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Theory Crafting: Mage Item Rework

RomanorumLegio·3/23/2016, 1:39:34 AM·4 votes·1,016 views

With the upcoming mage rework, it would be a wonderful time to rework many of the mage items as well. Being a mid main, I thought that it would be fun to do a personal overhaul of the items while attempting to make the items still theoretically balanced. Any item that I do not mention is to be left the way it is. Do remember that I do not have a way to actually test these ideas like riot. As designing these items, I kept to a couple of basic premises:

  • Similar items should be different enough to provide choice outside of which has the best stats
  • Active effects create more gameplay and higher skill-cap plays than passive effects
  • Items should feel impactful to buy
  • Costs/efficiencies/cooldowns of the live items are close to balanced, so they were used for reference

Component Items

Forbidden Idol

  • Recipe: Faerie Charm (125g) + Faerie Charm (125g) + 325g (Total Cost: 575g)
  • +50% mReg
  • Unique Passive: +10% cdr
  • Unique Passive: +1 mana per 5

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Chalice of Harmony

  • Recipe: Faerie Charm (125g) + Faerie Charm (125g) + Null-Magic Mantle (450g) + 200g (Total Cost: 900g)
  • +50% mReg, +25 mr
  • Unique Passive - Mana Font: Restores 2% of missing mana every 5 seconds
  • Unique Passive - Unholy Growth: Killing a unit grants 1 stack of Unholy Growth, up to a maximum of 60 stacks.

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Runic Relapse

  • Recipe: Faerie Charm (125g) + Amplifying Tome (435g) + 290g (Total Cost: 850g)
  • +25% mReg, +30 ap
  • Unique Passive - Mana Conservation: 10% of your spells’ mana costs is refunded over 5 seconds

Forbidden Idol has always felt rather subpar as a mana regen component, and lacked a niche outside of "it has cdr". Therefore I wanted to give it a very small flat regen to give it and the items that build of it more of a role of "I need mana regen now". The price was also increased by 25 to compensate for the buff. Chalice got a slight cost reduction due to it being horrendously cost inefficient (70%!). The additional passive is just to start counting up for Athene's new passive, much like how machete keeps stack count towards devourer. Runic Relapse is my own personal concoction meant to give some offense while giving weak boost to mana management.

Basic Mana Regen Line

Athene's Unholy Grail

  • Recipe: Chalice of Harmony (900g) + Fiendish Codex (800g) + Amplifying Tome (435g) + 565g (Total Cost: 2700g)
  • +100% mReg, +60 ap, +20 cdr, +25 mr
  • Unique Passive - Mana Font: Restores 2% of missing mana every 5 seconds
  • Unique Passive - Unholy Growth: Killing a unit grants 1 stack of Unholy Growth, up to a maximum of 60 stacks. Gains +1 stack every 20 seconds. A stack of Unholy Growth grants +0.5 ap and 2.5 mana.

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Morellonomicon

  • Recipe: Forbidden Idol (575g) + Fiendish Codex (800g) + Amplifying Tome (435g) + 590g (Total Cost: 2400g)
  • +100% mReg, +60 ap, +20 cdr
  • Unique Passive: +10 mana per 5

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Enchantment Options for Athene's and Morellonomicon (100g)

  • Unique Passive: Dealing magic damage to an enemy below 40% health inflicts grievous wounds to them for 4 seconds
  • Unique Passive: Restores 30% of your maximum mana on kill or assist

I wanted to clearly make Morellonomicon the better early game choice, while making Athene's the better long-term choice. Morello's gains the upfront benefit of a cheep cost and flat mana, and chalice gets better stats and self-synergy after some significant farming. However, the grevious wounds passive created a situation where a single enemy could make one required over the other, so the best options were to give both the passive (bad idea) or make it an option for both in the form of an enchantment.

Rune Line

Cursed Rune of Trueice

  • Recipe: Runic Relapse (850g) + Seeker's Armguard (1200g) + 650g (Total Cost: 2700g)
  • +50% mReg, +70 ap, +45 armor
  • Unique Passive - Mana Conservation: 20% of your spells' mana costs is refunded over 5 seconds
  • Unique Active - Runic Burst: Gain a (100 + (5 * level) + 20% ap) shield that lasts for 2.5 seconds and knock back all units that are within 225 units to 225 units of the player.

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Desecrated Rune of Shadows

  • Recipe: Runic Relapse (850g) + Null-Magic Mantle (450g) + Blasting Wand (850g) + 550g (Total Cost: 2700g)
  • +50% mReg, +70 ap, +45 mr
  • Unique Passive - Mana Conservation: 20% of your spells' mana costs is refunded over 5 seconds
  • Unique Active - Runic Burst: Gain a (100 + (5 * level) + 0.2 ap) shield that lasts for 2.5 seconds and knock back all units that are within 225 units to 225 units of the player.

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Blighted Rune of Pox

  • Recipe: Runic Relapse (850g) + Needlessly Large Rod (1250g) + Amplifying Tome (435g) + 1065g (Total Cost: 3600g)
  • +50% mReg, +120 ap
  • Unique Passive - Mana Conservation: 20% of your spells' mana costs is refunded over 5 seconds
  • Unique Passive - Pox: Applies a stack of Pox for 10 seconds whenever you deal ability damage, stacking up to 5 times.
  • Unique Active - Pestilence: Deals (+10% ap) per stack of Pox to all nearby enemies affected by Pox and applies a damage-over-time effect that deals bonus magic equal to 2% of the target's missing health per second for 3 seconds. Half this damage over time is also applied to all units in 300 units of the afflicted unit. This aura can stack on other affected units

This item line is my brainchild. It is supposed to be geared towards champions that need some type of mana regen to survive at all. Rune of Trueice and Rune of Shadows are supposed to be lesser armor/mr versions of Zhonya's with their actives (225 range is just outside most melee autoattacks), but they have the minor regen and conservation passive so they can be picked up as a way to survive a losing lane. Rune of Pox is supposed to be a very strong offense item that has most of its power tied up in the active, but when used right, it can wreck teamfights.

Guise Line

Haunting Guise

  • Recipe: Ruby Crystal (400g) + Amplifying Tome (435g) + 665g (Total Cost: 1500g)
  • +175 hp, +25 ap
  • Unique Passive - Eyes of Pain: +15 magic penetration

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Noxian War Mask

  • Recipe: Haunting Guise (1500g) + Amplifying Tome (435g) + 665g (Total Cost: 2500g)
  • +250 hp, +60 ap
  • Unique Passive - Eyes of Pain: +15 magic penetration
  • Unique Active - Mark: Throws a projectile (1600 range) that will mark the first enemy hit. If mark hits an enemy, gain 15 magic penetration on the marked target and 20% movement speed when moving towards the marked target. 60 second cooldown

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Demacian Helm

  • Recipe: Haunting Guise (1500g) + Blasting Wand (850g) + 650g (Total Cost: 3000g)
  • +300 hp, +80 ap
  • Unique Passive - Eyes of Pain: +15 magic penetration
  • Unique Passive - Resolve: Gain +2 armor and magic resist per nearby champion, friend or foe

Haunting Guise is supposed to be a strong lane item, but it's cost is inhibitive of this. However, it is already cost efficient on live, so to decrease the price, I trimmed off 25 hp. Noxian War Mask is supposed to be the friend of AP assassins: Up to 30 magic pen, increased ease of getting on targets, ap, and some hp to survive counterattack. Because the haunting guise line has hp, it gives itself to a defensive use too, which felt odd on Liandry's on live, so Demacian Helm is meant to cater to this defensive goal.

Penetration Line

Void Staff

  • Recipe: Blasting Wand (850g) + 450g (Total Cost: 1300g)
  • +40 ap
  • Unique Passive - Call of the Void: +30% Bonus magic penetration

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Liandry's Torment

  • Recipe: Void Staff (1300g) + Blasting Wand (850g) + 450g (Total Cost: 2700g)
  • +80 ap
  • Unique Passive - Call of the Void: +45% Bonus magic penetration
  • Unique Passive: Dealing spell damage applies a damage-over-time effect that deals bonus magic damage equal to 2% of the target's current health per second for 3 seconds. This bonus damage is doubled against movement-impaired units and capped at 100 damage per second vs. monsters.

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Icathia's Wrath

  • Recipe: Void Staff (1300g) + Blasting Wand (850g) + 450g (Total Cost: 2700g)
  • +80 ap
  • Unique Passive - Call of the Void: +45% Bonus magic penetration
  • Unique Passive: 5% of all magic damage is instead delivered as true damage

In its current state on live, void staff serves too general of a purpose as it is effective even against squishies. Taking a note from what riot did with Last Whisper, I made void staff more of a component with two possible choices for a late-game item. Icathia's Wrath is tailored more towards burst oriented champions without increasing the total possible output and having minimal effect on squishies. Liadry's with its passive also just makes since here as an option. I know on live it is supposed to counter "high hp, low resistance" enemies, but this doesn't really work out because virtually all enemies with staking hp will also get resistances.

Assorted

Zhonya's Hourglass

  • Recipe: Seeker's Armguard (1200g) + Needlessly Large Rod (1250g) + 850g (Total Cost: 3300g)
  • +45 armor, +100ap
  • Unique Passive - Stasis: Put yourself in stasis for 2.5 seconds, rendering yourself untargetable and invulnerable for the duration, but also unable to move, attack, cast spells, or use items during this time. 120 second cooldown.

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Hextech Repeater

  • Recipe: Aether Wisp (850g) + Fiendish Codex (800g) + 750g (Total Cost: 2200g)
  • +10% cdr, +10% movement speed, +70ap
  • Unique Passive - Intelligence: +20% cooldown reduction on active items and trinkets

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Rod of Ages

  • Recipe: Catalyst the Protector (1200g) + Blasting Wand (850g) + 950g (Total Cost: 3000g)
  • +300 hp, +400 mana, +80ap
  • Passive: This item gains 15 health, 40 mana and 4 ability power every minute, up to 10 times.
  • Unique Passive - Valor's Reward: On leveling up, restores 150 health and 200 mana over 8 seconds.
  • Unique Active - Fountain of Youth: For the next 2.5 seconds, gain (item stacks)% spellvamp. 120 second cooldown

For a defensive item that many champions are actually balanced around, Zhonya's is ridiculously expensive, so I decreased the cost by 200g but also nerfed the active cooldown. Hextech Repeater is another brainchild of mine meant to synergize with builds with lots of actives and fill some of the manaless cdr void while also staying cheep enough for supports (traditionally high active builds). Rod of Ages is a definition stat-stick (Look at it. It even is a stick.), so I nerfed the total hp by 50 at max stacks to fit in a small active.

Thank you for reading.

All unmentioned items are to be left as is. Remember this is all untested and nothing is guaranteed to be balance, and I am not claiming to know more about balance than riot. Also note that I am not good at naming, and given names can be viewed as placeholders.

Edit1: cleaned up some formatting errors

6 Comments

Aniela3/23/2016, 8:03:42 AM1 votes

I like a lot of the ideas. As far as numbers go, I'm probably not the best person to comment on them but the concepts are pretty good. I've actually been thinking along the same lines as to potential AP itemization but I think you'd done a much better job when it comes to ideas and functionality within the confines to spell mechanics compared to myself.

TheOvermind3/23/2016, 8:37:04 AM1 votes

You can't make Magic pen items like void staff to % Bonus Magic Pen like they did with last whisper. Simply because base MR is far lesser than armor and some roles don't even have scaling base MR. Stop trying to make AP itemization the same as AD for the sake of progress, they are vastly different.