Tunneler

Tunneler is the bruiser component in League of Legends: 15 Attack Damage and 250 Health for 1,150 gold in patch 26.21, with no passive. It combines a Long Sword with a Ruby Crystal and feeds eight finished items, from Sterak’s Gage and Spear of Shojin to Titanic Hydra and Hullbreaker, which makes it the most common first recall for top lane fighters.

What does Tunneler do?

It gives you 15 Attack Damage and 250 Health in one slot. Nothing else. The stats are exactly a Long Sword and a Ruby Crystal, so the only thing you buy with the combine fee is the free inventory space.

And yet it is the item that decides most top lane trades at level six. A Renekton or an Aatrox with 250 extra Health survives the all-in that would have killed them a recall earlier, and the Attack Damage means they are still winning the exchange rather than simply outlasting it; in practice that is the difference between a lane that is even at ten minutes and one that is already decided. Which half carries the item, the Health or the damage? The Health, usually, because a fighter’s base Attack Damage is already high and 15 more points is a small percentage, while a quarter of a thousand Health is not.

Is Tunneler gold efficient?

Just over even: 104%. At the reference prices of 35 gold per point of Attack Damage and 2.67 gold per point of Health, the stats come to 1,192 gold (525 from damage, 667 from Health) on a 1,150 gold item.

The combine cost is 400 gold, which is steep for two basic components. Put simply, you are paying a Ruby Crystal’s price for the slot, and the small efficiency surplus only exists because Health is cheaper in the reference table than Riot charges for it in finished items. The sell value is 805 gold. Honestly, none of this changes the decision: every item Tunneler builds into needs one, so the question is never whether to buy it but when. Why does that matter? Because a player waiting to hit 1,150 gold on one recall often ends up recalling with 900, and the better plan is to grab one half early.

What does Tunneler build into?

Eight items, all of them for champions who want to fight up close and keep fighting:

• Fighter staples: Sterak’s Gage, Spear of Shojin, Sundered Sky and Hullbreaker.
• Tanky damage: Titanic Hydra, Overlord’s Bloodmail and Experimental Hexplate.
• The outlier: Edge of Night, the assassin item with a spell shield.

So a Tunneler bought early leaves almost every bruiser path open. A top laner can hold one for two recalls while deciding between Shojin and Sundered Sky, and the same piece turns into Sterak’s later for the champions who build it third. The LoL items database has the prices for all eight.

Who buys it?

Fighters and divers, top and jungle: Renekton, Aatrox, Darius, Garen, Jax, Camille, Wukong, Vi, Lee Sin and most of the other champions who play around a long fight rather than a one-shot. Lethality assassins pick it up only for Edge of Night, usually late. Marksmen, mages and enchanters never need it, and a tank who buys one is almost always heading for Titanic Hydra or Hullbreaker on a split push.

One thing worth knowing is which half to buy first when the gold is short. Long Sword if the lane is a damage race and you are ahead; Ruby Crystal if you are behind or facing a champion who wins the all-in (a Ruby Crystal at 400 gold is the safer buy more often than people think). Either way, the Tunneler follows on the next back.

How has Tunneler changed over the patches?

Once. The item appeared in patch 14.1 with the 2024 item update, as the shared component for the new bruiser line, and in patch 14.6 Riot raised the price from 1100 to 1,150 gold without touching the stats. That is the whole record. Funny enough, that 50 gold change was part of a wider round of bruiser item nerfs that patch, and the component took its share along with the finished items above it.

When should you buy it?

On the first recall with 1,150 gold, or on the second if the first only covered a Long Sword and potions. Fighters who get a kill before their first back can often afford it plus boots, which is the dream start for the role. Sure, a Pickaxe gives more raw damage for similar gold, but a Pickaxe does not build into any of the eight items above, so for a bruiser it only delays the real purchase. If you are still working out whether your champion is a fighter at all, the guide to LoL roles explains what top laners and junglers are built around, and Tunneler is the item that role reaches for first.

FAQ

How much does Tunneler cost?

1,150 gold in patch 26.21; the combine step alone is 400 gold. Selling it returns 805 gold.

What stats does it give?

15 Attack Damage and 250 Health.

What does it build from?

A Long Sword and a Ruby Crystal.

What does it build into?

Sterak’s Gage, Spear of Shojin, Sundered Sky, Hullbreaker, Titanic Hydra, Overlord’s Bloodmail, Experimental Hexplate and Edge of Night.

Does it have a passive?

No, it is a stat component only.

When was it added?

In patch 14.1. Its price rose from 1100 to 1150 gold in patch 14.6.