Let’s talk about items

Vainglory Discussion Heroes, Builds, & Items
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So to start off I’m going to say that item diversity and the amount of items we have has always bothered me with this game. However trying 5v5 expanded the issue for me even more when I opened up the scoreboard and saw everyone build pretty much the same stuff, very few heroes really have “that item” that’s sooo good on that hero and synergizes with them, not saying every hero should but it’s just not common at all I feel. Not only that though I also feel like a lot of the items we do have are just… boring. I’m just gonna go through a lot of the items and give basic explanations hopefully you’ll see what I mean, if items from the same tree effectively serve the same purpose they’ll share a spot:

Sorrowblade/Shatterglass: Just damage, that’s it, nothing else comes from it

Serpents mask/ Eve of harvest: You want to have ok lifesteal? Get this

Broken myth/bonesaw: If they have a lot of defense on you just get this (side note: I actually like bonesaw’s design but I don’t like that it’s really the only late game pierce item for WP, BM used to be a lot more interesting too but I understand they didn’t want it to be that item everyone gets, but it’s the only pierce option for its tree period)

Tyrants Monacle: Basically just more damage again except it’s less reliable but can be bigger, honestly though the way crit works in this game with every crit item improving its damage it seems less special tbh when in games like LoL or smite only one crit item increases crit damage and serves as a big power spike

Tornado trigger: Just attacks faster and more crit yawn, I almost never see anyone buy this item

Metal jacket: primarily just armor… lots of armor… that’s it

Aegis: Good amount of shield with some health and reflex block, that’s it, basic asf but better than mj at least

Atlas pauldron: ok so I have always disliked the design of this item, it’s not fun to use and it’s not fun to play against, yeah yeah you can block it but then you get hit with every other CC, or you block CC and now you can’t block the atlas. The reason I think Atlas has a poor design is its basic function is to turn someone into a potato for like 4 seconds or so and honestly if you’re someone who’s extremely attack speed reliant like Krul or Saw you’d probably rather be stunned depending on the situation. It’d be more interesting if it was like some sort of constant slowing aura for a smaller value like 20% or so, would probably be more useful too in 5v5

Ok that was a lot but hopefully some of you can relate understand what I’m getting at. I do think what has been introduced for items lately though has been better, like…

Spellsword: Solid damage, Cooldown, and a unique passive. It’s an interesting item to me because it can be situational and it’s also good for WP heroes who are more ability reliant or who Justin lose their energy very quickly

Breaking point/Dragons eye: both serve the same purpose pretty much however they are interesting and unique and again not something that just everyone builds 100% of the time.

Spellfire: I actually really like spellfires design I personally feel like it’s still a bit on the weak side though burn its interesting and good for poke characters

Clockwork (reworked): one of my favorite items honestly. It went from being a boring bunch of energy and CD to a solid CP item with a very nice passive.

Aftershock/Tension Bow: These items can be cancerous to be against sometimes but they are pretty unique and synergize well with certain heroes which is what I find fun personally.

I could go on about other stuff but I don’t want this to be a giant wall. I think all the support items are fine honestly as well as the boots and such however here’s some things I think would be good when it comes to items in the game:

  1. Just make more items: the current amount we have pales to pretty much almost any other mobas and I see the same builds constantly

  2. Rework some of the current items: I feel like a lot of the items are just boring and need something to make them more special, be it stat tweaks/changes, new passives, etc.

  3. Make hybrid items possibly even, and I don’t mean WP/CP I mean maybe like some armor that gives a little bit of WP or CP or cd etc. same with boots maybe some attack speed boots or damage boots or tank boots (talking armor or shield not wartreads) our current boots are but like I said I think we could use more.

So yeah that’s basically how I feel about, please let me know what guys think, if you agree/disagree or have any suggestions yourself :slight_smile:

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You should see the builds of captains I get paired with

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I want to throw a proper reply into this thread, jokes aside. I think you’re right, I think the variety of items we have, to a degree, are lacking. Spellsword is easily one of the best additions imo, and I’m excited to see the day Spellfire is more viable. Possibly part of the reason why we have a shortage of items currently is because there’s a shortage of status effects, or ways to genuinely manipulate a hero’s abilities / perks. This is my only serious MOBA so I can’t relate it to other games, though I could imagine that, maybe, it comes down to the overall complexity.

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I’d like if they added sort of aura items or Moreno percent health to damage items like blade of the ruined king in LoL which makes basic attacks to 8% max health as additional damage. LoL actually has a lot of unique items which is why I use it as my main example

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I would love for items with build in barriers or items that trigger defensive values while being an offensive item or vice versa.

An item that grants a damage aura based on max health.

An item that reflects incoming damage like caths bubble but castable on a target.

An item that allows you to place physical barriers like real walls for a duration.

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TBH I wouldn’t mind not getting new heroes for like 2 months if they just did a huge patch introducing a bunch of new items

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I would love more unique passives on items, especially for captains. More actives for damage dealers would be appreciated too.

There was a fake leak at some point which had some interesting ideas. There was one item that would give allies around you after using four abilities (similar to PS), and there was an active that put you in stasis, making you invincible, but stopping you from moving. I would also love to have items that add to your abilities, such as a passive that ads a 0.1 second silence to your abilities (only applying on the first tick. Skye and Churn is a no no).

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Lol imagine if being chained just meant constant silence

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As a Churn player, that sounds hot.

As a rational human being, I scream from the depths of my soul.

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I think the items in Vainglory is pretty quite fine, properly because each hero can buy almost of them. Although tere are not many items, they provides lots of versatility.

For example, I want to build CP Vox, which item should I buy? Well, depending on what define you and the current situation. So first, we will have: normal CP Vox: start with the basic: Alternating Current, Eve of Harvest, Dragon’s Eye, 2 Defense Items. Damage will depend on how long the combat lasts, right?

But then I said, I don’t like it, I want to harass the opponent as fast as possible, because Vox is now current OP hero, so I will build: Alternating Current, Broken Myth, Eve of Harvest. By buying like this, I will pretty strong at 7-13 mins, but the damage will drop later on.

Therefore, I said, pffff, I main Vox, why should I watch my damage drop? Fine! Then don’t buy Metal Jacket, and instead, buy Dragon’s Eye. Now I have to be aware of enemy WP Carry, but my damage will be very big, and it won’t drop.

But what if my playstyle is not DPS damage? I don’t like it, I prefer using my jump so that it will bounces from Captain to their Carry (trust me, I am good at this?), well, I can buy Alternating Current, Shatterglass and then Broken Myth, and then I said, wow, 1 jump = 1/3 Carry’s HP, even though he has his Aegis on. Niceeeeee!

In the conclusion, what I meant is, don’t pay much attention on the stats, or the effects, but instead, pay more attentions on: which feature it will give you. For example: Shatterglass will allow you to shock damage if you have any skill with high CP Ratio, or Aftershock will give you shock damage if you have skills with low CD and high raw damage, or Broken Myth is for shock damage, while Dragon’s Eye require prolong combats, etc. This will affects the hero’s playstyle so that in every situation your hero could adapt! DO NOT STICK TO ONLY 1 BUILD!