How to Get Blue Essence in League of Legends: Battle Pass, Hextech Chests, Shards and Champion Prices

Blue Essence (BE) is the free currency in League of Legends that you spend on champions. How you earn it has changed a lot since the start of 2025. Riot moved almost every reward onto the seasonal pass, walked part of that back after heavy criticism, brought Hextech Chests back and cut every champion's BE price in half. If your last memory of League is first-win bonuses and capsules from every level-up, a lot of what you remember is gone.

This guide covers where Blue Essence actually comes from in Season 3 of 2026 (the Worlds 2026 pass is live until January 5, 2027) and what it buys.

Quick answer

Champions now cost 225 to 3,150 BE, and most of the roster sits at 2,400 BE.

Requirements

• A League of Legends account. The pass's free track is available to everyone, no purchase needed.
• Honor level 3 or higher if you want the two Honor chests each Act. At Honor levels 1–2 you earn no Honor points.
• Time to play. Pass XP comes from every minute you spend in games, plus missions.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

The Season 2025 launch in January 2025 moved rewards into the pass. Account level-ups after level 30 stopped handing out champion capsules, the old daily win reward became a pass mission, and free Hextech Chests all but disappeared. Riot admitted it had "screwed up" the math and raised the pass's BE milestones, including bumping the repeatable end-of-pass milestones from 50 to 750 BE.

Then, in patch 25.05 (March 5, 2025), Riot made two bigger changes:

• Hextech Chests returned: up to 10 chests and keys per Act, 8 on the free pass and 2 through Honor. They're the same chests that used to come from champion mastery.
• Every champion's BE price was halved. RP prices stayed the same.

In 2026 the structure stayed the same. The main BE news was the Blue Essence Emporium, which ran from May 13 to June 10 with patch 26.10.

How to earn Blue Essence, step by step

1. Play PvP games to level the pass. Every minute of every match gives pass XP (BXP), win or lose. The three big 6,000 BE drops sit at milestones 3, 14 and 21 on the free track, so a normal amount of play reaches them.
2. Do the daily mission. Win one game or play two games for 100 BXP. It resets at 11:00 a.m. PT. This replaced the old first-win-of-the-day bonus.
3. Clear weekly missions. A new set of four arrives every Wednesday, each worth 300–700 BXP, and each set stays available for three weeks. You can catch up if you miss a week.
4. Push past milestone 48. Milestones 49–51 and 53–55 each pay 750 BE on the free track and need 500 BXP each. That's another 4,500 BE many players leave on the table.
5. Earn your Honor chests. Two Honor objectives, each needing 1,200 Honor points, give a Hextech Chest + Key apiece. Honor points only come from PvP games: 1 per minute at Honor level 3, 2 at level 4 and 10 at level 5. Staying out of trouble pays off.
6. Open your chests and capsules. The free track has eight Hextech Chests (milestones 7, 16, 18, 27, 30, 36, 38 and 43) plus several Champion Capsules. Chests only drop shards for champions worth 2,400 BE or more.
7. Disenchant shards you don't need. In the Loot tab, disenchanting a champion shard turns it into BE, and pricier champions give more. Keep shards for champions you actually want, since upgrading a shard unlocks that champion for less than buying it outright.
8. Grab free champions directly. The current pass also gives Aphelios (milestone 6) and Yone (milestone 22) on the free track. That's two champions you don't have to buy.

What Blue Essence buys: champion prices

Since patch 25.05, the official BE price tiers are:

Two joke prices survive: Jhin and Vel'Koz have their own odd-numbered tiers. New champions launch at 3,150 BE and drop a tier once their first two seasons are over, so patience saves essence.

Outside of champions, BE is mostly spent in the Blue Essence Emporium, a limited-time shop with chromas, icons, emotes and titles. It doesn't run year-round, so it's worth saving a stack for it.

Tips and common mistakes

• Stopping at milestone 48. The repeatable 750 BE milestones are pure profit. Keep playing until the pass closes.
• Expecting BE from level-ups. After level 30, account levels no longer give champion capsules. The pass is where the rewards are now.
• Disenchanting the wrong shards. Before you mass-disenchant, check for shards of champions you plan to play. Upgrading is cheaper than buying.
• Ignoring Honor. Dropping to Honor level 2 or below means no Honor points, which means losing two chests every Act.
• Buying brand-new champions right away. If you can wait, a champion leaves the 3,150 BE tier after two seasons.
• Missing the pass window. Pass progress for Act II ends on January 5, 2027 (11:59 p.m. PT), so finish the BE milestones before then.