Sapphire Crystal

Basic item · Patch 26.21 · numbers from Riot's Data Dragon files, refreshed every patch

Total cost300 g

Sells for210 g

Gold efficiency100%

Sapphire Crystal stats

+300 Mana

Build path

Builds into

Gold efficiency

Stat	Amount	Gold per point	Gold value
Mana	300	1 g	300 g
Total stat value			300 g

Gold efficiency = stat value ÷ item cost = 300 ÷ 300 = 100%. The gold per point comes from basic items of the same patch (for example, Long Sword: 35 g per Attack Damage). Passives and actives are not counted.

Sapphire Crystal patch history

Patch	Change
14.19	Cost: 350 → 300 gold; Mana: 250 → 300
5.22	Cost: 400 → 350 gold; Mana: 200 → 250
2013	Earliest record in Riot's Data Dragon (2013); the item is older

We compare cost and stats patch by patch in Riot's Data Dragon files. "Effect text changed" means the passive or active wording changed in that patch.

Sapphire Crystal is the basic Mana component in League of Legends: 300 Mana for 300 gold in patch 26.21, with no passive and nothing below it. It builds into Lost Chapter, Catalyst of Aeons and Glacial Buckler, which puts it at the root of most mage items and a couple of tank ones.

What does Sapphire Crystal do?

It adds 300 to your maximum Mana. That is one extra rotation of spells for a mid laner at level five, or two for a champion with cheap abilities, and nothing more.

Flat Mana is a quiet stat. Nobody notices it. It does not make your spells hurt, it only lets you cast more of them before the bar runs dry, so its value depends on how often you are actually running out. A Ryze or an Anivia feels 300 Mana immediately; a Zed, who has no Mana, cannot use it at all (and yes, people have bought it on energy champions by mistake, usually in a hurry). Is it ever the stat you want for its own sake? Rarely. Almost never, in fact. It is the stat you accept on the way to Lost Chapter, whose passive turns Mana into something more interesting.

Is it worth the gold?

Exactly even. It is the reference item our efficiency numbers use to price Mana, at 1 gold per point, so 300 Mana is worth 300 gold and the item sits at 100% for its 300 gold.

The sell price is 210 gold, the standard 70% return (the same rate as every other basic item). In practice nobody evaluates it as a purchase; you buy it because you are 300 gold into a Lost Chapter and the recall timer is ticking. Honestly, the only decision worth making is whether to buy a Sapphire Crystal or an Amplifying Tome with the same gold, and the answer is the Crystal if you are running out of Mana in lane and the Tome if you are not.

What does Sapphire Crystal build into?

Three components, and through them a big part of the shop. Lost Chapter is the mage path, leading to Luden’s Companion, Malignance, Archangel’s Staff, Blackfire Torch and Rod of Ages. Catalyst of Aeons adds Health and leads to Rod of Ages as well. Glacial Buckler is the tank path, with Armor and Ability Haste on the way to Frozen Heart, Iceborn Gauntlet and Winter’s Approach.

So the Crystal serves two very different buyers. Thing is, both of them need it early, since Lost Chapter and Glacial Buckler are both first-recall targets, and that makes the 300 gold Crystal one of the most common items bought in the first five minutes of a game. The LoL items database has every item in those three trees with current prices.

Who buys it?

Mana mages above all (Ryze, Anivia, Cassiopeia and friends), then tanks going for Frozen Heart or Iceborn Gauntlet, and junglers or top laners who want Rod of Ages. Short list, big group. Marksmen almost never do, assassins and energy champions never, and enchanter supports usually get their Mana from regen items instead.

How has it changed over the patches?

Two changes in Riot’s data, both buffs. In patch 5.22 the price dropped from 400 to 350 gold while the Mana rose from 200 to 250, and in patch 14.19 the same thing happened again, down to 300 gold and up to 300 Mana. Put simply, you get half again as much Mana as in 2015 for a quarter less gold, and the finished items were rebalanced around that.

Should you start with it?

No. Doran’s Ring gives Ability Power, Health and Mana regen for a little more gold and is the better start for almost every mage, while Tear of the Goddess is the choice for champions who plan to stack it. A Sapphire Crystal start only makes sense when you want Lost Chapter as fast as possible and are willing to give up the Ring’s early damage to get there, which is a narrow case. Not sure whether your pick is a Mana-hungry mage at all? Our guide to LoL roles explains how mid laners spend their first few recalls, and Sapphire Crystal shows up in most of them.