Hearthbound Axe

Hearthbound Axe is the Attack Damage and Attack Speed component in League of Legends: 20 Attack Damage and 20% Attack Speed for 1,200 gold in patch 26.21, with no passive. It merges two Long Swords and a Dagger for a 250 gold combine fee, builds into Trinity Force, Kraken Slayer and Terminus, and is the first recall item for most on-hit and auto-attack fighters.

What does Hearthbound Axe do?

It gives you 20 Attack Damage and 20% Attack Speed in one slot. That is it. No passive, no active, just the two stats that an auto-attacker wants most on the first back.

The pairing is the point. Attack Damage alone makes each hit harder; Attack Speed alone makes more hits; together they multiply, so a champion going from a Long Sword start to a finished Axe at level five is dealing noticeably more damage per second than either stat would suggest on its own (a Jax or a Tryndamere feels this more than almost anyone). Should you take it over a Pickaxe, which gives more raw damage for less gold? Only if your champion’s damage comes from attacking repeatedly rather than from a few big abilities, and if your first finished item needs one, which for Trinity Force and Kraken Slayer users it does.

Is Hearthbound Axe gold efficient?

Exactly even: 100%. The Attack Damage is worth 700 gold at 35 gold per point and the Attack Speed 500 gold at 25 gold per percent, which adds up to 1,200 gold on a 1,200 gold item.

The 250 gold combine fee is what you pay for the slot, and nothing else; the three components inside cost 950 gold on their own. Thing is, that fee is low for an epic item, so there is no reason to sit on loose Long Swords and a Dagger once you can afford to merge them. The sell price is 840 gold.

What does it build into?

Three items, for three different kinds of attacker:

• Trinity Force, the fighter item with Spellblade, for champions who weave abilities between attacks.
• Kraken Slayer, the every-third-hit damage item for marksmen and on-hit fighters.
• Terminus, the on-hit magic damage item that stacks penetration and resistances in fights.

So the Axe commits you to attacking, but not to a class. Honestly, that flexibility is what makes it such a common first buy: an Irelia can hold one while deciding between Trinity Force and Kraken Slayer, and a Kog'Maw or a Varus heads for Terminus from the same piece. The LoL items database has all three prices.

Who buys it?

Auto-attack fighters first: Jax, Irelia, Tryndamere, Yasuo, Yone, Master Yi, Trundle, and the Trinity Force users in top lane and jungle. Then the on-hit marksmen and the Kraken Slayer carries, Kai’Sa, Vayne, Kog’Maw, Varus, Jinx in her on-hit games, usually as the first component after a Doran’s Blade. Who skips it? Casters and mages, obviously, and Lethality assassins, whose damage is in abilities and who get almost nothing from the Attack Speed.

One small trick: the order of the three pieces matters on a hard first recall. Long Sword first if you need to trade, Dagger first if you need to clear or push, and the second Long Sword last.

How has Hearthbound Axe changed over the patches?

Constantly, for an item with no passive. It appeared in the data in patch 10.23 with the 2021 item overhaul, and since then Riot has moved its numbers seven times:

• Patch 10.24: Effect text changed.
• Patch 12.3: Cost 1100 → 1000 gold.
• Patch 13.10: Cost 1000 → 1100 gold, Attack Damage 15 → 20.
• Patch 14.1: Cost 1100 → 1200 gold, Attack Speed 15% → 25%.
• Patch 14.6: Cost 1200 → 1150 gold, Attack Damage 20 → 15.
• Patch 14.10: Cost 1150 → 1300 gold, Attack Damage 15 → 20, Attack Speed 25% → 20%.
• Patch 14.19: Cost 1300 → 1,200 gold.

Funny enough, after all that the current item is almost exactly where the 14.1 version was in price, with five less Attack Speed and five more Attack Damage. Put simply, Riot has been using the Axe as a dial for how fast fighters come online, and the dial has settled at 1,200 gold for now.

When should you buy it?

On the first recall if you have 1,200 gold and your first finished item is one of the three above, or on the second recall after a Long Sword or Dagger start. For what it’s worth, the Axe is one of the few components that is strong enough on its own to delay the finished item for a recall if a Vampiric Scepter or boots would help more in the moment, since 20 Attack Damage and 20% Attack Speed carry a lane just fine. If you are still working out whether your champion is an auto-attacker in the sense that matters here, the guide to LoL roles explains what fighters and marksmen are built around, and Hearthbound Axe is the component both of those groups share.

FAQ

How much does Hearthbound Axe cost?

1,200 gold in patch 26.21; two Long Swords and a Dagger make up 950 gold of that, and the combine fee is 250 gold. It sells for 840 gold.

What stats does it give?

20 Attack Damage and 20% Attack Speed.

Does it have a passive?

No. It is a pure stat component.

What does it build into?

Trinity Force, Kraken Slayer and Terminus.

When was it added?

In patch 10.23, with the 2021 item system. Its most recent change was a price cut in patch 14.19.

Hearthbound Axe or Pickaxe?

Pickaxe for more raw Attack Damage and a wider range of upgrades; Hearthbound Axe if your champion attacks often and your first item is Trinity Force, Kraken Slayer or Terminus.