League of Legends: League of Lessons

Beating down with badass gear

Bruising the right way requires you to have a good balance of resistances and damage. Some of these items are practically core to most bruisers. When starting out, always try to predict who your top lane opponent is. AD-centric opponents should be replied with a Cloth Armor and five health potions, which should in turn be upgraded to either a Wriggle's Lantern or a Ninja Tabi. Facing a magic damage-heavy top would need a Null-Magic Mantle and two health potions.

These should be upgraded to either a Spirit Visage or a Chalice of Harmony, depending on the situation and your own champion's presence of a mana pool. Also, consider getting early items, such as Philosopher's Stone and Heart of Gold, which provide good HP and sustain. After all, they can be built into nice utility items at the late game.

Of course, these are early/mid-game items. Now, let's talk about the core late-game items.

Offensive items (L-R): Wit's End, Frozen Mallet, Trinity Force, and Atma's Impaler. Defensive items from (L-R): Randuin's Omen, Frozen Heart, Force of Nature, Warmog's Armor, and Banshee's Veil.

Wit's End

This item is a strong pick for champions that rely on auto attacks for the bulk of their damage, such as Irelia, Shyvanna, or Shen. It provides good magic resistance, along with good damage and attack speed. It used to be very underused, but it's becoming a very popular item choice in the current meta.

Frozen Mallet

This is the item that allows you to stick to a target and never let him leave. (Free hugs?) It provides a heavy dose of HP, letting you take more punishments with ease. It's a good combination with Atma's Impaler.

Trinity Force

This is considered as being a luxury item for most bruisers. It does, however, provide a big threat to the enemy team, due to its good mix of critical chance, damage, slow, and that awesome 150 percent damage proc. I usually rush these items on Irelia and Nasus.

Warmog's Armor

A beasty champion needs a beasty hide. We all know the Warmog + Atma's combo. Applauded for the bonus health and health regen, it's really a great item. It's a pretty expensive item that provides no resistance, so buy this if you really need the bonus health.

Atma's Impaler

This is an outstanding item that gives armour, crit chance, and an additional damage boost based off the amount of max HP you have. Every 1,000hp grants about 20 damage, allowing champs such as Volibear, Olaf, and Sion to benefit greatly from it.

Randuin's Omen

This shuts down pesky ad carries that are good at kiting, such as Ashe. It also follows up from buying that early Heart of Gold. It's highly recommended if you're having problems against AD teams.

Frozen Heart

Another strong item to consider for champs who rely on mana and cooldown reduction (CDR), such as Singed, Urgot, or Malphite. It's really strong in toning down the power of the AD carries. I strongly suggest rushing this item if the AD carry is ramping up damage faster than he should.

Force of Nature

This is a brilliant item that provides a high amount of magic resist. But its passive effects are just brilliant. Increased movement speed, along with a mundo-like 0.35 percent of HP/five regen per second, it truly makes you a force of nature. Unstoppable. It works wonders on HP stackers.

Banshee's Veil

If you are a bruiser who is capable of engaging, investing in a Banshee's Veil isn't a half-bad idea. It can be used offensively and defensively. Eating a crowd-control spell on behalf of your team really helps. Moreover, you should be able to pin down enemy carries easier, since they won't be able to lock you out with a single crowd-control spell.

You need to strike a good balance between damage and "tankibility." Too much resistance but no damage results in your being a meat shield, producing no threat. That will result in the opponent's AD carry ignoring you, and whaling on your teammates.

In the next part of this intermediate guide, we will be talking about some of the line-breaking, enemy-smashing bruisers themselves.