Stridebreaker

In patch 26.21, Stridebreaker gives melee fighters in League of Legends 40 Attack Damage, 25% Attack Speed and 450 Health for 3,300 gold, plus a slowing active. Cleave makes your attacks hit nearby enemies, and Breaking Shockwave slows everyone around you by 35% while speeding you up for each champion hit.

What does Breaking Shockwave do?

It’s a gap closer in item form. Press it and you deal physical damage to nearby enemies and Slow them by 35%. For every champion the shockwave hits, you gain 35% Move Speed that decays over 3 seconds.

Enemy slower, you faster. That’s exactly what a melee fighter wants when a target tries to walk away (or when you need to walk away yourself). Riot’s data text doesn’t list the active’s cooldown or damage, though; the client tooltip has them.

Hit two champions and the speed bonus stacks. Hit none? You only get the damage.

What does Stridebreaker’s Cleave passive do?

Every basic attack also damages enemies standing near your target. It’s the same idea as on Tiamat, the component it comes from: better wave clear, faster jungle camps and a bit of extra damage in crowded fights.

Nothing fancy, but useful in every game.

Is Stridebreaker gold efficient?

Just short of even, at 98%: 3,225 gold of stats against a 3,300 gold price.

That’s 40 Attack Damage worth 1,400 gold, 25% Attack Speed worth 625 gold (25 gold per 1%) and 450 Health worth 1,200. Honestly, getting an active slow plus a cleave for close to nothing is a good deal.

Who should build it?

Melee fighters who need help sticking to targets. Champions without much built-in mobility or crowd control get the most out of the slow, and the Attack Speed suits fighters who auto attack a lot between abilities.

Fighters who want raw damage instead might look at Black Cleaver, while Health-scaling bruisers often prefer Titanic Hydra, which shares the Tiamat part of the recipe. In practice, Stridebreaker is the pick when catching people is your main problem (the classic “I can’t reach the carry” game).

What does it build from?

Tiamat (1,200 gold), Phage (1,100 gold) and a Dagger (250 gold), plus the 750 gold combine. Most fighters buy Tiamat first. It brings the cleave and early wave clear, while Phage adds Health and damage. It doesn’t build into anything.

How has Stridebreaker changed?

A lot. It’s been in Riot’s data since patch 10.23, and few fighter items have this many entries. The recent ones:

• Patch 14.1: cost 3,300 → 3,100 gold, Attack Damage 60 → 50, Health 375 → 400.
• Patch 14.2: cost 3,100 → 3,000 gold, Attack Damage 50 → 55, Attack Speed 20% → 30%, effect text changed.
• Patch 14.3: cost 3,000 → 3,300 gold, Attack Damage 55 → 50, Health 400 → 450, effect text changed.
• Patch 14.19: Attack Damage 50 → 40, Attack Speed 30% → 25%.

Funny enough, three patches in a row (14.1 to 14.3) moved the price down, down again and then back up to where it started. Earlier changes from 2021 and 2023 are in the table above, and our LoL items database lists them for every other item as well.

When is it the right buy?

When enemies keep running from you and you’re a melee fighter who needs to stay on them. It also works on defense, because the same slow that helps you chase lets you peel a diver off your carry or get out after a fight goes wrong, which is easy to forget when you think of it only as an engage tool. Want to know which champions play that role? Our guide to LoL roles covers fighters in top lane and jungle; for the less mobile ones, Stridebreaker is a common first or second item.

FAQ

How much does Stridebreaker cost?

3,300 gold, 750 of which is the combine. It sells for 2,310 gold.

How strong is the slow?

Breaking Shockwave slows nearby enemies by 35%.

Does it give Move Speed?

Yes, 35% decaying Move Speed per champion hit, for 3 seconds.

Which stats does it give?

450 Health, 25% Attack Speed and 40 Attack Damage.

What does it build from?

Tiamat, Phage and Dagger.