League of Legends patch 4.5 proposed Itemization Changes

With patch 4.4 now out in the wild, Riot Games is turning their attention towards the next update for League of Legends, specifically some itemization changes slated for patch 4.5. Most of the individual changes are fairly minor, but it's a pretty lengthy list. Before we get to the specifics, League of Legends game designer FeralPony briefly explained the logic behind some of these changes.

"One of the primary problems is that many of the mid-tier component items for AP items make sense only when you have a good consistent Ability Power base – such as triple ring or something. This was exacerbated in Season 4 when we stripped out a lot of the small mid-tier component items (that ranged from 800 to 900 Gold). We want to take a couple of preliminary steps to introduce some new components that might form a solid basis for future items as well as ensure that players that go down a Utility / Support route start feeling more complete earlier."

So here are the proposed itemization changes in the future patch 4.5 (all quotes are directly from FeralPony):

Ability Power / Movement Speed

(NEW) Aether Wisp

• Recipe: Amplifying Tome + 365 Gold = 800 Total Gold
• 30 Ability Power
• UNIQUE Passive: +5% Movement Speed

"This item seemed a very logical component piece for the two current AP & MS items (LB and TS) as well as a good building block for future items."

Lich Bane

• Recipe: Sheen + Aether Wisp (NEW) + 1000 Gold = 3000 Total Gold
• Total Cost: Unchanged
• Stats: Unchanged
• Passive: Unchanged

Twin Shadows (Summoner's Rift)

• Recipe: Aether Wisp (NEW) + Fiendish Codex + 780 Gold = 2400 Total Gold
• Ability Power: 50 –> 80
• Magic Resistance: 40 –> 0
• Cooldown Reduction: 0 –> 10% CDR
• Movement Speed: Unchanged
• Additional Active Effect: If the ghosts fail to find a target after 5 seconds, they attempt to return to the caster. Each ghost that successfully returns to the caster reduces the cooldown of this item by 40 seconds.

"We've retuned Twin Shadows to more emphasis the scouting portion of the item rather than the tank / initiation portion of the item. The new active effect allows the item to be used at a much lower cooldown cost for scouting purposes. The smoother buildpath compared to live should allow supports who pick up Twin Shadows to make progressive AP gains as they build towards the final item."

Mana Regeneration and Cooldown Reduction

(NEW) Forbidden Idol (Icon is currently placeholder)

• Recipe: Faerie Charm + Faerie Charm + 390 Gold = 750 Gold Total
• +8 Mana Regen per 5 seconds
• UNIQUE Passive: +10% Cooldown Reduction

Morellonomnomnomicon

• Recipe: Fiendish Codex + Forbidden Idol (NEW) + 630 Gold = 2200 Gold Total
• Total Cost: Unchanged
• Stats: Unchanged
• Passive: Unchanged

"Nothing to see here besides the recipe change. The removal of Kage's in S4 made this recipe a bit weird so we're cleaning it up a bit."

Talisman of Ascension

• Recipe: Nomad's Medallion + Forbidden Idol (NEW) + 585 Gold = 2200 Gold Total
• Total Cost: 2000 –> 2200
• Mana Regeneration Per 5: 10 –> 15
• Other Stats: Unchanged

"It's always been weird that Talisman of Ascension has 20% CDR pop out of nowhere. So we're retrofitting Talisman of Ascension to build out of the Forbidden Idol.

"That said, this does still mean that Talisman of Ascension will have the most mana regeneration of the Income items again."

Frost Queen's Claim

• Recipe Cost: 315 –> 515
• Total Cost: 2000 –> 2200
• Ability Power: 40 –> 50

Face of the Mountain

• Recipe Cost: 185 –> 385
• Total Cost: 2000 –> 2200
• Health Regeneration per 5: 25 –> 20
• Health: 375 –> 500

"On the whole this is pretty much a neutral change to Frost Queen's Claim and a very slight buff to Face of the Mountain but the main purpose of these tweaks is to ensure that all the Tier 3 Duo lane items had the same gold cost and thus roughly the same gold efficiency end game."

Will of the Ancients

• Recipe: Hextech Revolver + Fiendish Codex + 480 Gold = 2500 Total Gold
• Ability Power: 50 –> 80
• Mana Regeneration per 5: 10 –> 0
• Cooldown Reduction: Unchanged
• Passive: Unchanged

"Xypherous has some crazy conspiracy theories behind this change, but I think it is difficult to adjust and cleanup item recipes without addressing Wota. The Mana Regen was always attached to allow mages who wanted to invest in spellvamp, but was still primarily picked up by resourceless casters. We've retuned the item with those characters in mind. This might be a bit crazy in testing but we can adjust the items balance pretty easily and part of the reason we wanted to get this out earlier."

Aegis of the Legion

• Recipe: Negatron Cloak + Ruby Crystal + Rejuvenation Bead + 600 Gold = 1900 Gold
• Health: Unchanged
• Armor: 20 –> 0
• Magic Resistance: 0 –> 20 (40 Magic Resistance total due to the 20 from Aura)
• Aura: Unchanged

Locket of the Iron Solari

• Recipe: Kindlegem + Aegis of the Legion + 50 Gold = 2800 Gold
• Health: 300 –> 400
• Armor: 20 –> 0
• Magic Resistanace: 0 –> 20 (40 Magic Resistance total due to the 20 from Aura)
• Cooldown Reduction: Unchanged
• Aura – Legion: Unchanged
• Active: Unchanged

"The recipe for Aegis of the Legion has always been a little weird after the removal of Emblem of Valor. The more we prodded at the item, the more the item's triple resistance nature (Health/Armor/MR) seemed to not align with our overall goals and direction of the item system. We want the item to do a better job at it's intended function – defending against heavy amounts of magic damage and be slightly less universal.

"The stat lineup on Locket seemed like a logical choice for players who wanted to pick up an early  and rounded out the recipe nicely."

Glacial Shroud

• Recipe: Cloth Armor + Sapphire Crystal + 250 Gold = 950 Gold Total
• Armor: 45 –> 20
• Mana: 300 –> 250
• Cooldown Reduction: Unchanged

Iceborn Gauntlet

• Combine Cost: 1100 –> 750
• Total Cost: 3300 –> 2900 (Due to Glacial Shroud)
• Ability Power: Unchanged
• Mana: Unchanged
• Armor: 70 –> 60
• Cooldown Reduction: Unchanged
• Passive: Unchanged

Frozen Heart

• Combine Cost: 550 –> 650
• Total Cost: 2900 –> 2600 (Due to Glacial Shroud)
• Armor: 95 –> 100
• Mana & Cooldown Reduction: Unchanged
• Aura Attack Speed Reduction: -20% –> -15%

"We wanted to retune Glacial shroud to be an easier pickup for people in lane and the 950 gold cost made it a much easier early game pickup than the previous 1350 cost. The price point also didn't seem to match the expectations and impact of the item.

"The changes to IBG and FH are overall small buffs to the items which are a bit on the weak side. The easier buildup combined with the lower pricepoint should put both these items in a better spot overall."

Warden's Mail

• Recipe: Chain Vest + 280 Gold
• Combine Cost: 400 –> 280
• Total Cost: Unchanged

"With the change to Glacial Shroud we wanted to be sure that Chain Vest was an available pickup for folks who wanted to really heavily in armor in either Randuin's or Frozen Heart."

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Like I said, a lengthy list, but nothing too overwhelming. As a Morde/Katarina player, I'm pleased with the changes being made to Will of the Ancients. I'll gladly take the extra ability power over mana regen that was wasted on mana-less characters.

In addition to these item changes, Riot also has some reworks for Summoner Spells and Enchantment items as well. Check out those proposed changes here.

[League of Legends]