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.
