Phage

Phage is the Attack Damage and Health component with a Move Speed passive in League of Legends: 15 Attack Damage, 200 Health and the Rage passive, which grants Move Speed for 2 seconds whenever you attack, for 1,100 gold in patch 26.21. It is a Long Sword and a Ruby Crystal with a 350 gold combine fee, and it builds into Trinity Force, Black Cleaver, Stridebreaker and Experimental Hexplate.

What does Phage do?

Stats first: 15 Attack Damage and 200 Health, the standard bruiser pairing. Then Rage, which gives you a burst of Move Speed for 2 seconds after each attack, so a fighter who lands one hit can stay on the target for the next one.

Riot’s data text does not state the amount of Move Speed, only the duration, so the exact number lives in the shop tooltip, and it has been tuned more than once over the years. What matters in play is the feel: a Darius or a Garen with Phage who connects once is suddenly a problem the enemy cannot simply walk away from, and that stickiness is the thing melee fighters are paying for on the first recall. Is it a big passive? No. Is it the difference between landing a second auto and watching a marksman kite you? Often, yes (ask anyone who has chased an Ezreal with and without it).

Is Phage gold efficient?

Almost even on stats alone: 96%. At 35 gold per point of Attack Damage and 2.67 gold per point of Health, the stats come to 1,058 gold (525 from damage, 533 from Health) on a 1,100 gold item, and the Rage passive is the unpriced extra that pushes the real value past the cost.

The useful comparison is with Tunneler, the other Long Sword plus Ruby Crystal component: 50 more Health, no passive, 50 more gold, and a completely different set of upgrades. Thing is, the two are almost never in competition, because the choice between them is made by the finished item you want, not by the component stats. The sell price is 770 gold, 70% back, normal for an epic item.

What does it build into?

Four items, each a different kind of fighter purchase:

• Trinity Force, the all-round fighter item with Spellblade.
• Black Cleaver, the Armor shredding item for champions who fight tanks.
• Stridebreaker, the active slow for juggernauts who need to reach their target.
• Experimental Hexplate, the attack speed and Move Speed item built around your ultimate.

So a Phage bought early keeps most of the bruiser menu open. Honestly, that flexibility is its best feature: a Camille can hold one through two recalls while deciding between Trinity Force and Black Cleaver based on how much Armor the enemy is buying, and a Darius can do the same between Stridebreaker and Cleaver. Current prices for all four are in the LoL items database.

Who buys it?

Melee fighters and juggernauts: Darius, Garen, Camille, Jax, Irelia, Wukong, Trundle, Volibear, Hecarim, and most of the champions who build Trinity Force or Black Cleaver first. Some marksmen take it on the way to Trinity Force (Lucian, Corki in some patches), and tanks who build Cleaver as a second item take it late. Who skips it? Mages, enchanters and crit marksmen, for whom none of the four upgrades fit, and assassins, whose Attack Damage comes with Lethality instead of Health.

How has Phage changed over the patches?

Mostly through price. The item has been in the data since 2013 or earlier, and the record shows Riot nudging its cost down over a decade:

• Patches 3.10 to 3.14: Cost moved 1465 → 1250 → 1350 → 1325 gold, with the passive rewritten twice.
• Patch 5.22: Cost 1325 → 1250 gold, Attack Damage 20 → 15.
• Patch 10.23: Cost 1250 → 1,100 gold, with the 2021 item overhaul.
• Patches 12.11 and 14.10: Effect text changed.

Funny enough, the item is now 365 gold cheaper than it was in 2013 while giving the same Health and only 5 less Attack Damage, which is one of the larger quiet buffs any component has received. Put simply, Riot wants fighters to have their first Phage early, and the price has followed that intent patch by patch.

When should you buy it?

On the first recall with 1,100 gold if you are a melee fighter whose first item is one of the four above, or on the second recall after a Long Sword start. If the lane is a losing one against physical damage, the Ruby Crystal half first; if you are winning, the Long Sword half. For what it’s worth, the Phage-then-Sheen route into Trinity Force is one of the oldest build orders in the game and still one of the best, since both halves are strong on their own. Players still working out whether their champion counts as a fighter can check the guide to LoL roles, where the top lane section covers the champions who open with Phage in most of their games.

FAQ

How much does Phage cost?

1,100 gold in patch 26.21; a Long Sword and a Ruby Crystal make up 750 gold of that and the combine fee is 350 gold. It sells for 770 gold.

What stats does it give?

15 Attack Damage and 200 Health.

What does the Rage passive do?

Attacking grants Move Speed for 2 seconds. The amount is shown in the shop tooltip; Riot’s item data lists only the duration.

What does it build into?

Trinity Force, Black Cleaver, Stridebreaker and Experimental Hexplate.

Phage or Tunneler?

Whichever your finished item needs. Phage leads to Trinity Force and Black Cleaver, Tunneler to Sterak’s Gage, Spear of Shojin and Titanic Hydra; the component stats are close enough that the upgrade decides it.

Any recent changes?

Only its wording, in patches 12.11 and 14.10. The last price change was in patch 10.23.