Last Updated: January 2nd 2019

Welcome to Season 10 Starting items Comparison Article!

The viability of all common starting items are to be discussed here.

Starting Items

Potions
AP Items
AD Items
Defense Items
HP Potions are simply inferior to Refillable Potion
Corrupting Potion shows superiority over other starting items since the leftover Gold that would be spent on Health Potions for the other starting items are permanently lost upon use.
Doran's Blade is better than Cull until you are out of item slots and have to sell it. Longsword is the best choice for Melee Champions.
Corrupting Potion is usually the best choice unless your champion is manaless in which case you should get Boots + Refillable instead
Corrupting Potion✔️
Corrupting Potion✔️
Doran's BladeHealth Potion✔️
Corrupting Potion✔️
Refillable Potion✔️
Dark SealRefillable Potion✔️
Long SwordRefillable Potion✔️
BootsRefillable Potion✔️
Health Potion❌
Doran's Ring❌
CullHealth Potion✔️
Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadRefillable Potion✔️
Sapphire Crystal❌
Long SwordHealth Potion❌
Doran's ShieldHealth Potion❌
Faerie Charm❌
Cloth ArmorHealth Potion❌

Appropriate Firstback Item Combinations

J/Support
AP Items
AD Items
Tank Items
Do not ever get health potions on Jungle/Support. You will see the explanation why below.
Dark Seal synergizes well with Corrupting Potion and is the only starting item that sells for 70% of its price value rather than 40%.
Always buy Refillable Potion over Health Potions. Also if you got Doran's Blade as your starting item, try not to waste more of your item slots.
Not Much to say other than get Refillable Potion ASAP if you don't already have Corrupting Potion.
Corrupting PotionDoran's Ring✔️
Doran's BladeLong SwordRefillable Potion✔️
Corrupting PotionRuby Crystal✔️
Steel Shoulderguards/Spellthief's Edge/Relic Shield/Spectral Sickle+Refillable Potion✔️
Corrupting PotionDark SealDark Seal✔️
Long SwordLong SwordRefillable Potion✔️
BootsRefillable Potion✔️
Corrupting PotionSapphire CrystalFaerie Charm✔️
Long SwordLong SwordHealth Potion❌
BootsHealth Potion❌
Steel Shoulderguards/Spellthief's Edge/Relic Shield/Spectral Sickle+Health Potion❌
Corrupting PotionDoran's RingDoran's Ring❌
Doran's BladeDoran's BladeHealth Potion❌
Ruby Crystal❌
Doran's RingDoran's RingHealth Potion❌
Doran's BladeCull❌

Refillable Potion VS Health Potion

Keep Value Comparison

  • Refillable Potion saves 83 gold per recall. It also sells for 60g
  • Refillable Potion breaks about even in gold efficiency in just 1 recall (143g ~= 150g)
  • This means if you're going to get 2 or less potions on any instance, it is always better to get Refillable Potion
  • Pro tip: What do you do on your first back when you have 150 gold as left over? Instead of getting Health Potionyou better get Refillable Potioneven on ADC!

Starting Advantage Comparison

  • Some starting items such as Long Swordleave you with 150g at start allowing you to get either Refillable Potionor 3 x Health Potion
  • Refillable Potion: 250 HP
  • Health PotionHealth PotionHealth Potion: 450HP
Now that is a major starting advantage we cannot simply neglect! So should the efficiency of Refillable Potion be valued more than nearly two times the sustain which 3 x Health Potionbring at start?

A better question to ask is if that advantage is truly worth the cost.

Most players purchase additonal Health Potion for the first 2 - 3 recalls of the game and as I have mentioned earlier Refillable Potion is superior for that. So since players should be purchasing Refillable Potion anyway the playersthat started with 3 x Health Potion will be behind 150g on their first recall. (due to 3 x Health Potion not existing anymore) Don't get the logic? Refillable Potion remains in your inventory even when it is all used up while Health Potion doesn't.
Here is a visual representation:

  • Long SwordRefillable Potion→ Long SwordRefillable Potion⤎ Refillable Potion (150g)
  • Long SwordHealth Potion → Long Sword ⤎ Nothing Left (0g)
However, it is a different story if you decide to sell Refillable Potion right away though,since thenRefillable Potionwould be only as good asHealth PotionRefillable Potion. In that case would be similar to starting Long SwordHealth Potionx2 which is kinda awkward so don't do that.

Conclusion

Refillable Potion> Health PotionThis is a pretty big win for Refillable Potion. Refillable Potion already breaks even withHealth Potion instantly upon purchase. You can further reap the free 250hp sustain benefits beyond your first recall. And lastly, for the counter-arguers out there regarding the extra hp potion at start, is the extra 200HP sustain really worth giving up 8 cs (150g)?Amount of Backs

Money saved: 160

Mana

Dark Seal
100 Mana
Doran's Ring
135 Mana (5mp5 for 2mins 15s)
Corrupting Potion
225 Mana
Sapphire Crystal
250 Mana
Faerie Charm x4: Outclassedby Sapphire Crystal

Corrupting Potion vs Doran's Ring

Keep Value Comparison

Referring to the mana table above:

  • Doran's Ring: 15AP, 135 mana, 60 HP, 5 Minion onhit damage
  • Corrupting Potion: 375 Health and 225 Mana over 36s. Deals 15 magic damage over 3s.
Though the stats of these two items seem very different they are actually quite similar in what they do.

Difference:

  • Doran's Ring: 15AP
  • Corrupting Potion: 315 Health and 90 mana over 36s. Deals 15 magic damage over 3s.
We can observe that, while Corrupting Potionis active, 15 damage over 3s (halved for aoe) is slightly superior to 15AP.

Combat Scenario
DoT Duration
AP Ratio (per spell) Required for 15 AP to be better
AOE Spell Single Shot
3s
0.50
Single Target Poke
3s
1.0
2 Spells & 2 Autos
5s
0.83
4 Spells & 3 Autos
8s
0.67
Autos Only
3s
Infinite
Doran's Ring's 15 AP is negligibly superior in damage overall.

Hence, there is now a difference of:

  • Doran's Ring: -
  • Corrupting Potion: 315 Health over 36s + 90 mana over 36s.
Therefore,Corrupting Potion is more worth keeping.

Starting Advantage Comparison

  • Doran's RingHealth PotionHealth Potion: 15AP, 135 mana, 60 HP + (300 over 30s)
  • Corrupting Potion: 375 Health and 225 Mana over 36s. Deals 15 magic damage over 3s
Difference:
  • Doran's Ring: -
  • Corrupting Potion: 15 HP over 36s + 90 Mana over 36s.

    • Conclusion

    Corrupting Potion > Doran's Ring
    Not only isCorrupting Potion better thanDoran's Ring at start butCorrupting Potionis also more worth keeping. Why wouldn't you want to get Corrupting Potion instead of Doran's RingHealth PotionHealth Potion and save on 100g from not buying Health Potions?

    Dark Seal vs Doran's Ring

    Keep Value Comparison

    Referring to the mana table above:

    • Doran's Ring: 15AP, 135 mana, 60 HP
    • Dark Seal: 15AP, 100 mana, 25% increased healing from potions, +3AP/stack
    Hence, difference of:
    • Doran's Ring: 35 mana, 60 HP
    • Dark Seal: 25% increased healing from potions, +3AP/stack
    25% Increased healing potions gives
    • Health Potion: 150 → 187.5 = 37.5 HP
    • Refillable Potion: 250 → 312.5 = 62.5 HP
    • Corrupting Potion: 375 → 468.75 = 93.75 HP

    Conclusion

    Doran's Ringfor Mana
    Dark Seal for HP regen with Corrupting Potion

    Doran's Shield vs Rejuvenation Bead

    List of Assumptions

    Laning Time (Seconds)
    Doran's Shield Proc Rate
    Average Amount of HP (%)
    Champion HP regen (HP5)
    Reset

    Doran's Shield is a zero-growth item that gives anywhere from 224 to 824 total hp over 2 minutes.

    Keep Value Comparison

    • Doran's Shield: 80HP, 6 - 31HP per 5s
    • Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadRejuvenation Bead: 150% Base HP Regen
    Given the above assumptions, the result is:
    • Doran's Shield: 80HP, 14.28HP per 5 Seconds (465.59HP over 135 Seconds)
    • Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadRejuvenation Bead: 12.00HP per 5 Seconds (324.00HP over 135 Seconds)
    Then, the difference between the two items, given a 135 Seconds lane time is:
    • Doran's Shield: 141.59HP
    • Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadRejuvenation Bead: -141.59HP
    The break-even point for 3x Rejuvenation Bead is when it provides 17.24 HP per 5 seconds.
    In the average scenario, this is around level 7.
    In the best case scenario for Doran's Shield, one would constantly have the passive up at low hp. In this case, the 3 Rejuvenation BeadHP regeneration would never break even.
    Thus, an average top laner would benefit more from Doran's Shield.

    Starting Advantage Comparison

    • Doran's ShieldHealth Potion: x1 [Total Loss: 320g, (270g sell) (50 x 1 consumed)] = 615.59HP
    • Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadHealth Potion: [Total Loss: 50g, (50 x 1 consumed)] = 474.00HP
    • Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadHealth PotionHealth PotionHealth PotionHealth Potion: [Total Loss: 200g, (50 x 4 consumed)] = 816.00HP
    • Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation BeadRefillable Potion: As good as Health Potion x1.67, also 50g unused (Highly Recommended) = 466.00HP
    Depending on your lane difficulty, you can adjust the number of potions to bring with for Rejuvenation BeadRejuvenation Beadx2Health Potionx4 option surely beats Doran's Shield at start and still has better value as well.

    Conclusion

    • Rejuvenation Bead > Doran's Shield, most of the time.
    • Rejuvenation Bead scales rapidly with level whileDoran's Shield is stagnant
    • Rejuvenation Bead provides more accumulated health than Doran's Shieldeven at start
    • Rejuvenation Bead has better value sinceDoran's Shield has to be sold at a huge loss
    • Doran's ShieldIs a good buy only if one can make near perfect use of the passive.
    Wait, but what if your champion has extremely low hp regeneration (e.g. Soraka) or does not utilize Rejuvenation Beadin their builds? Then consider alternatives such as Corrupting Potionfor mana champions,Dark Seal for Mordekaiser orBootsfor AD tanks