TFT Cash-Out Traits: When to Cash Out, and What the Payout Looks Like

TL;DR: Cash out when your HP can’t pay for the next step, or when the payout you can take now turns into a board that stops the bleeding. Otherwise count the step: at Coven (4)‘s Riot rate of 28 Essence a loss, going from 130 to 185 Essence takes 2 more lost fights, or 18 to 24 HP at Stage 3 prices, and swaps a component and 6 gold of value for a Completed Item Anvil and about 10. Going from 250 to 365 takes 5 more, or 45 to 60 HP at the same prices. All four of Riot’s printed 130 options work out to 1 component and 6 gold of value, so choose by what your board needs. Riot trims low-risk early cash-outs, so check the notes each patch.

Coven is the Set 18 example, at Riot’s numbers through patch 18.6. The checks work on any cash-out trait. Where a number rests on the game data files alone, read November 4, 2026, from a version not yet updated for 18.6, the page says so. Worked examples are hypotheticals: sums, not records of real games. For the gold and HP rules underneath, see the streaking guide and the HP guide.

What is a cash-out trait?

A trait that banks something while you play, and lets you trade it for loot later. Riot’s overview calls Coven high-risk and high-reward: kills add Essence, and lost player combats add more. At each breakpoint you choose to convert your Essence or keep gathering, and each reward needs more Essence and pays more.

So every cash-out is the same trade: HP now for loot later. The rest of this page prices that trade.

What does Coven pay?

Riot’s notes print these rewards. They list what changed, not the whole menu, so other options may appear in your game:

Essence	Rewards Riot’s notes print	Last changed
130	A component and 6 gold, or a component and a 2-star Elise, or a component, a 2-star Camille and 3 gold, or a 2-star Caitlyn and a component	18.4
185	A Completed Item Anvil and 10 gold, or a Completed Item Anvil, a 2-star Caitlyn and a 2-star Camille	18.2
250	2 Completed Item Anvils and 20 gold, or a 2-star Morgana, a Lucky Item Chest, a random completed item and 3 gold, or 2 Lucky Item Chests and 18 gold, or a Lucky Item Chest, 2 Component Anvils, Coven Lux and 18 gold, or an Artifact Anvil, a Completed Item Anvil and 18 gold	18.2
365	All rewards get 12 more gold, and one option became 2 Radiant Thief’s Gloves, a 2-star Kennen and 15 gold	18.2

Riot’s 18.5 and 18.6 notes have no lines on the trait (18.5 changes the Dark Ritual augment), and 18.3 changed Essence per loss, not rewards. Here’s what’s still open:

• Below 130 and above 365. The game data files say the choice starts at 40 Essence. No Riot page was found that prints the rewards below 130 or above 365. Riot’s 18.5 line for the Dark Ritual augment prints eight AP values, which suggests eight steps. That’s a reading.
• What converting spends. No Riot page was found that says whether you lose all your Essence or only the breakpoint’s amount. Riot’s Part I page has a mission that counts 500 Essence converted, which fits spending. Check your count in game.
• The Radiant line. Riot’s 18.2 note writes “2x Radiant TG” and changes it from 20 gold to a 2-star Kennen and 15 gold. It doesn’t say whether that 15 counts the 12 extra gold it lists just above. The game data files name the item Radiant Thief’s Gloves, and the Radiant guide has what the pair does.

What the options are worth. A 2-star takes 3 copies, so price it at 3 times the unit’s cost. By the game data files, Camille costs 1, Elise and Caitlyn cost 2, and Kennen costs 5:

Essence	Option	Gold value, not counting components, anvils or gloves
130	A component and 6 gold	6
130	A component and a 2-star Elise	6
130	A component, a 2-star Camille and 3 gold	6
130	A 2-star Caitlyn and a component	6
185	A Completed Item Anvil and 10 gold	10
185	A Completed Item Anvil, a 2-star Caitlyn and a 2-star Camille	9
365	2 Radiant Thief’s Gloves, a 2-star Kennen and 15 gold	30, or 42 if the 12 extra gold comes on top

So since 18.4, all four 130 options match: 1 component and 6 gold of value. That’s this guide’s arithmetic, not Riot’s claim, and it prices a 2-star at what its copies cost. It means the choice is about fit, not size. Take the units if you’d have bought them anyway. Take the gold if you wouldn’t.

How fast can you get there?

Divide by your Essence rate. Riot’s 18.3 notes set Essence per loss at 22/28/35/60, for Coven (3), (4), (5) and (7) by the game data files. Those files also list 2/2/3/10 per kill, and Riot’s notes print no kill numbers. Here are the lost fights each breakpoint takes with no kills at all:

Essence	Coven (3), 22 a loss	Coven (4), 28	Coven (5), 35	Coven (7), 60
130	6	5	4	3
185	9	7	6	4
250	12	9	8	5
365	17	14	11	7

Kills cut that. On the game data files’ numbers, Coven (3) with 2 kills a fight earns 26 a fight and reaches 130 in 5 fights, which fits the 18.4 line about a Stage 2 or 3 cash-out at 130.

Now the HP. A loss costs the stage’s base damage plus 1 per enemy unit left, and the HP guide has the table and how it was built from Riot’s notes. Say you lose every player fight from Stage 2 on, with 5 player rounds a stage by the game’s round list. This is hypothetical, at 28 Essence a fight, which is Coven (4) with no kills or Coven (3) with 3 kills a fight:

Essence	Lost fights	HP lost at 3 enemy units left	HP lost at 6 enemy units left
130	5	25	40
185	7	43	64
250	9	61	88
365	14	110	152

So at 3 or more enemy units left, that pace can’t reach 365 on losses alone. Riot’s pages point to a Health bar of 100, as the HP guide explains, though no Riot page states it as a rule, and 110 is more than that. Even at 2 enemy units left the same sum costs 96 HP, which leaves 4. You need more Essence per fight, from kills, a higher Coven count or a Wisp.

Two things that move the rate, by the game data files. The Essence Theft Wisp adds 50% Essence for one combat, or 90% upgraded, so a Coven (4) loss earns 42 or about 53. The Coven Acolyte augment heals you 2 HP each time you choose to keep gathering, which is small against a 10 HP loss but adds up across several choices. Riot’s 18.2 notes limit Coven Acolyte and Dark Ritual to one player in a lobby between them.

When should you cash out?

Run these in order. They work on any cash-out trait.

1. Can your HP pay for the next step? The HP guide says to stabilize while your HP still covers two losses at the next stage’s prices: more than 20 to 26 HP going into Stage 4, and more than 26 to 32 going into Stage 5, at 3 to 6 enemy units left. If the step takes you below that, cash out now. Being dead pays nothing.

2. Will the payout change this round’s board? Loot only pays once it’s fighting. A component that finishes your carry’s item, or gold that takes you to a level you can roll at, can win you the next fight. Riot’s 17.5 notes describe this as a real line: players cashing out Anima at 300 to gain tempo and move into a different comp. If your board is about to fall off a cliff and a payout fixes it now, take it.

3. What does the next step cost, and what does it add? Here it is at 28 Essence a fight, counted from exactly the lower breakpoint. Essence left over from the step before can save a fight, which is why the table above goes from 7 fights to 9 for 185 to 250. HP ranges run from 3 to 6 enemy units left:

Step	Extra Essence	Lost fights	HP at Stage 3 prices	HP at Stage 4 prices	What it adds
130 to 185	55	2	18 to 24	20 to 26	A Completed Item Anvil instead of a component, and about 3 to 4 more gold of value
185 to 250	65	3	27 to 36	30 to 39	A second Completed Item Anvil and 10 more gold, on the 20-gold option
250 to 365	115	5	45 to 60	50 to 65	The Radiant Thief’s Gloves option. Riot’s notes don’t print the other 365 rewards

Read across. The first step is the cheapest and the biggest jump in quality, since a finished item beats a component. The last step costs about as much HP as the first two together, so it needs a Health bar that can afford it, or a faster rate.

4. What does a win do to you? This differs by trait, and it’s the question to ask on any new one. Riot’s overview says a broken streak hurts less on Coven than on past traits, and its 18.3 notes say other players can’t grief it. You still lose the streak gold, and the overview says that gold still matters. Compare Heartsteel in 14.1: after raising the stakes, a win cost you half your hearts. On a trait like that, an accidental win is a disaster. On Coven, it’s a smaller loss.

5. What are you earning on the way? The streaking guide has the running totals: 8 gold of streak gold across 6 straight losses and 14 across 8. Add that to the payout when you price a long streak, and subtract it if a cash-out means you’ll start winning.

6. Is the rest of your plan still alive? A cash-out trait’s units are often weak on their own. Riot’s 17.5 notes wanted Anima’s units to stay worth playing after the cash-out, and that’s the check: after you convert, do you keep these units or move on? If you’re moving on, the pivoting guide has the sums.

Your spot	The call
The next step takes you below two losses of HP	Cash out now
The payout finishes your carry’s item or pays for your level	Cash out now
The next step is 2 fights away, and your HP can pay	Keep going
You’re on a low count and the top step is many fights away	Plan for the middle step, not the top one
You’re winning by accident	Take what you’ve reached, and don’t throw a good board for a far step

What other payouts does Set 18 have?

Coven is the clearest case of choosing when to convert. These other Set 18 payouts have a different shape:

Source	How it pays	Where the numbers come from
Draven’s Bounty Seeker	You pick a task, and finishing it pays a reward. Riot’s 18.2 notes print 60 attacks for a 5-cost, 6 casts for 4-costs, 8 casts for 6 rerolls, 10,000 damage for 7 gold and 8 kills for 12 gold	18.2, which trims the easier rewards, and 18.3, which re-adds those lines after an accidental revert. The rest, including 2 4-costs for the casts, is from the overview, written before PBE, which warned that its numbers could change
Fae (4)	After 7 Pixies, Golden Pixies pay gold, with no choice to make	The overview, written before PBE, and the game data files say the same. Riot’s 18.2 and 18.5 notes move the thresholds, and no Riot page was found that prints the gold per Pixie
Rengar’s Rival trait	The game data files list 2/3/5 gold every 8 takedowns	The game data files alone
Ornn	Forge Power fills up and pays an Artifact Anvil	The game data files. The artifacts guide covers it
Trait Ladder and Dark Ritual	Augments, not traits, with their own cash-outs	18.4 and 18.5. By the game data files, Dark Ritual gives Coven units AP instead of loot

What do past sets teach?

Riot tunes these often. These are its own lines:

Patch	Trait	Change
13.3	Chem-Baron	The 400 cash-out’s gold went from 70 to 65, and the 500’s from 105 to 90
14.1	Heartsteel	Nerfed the base trait for being too consistent, and added Raise the Stakes for players chasing huge payouts
14.16	Fortune Favors the Bold	The 8 to 10 loss cash-out came down by about 10%, and some 13 to 14 loss ones went up
15.2	Crystal Gambit (3)	Cash-outs moved from every 4 rounds to every 3, for more control
16.2	Ixtal	Nerfed the 550 reward, which Riot said paid far above its Sunshards
17.5	Anima	300 cash-outs lost gold: 7 to 3 on most, and 15 to 7 on 2-star Jinx
18.4	Coven	The 130 rewards came down, since Riot found them too reliable and low-risk for a trait of this kind

Two lessons last from set to set. First, don’t trust last patch’s value on a low cash-out: 17.5 and 18.4 both cut one for being too good a deal. Second, the raises tend to land at the hard end, as in 14.16 and Coven’s 18.2. So a low-risk option can get worse during a set, while a hard one holds up or improves.

What changes when Set 19 lands?

Riot’s schedule lists 19.1 for December 1, 2026, and warns that dates can change. Coven’s numbers are good only through Set 18. Riot’s November 2 dev post describes a Set 19 True Damage trait built around streaks, with an A-side for a win streak plan and a B-side for a loss streak plan. It prints no payout, so it hasn’t said whether that trait cashes out. The Set 19 page covers what Riot has shown.

When a new trait like this shows up, run the same sums: what does a fight earn, what does each step need, what does a win do, and what does the next step cost in HP at that stage?

Sources

All read November 4, 2026.

• Riot Games, Enchanted Wilds Overview, published 2026-07-27, for how Coven works, Draven’s bounties and Fae, and Teamfight Tactics, Enchanted Wilds: Part I, published 2026-08-26, for the Essence mission.
• Riot Games, patch notes for 18.2 (2026-09-09), 18.3 (2026-09-22), 18.4 (2026-10-06), 18.5 (2026-10-20) and 18.6 (2026-11-03), for Coven’s rewards and Essence, Dark Ritual, Coven Acolyte, Draven and Fae. Searched for Coven through 18.6, and 18.5 and 18.6 have no lines on the trait.
• Riot Games, patch notes for 13.3 (2025-01-07), 14.1 (2024-01-09), 14.16 (2024-08-13), 15.2 (2025-08-12), 16.2 (2026-01-07) and 17.5 (2026-06-09), for the past-set table.
• Riot Games, TFT Dev post, published 2026-11-02, and Patch Schedule, Teamfight Tactics, for Set 19.
• The game’s data files, read November 4, 2026, in a version not yet updated for 18.6, for Essence per kill, the 40-Essence start, the round list, unit costs, Essence Theft, Coven Acolyte, Fae’s Golden Pixie line, Rengar’s gold, Ornn and the Radiant Thief’s Gloves name. The gold values, lost fights and HP sums are this guide’s own arithmetic.