AP items are getting big changes in League

Update: Many of the items here have undergone slight changes during their first week on the PBE and have been updated to reflect their new state.

If you have played mid lane in the past year or so, chances are you have noticed that just about every champion buys the same item first. In fact, if you are one of the mages that has dominated the role for the last few months, you could probably buy Morellonomicon and Liandry’s Torment first and second every game without ever thinking twice about it. Thankfully that’s all about to change in the next patch, 8.4, which has a ton of AP item changes that just went live on the Public Beta Environment.

The prospective Patch 8.4 changes add flavor to mid lane’s items primarily through reworks to nearly every existing AP item and even a brand new item. That new item is called Spellbound Orb Spellbinder and it acts as a tool for heavy bursters to plan the exact right moment in a fight to make sure their spells have maximum impact.

Riot Games

Riot’s also change the current version of Morellonomicon to be something a little less all purpose as a starting item, in its place will be three different mana items that Riot intends mages to start with.

Riot Games

Riot Games

Riot Games

These reworked versions of old items are designed to fill three very specific holes by giving tools to pick champions with GLP, poke champions with Luden’s Echo, and scale with Archangel’s Staff.

Also getting tweaks are the flat penetration items that were popular with most midlaners, starting with Liandry’s Torment, which has been refocused to aid champions who do significant sustained damage.

Riot Games

Meanwhile, Morellonomicon has been completely reworked and even renamed to Morello’s Cursed Tome and now has the burn of old Haunting Guise as a passive, as well as a bigger focus on the fact that it applies Grievous Wounds.

Alongside these large scale changes are a few minor tweaks to other existing items. as well as the item Twin Shadows returning to the game as an AP support focused tool.

Void Staff

80 AP >>> 70 AP

Void staff is just generally too efficient against all targets, rather against the ones stacking MR.

Rylai’s

75 AP >>> 85 AP

We nerfed Rylais in previous patches, and left it in a relatively underpowered state since then.

Given how much perma slows tend to invalidate melee champions, being careful with this one (but the slow is nowhere as strong as it was before).

Deathcap

AP Amp 35% >>> 40

The item was just not living up to its late game fantasy.

Maybe some champs consider it 3rd sometimes (or even second), especially when going heavy AP builds.

Riot Games

While these items are sure to undergo some significant changes over the next two weeks, Riot hopes that in the end, this newly reworked AP system will not only help usher in a few more mid laner champions than currently exist, but also to help force mage players to make better, more interesting choices during the laning phase.