League of Legends removed items: A nostalgic look back

League of Legends has evolved significantly since its launch, with Riot Games constantly tweaking and rebalancing the game. Over the years, numerous items have been removed to streamline gameplay, improve balance, or make room for new mechanics.

This article explores League of Legends removed items, their significance, and the reasons behind their removal.

Why does Riot remove items?

Items in League of Legends are a crucial part of strategy and gameplay. However, some items have been removed for several reasons:

• Game balance: Certain items were deemed too powerful or disruptive to gameplay balance.
• Overlapping effects: Some items offered redundant effects, making them unnecessary in the evolving meta.
• Outdated mechanics: Older items sometimes didn’t fit with newer gameplay updates or champion reworks.
• Streamlining choices: Riot occasionally removes items to simplify decision-making and encourage diverse builds.

League of Legends removed items

Here’s a short list of iconic League of Legends items that were removed:

1. Heart of Gold

• Function: This item provided gold generation and health, making it a popular choice for support and tank champions.
• Reason for removal: Riot removed Heart of Gold in Season 3 to reduce the dominance of gold-generating items in tank builds, which created an imbalance in early-game strategies.

2. Atma’s Impaler

• Function: Offered bonus attack damage based on a champion’s maximum health, ideal for tanky damage dealers.
• Reason for removal: The synergy between health-stacking and damage-dealing led to overly strong builds, forcing Riot to remove it in favor of more balanced options.

3. Dervish Blade

• Function: Provided attack damage, magic resistance, and a Quicksilver Sash-like active effect for removing crowd control.
• Reason for removal: Riot removed this item to simplify itemization for crowd control removal, merging its functionality into other items like Quicksilver Sash.

4. Leviathan

• Function: A stacking item that increased health and granted damage reduction at full stacks.
• Reason for removal: Riot removed Leviathan alongside other snowball items like Sword of the Occult because they encouraged risky, feast-or-famine playstyles.

5. Force of Nature

• Function: Offered significant health regeneration and magic resistance, making it a favorite for tanks.
• Reason for removal: Riot retired Force of Nature to make way for Spirit Visage and other items with more diverse effects. However, it was reintroduced in a new form in later seasons.

6. Sword of the Divine

• Function: Granted attack speed and an active ability that guaranteed critical hits.
• Reason for removal: The guaranteed crits disrupted the balance of champions relying on critical damage, leading to its removal in Season 3.

7. Hextech Gunblade

• Function: Provided both ability power and attack damage, along with a unique active effect that dealt magic damage and slowed enemies.
• Reason for removal: Hextech Gunblade was removed to reduce hybrid itemization, which often created balance issues for champions who could effectively utilize both AP and AD.

Items players miss the most

Many veteran players fondly remember iconic items that shaped past metas, offering unique abilities and strategies that are still missed today.

1. Deathfire Grasp (DFG)

• Function: An active item that dealt a percentage of the target’s health as magic damage, often used by burst mages.
• Reason for removal: Its removal was due to its high burst potential, which overshadowed other mage itemization options.

2. Ionic Spark

• Function: Dealt chain lightning damage on basic attacks after a certain number of stacks.
• Reason for removal: Riot removed it to avoid overlapping functionality with Statikk Shiv.

3. Twin Shadows

• Function: Sent out ghosts to slow enemies, useful for catching opponents or gaining vision.
• Reason for removal: Twin Shadows was removed during a rework of vision-based items but later returned as a component of more modern items.

Impact of removed items

The removed items from League of Legends have reshaped gameplay, balancing gameplay, introducing new builds, and evoking nostalgia among players.

Gameplay evolution

Removing items often forces players to adapt to new strategies and builds, keeping the meta fresh and competitive.

Improved balance

Streamlining item choices and removing overpowered options helps maintain a fair environment for all champions and roles.

Nostalgia

Many veteran players look back fondly on removed items, associating them with specific metas, champions, or gameplay moments.

To summarize

The list of items removed by the League of Legends showcases Riot Games’ commitment to evolving gameplay. While some items are missed for their utility or nostalgic value, their removal often paves the way for better game balance and innovation.

As League of Legends continues to grow, the removal and addition of items will remain a crucial part of its development, ensuring the game stays dynamic and engaging for players old and new.