How does Hextech Crafting work?
Solution 1:
UPDATE 2016-06-23
Champion Shards can now be used to upgrade champion mastery levels.
To get mastery tokens for level 6 you need to earn an S- at the end of a game and to earn mastery tokens for level 7 you need to earn an S rank at the end of a game with a level 6 champion mastery.
To unlock level 6 combine 2 Mastery tokens with a champ shard of the same champ, OR the champ permanent of the same champ, OR 500 blue essence.
To unlock level 7 combine 3 Mastery tokens with a champ shard of the same champ, OR the champ permanent of the same champ, OR 600 blue essence.
How do you earn free loot?
You can earn free chests or earn free keys. To win free chests you, or some one you have queued up with must obtain a S-, S, or S+ rank. Only 4 chests can be obtained within a month and only one chest per S rank per champion per season. (Important to note if someone you queued up with gets an S rank and you earn a D rank on lets say graves, graves will count towards the only 1 per season).
To obtain keys, you must win a game and after winning you have a chance to obtain a key fragment. 3 key fragments combined equal one key. Then use the free key to unlock a chest.
What's the deal with essences and why are they so important?
There are two types of essences champion and cosmetic. Champion essence comes from disenchanting champion shards, which then can be used to unlock a champion permanently.
Cosmetic shards are for skins, champion and ward. You can earn more cosmetic shards by disenchanting skins. You can then use the cosmetic shards to unlock a skin permanently.
What do the different options mean when dealing with Redeeming Re-rolling Disenchanting and Upgrading?
Redeeming - lets you use the champion or skin for 7 days.
Re-rolling - requires three shards of the same type, guaranteed to give you a champion or skin that you do not already own.
Disenchanting - gives you more essences of that type.
Upgrading - use essences to make that shard a permanent unlock.
That should cover how it all works.
Solution 2:
To earn free loot, you have to get skin, ward skin, or champion permanents, however they can be earned in several different ways. You can get chests when someone on your team earns any "S" rating in a game (up to 4 a month, and each champion can only give one chest per season). So, if you get an "S" rank with Vladimir and get a chest from it, you will not be able to get another chest if you get an "S" rating with Vladimir again. To open the chests, you have to win games. By winning games, you have a chance to get keys (you have a higher chance/find more if you play with friends).
When you unlock a chest, it will give you a various assortment of shards and permanents that you can use to unlock skins, champions, or ward skins. Essence can be used to upgrade shards to permanents which will then unlock that skin/champion/ward skin permanently. Alternatively, you can redeem the shards to temporarily unlock a skin (7 days), reroll 3 shards or permanents or combination of the two for a different permanent that you do not already own, or disenchant them to gain essence.
- Redeeming unlocks skins/champions/ward skins
- Rerolling allows you to combine shards/permanents to make a different permanent
- Disenchanting converts permanents and shards to essence
- Upgrading takes essence and makes a shard into a permanent which you can redeem