How does new Exalted Skin tier in League of Legends tie to account sales?

What Makes a Skin Rare in League of Legends?

League of Legends has a thriving skin culture, and the rarity of a skin is an important factor in determining its value to players. Rare skins are not necessarily "better" than common skins, as they do not necessarily have unique visual effects or bonuses. However, the rarity of a skin is a big factor in determining its desirability. Here's what makes a skin rare in League of Legends, and how Riot's upcoming gacha system could change the landscape.

The Exalted Skin Tier

The Exalted skin tier is supposed to be the pinnacle of premium cosmetics in League of Legends. These skins showcase the best of Riot's visual and technical capabilities, with unique models, animations, and interactive elements. Fractured Jinx, part of the Arcane Fractured Jinx, is the first in line. This skin features multiple in-game transformations tied to emotes.

The Exalted tier is still in its infancy, and we're waiting to see how Riot will flesh out this category with more skins. However, it's clear that these skins will be the crown jewels of the League skin collection, and will likely be the most expensive to buy and produce.

Here's the thing: getting your hands on Exalted skins is needlessly difficult. Trapped behind The Sanctum, Riot's gacha system, players must spend 400 RP per pull, with a base drop rate of 0.5% for Exalted skins. A bad-luck breakover system ensures you'll get a skin after 80 pulls, but the total cost of getting a set adds up to over $260. These skins are rare in terms of availability, but more importantly, they're expensive to the point of being inaccessible to many players.

This is a far cry from the past, where skins were available for direct purchase or through the grind of event passes. The premium Exalted skin tier is meant to be a luxury item, but it feels like a cruel joke thanks to the predatory monetization system Riot has created around it.

Arcane Fractured Jinx's Positive Contributions

While the business end of Arcane Fractured Jinx is problematic, the skin itself brings some interesting ideas to the table. As a representation of Jinx's fractured psyche, the skin's various features and design elements attempt to tell a narrative-driven cosmetic story. Here's what Arcane Fractured Jinx does well:

Features

Fractured Jinx features three unique forms that represent Jinx's character development in Arcane:

• "Menace" Jinx, a representation of her destructive personality.
• "Hero" Jinx, showcasing her inner conflict and redemption arc.
• "Powder" Jinx, a callback to her innocent childhood as Powder.

Issues

While an interesting concept, the execution is lacking. Complaints against the skin center around:

1. Slot-Machine Transformation Mechanic

Jinx's Ctrl+5 emote allows players to switch between forms during games. While this is a nice touch, the transformation mechanic is underwhelming due to the lack of unique animations or visual flair for each form.

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1. Visual and Audio Customization

• Alternate HUD elements that reflect Jinx's mental state and abilities, tying into the Arcane story.
• Form-specific voice lines

These details add depth to the skin, but we've seen similar treatment in Ultimate-tier skins like the famous Elemental Lux. The Fractured Jinx skin needs more than just cosmetic tweaks to feel premium.

What's Missing

1. New Animations: Arcane Jinx's form changes are hollow due to recycled animations,, they are slightly different, but you have to really look into it to notice it. Elementalist Lux's new animations for each form are a much better example of how to execute this mechanic.
2. Weapon Variety: Jinx's signature weapons are unchanged across forms, with only recolored VFX and no new model variations.
3. Nexus Finisher: As a premium skin, Arcane Fractured Jinx is missing one of the most important perks: a Nexus Finisher. This is inexcusable at the skin's price point.

What It Gets Right

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Arcane Fractured Jinx is a step in the right direction in terms of innovation, with its form-switching mechanic being a nice touch. Certainly moving skins to be lore driven is a nice touch. However, many will agree that it doesn't come close to justifying its $250 price or its Exalted tier placement. The skin's premium-ness is lacking, and it's a sad representation of what a $250 skin should be.

Increased Value, Decreased Quality

For example, let's look at Elementalist Lux, an Ultimate-tier skin from 2016, and compare it to Arcane Fractured Jinx, Riot's new Exalted-tier skin. While Arcane Fractured Jinx is priced at a whopping $250, Elementalist Lux was a mere $30.

Elementalist Lux is a masterclass in skin design, polish, and attention to detail. This 2016 skin features ten unique elemental forms, each with its own visual effects, voice lines, and animations. The skin is fully integrated into gameplay, and the form transitions showcase a level of care and craftsmanship that was well worth its price tag.

Arcane Fractured Jinx, on the other hand, is one of the most expensive skins in the game at $250, and is supposed to be the best of the best. It's doesn’t come close in quality to it’s price tag. With only three forms, it recycles animations and voice lines, and reuses two of the forms with the same weapon model, effectively giving players one unique design. The skin's narrative is incoherent, with "Menace" and "Hero" Jinx sharing the same outfit and design elements, causing confusion between the two personas. This skin feels rushed and was not worth the coordination and production time.

This is a problem because it's not the first skin that fits this bill. Many of the newer skins, especially those in the Exalted tier, are not just poorly designed but feel like cash-grabs. Riot is nickel-and-diming players, and it's time to confront the possibility that they're targeting a specific type of player.

Is Riot Moving Towards Premium Skins?

Riot Games appears to be focusing on premium skins for high-rollers. Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin's $200 gacha chroma and Faker's $500 Hall of Legends Ahri bundle were huge money-makers for Riot, and it seems like the developer is capitalizing on this trend with Exalted skins like Arcane Fractured Jinx. While Riot insists they'll continue creating content across all price points, it's clear they're prioritizing hyper-premium cosmetics.

This is problematic because it excludes content. Them's the aesthetics, and Riot needs to consider how their changes will affect their player base.

How Will This Affect the Skin Economy?

The gacha system and premium skin tiers have the potential to drastically change the in-game skin economy. Here are a few ways:

1. Existing Rare Skins Are Worth Less

With a new system that allows players to spend money on random chromas and skins, the value of rare skins like PAX Twisted Fate or Black Alistar could plummet. These skins were hard to obtain, and their rarity was a big part of their appeal. Now, players can simply throw money at Riot and wait for their desired skin to pop out of the gacha machine.

1. More Focus on Monetizing Casual Players

The Sanctum is a great way for Riot to monetize their casual playerbase, but it's a dirty way to do it. By making the majority of their skins inaccessible through play, Riot is setting their sights on the wallets of players who can't afford to waste 2000 BE on a bunch of random chromas.

1. Loss of Player Trust

The gacha system introduces randomness that many players hate. Even with bad luck protection, the cost to get a skin undermines the sense of accomplishment of getting cosmetics through gameplay.

1. New Skin Hierarchy

The skin economy may shift towards Exalted and premium-tier skins, creating a new pecking order. Players may focus on collecting these high-end skins instead of older rare skins, causing demand for legacy content to drop.

The Weird World of Skin Trading in League of Legends

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Gaming is all about trading in-game items, right? I mean, it's not like you boot up your favorite game and immediately set out to get the rarest, most exotic swords or sets of armor. No, you work for it. You farm it. You trade with friends for it. And if you're feeling fancy, you might even buy it from someone who's already acquired it.

Well, that's not exactly how things work in League of Legends. Sadly, Riot Games doesn't allow players to trade skins. At all. You can't trade a friend a PAX Twisted Fate skin for that cute, chubby Panda Annie skin your friend has been eyeing.

No, if you want a specific skin that is no longer available, you're stuck getting the entire champion account it's attached to. This is where things get weird. This is where people start paying top dollar for League of Legends accounts instead of individual skins.

This has created a thriving market for League of Legends account sales. This is where things get shady. This is where you'll find "trusted" sellers offering rare accounts for "cheap." This is where you'll encounter all sorts of scams and rip-offs. Mainly because Riot Games will always side with the original owner of the account.

But it's also where you'll find people paying hundreds of dollars for a PAX Twisted Fate or a Black Alistar account.

Now, I'm not here to judge. If you're willing to drop big bucks on a League of Legends account, that's your prerogative. Maybe it's a way to encourage players to spend more money in the shop in fear of missing out on rare skin like the new Arcane Fractured Jinx. I don't know. All I know is that people are paying a pretty penny for League accounts, and that's not going away anytime soon.

Trusted Trading Sites Are Getting Popular

To fill the void, a variety of "trading safe" sites have popped up. While most marketplaces connect buyers and sellers and do not prevent scams, where there is a problem there is a solution. With Riot Games not offering an official way to trade accounts, UnrankedSmurfs.com steps in as an escrow service that purchases accounts, secures them and then sells them at a profit after making sure they are safe.

So if you are looking for to buy a rare skin account, we recommend to take a look there.

If you are not sure what you are after or what’s rare check their skindex where you can browse almost all League of Legends skins.

Why UnrankedSmurfs.com Is The Best Skin Accounts trading website

• Full Account Recovery Info: They provide all the info you need to recover any account you purchase.
• Lifetime Guarantee: If you're scammed or banned, they will replace your accoun.
• 100% Safe Reviews: They've recovered from thousands of accounts and have a 5-star reputation.
• Huge Inventory: They have accounts in all price ranges, from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Riot's no-skin-trading rule created a monster. Prices for skins are silly high, and buying from second-hand sites is extremely risky. That said, sites like UnrankedSmurfs.com do offer a safe way to buy accounts. If you're looking to get your hands on a specific skin, I recommend checking them out. They're a great way to own up a cool account, and they're a lot less risky than dealing with random account sellers on social media or in open marketplaces.

Conclusion

Gacha systems in League are here to stay, and they're going to change the way we look at rare skins entirely. Exalted skins are Riot's chance to showcase their artistic and technical prowess, but at what cost? The price of admission is far too high, and it's time to consider the consequences of this new skin economy on the game we love.