Lost Chapter

Lost Chapter is the standard first purchase for mana mages in League of Legends: 40 Ability Power, 300 Mana and 10 Ability Haste for 1,200 gold in patch 26.21, plus Enlighten, which restores 20% of your maximum Mana over 3 seconds every time you level up. It combines an Amplifying Tome, a Sapphire Crystal and a Glowing Mote for a 250 gold fee, and five legendary items build out of it, Luden’s Echo and Archangel’s Staff among them.

What does Lost Chapter do?

It solves the mage’s first problem, which is running out of Mana at level four. The 300 Mana is a bigger pool, the 10 Haste means you cast a little more often, and Enlighten tops the pool up at each level, so the moments when a mage would normally be empty (right after a level-up all-in, usually) are the moments the item refills them.

Then there is the 40 AP, which is a real amount for a component. A Lost Chapter at the first back is the difference between farming safely and winning trades, and that is why the item has been the default mage opener for years. How much Mana does Enlighten actually give? At 20% of maximum Mana, more as the game goes on, and it comes over 3 seconds rather than at once, so you can level up mid-trade and keep casting. Thing is, the refill only triggers on level-ups, which happen every minute or two in lane and almost never after level sixteen, so the passive is a laning tool and nothing more.

Is Lost Chapter gold efficient?

Very: 133%. At the reference prices, 40 AP is worth 800 gold, 300 Mana is worth 300 gold and 10 Haste is worth 500 gold, so the stats alone come to 1,600 gold on a 1,200 gold item, before Enlighten is counted.

That is unusual for a component. Most of them sit at or just under full value, and a few, like Catalyst of Aeons, trade stats for a passive. The Chapter gives you both, which is why rushing it is almost never wrong on a mana mage even when the finished item you want is still far off. Honestly, the sell price of 840 gold is the only disappointing number on the page, and you will never use it.

What does it build from and into?

The recipe is Amplifying Tome (400 gold), Sapphire Crystal (300 gold) and Glowing Mote (250 gold), plus the 250 gold combine fee. Tome first, Crystal second, Mote last. That is the usual order on a split back (the Tome is the piece that wins trades, so it goes first).

Out of it come five legendaries: Luden’s Echo for burst mages, Archangel’s Staff for mages who stack Mana all game, Malignance for ultimate-based champions, Blackfire Torch for damage-over-time mages and Actualizer for the AP champions who build around their basic attacks. Put simply, the Chapter is the trunk of the mage item tree, and the choice of which branch to take can wait until the second back. Current prices for each branch live in the LoL items database.

Who buys it?

Every mana mage, mid or top or support, and a lot of AP junglers. Syndra, Orianna, Ahri, Lux, Viktor, Xerath, Vel'Koz, Anivia and Ryze open with it in mid; Brand and Zyra build it as supports when the lane allows; Lillia and Taliyah take it in the jungle. Who does not? Manaless champions, obviously, and burst assassins like Fizz or Akali who are better served by a Needlessly Large Rod or a Hextech Alternator, since neither Mana nor Enlighten does anything for them. In practice, if the champion has a blue bar and casts a lot in lane, the Chapter is the first back.

How has Lost Chapter changed over the patches?

Four entries since it entered the data in patch 6.9, every one of them about price:

• Patch 8.4: Cost 900 → 1100 gold, effect text changed.
• Patch 8.9: Cost 1100 → 1300 gold, Ability Power 25 → 40.
• Patch 13.10: Cost 1300 → 1100 gold.
• Patch 14.1: Cost 1100 → 1,200 gold.

For what it’s worth, the Ability Power it gives has not changed since 2018, and the Mana and Haste are the same numbers the current version launched with. Riot has only ever moved the price, up when mages were too strong early and down when the laning phase felt too punishing, which tells you where the designers think the item’s power sits (in how soon you can afford it, not in what it gives). Funny enough, the 2026 price is almost exactly where the 2018 price was.

When should you buy it?

On the first recall with 1,200 gold or close to it, usually around the fifth or sixth minute. Short of gold? Tome and Crystal first, Mote on the next trip. Not sure whether your champion is the kind of mage that needs Mana this badly, or one that can skip it? The guide to LoL roles describes what mid lane mages are expected to do early, and for nearly all of them it starts with Lost Chapter.

FAQ

How much does Lost Chapter cost?

1,200 gold in patch 26.21, of which 250 gold is the combine fee. It sells for 840 gold.

What stats does it give?

Three stats: 40 Ability Power, 10 Ability Haste and a 300 Mana pool, plus the Enlighten passive.

How does Enlighten work?

Each time you level up, you restore 20% of your maximum Mana over 3 seconds.

What does it build from?

Amplifying Tome, Sapphire Crystal and Glowing Mote.

Which items build out of Lost Chapter?

Luden’s Echo, Archangel’s Staff, Malignance, Blackfire Torch and Actualizer.

Is it worth buying on manaless champions?

No. The Mana and the Enlighten passive do nothing without a Mana bar, so those champions start with a different AP component.