League of Legends adds another Genshin Impact-style gacha mechanic

To celebrate the release of Arcane Season 2, Riot is releasing a slew of cosmetics across League of Legends, Valorant, and TFT. However, it’s the Arcane Fractured Jinx skin’s new Genshin Impact-style gacha system that has players worried. 

On October 16, Riot revealed that they will be introducing a shiny new skin tier, Exalted. These LoL skins have been described as a “luxury good” by the devs and will make up 10% of the cosmetic pool — alongside Transcendent and Mythic Variant skins. 

The first Exalted skin will be Arcane Fractured Jinx, a cosmetic that’s been inspired by Arcane and Jinx’s story in season two. While no way near as expensive as the infamous $450 Faker Hall of Legends Ahri skin, the new Exalted tier has a Genshin Impact-style mechanic that the community isn’t happy to see. 

Unlike other skins in the game that require a set price for purchase, Exalted skins are acquired through a new system called the Sanctum. The Sanctum is essentially like a banner seen in popular gacha games like Genshin Impact, where players need to spend in-game currency to draw from a pool of rewards. 

In this case, players must purchase Ancient Sparks which cost 400 RP each and don’t expire. Riot has even added a layer of pity, in this case, “bad-luck protection”, which guarantees Arcane Fracture Jinx in 80 pulls, which will set you back 32000 RP ($250).

Of course, you could get lucky and pull an Exalted skin like Arcane Fractured Jinx in fewer pulls, but with a 0.5% chance — the odds aren’t exactly in your favor. 

Many players compared this system to what Teamfight Tactics has for cosmetics, which also includes a Genshin-style banner system. However, players were keen to point out that the new Exalted system is seemingly harsher than TFTs. 

“[Riot] gives out a lot of the TFT currency for free, so unless Riot implements this, I can’t see it being equally as ‘fair’ as the TFT gacha system.”

Commenters were also keen to highlight the similarities between the Sanctum banner mechanic and other gachas, like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. “Hoyoverse games are 0.5% for a 5-star drop + an 80 hard cap for pity,” explained one player. 

“Riot just wholesale copied their gacha system without the free currency you’d get from playing the game.”

This certainly isn’t the first time LoL fans have been outraged by Riot’s implementation of gacha systems in League. After all, the Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin skin followed a similar pattern last year. 

Riot has yet to reveal an Arcane Fractured Jinx release date, but it’s clear that the community isn’t happy about the upcoming Sanctum gacha mechanic.