/dev: Patch 2.2 Item Preview

Hey everyone! My name is Mike “RogueFool” Breese. I’m one of the game designers behind the upcoming Patch 2.2 Wild Rift item update, and I’m here with an overview of some of those changes hitting later this month. As we mentioned earlier in the year, we are looking to flesh out our item roster—and like with any good teamfight, we’re going in tanks first.

Before we get into specifics, I want to share some of our high-level goals that guided us to the changes we made:

• First and foremost, we want to build out the choice structure for tanks. What we mean by this is that tank itemization is some of the most reactive to your opponent’s strengths, and we felt it was important for tanks to be able to adapt their build to the needs of their team.
• We want to provide tanks with tools they were lacking with our current itemization so when building correctly they have a more substantial impact on the game.
• Simplify. Items that have proven confusing or overly situational are being changed or removed.

SHEEN

Let's start with the most direct changes: For Sheen, Trinity Force, and Lich Bane, mana is being removed from their build paths and their cost adjusted. Mana isn’t necessary for Sheen items so by removing it, non-mana users can more broadly purchase them. This helps us streamline the choices and remove a minor pain point for a lot of players.

This also means that Sapphire Crystal only builds into Tear of the Goddess, so we are taking this opportunity to adjust it so that you can start stacking mana from the start of the game. This should help avoid awkward back times and let you focus on charging up your Tear earlier.

THORNMAIL

We have some small but impactful quality-of-life changes that will allow Thornmail to apply Grievous Wounds when you Immobilize your target. We felt applying Grevious Wounds was too far out of the tank’s control after having purchased Thornmail, so this should give them more ways to apply the debuff when it's needed most.

WINTER’S APPROACH

Next, we are taking Winter’s Approach/Fimbulwinter in a different direction. We’re removing its Armor and turning it into the go-to item for when you want Ability Haste. This means that if you want to be the ultimate CC machine, it’s going to cost you some early durability. Speaking of CC machines, Blitzcrank has been Tear-ing up at the thought of a mana-stacking tank item and we hope this can give him another shot to grasp victories that were just out of reach.

FORCE OF NATURE

As for new items, Force of Nature will be replacing Adaptive Helm as the go-to Magic Resist item for when those pesky mages won’t leave you alone. Adaptive Helm was very tricky to optimize around, and sometimes it was hard to tell if it was the right buy compared to other Magic Resist options. Force of Nature should make that much clearer.

FROZEN HEART

We have also heard your frustration when dealing with Marksmen and frankly, we agree that they need to... chill. That's why we are finding a home for Frozen Heart on Wild Rift. Use its aura to reduce nearby enemies’ Attack Speed and defend your team.

SUNFIRE CAPE

Lastly, we want to call out a special change to Sunfire Cape from its League PC version. While we are still evaluating Mythic items for Wild Rift, we really like the way Sunfire Aegis gives tanks a way to turn themselves into a beefy threat. There are a few notable differences between the PC and Wild Rift versions though. Wild Rift’s version isn’t a mythic item and thus doesn’t have a mythic passive. It also loses out on a lot of tank stats with this version only having Health and Ability Haste. Our goal here is not to make this an item for all tanks in all situations, but to provide an option for tanks who want to trade a bit of durability for damage. 

We will be monitoring these items' impact closely and making adjustments as needed. But we also want to hear your feedback! So please keep sharing your thoughts and highlight plays. 

This is our first set of item changes, but we have more coming in patches later this year. That's all from me for now, but I'll be back to talk about updates planned for runes in an upcoming patch.