In League of Legends you can buy champions easily with in-game currency, so you have no disadvantage compared to players who spend real money. However, the game also offers skins that change the appearance of the champions. Some modifications give you a slight advantage, so players refer to these skins as “Pay2Win.”
What kind of modifications do skins have? The advantages usually come from the fact that the visual effects of the champions change. This can make certain abilities harder to recognize because they change in color or animation.
Such significant modifications are typically only made for epic or even rarer skins.
We present to you 5 skins that some players consider problematic.
Cosmic Lux and Cosmic Destroyer Lux
With the Cosmic skins, there was a modification for all animations of Lux’s abilities, leading to an interesting trick with Light Binding (“Q”) and Prismatic Barrier (“W”).
In fact, the Prismatic Barrier is just a shield for allies and therefore harmless to enemies. If they get hit by the ability, nothing happens. However, the animation can be used to hide the Light Binding within it. With the Light Binding, enemies hit are rooted in place.
The skin allows you to surprise enemies with a root, even though they were only expecting a harmless shield. The simultaneous use does not require much practice, as the streamer “Daenerysz” shows on YouTube:
What is the price of the skin? The two skins cost 1,820 RP each.
Shadow Pirate Vladimir
This skin offers two changes. On one hand, the abilities become slightly darker overall, making it harder to see the animations. On the other hand, the sound effects are significantly quieter.
Both play a crucial role, especially with the ultimate Transfusion (“R”). This can be nearly invisible in the river during a larger team fight because it is so dark. Additionally, you cannot hear the sound when the ability deals damage a second time. Both can cost you the team fight and thus the game.
What such an effect looks like in the river can be seen around second 49 and minute 1:44 in the video from YouTuber Generic Vladimir Main:
What is the price of the skin? The skin costs 1,350 RP.
Interestingly, the “Arctic Ops” skin of Gragas also has a similar problem. The barrels turn into light blue objects, which are harder to see in bushes or the river. The ultimate can also be difficult to recognize in the river.
Arclight Varus
With the Arclight skin, Varus’ abilities get a bright, almost yellow effect. This is difficult to spot on the green ground in the lane.
The ability Chain of Corruption (“R”) becomes a bright, yellow line that also does not have the correct size in the hitbox. This makes it incredibly difficult to dodge the ability. Once hit, however, it roots enemies in place.
You can check out the skin in this video from SkinSpotlights:
What is the price of the skin? The skin currently costs 975 RP.
A similar problem is also present with Zyra’s Justicar skin. However, the effects have been improved a bit here, so they now stand out more from the ground.
Infernal Shen
With the Infernal skin, Shen’s abilities get a bright, flaming effect. Especially in larger team fights, it is hard to recognize these abilities.
This becomes particularly difficult with the ultimate Shadow Dash (“R”). Because here, Shen teleports to an ally and suddenly stands next to him. While the shield is still easy to see, the animation from the teleport itself is almost non-existent. If the shield from Shen’s teleport is destroyed, the animation also disappears.
If the shield disappears quickly or you are not paying attention, you suddenly have another enemy to deal with.
You can check out the skin more closely in this spotlight, although the negative effect in team fights does not come into play here:
What is the price of the skin? You can get Infernal Shen for 1,350 RP.
PROJECT: Ashe
Ashe and her ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow (“R”) are an adventure in themselves. The arrow has a significantly larger hitbox than the animation actually shows.
With the Project skin, however, comes the special effect that the arrow rotates. This makes it appear thinner in some situations than with Ashe’s normal skin, making it even harder to dodge.
You can watch the skin in this spotlight video:
What is the price of the skin? The PROJECT skin costs 1,820 RP.
Honorable Mention: Steel Legion Lux
The “Steel Legion” skin of Lux was so problematic at first that it was banned in pro tournaments for a long time and possibly still is, as banned skins are not openly communicated.
With patch 9.24 in November 2019, some animations were revised, but players are still not happy with this skin. Their ability Shimmering Singularity (“E”) is still a bit brighter and bluer than the normal skin. This makes the ability hard to see, especially in the river. The other abilities are also a bit harder to recognize.
Which skins do you consider to be Pay2Win? And are there skins that annoy you outside of these advantages, such as through sound effects or adjusted animations? Feel free to share in the comments.
Currently, Riot is planning a series of balance adjustments that players have long been demanding:
