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Item Tier List

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Forum » General Discussion » Item Tier List 10 posts - page 1 of 1
Permalink | Quote | +Rep by DV-8 » February 20, 2022 1:38pm | Report
Hey, everyone. So making an Item Tier List is something I've wanted to try for a while now. Honestly, I don't really think that items can be put into tiers the same way that gods can, so this is really more of a fun, food-for-thought kind of project.

My reasoning behind the placement of each item is, "How well is the item performing its role within the current meta?". I feel that any item can be built to some degree of success given the appropriate conditions, but some items simply perform more effectively in their given role than others.

At the very least, I hope this will provide an opportunity to consider the effectiveness of different items within the current meta. I'm sure not everyone will agree with my rankings, so I'd be interested in hearing the reasoning behind differing opinions.


*** UPADATED AS OF PATCH 9.1 ***

S
A+


Wind Demon
A
Caduceus Shield

Shield of Regrowth

B+
Lotus Crown
B

DV-8
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by DV-8 » February 20, 2022 1:42pm | Report
To start things off, I would be interested to hear initial thoughts before I place any items.

Which items do you all feel are overpowered/underpowered/balanced?
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by puppeht » February 20, 2022 2:06pm | Report
Some items I think are really great right now:

Jotunn's Wrath is easily one of the best assassin items. Glyphs aside, cheap *** 20% CDR and early mana.

Divine Ruin, Spear of the Magus are powering double pen mage builds, and Divine Ruin actually feels good to build.

Sovereignty is fighting Gauntlet of Thebes for the 1st item slot on supports, I'd put it fairly high.

Items that need buffs:
Shifter's Shield got gutted IMO, rarely want to use it anymore.

Sleeper items:
Relic Dagger, with all new the very powerful relics, Relic Dagger gains so much more value at a little cost.

Fail-Not feels pretty great on hunters with good abilities, in combination with Malicious Deathbringer you get lots of CDR and 45% crit.

Just a couple quick thoughts.
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by Fraeduu » February 20, 2022 2:26pm | Report
Sovereignty - Balanced
Mystical Mail - Balanced
Midgardian Mail - Balanced
Emperor's Armor - Balanced
The Executioner - Balanced
Qin's Sais - Strong
Asi - Strong
Pythagorem's Piece - Balanced
Bancroft's Talon - Balanced
Typhon's Fang - Balanced
Soul Gem - Balanced
Titan's Bane - Balanced
Brawler's Beat Stick - Balanced
Jotunn's Wrath - Strong
The Crusher - Balanced
Jotunn's Ferocity - Balanced
Jotunn's Vigor - Strong
Transcendence - Strong
Hydra's Lament - Strong
Heartseeker - Strong
Dominance - Strong
Deathbringer - Strong
Rage - Balanced
Malicious Deathbringer - Strong
Envenomed Deathbringer - Very Strong
Soul Eater - Strong
Devourer's Gauntlet - Balanced
Bloodforge - Strong
Witchblade - Balanced
Winged Blade - Balanced
Relic Dagger - Balanced
Toxic Blade - Balanced
Frostbound - Balanced
Runeforged - Very Strong
The Sledge - Balanced
Blackthorn - Weak
Shifter's Shield - Balanced, maybe a bit weak
Void Shield - Balanced
Gladiator's Shield - Balanced
Berserker's Shield - Strong
Hide of the Nemean Lion - Strong
Breastplate of Valor - Balanced
Spectral Armor - Balanced
Contagion - Balanced
Breastplate of Determination - Strong
Breastplate of Vigilance - Balanced
Gauntlet of Thebes - Strong
Magi's Cloak - Balanced
Hide of the Urchin - Balanced
Spirit Robe - Strong
Mantle of Discord - Balanced
Bulwark of Hope - Balanced
Pestilence - Balanced
Heartward Amulet - Balanced
Talisman of Energy - Balanced
Amulet of Silence - Balanced
Amulet of the Stronghold - Balanced
Divine Ruin - Strong
Spear of Desolation - Strong
Obsidian Shard - Strong
Spear of the Magus - Strong
Gem of Isolation - Balanced
Warlock's Staff - Balanced, maybe a bit weak
Ethereal Staff - Balanced
Rod of Asclepius - Balanced, maybe a bit weak given use cases
Book of Thoth - Balanced, maybe a bit strong
Polynomicon - Balanced, maybe a bit strong
Soul Reaver - Strong
Book of the Dead - Balanced
Rod of Tahuti - Very Strong
Chronos Pendant - Strong
Doom Orb - Balanced
Charon's Coin - Balanced
Runic Shield - Balanced
Ancile - Balanced
Caduceus Shield - Balanced
Celestial Legion Helm - Weak
Lotus Crown - Balanced
Jade Emperor's Crown - Balanced
Tyrannical Plate Helm - Balanced
Odysseus' Bow - Balanced
Ichaival - Strong
Silverbranch Bow - Very Strong
Atalanta's Bow - Very Strong
Stone of Gaia - Strong
Shield of Regrowth - Balanced
Mail of Renewal - Balanced
Wind Demon - Strong
Shadowsteel Shuriken - Balanced
Stone Cutting Sword - Balanced
Hastened Katana - Strong
Golden Blade - Strong
Serrated Edge - Strong
Genji's Guard - Balanced
Oni Hunter's Garb - Balanced
Shogun's Kusari - Strong
Stone of Binding - Balanced
Void Stone - Balanced
Stone of Fal - Balanced
Rangda's Mask - Weak
Lono's Mask - Balanced
Pridwen - Balanced, maybe a bit strong
Arondight - Balanced
Fail-not - Balanced
Staff of Myrdinn - Balanced
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by xmysterionz » February 21, 2022 10:12am | Report
puppeht wrote:

Sleeper items:
Fail-Not feels pretty great on hunters with good abilities, in combination with Malicious Deathbringer you get lots of CDR and 45% crit.

It's 50%. On ADCs with cancer skills as Cupid with Fields Of Love, it's a great idea, but the problem is that I have only 5 slots to build, 2 are filled with no AS at all. Ability hunters tend to not have AS steroids, so you need lifesteal, pen and AS on the last 3 slots. That's why I guess fail is not that high.
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by xmysterionz » February 21, 2022 10:13am | Report
Blackthorn Hammer is IMO one of the worst items RN.
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by Branmuffin17 » February 21, 2022 10:36am | Report
Hey DV-8, so I already talk to you a lot about items, and I do more theory-crafting and stuff with you than pretty much anyone else, so what I say probably won't be a surprise.

In the SF Discord, Cheklist talked about (and you really liked) the idea of an evolving tier list, rather than first establishing what each ranking means. I'm used to establishing those ranks (e.g. OP, balanced, weak) before I do anything, as my mind works more analytically and I like having defined categories to help me sort my thoughts. That said, what I discuss below will be more to identify things that feel particularly strong or weak and any additional thoughts I have on them, and I'll leave the average item alone.

Particularly Strong Items

Items That Feel Weak

Quick word on the Glyphs. I personally feel Glyphs should have been added to items that are a bit outside of core. I think they screwed up choosing items like Deathbringer, Jotunn's Wrath and Rod of Tahuti. Breastplate of Valor is borderline, but probably ok. Heartward Amulet was a good choice, as it wasn't quite as commonly used as other magical prot items. I think the Glyph functionality of the 3 first-mentioned need to be toned down a bit.

Finally, a thought on tier lists after going through this. I think, if I was the one making the list, my preference would be to only have 3 tiers...items that are in a relative state of balance, items that need to be nerfed, and items that probably need to be buffed. What I'd like to see is relative parity of items, which would open up more variety of viable builds.
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by Branmuffin17 » February 21, 2022 12:08pm | Report
xmysterionz wrote:

It's 50%. On ADCs with cancer skills as Cupid with Fields Of Love, it's a great idea, but the problem is that I have only 5 slots to build, 2 are filled with no AS at all. Ability hunters tend to not have AS steroids, so you need lifesteal, pen and AS on the last 3 slots. That's why I guess fail is not that high.

Honestly if we're using Cupid as an example, Fail-Not is perfectly fine on him. Technically, you probably only need 2 attack speed items on him, and his base AS is going to be just fine at level 20. Any of the standard starter upgrades will give you plenty of AS to go with Asi (lifesteal + flat pen + AS) and Silverbranch Bow (pen + AS) or The Executioner (pen + AS), and you should be at 2.3 AS or so at that point. Trans can be used there, or you can go BF.

But yeah, someone like Chiron or Neith would be hurting a bit on AS with that type of build.
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by DV-8 » February 21, 2022 6:41pm | Report
Yeah, the whole premise of an Item Tier List is inherently flawed. But, it's a project that I've wanted to manage anyways. It mainly encourages me to keep up with the current state of items which is something I haven't always done in the past.

That being said, I've updated the Tier List with my initial thoughts after considering each item and reading everyone's opinions. I haven't placed any Starter Items/upgrades or the Lono's/Rangda's Masks. I'm also waiting to see how the new Jade Emperor's Crown feels before placing it.

A quick word on some of my placements that I feel many may disagree with:

Emperor's Armor in A+: I feel this item is very overlooked and is very effective for what it does.

Warlock's Staff in A+: Another item that I feel is good, but gets overlooked due to the bloated nature of the flat pen items currently.

Blackthorn Hammer in A: In my opinion, this item is perfectly balanced. Similar to the aforementioned Warlock's Staff, I think it only seems like this item is bad because of the bloated nature of Runeforged Hammer, which in my opinion got a completely unnecessary buff at the beginning of the season.

Hastened Katana in B: It is really difficult for me to justify fitting this item into a build right now. The stats feel very underwhelming and I believe you pay too much for the passive.
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Permalink | Quote | +Rep by Branmuffin17 » February 21, 2022 8:47pm | Report
Hey DV-8 quick thought / questiony thing.

You say you feel Emp's Armor is overlooked and effective, and placed it in A+. I can admit, when we've built it, it's been pretty funny (defensive machine gun, offensive molasses). One thing to consider with regard to tier listings...is it something that fits well into a build at a given location, without losing something essential that you'd get in other items? I think, even if it's effective, but delays something core, it might not be worthy of that spot.

Emp is probably most effective in early and mid-game, right? Cuz late-game, tanks have lots of health and prots and can usually tank a ton of hits from a tower or phoenix. And you're probably only going to get it on a Supp, because a Solo isn't going to be picking it up. Would kill their boxing potential.

But let's consider current meta / popular items. Past the starter, first pickups for a Supp will often be Gauntlet of Thebes + any of Sovereignty, Heartward Amulet, Relic Dagger, Breastplate of Valor, etc. While Emp provides health and phys prots similar to something like Sov, is it ever something you'd consider in that spot, and would you be willing to miss out on the CDR or protection auras? Maybe you would, but I'd guess it'd be quite situational.

One interesting thing they could do to Emp to make it more interesting and functional for something outside of just the lane objectives, is a similar effect to jungle objectives. Make them attack faster if they're aggroed on the enemy, make them attack slower if your team has its aggro. They could adjust the % so it wouldn't become OP.

I agree with your point about Blackthorn. Situational CDR, high health, some power and mana, and a switch to MP5 when you're low so you're never out of mana for long...it's still strong, just overshadowed by another item that's seemingly more powerful right now.
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