Everyone likes speed. Even more so when that speed means you can pummel opponents with attacks so fast, they wouldn’t even know what hit them.
League of Legends offers a large variety of attack speed items to suit your best needs. This particular buff is built into every role in the game, and there are barely any Champions that wouldn’t enjoy a little speed.
I compiled what I believe are the best overall attack speed items based on what they offer. Flat attack speed is not the only determining factor, but what surrounds it is the key.
So, without dragging on for too long, ready your Frozen Hearts, and let’s begin with our list.
5. Guinsoo’s Rageblade
A staple attack speed item, Guinsoo’s has been extra insane since the item changes.
With a +40% attack speed, it will make your attacks blazing fast. But that is not all this item has to offer. It modifies your critical strikes, making them a lot more potent than you’d think was normal.
It offers a +20% critical attack and an incredible passive ability called Wrath that converts critical% into bonus on-hit Damage.
It also has another passive Seething Strike that amplifies your on-hit effects by 100% after you stack it up.
If you thought Master Yi was strong before, you’ve seen nothing yet, as this item makes hard-hitting fighters like him almost impossible to deal with without an intense defense build.
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4. Phantom Dancer
Another on-hit speed demon is the ol’ reliable Phantom Dancer.
The item provides you with a flat increase of +25% Attack Speed but doesn’t end there. It has solid extra modifiers: +20AD +20% Critical Strike Chance and +7% movement speed.
This item not only empowers the speed at which you hit – but the hits themselves as well.
The passive makes things even better. Spectral Waltz grants 7% bonus movement speed on-hit and a stack of Spectral Waltz. When at four stacks, your next attack consumes them and gives you an extra 30% Attack Speed. This incredible modifier puts the item at a total of +55% attack speed when in combat. Paired with the sum of +14% movement speed, you’ll be running through the enemies quicker than the wind.
Phantom Dancer received many changes throughout the years but remained one of the best attack speed items to date.
3. Trinity Force
I’d never miss an opportunity for a good pun, and I just had to put Trinity Force at number 3. This item, unique as it is, is one of the oldest in the game. Like Phantom Dancer, it received numerous overhauls and updates, but its core mechanics remained the same.
This Mythic machine will enrich your Champion with a vast number of effects and modifiers.
It grants +35 AD, +20 Ability Haste, +30% Attack Speed and +200 Health.
The passive Threefold Strike grants +20 movement speed on-hit for 3 seconds and a +6% base damage increase stacking five times for 30% when attacking Champions and structures.
Sheen is part of this item’s build path, so naturally, the Spellblade passive is present. It will empower your next attack after using an ability for 200% of your base AD, making this item a heavy hitter.
As a Mythic, it will enchant your Legendary items with a bonus of 3 AD, 3 Ability Haste, and 3 Movement speed. You will not only move and attack quickly, but cast spells just as fast.
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2. Blade of the Ruined King
Though the Ruined King is now in the game, the item precedes him for almost a decade. This old beast will not only speed you up, but in the like of Guinsoo’s, shred through the enemy’s health bar so fast no sustain will be able to save them.
Not only will you strike hard and fast with the +40AD and +25% Attack Speed, but you will also heal for quite a bit with the additional +10% Life Steal this item offers.
But the real charms of the Ruined King’s weapon are the passives (as is mostly the case in items since the overhaul).
The first passive – Mist’s Edge – make you deal 10% of the enemy’s current health as bonus on-hit damage (reduced to 6% for ranged Champions). The maximum bonus damage is 15 for all units and 60 for minions.
You can combine this item with other bonus on-hit damage boosters for lethal quick damage that will only take a few basic attacks to finish off most Champions.
The second passive (that used to be an active spell) is Siphon. It stacks up to three times. The third stack consumes the rest, dealing 40-150 (based on level) bonus magic Damage on hit and slowing the target by 25%. It also boosts your movement speed for the same amount, making for easy rundowns of escaping enemies.
There are few items in the game as powerful as BOTRK, and this has remained true for years and will remain for the foreseeable future.
1. Kraken Slayer
Last but not least is the go-to ADC item in the current patch. There won’t be a single game where you won’t see this item, and for a good reason. It is a well-rounded, immensely powerful Mythic item that grants incredible modifiers that best suit the ADC role, though many other Champions can fashion it.
This hooked menace will provide you with +65 AD, +20% Critical Strike Chance, and a solid +20% Attack speed increase. But, as with most items in this list, it doesn’t stop there.
The unique passive Bring it Down stacks on hit, up to two stacks. The third attack consumes them to deal 60 + 45% bonus AD of True Damage at two stacks. True Damage ignores all defenses and chunks health bars of even the tankiest juggernaut.
What makes this item the best of the best in terms of attack speed is the Mythic passive that, in my opinion, should be nerfed as soon as possible. It empowers all of your Legendary items with an extra +10% attack speed. Yes, you’ve read that right.
This means that at a full build with 4 Legendary items, this item alone would make for a +60% flat Attack speed increase, combine that with other powerful attack speed items listed above, and you’ll reach the 2.5 cap in no time.
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Conclusion
Attack speed in this game is something anyone can build, but some roles and Champions capitalize on the most. Roles such as ADCs and heavy-hitting fighters are best suited for this buff, though others can utilize it in various ways.
It seems like Riot Games, for no apparent reason, decided to make this category of modifiers very, very broken. As we can see in the examples above, and especially in Kraken Slayer, reaching the 2.5 Attack speed cap is super easy, and if you sport the Lethal Tempo rune, you’ll be at Attack speed levels you didn’t even know existed.
But, alas, we can only hope for a nerf. Until then, however, we can discuss what our favorite Attack speed items are. Let us know if your favorites are in this list, why you’d include them if they weren’t and if you think that they should be nerfed at all.
We always love to hear your thoughts, so don’t miss out on letting us know what you think about this list.
