2018 Season and Honor Help Desk

ModPorocles·Jan 16, 2018·10 votes·12,448 views

Hello everyone,
The 2018 season is finally here with some changes to the Honor system as well. For this reason we would like to address some of the most common questions here on the Boards.
We hope this will help you, while you take your first step and begin your journey in 2018!

RANKED

As in previous seasons, your rank will be soft-reset at the start of the season. Your new rank will be based off of both your existing MMR and your performance in 10 placement games.
These are some of the FAQ about the placement matches:

My rank is lower than it should be compared to last year

Almost everyone places lower on the ladder at the start of the season than they ended the previous season. Last season’s rank, along with preseason matches, are taken into account when determining placement. Remember that your initial placement is only the start of your journey!

My friend and I played all our placement matches together but got different ranks

Your MMR from last season, along with your preseason matches, are taken into account when determining placement. So, it’s very possible to queue with another player for all ten matches, and end up at different ranks. For the same reason, it’s possible that you have better or worse results during your placement matches and you or your friends end up on a higher or lower rank.

Can you reset my placement or MMR?

Nope we can’t do that in any case. Keep in mind that this is your starting point for the season, not your final destination. So you have the whole season to fight your way up in the ladder throughout each game!

I can’t queue with my friends

Placement matches are restricted based on your rank from last season. You’ll be considered Silver tier during the placement matches if you were unranked. You can find a full list of queue restrictions here.

HONOR

Like ranked, Honor resets with the season start as well so you can unlock new rewards that level up when you do. In addition to that, a renewed Honor system is live, we have put some common question below, but you can find all the details in the Honor website and in the Honor FAQ.

How does my Honor level reset if I was Honor 3, 4, or 5?

Everyone starts between Honor levels 2 and 3. If you finished with a high Honor standing before the new season started, you start closer to upgraded rewards in the new season. You can see the different Honor checkpoint here under Honor level reset.

If I get reset to level 2.3, don't I miss out on the checkpoints between level 2 and level 3?

Starting from the 2.3 checkpoint will allow you to reach higher Honor level earlier and therefore better rewards like the Honor orbs, which start to drop when you reach checkpoints past Honor level 3. In addition, even though checkpoints stop after level 5, you still get level 5 Orbs at the same intervals as checkpoints and starting from a higher checkpoint will give you the possibility to get there earlier.

How does my Honor level reset if I was below Honor level 2?

If you were below Honor level 2 before the new season started, you’ll stay right there at season start.

Do all my key fragments still drop through Honor?

Yes. When we updated Honor last year we decided all key fragments would drop through the new feature. That’s still the case even if the Honor system has been renewed this season.

Is it possible to get both the Medieval Twitch and Grey Warwick skins this season, since we only get the one Level 5 capsule with those skins?

No, it is not possible to get both in a single season, you will receive one or the other. The trade off is the guarantee of at least one, which was not present last season. Previously you were not guaranteed to earn either of these skins, but this year you are guaranteed to earn at least one in your level 5 honor capsule.

Let us know if you have any additional questions! Good luck and see you in the Rift!

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55 Comments

PsyrikJan 16, 20187 votes

I dont see why we cant get the 2.1 and 2.2 rewards as well as the rest of the rewards earlier lol

ModBroporoJan 16, 20184 votes

We started more honorable people a little higher so they essentially get the better rewards faster since they were able to remain honorable. The checkpoint rewards at 2.1/2.2 would give you 2 key fragments, which you also get at rank 3 checkpoints and on, so you're getting better rewards quicker by starting at 2.3!

mattymaatsJan 16, 20182 votes

The wording was "possibility" of a reward as it depends on mostly random people giving you commends to level up. If you look at it from the fact of player A starting at 2.3 and player B starting at 2.0 and compare the rewards both get by the time they reach honor 5 then player B will have 6 key frags extra. Can you please explain how that's a reward for player A other than maybe being able to get to honor 5 quicker.

Wont0nJan 16, 20183 votes

AFAIK once you hit honor level 5 there will be infinite checkpoints after honor level 5 that give the best "checkpoint" rewards, so player A will get to those rewards faster.

mattymaatsJan 16, 20181 votes

Thanks for repeating above but that's not what we're talking about here, if you look at just getting to honor 5 then the pip bumped player is getting less rewards. Also it doesn't guarantee that the pip bumped player will get to those _better _ rewards quicker as it's all based on people honoring you so the player who didn't get to honor 5 last season could still get there quicker. Meaning the people who skipped those 3 pips missed out on the 6 frags.

HyperionCHJan 17, 20182 votes

{quoted}

Thanks for repeating above but that's not what we're talking about here, if you look at just getting to honor 5 then the pip bumped player is getting less rewards.

If you start at a lower level, you get more rewards till reach level 5, thats right. But you need more games to get this goal.

For example:

start at level 2.0: you need around 400 games till level 5
start at level 2.3 you need around 350 games till level 5, but you get 3 rewards less than at start at level 2.0

But you have to compare whart a player gets with the same effort (games played).

with 350 games played: With start at level 2.3 the player gets the level 5 reward. With start at level 2.0 the player is only on level 4 and don't get the level 5 reward.
with 400 games played: Both players get the same amount of rewards and are on level 5. But the player which starts at level 2.3 gets the better rewards (3 additional rewards on level 5 -> the other player gets 3 rewards at level 2 only instead)

So with the same effort the player gets always the better rewards if he starts on a higer level.

Also it doesn't guarantee that the pip bumped player will get to those _better _ rewards quicker as it's all based on people honoring you so the player who didn't get to honor 5 last season could still get there quicker. Meaning the people who skipped those 3 pips missed out on the 6 frags.

But the chance to get the level 5 reward earlier is higher if you start at a higher level. And after several hundert games it's not really material which mates a player has ingame. After a lot of games it's more important how to act with the mates than what mates a player has.

mattymaatsJan 17, 20181 votes

You're example goes on the idea that it takes X games to get to level 5 when it could take Player B 500 games but player A 900 games because they get less commends not because they are a bad player or toxic at all but because they are put in games with people who hardly honor, they could not be very vocal or a MLG player.

Even if the boost is there it's not a reward it's just skipping reward tiers which I don't see how that's a bonus in a pretty much RNG on top of a RNG system. If it does take say 10 honors per pip in level 2 but 200+ per pip in level 5 then it is a really small bonus, hardly worth thanking Riot for if you look at it that way.. The other thing as well is that we cannot see how far it is between reward levels so it can be nerfed without the playerbase even knowing.

What is wrong with rewarding the previous honor 5 players with the pip rewards they should/would have gotten, really not sure why people are OK with it as if enough people actually voice their complaints it would actually be dealt with.

HyperionCHJan 17, 20181 votes

{quoted}

You're example goes on the idea that it takes X games to get to level 5 when it could take Player B 500 games but player A 900 games because they get less commends not because they are a bad player or toxic at all but because they are put in games with people who hardly honor, they could not be very vocal or a MLG player.

I use the ceteris paribus principle. As I wrote: with the same player behaviour it is very unlikely that two players get a big different amount of honors after 500+ games.

To get unusual often mates who hardly honor is similar to get unusual often toxic players/trolls/ragequiter in the own team (and rarely in the enemy team) or get unusual often high elo smurf in the enemy team (and rarely in the own).

Even if the boost is there it's not a reward it's just skipping reward tiers which I don't see how that's a bonus in a pretty much RNG on top of a RNG system. If it does take say 10 honors per pip in level 2 but 200+ per pip in level 5 then it is a really small bonus, hardly worth thanking Riot for if you look at it that way.. The other thing as well is that we cannot see how far it is between reward levels so it can be nerfed without the playerbase even knowing.

After so much games it isn't RNG to get level 5. It's the result of a kindly player behaviour. And Riot wrote that on level 5 you need the same effort (amount of honors) to get a reward than in level 2. But the level 5 rewards are better. So there is no "skipping". You get the same amount of rewards no matter you start. The start level affects only the quality of the rewards (higher start = higher quality of rewards from the beginning).

And why you need to know how far you are till the next level reward? What do you plan? Reach the level 5 reward and then you plan to be toxic because you get one of the rare skins?

Yes, perhaps Riot "nerfed" the honor system and it will be harder to get level 5 (-> more honors needed to reach level 5). But for players which act alwars kindly that doesn't matter. OK, it will take longer (5 months instead of 3-4 months) but they will get the level 5 reward skin (if they haven't both skins already). And these players won't change they player behaviour after reach level 5 because it's normal for them to act friendly.

What is wrong with rewarding the previous honor 5 players with the pip rewards they should/would have gotten, really not sure why people are OK with it as if enough people actually voice their complaints it would actually be dealt with.

To be honest: Riot gives rewards for a behaviour that should be naturally. I didn't change my behaviour with this honor system because for me it's normal to be kind in a online game (or in RL).

AltiverseJan 16, 20182 votes

You continue to get rewards even after Lv5. That means that player A will have more key frags, since at the time that player B gets his rewards from the last checkpoints to level 5, player A gets Level 5 rewards, which are better.

mattymaatsJan 17, 20181 votes

If Player A gets to honor 5 quicker, it's not a guarantee that he will it's like placing in F1 as an example, just because the person who starts at the front doesn't mean they're going to win. Not sure how that's slipping past people here.

HyperionCHJan 17, 20181 votes

{quoted}

If Player A gets to honor 5 quicker, it's not a guarantee that he will it's like placing in F1 as an example, just because the person who starts at the front doesn't mean they're going to win. Not sure how that's slipping past people here.

But it's not the target to get the level 5 reward first. So it's important to reach the finish line (in honor system: level 5).

And the F1 driver on pole position has a lot of advantages to reach the finish line earlier than the driver on last position:

he has lead at the start
his skill (or car) seems to better than those of the driver on last position
it is very difficult for the driver on last position to gain on the deficit

And in this honor system it is nearly the same:

the players on "pole" (2.3 start) have a lead at start (shorter way to level 5 than on start at 2.0)
the players on "pole" seems to have the better "skill" because there is a reason why they was level 5 in season 7 and not level 2.
it is very difficult for player with start at 2.0 to gain on the deficit against 2.3 -> they have to improve they player behaviour to climb quicker

And as I wrote: it's not important to reach level 5 as the first in NA/EUW/etc. If a player want the one of the two rare skins, he should act kindly ingame. That's all. It's not important how many players reach level 5 before him.

mattymaatsJan 17, 20181 votes

I think you have far too much free time on your hands, I'm sorry but I'm not wasting mine by replying to all of that but that does not mean that your wall of text is correct. Regardless players boosted to 2.3 are missing out on those 6 frags and I don't see at any point that's a fair reward end of.

Simple way, if someone said you need to walk down a road and every step you take you get a reward with a big prize being at the end of the road. They tell you that they can move you 3 steps closer to the end of the road but you'll loose those first 3 steps rewards or you can start at the beginning and get them all. Would you choose to be 3 steps closer to the end of the road? Most people wouldn't and that's because it's known as known as loss aversion even if it does net them the juicy prize quicker most people would rather not loose out on potential rewards they would have gotten.

AltiverseJan 17, 20181 votes

That may have been right if you compared between two different people. In our case, we're comparing between a player that was Lv5 and if he were hypothetically Lv2. Since the post-Lv5 new honor rewards are distributed at the same intervals as pre-Lv5 checkpoints, the cumulative rewards-to-time is better.

THE D1CJan 16, 20185 votes

You point out that MMR not your previous rank helps determin where you get placed, yet MMR is an invisible value that we have no option to see. If it was just possible to have people see “Gold 4, 1250mmr” people wouldn’t be so quick to say “matchmaking is broken” they could actually keep track of the trends. When playing ranks hurts them more than helps etc.

VyupraxJan 16, 20183 votes

Why do all the people who got honor 5 last season have to miss out on 2.1 and 2.2 though? Its like riot is punishing us for being sportsmanlike or something. I understand we will get to honor 5 quicker, but can we at least get the rewards from 2.1 and 2.2?

InfernapeJan 16, 20183 votes

Well the rewards get better the further up the honour system you go. So if you start at honour level 2, checkpoint 3, technically you'd get the better rewards sooner.

ModBroporoJan 16, 20181 votes

Divinus has the right idea here. The rewards do get better as the ranks go up, and the orbs you get at checkpoints generally only have 2 key fragments and a small amount of BE. If you were at the lowest level, you'd get those better rewards a little slower.

There was also a really good discussion going on in the PBE forums when this was being tested earlier on! https://boards.pbe.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/client-new-features-feedback/HIZAeknK-honor-season-2018-on-pbe?comment=00140000

ZechmeisterFeb 4, 20182 votes

I felt like i was being punished. Took me nearly 6 mths to reach honor 5 last year and i play at least 4 hours everyday. The fact we are punished for trying to be nice to people is quite aggravating makes me not want to try anymore..... We dont even get our chkpt rewards........ champions cant be rerolled anymore......... also i own every champ and have like 70k BEssence left over after buying everything in the store. Now i cant buy anything BE is useless atm and getting champion shards constantly from these lvl up capsules seems even more useless for me.

rtbf225618241Jan 16, 20183 votes

Pretty sad that my Twitch and WW skins have no sentimental value anymore. I got them through the friend referral system and now anyone can "earn" them just by playing.

o brigid oJan 17, 20182 votes

Your sentiment is attached the referral of and playing with your friends.

It shouldn't have shit to do with if other people do or don't have access to skins.

rtbf225618241Jan 17, 20183 votes

No. That's a completely different thing. It's not like i attained my friends by referring League to them. They propably would have started playing it anyway. I got the skin from a feature that went away, turning it into Limited edition. Other people put no effort in and get it for free. You're essentially saying that the skins have no value because people can get it for free if they want to. Fuck that, they don't deserve them seeing as gaining Honor takes literally no effort. I put countless hours in, looking for dozens of people to get those exclusive skins. Now they're worth nothing. By your logic, Human Ryze and Black Alistar should be available too because it doesn't matter how much time you put into earning something.

o brigid oJan 18, 20181 votes

Sorry but talking people into using your referral link to play a game that most of them would have already played isn't really that much effort. And people who get enough honor to earn a skin ARE putting in lots of effort because it requires an entire season of honorable play. You can look at the boards and see plenty of people complaining about being honor locked or honor taking too long to accrue. So it's not just as free and easy as you're making it out. Certainly not any easier than what you did to earn the skins. You didn't spend any money to buy these skins, and neither are people earning them through honor.

And honestly, if the only reason you like a skin is bc you think other people don't have it... seems like a pretty sad way to live life.

rtbf225618241Jan 18, 20183 votes

Considering that convincing people into playing a game that i come up with isn't easy, which i never said it was, is something i did over 20 times while looking for said people, i'd say i put a ton of effort in it. I searched for those people and put a ton of time in. "A whole Season of Honorable play" the fuck outta here, it's literally just don't be a toxic asshole in game. Huge effort. You're still gonna get it by the end of the Season. Tyler1 already has Honor 4 in less than a month because he gets showered in Honors all the time. An average person will still get those skins by doing nothing but playing which requires 0 effort. It's like bribing you to be sportsmanlike which should be mandatory.

And honestly, if the only reason you like a skin is bc you think other people don't have it... seems like a pretty sad way to live life.

It's called having something exclusive. It gives the skins more value through rarity. I bet you're just arguing against me because you don't have either so you're clearly biased.

TheDrácoJan 17, 20183 votes

I got out of dishonor lvl 0 to honor lvl 1 before the patch. Why am I suddenly back to 0 after the patch?

Banana 18 BroJan 16, 20182 votes

Won 10 games 0 defeats - placed in Silver 2. Was Diamond 5 last season.

MissHollymonsterJan 16, 20184 votes

You were Diamond in Flex. You were Bronze in Solo. Flex queue and solo queue have different MMR's. Your placement is based off your MMR, which is why you were placed in Silver for Solo.

Banana 18 BroJan 17, 20181 votes

{quoted}

You were Diamond in Flex. You were Bronze in Solo. Flex queue and solo queue have different MMR's. Your placement is based off your MMR, which is why you were placed in Silver for Solo.

:(((

Water VaporJan 17, 20182 votes

What i own both Medieval Twitch and Grey Warwick because i got them season 7 somehow lol do i get essence or nothing at all

EndowmentJan 17, 20182 votes

So I am dishonorable for a really stupid mistake I made, I was wondering how long it would take for that to be lifted, this happened to me in November, so I thought once the season reset my honor would get reset from dishonorable to level 2 or something, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So how long or what do I have to do for my honor level to get reset to 2.0?

DBS RonovonJan 18, 20182 votes

I went from dishonorable to lvl 3 in 4 months.

memo636Jan 17, 20182 votes

i just finished my placements win 7 games lose 3 games i did quite well and i get placed silver 3 what is this why even try anymore

AllyKatt1029Jan 19, 20182 votes

So honor level isnt reset at all? I'm going to perpetually stay at honor level 0? How does that make me want to progress through the game? This is completely not fair. Once you get to honor 0 even from 1 report it is impossible to get back to level 2. This is the most unfair thing of the whole season. Now I don't even want to play and I'll just say I will not be putting my money into this game anymore. Ridiculous. Riot hates on it's players so much. Just reset everyone back to level 2. Good lord it's not that hard.

KirotheImmortalJan 23, 20182 votes

Someone said before and i think its true. We should have MMR available for viewing. Currently used is Op.gg and its not even accurate.

Sahn UzalJan 16, 20181 votes

About Grey Warwick/Medieval Twitch, can we choose which skin we'll get? Or is the drop rate influenced by how much we actually play those champions? Or is just just straight 50% chance?

Warwick is my go to Jungler, Grey Warwick is propably my favourite skin in League and I really don't care much for Twitch or that skin :P

ModBroporoJan 16, 20181 votes

AFAIK the skin you get is just completely random, though it'd be kinda neat if it were influenced by who you played.

HyperionCHJan 16, 20181 votes

Is it possible to get both the Medieval Twitch and Grey Warwick skins this season, since we only get the one Level 5 capsule with those skins?

No, it is not possible to get both in a single season, you will receive one or the other. The trade off is the guarantee of at least one, which was not present last season. Previously you were not guaranteed to earn either of these skins, but this year you are guaranteed to earn at least one in your level 5 honor capsule.

Does this rule starts with the 8.1 patch or with honor reset?

I got the Twitch skin last Sunday (I was level 5 and it's in the 8.1 patch but before the honor reset), so I'm not sure if I got allready the honor skin for season 8.

LordBlazer100Jan 17, 20181 votes

I received Grey Warwick last season, does this mean I can only get Medieval Twitch now?

WarmanreaperJan 19, 20181 votes

Still pissed about the bullshit that is "How does my Honor level reset if I was below Honor level 2? If you were below Honor level 2 before the new season started, you’ll stay right there at season start." You told us the way to reset our honor was the new season, i've been at 0 since the new honor came out, been locked at 0.

Basilissa IliaJan 19, 20181 votes

My ranked border dissapeared from preseason. I achieve platinum in S7 and had the border for preseason, yet I just played a ranked game and I didnt have any border. Why ?

PapaQuinnJan 20, 20181 votes

Hi was wondering if anyone could help me. I received a 2 week back 12/9/17, I waited my time and came back and i reunlocked honor within a week. Its been close to a month now and i dont have honor level 2. I play a lot. I mean weekdays 4-5 games and 6-10 on weekdays. Anyone know how long until i would get honor 2? im checkpoint 2 of 3 ty\

WilsonMagnaJan 22, 20181 votes

How long does it take to get from lv1 to 2 honor?

RyúgaJan 24, 20181 votes

I dropped to honor level 0 (I'm not proud at all and changed my attitude) but I seriously wonder when will my honor go back up. It's been since the 22th of december since I received a notification saying that I was eligible to honor again, but ever since I did not leave honor 0 :(

Magic SerwynJan 24, 20181 votes

I have a problem. I wanted to play on pbe, but even if I was level 5 last season, I'm now level 2.3 and so I can't get a pbe account. Is there something I can do ?

VoltaìreJun 20, 20181 votes

wish someone answered this, would've helped me alot.

DonkeyBallsMar 13, 20181 votes

Honor in this game is BS. RIOT literally punishes people for sticking up for themselves. Reviewers are their for a reason. A transcript exists. It is much easier in game than real life to punish the person who gave the first insult, and that's how punishment should be given. Adopting a policy of "If you stick up for yourself, you are participating in a disruptive argument" is copping out. RIOT has the power to see who threw the first stone and will not HONORABLY defend those who were attacked.

There will never come a day I tell my children not to defend themselves. This is what RIOT is doing. Use your power justly RIOT. Harsher penalties for those who open their mouths to insult others, and stop penalizing honorable people who stand up and defend themselves. Until then, you are failing to do what you can.

BedovianMay 25, 20181 votes

I'm still Honor 2 as of May 25th 2018. I play consistently, I get key fragments for being honorable. Yet all of my friends are Honor 4 and I am stuck at the final checkpoint for Honor 2. Riot refuses to answer my questions about this and I really wish they would enlighten me as to what I did wrong since they're clearly punishing me for something by withholding the Honor Rewards.

VoltaìreJun 20, 20181 votes

I dont know if this is just me, but let me share my experience Ive played matches where I had gone without a single death and gotten all 4 teammates to honor me, and all I got was a key fragment. Any matches I play that we win and even some we lose, I play usually very tactically and keep my teammates positive, so I usually get 1-3 honors. Again, only getting key fragments. When I log back in after a good nights rest, I get a message that's something like "Here's a key fragment for the past 8 honors, because your teammates thought you played hard." or something. So with all this honor, I still end up at level 2.1. How is that fair? Do I seriously need to get something like 500 honors before I can reach level 3 and play PBE? And why is it I only get key fragments?? I did a little testing, to make sure it wasn't because my account built bad karma, so I made a new account and played a few matches. Again, got 1-3 honors, not even a single key fragment or level up. This is extremely disappointing.

GreasedLightningMay 16, 2018

can i get some help, i get heaps of honors i was lvl 5 last season but my honor literally hasnt gone up a single checkpoint since the update. im beginning to think its broken.. any rioters can help me find out?

GreasedLightningMay 17, 20181 votes