Spirit Visage is personally one of my favorite items in League of Legends, even though I’m mainly a support player. The reason for this is fairly obvious. In terms of pricing, it isn’t anything special. This does, however, give you a lot for your gold. Especially for champions that benefit more from regeneration. In this article, we’re going to take a quick look at what it does, great champion candidates, and if its effects actually work with lifesteal. So let’s dive right in.
What Does It Do, Exactly?
Earlier, we established that Spirit Visage is a very efficient item in terms of what you get for your gold. The item itself gives you 10 ability haste, 450 health, 100% base health regeneration, and 40 magic resistance. It’s a great pick-up when the enemy AP (Ability Power) champion starts giving you trouble early on.
While stats it gives you are nothing to scoff at, the true value of this item comes from its passive: Boundless Vitality. It’s one of the main reasons people pick this up, and scales arguably well into the mid to late game, depending on which champion is using it. Boundless Vitality increases all healing and shielding received by 25%.
Also read: How Does LP Work in League of Legends?
What Counts as “Healing”?
Healing is a very broad umbrella term that a lot of us throw around very commonly. As such, a lot of the regeneration aspects in League of Legends fall under this umbrella. To get it out of the way quickly, basic health regeneration, spell vamp, and yes – lifesteal – all enjoy the increase in effectiveness from Boundless Vitality. Included also is Omnivamp, which is a combination of physical damage, magical damage, and true damage.
Think of a lifesteal and spell vamp hybrid and you’re not too far off. Adding the stats it gives with the passive from Boundless Vitality actually gives your champion very decent base health regeneration. Because of this, it is still a viable option for champions without any innate healing or shielding skills, assuming decent core alternatives are not available for whatever reason.
Also read: Best Jungler Players in League of Legends History
Some Common Uses for Spirit Visage
Spirit Visage is an item that many people in the meta would call “situational”. At the time of this writing, it gives you health regeneration, decent magic resist, and some actual health, but many would argue that your gold could be better spent on something else. Naturally, some champions are better Spirit Visage holders compared to others, and that’s mainly because of how their toolkits work.
Before we dive right into it, it should be noted that Spirit Visage increases the effectiveness of shields and healing received, and not the healing and shielding you dish out. That being said, let’s take a look at some common use scenarios and which champs actually make Spirit Visage shine.
Let’s start with the most obvious holders of Spirit Visage. These are champions who have intrinsic self-heal or regeneration qualities from the get-go. Noteworthy champions include palpable picks like Fiddlesticks, Trundle, Dr. Mundo, Swain, and other champions that rely on heavy regeneration. There are, however, some not so obvious picks, like Sett, Malphite, Shen, and even Nautilus (don’t forget the shield aspect of Boundless Vitality).
We gave a few examples of feasible Spirit Visage holders earlier, so let’s dig a little deeper as to why they do it, and when it’s worth it.
- Aatrox – Spirit Visage stacks with his Deathbringer Stance and World Ender
- Maokai – It works with his Sap Magic, which is already a decent free heal in on itself
- Kayn (Rhaast) – Rhaast is the Darkin that fights for control over Kayn’s body, and his passive from The Darkin Scythe heals him for a portion of the post-mitigation damage dealt against enemy champions with his abilities. Spirit Visage basically amplifies the healing he receives from all his damaging skills. This, combined with him being a naturally tanky and mobile champion, makes him a great carrier.
- Zac – Increases the effectiveness of each chunk of himself from Cell Division
- Nautilus – Being naturally tanking and having a 12-second cooldown shield in the form of Titan’s Wrath makes him a good pick
- Volibear – Having good regeneration and a built-in shield makes Volibear a great carrier
- Pyke – It works with Gift of the Drowned Ones
Here are some examples of general situations where you may want to have it.
- When your team has a lot of shields and healing
- When you foresee using a lot of potions, which include Refillable Potion and Corrupting Potion
- When you have some kind of combination between lifesteal and healing or shielding, and would not benefit from other items within the same category. This ensures you get a sort of bang-for-your-buck situation when purchasing Spirit Visage, and don’t have to depend on only one aspect of it.
- Opinion: situationally when your team doesn’t have a lot of healing. This basically squeezes out every last drop of utility from every source you have, including natural regeneration. The stats it gives is just a bonus. You could make the argument that other items would be better suited for certain champions, and while that is true, it is still a decent pick up if the enemy team isn’t too far ahead and there isn’t one particular source of damage that is dominating clashes.
Not too long ago, people were purchasing Spirit Visage for a very different reason: magic resist. Recent patch changes have made it less of a magic resist item and more of a healing and shielding amplifier. These are just a few examples of what you can do with Spirit Visage. A few years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find decent self-shields that didn’t come from your supports.
With a host of new items and champions over the years, healing and shielding have become much more common than you might initially think. There has never been a better time for utility items like these. Hopefully you found some value in this article and learned a thing or two about it for your next game!
