Guardian’s Hammer

Guardian’s Hammer is the melee fighter starting item for ARAM in League of Legends: 25 Attack Damage, 150 Health and 5% Life Steal for 950 gold in patch 26.21, with no passive. The Howling Abyss shop is the only place it appears, nothing builds from it, and at 162% gold efficiency it is one of the four deliberately overstuffed starters that define the mode’s opening buy.

What does Guardian’s Hammer do?

Damage, a bit of durability, and a way to heal on a map with no fountain trips. 25 Attack Damage is a Pickaxe’s worth, 150 Health is a Ruby Crystal, and 5% Life Steal is the stat that makes it a fighter’s item rather than a marksman’s.

The Life Steal is small, and it is still the reason to pick this over Guardian’s Blade. Thing is, a melee champion on the Howling Abyss cannot walk back to heal, so every bit of sustain is worth more than it would be on Summoner’s Rift, and five percent on a Darius or a Jax who autos minions between fights adds up to a few hundred Health over the laning phase that nobody else gets. Is it better than the Blade? For a ranged carry, no, since the Blade has more damage and Ability Haste; for a melee bruiser who will be trading attacks in the middle of the fight, the healing beats the extra stats (and most melee players learn that the first time they survive a poke war at 10% Health by hitting minions).

Is Guardian’s Hammer gold efficient?

Very: 162%. The Attack Damage is worth 875 gold at 35 gold per point, the Health 400 gold, and the Life Steal 268 gold at the Vampiric Scepter rate, so the item carries 1,543 gold of stats on a 950 gold price.

That is on purpose. Honestly, Riot prices all four ARAM starters for the opening gold and never expects you to sell them, and the Hammer sits between the Blade and the Orb in raw value because its Life Steal is worth more in practice than the reference price suggests. Selling returns 665 gold, a number that only matters once the inventory is full. Put simply, the Hammer is free value, and the only decision is whether your champion is melee.

Who should start with it?

Melee physical damage champions: Darius, Garen, Jax, Tryndamere, Renekton, Pantheon, Wukong, Olaf, Yasuo, Yone, Irelia, Master Yi and the rest of the bruiser and skirmisher pool when they land on the Abyss. Ranged carries take Guardian’s Blade, mages take Guardian’s Orb, tanks take Guardian’s Horn, and the Hammer is the one for anyone who deals physical damage up close. Who should skip it? Melee assassins who would rather have the Blade’s Ability Haste for their cooldowns (Zed and Talon usually do), and tanky fighters who expect to eat poke rather than trade, for whom the Horn’s flat block does more.

How has Guardian’s Hammer changed over the patches?

Twelve entries, and the shop entry was a completely different item for its first three years:

• Patches 3.10 to 5.22: Entropy, a 2600 to 3615 gold ARAM item with 55 to 70 Attack Damage and 275 Health, trimmed step by step.
• Patch 6.12: Renamed to Guardian’s Hammer; cost 2600 → 950 gold, Attack Damage 55 → 15, Health 275 → 150, 10% Life Steal added. The finished item became a starter.
• Patch 7.10: Attack Damage 15 → 20.
• Patch 10.23: Attack Damage 20 → 25.
• Patch 12.16: Life Steal 10% → 7%.
• Patch 14.11: Life Steal 7% → 5%.

Funny enough, Riot has moved the Hammer in opposite directions over the years: two Attack Damage buffs, then two Life Steal cuts, which together turned it from a sustain starter into a damage starter with a little sustain. For what it’s worth, the 14.11 cut to 5% is the most recent change, and it came alongside a wider trim to lifesteal across the game.

When should you sell it?

At full build, when a sixth finished item needs the slot, and not a minute before. 25 Attack Damage and 150 Health matter on a fighter all game, and the 665 gold refund buys nothing worth having. Which goes first, the Hammer or boots? Usually the Hammer, because a sixth finished item outweighs a starter and boots on the Abyss are the item that keeps you alive against skillshots. If you are still learning what the Howling Abyss expects from a melee champion, the guide to LoL roles covers how fighters are built to play on any map, and the LoL items database lists the four ARAM starters together, with Guardian’s Hammer the one for the melee half of the physical damage roster.

FAQ

How much does Guardian’s Hammer cost?

950 gold in patch 26.21. It sells for 665 gold.

What stats does it give?

25 Attack Damage, 150 Health and 5% Life Steal.

Does it have a passive?

No. The three stats are the whole item.

Can you buy it on Summoner’s Rift?

No. It is sold on the Howling Abyss only.

Does it build into anything?

No. It is a starter that stays in the inventory until full build.

Was it always called Guardian’s Hammer?

No. Until patch 6.12 the shop entry was Entropy, an expensive ARAM damage item; that patch rebuilt it as the melee starter.