Demystifying Blue Essence

There are those that continue to complain about the Blue Essence system which replaced the IP system quite some time ago. A lot of those complaints seem to stem from ambiguity baked into the new system. Luckily for us, we have plenty of information that we can use to calculate our returns.

Step 1: Baseline Assumptions Everyone’s gameplay habits are different, so we need to establish some base assumptions which hopefully apply to most of us.

1. EXP required per level continues to cycle after level 105 (The last level provided in the wiki)
2. Average Game Length: 25 Minutes
3. Average Games Per Day: 3
4. Average Basic Champion Capsule Value = 900
5. Average Glorious Champion Capsule Value = 2120

Step 2: The Old Before we can understand BE, we need to understand IP. Otherwise we have nothing to which we can compare our new returns. IP Per Win: 18+2.312x25 = 76 IP Per Loss: 16+1.405x25 = 51 Avg IP Per Game: 63 IP Per FWOTD: 150 Avg IP Per Game Including FWOTD: 113

Step 3: The New EXP Unfortunately the new system is not as straightforward. Before we can calculate BE per game, we need to understand EXP Per Game. Cumulative EXP at Lvl 30: 40560 Cumulative EXP at Lvl 105: 274032 Cumulative EXP between Lvl 30 and Lvl 105: 233472 Number of Games between Lvl 30 and Lvl 105: 75 Avg EXP per Lvl: 233472/75 = 3113

Step 4: The New EXP Earn Rate Now we can calculate the EXP earn rate, much the same way we calculated IP earlier. EXP Per Win: .11x25x60 = 165 EXP Per Loss: .09x25x60 = 135 Avg EXP Per Game: 150 EXP Per FWOTD: 400 Avg EXP Per Game including FWOTD: 283

Step 5: Games Per Level Now that we know EXP per level and Avg EXP Per Game Including FWOTD, we can calculate Avg Games Per Level Avg Games Per Level = 3113/283 = 11

Step 6: Reward in a Box, I mean, a Capsule Now that we know what it takes to earn a level, we need to also understand what we get out of it. Number of Basic Champion Capsules: 69 Number of Glorious Champion Capsules: 6 Expected BE Value of All BCCs: 69x900 = 62100 Expected BE Value of All GCCs: 6x900 = 12720 Expected BE Value of All Capsules: 62100+12720 = 74820 Expected BE Value of All FWOTDs: (50/3)x75x11 = 13750 Total Expected BE Value: 88570

Step 7: Bringing It All Together Now that we know the Total Expected BE Value and the Number of Games, we can calculate the magic number, our BE Per Game. BE Per Game: 88570/(75x11) = 107

Step 8: Conclusions At first glance, it looks like the whiners might have something (trivial) to complain about after all. When all is said and done, average BE per game is about 6 less than the old average IP per game. However, this doesn’t tell the whole story.

In the same reward scheme, the New System also provides:

1. Discounted pricing when you receive a shard that you want to convert to a permanent
2. 4 New Emotes
3. Summoner Icons
4. Ward Skins
5. Progressively rarer Summoner Icon Borders
6. Missions that award BE and/or other currencies which can be exchanged either directly or indirectly for champions and skins.
7. And, starting at level 150, you also start earning gemstones, which are significantly more valuable than any reward that was ever available for IP.

TLDR: The Blue Essence system is actually more generous, but much of its value is overshadowed by the complexity caked into it.