Proposed Equipment Balance Patch
Trim the auto-includes, give the underused build paths a reason to exist
A pass across all three build tiers. The clearest auto-includes — Infinity Edge's crit damage, Kraken Slayer's near-guaranteed proc damage, Liandry's Torment's percent-health burn, Sunfire Aegis's dual-purpose clear-and-poke, Blade of the Ruined King's current-health scaling, Thornmail's efficient anti-heal, Doran's Blade's early-lane sustain, and Last Whisper's armor-shred efficiency — get trimmed since they're close to mandatory picks in their slot. Underused items with a real niche — Essence Reaver, Wit's End, Runaan's Hurricane, Immortal Shieldbow, Statikk Shiv, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Doran's Ring, and Ionian Boots of Lucidity — get buffed to make them worth building. Items whose numbers already sit in a healthy spot relative to their cost — Rabadon's Deathcap, Zhonya's Hourglass, Guardian Angel, Trinity Force, Eclipse, Black Cleaver, Control Ward, and Sheen — are held as-is.
Primary Equipment · 3 changes
Held — 75 gold is an appropriate cost for the vision control it grants relative to a ward's lifespan.
Its 2.5% Omnivamp gives too much lane sustain for a 450-gold starter item. Omnivamp 2.5% → 1.5%.
Underused relative to Doran's Blade and Doran's Shield for mana-hungry mages early. Drain's Mana restore rate 1/2 Mana per second → 1.5/2.5 Mana per second.
Middle Equipment · 3 changes
Underused relative to Sorcerer's Shoes and Berserker's Greaves for ability-haste-reliant casters. Ability Haste 10 → 15.
Its percent Armor Penetration is too efficient on a 1450-gold item. Armor Penetration 18% → 15%.
Held — Spellblade's proc damage scaling is appropriately costed for a 900-gold component item.
High-Level Equipment · 18 changes
The default crit-damage capstone for nearly every marksman build. Critical Strike Damage bonus 30% → 25%.
Its true-damage-adjacent proc makes every third attack overwhelming against squishies. Bonus On-Hit damage scaling with missing Health reduced by 15%.
Mist's Edge's current-Health scaling is too strong on a mid-cost item. On-Hit current-Health damage 8% → 6.5%.
Rarely built over Kraken Slayer despite strong mana sustain for skill-reliant marksmen. Spellblade bonus damage +10%.
Underused magic-resist option for on-hit and attack-speed carries. Magic Resist 45 → 55.
Its wave-clear and poke potential rarely gets picked over single-target damage items. Bolt damage 90% → 100% of basic attack damage.
Underused relative to Infinity Edge given its identical crit stats plus a safety net. Lifeline shield strength +15%.
A hybrid AD/AP item that rarely finds a home in either build path. Attack Speed 30% → 35%.
Underused by assassins relative to other lethality options. Lethality 18 → 21.
Held — Rebirth's revive is appropriately delayed and capped to avoid dominating fights outright.
Held — a well-rounded spike item whose price already reflects its broad stat spread.
Held — Ever Rising Moon's shield is a fair reward for landing two hits within the window.
Held — Carve's armor shred stacks at a reasonable pace relative to its all-around bruiser stats.
Torment's percent-health burn scales too well against tanks and squishies alike. Burn damage 2% max Health/sec → 1.6% max Health/sec.
Held — the iconic AP capstone's 30% amplification is appropriately costed at 3500 gold.
Held — a 2.5-second Stasis window is a fair defensive tool for its cost and opportunity cost in a fight.
Immolate's passive damage is too efficient at clearing waves and poking in fights simultaneously. Immolate damage per second −12%.
Grievous Wounds application is too easy to trigger passively against sustain-heavy champions. Wounds effectiveness 40% → 35%.
Note: This is a hypothetical design proposal, not a live patch. All 24 items are addressed. Balance changes are limited to item stats and passive/active effect numbers, since champion ability numbers are covered by the separate champion balance patch.