Serylda’s Grudge

Serylda’s Grudge is the 3,000 gold armor penetration item for ability-based Attack Damage champions in League of Legends: 45 Attack Damage, 35% Armor Penetration and 15 Ability Haste in patch 26.22. Its Bitter Cold passive makes your damaging abilities Slow enemies below 50% Health by 30% for 1 second.

What does Bitter Cold do?

It slows wounded targets. Any damaging ability you land on an enemy under 50% Health applies a 30% Slow for 1 second, and since most of your abilities are on short cooldowns thanks to the Ability Haste, the Slow tends to stay on a target you are chasing.

The passive is not why people buy the item, though. Percent Armor Penetration is. At 35% it ignores a third of the enemy’s Armor on every hit (the percent part applies before flat Lethality, which matters for the maths), and that is what turns a 200 Armor tank back into something your abilities can actually hurt. Against a 50 Armor mage it does much less. So who is it for? Players whose damage comes from spells and who find a tank standing between them and the targets they want.

Is Serylda’s Grudge gold efficient?

Not on the stat sheet: 78%, or 2,325 gold of priced stats for 3,000 gold. That figure counts 45 Attack Damage at 1,575 gold (35 gold per point) and 15 Ability Haste at 750 gold, and nothing else.

The Armor Penetration has no price because no basic item sells it. So the real value depends entirely on the enemy’s Armor. Honestly, against three tanks the item is a bargain and against five squishies it is a waste, and there is no number that captures both. The sister item for marksmen is Lord Dominik’s Regards, which sells the same penetration with crit chance instead of Haste.

Who should build it?

Ability-based Attack Damage champions facing Armor: Talon, Zed, Jayce, Pantheon, Kha'Zix, sometimes Jarvan IV or Lee Sin when the enemy front line gets thick. The Ability Haste is the giveaway, Riot built this for spell casters, not auto attackers.

Marksmen should look elsewhere. They lose nothing from the penetration but gain little from the Haste, and the crit version is simply the better fit for their build. Thing is, it also arrives late. Most players take it third or fourth, once the enemy tank has finished their own second item and your Lethality has stopped doing much (that moment is easy to feel, your combo suddenly leaves them at half Health instead of dead).

What does the build path look like?

Caulfield’s Warhammer (1,050 gold) plus Last Whisper (1,450 gold), with 500 gold to combine. Last Whisper is the piece to pick up first when the enemy is already stacking Armor, because it brings the percent penetration on its own. Nothing builds out of the finished item.

How has Serylda’s Grudge changed over the patches?

Five times since patch 10.23, which is few for a Legendary item:

• Patch 11.7: cost 3,400 → 3,200.
• Patch 14.1: Ability Haste 20 → 15.
• Patch 14.19: cost 3,200 → 3,000, Lethality removed, 30% Armor Penetration added, Ability Haste back to 20.
• Patch 25.06: Armor Penetration 30% → 35%, Ability Haste 20 → 15.

For what it’s worth, the 14.19 rework is the one that defined the current item: before it, the penetration was flat Lethality, and after it the item became a pure anti-tank purchase. All six entries are in the table above; the LoL items database keeps the same record for Lord Dominik’s Regards and Mortal Reminder.

When is it the right buy?

When two or more enemies have bought Armor and your damage comes from abilities. In practice that means checking the enemy items on the scoreboard before your third recall, not following a build guide blindly. Is the enemy team squishy across the board? Then skip Serylda’s Grudge and buy more Lethality or a defensive item. Which position ends up as the designated tank killer on a team is a question for our guide to LoL roles.

FAQ

How much does Serylda’s Grudge cost?

3,000 gold in patch 26.22. The combine costs 500 gold and the item sells back for 2,100 gold.

What stats does it give?

45 Attack Damage, 35% Armor Penetration and 15 Ability Haste.

When does Bitter Cold slow?

When a damaging ability hits an enemy below 50% Health. The Slow is 30% and lasts 1 second.

Does it give Lethality?

Not any more. The Lethality was replaced by percent Armor Penetration in patch 14.19.

Serylda’s Grudge or Lord Dominik’s Regards?

Serylda’s Grudge for champions who deal damage with abilities and want Ability Haste; Lord Dominik’s Regards for crit marksmen.

What does it build from?

Caulfield’s Warhammer and Last Whisper.