In League of Legends, unlocking skins, emotes, and loot is part of the fun—and that journey often begins with Hextech Chests. But to open those chests, players need Hextech Keys, which are crafted from Key Fragments. These small but valuable items don’t drop randomly; they’re tied to your behavior, consistency, and community interaction.
Here’s how you can earn Key Fragments and make the most of League’s loot system.
1. Maintain a High Honor Level
The most reliable path to Key Fragments is through the Honor system, Riot’s mechanic for rewarding positive behavior. Once you reach Honor Level 2, you become eligible to receive Key Fragments as post-game drops.
Higher Honor Levels—achieved by consistently demonstrating good sportsmanship—tend to yield more frequent rewards. You’ll also occasionally receive Honor Capsules at checkpoints, which often contain multiple Key Fragments.
2. Be Honored by Teammates
Each time you finish a match, your teammates have the option to honor you—for shot calling, staying cool under pressure, or being a helpful teammate. Receiving honors contributes to increasing your Honor Level, which in turn increases your chance of receiving Key Fragments.
While there’s no guaranteed drop per match, the system rewards steady, positive play. Harsh behavior or punishments like chat restrictions will temporarily suspend your ability to earn fragments.
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3. Play Regularly in Matchmade Games
Key Fragments drop only after matchmade games, including Normal, ARAM, and Ranked modes. Simply playing these modes consistently provides opportunities for fragment drops, which occur periodically based on your Honor Level.
That said, the number of fragments you can earn each month is limited. The system caps distribution to around 12 fragments per 30 days, preventing abuse and maintaining balance across the player base.
4. Participate in Events and Missions
Riot frequently launches in-game events with event passes and missions. Some missions reward Key Fragments directly, while others offer event tokens that can be exchanged for fragments.
Participating in seasonal events—like Lunar Revel, Worlds, or the Harrowing—is a smart way to stock up on loot-related resources, including keys and skin shards.
5. Use Fragments to Forge Keys
Once you’ve collected three Key Fragments, you can combine them into a full Hextech Key. These keys are then used to open Hextech Chests, which can contain champion shards, skin shards, ward skins, emotes, and sometimes even permanent unlocks.
Crafting keys is done through the Loot tab in the League client. You don’t need to do anything fancy—just drag the fragments together and click forge.
Final Thoughts
Key Fragments are Riot’s way of rewarding players for consistency, teamwork, and good behavior. While there’s no shortcut or guaranteed farm, maintaining a high Honor level, playing consistently in matchmade games, and participating in events will steadily grow your collection.
In a game where competition can get intense, League’s loot system gives you a reason to stay cool, play smart, and have a little fun while you’re at it.
Written by:
Christian