During my younger days as a League of Legends player, I used to get thrilled about collecting Blue Essence, eagerly awaiting every level-up, hoping I’d accumulate enough BE to unlock champions like Janna, who had recently been on the free rotation. Nowadays, my Blue Essence just languishes in my loot inventory, waiting for the next Blue Essence Emporium event to roll around. But things are changing, as Riot is planning to make alterations to the Blue Essence system.
With the much-anticipated return of the Blue Essence Emporium, I’ve spent a significant portion of my shiny blue crystals on various new chromas that give my favorite League of Legends champions a look resembling characters from Netflix’s Wednesday series. Still, I have plenty of Blue Essence left over, and I’ve managed to earn back everything I spent during the last Emporium event in just a couple of months.
When you reach a higher level or, on the flip side, have all the champions unlocked through Xbox Game Pass, Blue Essence loses its purpose. Riot has been repeatedly asked about this, and experience designer Jordan ‘BarackProbama’ Checkman has confirmed that the team is actively exploring ways to address this issue.
“It’s something we’re well aware of,” they respond, acknowledging that Blue Essence is “losing relevance.” While it’s useful for newer players, its effectiveness as an incentive diminishes as an account matures.
“The Essence Emporium functions as a reasonably effective way to use it but isn’t a strong long-term solution, in my opinion, and we’d like to find other ways to make it more meaningful.”
I’ve also pondered how Riot can give the system a longer lifespan, but it’s a challenging problem to solve. While I’d love to see a feature that allows you to convert 100k BE into the coveted Mythic Essence, it might deplete the rarity and the accompanying sense of accomplishment associated with earning that currency.
Alternatively, Riot could follow the path of the League of Legends Mythic shop skins and create Blue Essence-specific cosmetic options to accompany Urfwick. These could be easier to acquire than Mythic items and serve as valuable collector’s items for both new and experienced players. If Riot decides to create Blue Essence skins, starting with Senna would be a great choice. At least, that’s what my friend suggests.
The latest League of Legends patch 13.20 introduced a plethora of new skins, with personal favorites including Coven Nami and the stunning DRX Ashe. My bank account may not be happy, but I certainly am.