The 5v5 Summoner's Rift map is well-known in League of Legends. However, there is another type of map with different gameplay: ARAM (or All Random All Mid) played on the Howling Abyss map. It’s an all on one lane game where itemization is important for each role to secure victory.
In comparison to Summoner's Rift map, in ARAM some items are disabled, while some are exclusively available in this mode, and others have special features available only on this map. That being said, today I’ll discuss some items you can use in ARAM to increase your chances of victory.
Since there is no way to recall without dying, you should pick your first items carefully.
I would recommend starting with some Healing Potions. In the first, let’s say 5 to 10 minutes, your main goal should be to stay alive as much as possible to gain enough gold for your core items. Healing Potions come in handy if you play a champion you don't have much experience with, but don't rely on them. Pay attention to your position, poke if you can or look for fight opportunities.
Tear of the Goddess is another good starting item for champions who rely on mana. In ARAM you get quicker charges, so you'll get bonus mana faster than usual.
Serrated Dirk is a good choice for AD champions if you intend to build lethality later in the game, and Guardian’s Horn is a must-have for tanks to restore HP fast.
As expected, your primary focus should be on lethality items, as these are the most powerful for assassins.
A good item for AD Assassins. It grants 55 AD, 18 lethality and a little bit of omnivamp. It also grants you a 15% bonus movement speed and a shield for 2 seconds, and if you hit an enemy with two separate abilities, you deal bonus physical damage. The shield allows assassins to enter and exit fights more easily.
Another item for damage and lethality, plus a shield that will block CC abilities. You can use it for dives and to neutralize a potential fight. The shield has a cooldown of 40 seconds, but if you are hit before it fades away, it will restart.
You have to be as fast as you can. If you get caught but you are confident that you can still do something before you die, that Ghosting for 6 seconds can save your life. Also, the 40 bonus movement speed while out-of-combat helps you get low HP enemies who were left behind and don’t have enough speed to escape.
If your HP is brought below 30% you will receive a shield that absorbs magic damage for 5 seconds. This item is effective against enemies with a high amount of magic damage.Also, the item grants a 12% omnivamp for 5 seconds. This effect will refresh if you deal or take damage in the next 2 seconds.
Another good item to build up lethality. It gives you additional 30% bonus physical damage and slow effect for 0.25 seconds,which isn't much but is just enough time to deal with enemy tanks on the front lines. What is interesting about this item is that if the enemy you have damaged dies within the next 3 seconds, the item’s cooldown is reset and you become invincible for 1.5 seconds.
As a tank, you should prioritize your HP and MR or armor, depending on your enemy team.
A strong item for tanks who want to get involved in fights. Aside from the 800 HP you get just for having the item, you get massive HP regen (2.5% maximum health every 0.5 seconds), which is invaluable to recover from ARAM’s chip damage.
Use this item in combat for its strong active effect. Unleash the shockwave around you to slow nearby enemies and give your team a chance to take them down. Also, enemies' AD will be reduced by 10% and critical strike damage will be reduced by 20% for 4 seconds. This item helps you counter ADCs with strong critical strike chances.
If you face a strong AP enemy team, increase your MR. You get 40 MR, 450 HP and 100% HP regeneration. Also, if you have a support around you, any healing or shield received is increased by 25%. As a result, this item can grant a total of 150% HP regeneration because its passive increases both champion's base health regeneration and its own. Generally, Spirit Visage works well for champions that have self-healing, self-shield, omnivamp, or life steal into their kit.
Use this item against AD enemies because it provides a high amount of armor and ability haste. It has a powerful aura that reduces enemies' attack speed, and thanks to its passive, enemies' basic attack damage is reduced by up to 40%.
Another effective item against AD champions that can inflict 40% Grievous Wounds on enemies. If your tank champion can also CC, your opponent will be inflected with 60% instead of 40%. This item is preferable for defensive play against enemies who deal the majority of their damage through basic attacks.
They don't build much differently than a normal game, except there's no need to focus on life steal. You should focus on building critical strike and AD. ADCs have the advantage of range on a map like Howling Abyss but keep in mind that they are squishy and easily taken down.
This is a powerful item that gives you 70 AD and significantly increases your critical strike. You not only get a 20% critical strike chance just by having this item, but you also get a 35% bonus if you have at least a 60% critical strike chance. This item is perfect for scaling almost any ADC champion.
Another good item for critical strike, plus 65 AD and 25% attack speed both of which are very important for high poke ADCs. Additionally, basic attacks stack for 3 seconds, with a maximum of 2 stacks. As a result, your next basic attack will deal 60 true damage on-hit. Kraken Slayer's passive grants up to 50% bonus attack speed if you also have other 5 Legendary items.
Build this item if you play against tanks to get 35% armor penetration and up to 15% bonus damage against enemies with more HP than you.
Again, a good item against tanks. You gain 25 AD, 25% attack speed, 20% critical strike chance and a small amount of movement speed. If you attack while having this item, the enemy will be inflicted with 40% Grievous Wounds for 3 secondsand the effect will increase to 60% if you continue to attack them. This item is useful in the constant teamfights because it allows your entire team to benefit from its passive.
Like an ADC, an AP champions have a similar build to the one they have in Summoner’s Rift. Usually, AP champions are strong on this map because they have huge damage and utility.
AP champions require a lot of mana, and this item is ideal for them. I would advise you to build this item quickly because you don't know when you'll be able to return to base. You get 500 mana and a mana charge every 8 seconds, up to 4 charges.Every time you use an ability to hit a target, you consume a charge and gain 3 bonus mana, up to a maximum of 360 bonus mana. On the Howling Abyss map, every consumed charge generates 50% more mana. You also get ability haste equal to 0.5% bonus mana.
A classic AP item that is even more effective in ARAM. Its Echo effect isindeed very useful in a 5v5 fight, and the map is ideal for aggressive pokes. Dealing damage to enemies reduces Echo cooldown by 0.5 seconds per champion, up to a maximum of 10 seconds. This item also grants you a 15% bonus movement speed for 2 seconds, 600 mana, 20 ability haste, 80 AP and 6 magic penetration. Luden's Tempest's mythic passive can grant you up to 25 magic penetration if you have another 5 Legendary items.
You should definitely get this item because it significantly increases your AP. The item alone grants 120 AP and a 35% increase. It is perfect for an offensive mage build.
If your opponent's team is heavy on tanks, anti-healing items may be a good choice. When you deal magic damage to an enemy, you inflict 40% Grievous Wounds on them for 3 seconds. Grievous Wounds are increased by 60% if the enemy has less than 50% HP. You also get 250 HP and 80 AP.
It gives you a shield that blocks abilities, which is useful when you need a quick escape. You also gain some ability haste, 80 AP, and 24 magic resistance. Also, if you are being targeted by champions with CC abilities, I recommend you buy this item as soon as possible.
Another great item for mana and AP. With this item, whenever you deal damage to an enemy, they take 60 total magic damage over 4 seconds and up to 12% bonus magic damage based on their HP. It’s passive is best used in long fights.
We have a different story here.
There are no standard support items in ARAM, and there is no point in building an actual support champion. Instead, focus on your champion’s strengths and exploit them. Most of the time you should concentrate on increasing your CC and healing potential. Depending on the type of support you have, you may also use some of the previously discussed AP, AD or tank items.
It’s a good idea to take this item regardless of the type of support you have. The ability to heal the entire team at once is a major benefit. In addition, this item gives you 100% base mana regeneration, mana being a constant issue for support champions.
This item boosts healing and shielding power. It has a greater impact on low HP champions, giving 70 HP to the closest wounded ally.You also get 20 ability haste because the more time you spend in combat casting abilities, the stronger your heal and shield become.
To be an effective support in ARAM, you must give your allies everything you have. When you use this item to heal or shield an ally, you also give them a 10%-30% bonus attack speed and 5-20 magic damage on hit based on their level.
Build this item if your opponent's team has CC to remove its effects from yourself and an ally while also restoring up to 200 HP.
Consider using this item to immobilize and damage nearby enemies for 4 seconds if you have a tank support. Given the map format and game style in ARAM, this is quite useful.
Another useful item for tank supports. Immobilized enemies are marked for 8 seconds and any ability that hits them fires a missile to them that deals up to 70 bonus magic damage.
Here you have the most effective items in ARAM according to each role. They are the best choice in almost any situation but keep in mind that ARAM is a team game in which you must coordinate and synergize with your allies. Even if you have AD on your team, you will sometimes have to compensate for your team's lack of damage. Other times, you may have to change your build in the middle of a game to have a chance at victory.
Choose your build wisely, and always keep an eye on your teammates' choices as well as your opponents' strengths and weaknesses.
