Many "League of Legends" players are now slamming Riot Games after someone estimated that it would take more than 800 hours of grinding to get enough Blue Essence for new champions.
The controversial numbers come after the studio announced a change to the game's battle pass and drop systems.
Additionally, the "League of Legends" lead gameplay designer is already admitting that they messed up with the Feats of Strength's "First Blood" Feat as well.
New League of Legends Update
A lot of players typically avoid paying real money on "League of Legends" just to unlock new champions to play.
Instead, they opt to grind them out by obtaining Blue Essence, which is usually earned from level-up rewards, opening Champion Capsules, and completing missions.
This usually takes a bit of time but lets new players get familiar with the game while also being able to try out new champions regularly.
But one user now estimates that the recent changes require new players to grind roughly 882 hours for each new champion, according to Games Radar.
The content creator who mentioned the estimate, Remus, said that once players reach level 30, they will no longer get a Champion Capsule every time they level up.
Additionally, their first win of the day will no longer reward them with 50 Blue Essence, which was the case before, as it has now been replaced with experience for the Battle Pass.
In the current eight-week season for "League of Legends," there are only three Champion Capsules that are included. Furthermore, they spotted a total of 4,750 Blue Essence in the first 50 milestones.
Unlocking New Champions
The changes come via a new Battle Pass system in the 2025 update for the game, where players can earn up to 24 Champion Crystals and 28,500 Blue Essence per year.
While "League of Legends" champions vary in the cost of Blue Essence, the more recent additions cost 6,300, The Gamer said.
On the assumption that a player gets all of the free stuff they can, they will get 50 Blue Essence for every level after 50 on a single Battle Pass. This is what the content creator used as a baseline to estimate the more than 800 hours of grind for each new champion.
Riot Games has tried to address the controversy by having senior design lead Jordan "BarackProbama" Checkamn respond to concerns. He said that players earning Blue Essence does not require them to spend real money whatsoever.
He added that in the new update, the amount of Champion Capsules and Blue Essence that players get will let them get all the new heroes they can realistically play to a high level.
Fans of "League of Legends" have since downvoted his original post, according to PCGamesN.
