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Browse Buff's collection of helpful blogs as we explore gameplay tips and tricks from the pros, review and recommend the latest games, and take an inside look into loyalty gaming and earning rewards.
Reviews
ReviewsTop 6 Rarest League of Legends Skins of All TimeLoL has been available to the public for well over a decade now, and with its long history comes a plethora of skins for its 160+ champions that hit the rift every day. If you're familiar with the game, you might already know about the "legacy vault" and how certain skins become unavailable to purchase after a period of time. Some skins, however, are even rarer than those, to the point where people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars, sometimes even thousands, for LoL accounts that own those extremely rare cosmetics.
Despite having thousands of hours logged in the game, there are skins that even I have never seen. Here are the most notable of those rare skins and the reasons why they are so rare.
» New to LoL? Learn about the best LoL champions for first-time players
1. King Rammus
The BETA Skin
King Rammus is the oldest limited skin in the game. The only way you could get this bad boy was to participate in the closed Beta testing, during October 2009. Visually, it's really similar to the base skin—if you don't play Rammus much, you would probably not recognize it as a skin if you saw it on the rift.
However, owning this skin is still pretty cool, as it shows you've been there since the beginning (or, rather, that the account has). I've personally never seen it in-game, so it's rare enough to get some attention. King Rammus is worth about $60.
2. Young Ryze
From the Collectors Edition
Also known as Human Ryze, this skin was also part of the Collector's Edition of League of Legends, which players could purchase to support Riot during the earlier days of their launch. This skin used to be just a recolor of Ryze, but has gotten a bit flashier with a more rounded visual overhaul during the champion's rework.
It doesn't seem like there's any difference other than his visual appearance, yet this skin can make an account go for $150-$200 just for owning it.
3. Black Alistar
From the Collectors Edition
Black Alistar was part of a limited bundle when pre-ordering the Collectors Edition of League of Legends. Alistar's skin was the most notable one in the bundle, making the accounts that have it reach about $250 in value. The others in the bundle (Huntress Sivir, Goth Annie, and Silver Kayle) each go for about $100-$200 on account markets.
Black Alistar is one of the most basic skins you can find in the game in terms of detail, as Alistar's base skin (purple and blue) has just been recolored to black and brown.
» Learn how to get LoL cosmetics by watching streams
4. The PAX Trio
The Limited Expo Skins
If you're unfamiliar with the PAX expo, it's one of the biggest gaming expos in the world that happens every year and covers tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. As you can imagine, some of the biggest dev names and gaming companies show up to reveal new content and give away exclusive prizes. Naturally, Riot games can be found there quite often, and in the first 3 years of their presence at PAX, they handed out some ultra-limited skin codes to the participants of the expo.
Due to all that, PAX skins are arguably the most expensive skins to get your hands on. These are:
PAX Twisted Fate
This one's the holy grail of rare skins—the first 20,000 people to attend PAX would get this skin, and because LoL wasn't super popular back then, many of those skins were never claimed. Right off the bat, players would sell this skin for anywhere between $200 and $500, but as the popularity of the game increased, so did the value of this skin. Today, you can find accounts with this skin being sold for over $4,000!
As for the appearance of the skin, Twisted Fate just has a simple recolor that changes his clothing to a blue and black combo with accents of grey, which is basically equivalent to a chroma (recolor) in today's skins. Rocking this on the rift is definitely a cool statement of loyalty, but $4,000 for a recolor is a bit much if you ask me.
PAX Jax
Jax was the 2nd of the 3 champions to receive PAX skins, and his skin is arguably the most desired one of the lot, too. Awarded to players who attended PAX in 2010, PAX Jax puts Jax into a well-suited yellow jacket, which has made him stand out from the crowd for years. I always get excited seeing a PAX Jax running around in the rift—even if he's on the enemy team giving me a hard time.
Owning this Jax skin could fetch you a lucrative amount if you're interested in selling your account. PAX Jax goes for about $500 on average.
PAX Sivir
Sivir was the last to get a PAX skin in 2011, giving her an awesome futuristic Tron look. My favorite part of the skin is that her weapon has been turned into a set of buttons from a controller. On top of that, she's rocking a stylish black suit with orange or blue trimmings and goggles, and she has very cool silver hair to wrap up the whole look.
Accounts with PAX Sivir are in high demand, especially after her rework. Even though she's not one of the most popular female champions in LoL, you can still find accounts with this skin going for about $200-$700.
5. UFO Corki
The First Promotional Skin
Much like the other skins on this list, you had to be around really early for this one—you needed to have registered and played a match before Jan 14th, way back in 2010, shortly after the game's official launch. The skin itself has Corki in a round UFO with a glass dome covering his head. Other than that, there are no changes to the champion's visual or audio effects.
Strangely enough, even though it's one of the rarer skins, accounts with this skin only go for about $30 a pop, making it the cheapest rare skin on this list.
6. Victorious Jarvan IV
The First Victorious Skin
Every year, at the end of a season, players who play ranked LoL games receive a reward based on their placement at the time. Reaching the gold rank or better would earn you that year's "Victorious" skin, each one themed to be set in a universe where that champion has achieved their full potential.
Jarvan IV received the first victorious skin in season 1 back in 2010, and since then, Victorious skins have been highly sought after. Accounts that have this skin alone go for anywhere between $400 to $900!
Final Words
There are certainly bragging rights attached to these skins, as showing them off feels great when you get compliments. But, is it worth spending hundreds of dollars to buy other players' accounts (which you cant merge with your own) just to say you've got the rarest skins in the game? I'll let you decide.
» Do you have any of the skins? Download Buff and redeem rewards while flaunting them
ReviewsWho Is K’Sante? Get to Know the New LoL ChampionThe Hunters Pride
The newest champion to compete in the rift is a charismatic hunter who prides himself in being the best in his lane. K'Sante is a top-lane machine, which means that he can take a lot of damage while also having the ability to transform into a ruthless damage-dealing oppressor. This makes him almost unrivaled in the 1v1 duel department—if you're playing smart.
» New at LoL? Try some of the more beginner-friendly champions instead
K'Sante's Origin
K'Sante is the first champion we see coming from the City of Nazumah, a society built around a remote oasis in the deserts of Shurima. The people of Nazumah stand under no rule but their own. They protect their home from all the monsters who surround the oasis and depend on its waters to survive—and where there are monsters, there are also monster hunters.
Tutored by his parents, K'Sante dreamed of becoming the best warrior-hunter in the city. With his passion for the hunt and his strong will to fight and be the best, he teamed up with Tope. Tope is a strategic archer who would eventually become the lover of K'Sante. Together, they set off to take on the biggest threat to their society at the time—a snake-lion monster created from the power of Xerath. After both of them almost dying due to K'Sante's inability to slow down, Tope would leave the city to start a new life in a distant land. Left alone, K'Sante would have to come to terms with the fact that brute force without strategy isn't sufficient.
Therefore, K'Sante would start training in both strategy and strength to take on the monster himself. He will eventually succeed in his mission and forge his signature weapons—Ntofos—from the chunks of the beast's armor.
» Are you interested in strong female champions? Check out the most popular female LoL characters
K'Sante's Weapon
K'Sante's Ntofos are shaped like heavy stone L-batons and are capable of dishing out massive blunt-force blows to anyone who opposes him. These weapons come with a twist, though—upon casting his ultimate ability, K'Sante will shatter his Ntofos' protective layer, revealing deadly blades that allow him to deal more lethal damage to opponents.
K'Sante's Abilities
K'Sante has abilities that allow him to transform from a damage-soaking tank to a high-damage skirmisher who can 1v1 almost anyone in most situations. Not only is K'Sante's damage output determined by what state his weapons are in, but his damage resistance and defensive capabilities are too. This makes K'Sante more challenging to play than a standard top-lane bruiser.
Passive: Dauntless Instinct
K'Sante marks targets when he lands abilities on them. He can detonate the mark for extra damage (based on Max HP) with a basic attack.
All Out Form: K'Sante deals extra damage to marked targets, scaling with his bonus Armor and Magic Resist.
Q: Ntofo Strikes
K'Sante slams his Ntofos down in a line, dealing damage and slowing any enemy it comes into contact with, gaining a stack if it lands a hit. After 2 stacks, K'Sante's next Ntofo strike will send out a shockwave with a bit of extra length, knocking enemies toward him and stunning them briefly.
All Out Form: The strike will no longer slow, but it has a shorter cooldown.
W: Path Maker
Holding the ability will charge up a dash, which can be released to push back anyone he touches along with him to the end of his dash, stunning them when they land. K'Sante is Unstoppable and can tank a lot more damage during his dash. The longer the charge, the more damage Path Maker will deal.
All Out Form: Cooldown is instantly refreshed, and K'Sante can charge and dash faster, dealing more damage per dash. He is also tankier during the dash, but will no longer knock back targets in this form.
E: Footwork
K'Sante can also dash a short distance to gain a shield, or dash to a teammate to give shields to both them and himself. The shield scales with Max HP and lets you jump over walls if Footwork is cast onto another friendly player.
All Out Form: K'Sante can dash just far enough to reach through walls.
R: All Out
Casting K'Sante's ultimate will make him shatter his Ntofos into blades, knocking a targeted enemy back, stunning them, and landing behind them. Knocking an enemy into a wall will make K'Sante pursue his enemy through the entire length of the wall, dealing extra damage before landing behind them.
After the ability is cast, K'Sante will be in All Out Form, gaining extra attack damage that scales with his Armor and Magic Resist, but he'll also lose a portion of his health, and his total armor and magic resist will drop, too. K'Sante will return to his tank state after a period of time, but All Out can be cast again to perform the switch back early.
» Learn the difference between AP and AD in LoL
Go All Out With K'Sante!
With an ability kit that splits into 2 like K'Sante's, it'll be a small challenge to get comfortable with casting his spells in the right order and finding out how to efficiently take on other opponents. However, the time and effort spent practicing with him will certainly pay off when you find yourself dominating the top lane against most other champions.
If you're spending time playing LoL and learning new champions to play, why not have Buff run in the background for some sweet free rewards?
ReviewsZero Tolerance: How to Eliminate Toxicity From Your Valorant MatchesValorant needs no introduction—since its release in 2020, Valorant's focus on solid team communication and coordination makes it one of the most exciting games today. This always opens up the community to threats of toxic opponents and teammates, an unfortunate truth of online gaming in general.
Most of the toxicity is seen during matches and in team lobbies, and it's mainly in the form of verbal harassment. Needless to say, creating an unpleasant environment can affect players' performance. This is especially visible in matches where the slightest miscommunication can cost a team the game, but does this make Valorant the most toxic game, and what can you do to fight it? Read on to find out.
What Causes Toxicity in Online Gaming?
1. The Source of the Community
Valorant is notable for its community not being created from scratch, unlike those of other multiplayer video games. When the game was released in 2020, a lot of the primary player base came from popular games like Overwatch, CS:GO, Call of Duty, Roblox, and more. Unfortunately, team-based FPS games rank pretty high on the toxicity scale in general.
2. The High Diversity of Players
Valorant also contains a high diversity of players in terms of religion, race, and ethnicity. This increased diversity implies the clash of cultures seen in every interactive field, gaming included, meaning that all of them contribute to Valorant's higher online harassment numbers.
2. Non-Beginner-Friendly Gamestyle
Lastly, another reason why Valorant might experience toxicity is that it's unfriendly to new players. Experienced players may lack the patience to teach their teammates when all they want to do is climb the competitive ladder, which can lead to frustration and outbursts.
» Read more about Valorant's Competitive Mode and how it works
How Toxic Is Valorant?
As far as online gaming goes, Valorant is no more toxic than any of the other FPS games with similar player bases.
How Is Valorant Combatting In-Game Toxicity?
Fortunately, Riot has taken steps to combat in-game toxicity:
In 2022, Riot published an article on its website on how it would address these problems It has also partnered with Ubisoft not to tolerate cheating and verbal harassmentMoreover, Riot is testing a zero-tolerance banning program called Alarmbot
What Can Players Do?
In addition to those harassment prevention measures, Riot also counts on players to help them improve the game environment. Here are some ways in which players can do that:
1. Provide Feedback
Valorant players are encouraged to report bad behavior. This allows Riot to mute players that are harassing people, restrict them from playing ranked matches, and issue permanent ban penalties for zero-tolerance offenses.
For instance, in January 2022 alone, Riot blocked over 400,000 text and voice chats for bad behavior and issued over 40,000 game bans.
2. Create Their List of Muted Words
Valorant players can also manually filter out words and phrases they don't want to see in the game. By doing so, they can avoid seeing negative comments about their race, sex, gender, and more.
3. Request Voice Chat Evaluation
If reported by Valorant players, Riot can monitor game matches to record and analyze players prone to verbal attacks. This will allow them to eventually reduce or eliminate things that lead to such harassment.
4. Remove Yourself Completely
Many gamers are unfazed by online toxicity, merely putting it off as part of the game. In fact, some gamers actually enjoy toxicity and believe it's similar to trash-talking in competitive physical sports. However, if you aren't one of those people and would prefer to enjoy the game without the risk of toxicity, then there are a few things you can do to remove it from your experience:
Disable voice chat
You can either do this indefinitely or simply switch off voice chat when your teammates or opponents start turning toxic. While this may inhibit your team play a little, the difference will be significantly less than trying to navigate through the toxicity.Only queue with friends
This may limit the number of time you can spend in-game, but it's totally worth it if you're intent on ranking up or simply can't deal with the toxicity.
» Are you interested in Valorant rewards? Learn more about 2 in-game methods for free skins and how to get Valorant Points for free
What Can We Expect in the Future?
Valorant, despite being one of the most popular multiplayer video games, remains one of the most toxic. That said, if Valorant players and Riot continue to act against toxic players, Valorant can have a more positive gaming environment where everyone is treated with respect.
So, will 2023 be the year Valorant becomes less toxic? We will have to wait and see, but at least Riot and its players are trying to change the game for the better. And while you're doing the same, consider running Buff in the background for some extra rewards.
