Ruby Crystal

Ruby Crystal is the basic Health component in League of Legends: 150 Health for 400 gold in patch 26.22, no passive, nothing beneath it. Twenty finished items and components build out of it, which is more than any other basic item can claim, from Giant’s Belt and Kindlegem up to Thornmail, Sterak’s Gage and Spear of Shojin.

What does Ruby Crystal do?

It adds 150 Health to your bar. Nothing else happens.

What that buys you is one fewer death to a specific kind of damage: the auto attack that would have finished you under tower, the ignite tick, the Brand passive that lands after you thought the trade was over. At level three, 150 Health is close to a fifth of a squishy champion’s total, which is why a Crystal bought on the first recall changes how a lane feels even though it does nothing visible. Is it the best use of 400 gold? Against burst, usually. Against a poke mage who chips you down slowly, a Rejuvenation Bead or a Doran’s Shield does the job better, and against nobody in particular it is simply the piece you buy because every tank item eventually needs one.

Is it worth the gold?

Exactly even, by construction. It is the reference item our efficiency numbers use to price Health, at 2.67 gold per point, so its 150 Health is worth 400 gold and the item lands on 100% for its 400 gold.

The sell value is 280 gold. Honestly, the more useful fact is what happens one step up: a Giant’s Belt is a Ruby Crystal plus 500 gold, and that second chunk of Health comes slightly cheaper than the first, so the Crystal is the one Health item in the shop you should never sit on for long if you can afford the upgrade.

What does Ruby Crystal build into?

Twenty items in the current shop, which breaks down roughly like this:

• Components: Giant’s Belt, Kindlegem, Phage, Crystalline Bracer, Spectre’s Cowl, Catalyst of Aeons, Haunting Guise, Winged Moonplate, Bami’s Cinder, Tunneler and Whispering Circlet.
• Finished tank items: Thornmail, Sunfire Aegis, Dead Man’s Plate, Force of Nature, Iceborn Gauntlet and Unending Despair.
• Fighter and mage items: Sterak’s Gage, Spear of Shojin and Hextech Rocketbelt.

So the Crystal sits under almost every durable build in the game. Thing is, that also makes it the safest thing to buy when you have 400 gold and no plan yet, since there is hardly a tank, bruiser or battlemage build it cannot feed into (the exceptions are pure resistance paths like Frozen Heart, which start from Mana or Armor instead). The LoL items database lists all twenty with their current prices.

Who buys it?

Who ends up with one? Everyone who builds Health, and in a long game that is most of the map. Tanks, juggernauts, fighters, battlemages, engage supports. Even marksmen pick one up occasionally on the way to a defensive item late (a Crystal into Sterak’s is a common late buy on crit carries). The only champions who go a whole game without one are assassins and crit carries who never leave the damage tree, and even they sometimes buy a Crystal to survive one specific burst threat.

How has it changed over the patches?

Once, in patch 4.3, when Riot cut the price from 475 to 400 gold and the Health from 180 to 150. That is the entire history. Put simply, the Crystal is the most stable item in the shop, and every Health rebalance since 2014 has happened in the items above it rather than in the component itself.

When should you buy it?

On any recall where you have 400 to 800 gold, your build needs Health and the next full component is out of reach. Two Crystals are fine too, since most of the items above need a Giant’s Belt and a second Ruby anyway. Funny enough, the common mistake is the opposite one: walking back to lane with 450 gold unspent because nothing felt worth buying, when a Ruby Crystal would have been progress toward whatever comes next. For a clearer picture of which positions build durable items first, the guide to LoL roles covers it, and Ruby Crystal is where most of those builds start.

FAQ

How much does Ruby Crystal cost?

The patch 26.22 price is 400 gold; selling one returns 280 gold.

What stat does it give?

150 Health, and nothing else.

Does it have a passive?

No, it is a plain stat component.

How many items build from it?

Twenty, including Giant’s Belt, Kindlegem, Thornmail, Sterak’s Gage and Spear of Shojin.

Is it gold efficient?

Yes, 100% exactly. It is the item that defines the gold value of one point of Health.