League of Legends item system set for complete overhaul - here’s what’s coming

The upcoming preseason is lining up to be a huge shift for League of Legends, because Riot has announced they are overhauling the entire item system - even the store isn’t safe from changes. Hopefully, this article will help you keep your head above water for when this tsunami of change hits.

The new Riot Pls is here! Safelocked breaks down preseason’s item system update, shares our progress on behavioral systems, and more.

📺: https://t.co/addHq0wpLA

— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) September 9, 2020

To give some numbers, Executive Producer Jessica “Safelocked” Nam stated in the announcement video that roughly one-third of current items will stay pretty much the same, another third will stay but see significant changes, and the remaining third will be replaced with all-new items. Rabbadon’s Deathcap was the example given of an item that will remain mostly untouched, whereas Sterak’s Gauge will be remaining as a burst survival item, but see changes to become more closely tied to its teamfight strength.

But beyond the broad strokes, here are some of the big reveals that came out about the upcoming item update:

The Item Shop

One of the more intriguing changes for the average player of League of Legends are the upcoming changes to the store. While the “All Items” page will be remaining mostly untouched, the recommended tab is getting a huge overhaul.

(Picture: Riot Games)

The most apparent changes are in the updated interface, with a much bigger focus on the suggested items, but the real meat of the update is in what the suggested items actually will be. The new shop is set to be adaptive, changing to the state of the game and who your opponents and teammates are.

Up against Lee Sin and Senna while you’re playing Kindred, and you’re wondering whether to buy Ninja Tabi or Berserker Greaves? Late in the game and debating between Voidstaff and Deathcap? Suggested items has you sorted. 

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The system will apparently be fueled by stats from top players across the game, and will therefore become more accurate and effective as patches develop and the system gathers more data. This is actually very helpful, in that it means players have to rely less on third-party websites to dissect potential builds for their champion and can rely more on in-game information and suggestions.

Mythic Items

Arguably the spiciest part of the update - a whole new class of items! Mythic items are slated to be limited to one per champion, and offer both strong stats in and of themselves, but also amp up specific elements of other items you buy.

The aim is to be able to tailor your build more dramatically to the specific game you’re in, rather than mindlessly follow the same build-path regardless of the situation. Whether that will work out is another question…

While we don’t have information on all of the mythic items in the works, we have seen three of the marksmen tailored mythics:

(Picture: Riot Games)

The Crimson Shieldbow is all about surviving burst (something that is notoriously difficult to do as an ADC). The base damage, crit and attack speed are nice, but the lifesteal is eye-catching, and the low-health shield that amps up said lifesteal is definitely the icing on top. As long as you can keep auto-attacking, that huge lifesteal could well allow you to turn around that 100-0 combo in your favour.

The mythic passive adding +8 armour and magic resist to other legendary items (think full items, not components) is also massive.

Outside of limited items - Death’s Dance and the like -  it can be very challenging for marksmen to efficiently include defensive stats into a build without really pushing their damage behind the curve. Adding those coveted defensive stats to other items for free allows you to buy those high damage items, while still retaining survivability. 

In short? An item to make assassins scream in rage.

(Picture: Riot Games)

On the other hand, sometimes you want to go full maniac and unleash all the damage. If that’s the case, Behemoth slayer is the item for you.

The stats are straight damage: +60 attack damage, +25% attack speed, and +20% critical strike chance. Add in a burst of damage on every third auto attack (that scales on bonus AD, no less), and the damage output becomes obscene. The mythic passive empowering other items with additional critical damage (not chance, note) means you’ll want to go a high crit, high AD build to get the most out of this item.

Users and abusers are going to be the usual hyper carry suspects. A Lulu supported Kog’maw comes to mind, as does Vayne, who’s third auto-attack already has her Silver Bolts proc to bolster her damage. Lucian could also run wild with this item, as his double tap passive and high AD build will allow him to cycle through to the third auto very consistently and then hit like a truck.

(Picture: Riot Games)

This is the most intriguing of the marksmen items. Galeforce is all about mobility, and acts somewhat like an AD version of Hextech Protobelt with a mythic passive that adds movespeed to other legendary items. Its active is a dash that also damages the lowest health enemy nearby (hence the comparisons with Protobelt).

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Though the dash cannot cross walls, it is a massive boon for immobile ADC’s that both want ways to keep themselves safe and reposition in team-fights, and also want ways to stick on opponents. Jinx and Aphelios will be eyeing this item with glee. Jinx in particular has struggled to find her way back into pro-play in recent years in part because of the relative difficulty of piloting her with her lack of mobility. Galeforce might change that.

Dedicated AP Bruiser Items

Last and not least is a confirmation that LoL will finally be receiving some dedicated AP bruiser items! While the quality and quantity of said items is yet unknown, we have seen glimpses of one already:

(Picture: Riot Games)

The Cursed Demonhelm offers HP and AP - a good start for an AP bruiser item - but also has an additional effect dubbed “Azkana’s Embrace.” The effect is applied on every instance of ability damage and persists for 4 seconds. Azkana’s Embrace is a mix of Liandry’s Torment’s damage over time, and a new effect that grants stacking armour and magic resist the longer you keep Azkana’s Embrace active.

In other words, exactly what an AP bruiser is looking for. The likes of Sylas will be able to wade into combat and get progressively tankier the longer the fight goes on. It gets worse when you imagine Mordekaiser taking someone into his Realm of Death, free stacking all that additional armour and magic resist, then emerging into the teamfight as a veritable raid boss.

We will have to wait until preseason until we’re able to see all the new items and the store in action, and this is all still a work in progress. Things can and likely will change, but what has been teased is certainly wetting the appetite.

As a final taste, u/Hevvy’s keen eyes over on Reddit spotted out some other hidden teasers from the item store, including some eyebrow raising changes to Grievous wounds…