Doran’s Ring

Doran’s Ring is the starting item for mages in League of Legends: 18 Ability Power, 90 Health and two passives for 400 gold in patch 26.21. Drain restores 1 Mana every second, rising to 2 per second for 5 seconds after you damage a champion, and Helping Hand adds 5 bonus physical damage to attacks on minions. It builds into nothing.

What do Drain and Helping Hand do?

Drain is the Mana engine of the early game. A steady 1 Mana per second on its own, doubled to 2 for 5 seconds every time you hit an enemy champion, so a mage who trades regularly in lane gets a lot more Mana back than one who only farms.

Champions without Mana are covered too. If you cannot gain Mana, the item heals you for 45% of what the Mana would have been, which is why energy and manaless casters like Akali, Katarina or Vladimir still start with it sometimes (the heal is small, the Ability Power and Health are the real reason). Helping Hand is the other half: 5 extra damage on each auto against minions, which makes last hitting under tower far less painful on champions like Lux or Xerath whose base Attack Damage is low. Is that worth noticing? Ask any mage who has missed a cannon minion by two Health.

Is Doran’s Ring gold efficient?

Hugely: 150%, before either passive is counted. The 18 Ability Power is worth 360 gold at 20 gold per point and the 90 Health another 240 gold, for 600 gold of stats on a 400 gold item.

That is the most efficient of the three Doran’s starts by a wide margin. The sell value is 160 gold, which is the usual starting-item penalty and the reason nobody buys several. To be fair, the number overstates the case a little, since 18 AP at level one is modest and the Health is what actually keeps a mage alive through the first gank; still, there is no 400 gold purchase in the shop that gives a caster more. Doran’s Blade and Doran’s Shield fill the same role for attackers and for poke matchups.

Who should start with it?

Almost every mid lane mage, most AP top laners and a fair number of AP supports who are not taking the support item. Thing is, the alternatives are narrow: Tear of the Goddess for stackers like Ryze or Cassiopeia, Dark Seal for players who expect to snowball, and a Sapphire Crystal start for a few champions who want Lost Chapter as fast as possible.

So the Ring is the default. When should you skip it? Rarely. Not when your champion has no Mana and no Health problems (Akali often prefers Dark Seal), and not when you are so far ahead in a matchup that a Dark Seal’s stacking damage pays off faster. In practice that leaves the Ring as the correct start in the large majority of mage games, and buying a second one on a rough first recall is a common and perfectly sensible move (two Rings and a potion is a classic back after a lost level two).

How has Doran’s Ring changed over the patches?

Twelve entries since 2013, most of them to the Mana passive:

• Patch 3.8: cost 475 → 400, Health 80 → 60.
• Patch 5.22 and 8.9: the Mana regen moved from a percentage to a flat amount, then was reworked again.
• Patch 10.23: Health 60 → 70.
• Patch 13.20: Ability Power 15 → 18, Health 70 → 90.
• Patch 14.21 and 25.21: effect text changed, giving the current Drain wording.

Honestly, the item has only gotten stronger: the 13.20 buff alone added a quarter of its Ability Power and a sizeable chunk of Health without touching the price. All twelve are in the table above, and the LoL items database keeps the same record for Dark Seal and Tear of the Goddess, the Ring’s two usual rivals.

When should you sell it?

At full build, when you need the slot, and not a minute sooner. The 160 gold return is tiny next to the stats you give up, and the Mana regen keeps being useful for as long as you are casting. For what it’s worth, plenty of mages finish games with the Ring still in the inventory, and that is fine. If you are new to the position and want to understand why mages start differently from everyone else, the guide to LoL roles covers how mid laners spend their first gold, and Doran’s Ring is step one for almost all of them.

FAQ

How much does Doran’s Ring cost?

As of patch 26.21, 400 gold to buy and 160 gold back when sold.

What does it give?

18 Ability Power, 90 Health, Mana regen from Drain and 5 bonus damage to minions from Helping Hand.

How much Mana does Drain restore?

1 Mana per second normally, and 2 per second for 5 seconds after damaging an enemy champion.

Does it work on champions without Mana?

Yes. Instead of Mana they heal for 45% of the amount.

Does it build into anything?

No. It is a starting item that you sell later.

Can you buy two?

Yes, and both the stats and the Mana regen stack. A second Ring on the first recall is a common buy after a hard lane.