There is some magical thing in League of Legends that makes you suffer from disbelief of what happened after being reduced to ashes from only one ability your opponent used against you.
That magical thing, my friends, is called Ability Power (AP). Ability power is a stat that raises the effects of some abilities, runes, and items in the game. Those effects acquire a bonus equal to the ability power of the champion you are playing.
No matter what champion you play, you will always start with 0 ability power, and simply leveling up won’t increase that number. To boost your ability power index, you will need to get hold of some items and abilities or make a rune that can effectively increase your ability power. Meeting these conditions is essential to improve your champion’s damage output and make fighting easier. As one would expect, not every champion in the game has abilities that need a boost of ability power to deal more damage.
Now, after we learned what Ability power is, what its purpose is and how you can acquire it, it is time to show off some of the best AP items in the game that will deal lots of damage and grant you some other benefits along the way.
1. Banshee’s Veil
Usually being picked by squishy mages, Banshee’s Veil grants an effective spell shield that blocks the first ability-powered attack from the enemy. This item consists of:
- +80 Ability Power
- +10 Ability haste
- +45 Magic resistance
Passive ability: giving you Spell Shield can block the next damaging ability.
And its cost is 2600 gold.
One great benefit of using Banshee’s Veil is the Magic resist it provides. Thus, making you pretty sustainable as mage enemies playing against you won’t be much effective in the game’s early stages. You don’t need to stress about obtaining one shot while you have this item in your arsenal.
Banshee’s Veil is a powerful disincentive for baiting enemies to engage on you. As long as you see that there is a glow around your character, you can feel pretty confident as champions like Lux or something annoying alike won’t be able to harass you as much as they want to. Crowd control is an annoying thing to deal with, but using Banshee’s Veil on champions that depend on movement speed like Lilia or Cassiopeia, nothing can stop them from harassing the enemy while avoiding nasty CC abilities.
Use this item when you are playing against hard CC champions, champions with lots of AP scaling abilities, and when you need high amounts of ability power to boost some or all of your abilities.
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2. Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
Another item that many players constantly use in their AP builds, similar to Banshee’s Veil, Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, aids in dealing large amounts of damage over an extended period. Rylai’s Crystal Scepter contain:
- +75 Ability power
- +400 Health
Passive – Rimefrost: Your damaging abilities are applying Slow of 30% for 1 second to enemies.
And it costs 2600 gold.
This item’s stats are advantageous for champions that want to gain some tankines. At the same time, they deal fat amounts of damage and other items like Morellonomicon, Riftmaker, Night Harvester, and such. To distinguish, getting this item will not make you an actual tank. Nevertheless, if you use Rylai’s, you will be much more sustainable, and you will have more options for fighting.
The fact is that most of the mages in the game do not have any abilities which can help them to dash or run away, making them immobile and vulnerable. That’s why they need items that can help them engage or dash away from champions or some other abilities to back them off. When you get hold of these items, you will be unstoppable. For example, with Rylai’s, the passive on the item is giving you opportunities in both chasing enemies by slowing them or when running away from them also by the same way.
To sum up, Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is best used when playing against hard poke champions such as Lux, Syndra, etc. It will provide you with increased sustainability and decent AP, making you harder to kill.
3. Zhonya’s Hourglass
No matter what lane you are playing, Zhonya’s Hourglass is a necessary item to have when you are playing as a mage. With its Active ability to make you shiny and untouchable, Zhonya’s is the best item for facing ruthless assassins that want your blood. This item grants you:
- +65 Ability Power
- +45 Armor
- +10 Ability Haste
Active – Stasis: You become invulnerable and untargetable for 2.5 seconds but are prevented from taking any other actions during this time.
And it costs 2600 gold.
The Stasis, Zhonya’s Hourglass active ability, is one of the best abilities to survive oneshot attacks by fed Veigar with like million stacks or overall incoming burst damage from any attack damage-oriented champion. It lets you stop time for a sec and watch enemy ADC suffer as he focuses on you in the past teamfights. In the meantime, your team is busting their insides out.
Zhonya’s Hourglass can give you additional resistance when you are against tough AD matchups. With the armor it gives you, it’s a great way to make some early kills and get the upper hand of your enemy. Additionally, this item is excellent for baiting overconfident enemies thinking they can quickly kill you under your tower. Use Zhonya’s active ability to prove them wrong and make them mad for the rest of the game.
This item is best suitable for the likes of Lux, Katarina, Syndra, and most midlane mages that are squishy, giving them increased sustainability in lane and teamfights while boosting your ability power levels.
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4. Everfrost
Another item that has been recently reworked, Everfrost, is arming you up to the teeth with much-needed stats and providing various potential for mages in any role. Purchasing this item will supply you with:
- +80 Ability Power
- +600 Mana
- +200 Health
- +10 Ability Haste
Active ability – Glaciate: Deal magic damage in a cone before you, slowing opponents by 65% for 1.5 seconds. Rivals at the middle of the cone are rooted instead.
Mythic Passive – Grants all legendary items 15 Ability Power.
This item costs 2600 gold.
Everfrost is a precious item that gives you all kinds of valuable resources to help you win your next game. The bonus 15 ability power to every legendary item you own is a massive advantage when the game is shifting onto its last stages. This means you will have a massive bonus of 60 AP and even more if you decide that you don’t need boots.
Its passive ability is an excellent addition to every champions kit, whether you have crowd control abilities or not. You can effortlessly find yourself in positions where you need a little more damage to finish your opponent after depleting all of your abilities. But that is not the case with Everfrost, which deals some damage and is slowing or stunning your enemies, making up some time for your cooldowns to refresh so you can finish the job.
Everfrost can be such a lifesaver when it comes to securing team fight kills or, in the literal sense – allowing you easier escape from the mistakes you have made by slowing or stunning your hunter.
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5. Luden’s Tempest
The last AP item on this list is the item that has been around from long ago. Luden’s Tempest should be the first item to purchase when playing a mage. Mainly for the massive amounts of damage it can deal with and provide more than enough mana for you to consume. It has:
- +80 Ability Power
- +600 Mana
- +20 Ability Haste
- +6% Magic Penetration
Passive Ability – Echo: Hitting an enemy champion with any ability deals additional 100 magic damage to them and launches orbs up to 3 enemies that deal the same damage, further granting you 15% bonus movement velocity for 2 seconds.
Cost: 3200 gold.
Luden’s Tempest is the wet dream of every mage dream, granting them high amounts of ability, power, and mana that are very much needed in the early game to harass and poke the enemy with your abilities.
A great addition to the stats is the bonus movement speed you get after successfully hitting an enemy champion, a speed that can be used to chase and finish the killing process or for retreat purposes. Of course, let’s not forget about the other side of the passive ability, which outputs decent amounts of damage onto nearby enemies, furthermore making this item very useful in teamfights and similar situations.
Luden’s Tempest stands as one of the best AP items that can be used to generate an early game lead. The item generates great help during teamfights, making you more agile to dodge enemy abilities, and it certainly is one of the best ability power items overall.
(5 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)
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