Recurve Bow

Recurve Bow is the on-hit component in League of Legends: 15% Attack Speed and a Sting passive that adds 15 bonus physical damage to every attack, for 700 gold in patch 26.22. It builds from a single Dagger and leads to six on-hit items, Blade of the Ruined King, Kraken Slayer, Wit’s End, Nashor’s Tooth, Guinsoo’s Rageblade and Terminus.

What does Recurve Bow do?

Two things. The 15% Attack Speed makes you hit more often, and Sting makes each of those hits deal 15 extra physical damage, which is small per attack and large over a minute of farming or trading.

On-hit damage is flat, so it does not care about your champion’s Attack Damage or crit chance. That makes the Bow unusually good on champions whose own stats are weak early: a level four Kog'Maw or Vayne with a Recurve Bow suddenly trades evenly with a marksman who bought a Pickaxe, because the 15 per hit is the same whether you have 55 Attack Damage or 85. Does it fall off? Yes, quickly. By the time champions have two items, 15 damage per auto is a rounding error, and the Bow only matters as a piece of whatever you build it into (which is the plan from the start, nobody keeps it).

Is it worth the gold?

Not on stats: 54%, or 375 gold of priced Attack Speed for a 700 gold item. The rate used is 25 gold per 1% Attack Speed, taken from Dagger.

The missing value is Sting, which no basic item sells and which our numbers therefore leave out. In practice the passive is worth the gap and more in the first ten minutes, since 15 on-hit damage early is roughly what a Long Sword adds to a weak marksman’s auto attacks, and the two together explain why the Bow is a popular first-recall buy on on-hit champions. The sell value is 490 gold. For raw Attack Speed without the passive, two Daggers give 10% each for less gold combined.

What does Recurve Bow build into?

Six items, all for champions who attack a lot:

• Blade of the Ruined King, percent current Health on-hit damage.
• Kraken Slayer, bonus damage on every third attack.
• Wit’s End, magic on-hit damage with Magic Resist.
• Nashor’s Tooth, the Ability Power on-hit item.
• Guinsoo’s Rageblade, stacking on-hit for hybrid champions.
• Terminus, the penetration on-hit item that also gives resistances.

Thing is, that list is the whole on-hit tree. If your champion scales with attacks rather than crits, every item you want runs through a Bow, and the choice between the six depends on the enemy team more than on you. The LoL items database has all six with current prices.

Who buys it?

On-hit marksmen (Kog’Maw, Vayne, Varus, Kai’Sa, Twitch), AP attackers going for Nashor’s Tooth (Kayle, Teemo, Azir, Diana in some builds), fighters who want Blade of the Ruined King or Wit’s End (Irelia, Jax, Master Yi, Bel'Veth) and most on-hit junglers. Crit marksmen skip it, since Zeal covers their Attack Speed needs with crit chance attached. Honestly, few components see more champions.

How has Recurve Bow changed over the patches?

Seven entries. Every change after patch 5.8 made it cheaper and weaker:

• Patch 5.8: cost 900 → 1,100.
• Patch 5.22: cost 1,100 → 1,000, Attack Speed 30% → 25%.
• Patch 13.10: cost 1,000 → 700, Attack Speed 25% → 15%, effect text changed.
• Patch 13.21 and 14.10: effect text changed.

For what it’s worth, the 13.10 change is the one that made it a first-recall item: at 1,000 gold it competed with a B. F. Sword, at 700 gold it competes with a Pickaxe and a ward. The table above lists every entry.

When should you buy it?

On the first recall if you are an on-hit champion and have 700 gold, since the passive is strongest then and your finished item needs it anyway. Later in the game it goes straight from the shop into the finished item without stopping. Is a second one ever right? Only when you plan two on-hit items back to back, and even then most players finish the first before buying the second Bow. If you are not sure whether your pick is an on-hit champion or a crit one, our guide to LoL roles covers the difference, and Recurve Bow is the clearest marker of the on-hit path.

FAQ

How much does Recurve Bow cost?

700 gold in patch 26.22: a Dagger plus a 450 gold combine. It sells back for 490 gold.

What stats does it give?

15% Attack Speed, plus 15 bonus physical damage on every attack from Sting.

Is the on-hit damage affected by crit?

No. Sting deals a flat 15 physical damage per hit regardless of crits or Attack Damage.

What does it build from?

One Dagger.

What does it build into?

Blade of the Ruined King, Kraken Slayer, Wit’s End, Nashor’s Tooth, Guinsoo’s Rageblade and Terminus.

Why is the gold efficiency so low?

Because only the Attack Speed is priced. Sting has no basic-item equivalent, so its value is left out of the calculation.