I'm still a little confused on Hextech crafting and obtaining Hextech Annie

Packun Flower·Mar 8, 2016·2 votes·2,116 views

Forgive me for being stupid about this. I'm more a hands on player and I am sure once I try the system for myself I'll start to understand it.

I get most of it, I'm just a little confused on how to obtain Hextech Annie. I understand that you need 10 gems to get it.

But when you say gems. do you mean those specific skin shards? or are the gems a rare drop all in their own.

Just how much grinding am I going to have to do to obtain Hextech Annie?

Any help clearing this up would be appreciated, thanks!

29 Comments

Old Man TeetoMar 8, 20161 votes

Gems are rare drops from Chests.

Each Gem can be instantly turned into a new Chest and Key to open it, or you can choose to save 10 of them to turn into the Hextech Annie skin.

I'm not on PBE, but my friends were saying they got one rare gem every 20 or so chests.

Packun FlowerMar 8, 20164 votes

[{quoted}](name=Old Man Teeto,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=khgt42vn,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2016-03-08T09:16:55.653+0000)

Gems are rare drops from Chests.

Each Gem can be instantly turned into a new Chest and Key to open it, or you can choose to save 10 of them to turn into the Hextech Annie skin.

I'm not on PBE, but my friends were saying they got one rare gem every 20 or so chests.

Oh, so they made the annie skin near impossible to get then.

Well isin;t that fun.

QuephaMar 9, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Oh, so they made the annie skin near impossible to get then.

Well isin;t that fun.

Yeah, Riot has basically no foresight on how frustrating they make things for players. They really won't understand something like "an adc with infinite dashes is super frustrating to play against and is also completely overpowered" or "gutting Cass's AP ratios and then giving them back at a certain timestamp feels like unfun shackles" until it hits live servers and players actively tell them how much they hate it for 6 full months.

Valderis VandalaMar 8, 20161 votes

So its going to take 4 years to get that skin?!

Rito please, this is just stupid.

Unless you can get more then 4 chests a month?

LevyathynMar 8, 20161 votes

You get one slot for an earned chest per week, so you actually get up to 52 a year. Beyond that, any chests you buy don't count towards that limit.

Valderis VandalaMar 8, 20161 votes

Yeah but thats gambling and ought to be illegal.

LevyathynMar 8, 20161 votes

Valderis VandalaMar 8, 20161 votes

I know I know, I'm a buzzkill on that subject.

LevyathynMar 8, 20161 votes

Nah, no fears.

Valderis VandalaMar 9, 20161 votes

But don't you think its a bad habit of games to do this?

Look at Magic the Gathering, how much money have people wasted on booster packs? Way to much and what do they have to show for it, just piles of the same common useless cards. Players would get much better value for their money if they did away with boosters and sold whole sets.

And thats with stuff you can actually hold in your hand, digital games are even worse.

LevyathynMar 9, 20161 votes

Yeah, I know, and it's hard to disagree. But it's also impossible to affect a change. There's something seductive about potential deals like this, and they often do work out in favor of the gambler, far more often than lotteries and even straight gambling games. But it's a technique applied to a lot of free-to-play games, as a way to sort of hedge everyone's bets.

People who want to take the chance end up better or worse off for it, but either way they're getting something at a discounted price, which is more than scratch-off tickets can say. The money goes into the company in smaller amounts but far more often, giving players solid if risky deals and the business in question more profit. So it's win/win with a little lose on both sides. And seeing as how it's in Riot's favor for players to have the worst luck, the numbers could be worse for us and people would still probably do it. But it's something. And if the numbers and odds aren't too bad on live once the Crafting actually hits, I won't mind too much.

QuephaMar 9, 20161 votes

But the idea of hextech Annie and hextech-exclusive content is actually against the goal of hextech chests, which is to provide discounted yet randomized content to players that may then discover something they like that they would otherwise not have tried. Hextech Annie is a SPECIFIC skin for a SPECIFIC champion with a SPECIFIC theme and look that appeals to certain players.

If a player wants Fizz but isn't getting a fizz shard from chests, that's fine for them because they can still unlock him with IP or RP, they can get what they want. But Hextech Annie is a specific skin that certain players will really want, and the only path they have towards it are randomized chests that provide zero progress towards what they want literally 95% of the time. The experience of them trying to farm chests and wait for Annie is not fun when they're looking at this 4 year (on average! it could be longer!) timeline and paying for more hextech chests is estimated to be something like the cost of 4 ultimate skins which is completely unreasonable for a skin that looks to be the quality of only a legendary skin.

Even spending the gems on the skin instead of more chests is foregoing something like 2500 RP worth of value from buying chests, and that being only a small part of the cost is very telling that this is a very frustrating unlock system that Riot has introduced.

LevyathynMar 9, 20161 votes

No, I agree with that. I like that it's an exclusive 'free' item, but I hate that people consider it free, because you're giving ten Hextech Crafting chests up, and whatever contents they may hold, for one skin you can't get anywhere else. And knowing how much time, effort, and possibly money/RP goes into it just makes it worse. But that's not really part of the normal Hextech system, and for a player who doesn't care about the skin, the rare gems are simply free rerolls.

Valderis VandalaMar 9, 20161 votes

Unless you truly don't care what you get out of it gambling is absolutely never a win-win system and its always stacked against you, otherwise there wouldn't be any profit in it.

It's not impossible to affect a change, its just that nobody cares because its just games and games are for kids and oh its just harmless fun (till the kid gets a hold of your credit card XD).

I see systems like this as a big middle finger to the players, its a sign of disrespect to me. Same as their RP store bullshit, I want them to use real currency in their store.

LevyathynMar 9, 20161 votes

Of course it's stacked against you, and on the individual level the experience varies and is mostly terrible. On the whole, however, there's a decent percentage of people that benefit from the system, get something they want and easily find the stuff to make it (in this case). The reason it's impossible to affect a change is because this active minority exists, and everybody wants to be in on it. Everyone wants to be the guy who gets three chests just from playing and unlocks them all to get a valued Legendary skin they want or the newest skin for their favorite champ. And it can and will happen.

Beyond that, you have to weigh the system in the metasystem that spawned it; Riot is by far not the best company for 'freebies' or content you get for nothing, and are widely seen as money-grubbing as corporate game companies get, which I feel isn't true. I know and will gladly tell you that they're skinflints to a high degree; I mean, they're even removing the 400 free RP new summoners get early on, because God forbid they make practical choices and get something as a reward without jumping through hoops or credit hoops to get it. And yes, I know, it combats botting--maybe. And then where was this a year ago when bot accounts basically ruined TT and Dominion? But, I digress.

All told, though, there's a lot Riot does it doesn't have to. Giving players more RP the more they purchase (something that actually makes RP purchases in the store more effective per dollar than cash would be, to address your RP point issue) is one of them. Lowering champion cost, IP grinding issues aside, is another. They also have Runes for no monetary cost and frequently put almost every tier of skin on sale, and even the ones unaffected by this will eventually be integrated into the early sale schema, or so they say.

Are they the best company for consumer satisfaction and reward? No, hell no, there's games that handle it much better, from DotA 2's free heroes and open market to Smite's God pack. But they definitely aren't the worst. Even discounting mobile games which are pure cancer, Riot straddles the fence between decent company and cash-sucking demonic entity pretty well. Obviously they must be, because people do spend money on it.

And you have to realize though that even within the chest system there's exactly that formula--some bullshit, and some good shit. Free chests, free keys; that's a hell of a lot better than some games manage. But yeah, it's a grind for keys and a grind to S for chests, with stupid limitations on them. Give Riot time, and then we'll see where chests are headed. Either they'll sharpen up their numbers and make it possible for anyone with less than $150 to burn to get Hextech Annie, or they'll somehow make it worse, we'll see.

Valderis VandalaMar 9, 20161 votes

If on the individual level the experience is mostly terrible then on the whole there's not going to be a decent percentage of people that benefit, those two statements can't coexist.

I also don't see why wanting to be the guy that gets what they want from a few chests has to do with getting rid of the sales aspect of chests which would prevent it from being gambling. You're not really making sense here. If you can't buy it then it ain't gambling.

Giving more RP the more RP you buy isn't something that works in our favor, they adjust their prices in order to provide this, so really they are just getting more money from people that spent only a little. Their cute little special currency store needs to be abolished so we can get proper prices with real world currency so we can get actual refunds and some fucking consumer rights.

Giving them time isn't going to solve this kind of bullshit, only public outrage will.

Look, I don't mind the chests and keys, its fine, people can have fun with them and get some free stuff, its great. Just don't sell them. And as long as you can win them in any game mode, this summoners rift favoritism needs to stop.

LevyathynMar 9, 20161 votes

You seem intent on disagreeing with me no matter what, so I'll just try to be clearer.

First, the people choose the experience. The people know they're going to get something more or less random for their roll, and they desire to do so anyway. The ones that get paid off for it are the mean goal to drive everyone towards taking the chance in the first place, which factors into #2 below. But the end product is that a percentage of people end up satisfied with the results, so it's not 100% bad. Anything under that number is negotiation and luck.
My argument is that people want to score deals. They don't want to pay 1,350 RP for a new skin if they might can get it out of a chest. So why not try the chest? If everyone thought like you, the chests would never sell, and maybe Riot would need to make other deals to sell RP, maybe not, but they'd approach it differently. But that's my point, there are enough people willing to take the chance, and that makes it financially sound for Riot to follow through on.
It still does create a mean conversion of currency to Riot points, whether or not the angles are skewed at the beginning. Once League has taken its own life and years have passed, which is the case now, prices reach a certain point and the economy of the game takes off to create currency relative values for in-game store items. This value is then enhanced by the nature of Riot points from then on, and that's not counting the altered value of the overall game and the items therein based simply on the upgrade of quality, something a relative version of inflation has yet to tack.

I can agree about the refunds and about a lot of their other tactics. I'm under no illusions as to Riot's philanthropism, not after their Chroma debut, but I'm also not blind to what they do good, either.

Valderis VandalaMar 9, 20161 votes

Lol, yeah sorry I think I may be a contrarian by nature. XD If that's even the correct word for it, I'm not sure. But that's not to say that I don't truly disagree with you, I do.

But seriously, only idiots buy something just because other people get lucky. We call these people suckers.

I think its more along the lines of people don't want to spent that absurd amount of money just to unlock a fucking texture that already exists on their hard drive anyway instead of hoping for a better deal, buuuut I may be projecting a little bit here. I mean there are a lot of rock stupid kids out there that don't know any better or are just spending there parents cash anyway. But I don't actually know the statistics of LoL player age groups so eh... shrugs

The thing is, Casinos are also financially sound, but that doesn't mean they are good for us. And while I can name things about Riot that they do well, I've yet to see the company do a moral good. And why would they, they are not in business to do moral things, they are in business to make money.

And I have no idea what your going on about in point 3.

LevyathynMar 9, 20161 votes

Nah, don't worry about it. I'd rather an open if heated debate than hostile and blank ignoring from either side.

And yeah, it's... what it is. For me, it's a complicated issue. I generally have a lot of the skins I want in this game; League is fun, and I don't mind giving Riot my money when they have so many sales and they put out a good product. I get angry at the balance sometimes and go weeks or months without dipping much into the game, or my wallet, but for the times I can get on League and enjoy it with my uncle, I think that's been worth what I paid for it. And I do appreciate having some of my favorite skins, too.

For gambling, I don't mind. I know exactly what the cost of every Mystery Chest is, and I'm sure I'll dip into the Hextech coffers too, and pay a little out of pocket for some, but I have my reasons. For Mystery Gifts and Chests, I prefer giving. It's a bit circular, giving and receiving them, but there is something important about sending it instead of just getting it for yourself. And my luck tends to stray onto the 'giving' side, so I've actually doled out about eight times or more worth of mystery items to various friends, including no less than four Legendary skins received total between a few of them, as well as more than a few good 975-1,350 tier skins. I've gotten... well, less. =) But that's why I do it.

As for Hextech Crafting, all you need to know about me is that I take care of my disabled mother--it's pretty much what I do with my life and job--and she adores grab bags, random items, and gambling of all kinds. She's pretty keen on it, and I on letting her enjoy things like that, so I'm sure every single Hextech Chest I earn or buy (and I'm sure I'll buy a few) will have her crowing over my shoulder, picking through the champions and skins I could unlock for which one she specifically wants to aim for getting me. And I'm fine with that.

To each his or her own, but for some people, it's not that important what you get; maybe you have one single skin in the entire game you want, or five, or eighteen, or you have more than seventy champions unlocked and wouldn't mind getting about 50% of the skins for them, and that's all well and good. For those people, Mystery Gifts/Chests and now Hextech Crafting will be a net result of giving them something for cheaper than they'd otherwise get it for. And if they can be happy about it, so can I.

Valderis VandalaMar 15, 20161 votes

And so you keep feeding the addicts, but whatever. XD

You seem to have replied to your own post, I found it by accident, if it wasn't for GoldenCobra336. Not that I have anything else to say.

Thanks for the talk. I'm glad you at least got your money's worth out of the game. Good luck out there.

EDIT: This forum seems to get weird once threats get too long, can't see if this post is replying to the correct post. I hope it finds you, never mind the deleted post, it was a copy on this one.

Thevoidwalker336Mar 15, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Valderis Vandala,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=khgt42vn,comment-id=00000001000000000000000000000000,timestamp=2016-03-09T00:20:45.521+0000)

But don't you think its a bad habit of games to do this?

Look at Magic the Gathering, how much money have people wasted on booster packs? Way to much and what do they have to show for it, just piles of the same common useless cards. Players would get much better value for their money if they did away with boosters and sold whole sets.

And thats with stuff you can actually hold in your hand, digital games are even worse.

or star wars galaxy of heros.......these microtransactions suck id rather pay more to get the skin then pay lil n have a .01% of getting the skin, cuz in the end ull end up paying more then if they just slapped on a bigger price tag.

welp looks like another skin ill never get to see can put this one into the bag with midevil twitch n ufo corki sigh

AsphodelNextMar 8, 20161 votes

52 chests/year*4 years=208 chests. If you get one gem per 20 chests, you'll need 200 chests to get 10 gems for Hextech Annie. So yeah, pretty much 4 years.

Also, keep in mind you have to keep getting S ranks with new champions you haven't gotten S rank with that year. So that could take you more than a thousand games to do, if you only get S rank once every 5 games or so.

Packun FlowerMar 8, 20161 votes

{quoted}

52 chests/year*4 years=208 chests. If you get one gem per 20 chests, you'll need 200 chests to get 10 gems for Hextech Annie. So yeah, pretty much 4 years.

Also, keep in mind you have to keep getting S ranks with new champions you haven't gotten S rank with that year. So that could take you more than a thousand games to do, if you only get S rank once every 5 games or so.

I really really think Riot needs to rethink their drop rates for these chests.

Hentai LewdsMar 11, 20161 votes

you can buy chests from the shop with RP ...... R.I.P wallet

LevyathynMar 8, 20161 votes

That seems about it, unfortunately.

RookPusherMar 8, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Valderis Vandala,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=khgt42vn,comment-id=00000001,timestamp=2016-03-08T10:52:55.005+0000)

So its going to take 4 years to get that skin?!

Rito please, this is just stupid.

Unless you can get more then 4 chests a month?

Yeah but what's worse is playing Annie. ;)

Valderis VandalaMar 8, 20161 votes

True that.

She's fine for beginners as a laner but beyond that she's useless.

She is adorable though. XD Such a cute little thing just hopping around with her tiny back pack and teddy bear just setting stuff on fire.

I really wish she was more playable like all the other mages, her kit kinda sucks.

Mysticman89Mar 9, 20161 votes

Two things I do want to point out though regarding rare gem acquisition is that the drop rate might change before hextech annie is actually released (or the required number of gems might change), and also that special promo chests are a thing that have different drop rates to them.

It's possible that the promo chests might have relatively good odds for rare gems, and/or there might be lots of promo reward opportunities. They've also mentioned they might link other rewards to the hextech crafting system, so perhaps rare gems for ranked performance and other sources along those lines might make hextech annie that much more achievable through play rather than needing to essentially gamble via bulk buying chests via rp.