Blue Essence (BE) is League of Legends' free currency for unlocking champions, buying rune pages, and spending at the Essence Emporium. You can't buy it directly with real money — you earn it by playing.
The primary source of BE in 2026 is the free Battle Pass track, which awards 9,000 BE per season plus multiple Champion Capsules. After completing the main track, you earn 750 BE every three Epilogue milestones, repeating infinitely.
How to Earn Blue Essence
Complete the Free Battle Pass Track
Every player gets the free Battle Pass without paying anything. The free track has 48 milestones and awards:
- 9,000 BE in direct rewards across the track
- Multiple Champion Capsules (each contains champion shards worth 810–1,260 BE when disenchanted)
- One Glorious Champion Capsule at the end (higher-value shards)
After the main 48 milestones, the Epilogue chapter repeats infinitely: every three free milestones award 750 BE (the fourth milestone is paid and gives Mythic Essence instead). This means there's no cap on how much BE you can earn — you just have to keep playing.
You progress through milestones by earning Battle Pass XP (BXP) from missions:
- Daily mission (+100 BXP): win one game or play two games of LoL or TFT. Resets daily at 20:00 UTC.
- Repeating mission (+50 BXP per 50 objective points): always available, rewards time spent playing.
- Weekly missions (+500 BXP each): five per week, available for up to 21 days.
Open and Disenchant Champion Capsules
Champion Capsules from the Battle Pass contain champion shards. You have two options with each shard:
- Disenchant it for BE (40% of the champion's store price)
- Upgrade it to permanently unlock that champion (costs 60% of the store price — a 40% discount vs. buying outright)
Here's exactly how much each shard is worth:
| Store Price (BE) | Disenchant Value | Upgrade Cost | You Save vs. Buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| 225 | 90 | 135 | 90 |
| 675 | 270 | 405 | 270 |
| 1234 | 493 | 740 | 493 |
| 1575 | 630 | 945 | 630 |
| 1618 | 647 | 970 | 647 |
| 2400 | 960 | 1440 | 960 |
| 3150 | 1260 | 1890 | 1260 |
If you want a champion and you have their shard, always upgrade it rather than disenchanting and buying from the store — you save 40% every time.
New Account Rewards (Levels 1–30)
New accounts earn BE through leveling milestones. Levels 2–5 each give 450 BE, and levels 6–10 each give 900 BE. After level 10, the rewards shift to a mix of smaller BE amounts and champion shards at specific levels (11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29).
New players also receive free champions through Daily Play Rewards during their first week — including 6,300 BE on Day 6.
After level 30, the Battle Pass becomes your primary BE source. There are no more per-level BE rewards beyond cosmetic milestones.
Honor Drops
Players at Honor levels 3, 4, and 5 receive random 150 BE drops. Higher honor levels increase the frequency of these drops. It's not a significant source, but it adds up over a season.
Can You Buy Blue Essence with RP?
No. There's no direct way to convert Riot Points into Blue Essence.
The closest workaround is buying Hextech Chests with RP (125 RP per chest, or 195 RP for a chest + key bundle). Chests have a 25% chance of containing a champion shard, which you can disenchant for BE. It's an inefficient conversion rate and not worth doing purely for BE — but if you're opening chests anyway, the champion shards add to your BE total.
What to Spend Blue Essence On
The main use is unlocking champions. There are 172 champions in League, spread across these price tiers:
| BE Cost | Champions in Tier |
|---|---|
| 225 | 23 |
| 675 | 32 |
| 1234 | 1 |
| 1575 | 47 |
| 1618 | 1 |
| 2400 | 63 |
| 3150 | 5 |
Other BE sinks:
- Additional rune pages: 6,300 BE (most players don't need these — more on rune pages)
- Clash tickets: 975 BE
- Eternals Starter Series Pass: 14,750 BE (or 2,500 BE per individual champion)
- Essence Emporium: chromas, icons, ward skins, and exclusive content (see below)
Blue Essence Emporium
The Essence Emporium is a limited-time shop that runs roughly twice per year. It's the only way to spend BE on cosmetics. Typical inventory:
- Chromas: 2,000 BE
- Mystery icons: 1,500 BE
- Mini-champion icons: 2,500 BE
- Mystery ward skins: 4,900 BE
- Exclusive content: 6,000–150,000 BE (including Urfwick at 150,000 BE)
If you already own all the champions you want, the Emporium is where most players spend excess BE. Save up between events — chromas at 2,000 BE are the most popular purchase.
How Long Does It Take to Unlock All Champions?
With 172 champions and an average cost around 2,000 BE, the total BE needed to unlock everything is roughly 350,000–400,000 BE. At 9,000 BE per Battle Pass season (plus capsule shards and Epilogue grinding), it takes multiple seasons of regular play to unlock every champion.
The practical advice: don't try to unlock all of them. Focus on champions for your main role and a backup role. Use the free weekly rotation to try champions before spending BE, and always upgrade shards instead of buying from the store to save 40%.
