30 Mar 2016

Hextech Crafting & Champion Mastery in LoL 2026 Guide + Legacy

TagsChampion Master, Hextech Crafting, League Loot, LoL Crafting guide

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Posted ByBoosteria

HEXTECH CRAFTING & CHAMPION MASTERY IN LOL (UPDATED FOR 2025)

Hextech crafting and the Champion Mastery system have been part of League of Legends for almost a decade.
Even though Riot has reworked progression, loot and chests several times, the core fantasy is the same in 2025:
you play games, earn mastery and loot, and slowly unlock champions, skins and cosmetics without having to pay for each item directly.

This guide explains how Champion Mastery works in modern LoL, how the current
Hextech & loot system is structured, and how it differs from the
classic “chest + key for S grade” model. At the end, you’ll also find a large
Legacy section that preserves the old information from the original guide,
so readers can compare how things worked back in early Hextech-crafting days.

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CHAMPION MASTERY IN LOL: MODERN SYSTEM (2025)

Champion Mastery is the part of LoL that tracks how experienced you are on each individual champion.
It has two main goals:

Reward players who stick with a small champion pool and refine their skills.
Give you long-term cosmetic progress that isn’t tied only to rank or skins.

In 2024–2025 Riot rolled out a big Champion Mastery rework.
Instead of a strict cap at level 7, Mastery levels are now effectively
uncapped: you continue climbing beyond level 7 as you earn
more Mastery Score and Marks of Mastery.
Higher levels unlock upgraded crests and visual flex, while seasonal tracks
give extra rewards like Hextech chests, emotes and titles.

How grades and Mastery Points work

After each eligible match you receive a post-game grade on the champion you played
(from D- up to S+). The game compares your performance with other players on the same champion
and role in your region. Better performance means a better grade and more
Mastery Points for that champion.

Performance matters: kills, deaths, assists, CS, damage, vision and objective control all contribute.
Win vs loss: victories usually grant more Mastery Points than defeats.
Premade bonus: playing in a party (duo, trio, full stack) gives a small extra % gain.

Mastery Points are the long-term “experience bar” for each champion. As your total MP increases,
the Mastery level of that champion also increases.

Mastery levels, Marks of Mastery and infinite progression

The modern Mastery system can be simplified into three layers:

Levels 1–4: you only need Mastery Points. Just play the champion and your level rises automatically.
Levels 5–9: you need a combination of Mastery Points and special tokens called
Marks of Mastery. These marks are earned by getting high grades
(A- and above), completing champion-specific seasonal milestones and playing well during the current split.
Levels 10 and beyond: progression becomes long-term and prestige-oriented.
It takes a lot of Mastery Score and multiple Marks of Mastery per level, but in exchange
you unlock premium crests, unique borders and sometimes titles for that champion.

Because progression is now uncapped, you can always keep pushing your favorite champion’s
Mastery higher. Instead of being “done” at Mastery 7, you can show that you are the
definitive main for a champion even years later.

Split Mastery & seasonal milestones

To keep things fresh, Mastery rewards are also tied to splits
(smaller parts of the ranked season). Each champion has a short seasonal reward track:

Milestones that ask you to earn certain grades (B / A / S) a set number of times.
Rewards such as crests upgrades, emotes, Hextech chests, Blue Essence and Marks of Mastery.
Repeatable final milestone for grinders who play that champion a lot.

This split-based layer gives you short-term goals on top of infinite long-term progression.
Even if your champion is already high level, new splits still give you something to chase.

Where Mastery is counted (eligible game modes)

Champion Mastery works in most normal and ranked match-made queues:

Summoner’s Rift Normal (Blind & Draft)
Ranked Solo/Duo and Ranked Flex
ARAM and the majority of rotating game modes, if explicitly marked eligible

Custom games, Training Tool and certain special modes do not grant Mastery Points.
LoL clearly shows whether the mode is eligible, so check the queue description if you’re unsure.

If your goal is to push a champion to very high Mastery levels without throwing away LP,
you can combine Ranked games with Normal Draft and ARAM. For pure rank climbing, you can
always delegate part of the grind to pro players at
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and focus on the fun parts: using your earned shards and essences to build the cosmetic collection you actually want.

HEXTECH CRAFTING & LOOT IN LOL (2025 VERSION)

When people talk about “Hextech crafting,” they often mean two slightly different things:

The loot system in general: chests, capsules, shards, essences, Mythic Essence and
event orbs that you open in the “Loot” tab.
The original Hextech chest + key system that launched around 2016,
where you earned up to four chests per month by getting S grades on champions.

In 2025 LoL still has Hextech crafting and loot, but the economy and sources changed.
Riot moved the main rewards into account-wide progression,
event passes and Honor rewards. Hextech chests are now one of several loot containers,
not the central pillar of the system.

Main loot components today

Hextech Chests & Masterwork Chests – classic chests that can contain
skin shards, champion shards, ward/emoji shards, Orange or Blue Essence, plus a chance
to drop Mythic Essence. Masterwork chests have slightly better odds.
Keys & Key Fragments – required to open some chests; key fragments
drop from match-made wins and can be combined into full keys.
Blue Essence (BE) – mostly used for permanently unlocking champions
from shards or directly in the Store.
Orange Essence (OE) – used to permanently unlock skins, ward skins
and icons from shards.
Mythic Essence – rare currency used in the rotating Mythic Shop
to obtain Mythic and Prestige skins, Hextech-style skins, unique chromas and other exclusive cosmetics.
Capsules, Orbs & Event loot – themed containers (e.g. Worlds, Lunar Revel, Arcana)
that you earn from passes, missions or level-ups; they usually have bundled drops and bonus chances.

How you earn loot now

Compared to the early days of Hextech crafting, the modern system spreads loot across several sources:

Level-up capsules: every time your account levels up, you receive
a capsule containing champion shards and Blue Essence. This is one of the most reliable free sources
of new champions over time.
Act / split progression: each ranked split or seasonal “act” has its own
progression bar with free and paid rewards. As you play games and earn points, you unlock capsules,
Hextech chests, keys and cosmetic items.
Event passes: when Riot runs a big event, you can complete missions in any queue
to earn event currency and loot. The free track typically includes at least a few orbs/capsules;
the paid pass extends this list with more chests, Mythic Essence and prestige skins.
Honor rewards: staying positive and avoiding reports across many games increases your
Honor level. At certain milestones you receive Honor capsules, keys and sometimes chests or even exclusive skins.
Direct purchases: Hextech and Masterwork chests, key bundles and RP-only orbs can always be bought in the Store.
This is the “shortcut” option if you want to convert money into random loot instead of specific skins.

The original functionality “get S- on a champion → earn a free Hextech chest → open with key fragment”
still appears in the game, but it is no longer the central way of obtaining loot.
Think of it as one of several overlapping reward streams rather than the main farming tool.

What you can do with shards and loot

Loot items still fall into a few core categories:

Champion Shards: temporary fragments of champions. You can:
- Disenchant them into Blue Essence.
- Upgrade them into permanent champions using BE.
- Activate rental access for a limited time (useful to test a champ).
Skin Shards: fragments of skins. You can:
- Disenchant them into Orange Essence.
- Reroll three shards into one random permanent skin of the same type.
- Upgrade a shard to a permanent skin using OE.
Ward & Icon Shards: function like skin shards but for wards and icons.
Mythic Essence: saved up in your currency bar and spent directly in the Mythic Shop.

An efficient account focuses on long-term value:

Disenchant shards for champions you will absolutely never play.
Reroll skin shards for champions you do not care about (good for extra permanents).
Save OE for the skins you really want instead of upgrading every shard you see.

If you want deeper math on value per orb, shard and chest,
analytical communities like League of Graphs
and educational sites such as Mobalytics
frequently break down loot economics and progression tips.
Riot’s own Loot & Hextech Crafting support article
explains drop rules and restrictions in official terms.

HOW TO MAXIMIZE FREE LOOT & MASTERY (PRACTICAL PLAY TIPS)

1. Mix game modes for optimal time-to-reward

Loot and Mastery are ultimately tied to how much and how well you play.
To make progress feel smoother, it helps to mix queues:

Ranked Solo/Duo: best for LP and meaningful practice; you still earn chests, experience and missions.
Normal Draft: great for learning new champions and builds without hard LP punishment.
ARAM: fast games that complete missions quickly and generate Mastery Points across a wide champion pool.

With this rotation you keep climbing your rank, level up your account,
progress event passes and unlock capsules — all in the same sessions.
If your priority is pure rating, you can offload part of that grind to
Boosteria’s LoL boosters
while you personally focus on fun modes and loot management.

2. Play with friends to squeeze more value from every game

Playing in a premade party gives bonus Mastery Points and often makes it easier to win games,
complete missions and stay tilt-free (which means fewer chat restrictions and more Honor loot).
Even +2–10% Mastery gain and a slightly higher win rate add up over hundreds of games per year.

3. Don’t ignore Honor, missions and free event tracks

Many players only look at paid event passes, but even free tracks usually offer:

small bundles of Blue Essence;
1–2 capsules or orbs per event;
occasionally a Hextech chest or keys.

Simply logging in during events, playing a few games and finishing easy missions already
increases the number of loot containers you open over a season.

4. Treat shards like a long-term investment portfolio

A couple of simple rules will dramatically improve your return from Hextech crafting:

Keep shards for champions you want to learn later. It’s cheaper to upgrade a shard with BE
than to buy a champion directly.
Disenchant “dead weight”. If you are 100% sure you will never play a champion,
there’s no reason to hold their shard forever.
Reroll low-priority skin shards in sets of three. This gives permanent skins that can
sometimes be surprisingly high tier.
Save Orange Essence for your absolute favorites. Upgrading one dream skin usually
feels better than five mediocre ones.

5. Stay within Riot’s rules — avoid scripts, bots and shady “loot hacks”

Any tool that modifies the client, automates gameplay or tricks the loot system is a fast way to lose your account.
Riot’s Terms of Service are strict: no third-party scripts, no bots, no account-sharing with strangers who use hacks.
The safe options are always:

play yourself and improve over time;
or, if you use boosting, pick a reputable service that plays manually from high-rank accounts
and respects Riot’s policies — such as Boosteria.

LEGACY SECTION: OLD CHAMPION MASTERY & HEXTECH CRAFTING (SEASON 6 ERA)

The section below keeps the original, older description of Champion Mastery and Hextech crafting.
It reflects how the systems worked around Season 6–7. Riot has since reworked progression,
but this legacy information can still be useful for historical context and for readers who
remember the original “four chests per month from S grades” design.

Hextech crafting is LoL reward system which allows players to get ingame content like
champions or skins for free.
LoL crafting system is directly connected with another ingame system –
champion mastery.
Thus we will explain how this system works first (if you already know it –
you can scroll down to the Hextech crafting part).

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WHAT IS CHAMPION MASTERY? (LEGACY)

Champion mastery is the LoL system which determines your performance by a champion
(in comparison with all other players who have played that champion
on the same position) with the help of ingame grades:
D,
C,
B,
A and
S
(additionally you may gain “+” and
“–” to such rating which means that amount of possible grades
you may gain is 15, from D- to
S+).
Grades are not permanent and just describe your performance in the specific game.

Depending on the grade you received for your ingame performance you will gain specific amount of score points.
The higher the grade the more score points you will get.
By collecting such points you unlock new champion mastery tiers and cosmetic
rewards which are dependent on how far you went in the progress
with the certain champion. Such progress is displayed by tiers (with associated awards).

REWARDS BY MASTERY TIERS (LEGACY)

On champion mastery Level or Tier 1 you will gain: First crest
On champion mastery Level or Tier 2 you will gain: Second crest
On champion mastery Level or Tier 3 you will gain: Third crest
On champion mastery Level or Tier 4 you will gain:
Fourth crest,
Loading screen badge,
Custom Emote,
Annoucment Banner
On champion mastery Level or Tier 5 you will gain:
Fifth crest,
Loading screen badge,
Custom Emote,
Annoucment Banner

In the early system, Level 5 was the highest permanent tier for champion mastery progress.

AMOUNT OF SCORE POINTS NEEDED TO LEVEL UP (LEGACY)

Level 2: 1800 points
Level 3: 4200, or totally 6000 points
Level 4: 6600, or totally 12600 points
Level 5: 9000, or totally 21600 points

Usually it took between 15 and 30 games to reach tier 5 on a champion.

FACTORS AFFECTING SCORE POINT GAIN (LEGACY)

Your ingame performance and the grade you earned.
Whether your team won or lost.
Party bonus if you played premade games with your friends:
- 1 player: no bonus
- 2 players: 2% bonus
- 3 players: 4% bonus
- 4 players: 6% bonus
- 5 players: 10% bonus

The formula could be summarized as:
Champion Mastery Points = Grade + Game Outcome (win/lose) + Party Bonus.

HEXTECH CRAFTING IN LOL (LEGACY SYSTEM)

In the original Hextech crafting design, the key elements were
Mastery Chests and
Keys.
Keys unlocked Mastery Chests at the crafting table; inside you would find “Loot”: Rare Gems,
content-specific shards, Champion Essence and Cosmetic Essence.

HOW TO EARN MASTERY CHESTS (LEGACY)

You or a member of your premade party had to earn at least
S- rank on a champion.
This granted up to 4 chests per month, and only 1 chest per champion.
You could buy a chest in the in-game shop for RP. Purchased chests did not count toward the monthly limit.

HOW TO EARN KEYS (LEGACY)

A key fragment could drop after match-made wins; three fragments formed one key.
Keys could also be bought in the shop for RP.

CRAFTING BULK DISCOUNTS (LEGACY)

Riot offered discounted bundles with a chest + key, or packs of 5 keys + 5 chests for a small RP discount
compared to buying them separately.

LOOT TYPES & UNIQUE HEXTECH SKINS (LEGACY)

Loot from combining a Chest and Key was divided into:

Rare Gems – used to craft unique skins like Hextech Annie and a Hextech Ward.
Shards – champion or skin shards for permanent unlocks.
Champion Essence – currency for unlocking champions from shards.
Cosmetic Essence – currency for permanently unlocking skins from shards.

Players could:

Reroll three shards of the same type into one random permanent reward.
Disenchant shards into essence.
Activate temporary (7-day) access to a champion or skin.
Upgrade a shard to a permanent champion/skin using essence.

Rare Gems were especially valuable because they were the only way to craft
exclusive Hextech skins — a concept that later evolved into the modern Mythic Essence and Mythic Shop.

The following content from our older guides may also be interesting:

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Hextech Crafting & Champion Mastery in LoL 2025 Guide + Legacy