Hextech in Arcane, Explained

Key Takeaways

• Hextech is an intricate magical creation that can bring prosperity to Piltover but has dangerous potential.
• Hexgates allow for fast travel, turned Piltover into a global shipping hub, and brought prosperity.
• Despite benefits, Hextech poses risks with its instability and potential to cause destruction in Piltover.

Hextech is a creation by Jayce Talis in the Arcane series that, in basic terms, is a type of magic. However, there’s a lot more to the creation than this, as it is used as a way to make the city of Piltover prosper beyond its original limits. It comes with its negatives, however, and isn’t always stable.

Though this groundbreaking creation by Jayce Talis has the ability to bring a lot of aid to the city of Piltover, its danger is also something that needs to be considered. Hextech is an intricate beast in the world of Arcane that can be difficult to fully understand at first.

The Start of Hextech: Hexgates

In Act 1 of Arcane, we see Vi and Powder (also known as Jinx) finding their way into Jayce Talis’ apartment in the city, and uncovering some glowing blue orbs inside. Powder gets her hands on some of these, and drops one, which causes a massive explosion. These mysterious blue items turn out to be Hextech Crystals, a magical item that Jayce Talis has been working on to eventually create his own Hextech.

As the series leads into Act 2, Jayce Talis has now become a poster child in Piltover, having spearheaded the Hextech industry along with his partner Viktor. The two have brought Hexgates into the city, which is just the start of their many inventions under Hextech. These Hexgates give Piltover the ability to travel at immense speeds, making it easier to visit distant locations in no time.

What Have The Hexgates Offered?

• Allow for incredibly fast travel
• Made Piltover into a global shipping lane
• Brought prosperity to Piltover

Although Hexgates are only just the beginning of Jayce Talis’ invention in Arcane, the use of Hextech is much more prominent in League of Legends. In the game, the item is used to fuse elemental and spirit magic to create a multitude of different artifacts that can be used by anyone, regardless of their abilities and their aptitude towards the arcane. It has also been used to create Hextech Champions, including Blitzcrank and Orianna. But, how can Hextech affect the future in Arcane and the citizens of Piltover if Jayce Talis continues his research?

How Has Hextech Affected Piltover?

What Are Its Positives and Negatives?

Although Hextech Crystals in their raw form are incredibly unstable and have the potential to explode upon impact, when handled correctly, they can be manipulated into making magical artifacts. Despite Jayce Talis finding a way to stabilize Hextech Crystals in the beginning of Arcane, he is still unsure exactly how they work, making it difficult for him to properly create a safe invention for regular citizens to use.

However, bringing Hexgates into the city of Piltover has certainly changed the tides and given the citizens a lot of prosperity. Jayce Talis quickly becomes a celebrated icon for Piltover, especially on Progress Day as he stands as the poster child for the development of the city. Hexgates are a realm-warping device that can easily and quickly transport ships across Runeterra to give the city a steady flow of income.

Although Hextech Crystals have allowed Jayce and Viktor to bring great creations to the city, having these floating across the city, however, poses a risk for the citizens of Piltover, especially if the wrong person gets their hands on the unstable form. We see this clearly when Powder (Jinx) gets her hands on the item, and soon enough, ends the lives of multiple people, including friends and family. Despite knowing this, though, Jayce and Viktor continue their research and expanding on Hextech.

What’s The Future of Hextech?

What Will Happen With Hexcores?

With Hextech now a part of everyday life in Piltover, how will it advance past its initial stages? During Progress Day, Jayce was initially supposed to announce the creation of the Hexcore, but was hesitant to do so due to its instability and lack of progress. This is also known as Hextech Gemstones, an item that can be used to power other Hextech creations. Some items that use Hexcores include Atlas Gauntlets and The Hex Claw, used by Vi and Viktor.

To go into more specifics, Hexcore is an item that is essentially Hextech Crystals combined with organic materials, which eventually became sentient and adaptive. It can:

• Heal injuries, enhance physical abilities, and alter mortal boundaries.
• Enhance evolution, alongside the user, with their desires in mind.
• Act with sentience, which means it has the ability to do what it wants, leading to possible destruction.

Though the Hexcore had the ability to help all the population of Zaun from Viktor’s eyes, Jayce worried about its instability and how it could affect citizens. Hexcore had a lot of positives, but also demanded sacrifices, corrupted people, and was highly dangerous and unstable. It’s an item that has the ability to save Zaun’s citizens and heal them of any sickness and poverty, but it also has the potential to bring massive destruction to those around it, completely causing Piltover’s downfall based on Jayce’s glimpse into the future in Arcane.

Arcane is available to stream on Netflix.