The Future of Mage Items in League of Legends
For years, the mage item selection in League of Legends has been a source of concern for the community. Many players have expressed dissatisfaction with the limited and one-dimensional options available. However, Riot Games is now addressing these concerns with the introduction of new items and updates to existing ones for the 2024 season.
Riot Games has announced that players can test these new items starting today. The changes aim to provide more variety and depth to the mage class, giving players more strategic options in their gameplay.
New Items and Revamped Mechanics for Mages
Mages are among the classes that will be directly impacted by the item revamp. Riot Games has provided detailed information about the upcoming season in a developer blog, which players can find here. As part of the revamp, some popular mage items like Everfrost, Demonic Embrace, and Night Harvester will not be returning with the preseason update.
Rather than simply replacing the old items, Riot Games is introducing a wide range of new items for mages. These items come with innovative mechanics and expanded effects, giving players more strategic options. For example, the item Malignance places a burn effect on the ground beneath enemies, while Stormsurge purges foes in a larger area with a lightning strike after earning a kill.
One of the new items, Caster’s Companion, functions similarly to Echoes of Helia. It allows players to stack charges that are consumed when using damage-dealing abilities. Unlike Echoes of Helia, Caster’s Companion will damage two targets if another enemy is nearby. Additionally, mages will have Cryptbloom, a new tool that provides a healing aura below a defeated enemy, benefiting both mages and their allies in team fights.
Other changes include the reintroduction of Haunting Guise as a component for Liandry’s Torment, which now costs less, deals burn damage based on a percentage of the target’s max health, and offers increased damage the longer the fight lasts. Cosmic Drive grants additional movement speed to players for damaging opponents, Rod of Ages’ base stats are slightly lowered, and Shadowflame underwent a significant identity change. Now, it allows all magic and true damage from the user to critically strike targets below a 35% health threshold, giving mages a new way to execute enemies.
Furthermore, Riot Games has reduced the price of Amplifying Tome, making it easier for champions to increase their ability power. This change will impact numerous mage items, including the reworked Seeker’s Armguard, which now has the active effect of Stopwatch, enhancing strategic choices for players.
Since these changes have a significant impact on all mage champions in the game, Riot Games will closely monitor these new items and adjustments during testing on the PBE over the next few weeks. The 2024 League season is scheduled to begin early next year.
League of Legends, mage items, item revamp, new items, updates, gameplay, Riot Games, 2024 season