Mejai’s Soulstealer

Mejai’s Soulstealer is a 1,500 gold snowball item in League of Legends: 20 Ability Power and 100 Health in patch 26.21, plus the Glory passive. Takedowns give you Glory stacks, each stack adds Ability Power, a high enough stack count grants bonus Move Speed, and dying costs you part of what you’ve collected.

How do Glory stacks work?

Every champion takedown, kill or assist, adds Glory. Each stack gives a fixed amount of Ability Power, and once you hold enough of them the item also grants bonus Move Speed. There’s a cap on how many you can hold, and a fresh Dark Seal starts you at zero (no shortcuts there).

The catch is the death penalty. Die, and you lose a chunk of your Glory, so a couple of bad deaths can erase most of what a good stretch of kills built up. That’s the whole personality of the item: huge payoff if you’re ahead and careful, a wasted slot if you keep dying.

Exact numbers? We’d rather not quote them here, because Riot’s data file for this patch splits the Glory text into fragments that drop the stack values, and a wrong figure is worse than none (the in-game tooltip shows all the stack values correctly).

Is Mejai’s Soulstealer gold efficient?

Not at zero stacks: 44%. The base stats are worth 667 gold for a 1,500 gold item, with 20 Ability Power at 20 gold per point making 400 gold and 100 Health at 2.67 gold per point making 267.

That’s the point, though.

You’re not buying the stats, you’re buying the stacks. Honestly, a fully stacked Mejai’s gives far more Ability Power per gold than almost anything else in the shop, and an empty one is close to dead weight. The number in the table only describes the empty version.

What does it build from?

Only Dark Seal (350 gold), plus 1,150 gold to upgrade. Dark Seal has its own Glory passive, and the stacks you earn on it carry over into Mejai’s when you upgrade, so the usual plan is to buy Dark Seal early, start stacking in lane, and finish Mejai’s once the gold is there. Nothing builds out of it (Mejai’s is already the end of the Dark Seal line).

How has the item changed?

Very little on the stat side. Riot’s data has it from 2013, and the recent cost changes are simple:

• Patch 10.23: cost 1,400 → 1,600 gold.
• Patch 14.1: cost 1,600 → 1,500 gold.

So the price today sits between those two older figures. The passive text changed in patch 8.9 as well, and older rows in the history table show a Mana stat that the current version no longer has. Our LoL items database keeps the same history for every other mage item, if you want to see how rarely an item stays this stable.

Who should buy Mejai’s Soulstealer?

Mages and AP champions who are already ahead and confident they won’t die much. Look, it’s a gamble item. Buy it when you have a lead and can play safely enough to keep the stacks; skip it when your lane is even or losing, because the death penalty will drain it faster than you can refill it.

Is it good for supports? Some AP supports pick up Dark Seal because assists count for Glory, and support players often get plenty of them. Sure, it can work. A support who dies first in every fight, though, is the worst possible owner. If you’re new to the role, our rundown of LoL positions explains who’s expected to survive fights. And if you’re the fed mid laner who never dies, Mejai’s Soulstealer is the item that turns that lead into a one-shot.

FAQ

How much does Mejai’s Soulstealer cost?

1,500 gold in patch 26.21: Dark Seal plus 1,150 gold. It sells for 1,050 gold.

Do assists give Glory?

Yes. Takedowns, meaning both kills and assists, grant Glory stacks.

What happens to Glory when you die?

You lose part of your Glory stacks on death. The in-game tooltip shows how many.

Do Dark Seal stacks carry over?

Yes. Glory earned on Dark Seal transfers to the finished item when you upgrade.

What stats does it give?

20 Ability Power and 100 Health, plus Ability Power from Glory stacks.