League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Riot Games. Released in 2009, it has become one of the most popular esports games in the world. The game was strongly based on a mod known as DOTA (Defense of the Ancient)  for Warcraft III. When League of Legends appeared it quickly took the market by storm. Nowadays it’s among the most popular MOBA games on the market. However, DOTA 2 is not too fair behind. Thus Riot Games do everything in their power to remain a leader. 

The game is free-to-play, however, like most online games it utilizes a premium currency known as Riot Points (RP). Players can purchase the currency with real money or obtain it in various other ways. RP is mostly utilized to buy cosmetic items like character skins. In League of Legends, players can also earn Blue Essence (BE) via playing. This is one of the primary currencies in the game used mainly to unlock champions, champion shards, upgrade champion mastery to level 7, etc. In general, RP is a premium in-game currency used mostly for cosmetics while BE is free in-game currency used mostly for unlocking champions.

Currencies in League of Legends

In general, there are two important currencies in League of Legends Blue Essence (BE) and Riot Points (RP). We want to provide you with a comparison between both of them. 

Blue Essence (BE) is the primary free in-game currency used to unlock gameplay-related content in League of Legends. We can use it to buy champions and also other items within the game.

How to Earn Blue Essence

• Leveling Up – Every time you level up, you receive a champion capsule, which contains champion shards that can be disenchanted into BE;
• First Win of the Day (FWotD) – Completing this daily mission gives 50 BE + XP;
• Disenchanting Champion Shards – Shards from Hextech Chests or Level-Up Capsules can also be turned into BE if we don’t need certain shards;
• Missions & Events – Some special events and missions give BE as rewards so we should keep looking for them;
• Honor Rewards – Occasionally, Honor Capsules contain BE. Hence, Honor Capsules are also quite a good way of farming BE;

What Can You Buy with Blue Essence?

• Champions – The primary way to unlock new champions. Each champion has a certain price attached to him. When you start your adventure with LOL you get access to a few champions, who rotate weekly. Keep in mind that the game has 170 champions. Some champions costs 450 BE (the oldest ones like Annie or Ashe), 1350 BE (e.q. Blitzcrank, Ezreal, Lee Sin), 3150 BE (Jinx, Karma, Kassadin, Katarina), 4800 BE (Azir, Aurelion Sol, Draven), 6300 BE (new champions like Milo, Naafiri, and Ambessa) and 7800 BE (the latest champion in a target update, at the moment the article is written, that champion would be Mel). Hence, you need quite a lot of BE to buy all champions.
• Champion Mastery Upgrades – Level up your Mastery (6 & 7) using BE. The Mastery Points reflect how often you play with a target champion and how good you are with him. There are 10 levels of it and the last one provides you with a champ title. There are also various mastery related missions in the game;
• Summoner Name Change – Costs 13,900 BE (or 1,300 RP). Sometimes it is a good option, especially if you started your journey with LOL back when you were just a kid and now you want to change your name to something more “meaningful”;
• Special BE Shop (Twice a Year) –Though BE is mostly utilized for unlocking champions, you can also use it for exclusive chromas, icons, emotes, and sometimes URFwick skin. Worth it;

Changes in Blue Essence

Before we move with our analysis to RP, it should be noted that in early 2025 Riot Games tried to implement various changes, which lead to a huge backlash from the community. Riot decided to respond to the negative feedback and made a few adjustments in BE:

• Reduced Blue Essence costs by 50% for all champions – Riot decided that patch 25.05 will reduce BE costs of all champions in the game, by 50%. Riot also confirmed on Reddit, that players who bought champions in 25.4 can contact support for a refund;
• Increased BE from Battle Pass Milestones – The total amount of BE from milestones was increased from 4750 to 9000;
• Enhanced Epilogue Rewards – Repeatable epilogue milestones BE rewards were increased from 50 to 750;
• Increased account XP – Gamers now earn 40% more XP to progress faster to 30 lvl;
• One-Time Compensation Mission – Riot also addressed BE lost due to initial changes. Hence, a one-time mission granting 4250 BE was implemented;

We can assume that many new changes will also be implemented in a near future. If that happens we will keep you notified. 

Riot Points (RP) are the premium currency in League of Legends, used to buy cosmetic and premium content. Unlike Blue Essence (BE), RP cannot be earned through gameplay and must be purchased with real money. Though the game occasionally provides us with a small amount of RP through various events.

How to Get Riot Points?

• Bought with real money through the in-game store;
• Occasionally given as rewards in events or promotions;
• Can be gifted to friends;

What Can You Buy with Riot Points?

• Champion Skins – RP are mostly used for customization. Hence players utilize them to buy skins for champions. Some skins are rare, look great, or give us some bragging rights. However, keep in mind that some skins you can’t currently buy via RP would include Black Alistar, PAX Sivir, PAX Twisted Fate, and PAX Jax. These are the rarest skins in the game but it is just a cool little detail;
• Champions – Although they can also be bought with BE, RP lets you unlock them faster. It is especially crucial in the case of new champions. Getting 7800 BE for a new champion involves a lot of playing. If you want to skip it, then you can use 975 RP to unlock the target champ;
• Emotes & Icons – Personalize your in-game reactions. Thanks to this you can express yourself more in the game. 
• Ward Skins – Change the look of your wards. Wards are items which allow skilled player to have a better view of the map, reveal enemy traps and disable enemy wards. They also have various skins you can buy;
• Masterwork & Hextech Chests – Loot boxes that contain skins, champions, and cosmetics. Players love loot boxes and reactions to rare drops are often priceless;
• Event Passes & Bundles – Access exclusive content during special events;
• Summoner Name Change – It was already mentioned that you can change your username for 13900 BE but also for 1300 RP;

In general, the main differences between those two currencies are as follows:

As it can be seen both currencies are not only used in different ways but they are also obtained with different methods. 

Legal methods of obtaining free RP

Since RP is premium in-game currency in League of Legends, then it is obvious that people are going to look for ways to obtain free RP.

1. Microsoft Rewards

• Microsoft Rewards lets you earn points for searching with Bing, completing quizzes, and using Xbox services. It is a good method to gain RP in the game in a relatively impressive amount;
• You can redeem Microsoft Gift Cards, which can be used to buy RP in the Riot Store;

2. Gift Cards & Giveaways 

• Occasionally, Riot or esports organizations hold giveaways for RP gift cards. The best players can earn quite  a lot of RP through this method;
• Follow League of Legends’ official Twitter, Discord, and Twitch streams for events. Such events might provide viewers with awards;
• Some streamers, YouTubers, or community events also do RP giveaways. Since LOL is very popular such events happen very often;

3. Esports Betting & Fantasy LoL Contests

• Some esports-related sites and Discord communities run fantasy LOL contests where you predict match results for a chance to win RP. You should be careful though, there are many scam sites on the Internet. Check if it is legit;

4. Special Riot Promotions & Events 

• Occasionally, Riot gives out free RP through major events (e.g., Worlds, anniversary events). It is not much but you can gain some RP from that;
• Sometimes Twitch Prime (Prime Gaming) gives RP-related rewards;

5. SkinApe for games

• ​SkinApe for Games & Gift Cards is a mobile application designed to help gamers earn rewards and gift cards for various games, including League of Legends. By completing tasks, quizzes, or referring friends within the app, users can accumulate coins which they can then trade for RP;
• Keep in mind that the app is available in various languages like English, Polish or Russian;

As you can see there are many methods in which you can earn free RP which you can utilize to buy cosmetics and other items in the game.

How you can utilize your RP?

There are many ways in which you can use Riot Points, the most important are:

• Champion skins – the thing thaat gamers buy most often with their RP. There are many skins available for characters. The rarest and most expensive of them might change sound effects, voice lines or even provide character with unique animations. Primary examples here are ultimate skins like: Pulse Fire Ezreal (3250 RP), Spirit Guard Udyr (3250 RP) or DJ Sona (3250 RP);
• Champions – you can indeed purchase champions with Blue Essence, however, RP allows you to buy them instantly;
• Loots and chests – you can purchase keys, key fragments, masterwork chests, or hextech chests to get skins, champions, and other rewards;
• Event passes and various prestige skins – You can use RP to buy premium passes, thanks to which you can unlock prestige skins, icons, etc.;
• Emotes and icons – You can buy unique profile icons and emotes;
• XP Boosts – You can use RP to buy XP boosts thanks to which you can level up your account faster;
• Changing the name of your account;

FAQ

1. What are Riot Points?

Riot Points (RP) are the premium currency in League of Legends and other Riot Games titles like Valorant and Teamfight Tactics. They are used to purchase cosmetic and premium content in the game. Gamers usually use Riot Points to buy various cosmetic items such as skins or emotes. 

2. How to buy Riot Points?

You can easily buy RP in the LOL client. Just log into your account, go to the store, click the option “purchase RP”, choose the payment method you prefer (PayPal, credit card, mobile payment), select the amount you want (650 RP, 1300 RP, 2600 RP) and then complete the process. After a short while RP will be add into your account. Easy, isn’t it?

3. How much are Riot Points?

Another question that appears fairly often is what is the price of Riot Points. These prices might vary slightly in various regions however, the general price ranges, are as follows:

• $5 USD = 650 RP;
• $10 USD = 1,300 RP;
• $20 USD = 2,600 RP;
• $50 USD = 6,500 RP;
• $100 USD = 13,000 RP;

Is it much? Well, you have to answer this question yourself.

4. How many Riot Points are $25?

For $25, you would typically receive around 3,250 Riot Points (RP) in League of Legends. How? Simple You can purchase a single pack of 2600 RP for $20 and then a 650 RP pack for $5. Add this together and you get 3250 RP. With such an amount of RP you can purchase really interesting and premium champion skins which are going to make your experience with the game even more awesome.

In general, this are all the information we wanted to provide you with about the topic of Riot Points. If you have more questions feel free to ask. You should also remember, that while there are some methods to obtain free RP points, you should still be aware of various scams that are running rampant in the community. There are many people around there who will try to trick you. Hence, you should always be careful and only use apps and websites which are considered legit. A primary example here might be SkinApe. 

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