Redesign of Magic Penetration Items (Using 6.9 changes)

There are two issues I have with the options provided by current AP items. The biggest problem I have is the lack of build paths from tier 2 items. The offenders of this are listed below along with their build options.

-> Stinger - Nashor's Tooth

-> Seeker's Armguard - Zhonya's Hourglass

-> Haunting Guise - Liandry's Torment

-> or Catalyst of the Protector - Rod of Ages and Righteous Glory (only one of these is really a mage item)

-> or Hextech Revolver - Will of the Ancients and Hextech Gunblade

The second issue was the lack of diversity among magic penetration items and 2850g price tag that was require for when a player finally wants to counter Magic Resist.

Introducing 6.9

I really like the new changes to mage items coming up in 6.9 and it fixes several of these items: Hextech Revolver and Catalyst of Aeons. Hextech Revolver received another two item build paths and lost one. Catalyst of Aeons had an additional one item added. This entire post is assuming all general changes proposed for 6.9 will remain.

Proposed Changes

Haunting Guise

• 200 health removed
• 1200g cost down from 1600g
• Builds from Amplifying Tome only
• AP unchanged

Haunting Guise at a lower cost and with more build options will really open it up as an early option for Magic Penetration. Most mages grab some MPen early, with their sorcerer's shoes because it efficiency with low Magic Resist. By having another option of MPen, mages can now choose to by Lucidity boots to help reach the CDR cap they generally struggle with.

Void Wand (New)

• Total Cost of 1350g
• Builds from Blasting Wand
• 40 AP
• Unique Passive (Unnamed): +20% Magic Penetration

The goal with both of these items was to provide a way for mages to have more options when reacting to magic resistance stacking. Haunting Guise becomes the item to grab early when magic resist is low while Void Wand really only becomes cost effective when the enemy has above 67 Magic Resist.

http://i.imgur.com/w2vr4iL.png

Liandry's Torment

The only changes to Liandry's Torment is its Build path to accommodate the changes to Haunting Guise. The total cost of Liandry's Torment should remain at 3200g.

http://imgur.com/cTUOQxV.png

Witch Doctor's Staff (New)

• Total Cost 2700g
• 70 AP
• Unique Passive Eyes of Pain: +40% Magic Penetation

Witch Doctor's Staff is intended to add a separate build path for Haunting Guise and establish it as a major component when countering Magic Resist. Witch Doctor's Staff is nearly identical to Void staff but by removing the 10 AP and increasing its %MPen it further enforces the idea that it should be purchases to counter Magic Resist. It only becomes cost efficient at 81 Enemy MR.

http://i.imgur.com/W2oug4Y.png

Hextech Shotgun

• Total Cost 2800g
• 70 AP
• Unique Passive (Unnamed): +20% Magic Penetration
• Active (Void Blast): Blast a conical area in front of the caster dealing 100 magic damage and reducing all targets' magic resistance by 50% for 1.5 seconds (1 minute Cooldown shared with other Hextech items). This blast will stop when it hits a champion in a similar manner to Graves' autos or Ashe's volley

I approached Hextech shotgun with the intent of giving burst mages and pick reliant mages something that would synergize with their play style and give them more targets for their burst combo outside of the enemy carries. The biggest fears I have with this item is that it may be too similar to Deathfire's grasp in actuality, but I like the positioning risk that the mages must take to effectively use this item.

Hextech Shotgun, Witch Doctor's Staff, and Liandry's Torment give mages a variety of build options when choosing how they want to counter magic resist stacking. Liandrys for high health targets where sustained damage is more important and Magic resist is lower. Witch Doctor's Staff will give more magic penetration overall than any of its counter parts and can be used for more sustained damage mages. Hextech Shotgun works well for mages with mostly up front damage but will also increase the treat of picks by these mages.

The above changes fix my issues with Haunting Guise by giving it a much larger presence in the game and more options for those who choose to build it.

Nashor's Tooth

• Remove Stinger as component
• Add Recurve Bow as component
• 1200g Combine cost up from 1000g total cost unchanged
• Total stats unchanged

Originally I suggested is to remove Stinger entirely and change Nashor Tooth's to be built from Recurve Bow. This actually hurt a few specific champion's early game significantly. I have proposed a separate change to give more options to mages using Stinger.

http://imgur.com/uzdTlwl.png

Wit's End

• 50% Attack Speed
• 40 Magic Resist
• 10% Cooldown Reduction

Unique passive (Shared with Nashor's Tooth): When an ability or basic attack hits an enemy champion you gain 5 magic penetration and 5 ability power for 5 seconds. This stacks up to 6 times and each stack will fall off individually. Each spell can only trigger this passive once per cast.

In its current state Wit's End has a very niche role that barely any champions utilize. It is a defensive item that only becomes efficient when attacking. Additionally, its only becomes cost effective at 2 stacks.

So I, along with the help from summoner Ohnekanos, reworked this item as an additional option for Stinger users. While Nashor's tooth will give more stable damage, Wit End will provide excellent damage when combating champions and give weak early game mid laners some early magic resist to relieve some of the pressure of their lane opponents.

I have a few fears with this item. First and foremost is that while you have no stacks, it is only 81% cost efficient. At 2 stacks it will become cost efficient, scaling up to 144% cost efficient at 6 stacks. This is a large swing in power and could be difficult to balance around.

http://imgur.com/CIrA47G.png

Alchemical Gaunlets

• 35 AP
• 400 Health
• 40 Armor

Unique Passive Adaptive Armor: (Cooldown 45 seconds) When you are hit by a basic attack or ability you gain 5 Armor and 5 AP each second stacking up to 5 times. These stacks remain for 8 seconds.

I wanted mages to have a second option after building Seeker's Armguard. The biggest problem is that Zhonya's Hourglass is such a fantastic item it was hard to design an different defense item for mages. With Alchemical Gauntlets I aimed to create and option for more sustained fights. Zhonya's is great for avoiding burst with well timed stasis but I see an opening for a tankier AP item.

At first I had this passive stack up every time you were hit by an ability or basic attack, but this did not seem interesting or fun to play with/against. Adaptive Armor now automatically ramps up upon being hit and will then go on cooldown for a time similar to banshee's veil. I think this gives the player windows of engagement (to use Riot's own term) and allows all players to work around the passive's timing.

Please let me know your thoughts on these items. I appreciate the feedback.

Edit: Added Wit's End update and Alchemical Gauntlets. Changed Witch Doctor's Staff. Elaborated on explanations and reasoning. Modified some wording.