philosopher’s stone – Fearless Gamer

Jarvan dragon slayer

This latest patch saw a nerf to the gold-per-10 items in the game across the board. The items had become so core to several character builds and proved to be strong enough to merit making the passive gold gain unique to each item type. Does the nerf seem to be working?

In my experience, it’s not. While I see fewer champions taking gold-per-10 items, the champions for whom it was strongest still stack them. I think Jarvan is a perfect example, especially considering the nerf he caught this last patch. Despite the changes to both his skills and the items, I still see Jarvan totally control games, mostly because of the farm he can sustain all throughout the game. I still see him stack a Heart of Gold and a Philosopher’s Stone, too, which gives him incredible lanestay.

I’m not seeing the items on quite so many characters, which I guess is a good thing. Still, I’d like to see the nerfs targeted at the champions the items benefit most. This gets back to an idea that I’ve mentioned before – overpowered mechanics that only the best players can benefit from and overpowered mechanics that everyone makes use of. The gold-per-10 items seem to be that second type. What have you seen since the patch?

One of the smaller changes that made this latest patch was an update to an item I haven’t seen in months. Philosopher’s Stone got a new recipe, now made of a Faerie Charm and a Regrowth pendant. I still don’t think it’ll see much use. Let’s face it, health regen items are terrible. They never save you in a fight. Lifesteal occasionally does. Heals do. But little ticks of health every couple seconds don’t really give you much in terms of lanestay. If you want mana regen, there are much better options. The only thing left is gold per five, which really doesn’t do much. It could, though.

What if Philosopher’s Stone was a snowball item, like a Mejai’s or a Leviathan? You get increasing amounts of regen (regen that actually helps your laning) and increasing gold per five. You don’t to make it so great that everyone gets one, as was the case after the Leviathan buff, but it might be a nice option if you’re settling in for a long game. Also, I don’t really dig on Sword of the Occult or Leviathan all that much. Mejai’s either, come to think of it. It would be cool to have another option.

Another option would be turning Philosopher’s Stone into a Warmog’s-style item, one that grants you permanent bonuses based on units killed. Again, don’t make it crazy, but something that can help you out if you know you’ll farm well early but maybe be out of lane or grouped a lot late.

It’s nice to know Riot’s thinking about some of these underused items. I hope a few have their functionality changed, not just the recipe.

Tag: philosopher’s stone

Is the gold-per-10 nerf working?

Should Philospher’s Stone snowball?

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