Welcome (or even necessary) item changes going into S5
Of course, this is only my personal PoV, but here is a list of current items that I feel could use a bit of change going into the new season.
-
: I think this item is partly to blame for the staleness of current MR itemization, as it gives three stats that are good against magic damage - HP, HP regeneration and, of course, MR. Moreover, it leads to all items it builds into retaining those three stats. -
and 
: For itemizing against magic damage, there are currently no alternatives - simply due to the fact that these two item give, on top of the highest MR amounts in the game, good amounts of HP (roughly 20-25% base HP of your typical champion). -
: Could use a better build path - the current one is simply horrible in the fact that it features a heavy focus on a multiplier stat (Attack speed), but gives nothing this attack can be multiplied with. I see two options here, one being to add a simple Tier 2 on-hit item that could build into Nashor's, too. The other would be to have Wit's build out of 
and 
and 
, especially if Hexdrinker has its AD reduced a bit (see also below). In this case, the two AS items can amplify Hexdrinker's AD and serve as an offensive upgrade path. -
and : I feel like there's a bit too much overlap between and 
- in that, while Hexdrinker is a really good early buy, Scimitar is the superior endgame item offensively (80 AD always) and defensively (45 MR > 40 MR, and I'd wager that the active is more powerful than Hex's shield). Would like to see Maw's role to become more of a defensive thing (lower AD (hence the suggestion for lower AD on Hexdrinker), more MR (50-60) with an additional Null-Magic Mantle in the recipe), to distinguish between the two). -
: Needs a rework - the combination of AP, MR and MR reduction is just oppressive when the item is strong enough. -
The jungle items:
: The dominant jungle item for almost all of S4. Simply because it gives every stat an AD-based jungler wants in the early stages - AD, sustain, CdR, a damage passive and a passive that multiplies all of it against jungle monsters. I'd wager that this item is a big factor in stifling jungle diversity - anyone who can't use it must bring something exceptional to be a top-tier jungler (hello 
). Contrasted with the other three jungle items, an important point for its dominance, imo, is the fact that it provides its full strength immediately on purchase - there is no power-up period or an effect that is multiplying the stats from other items on this one.
- Or, rather, the failed experiment. At this point, the whole Wriggle's/FF line should be redesigned from scratch.
and 
- Outclassed by SotEL. Not sure if either would end up too dominant once Elder Lizard was changed to not be as oppressive.
-
- Should be reworked as a chasing/anti-kite tool without the oppressiveness of a permaslow. Also, would be great if there was a way to not make it even better as another kiting tool for the arsenal of ranged champions (unlike 
). -
: Remove the HP->AD conversion if there's no way to make it work, and then find a way to implement a viable and non-abusive AD/Armor item - provided there is a way to implement such an item. -
: These need some kind of work, too.
: Refer TL;DR: Item changes to MR itemization, Jungle items and some other items that sort-of don't have a real place in the game.
and 
can get away with having a ton of basic components, mostly because the stats these components give are direct stats that give something on their own. In IE's case, most people only build 
and 
and then try to complete the item in one go and avoid getting the 
.
. Then you've got 
that requires you to farm quite a bit to get the same AP. And Golem is weird and no one plays jungle tanks that much.
