How to get a PBE account for League of Legends

Try out all the new champions, reworks, and balance changes before everyone else does.
Winterblessed Hwei in League of Legends.
Image via Riot Games

Before a new League of Legends update hits the live servers, why not test out all the changes on the Public Beta Environment? While newcomers might think it’s impossible, in today’s gaming industry it’s a common technique, and you can try it out too.

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Riot Games has opened the gates for anyone to join the PBE—a previously exclusive server restricted to a select few. As long as you have a Riot account in good standing, without any current bans or restrictions, you are good to go.

The League of Legends champion Hwei in his official splash art.
New champions, like Hwei, are at first added to PBE servers, where you can polish your skills on them before it goes live. Image via Riot Games

It’s always worth jumping on the PBE servers when you have the time. The players who do often have a better understanding of the meta thanks to the changes added with every patch arriving there before making their way to the official servers. This way, once they eventually land on the live servers, you’re two steps ahead.

How to create a PBE account in LoL

To create a PBE account, navigate to the PBE sign-up page on Riot’s website and make sure your account meets the eligibility criteria. If you have no current bans and are at least honor level three in League, you’ll be able to create an account. The instructions for signing up are pretty straightforward, so you shouldn’t have any issues at this stage.

Looking at how many opportunities it creates, it’s really worth having your own PBE account.

heimerdinger base skin league of legends
In PBE, you can try out new changes before they’re launched on the official servers. Image via Riot Games

How to download the PBE client for LoL

Installing the PBE client is similar to the regular client in terms of look, feel, and size. You can find it on Riot’s official download page. Simply click on the “Download the PBE client” option and you’ll be set to go. You’ll need around 12 gigabytes of space free on your PC to download the client. After you’ve created your PBE account and downloaded the client, it’s just a case of logging on and playing.

Pros and cons of the PBE in LoL

There are many benefits to having a PBE account. You get access to the latest champions, skins, and other content before it goes live, and you can submit your feedback to the devs themselves. This way, you’re always better prepared to climb the ranked ladder once the changes go live, and you can actually make some impact on them before they’re added.

But there are also a few drawbacks to the process. The PBE servers are located in Chicago, which means if you’re playing from Europe, Oceania, or any other region for that matter, you’ll have to deal with high ping, which makes it almost impossible to play normally.

But, If you’re desperate to try out the latest League content before the rest of the pack, there’s no harm in signing up for a PBE account and getting into the test servers.


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Author
Jerome Heath
Jerome Heath is a senior editor at Dot Esports.
Author
Mateusz Miter
Polish Staff Writer. Mateusz previously worked for numerous outlets and gaming-adjacent companies, including ESL. League of Legends or CS:GO? He loves them both. In fact, he wonders which game he loves more every day. He wanted to go pro years ago, but somewhere along the way decided journalism was the more sensible option—and he was right.