User blog:Lukeatlook/Pyro's Item Overhaul 3 - Update to Support/Mage Items

With Riot implementing their own itemization changes, it's time to adjust my project.

Previously on "Pyro's Item Overhaul"
I've assessed few important issues with current support and mage itemization, sketching example solutions. Some of them got addressed by Riot in the form of, and tweaks to items such as  and. Even though they obviously came to their conclusions on their own, it still proves that my analysis was fairly accurate at least in those points.

Patchnotes

 * Total cost increased to 2200g from 2000
 * Health increased to 500 from 375
 * Health regeneration lowered to 20 from 25


 * New Recipe: +  + 585 = 2200g
 * Total cost increased to 2200g from 2000g
 * Mana regeneration increased to 15 from 10.


 * Recipe cost increased to 515g from 315g.
 * Total cost increased to 2200g from 2000g.
 * Ability power increased to 50 from 40.


 * New Recipe: +  +  + 600g = 1900g
 * Armor removed.
 * Now grants 20 magic resistance (total of 40 including the aura).


 * New Recipe: +  + 50g = 2800g
 * Armor removed.
 * Health increased to 400 from 300.
 * Now grants 20 magic resistance (total of 40 including the aura).


 * New Recipe: +  + 250g = 950g
 * Armor reduced to 20 from 45.
 * Mana reduced to 300 from 250.


 * Total cost reduced to 2600g from 2900g.
 * Armor increased to 100 from 95.
 * AS debuff aura reduced to -15% from -20%.


 * Recipe: + 515g = 950g
 * Stats: 30 ability power
 * Unique Passive: +5% movement speed
 * Builds into and


 * Recipe: +  + 390g = 750g
 * Stats: +8 mana regeneration
 * Unique Passive: +10% cooldown reduction
 * Builds into and


 * New Recipe: +  + 630g = 2400g
 * Total cost increased to 2400g from 2000g (1800g on Crystal Scar)
 * Ability power increased to 80 from 50.
 * Magic resistance removed.
 * Cooldown reduction increased to 10% from 0%.
 * The ghosts will now attempt to return to the caster if they do not find a target within the 5 seconds, each still capable of slowing enemies they hit. Each ghost that returns to the caster will reduce the cooldown of this item by 40 seconds.

Commentary
Increasing main base stats of FotM and FQC by 25% is fairly significant, but it still doesn't change what is so problematic about : it outclasses both other options in what support is supposed to do. Support is all about low power, high utility - and Talisman is just that. As long as it preserves Shurelya's active and has the most reliable gold generation lategame, it will supress the other options.

As much as I'm happy that Riot has addressed the issue with the painful buildpath of, I'm afraid it will only amplify the dominating trend in tank builds. It is now, stat for stat,. This makes all tank MR items give health, MR and regen, with no way to really specialize into any of that. Same goes for armor - both and  are "big armor, big health" items that outclass the alternatives.

Furthermore, change to Aegis takes away the most convenient way for supports to build a bit of armor. I guess Riot's directive for supports now is to invest in, which is nice in situations where the enemy team stacked a lot of AD, but the item is highly specialized. In a situation where the AD damage is burst-based and not AS-based, FH could be an overkill and a support like Sona could actually prefer another source of armor.

Last minor issue with FH: it's easy for a support to cap CDR and have some of it go to waste. A typical support mastery page will have 5 to 10% CDR. All gold generation items grant 10 to 20%. itself has 10% CDR - and those sources are enough to make at least half of CDR on go to waste. Capping CDR so easily kinda reduces value of all more niche items, such as or new.

As with mage items, Twins losing MR could actually open this item for midlane, with AUG being a must-have and already providing that. I'm not sure about change to - building out of Codex may push this item over the edge for Vladimir, but time will tell. is exactly how I wanted it to be, so there's that.

Supportank
I've redone Aegis and Bulwark, but some items remain same as in the first draft. I'll repeat the whole list anyway.


 * +200 health, +10 health regeneration
 * Passive - Spoils of War: Melee autoattacks execute minions below 200 (+100% AD) health. Killing a minion by any means heals yourself and the nearest allied champion for 50 health and grants them gold equal to the kill. These effects require a nearby allied champion and consume a charge. Recharges every 30 seconds for a maximum of 4 charges.
 * Aura: Nearby allied champions gain +20 attack damage and +10% life steal. (1100 Range)

Not much to add. I still see this item in a better spot as a go-to first item instead of incredibly situational one. It can open up some new laning duos - and what's wrong with that? Support or  could be fun.


 * +20 armor, +20 magic resistance
 * Aura - Legion: Nearby allied champions gain +20 magic resistance and +10 health regeneration per 5 seconds. (1100 range)

Even with AP assassins roaming, supports still need that bit of armor in lane. By removing health, we still reduce the effect of "defend a bit against everything" and strengthen the flat health regeneration. Supports will still get good chunks of health from and.


 * +300 health, +20 armor, +20 magic resistance, +10% cooldown reduction
 * Aura - Legion: Nearby allied champions gain +20 magic resistance and +10 health regeneration per 5 seconds. (1100 range)
 * Active: Shield yourself and nearby allied champions for 5 seconds, absorbing up to 50 (+10 per level) damage. 60 second cooldown. (600 range)

Compared to PBE version of Locket, it has 100 less health and 20 more armor. The effect is a little less protection from magic damage and a little more from physical - giving supports a way to get a bit of armor for themselves without needing to go for big armor items.


 * +50 armor, +20 magic resistance, +300 mana, +10% cooldown reduction
 * Aura - Legion: Nearby allied champions gain +20 magic resistance and +10 health regeneration per 5 seconds. (1100 range)
 * Passive - Martyr: On death, grants all nearby allies 25% of your Magic Resistance for 5 seconds.

The idea remains the same as in my first draft - a true tank item that is inefficient without additional resistances from other sources, allowing you to "tank for your team" at the expense of having a slightly inefficient item for yourself. Buying both Locket and Bulwark is a waste, since the Legion aura won't stack.

Alternative concept would be leaving Aegis as it is and making Bulwark the route for "some armor" with a lesser amount (about 30-40).

True Support (tm)

 * +400 health, +300 mana, +10% cooldown reduction
 * Passive - Valor's Reward: On leveling up, restores 150 health and 200 mana over 8 seconds.
 * Active: Grants nearby allies +40% movement speed for 3 seconds. 60 second cooldown. 600 range.
 * Hidden Passive: The movement speed buff is halved for targets who have been affected by it in the previous 10 seconds.

I still insist that Shurelya's needs to be a standalone item available for tanks in all lanes. I might be wrong, but this can be easily ignored as well.


 * +40 magic resistance, +10 health regeneration, +15 mana regeneration, +2 gold per 10 seconds
 * Passive - Favor: Being near a minion death without granting the killing blow grants 3 gold and heals for 10 health.
 * Passive - Mana Font: Increases your Mana Regen by 1% per 1% Mana you are missing.
 * Active: Removes all stuns, roots, taunts, fears, silences and slows on an allied champion and heals for 50 + 10% of the target's maximum health. (180 second cooldown)

Being able to rush The Bell is nice, I guess, but probably the biggest change here is making it exclusive with other gold items. Current Crucible is a cheap item that takes away support's item slot for a powerful effect, and I guessed it would be better if the taken slot would be the one already reserved.


 * +20% cooldown reduction, +10 health regeneration, +15 mana regeneration, +2 gold per 10 seconds
 * Passive - Favor: Being near a minion death without granting the killing blow grants 3 gold and heals for 10 health.
 * Aura: Nearby allies have their health and mana regeneration effects from all sources increased by 20%. Does not stack with Spirit Visage.

Alternative Aura: "Nearby allies gain 10 Health Regeneration and 10 Mana Regeneration", base regen of item goes down to +5/+5.


 * +300 health, +10 mana regeneration, +10% cooldown reduction
 * Passive: Increases the maximum Cooldown Reduction to 50%.

Potentially overpowered? Not really. The item has mediocre slot efficiency and its true power lies in the potential combination with CDR from other sources. I can see some tanks using this to increase their teamfight presence at the cost of a worse lategame build, but its main purpose will be empowering supports.

Mage Support
I still think that should have some sort of AP ratio, but if we go through with reworking Talisman, it should be fine as it is.


 * +40 ability power, +8 mana regeneration, +4 gold per 10 seconds
 * Passive - Tribute: Your next damaging ability or autoattack against a champion or structure will deal 15 additional damage and grant 10 gold. You generate one charge of Tribute every 10 seconds, storing up to 3.
 * Aura: Nearby allied champions gain +30 ability power.

I've realized that the first draft of this item was too similar to Soulstealer. This version is stable and worth rushing in some situations.

With the new, I think it's enough. Mage supports such as, and  can follow through with true support items like  or build regular mage items such as  and.

Sightstones

 * Recipe: +  + 350 g = 1600 g
 * +200 health, +200 mana
 * Passive - Ward Refresh: Holds 5 charges and refills upon visiting the shop.
 * Active - Ghost Ward: Consumes a charge to place a Stealth Ward that reveals the surrounding area for 3 minutes. A player may only have 3 Stealth Wards on the map at one time.
 * Passive - Summoner's Insight: Enemies revealed by have their Magic Resistance reduced by 20.

This is a blatant attempt at buffing CV. Alternative property of the item could be granting cooldown reduction on summoner spells, since flat mana is far less sought after than health.


 * Recipe: +  +  + 390 g = 1600 g
 * +200 health, +12 health regen
 * Passive - Ward Refresh: Holds 5 charges and refills upon visiting the shop.
 * Active - Ghost Ward: Consumes a charge to place a Stealth Ward that reveals the surrounding area for 3 minutes. A player may only have 3 Stealth Wards on the map at one time.
 * Passive - Summoner's Resolve: Your summoner spell has 50% increased effect on champions affected by crowd control.

Heal is underused and could use some love.

Bonus: My concept of how  should look like


 * Recipe: +  + 400 g = 2000 g
 * +200 health, +20% attack speed
 * Passive - Ward Refresh: Holds 5 charges and refills upon visiting the shop.
 * Active - Ghost Ward: Consumes a charge to place a Stealth Ward that reveals the surrounding area for 3 minutes. A player may only have 3 Stealth Wards on the map at one time.
 * Passive - Maim: Basic attacks against monsters deal 100 bonus magic damage and restore 10 health.

There - the forgotten Lantern becomes useful again for the likes of. Of course it would require adding an alternative upgrade to - either  sans the ward or reworked.

Redraft - Mage
Since change to is exactly what I've suggested, my only complaints left are the OP state of Void Staff and two underused items that oculd become a bit less situational,  and. Also, since are losing MR, I suggest adding an alternative laning MR mage item to Chalice.


 * Passive: Your spells ignore 50% of target's bonus Magic Resistance.

The difference kicks in around 100 MR. Squishies should be a bit less vulnerable to this item, tanks a little more. This should enable more flexible item builds.


 * +50 ability power, +300 mana, +40 armor, +20% cooldown reduction
 * Passive - Rally: Nearby allied minions have 15% increased attack damage, ability power and armor.
 * Active - Promote: Transforms a nearby siege minion to a more powerful unit. You gain all the gold this unit earns. 180 second cooldown.

New Glacial Shroud gave me the idea. Let's make this item finally build out of something Elise and Hemiderdinger can use.


 * +50 ability power, +50 armor, +40 magic resistance, +10 mana regeneration
 * Passive - Mana Font: Increases your mana regeneration by 1% per 1% mana you are missing.
 * Active: Prevents the closest enemy tower from attacking for 2.5 seconds (120 second cooldown). This effect cannot be used against the same tower more than once every 7.5 seconds.

As mentioned by multiple people, bonus damage on turrets was too strong and a bit out of place. Rest of the item is fine.

This particular item is meant to open up midlane itemization by providing magic resistance while not being. It's basically aiming towards the old, but better suited for sustained laning with a passive effect similar to.
 * +25 ability power, +25 magic resistance
 * Passive: Whenever you cast a spell, restore 15 health and 15 mana over 1 second.

Mage upgrade would be close to old in terms of provided stats:


 * +70 ability power, +30 magic resistance, +8% movement speed
 * Passive - Spiral Power: Whenever you cast a spell or get hit by one, restore 20 health and 20 mana over 1 second.
 * Active: Gain 20% increased Ability Power and lose 50% of Magic Resistance for 5 seconds. 60 second cooldown.

It's the old Twins with an agressive touch. Active has potentially devastating results when paired with, but the numbers can be adjusted or even set at flat amount.

Support upgrade to this item would be the good old Innervating Locket, although less Udyr-friendly:


 * +40 ability power, +40 magic resistance
 * Passive - Spiral Power: Whenever you cast a spell, restore 25 health and 25 mana to nearby allies over 1 second.

A way for the support to, well, awaken their inner Sona - and get some (anti)magical power. Combines extremely well with my version of. Probably core on Sona.

All things considered
Even though it's quite certain that Riot will never read let alone respond to my project, it's not impossible for them to come up with similar ideas some time later. I'm quite satisfied with just the change, maybe I'm overdoing it and the reign of  isn't so bad after all.

I'm still not sure about some of those concepts, especially my version of, so any feedback is more than welcome.

Next time, we're back on track and continue with fighter items such as. See you by then!