New Artifacts and Support Items
TFT Set 11 is well underway, and we’ve just learned about 20 new Artifacts and 5 new Support Items releasing with Patch 14.9. TFT developer Wittrock recently tweeted about these new items, which are currently on PBE as well.
In this article, I’ll cover all of the new Artifacts and talk about some potential use cases for the current set. Let’s jump right in.
New Artifacts
With a ton of new Artifacts to choose from, a few changes are coming to the systems as well. Artifact Anvils and the Portable Forge Augment will now always give you 4 options to choose from.
In the past, you could sometimes shoot for a specific Ornn Artifact, but with a ton to choose from, you’ll have to make do with your selection.
Lastly, Mogul’s Mail and Goldmancer Staff are being removed. These Artifacts often skyrocketed your economy if you found them early, so they decided to remove it.
Suspicious Trench Coat
First up, we have Suspicious Trench Coat, which is almost like a mix of Edge of Night and Trickster’s Glass. While Trickster’s Glass won’t copy items, you get a full extra unit at the start of the fight.
I envision this item being a strong third item for melee carry units. I would assume that splitting into multiple units also drops aggro, so this item fulfills a similar role to Edge of Night.
You can put this item on a tank as well for some extra frontline, but the high Attack Speed base stat makes me feel like this item would strong on units like Yone/Kayn as well.
Talisman of Ascension
This Artifact puts the Ascension Artifact onto an item with extremely juiced stats. This item would be perfect on tanky melee carrys like Gnar.
It’s a bit risky since they need to live for 20 seconds, but if they can survive that long, they will likely solo carry the rest of the fight.
Unending Despair
Unending Despair has tank stats and is ideal for any unit that can consistently generate shields. For Set 11, Yasuo is a perfect unit as his ability generates a shield, and his Fated Bonus does as well.
With this item, you can build Yasuo as more of a frontline tank, and he can deal consistent damage with his ability and this item.
Lightshield Crest
This item is more of a generic tank item, but is especially strong if you have a main tank with tons of extra Armor/MR. This would synergize well with just about any Behemoth frontline unit like Cho’Gath, Ornn, Thresh, etc.
I would assume that Gargoyle Stoneplate also works with this item. The bonus Armor/MR from Stoneplate will hopefully snapshot onto the shield that Lightshield Crest generates.
Innvervating Locket
Up next we have a mana generation item that’s strong for frontline units. The mana generation will help them cast faster, and casting will also heal them.
This Artifact will be great for strong tanks with large mana pools like Ornn, Nautilus, Galio, Sett, etc.
Horizon Focus
Up next, we have an Artifact that synergizes with units that can stun enemies. 20% of max health as magic damage is quite a powerful effect. Place this on a unit that can stun multiple enemies, and you’ll get a ton of value from the item.
Examples: Nautilus, Annie
Forbidden Idol
Forbidden Idol is an interesting Artifact. Instead of being shielded, the shield will convert to Health at a 2:1 ratio. This means you get less effective HP, but the Health is permanent while Shields are often temporary.
I’m trying to think of useful applications for this Artifact, but I can’t think of anything overly broken. Units like Yasuo and Yone generally benefit from the Shield, so I can’t imagine this item being good for them.
Udyr probably utilizes this item best. His unique trait allows him to heal to full health, while his first ability grants him a shield. You can convert this shield to max HP, and heal it back up with his Spirit Walker trait.
Prowler’s Claw
Prowler’s Claw turns just about any unit into an Assassin like carry. Slap this onto units like Kayn, Yone, Yasuo, or Volibear and watch them take down backline units.
Try to position smartly so they dash toward the corner units after killing a target.
Mittens
Mittens is an intense Attack Speed Artifact. There aren’t too many units or effects that chill, but it’s a nice bonus to have. You can put this on a melee carry like Yone to make use of the movement speed, but backline carrys can utilize the Attack Speed as well.
Rapid Firecannon
Honestly, I don’t love that they’re bringing back RFC. They removed the item for a reason, and now it’s simply put behind a high roll of hitting it off an Augment/Encounter.
Some units like Yone can become extremely annoying carrys with RFC, giving them both backline access and survivability by being in the second row.
Corrupt Vampiric Scepter
This next Artifact is very unique. You give up the ability to cast abilities or gain mana, but get a very powerful Attack Damage boost. Some units in the past already don’t have abilities, so this item is easy to put on them.
There isn’t a unit like that in Set 11, but Duelists (Lee Sin/Volibear) would prob be the best holder for this item. You’ll lose out on strong abilities, but get a lot of damage and lifesteal in return.
Spectral Cutlass
This is another Assassin like Artifact, with a bit of a twist. You’ll be able to control where your unit jumps to, but they only have 6 seconds before returning.
I also wonder how the item will interact against players who clump their units in the corner. As before, melee carrys like Kayn will likely utilize this item well.
Fishbones
Fishbones is a very interesting Artifact. This item will go perfect onto Sniper units as you can make use of the extra attack range to deal extra damage. If this item also causes their Ability to randomly target, I can see this being a powerful Artifact for Sniper carrys like Ashe.
If you can randomly assassinate the enemy carry from the backline, you’ll basically instantly win a fight. However, if the ability still targets normally, this item will be much worse than I expected.
Cursed Blade
This item will be strong on any carry that attacks quickly. Combine this with a Rageblade and you will be able to shred through enemy frontline units by reducing their Health and Star Level.
You can even use this item as a replacement for Last Whisper as it fulfills a similar role. Last Whisper will still be better on Trickshot units like Kai’Sa, but auto attack carrys like Tristana or Ashe can utilize Cursed Blade quite well.
Silvermere Dawn
Silvermere Dawn is another extremely funny item. The holder’s auto attacks will stun enemies for half a second, but they can only attack every half second. Even still, this can be a very powerful tank item.
With good positioning, you can keep stunning an enemy tank that has a strong ability. Or, you can use this item to perma stun an enemy melee carry as well.
Your opponent will be able to move when your holder casts their ability, so you can even try pairing this with Corrupted Vampiric Scepter for some funny business.
Seeker’s Armguard
Seeker’s is an item for AP Tank/Carry hybrid units like Sylas. If they can takedown units, they’ll gain more AP, Armor, and MR, making them stronger as the fight goes on.
Blighting Jewel
Blighting Jewel is a very powerful AP item. While Sunder reduces enemy MR, Blighting Jewel should stack, allowing you to quickly reduce an enemies MR to 0.
When it comes to a carry like Syndra, I’m unsure whether her ability applies multiple stacks of Blighting Jewel or only one. If the former, this item can easily help Syndra melt through frontline units.
Lich Bane
Lich Bane will be perfect for any carry that casts their ability frequently. Some examples would be Kindred, Syndra, Lillia, Teemo, Morgana, and more.
Luden’s Tempest
Luden’s used to be an item, but now it’s coming back as an Artifact with a different effect. Attack Speed and AP are stats that any AP carry can use, so this item will be strong on just about any AP carry.
This item will especially be strong on carrys with strong abilities. This will ensure that any leftover ability damage will splash to other enemies.
Examples: Kog’Maw, Kindred, Lux
Wit’s End
Wit’s End is a strong item for any carry that can attack quickly. While units like Ashe won’t be ideal for the AP scaling, units like Yasuo or Volibear deal magic damage with their ability, so the healing effect has greater use on them.
New Support Items
Moving on, let’s quickly cover the new Support Items.
The Eternal Flame
Eternal Flame is a safe and solid pick for any team. Anti heal is a strong effect in the late game, and hitting the entire enemy board is great. The bonus damage effect is also very strong.
You almost want to put this item on a backline unit to ensure you keep the effect for as long as possible. You want the +250 Health on your frontline, but if the holder dies too quickly, it’d be a waste.
Note: The wording on this item confuses me. Why not say “After 5 seconds, enemies are Wounded and allies deal more damage.” Maybe if the item is too strong the effect won’t refresh constantly. Or this way, it’s clear how long the effect will last after the item holder dies.
Knight’s Vow
Knight’s Vow will be a strong item if you have multiple melee carrys that you can grant Omnivamp to. The first thought goes to Kayn + Yone for the current set.
Moonstone Renewer
Moonstone Renewer is a strong item if you can ensure that the fight lasts a long time and the item holder stays alive a long time. In a full 30 second fight, you’ll get 7 activations of this item, giving you a ton of effective HP.
Spite
Spite is a weird item to be frank. You want to hit enemy units with the effect, but you won’t be able to buff up your backline units this way. Because of this, this item is likely ideal for team comps that have melee carrys. This way, you can put Spite on your frontline.
You might not be able to hit enemy backline units, but in a melee carry vs melee carry matchup, this item can be quite useful. Unfortunately, that effect is a little niche for my liking.
Unstable Treasure Chest
Lastly, we have Unstable Treasure Chest, granting 3 random completed items to nearby allies. I’d assume the effect is random, but there might be some hidden rules as to what items are granted.
Overall, it’s a solid item. You can put a weak frontline unit up front and have them die quickly. This way, you’ll get some free items onto stronger units soon after the fight starts.
It might not be the best Support item, but it’s definitely not bad.
Wrap Up
This wraps up all of the new Artifacts and Support Items coming in Patch 14.9. You won’t be able to play with these items every game, but they’ll start showing up in your Encounters and Augments.
With so many new effects, there are bound to be some OP ones and some underpowered ones. As time passes, we’ll see how these items perform in game with our Stats Page.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out our meta team comps page, or head to our Team Builder to try and come up with your own comps.
