which are typically $200/ £154.

“These forms will also be reflected across three HUD overlays for Jinx’s passive, which reflect some of her experiences from Season One and some from Season Two,” the blog post says. “We really wish we could show you more right now, but, again, spoilers.”

(Image credit: Riot Games)

League of Legends key art detail

In the Sanctum, players will use a new currency called ancient sparks to win prizes from a pool of rewards. There’ll be the new Jinx skin (which is classified as S-tier content) alongside other content like select skins, exclusive paragon chromas (A-tier content), or just mythic essence (B-tier content). The drop rates for each tier range from 0.5% to 10% to 89.5%.

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You can get ancient sparks for 400RP (in-game League currency), which translates to $3/ £2.50. But, if you want a better chance of getting the Jinx skin, you can invest 32000RP, which clocks in around $246/ £205, as that’ll give you 80 rolls outright, which is apparently enough to score the skin.

This policy does seem like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Even if there is “bad-luck protection,” which is meant to “make sure you’re never too far from the item you want,” according to Riot, this still seems pretty iffy and not far off from the practice of loot boxes. This practice has beenremoved from most major games like Overwatchas it’s seen as a form of gambling or,at the very least, predatory.

“Skins are the primary way we monetise League,” the blog post says. “The revenue from skins, especially those at higher price points, allows us to invest in areas like new modes, champions, and further explorations in the narrative like the Spirit of Hearth Home minigame. We care about making a great game above all else, and your investment gives us the means to make these awesome experiences.”

ALeague of Legends subreddithas also been trying to piece together Riot’s thought process recently. “Make ultimate skins, drop quality ever since lux, make exalted tier, still less content than lux, 10x the price, profit,” anotherplayer points out. Someplayers also touched onthe fact that this new skin tier is coming at a time when Riot has just laid off a ton of talented artists responsible for making skins: “Also firing a lot of talented and good artists, skin developers, etc. too… [Riot] is losing their mind over whales who would spend hundreds of money on a skin…”

The exalted skin tier has definitely come at a bad time for League of Legends, and it’ll be interesting to see how players react to chasing exalted skins in the Sanctum to see how easy it is to get the cosmetics you want or if there’s mostly just filler on offer.

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