Gold efficiency (League of Legends)

Gold efficiency is the comparison of an item's purchase price in the in-game shop to the amount of gold that item is actually worth, based on the stats it provides. This is a form of theory-crafting within the game, but it does follow a set of guidelines that allows it to hold merit in usage within the community, and is in fact acknowledged by Riot Games Inc. as a lever for game balance.

Calculating Gold Efficiency

The gold efficiency of an item can be determined by comparing its purchase price to its theoretical price, which is the combined gold value of all the stats bonuses it provides. The value of individual bonuses is determined from reference items. Reference items are basic items whith just one effect that provides a bonus to a single stat. They provide a baseline to determine the gold value of the stat they improve.

The theoretical price of an item seldom takes into account any passive or active effects. However, if an item's passive is "Gain a fraction of stat X as stat Y", and the item itself gives stat X, it is customary to include the bonus to stat Y from the item's passive working on its own stats to calculate its theoretical price (for example, the Manamune).

The gold efficiency of an item is the theoretical price divided by its actual price. An item is gold efficient if its gold efficiency is greater than or equal to 100%. Items which are not gold efficient have a gold deficit, which is the difference between their purchase price and their theoretical price. The gold deficit helps in determining whether it's worth buying an item. It is worth buying the item if its passive and/or active abilities are considered to be worth more than their gold deficit.

The gold values assigned to stats are not measures of the effectiveness of those stats. They are simply base prices meant to be used in determining the theoretical prices of higher-tier items. The goal of this page is to provide a valuation of items by comparing the bonuses they provide to the bonuses provided by a combination of base items with the same total price. For example, comparing an item which provides +20 AD and +20 Armor to an item which provides +20 AD and +20 Armor.

An external tabular analysis of the gold efficiencies of items can be found here. (Outdated)

Base Statistic Prices

One way of deriving a stat's gold value is from the least expensive basic item that provides only that stat.

Champion Statistic	Base Item	Item Cost	Stat Raised	Gold / Stat Bonus
Attack damage	Long Sword	350	10 AD	35
Ability power	Amplifying Tome	435	20 AP	21.75
Armor	Cloth Armor	300	15 Armor	20
Magic resistance	Null-Magic Mantle	450	25 MR	18
Health	Ruby Crystal	400	150 HP	0 2.666∞
Mana	Sapphire Crystal	350	250 MP	0 1.4
Health regeneration	Rejuvenation Bead	150	50% HP5	0 3
Mana regeneration	Faerie Charm	125	25% MP5	0 5
Critical strike chance	Brawler's Gloves	400	10% Crit	40
Attack speed	Dagger	300	12% AS	25
Flat movement speed	Boots of Speed	300	25 MS	12

Life steal, Lethality, magic penetration, on-hit damage, cooldown reduction, and percent movement speed are not found alone on any item, so their gold values are calculated using the least gold efficient, lowest-tier items available: Vampiric Scepter, Serrated Dirk, Sorcerer's Shoes, Recurve Bow, Kindlegem and Aether Wisp has been generally accepted to be a fair gold value for life steal, armor penetration, magic penetration, on-hit damage, cooldown reduction, and percent movement speed respectively. Spell vamp (on an item) is currently only found on the non-static passive Lifegrip on Maw of Malmortius, making its gold value incalculable.

Champion Statistic	Base Item	Item Cost	Stat Raised	Gold / Stat Bonus
Life steal	Vampiric Scepter	900	10% LS 15 AD	37.5 35
Lethality	Serrated Dirk	1100	10 Lethal 25 AD	22.5 35
Magic penetration	Sorcerer's Shoes	1100	15 MC Pen 45 MS	37.333∞ 12
On-hit damage	Recurve Bow	1000	15 OH Dmg 25% AS	25 25
Cooldown reduction	Fiendish Codex	900	10% CDR 30 AP	24.75 21.75
Percent movement speed	Aether Wisp	850	5% MS 30 AP	39.5 21.75

Item Statistics

Basic Tier Items

• AD
• AP
• Armor
• MR
• Health
• Mana
• Hp5
• Mp5
• Crit
• AS
• Doran's
• Gold

Base Item	Item Cost	AD Value	Gold / AD	Long Sword Equivalence
Long Sword	350	10	35	N/A
Pickaxe	875	25	35	0% Greater Efficiency
B. F. Sword	1300	40	32.5	7.69% Greater Efficiency

Base Item	Item Cost	AP Value	Gold / AP	Amplifying Tome Equivalence
Amplifying Tome	435	20	21.75	N/A
Blasting Wand	850	40	21.25	2.35% Greater Efficiency
Needlessly Large Rod	1250	60	20.833∞	4.4% Greater Efficiency

Base Item	Item Cost	Armor Value	Gold / Armor	Cloth Armor Equivalence
Cloth Armor	300	15	20	N/A
Chain Vest	800	40	20	0% Greater Efficiency

Base Item	Item Cost	MR Value	Gold / MR	Null-Magic Mantle Equivalence
Null-Magic Mantle	450	25	18	N/A
Negatron Cloak	720	40	18	0% Greater Efficiency

Base Item	Item Cost	HP Value	Gold / HP	Ruby Crystal Equivalence
Ruby Crystal	400	150	2.666∞	N/A
Giant's Belt	1000	380	2.63	1.46% Greater Efficiency

Base Item	Item Cost	MP Value	Gold / MP	Sapphire Crystal Equivalence
Sapphire Crystal	350	250	1.4	N/A

Base Item	Item Cost	Hp5 Value	Gold / Hp5	Rejuvenation Bead Equivalence
Rejuvenation Bead	150	50%	3	N/A

Base Item	Item Cost	Mp5 Value	Gold / Mp5	Faerie Charm Equivalence
Faerie Charm	125	25%	5	N/A

Base Item	Item Cost	Crit Value	Gold / Crit	Brawler's Gloves Equivalence
Brawler's Gloves	400	10%	40	N/A
Cloak of Agility	800	20%	40	0% Greater Efficiency

Base Item	Item Cost	AS Value	Gold / % AS	Dagger Equivalence
Dagger	300	12%	25	N/A

Doran's items are meant to be powerful early game, but lose effectiveness in the later stages of the game, as they do not build into the higher-tier items found in the late game. In terms of gold per statistics, however, these are among the most cost efficient items in the shop.

Cull provides 7 Attack damage, heals 3 life on hit, and grants 1 extra gold per minion kill. Reaching 100 minion kills gives 350 gold and disables the passive

• 7 AD × 35 gold per AD = 245
• 3 Life on hit = ??

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of a Cull is 245, making it 54.44% gold efficient. Once 100 minions have been killed, becomes 154.44% gold efficient.

Doran's Blade provides 8 Attack damage, 80 Health, and 3% Life steal.

• 8 AD × 35 gold per AD = 280
• 80 HP × 2.666∞ gold per HP = 213.333∞
• 3% LS × 37.5 gold per LS = 112.5

Using the Basic Item Statistics, a Doran's Blade is worth 605.833∞, making it 134.63% gold efficient.

Doran's Ring provides 15 Ability power, 60 Health, 50% Mana regeneration, and recovers 4 Mana each time you get a kill.

• 15 AP × 21.75 gold per AP = 326.25
• 60 HP × 2.666∞ gold per HP = 160
• 50% MP5 × 5 gold per % MP5 = 250
• 4 MP per kill = ??

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of a Doran's Ring is 736.25, making it 184.06% gold efficient excluding the passive. Doran's Ring is the most cost-efficient of the Doran's items.

Doran's Shield provides 80 Health, 6 Health regeneration, +5 damage to minions on-hit, and 20 health over 10 seconds after taking damage from an enemy champion.

• 80 HP × 2.666∞ gold per HP = 213.333∞
• 6 HP5 × ?? gold per HP5 = ??
• Basic attacks deal +5 damage to minions on-hit = ??
• Regain 20 health over 10 seconds after taking damage from an enemy champion = ??

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of a Doran's Shield is 213.333∞, making it 47.41% gold efficient excluding the passives.

The Dark Seal provides 15 Ability power, 100 Mana, +25% increased healing from potions, and the unique passive Do or Die and Dread, which grants bonus Ability power upon killing or assisting kills, but losing 12 Ability power upon dying.

• 15 AP × 21.75 gold per AP = 326.25
• 100 MP × 1.4 gold per MP = 140

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of The Dark Seal is 466.25, making it 133.21% gold efficient excluding the passives. The Dark Seal can reach a gold efficiency of 319.64% at maximum stack of Glory.

Gold-generating items are items that, while being moderately inefficient to start out, boost the gold income of the user independently of obtaining last hits, thus potentially allowing any of them to become gold efficient given enough time. Unlike the Doran's items, these items all have intermediate and legendary-tier upgrades.

Ancient Coin provides 25% Mana regeneration, 5% Cooldown reduction and the unique passive Favor, which grants 4 gold and heals for 5 health whenever a nearby minion dies that the user did not kill.

• 25% MP5 × 5 gold per MP5 = 125
• 5% CDR × 26.666∞ gold per CDR = 133.33
• Unique Passive – Favor: Grants 4 and restores 5 health each time a nearby enemy minion dies that you didn't kill (1400 range).

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of Ancient Coin is 258.33, without counting the passive, making it 64.58% gold efficient. By counting the passive, you get 4 for every minion death, making the Ancient Coin gold efficient after generating 91.67 (~23 minion deaths).

Relic Shield provides 75 Health, 2 gold per 10 seconds, and the unique passive Spoils of War, which grants the user charges which cause melee attacks to execute minions below 195 + (5*level) health, healing you and the nearest allied champion for 40 health and grants them gold equal to the kill.

• 75 HP × 2.666∞ gold per HP = 200
• 2 Gp10 = +2 gold every 10 seconds
• Unique Passive – Spoils of War: Melee auto-attacks execute minions below 195 + (5*level) health. Killing a minion by any means heals you and the nearest allied champion for 15 health and grants them kill gold. These effects require a nearby allied champion and consume a charge. Recharges every 60 seconds. Max 2 charges.

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of Relic Shield is 200, without counting the passive, making it 50% gold efficient. The Relic Shield becomes gold efficient after granting 150 to allies utilizing the Spoils of War passive.

Spellthief's Edge provides 5 Ability power, 25% Mana regeneration, 2 gold per 10 seconds and the unique passive Tribute, which deal 10 additional damage and grant 8 gold whenever the wielder damages an enemy champion or structure.

• 5 AP × 21.75 gold per AP = 108.75
• 25% MP5 × 5 gold per MP5 = 125
• 2 Gp10 = +2 gold every 10 seconds
• Unique Passive – Tribute: Spells and basic attacks against champions or buildings deal 10 additional damage and grant 8. This can occur up to 3 times every 30 seconds. Killing a minion disables this passive for 12 seconds.

Using the Basic Items Statistics, the actual value of Spellthief's Edge is 233.75, without counting the passives, making it 58.44% gold efficient. By counting the passives, you get 2 additional gold every 10 seconds and 8 additional gold after attacking an enemy champion or structure. The Spellthief's Edge becomes gold efficient after generating 116.25.

Trivia

• Spell vamp used be a statistic available on items. It was valued at 27.5 per percentage point before it was removed from Hextech Revolver. It is still available through runes, masteries, and Hextech Gunblade.
• The former values for Mp5 and Hp5 were 60and 36 respectively. Even though flat Mp5 is nonexistent on the Rift, flat Hp5 is still available on certain items like Warmog's Armor and Doran's Shield.
• An Aegis of the Legion affecting all five champions on a team was (before V5.16) the most gold efficient item that all champions can be said to make at least some use of, with a theoretical price of 4954; 412.83% of its purchase price.
• With the maximum amount of ability power, a Rabadon's Deathcap grants about 424 ability power, with a theoretical price of 9222; 280% of its purchase price.
• The snowball item Mejai's Soulstealer begins with a very low gold efficiency, but upon reaching maximum stacks has one of the best possible in the game.
  • Mejai's Soulstealer has a theoretical price of 4390 when fully stacked; 313.57% of its purchase price.
• Warmog's Armor has no gold efficiency cap with Sion's Soul Furnace because it infinitely increases his health, which will scale Health regeneration.
  • A Rabadon's Deathcap also has no gold efficiency cap with Thresh's Damnation or Veigar's Baleful Strike.