by theygamesThe League of Legends Hextech Chest drama is perhaps the most explosive backlash I’ve seen from the game’s community in the past five years. It’s outdone the much-maligned Sentinels of Light event, and even beaten out the infamous $430 Faker Ahri skin and the seemingly aggressive monetization push that it ushered in. After weeks of flooding the comments with gifs, screenshots, and cursed ‘Hextech Chest skins,’ Riot has relented and Hextech Chests are back with League of Legends patch 25.05, but there are a few changes that are worth knowing about.
While Riot’s already gone through these in its recent dev update video, let me give you the TLDR. Hextech Chests are returning to the MOBA as part of this patch, with ten chests and eight keys available via the free track of the new League of Legends battle pass. They’re also replacing the free battle pass skins, meaning that Alistar and Rell’s have been removed from Act 2’s lineup.
Alistar’s skin in particular was met with a wave of backlash, with Riot agreeing that the skin “just wasn’t very good.” While Rell’s Grand Reckoning look will be added to the store for 975 RP (~$9.98 / £8.98 using the lowest RP bundles), Riot is “leaning towards just putting more time into another skin that Alistar has coming later this year instead of trying to improve this one, given the starting point isn’t that strong.” Sorry Alistar mains, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
Riot notes that the cosmetic drop rates for Hextech Chests are “the same as they were last year,” highlighting that “you shouldn’t see or expect any changes on that front.” They’ll drop at levels 3, 15, 20, 23, 31, 36, 42, and 45, and are each accompanied by a key.
Additionally, Your Shop will return on patch 25.06, and The Blue Essence Emporium is also set to return with patch 25.07, giving you a chance to splash some crystals (?), too.
Speaking of BE, the cost of all champions has been halved from this patch onwards, but any champion shards that you currently own will disenchant for the full value. This will hopefully make acquiring champions easier across the board, which was one of the primary concerns with the new battle pass system.
Finally, if you’re on the premium you’ll now get 25 Mythic Essence instead of one paid battle pass skin, currently set for level 30.
With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about lane swaps. As an avid esports fan, lane swaps have become the bane of my existence. They’re boring, ruin dramatic rivalries, and generally just mess things up. Riot has tackled this head-on in patch 25.05.
If two players that don’t have a jungle item are in the top or mid lanes between 1:30 and 3:30, the defending turret will have 95% damage reduction, and it also deals 1,000% damage to enemy minions. In the toplane specifically, the tower will also deal 1,000% damage to champions, and defending players will have 50% damage reduction while under their turret.
The offensive champions will receive 50% less gold and minion XP, decaying over 20 seconds if you leave toplane, and six if you leave midlane. You’ll be marked with debuff icons and receive a series of warnings to alert you that penalties are being inflicted.
Lane swaps simply aren’t fun, so I’m glad that Riot is going hard here. How it’ll change the esports landscape is yet to be seen but, in my opinion, this is a huge W.
There are a few more minor changes here, too. The Sanctum-only Paragon Chromas will be less “sparkly prismatic disco ball,” and the Noxus map is being updated to feel a little closer to the base Summoner’s Rift, but with some more foliage on structures.
We’ll see Act 2 of the Noxus-themed battle pass arrive with this patch too, adding Grand Reckoning Draven, Rell, Sion, and Talon to the game, alongside Prestige Triumphant General Darius. Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser will not be dropping as initially planned, with Riot noting that it’s “making improvements” in the wake of a lukewarm response to its reveal.
With a new Act kicking off and a whole new battle pass to grind through, check out our LoL tier list to ensure that you’re locking in the right champs. Alternatively, if you’re looking to grab some new cosmetics without breaking the bank, here’s a rundown of all of the League of Legends skins that are currently on sale.
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