Rod of Ages and Seraph’s Embrace will dominate season 13 in League of Legends

Rod of Ages is buffed and the community should know about it. There has been a lot of talk recently on how Riot’s item rework in preseason 11 has affected the game. We are more than two years removed from that point, and the changes are still being felt. The game does feel like you are playing the items rather than the champions, but the best we can do is abuse the situation.

Rod of Ages

To the delight of many mage players, Rod of Ages is back. The preseason 13 item changes saw many items return after being shelved for a few years.  But RoA will probably be the one that will impact the game the most. The item felt a bit underwhelming throughout the preseason, with many champions that depended on it, now having better options. Being classified as a Mythic item also didn’t help, despite some champions using it, making an appearance in our preseason mid lane tier list.

Rod of Ages will now grant 400 health instead of the previous 300 after completing it. That is of course, before the item starts stacking. Its passive will now heal for a smaller percentage but give 10% more movement speed which will last for 3 seconds, up from the previous 2.  With more changes to the passive, the item now focuses more on restoring health rather than mana.

Archangel’s Staff/ Seraph’s Embrace

Another item trying to find its niche since the item rework in season 11 has been this one. The mage class took a pretty big hit with those changes, but that should be negated a bit with this year’s preseason changes. With  RoA receiving a healing mechanism in it’s return, Archangel’s Staff has been struggling to serve its purpose. 

The item will now cost 3000 gold instead of the previous 2600, but will now give 80 ability power and 10 ability haste, which is a lot more than the previous 80 and 0. The big kicker here is the buff to the Awe passive, giving bonus ability power equal to 1% bonus mana. That used to be 0,5% and it used to give ability haste. If you are wondering why this is a big deal, let me explain

Rod of Ages synergy with Seraph’s Embrace

What made this combo of items and the champions that used it so strong back in the day was this specific interaction. RoA gives a lot of health and mana, especially when fully stacked. Seraph’s has always transformed this bonus mana into more damage. But in earlier seasons, the Tear of the Goddess component was nearly double the price. Now it can be purchased as a starting item, making it easier and faster to stack. 

Seraph’s Embrace in season 13

Well, this item is about to dominate season 13 and it’s not because they returned the shield on it. Previously, the shield was an active that you could use to block certain abilities and outplay your opponent. Now it functions exactly like the Lifeline passive on Immortal Shieldbow and Sterak’s Gage. Once you go below 30% health, you will gain a 250 (+ 20% current Mana) shield which has a 90 second cooldown. Once you stack your Tear, Archangel’s Staff upgrades to Seraph’s Embrace, and so does the Awe passive. It will now give bonus ability power equal to 2,5% of bonus mana.