New mage items are possibly on the horizon for League of Legends: Riot Games developers provide insight 

Riot Games devs have provided hints on potential new mage items in League of Legends. Riot Phroxzon and TheTruexy discussed their prior attempts at mage items on Twitter, as well as the possibility of adding new ones. While there are no firm decisions yet, the latter did hop on Twitter to opine on mage items.

According to him, HP (Health Points) was largely included in Season 12 as a "pseudo-durability" fix for the mages. The developers intended to allow squishy immobile mages enough breathing room to make a mistake against assassins without getting one-shot and losing the lane.

This occurred during the laning phase when lethality was unusually high. He claimed that developers taxed AP (Ability Power) on two mage items to the point where the fantasy of high AP numbers and real functioning damage fell short. The problem was exacerbated by the 12.10 durability patch upgrade.

He stated that the Mages' mana-poke balance is a heated topic. According to him, if the mana is too inefficient to cast on League of Legends champions, the mages will default to pushing the waves and focusing on scaling. So if the mana is too abundant, the mages will do the opposite.

He also mentioned that several items gaining tiny buffs could help, except Alternator and Lost Chapter, which are quite powerful and can be under-tuned. Yet, the key point of contention is what League of Legends mages and mage subclasses must accomplish to seem unique and interesting in the game's current meta.

---

Riot Phroxzon and TheTruexy further discuss difficulty balancing mage items and possibility of new ones arriving in League of Legends

Riot developer TheTruexy further noted that it becomes considerably more difficult when all types of immobile mages are considered. Compared to champions like Veigar or others, someone like Zoe has significantly different demands to feel engaging and thrilled for players.

Currently, all these champions are channeled into "Mana Burst Mythic into Zhonya's Hourglass + Rabadon's Deathcap." As a result, it's incredibly monotonous, with few feasible solutions.

He concluded by emphasizing that his Twitter thread does not give adequate direction to the League of Legends community regarding mage items. Rather, it gives insight into what the developers are considering and potentially debating to get mages in a better spot as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Riot Phroxzon further commented on TheTruexy's Twitter thread that while the developers were considering introducing more mage items, they intended to keep the number of AP items at 20 for varying reasons.

According to him, most AP designs were generic since they needed to accommodate a variety of champions. However, he claimed that if they could do it again, the team would handle proceedings differently, having learned so much about the items since then.

He cited Horizon Focus and Cosmic Drive as the items that evoke the most regret. Cosmic Drive was designed to be a salvation for mages, offering a choice for ability haste against damage-focused items like Shadowflame and Horizon Focus. According to him, the mage class is just a slight redesign away from being good, but strengthening makes them too good.

He further stated that with Horizon Focus, they got carried away with the design's originality. Developers attempted several solutions, but only generic damage cleared the complexity and design criteria. When it comes to mages, providing intriguing outputs that are not confined to two champions is tough.

He concluded his Twitter thread by expressing optimism about building a catalog of items for mages, even though they are the hardest classes to design for in League of Legends.