The array of items made specifically for mages in League of Legends has remained a point of contention among members of the community over the past several years, with many feeling the options available are limiting and one-dimensional.
But now, Riot Games is aiming to address some of these concerns with the addition of new items and a fresh coat of paint for others at the start of the 2024 season, all of which will be available for testing today.
Mages are taking the spotlight as one of the many classes being directly impacted by a massive item revamping, with Riot providing a deep dive into what players can look forward to in the upcoming season through a detailed developer blog today. Yet in doing so, Riot has also specified that a number of popular mage items—including Everfrost, Demonic Embrace, and Night Harvester—will not be returning with the preseason update.
There are a plethora of new items coming to League for mages, many of which are packed with new mechanics that existing items don’t have or expand on existing effects to make them stand out further. For example, Malignance takes the burn of Liandry’s Torment and places it on the ground beneath foes in a small area, while Stormsurge purges foes in a larger area with a lightning strike upon earning a kill.
Caster’s Companion is a new stacking mage item that functions similarly to Echoes of Helia. Every three seconds, players will gain a charge up to six maximum, which will be consumed entirely upon using a damage-dealing ability. Unlike Echoes of Helia, however, the shots fired will deal damage to two targets rather than one should another be present. Mages are also getting a new tool to make them better team players in fights through Cryptbloom, which places a small healing aura below a champion they helped defeat that can heal themselves and allies.
Haunting Guise is being welcomed back as a main component for Liandry’s Torment, which now costs less, deals burn damage based on two percent of the target’s max health, and provides players with more damage the longer they fight. Cosmic Drive will now grant players additional movement speed for simply damaging an opponent every two seconds, while Rod of Ages’ base stats are being lowered slightly.
Interestingly, Shadowflame is undergoing a near-complete identity change in an attempt to seemingly differentiate it further from Void Staff. Instead of dealing damage through the enemy’s magic resist, Shadowflame will now allow all magic and true damage from the user to critically strike targets beneath a 35-percent health threshold, effectively providing every mage with a way to execute enemies akin to assassins.
Perhaps most notable is the price change of Amplifying Tome from 435 gold to 400 gold, reducing the prices of a handful of mage items while making it easier for champions to increase their ability power. It will continue to be a core component of nearly every item that grants ability power, including the newly-reworked Seeker’s Armguard, which has gained the active effect of Stopwatch following its overdue removal from League.
As these are extensive changes that impact nearly every mage champion currently playable on the League roster, it is expected that Riot will be keeping a close eye on these new and reworked items—as well as all of the other item changes—over the next several weeks as they remain in testing on the PBE. The 2024 League season is set to begin early next year.
