TFT Items Guide: Components, Slamming, Emblems and Artifacts

Components: what each one is worth

There are eight standard components – B.F. Sword, Recurve Bow, Needlessly Large Rod, Tear Of The Goddess, Chain Vest, Negatron Cloak, Giant's Belt and Sparring Gloves – plus the special Spatula and Frying Pan. Any two standard components combine into one completed item, so every component you hold is really a set of possible items.

The most flexible components are the defensive ones. Chain Vest, Negatron Cloak and Giant's Belt build tank items that every comp needs: Gargoyle Stoneplate, Warmog's Armor, Sunfire Cape, Bramble Vest, Dragon's Claw or Evenshroud. Tear Of The Goddess is close behind, because it makes Spear of Shojin, Blue Buff, Protector's Vow, Adaptive Helm and Spirit Visage – items useful for both carries and tanks.

Damage components are worth more once you know your carry. B.F. Sword fits attack damage carries like Draven, Ezreal or Sivir; Needlessly Large Rod fits ability power carries like Veigar or Azir. Sparring Gloves is the most awkward component on its own, but two of them make Thief's Gloves, which several of our comps happily use on a secondary unit.

Slam or hold?

Slamming means building a completed item as soon as you can, even if it is not the perfect item for your final carry. In stage 2 and early stage 3 slamming is almost always right: an item on the board wins rounds, protects HP and keeps a win streak going, while two components on the bench do nothing. Most of the item a player loses by slamming an imperfect item is regained in streak gold and HP.

The rule of thumb is simple: slam any item that is good on at least two of the comps you could still play, and always slam tank items. Gargoyle Stoneplate or Warmog's Armor will find a holder in almost every final board. Hold components only when you are clearly one or two rounds away from a much better combination, or when your comp needs a specific pair that a slam would ruin.

Do not hold more than two or three components by stage 3. If your bench is full of unbuilt components at 3-2, you have paid the cost of a weak board without getting any of the benefit of flexibility. An Item Remover or a Reforger lets you fix a bad slam later, which is another reason not to be afraid of building early.

Carousel picks

On shared carousels the player with the lowest HP picks first. That makes a loss streak in stage 2 a real item strategy: you lose rounds but choose your component before everyone else at 2-4 and 3-4. Win streakers pick last and usually take what is left, so they should plan their items around flexible combinations.

As a default, pick the component that completes an item you can build right now. If you hold a B.F. Sword and need a Deathblade or a Giant Slayer for your carry, another B.F. Sword or a Recurve Bow is better than a theoretically stronger unit. Later carousels sometimes offer Spatula or Frying Pan: take them when an emblem would let you reach a trait breakpoint you otherwise cannot hit.

Look at what the players around you take. If three players grab Needlessly Large Rods, ability power carries will be contested in that lobby, which is useful information for your own comp choice before 3-2.

Carry items and tank items

A carry wants damage items that multiply each other: one item that scales damage, one that increases speed or mana, and one that solves a problem such as armor or healing. Attack damage carries use Infinity Edge, Last Whisper, Guinsoo's Rageblade, Kraken's Fury, Deathblade and Giant Slayer. Ability power carries use Spear of Shojin, Blue Buff, Jeweled Gauntlet, Rabadon's Deathcap, Archangel's Staff and Void Staff.

A main tank wants three items that cover different damage types. Gargoyle Stoneplate gives 10 Armor and 10 Magic Resist for each enemy targeting the holder, Warmog's Armor gives 18% max Health and Spirit Visage regenerates 2% of missing Health each second – together they keep a front line standing much longer than three copies of the same stat.

Utility effects should appear once per board, not on every unit. Wound reduces enemy healing and comes from Morellonomicon, Sunfire Cape and Red Buff. Sunder from Last Whisper or Evenshroud reduces armor and Shred from Void Staff or Ionic Spark reduces magic resist; neither effect stacks, so a second copy on the same board is wasted.

Flexible items and Set 18 examples

Some items are worth building in almost every game because they fit many holders. In Set 18 the most reliable are Gargoyle Stoneplate, Warmog's Armor and Spirit Visage on tanks, and Spear of Shojin, which grants 5 bonus mana per attack and works on carries such as Ezreal, Ahri or Alune.

Thief's Gloves deserves its own note. It equips 2 random items every round and takes 3 item slots, so it is best on a unit that will not get other items anyway. In our Elderwood Draven comp spare Sparring Gloves become Thief's Gloves on Kennen and Gnar, while Maokai holds Warmog's Armor, Gargoyle Stoneplate and Bramble Vest.

Check the item priority of the comp you are aiming for and slam from the top of that list. Veigar and Ornn reroll starts with Blue Buff, Jeweled Gauntlet and Hextech Gunblade on Veigar; Hunter Sivir and Nidalee wants Infinity Edge and Sterak's Gage early and grabs every B.F. Sword it can.

Emblems

An emblem gives its holder a trait. Most are built from a Spatula or a Frying Pan plus a standard component, for example Spatula and Tear Of The Goddess make the Lunar Emblem, while Frying Pan and B.F. Sword make the Hunter Emblem. A few emblems, such as Defender, Juggernaut, Coven and Flora Fatalis, cannot be crafted and only come from augments or shops like the Curio Cart wisp.

Put an emblem on a unit that does not already have the trait and that you would play anyway. The value comes from hitting a breakpoint one unit earlier or adding a breakpoint you could not reach. In our Eclipse Kayle comp, a Lunar Emblem on Varus activates 3 Lunar without having to find Alune. Emblems are also patch-sensitive: after 18.6 cut the 9 Elderwood bonus, the Elderwood Emblem became much less valuable in comps that aimed for 9.

Artifacts and radiant items

Artifacts are special items that cannot be built from components; you usually get them from an Artifact anvil, which offers a choice. Augments such as Latent Forge or Living Forge give anvils over time, and in our Veigar and Ornn comp Ornn himself produces Artifacts that you can move onto a 3-star tank. Pick the artifact that matches your carry, not the one that looks strongest in a vacuum: Dawncore helps casters cast more often, Hellfire Hatchet suits attack carries that take damage, and Lightshield Crest or Eternal Pact protect a team.

Radiant items are upgraded versions of completed items with much stronger effects – for example, Radiant Warmog's Armor gives 36% max Health instead of 18%. They come mainly from prismatic augments such as Radiant Relics. When you get one, build your board around its holder: a radiant item on a 4-cost or 5-cost carry often decides the late game on its own.

Common item mistakes

• Holding four or more components into stage 3 waiting for a perfect carry.
• Building three damage items for a carry while the front line has no items at all.
• Stacking two Wound or two Sunder items on one board.
• Putting an emblem on a unit that already has the trait.
• Picking a unit on carousel when a component would complete an item right away.
• Leaving Thief's Gloves on a carry that needs specific items.
• Ignoring what the lobby takes on carousel when choosing an AD or AP direction.

If you are unsure, follow one principle: completed items on the board beat perfect items on paper. Fix the details later with removers, reforgers and better components.