With Legends of Runeterra out and about in full swing, you don’t have to spend a dime to get in on the deckbuilding, card-slinging action. That said, and as with any free-to-play game, there are definitely some currencies in the game that can put you ahead of the curve. One of them is purchasable with real money and the others can be earned through the in-game grind, but they each do slightly different things and are acquired different ways. Here’s what you need to know about Wildcards, Shards, and Coins in Legends of Runeterra.
What are Wildcards, Shards, and Coins in Legends of Runeterra?
Simply put, Wildcards, Shards, and Coins are the three currencies you’ll deal with in Legends of Runeterra. Shards are an entirely free currency that can only be earned through gameplay, Wildcards can be earned through gameplay and also bought with Coins, and Coins are the premium currency of Legends of Runeterra that can only be bought with real money. Just below, we’ll break down a little more of how you get each currency and what they do.
Shards
Shards are the altogether free currency of Legends of Runeterra. Shards can be earned in a number of ways, either as rewards from region level-up rewards or Weekly Vault chest unlocks, or as consolation if you have the maximum amount of a card and receive another copy of it, for which you’ll automatically receive an amount of shards depending on its rarity. Shards serve as the most basic element to crafting cards if you don’t have the Wild Cards to make a copy of the card you want. It costs a certain number of shards to make a type of card depending on its rarity or if it’s a champion card. The increment of each card tier cost can be seen below.
- Common Card - 100 shards
- Rare Card - 300 shards
- Epic Card - 1200 shards
- Champion Card - 3000 shards
As can be seen, once you get into Epic territory and above, the price rises drastically, but you can still craft quite a few cards at the Rare and Common level off of the unlocks you’ll get from leveling up your regions and scoring Weekly Vaults. If you really want a Champ or Epic card, just be aware of that high cost. You could get quite a few other utility cards for the same price of one higher tier card. Additionally, you could always use the following currency instead if you have it.
Wildcards
Wildcards are a special currency in Legends of Runeterra that runs the line between free and premium. You can earn Wildcards in region level-up rewards and Weekly Vault chests, the same as Shards, but you can also buy them with the premium Coin currency to fast track things if you want. The purpose of Wildcards is to make a copy of a card of the same rarity should you so desire. When you right click on a card, you can craft it with the previously listed shard cost, but if you have at least one Wildcard of the rarity of the card, you can then make a copy of that card, which uses up a single Wildcard of that tier per copy. As should be expected, there are four types of Wildcards for the four types of rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, and Champion.
Want to know how to get the kind of deck for which Wildcards will come in handy? Be sure you know how to import deck codes with our guide.
Wildcards are great for filling your deck or targeting a specific card you want when you don’t have the shards to do so otherwise. If you’re leveling up regions and scoring your Weeklies, you should have plenty of Wildcards to go around for most of your needs, but even when you don’t, the store can cover you if you want to buy up a limited number of extras.
Coins
Coins are the premium currency of Legends of Runeterra. For the time being, Coins can only be bought through real money. There is no other way to earn them in-game like you can with Wildcards and Shards. That said, Coins can buy a number of things in the Legends of Runeterra store that Shards and Wildcards cannot. For one, Coins are the only way to purchase most of Legends of Runeterra’s cosmetic goodies, including different themed boards and guardians to cheer you on (like the little poro you see on your side of the field in gameplay).
There are a couple in-game fast tracks that coins can buy too. For one, the Starter Bundle in the store can only be purchased through coins and includes a collection of cards from each Region of the game. It’s a good way to kick off your deckbuilding if you’re in a hurry to get some key pieces in your deck strategy. You can also purchase a limited number of Wildcards per day with currency, which can then be used to make copies of targeted cards.
And that covers currencies in Legends of Runeterra. Obviously its up to you if you want to spend money on the game. Arguably, you can get a big start on deckbuilding without ever spending a dime by simply completing tutorials, leveling regions and Weekly Vaults, and powering up through the grind of the game and its various daily quests, but if you’re looking for the fast track, that option is definitely in there as well through Coins and Wildcards. Want to learn more about how to get your decks up to snuff in the game? Be sure to check out our many other Legends of Runeterra walkthroughs and guides.
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, Wildcards, Shards, & Coins - Legends of Runeterra
