League of Legends adds another Genshin Impact-style gacha mechanic
To celebrate the release ofArcane Season 2, Riot is releasing a slew of cosmetics across League of Legends, Valorant, and TFT. However, it’s the Arcane Fractured Jinx skin’s new Genshin Impact-style gacha system that has players worried.
On October 16, Riot revealed that they will be introducing a shiny new skin tier, Exalted. TheseLoLskins have been described as a “luxury good” by the devs and will make up 10% of the cosmetic pool — alongside Transcendent and Mythic Variant skins.
The first Exalted skin will beArcane Fractured Jinx, a cosmetic that’s been inspired by Arcane and Jinx’s story in season two. While no way near as expensive as the infamous$450 Faker Hall of Legends Ahri skin, the new Exalted tier has a Genshin Impact-style mechanic that the community isn’t happy to see.
Unlike other skins in the game that require a set price for purchase, Exalted skins are acquired through a new system called the Sanctum. The Sanctum is essentially like a banner seen in populargacha gameslikeGenshin Impact, where players need to spend in-game currency to draw from a pool of rewards.
In this case,players must purchase Ancient Sparks which cost 400 RPeach and don’t expire. Riot has even added a layer of pity, in this case, “bad-luck protection”, whichguarantees Arcane Fracture Jinx in 80 pulls,which will set you back 32000 RP ($250).
Of course, you could get lucky and pull an Exalted skin like Arcane Fractured Jinx in fewer pulls, but with a 0.5% chance — the odds aren’t exactly in your favor.
Many players compared this system to what Teamfight Tactics has for cosmetics, which also includes aGenshin-style banner system. However, players werekeen to pointout that the new Exalted system is seemingly harsher than TFTs.
All Valorant skin bundles: Tiers, weapons, prices
League of Legends champions get huge Blue Essence discount in patch 25.05
Overwatch 2’s new magical girl skins have players convinced they’ll go “bankrupt”
“[Riot] gives out a lot of the TFT currency for free, so unless Riot implements this, I can’t see it being equally as ‘fair’ as the TFT gacha system.”
Commenters were also keen to highlight the similarities between the Sanctum banner mechanic and other gachas, like Genshin Impact andHonkai Star Rail. “Hoyoverse games are 0.5% for a 5-star drop + an 80 hard cap for pity,”explained one player.
“Riot just wholesale copied their gacha system without the free currency you’d get from playing the game.”
This certainly isn’t the first time LoL fans have been outraged by Riot’s implementation of gacha systems in League. After all, theDark Cosmic Erasure Jhin skinfollowed a similar pattern last year.
Riot has yet to reveal an Arcane Fractured Jinx release date, but it’s clear that the community isn’t happy about the upcoming Sanctum gacha mechanic.
