Item Idea to Make Pure Tanks Attractive

Right now, pure tanks are in a rough spot. Aside from Rammus and tank supports, there really isn't any incentive to be a pure tank. Sure, you'll be tankier than fighters, but fighters get the pleasure of using good AD items made just for their role (ex. Hydra, Black Cleaver) while also building pretty tanky. Tanky AP champs are forced to use defensive mage items if they want any form of damage (which they need to keep up with fighters), and while that sounds fine on paper, mages are based around entirely different parameters. For example, if a mage wants mana, they look at , , , and/or . Unholy Grail doesn't provide a lot in the way of defense, and Morello's grants absolutely nothing. AAS takes a lot of time to build, and is also a glass item. RoA is a great item, but takes time to stack, on top of you needing jungle items (for junglers, anyway). Mana tanks require a lot of mana, so you're basically forced into getting a RoA if you wanna have any late game damage without sacrificing damage. Due to the way that RoA works, you need to get it as your first real item. This limits build options for any tanky AP champs who have any mana problems ( (you don't give someone four decent AP ratios and expect him to build no AP), , etc.).

Even RoA isn't enough. You then have to build some defensive items, and if you need MR ( is the likely option, but all of the MR items apply to this point), you have no mana options (unless you count Unholy Grail...). If you need armor, you can at least get and/or . So even assuming you're facing an entirely physical damage dealing team, your core is still three completed items including boots, with no little room for situational building (again, need RoA first). Instead of forcing poor tanks to get RoA (or face mana problems), I propose an item similar to the following, allowing tanks to build defensive first, and consider AP items like later.

Apprentice's Plate + + X gold 200 HP, 250 mana (MP), 20 armor, 35 MR, 10% CDR, and the Cowl's +150% health regen passive on taking champion damage. This provides a medium item without being forced to finish an entire item to start getting the effects. It also provides no form of damage, so it wouldn't be attractive on fighters. Also, many of them don't care about MP, so that's another reason why I think it'd specifically fit tanks. Finally, it has no aura. So even though it provides all three defensive stats, it only helps you. This makes it less than ideal on supports.

Master Mail Apprentice's Plate + + + Y gold 400 HP 300 MP 40 armor 40 MR 10% CDR 150% health regen UNIQUE Passive: 35% Tenacity

At first glance, it might seem like a bundle of stats, but take note of a few things. First of all, it gives a lot of stats, but not a lot of any of them (save health regen). This means that it'd be useful as an early item if you're looking to cover your bases, but not as effective as any dedicate defensive item, such as or . In fact, this doesn't even grant as much armor as , and that's an offensive item for tanky AP champs. It gives you a base to work with, but you need more items to get really tanky. In fact, this wouldn't even solve the mana issues that I mentioned in the beginning of the post.

TLDR: Pure tanks need a new item, otherwise, fighters will almost always be "almost as tanky with less utility, but have tons of damage in comparison," rendering most pure tanks effectively useless.