CRAFTING GUIDE · ARCADE RULES
Keep the artwork.
Or take another chance.
Crafting is a choice between certainty and variety. Before you spend resources, decide whether you want one particular item or simply a larger collection.
Three choices, three different outcomes
| Action | You spend | You receive |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade | One shard and its displayed essence cost | That artwork as a permanent collection entry |
| Disenchant | One shard | The displayed amount of orange essence |
| Reroll | Three distinct selected items | One randomly selected permanent item |
When upgrading makes sense
If you like a particular artwork, upgrading is the predictable route. You know which item you will keep. New Standard-tier arcade shards cost 675 orange essence to upgrade and yield 195 if disenchanted. Epic costs 1,050 and yields 270; Legendary costs 1,520 and yields 364; Ultimate costs 2,950 and yields 650. Mythic-tier arcade shards cost zero to upgrade and yield 1,500 if disenchanted.
These values are game balance settings, not actual RP prices or Riot’s rules. Older saved shards and the starter set can retain earlier values, so the amount displayed for the selected item is what matters. An artwork already present in your permanent collection cannot be added again through a duplicate upgrade.
A concrete example
Suppose you have an Epic-tier arcade shard you want and 900 essence. Its 1,050 upgrade cost leaves a gap of 150. Disenchanting an unwanted new Standard-tier shard yields 195, raising your balance to 1,095. Upgrading the Epic shard then leaves 45 essence. You deliberately exchange one unwanted artwork for the certainty of keeping another.
When a reroll makes sense
Rerolling consumes three selected items for one random permanent result. It suits a collection where you are happy to trade away all three inputs. The sampler prefers artwork not already in your remaining permanent collection. If every catalog item is owned, repeats become possible; this is not an endless guarantee of something new.
For example, three new Epic-tier shards could instead be disenchanted for 810 essence. A reroll gives up that resource option. There is no universal best choice: the value depends on whether you prefer a known upgrade or a surprise. Never select a permanent item you want to keep merely to reach the three-item requirement.
Rarity does not predict the next result
The output tier uses the published arcade probabilities, regardless of the input tiers. Combining three Legendary items does not guarantee a Legendary result. An unlucky run does not improve the next roll in this model. Use the lab to inspect the difference between an expected frequency and a guarantee.
What a collection entry means
Permanent means “kept in this browser’s simulated collection.” It does not unlock anything in League of Legends. No item can be sold, redeemed, transferred to Riot or exchanged for money. Clearing the browser’s saved data can remove the collection. Read the save and play guide before resetting.