League’s most “unsatisfying” item Luden’s Companion has lost its identity
Riot GamesThe mage item Luden’s Companion has lost its identity and is unsatisfying to build and use compared to its alternatives.
Luden’s Companion was added to League at the start of Season 14 and replaced Luden’s Tempest. The item is considered a first-buy item for multiple mage champions, granting ability power, ability haste, and mana.
Luden’s Companion has been tweaked slightly in a few patches following its introduction but has largely remained untouched. The item is best built for burst mages who pick their spots to deal as much damage as possible to enemy champions.
In a Reddit post discussing the item, players have dubbed it an incredibly generic and “unsatisfying” item that isn’t fun to build or powerful.
Players pointed to Malignance and Seraph’s Embrace as two alternative items with more satisfying power spikes for champions who can use their abilities to their fullest extent. On paper, Luden’s should be the more powerful item, as it has the highest base ability power at 95, however, players would rather get the added effects from the two alternatives.
“[Luden’s Companion is] a very awkward item you buy because your ult is unsuited for malignance and you don’t need enough mana to make seraph worth it but still need a lost chapter item first. Very much a default pick rather than an exciting one,” one user said.
Another player pointed out that the item’s passive, which adds a Shot Charge stack every few seconds that is consumed when a player lands an ability dealing extra ability damage, is often wasted on farming minions.
“I always think it is trash tbh, even on Leblanc and Ahri I would just go Malignance on them for the extra Ultimate Haste. Luden just feels so unimpactful,” another user said.
Luden’s Companion’s lack of power isn’t just something that players can feel, as the item has the lowest win rate out of the first-pick mage items, according to League of Items.
While the item’s identity seems to be intact on paper with its passive and ability power numbers, in most matches it doesn’t perform nearly as well as the alternatives and thus has lost its luster on most, if not all, champions.
