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League of Legends champions may cost less in future, Riot says

League of Legends champions are purchasable using the MOBA's in-game currency, Blue Essence, but Riot is looking to adjust the pricing system to be more fair.

League of Legends champions may cost less in future, Riot says: A little girl with black hair in a bob wearing cat ears in a black frilled dress hugs a bear to her chest surrounded in deep purple mist

You can pick up League of Legends champions using the MOBA‘s Blue Essence currency, which is obtained primarily through leveling up, but also by disenchanting character shards, spending event points, and much, much more. However, discrepancies in the in-game pricing system has prompted a response from Riot.

When a champion first releases, they cost 7,200 Blue Essence for their debut week, then the cost is reduced to 6,300. From here, as a champion ages, the price will be reduced to 4,800, 3,150, 1,350, and then 450. The latter bracket is for champions like Ashe, Miss Fortune, and Annie, who have been in the game since the early days.

While a lot of these early champions are considered beginner champions because of their straightforward mechanics, several champions have released after them that have been targeted towards beginners, but still have a premium price point.

Sona is one of the easiest champions in the game, and costs 1,350 Blue Essence, and notorious feisty feline Yuumi is basically built to be beginner friendly, but costs 6,300 – the second-highest Blue Essence bracket.

In a Reddit thread discussing the curious little cat, one fan has suggested that Yuumi’s price should be knocked down to 450, putting her more in line with other beginner champions and, in turn, making her more accessible to players at lower levels who can’t afford to drop 6,300 Blue Essence.

“This is something we agree with and I fully believe that our pricing model is outdated,” responds game designer Tim ‘TheTruexy,’ who goes on to state, “[Lead champion designer] August ‘August’ Browning and I are working on updating the [Blue Essence] pricing for a lot of champs to better fit modern standards and to also address some of these things.

“If Yuumi is meant to be an easy-to-access champion… she should probably be obtainable early,” they conclude, and that’s a statement I one hundred percent agree with.

League of Legends champions may cost less in future, Riot says: A grey cat with a white underbelly stands on a book with magical golden energy swirling around her

Yuumi is the perfect beginner champion. She removes the need for positioning, her mechanics are simple and, while I may regret saying this, she’s a fun, quirky character that people want to play. Locking her behind such a huge amount of Blue Essence simply doesn’t work, as new players can’t afford her. Lowering her price won’t solve the issues Riot highlighted in it’s Yuumi rework discussion, but it may at least encourage lower level players to pick her up, evening out the distribution between her performance and pick rates at both low and high ELOs.

Riot changing up champion prices would no doubt shake up the League of Legends tier list, but in the meantime you can score some sweet free loot with the League of Legends Prime Gaming rewards scheme – so make sure you’re signed up and ready to go.