If you’ve ever stared at a fellow summoner’s flashy, animated champion skin after a brutal team fight and wondered where they got it, you’re not alone. Cosmetics are one of the most fun parts of playing League of Legends, letting you customize your favorite champions to match your playstyle and personality, no stat boosts attached. If you’re just starting out and looking for ways to expand your collection, we’re breaking down exactly how to get skins on League of Legends, with no sketchy third-party sites or account bans involved.
Free Methods to Get Skins on League of Legends
You don’t have to spend a single cent to build a solid skin collection in LoL. Riot adds dozens of free cosmetic rewards to the game every year, and most players can earn at least 3 to 5 free skins annually just by playing regularly. The most reliable free options include:
- Hextech Crafting loot drops: You earn chests and keys for earning S ranks on any champion you own, and these can drop skin shards, permanent skins, or orange essence to upgrade shards to full skins.
- Event pass free reward tracks: Almost every major in-game event includes a free track with skin shards, chromas, and even full permanent skins for completing simple daily and weekly missions.
- Prime Gaming monthly drops: If you have an active Amazon Prime subscription, you can claim a free LoL skin and other cosmetic rewards every single month, no extra cost required.
- Riot official giveaways: Follow official Riot Games social media accounts or watch partnered LoL streamers during major events for chances to win free skin codes for limited-edition skins.
You get one free chest per champion per season, so it’s worth trying out different champions to earn S ranks even if you don’t main them. Keys drop randomly from match wins, so you’ll usually accumulate enough to open all the chests you earn without having to buy them from the store. For players who don’t want to spend any real money, these free methods are the perfect answer to how to get skins on League of Legends without spending a dime. I’ve pulled multiple legendary skins from random chests over the years, so it’s well worth taking 10 extra seconds to open your loot after every match. Just make sure you don’t waste orange essence on low-effort skins you’ll never use, save it for champions you play regularly.
Budget-Friendly Paid Options for Expanding Your Skin Collection
If you’re willing to spend a little bit of money on your collection, there are tons of high-value options that give you way more for your money than buying full-price skins directly from the store. Even if you have a small budget for RP, there are tons of affordable ways to get skins on League of Legends without overspending.
Weekly store sales cut skin prices by up to 50% every single week, so if you have your eye on a specific skin, wait a few months and it will almost certainly go on sale. Upgrading a skin shard with orange essence costs 60% less than buying the skin full price in the store, so that’s the best value if you get a shard for a skin you want. The paid event pass costs around 1650 RP, which is roughly $10, and if you complete all the weekly missions, you’ll earn enough tokens to get an exclusive prestige skin, plus two to three other event-exclusive skins, chromas, emotes, and thousands of orange essence. That’s way more value than spending 1650 RP on one single epic skin in the store.
If you’re on a super tight budget, wait for the annual Skin Sale event in December, where hundreds of skins are marked down by up to 70% for a limited time. I usually stock up on all the skins on my wishlist during that sale, and I save over $50 a year compared to buying skins at full price. You should never buy skin codes from third-party resellers—most of them are stolen, used, or fake, and Riot will ban your account if you redeem a code obtained through unofficial channels.
Limited-Edition Skins: How to Secure Rare Cosmetics Before They’re Gone
Some of the most popular skins in LoL are only available for a short window of time, and many of them rarely come back after their initial release. If you’re curious how to get skins on League of Legends that most other players won’t have, limited-edition collab and prestige skins are the way to go.
Prestige skins are only available for a limited time during their associated event, so if you want one, you need to grind event tokens before the event ends, or wait 1-2 years for them to return in the mythic shop for mythic essence. Mythic essence is earned from event passes, Hextech crafting, and occasional mission rewards, and you can use it to buy old prestige skins, mythic skins, and rare chromas that aren’t available anywhere else. Don’t waste your mythic essence on chromas or low-tier skins, save it for prestige skins for your favorite champions, since they’re the most valuable and rarest cosmetics in the game.
Legacy skins, like the old Christmas or Halloween skins, are only available for a few weeks every year during the Legacy Vault opening, usually around the end of the year, so mark your calendar if you’re looking for an old holiday skin. Collab skins like the Arcane, K/DA, or One Piece lines are even rarer, and Riot rarely brings them back after their initial release window. I missed out on the original Arcane Jinx skin when it first came out, and I waited almost two years for it to come back, so don’t make the same mistake I did if a collab skin you love drops.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Skin Collection
When you’re first learning how to get skins on League of Legends, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of new skin drops and make impulsive purchases you’ll later regret. There are a few common mistakes that almost every new player makes, and avoiding them will save you both money and frustration in the long run.
New players often spend all their RP on the first cool skin they see, only to regret it a week later when they find a skin for their main champion they love way more. I recommend making a wishlist of skins for champions you play at least once a week, and only buy skins from that list to avoid wasting money. Another common mistake is wasting orange essence on chromas for skins you don’t even own. Chromas are fun, but they’re only useful if you already have the base skin, so prioritize upgrading skin shards for champions you play regularly before buying chromas.
Don’t fall for scams that promise free skins if you log into a third-party site with your Riot account information. These sites are almost always phishing scams that will steal your account, and Riot will never ask you for your password outside of the official Riot login page. If a deal for free skins seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. I’ve had multiple friends lose their accounts they’ve had for years because they tried to get free skins from a sketchy site, so it’s just not worth the risk.
At the end of the day, building a skin collection should be a fun side part of playing LoL, not something you stress over or spend money you can’t afford on. Whether you’re sticking to free loot drops or splurging on a limited-edition skin for your main, there are tons of safe, legitimate options to choose from when you’re figuring out how to get skins on League of Legends. Take your time, plan your purchases, and don’t forget to show off your new cosmetics the next time you land a perfect pentakill.