League of Legends news » New Item: Hexdrinker Update and the Maw of Malmortius

Summoners!

We’ll be rolling out some changes to Hexdrinker along with a new upgrade for this important anti-magic item in the upcoming Lulu Patch. To help keep Hexdrinker a viable selection throughout a full game of League of Legends, we’ve repositioned this powerful anti-caster weapon as an earlier game item and added the option to upgrade it later in the game. This new upgrade, dubbed the Maw of Malmortius, will be geared towards giving you some additional late game punch from this powerful anti-caster item.

For Every Action There is a Reaction

High burst damage teams have always been problematic for fragile, heavy-hitting melee DPS champions. For this reason, we wanted to provide an item that would give these champions a specialized defensive option when they took to the field against this type of team. Hexdrinker was always intended to be a reactive purchase by melee champions who found themselves in the danger zone against a heavy burst team.

• Recipe changed to Long Sword + Null Magic Mantle from 2 Long Swords + Null Magic Mantle
• Total gold cost reduced to 1400 from 1800
• Attack damage reduced to 25 from 35
• Shield strength reduced to 250 from 300
• Shield duration reduced to 3 seconds from 4

While many of the more heavily armored pure tanks or bruisers could survive such an onslaught, more fragile assassin champions might find themselves quickly reduced to ashes by a barrage of incoming enemy spells. To aid these lower durability champions earlier on, we decided to reposition Hexdrinker as an early game hybrid defensive item. By removing one of the Long Sword items from the recipe and adjusting the stats accordingly, we brought the total combine cost down to 1400 gold from 1800. This moved the item into a place where it could be more comfortably be purchased early on, and then upgraded to the new Maw of Malmortius as late game approached.

Stay the Course!

Although Hexdrinker was initially conceived to help melee champions get up close and personal without quickly falling victim to brutal spell combos, its lack of a late game upgrade made it a problematic choice for assassin characters. While the damage increase it provided made it a perfectly suitable choice during the early and mid game, these champions reliance on heavy damage often prompted them to sell it in favor of higher Attack Damage options as the game matured.

• Recipe: Hexdrinker + Pickaxe
• Total gold cost: 3300 (combine cost: 925)
• +55 Attack Damage
• +36 Magic Resist
• Unique Passive: +1 Attack Damage for every 2.5% health missing.
• Unique Passive: If you would take magic damage which would leave you at less than 30% of your maximum health, you gain a shield which absorbs 400 magic damage for 5 seconds. 60 second cooldown.

To solve this we decided to offer a new tier 3 item upgrade that would allow assassins to ramp up their damage appropriately without sacrificing the survivability of Hexdrinker. The Maw of Malmortius not only comes packaged with some additional offensive stats and a stronger anti-magic shield, but also sports a unique passive that grants a significant damage boost as your health drops. The synergy between Hexdrinker’s improved damage shield and this last stand style damage buff is sure to make enemies think twice before focusing their attack on you as you enter the fight!

Do the Evolution

By repositioning Hexdrinker and providing the option to upgrade it for heavier firepower later on, you’ll find that your assassin champions are better able to cope with heavy burst damage teams throughout the game. By upgrading to the new Maw of Malmortius, you should now find your Hexdrinker paying dividends even well into late game!