Preseason is once again upon us, and once again Riot Games has dumped their big ol’ bucket of ideas onto the player base and told us all “figure it out”. The item shop and items in general have received a massive overhaul, with some old favorites being completely changed or completely removed from the game. Everything has received a nice and shiny new coat of paint along with some much-needed updates to bring them into modern League. Mage items in particular experienced both item reworks and new items entirely. It's a little confusing having something that's remained so static for so long suddenly change, but I’m here to walk you through the 10 best AP items in preseason so you can one-shot with confidence.
10. Doran’s Ring
The classic and iconic starter item for mages not only received a sleek new design but was also given some new effects. Even after the changes, Doran’s Ring is sure to get you through the first few minutes of the game and into a more comfortable position.
Doran’s Ring Details:
- 15 Ability Power
- 70 Health
- Focus: Attacks deal an additional 5 physical damage to minions
- Siphon: Killing a minion restores 6 mana. If you can’t gain mana, restore 3 health instead
What makes Doran’s Ring great:
- The base stats of 70 health and 15 ability power is a great starting point for early in the game
- Doran’s Ring has retained its old passive of basic attacks dealing additional damage to minions. While this may not seem meaningful, it’s very beneficial for characters with weak auto-attack animations like Leblanc or Anivia. The extra damage makes it much easier for these characters to farm creeps
- Doran’s Ring has received an amazing new ability that allows you to gain 6 mana back after killing a minion, with you gaining 3 health if your mana bar is full. While these numbers are small and will fall off soon, this is huge for mana-hungry champs like Anivia, Lux, and Seraphine. These are all very squishy champs that rely on their abilities to farm in unfavorable matchups, so this new effect is fantastic for those types of characters
9. Chemtech Purifier
One of the new items introduced in this year's preseason, Chemtech Purifier has fixed the issue of there being only one healing reduction item for mages. Before, mages only had the option of Morellonomicon if they wanted to stop the shenanigans of enchanter supports like Yuumi or health regen tanks like Dr. Mundo. But now, mages have a cheap and effective way to stop these champs from taking over the game purely from refusing to die
Chemtech Purifier Details:
- 45 Ability Power
- 15 Ability Haste
- 100% Base Mana Regen
- Puffcap Toxin: Dealing magic damage applies 40% Grievous Wounds for 2 seconds, increased to 60% if the ability immobilizes the champion
What Makes Chemtech Purifier Great:
- Coming in at 2300 gold, Chemtech Purifier serves as a cheaper alternative to Morellonomicon. While it does have slightly worse stats as a result, getting Grievous Wounds earlier more than makes up for it
- The cheaper cost and the mana regen allows players to build a Grievous Wounds item earlier in the game, whereas beforehand it was necessary to wait until the mid or late game to counter heal-heavy champions
- It's great to have this item in the game for the sake of variation, for years and years the only option mages had to deal with healing was Morellonomicon so having a new item to mix it up is much appreciated
8. Banshee’s Veil
Even after its updates, Banshee’s Veil has remained a solid choice for squishy mages looking to avoid the atrocities of a Zoe E or the horrors of a Malzahar ult
Banshee’s Veil Details:
- 65 Ability Power
- 45 Magic Resist
- 10 Ability Haste
- Annul: Grants a Spell Shield that blocks the next enemy ability
What Makes Banshee’s Veil Great:
- Very few mage items provide resistances, and while 45 magic resist won’t stop a Syndra from comboing you into the next dimension it will help with not getting completely poked down before a team fight
- Banshee’s Veil is a fantastic deterrent for getting engaged on. As long as the spell shield is up it becomes much harder for champions like Cassiopeia or Lux to kill you because most of the time they get kills by using CC to lock you down before dumping all of their damage onto you
- Banshee’s Veil also makes a fantastic addition to AP characters whose kit revolves around movement speed. Cassiopeia’s whole thing is gaining movement speed through her abilities and kiting champions with her E, Lillia’s entire concept is built around speedily dancing around enemies while periodically doing damage. Crowd control throws a massive wrench in what these champs try to do so having something like a spell shield is fantastic
7. Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
Similar to Banshee’s Veil, Rylai’s is another item that has remained a staple in the build path of a lot of champions that deal sustained damage over a lengthier period
Rylai's Crystal Scepter Details:
- 90 Ability Power
- 300 Health
- Rimefrost: Damaging abilities slow enemies for 30% by 1 second
What Makes Rylai's Crystal Scepter Great:
- The stats for Rylai's are very well suited for the champions that build it because usually these champs also build items like Morellonomicon which also gives health and Banshee’s or Zhonya’s which give resistances. It's far from an actual tank, but champs that build these items are far hardier than the mages that build strictly damage
- Most mages in League are completely immobile, with no blinks or dashes to speak of. They need a way to latch onto and stick to an enemy champion, and that's where Rylai's comes in. It’s very difficult to escape from champions such as Cassiopeia or Lillia who have abilities with super low cooldowns because they are constantly applying that 1 second slow over and over again
- Nine times out of ten if a champ is building Rylai's then they've already bought or are planning to buy a burn item such as Liandrys. So now you're not only slowing an enemy but you're also dealing increased burn damage for every second they can’t get away. Its an extremely deadly item combo that works well together, only having Liandry's doesn't feel nearly as good as having Liandrys and Rylai's
6. Hextech Rocketbelt
Hextech Rocketbelt is an extremely solid choice for many AP characters, the potential to use its ability both offensively and defensively is invaluable
Hextech Rocketbelt Details:
- 80 Ability Power
- 250 Health
- 15 Ability Haste
- Active- Hex Bolt: Dash in a target direction, unleashing a barrage of magic missiles that deal moderate magic damage. Then, gain 75% movement speed towards enemy champions for 2 seconds
- Mythic Passive: Grants all other legendary items 5 magic penetration
What Makes Hextech Rocketbelt Great:
- Hextech Rocketbelt is the first Mythic item on this list, and like all the other Mythic items Hextech Rocketbelt has an ability that affects your other items. Hextech Rocketbelt gives your other items bonus magic penetration, and if you've already built magic penetration then if you're facing off against an ADC or another mage who hasn't built any magic resist there’s a very good chance you're going to start dealing true damage to them which is phenomenal
- As mentioned before, most mages don't have access to mobility. This issue is somewhat remedied by Hextech Rocketbelt. It's nothing crazy, but the dash forward combined with the bonus movement speed is fantastic for an AP assassin like Diana
- While the item is designed to be used aggressively, any dash can be used defensively as well. It does feel a little bad to not get the movement speed bonus, but a well-timed use of this item can allow you to dodge out of the way of a lot of incoming damage
5. Zhonya’s Hourglass
One of the most iconic items in League of Legends, Zhonya’s Hourglass is essential for almost every mage in the mid lane. Even if you aren't facing off against a high damage assassin, Zhonya’s is an invaluable tool for any squishy mage
Zhonya’s Hourglass Details:
- 65 Ability Power
- 45 Armor
- 10 Ability Haste
- Active- Stasis: You become invulnerable and untargetable for 2.5 seconds, but are prevented from taking any other actions
What Makes Zhonya’s Hourglass Great:
- Similar to Banshee’s Veil, the bonus resistances given by Zhonya’s are great against any face off against an attack damage champ. Whether it be in laning phase against a shuriken-hurling Zed or later in the game against the astonishingly fed Ezreal, 45 armor is nothing to scoff at
- The active ability on Zhonya’s is the single best way to survive burst damage in League. Syndra or Zed pressed their R buttons? Zhonya’s. Getting focused in a teamfight? Zhonya’s. Engaged by yourself even though your team was right behind you not three seconds ago? You’ll probably die anyway, but hey, Zhonya’s.
- One of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had in League is using Zhonya’s to bait turret dives. I love playing squishy mages so it’s undeniably amazing to bait that cocky Yasuo or Talon only to root or stun them under tower while I remain untargetable
4. Everfrost
Everfrost is another Mythic item that not only provides amazing stats but has great capabilities for mages both in the midlane and in the botlane
Everfrost Details:
- 80 Ability Power
- 200 Health
- 600 Mana
- 10 Ability Haste
- Active- Glaciate: Deal magic damage in a cone in front of you, slowing enemies by 65% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies at the center of the cone are rooted instead
- Mythic Passive: Grants all other legendary items 15 ability power
What Makes Everfrost Great:
- Even disregarding the fantastic stat line, getting a flat fifteen ability power on your items is strong. Depending on your items the AP you get from Everfrost alone could be more than one of your entire items
- Everfrost’s active ability makes it great added burst to add to your combos. Sometimes you're missing just the slightest bit of damage needed to either fully engage or finish someone off. The bonus CC is the icing on top
- Everfrost’s active ability also makes it a great option for mage support. Brand and Annie in particular can make excellent use of this after landing their respective stuns. It puts them into a position to turn that slow into a root and just completely keep them from playing the game
3.Demonic Embrace
Demonic Embrace caters to the unique niche of AP tank, and it does it extremely well. Maybe a little too well. In the few days since preseason was been released, I may have gotten a little salty at the Galios and Cho’gaths that planted themselves in the middle of teamfights and made me feel more worthless than ADC’s in current year
Demonic Embrace Details:
- 70 Ability Power
- 350 Health
- Azakana Gaze: Dealing ability damage burns enemy champions for 1.5% of their max health every second for four seconds. You gain ten armor and magic resist if a champion is affected and an extra 2.5 armor and magic resist for each champion affected beyond the first
What Makes Demonic Embrace Great:
- One of the cool things that the new items have accomplished is that making sure a lot of the more niche classes have signature items of their own. Before this there wasn't an item for AP tanks specifically, the closest things were Zhonya’s or Liandrys. Demonic Embrace is just a really good example of all the fantastic new items available to a lot of classes
- Building this item on a solo laner like Galio or Cho’gath is powerful, especially with these champs in particular that not only scale well with AP damage but also have tankiness built into their kits. They also both have AOE abilities that make full use of Demonic Embrace’s passive in teamfights, giving them a huge amount of resistances on top of what they've already built through other items
- Building this on AP junglers that like to build tanky is also something I’ve seen being done with a lot of success. Nunu has made great use of it, super easy to proc with his ultimate. Elise, who already builds a little tanky with health items like Morellonomicon, I think is quite good with it because of its burn effect. This is only in the first few days of preseason so I’m excited to see what will happen once the meta flattens out and we can see what other champs can make use of this cool item
2. Luden’s Tempest
A classic mage item, I have such fond memories of just starting to figure out that I loved playing mages and always relying on Luden’s as a great first item no matter what champ I was playing. I’m extremely pleased to say that after its changes that Luden’s has become an even better item to build first on my favorite burst mages
Luden’s Tempest Details:
- 80 Ability Power
- 10 Magic Penetration
- 600 Mana
- 10 Ability Haste
- Echo: Damaging abilities deal bonus magic damage to the target and three nearby enemies and grants you 30% movement speed for two seconds
- Mythic Passive: Grants all other legendary items five magic penetration
What Makes Luden’s Tempest Great:
- The stats give you everything you could ever want on a mage. More damage, more mana, and it puts your abilities on a lower cooldown. It does pretty much everything and the stats themselves are quite large as well
- The Mythic passive allows you to melt through your opponents. I would consider it to be much better on Luden’s than on Hextech Rocketbelt because Rocketbelt can be a bit situational. On Luden’s you have a much better chance of doing obscene amounts of beautiful true damage to anything that stands in your way
- In Luden’s previous form it still had the passive that dealt damage to three nearby enemies, but it didn't have the bonus movement speed. The new addition is a great add on, it feels excellent to have that little oomph to help you out with either dodging abilities or trying to disengage
1. Liandry’s Anguish
I’ve mentioned this item a few times throughout this article, and now it’s time to talk about why it's amazing. I will admit that I might be the slightest bit biased because all the champs I play rush this item, but I genuinely dop think that this is the best AP item in League of Legends
Liandry's Anguish Details:
- 80 Ability Power
- 600 Mana
- 20 Ability Haste
- Torment: Dealing damage with abilities causes enemies to take burn damage based on your ability damage and their max health. While burning, they lose five magic resistance per second for a max reduction of 25%
- Mythic Passive: Grants all other legendary items five ability haste
What Makes Liandry’s Anguish Great:
- The stat line is my favorite out of all the AP items because in addition to giving high damage and a tremendous amount of mana, Liandry’s also gives you a ton of ability haste. Being able to spam your abilities like its URF sounds like my idea of a fun time
- I play all the characters that make full use of Liandry’s passive. Cassiopeia, Brand, Syndra, Lillia, Teemo, and Annie all make fantastic use out of this item by adding their own damage over time effects to Liandrys. I had a ton of fun with this item before it was changed and now that it shreds resistances so drastically I’ve been having even more fun with it
- As I already stated, I love spamming abilities. I already play champs with low cooldowns to begin with so the idea of lowering the cooldown even further just sounds so fun. And now that cooldown reduction does not have a cap, I can take full advantage of that with Liandry’s mythic passive. Giving so many of my items ability haste has paid tremendous dividends, the past few days of just running around in League hurling my abilities out at Mach 10 have been some of the most fun I've ever had in the game
So, there we have it. What I consider to be the 10 best AP items in League of Legends. I main a lot of AP characters, so these items have always held a special place in my heart. I’m overjoyed to see that the preseason update has brought many of these items up to the modern state of the game and has brought in a ton of new items for me to start having even more fun with
