New Items (Or How I Learned To Love The Spirit Visage)

[BluHorse]

The season 3 patch is among us and the first balance patch has hit (no more league of cleaver)

 

I just wanted to know what some of the HG members new favorite items, or revamped oldies, are this season.

 

As the title suggests, I am in love with spirit visage on just about anybody with any form of sustain.

Because of the removal of FoN, spirit visage got a buff (it is now built from a negatron cloak not a mantle.) and has become almost core for me on anybody that has sustain and needs MR.

 

So lets hear it, what are your new (or revamped) favorite items?

Edited December 17, 2012 by BluHorse

[LazaHorse]

I was going to make a thread about the item changes and what items to look out for and what not, but for now I'll just talk about each new item while I wait for someone to get back to me about something.

 

Shard of True Ice: Overrated and fairly insignificant. It's nice that it still gives you the gold from Kage's, but the effects are all fairly subpar. Three subpar effects makes an altogether subpar item.

 

Liandry's Torment: Bought far too often on all the wrong champions. Any champion who does not either have a spammable nuke (Vladimir, Akali, or Cass for example) or a ranged dot (Teemo, Brand, and again Cass for example) should not be getting this item. I'm sick of seeing bad Ahri and Veigar players getting Liandry's... it isn't for you. The item is okay, but the low stats do not at all help the already fairly week effect. It's situationally good (Magic pen is always great), but it's not amazing.

 

Mikael's Cruicble: I'm surprised I haven't seen this item nearly as much as I was expecting to. I think that because it's a support item that builds off of a generally non-support material (Chalice), people don't like buying it. It's also kind of wonky to play: you have to wait until your ally is CCed then decide whether or not that is the right time to use Crucible. It's like Cleanse but you're not deciding things all for yourself. Its great effect is tempered by its strange lack of usability I guess, so it's not often bought.

 

Statikk Shiv: A good replacement for the old Phantom Dancer, but once again bought on all the wrong champions it seems like. It's good for AD carries who are constant kiting champions that dish out strong crit damage (Ashe, Vayne, and Tristana for example), but on immobile or non-AA style AD carries it is subpar (Graves, Corki, and Ezreal). These champions are much better off with PD, Trinity, or even the next item which is...

 

Iceborn Gauntlet AKA Fist of Tebigong: High gold cost... but for a completely broken item. I didn't quite understand its spellblade effect at first, but now that I do I must say this item is straight broken. It does have a VERY high gold cost (3400g total), but its stats and its spellblade effect are sick. It provides the same style of gameplay as Trinity Force, but at a cheaper cost and in a much more consistent way. For example, Jax no longer has to wait for random phage procs on TF to get kills (nor does Ezreal or Irelia). He can spread his skills out properly and insure the AoE slows will hit when they need to. It's much more controllable and the stats are far more focused for people who want to be tankier. Those who have been watching my stream know, I get this on EVERYONE from Jax to Morde to even Leona. It's just too universally good, and will likely be nerfed soon.

 

Ravenous Hydra: Riot tried to show melee AD carries some love, but it's just not doing it. Sorry RIot, but there's a very select few champions that this is good on (Riven, Nocturne, and Rengar being more-or-less it). It's just simply subpar.

 

Mercurial Scimitar: Whoever though this item was a good idea needs to be fired. You used to buy Quicksilver at the cost of an item slot (poor stats but a great effect for a cheap price). Now you can get Sash AND THEN upgrade it to make up the damage you once had to give up. It is somewhat tempered by the fact that it has a high cost (like Fist of Tebigong), but it still takes away what was the only drawback to buying QSS. You used to choose between QSS and GA... now you get both.

 

Ohmwrecker: The item would be good... if it weren't so hard to build. The items it builds out of are really weird for the type of champions who would ever get it for its effect (when is the last time you saw Olaf or Jayce build Catalyst?). The effect is pretty subpar, and the stats aren't all that great either.

 

Twin Shadows: Really REALLY fun item on some champions. It's a nice alternative (kind of the ONLY option now) item to build Kage's into now that it no longer becomes DFG. It's effect is really strong on certain burst champions who simply have trouble getting into range (Poppy, Veigar, and Ryze for example) and its stats are nothing to laugh at (percent movement speed is always great because its gold worth increases as you buy more of it). It's a decent item, but very champion-specific (like Liandry's).

 

Muramana: Completely... fucking... broken. Because the toggle on it does not have a noticeable cooldown (1 second I think), you can freely farm creep and then switch it on in a pinch if a fight or trade breaks out. The fact that the damage on it is so high and procs not only on attacks but spells as well turns AD casters into an absolute machine once they finish the 750 mana spam goal (Urgot with Cleaver and Muramana is absolutely horrifyingly strong). It turned what was once a noobtrap item into something that is just unfair in its strength.

 

Runaan's Hurricane: Please... stop... buying... this item. It is bad on most if not ALL ad carries. AD Carries more often than not only get one attack speed item other than Berserker Greaves. However, that attack speed item for the longest time also gave movement speed to help kiting (Phantom Dancer and Trinity Force). Runaan give more attack speed than either, but sacrifices the crit (most important stat for an AD carry) and movement speed (arguably the second most important stat) for a really cheesy effect. Even Varus, Caitlyn, and Kogmaw who everyone thought this would be good for would be far better off with Shiv or PD. STOP... GETTING... HURRICANE!

 

Zephyr: If you buy this item, tell me so I can demote you. It sucks giant donkey dick and should never have been made. End of story.

 

Runic Bulwark: xShadow thinks it's broken... I would say it's a decently strong upgrade for Aegis (which now costs WAY TOO MUCH GOLD to make). 60 MR total for yourself is definitely fun, and the new aura HP5 is great. Finally Aegis is worth buying for someone other than supports.

 

Sightstone and Ruby Sightstone: If you are a support, go ahead and get them, they're good. You STILL need GP10 items to scale properly, but do get this at some point. They allow game-long warding especially now that Oracle's has been nerfed. As a side note, the icon for them reminds me of those weird water things from Zelda: Ocarina of TIme that looked like squid and shot rocks at you.

 

Crystalline Flask (Bottle): It's a decent starting item, but if you don't get it level 1 you should probably never get it at all. 225 gold is a pretty big interrupt early game, and getting it after the 15th minute or so is just a waste. Supports starting with Bottle lvl 1 seem to do pretty well (rest of gold goes to wards), so consider doing that.

 

Hunter's Machete: Here's the problem with junglers right now. In order to properly clear the new jungle, junglers more or less HAVE to get this or cloth at level 1, or they risk dying. However, most people still get boots level 1 (despite the movement speed shift into base MS). Because of this, ganking is now harder than it has ever been early game. Those who can clear WITH boots are often horrid pre-6 gankers (hello Fiddlesticks and Warwick). Add to that the Oracle's nerf and the Sightstone, and ganking is almost a thing of the past. The jungler meta now is all about fast clears, counter jungling, and lane camping. In short, it's a borefest to jungle.

 

Banner of Command: A fun item, but not competitive at all. They moved promote to an item... an item that no one will buy on a consistent basis.

 

Seraph's Embrace: This new Tear upgrade is farrrrrr weaker than Muramana because the active effect is so not useful for most APs that are buying Archangel's (Cass, Karthus, and Anivia should not be taking damage and thus don't really need a shield; it is okay for Ryze though). It's a nice touch... but not the most useful of actives. If they had added an active that gave you vamp or MS instead (like Ryze's ult), it might be a bit better.

 

Spirit Stone and Spirit of the Elder Lizard/Ancient Golem/Spectral Wraith: I love that they're adding variety to jungle items. What I DON'T LOVE is that Spirit Stone has more or less replaced Wriggle's Lantern for most junglers save Shyvana, Lee Sin, and Rengar with a few others. Even Olaf is better with Spirit Stone -> Elder Lizard. I like the idea of diversifying the jungle, but I think they made it waaaaaaaay too strong in waaaaaaaaay too many ways. Then again jungling as a whole is stupid anyway so... as much as we can help them the better I guess.