Discussion of Tanky/Defense Itemization (@FeralPony?)

Hello fellow summoner guys and summoner ladies, hello Rioters,

it is a common notice that, over the last season, League's itemization has become rather stale again, especially in the departments of Marksmen and Tanky itemization. Support's and Mage's itemization in general is pretty decent, although there are some outliers (by that, I'm mostly refering to and ).

For clarification, what these four categories mean for me:

• Marksman: AD itemization. Examples:
• Mage: AP stuff, like
• Tanky: Defensive items of all kinds:
• Support: Items that help your team/hinder the enemy, items with a main focus on utility.

This is mainly about Tanky itemization and some perceived issues with it.

Or, instead of issues, one could say some things I noticed with it.

Tanky items can be classed in three major groups, depending on the amount of resistances and HP they give. Non-tanky stats are left out, for the purpose of this classification:

1. Resistance-focused: Items that give high resistances (70+ for Armor, 40+ for MR), but only low, if any, HP (less than 300). This category contains things like
2. Hybrid: These items give both average or better resistances, as well as average or better HP. This includes
3. Health-focused: These class of items primarily gives HP, and a ton of it (500+), too. This category is the smallest, with only 4 items .

Now, what is the issue?

Simply, there's not enough differentiation between the Hybrid defense items and the more focused classes. Certain items from that category give too much of both resistances and HP. Yes, I am refering to , and .
Randuin's is, and there's going to be little debate, the best Armor item in the whole game. It gives high resilence to physical damage (high EHP) by its stats alone. On top, the passive reduces sustained physical damage by 10%, as the enemy is going to attack 10% slower. And lastly, 500 health is also rather effective against magic damage, which mostly comes in the form of burst (and a higher HP pool is a natural counter to burst). Banshee's and Visage, on the other side, have the same effect: They give the highest MR possible from a single slot, on top of really good HP. This gives you good EHP against magic damage, and works ok against stray physical damage, too. On top, both items have amazing secondary effects: Banshee's gives you a Spell Shield, further amplifying its effect against burst (and it works against both magic and physical damage), while Visage gives your regeneration a good boost, as well as a nice bit of CdR.

But, it doesn't stop there. Nobody prevents you from buying two of these items together. For example, Randuin's and Spirit Visage together give you almost as much HP as Warmog's Armor...and almost as much regeneration, too (24 from Visage + 20% extra for all other sources of HP, summed up easily 30 Hp5, which is equivalent for a 3k HP Warmog's user). All that, and both more slot- and gold-efficient than Warmog's + 2 resistance items. While being more convenient to build, due to smooth 2-components+recipe cost build paths.

is a different story: It is the best hybrid offensive/defensive item, as the magic damage aura beats all other off/def items in pure DPS if two or more targets are concerned.
Also, is more in line, as it gives not as much MR.

Together, these factors contribute a lot to raw HP items falling out of favor. That's not to say that these items do not have further problems (awkward build paths for both Mallet and Mog's, Mog's getting outclassed both in HP and passive), but they contribute a lot.

A final throwback to S2: Why were Warmog's, Mallet and also the resistance-focused items build more during that time?
Because the HP/resist hybrid items gave less HP back then ( 350, 375 (and 375 mana), 200), as well as Warmog's giving more HP and HP regeneration (1270 and 40, with a stacking mechanic and higher cost to prevent the abuse potential in lane). You basically needed one of the raw HP items for your tankiness.

What kind of changes could I picture?

• Making more of an Armor-focused item by lowering its HP and raising its Armor. Possibly, add a bit of HP regen back onto it.
• and s: Either lower MR or lower HP (latter would probably require build path changes...again).
• Raise the MR values on certain, completed resistance-focused MR items ( (carefully)), remake and make a new, tank-focused raw MR item (possibly with Force of Nature's icon and name, but not exact stats). This item could, for example, use the active of Dominion's (but not the passive!).
• Improve the health-focused items a bit, for example by raising 's HP value, cost and giving it additional regeneration based on missing Health (sort-of like Perseverance - which shouldn't be a mastery at all). Also, better build paths would be nice.
• Make the item it should be, instead of something that feels completely out of place.