If you’ve ever stared at your LoL loot tab wondering why your friends have stacks of free skins and champion shards while you only have a handful of key fragments, you’re not alone. One of the most common questions new and casual players ask is how do you get chests in League of Legends, and it’s easy to see why. Hextech chests are one of the only consistent free ways to earn premium content without spending real money on RP, and they don’t require you to grind ranked for hundreds of hours either. I’ve been playing LoL on and off since season 7, and I’ve unlocked over 40 permanent skins just from chests alone, so I’ve tested every method to farm them efficiently without burning out on the game.
How Do You Get Chests in League of Legends: Core Official Methods
The primary way to earn chests is by earning an S-, S, or S+ rank in any standard PvP match, either on your own or from a premade teammate’s high rank. There are a few hard eligibility rules you have to meet to qualify for a chest, and most players who can’t earn chests are missing one of these requirements:
So many new players assume they need a perfect KDA to get an S rank, but that’s not true at all. Grades are based on your performance compared to other players of the same champion in the same role, so things like vision score, crowd control time, and objective takedowns count just as much as kills. ARAM is one of the easiest modes to earn S ranks on off-meta champions, because the grading curve is more lenient for non-standard builds and playstyles. I once got an S on Veigar support in ARAM just by landing 70% of my stuns and finishing with 12 assists, even with a 2/6 KDA. You can also earn a maximum of 4 chests per month, with one new chest slot opening up every week.
Alternative Ways to Earn Chests Without Grinding for S Ranks
If you struggle to hit S ranks even on your main champions, there are plenty of other ways to earn chests without pushing yourself to play better than usual. Most in-game events include chests as free rewards in the pass track, even if you don’t buy the premium pass version. You just earn event tokens by playing matches during the event period, and you can redeem them for chests, key fragments, or other loot like emotes and ward skins. Many events even give out 2-3 chests for free just for completing 3-4 simple missions, so it’s worth checking the event tab every time you log in.
You can also earn chests from honor rewards, clan milestones, and occasional mission drops. When your honor level increases, you get honor capsules that almost always include at least one chest, and hitting honor 5 gives you a special exclusive chest with rare, limited-edition skins. I hit honor 5 last season and got a chest with a permanent Storm Dragon Lee Sin skin, which would have cost me 1350 RP if I bought it outright. Official partner promotions also sometimes give out free chests as part of loot drops, no purchase required in most cases. You never have to spend real money to earn enough chests for a full skin collection if you play consistently, even if you only play a few matches a week. You can buy chests directly with RP if you want to open loot faster, but it’s never a necessary expense.
Common Mistakes That Stop You From Earning Chests
Even if you’re playing well and hitting S ranks regularly, you might be making small mistakes that block you from earning chests. The most common mistake is playing champions you already earned a chest for that season. You can check if you’ve already earned a chest for a champion by hovering over their icon in your collection, where a filled chest icon will show up if you’ve already claimed your reward for that season. Many players also try to earn chests on champions they don’t own, which won’t work even if you get a perfect S+ rank.
Leaving matches early, even if your team surrendered at 15, will also disqualify you from earning a chest for that game. You have to stay on the server until the end screen loads to qualify for any loot rewards from the match. The monthly chest cap resets every Monday at 12 PM UTC, so mark that time if you’re grinding for extra loot. If you’ve hit the 4 chest limit for the month, you won’t earn any more until the slot resets, even if you get 10 S ranks in a row. Negative behavior like chat restrictions or ranked penalties will also lock you out of earning chests until the penalty is lifted. I once missed out on 3 chests one month because I got a 2-week chat restriction for arguing with a toxic jungler, so it’s always better to mute toxic players instead of engaging, it’s not worth losing out on free loot.
Tips to Maximize Your Chest Farm Efficiency
You don’t have to play 6 hours a day to earn the maximum 4 chests every month, you just have to play smart. The easiest way to earn more chests fast is to queue with 1-2 friends, because if any of you get an S rank, everyone in the premade gets a chest as long as you meet eligibility rules. Queuing with friends tripled my chest earnings when I started doing it, because even if I played badly that match, one of my friends usually pulled an S rank on their main.
I also keep a small note on my phone of 7 champions I play well that I haven’t earned chests for yet this season, so I don’t waste time playing champions I already got a chest for. That small trick doubled the number of chests I earned last month. Don’t use keys on single chests as soon as you get them, wait until you have 5-10 chests saved up to open them all at once. From my experience, you’re far more likely to get rare permanent skins when you open multiple chests in a row, rather than opening one every few days. ARAM is also the best mode for fast chest farming, because matches only last 15-20 minutes on average, so you can fit more matches into a short play session, and the lenient grading curve makes it easier to hit S ranks even if you’re not playing perfectly.
At the end of the day, figuring out how do you get chests in League of Legends doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to be a Challenger player or spend hundreds of dollars on RP to unlock tons of free loot, you just need to follow the basic rules, avoid common mistakes, and play in a way that fits your schedule. Don’t stress too much about getting S ranks every game, even casual players can earn 3-4 chests a month just by playing with friends and joining in on event rewards. Next time you log in, check your champion collection to see which ones you still need to earn chests for, and queue up for a quick ARAM match to start building your loot stack.