League of Legends is a game that is not necessarily friendly to new players. You have to learn all the systems, many items, and countless champions before you understand the approaches of the game. The new season has made it harder to unlock new champions.
How does one currently unlock new champions? LoL currently has almost 170 champions. To unlock them, you need blue essence. You can earn this from the start of the new season 2025 as a free reward from the Battle Pass.
Previously, when leveling up, you could get champion capsules that contained random champion shards. You could either activate them with blue essence or disenchant them to unlock blue essence, which you could then use to unlock the champion of your choice.
This made it not so difficult to acquire new playable characters. However, the new season has removed the capsules. Many players criticize this because it now takes significantly longer for free-to-play players to get new champions.
You can watch the video about the new season here:
Fewer options to unlock champions
Where lies the problem? In the current Battle Pass, you can get blue essences even if you do not have the premium model. If you unlock all 50 levels, you will have 4750 blue essences. Besides level 50, you can unlock additional stages, for which you will receive 50 blue essences each. At the same time, you also receive 4 free champion capsules that contain shards.
The chests that could be unlocked have been removed. In those, you could receive champion shards along with skins and other cosmetic content.
Content creator Remus explains in a YouTube video that it can take hundreds of hours to unlock a new champion. If you want to unlock all champions, it can take several years unless you purchase them with real money.
For new players, this is quite an unfavorable situation because the best way to learn match-ups and aspects of the game is to also be able to try out champions.
You can watch Remus’ video here:
Community views it critically, wishes for a system like in Marvel Rivals
What does the community say about the issue? In a recent Reddit thread with over 2700 upvotes and over 700 comments, Remus’ video is being discussed. Players criticize the changes that make it harder for free-to-play players.
- The user Shot-Maximum (via Reddit) believes that the current champion system is outdated. He wishes that champions could be directly playable for everyone like in Marvel Rivals.
- The user Few-Highlight1114 (via Reddit) also does not understand why champions need to be unlocked:
I have never understood why League has kept this unlock mechanic for their heroes at all
- Moifaso (via Reddit) criticizes the absurd number of 882 hours mentioned in the video. Nevertheless, he believes that unlocking champions has become slower.
The number in the video stating that it takes over 800 hours to unlock a champion is highly exaggerated. Through the passes, you can unlock some champions and blue essences. The problem is that after reaching level 50, you essentially hit a wall. The 50 essences per pass level you receive afterward are meager, and there are no more shards even with a regular level-up.
What does Riot say about the issue? Riot also seems to be unhappy with the current system. In a recent tweet on x.com, RiotMeddler commented on the issue: Unlocking new champions through blue essences should not become harder. To understand if something is not working as intended now, we are digging deeper.
The system, as it is now, will likely change in the future. At least if you want to believe RiotMeddler’s statement. Since new champions are regularly released, even experienced players will need blue essences. Currently, the company behind Riot is facing some issues in the USA: Parent company of LoL loses millions of euros on the stock market due to a decision by the US government
