Starting items in League of Legends are crucial for establishing an early game advantage and setting the tone for your lane. The right starting item can provide sustain, offensive power, or utility, allowing you to farm more effectively, trade favorably, and prepare for your first item component. Understanding these choices is key to a strong laning phase.
Core Starting Item Archetypes
Starting items generally fall into a few categories, catering to different champion roles and playstyles:
- Doran's Items: These are the most common starting items, offering a balance of stats and sustain. They are designed for champions who want to trade and farm in lane.
- Doran's Blade: Provides AD, health, and life steal. Ideal for ADCs and melee champions who want to trade aggressively.
- Doran's Ring: Provides AP, health, and mana regeneration. Perfect for mages and AP champions who rely on spellcasting.
- Doran's Shield: Provides health, health regeneration, and reduces damage from enemy attacks. Excellent for champions who need to survive poke and sustain through difficult lanes.
- Doran's Ring (Support): A variant for supports that provides AP, health, and mana regeneration, often with a passive that grants gold for nearby minion deaths.
- Relic Shield/Steel Shoulderguards: These are support-specific items that provide health and a unique passive. They allow supports to execute low-health minions to grant gold to themselves and their nearby ADC, and also provide a small shield. They are designed for melee supports who want to sustain their ADC and gain gold passively.
- Corrupting Potion: Provides health and mana regeneration over time, and also deals bonus magic damage to champions and minions. This is a strong choice for champions who want to trade frequently and sustain through extended fights or poke.
- Long Sword/Amplifying Tome/Cloth Armor/Null-Magic Mantle: These are basic component items that can be purchased if a player wants to rush a specific first item component or if they anticipate a very specific early game need. They offer raw stats but lack the sustain of Doran's items or potions.
Strategic Considerations for Starting Items
- Champion Role: ADCs typically start Doran's Blade, mages Doran's Ring, and tanks/melee supports Relic Shield or Doran's Shield.
- Lane Matchup: If you're facing a high-damage, poke-heavy opponent, Doran's Shield or Corrupting Potion might be necessary for survival. If you're against a weaker opponent, Doran's Blade or Ring can help you establish an early lead.
- Playstyle: Do you want to play aggressively and trade often? Doran's Blade or Corrupting Potion are good choices. Do you prefer to farm safely and scale? Doran's Shield or even a basic component might be better.
- First Item Goal: If your first item requires a specific component (e.g., Bami's Cinder for Sunfire Aegis), you might consider starting with a basic component like Cloth Armor or Null-Magic Mantle to get closer to that goal faster.
The Importance of the First Back
Your starting item choice also influences your first back. If you start with Doran's items, you'll typically aim to return to lane with enough gold for a component of your first major item. If you start with Corrupting Potion, you might aim to buy a component and potentially another potion.
Choosing the right starting item is a small decision that can have a significant impact on your early game performance. Always consider your champion, your lane opponent, and your overall game plan when making this initial purchase.