Table of Contents
Takeaways in Itemizing as a Mage:
- Mages are long-ranged AP carries that try to deal damage safely
- Mages stack AP, ability haste, and potentially mana
- Mage itemization is relatively straightforward game after game
- Mages lack niche options and can’t build items from other classes outside of Battlemages
Mages are usually pretty long-range and therefore are usually not required to build defensive stats as opposed to Battlemages that have shorter-ranged spells that put you in harm’s way. AP carries operate in a similar way to AD carries where they can build glass cannons and have to use positioning and timing to do damage but not get blown up themselves. The big difference is that mages usually also play around their cooldowns.
Mages are ability power (AP) carries that use AP to empower their spells which is their main damage source. Therefore the stats for AP carries are AP and ability haste and mana if mana-based.
There are some differences in terms of range in Mages — from artillery mages like Xerath to pick Mages like Ahri, but they still build essentially the same and play the same where they try to do damage without repercussion, it is just that due to the range they have different positioning and timing. They can also range from burst to more sustained damage but the difference in builds is still very slight.
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General Mage Itemization
While mages have a lot of items in their own class, in actuality these choices are quite simple. They almost always build their mythic for their first item, Luden’s for burst, Liandry’s for sustained damage, and Everfrost for pick and CC chains.
For a second item you can choose between Shadowflame, if you are against squishy targets that don’t build much magic resist, Archangels if you scale with mana or if you benefit from a shield, Zhonyas or Banshees if you must have them to be able to do damage effectively, Void Staff if the opponents are quickly getting magic resist and Rabadons if you can manage by delaying your mid game spike by a lot.
This is largely always going to be your route as a Mage. You can build Lich Bane for a bit of extra burst, but it gives reduced sustained damage and requires you to auto-attack. In almost all cases this is not recommended, even for champions like Viktor and Zoe that like to burst and implement auto attacks in their rotations as it reduces the overall damage of their full combo and AoE damage.
An important choice is what boots you upgrade to — Sorcerer’s Boots are very strong, especially with items like Shadowflame which give additional magic penetration to shred squishes. Lucidity boots may be necessary if flash is crucial for you and good if you lack a lot of ability haste in your normal build as ability haste reduces in effectiveness negatively exponentially.
A mage essentially always wants to have Void Staff and Rabadon in their first 4 full items. They can be delayed for Zhonyas, but not much else. These two items are equivalent to Infinity Edge and Lord Dominik’s Regard for AD Carries.
Defensive Mage Items
Due to the fact that Mages can do damage at long range, Mages typically only build defensive items that defend against long-range CC or engagements, items like Zhonyas and Banshees. Defensive stats are relatively useless since if they get caught they are usually dead anyways as they often lack defensive spells.
Mages also need to make sure that they don’t gimp their damage too much on their first two items. Like building Everfrost and Zhonyas — then you are essentially a utility bot. Or having both Zhonyas and Banshees in your first items.
Non-Mage Items
Mages can still utilize Battlemage items like Demonic Embrace for the burn or Rylais for the slow. But it is rare as health is often a wasted stat on Mages and Battlemage items tend to lack ability haste. For extra survivability, there are much better options like Archangel for Mages
There are only a very few reasons that mages build items from outside of the Mage category. One is movement speed. Certain mages that excel from movement speed like Veigar can build items like Deadman’s plate to be able to catch people.
Overall Mage itemization is probably the most straightforward in the game and you don’t have that many viable options outside of the class. They lack the bounty of niche items that ADCs can build and if there’s any class that lacks build diversity or options it is Mages.
