Cooldown reduction (CDR) is a very useful statistic in League of Legends and also one of the most difficult to boost with items. The problem originates with carries demanding huge quantities of attack damage (AD) and mages ability power (AP). Items that are effective as pure AD or AP boosts don’t provide CDR while items that do provide CDR give small amounts of AD or AP; if any.
All champions benefit from being able to use their abilities more often. Therefore, an analysis of items that provide CDR will help in determining what items with a CDR bonus help carries, mages, tanks and support perform their role.
The following table can be sorted by clicking on each header. The last column shows the cost effectiveness of each item; that is, the cost of each unit of CDR: 1%. The more cost effective the more CDR for the least gold is obtained. Let’s see what this uncovers.
| Name | CDR | Other Bonuses | Cost | Cost/CDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deathfire Grasp | 15 | +60 AP, +10 Mp5, UNIQUE Active: deals MD to target champion equal to 30% of their current health (+3.5% per 100 Ability Power) with a minimum of 200 damage (1 min. CD) | 2610 | 174 |
| Elixir of Brilliance | 10 | Click to Consume: grants 20-40 Ability Power, based on champion level, and 10% CDR for 4 min. | 250 | 25 |
| Fiendish Codex | 10 | + 30 AP, +7 Mp5 | 1245 | 125 |
| Frozen Heart | 20 | +99 Armor, +500 Mana, UNIQUE Passive: reduces the AS of nearby enemies by 20% | 2775 | 139 |
| Glacial Shroud | 15 | +425 Mana, +45 Armor | 1525 | 102 |
| Ionian Boots of Lucidity | 15 | UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2 | 1050 | 70 |
| Kindlegem | 10 | +200 Health | 850 | 85 |
| Mejai’s Soulstealer | 15 | +20 AP, UNIQUE Passive: your champion gains 8 AP per stack, receiving 2 stacks for a kill or 1 stack for an assist. This effect can stack 20 times; you lose a third of your stacks if you die. At 20 stacks, gain 15% CDR | 1235 | 82 |
| Morello’s Evil Tome | 20 | +75 AP, +12 Mp5 | 2350 | 118 |
| Nashor’s Tooth | 25 | +50% AS, +55 AP, +10 Mp5 | 2885 | 115 |
| Randuin’s Omen | 5 | +350 Health, +75 Armor, +25 Hp5, UNIQUE Passive: 20% chance on being hit to slow the attacker’s MS and AS by 35% for 3 sec., UNIQUE Active: slows MS and AS of surrounding units by 35% for 2 sec. + 0.5 sec. for each 100 Armor and Magic Resistance (60 sec. CD) | 3075 | 615 |
| Shurelya’s Reverie | 15 | +330 Health, +30 Hp5, +15 Mp5, UNIQUE Active: nearby champions gain 40% MS for 3 sec. (60 sec. CD) | 2200 | 147 |
| Soul Shroud | 10 | +520 Health, UNIQUE Aura: gives nearby champions 12 Mp5 and 10% CDR | 2285 | 229 |
| Spirit Visage | 10 | +250 Health, +30 MR, UNIQUE Passive: increases your healing and regeneration effects by 15% | 1550 | 155 |
| Stinger | 10 | +40% AS | 1140 | 114 |
| The Brutalizer | 10 | +25 AD, UNIQUE Passive: +15 Armor Penetration | 1337 | 134 |
| Youmuu’s Ghostblade | 15 | +30 AD, +15% CS, UNIQUE Passive: +20 Armor Penetration, UNIQUE Active: you gain +20% MS and +50% AS for 4 sec. Attacking enemy units with melee attacks increases the duration by 2 to a maximum of 8 seconds (60 sec. CD) | 2687 | 179 |
Elixir of Brilliance is a very cost effective item to get a temporary CDR boost. Yet, when we look at permanent bonuses it’s Ionian Boots of Lucidity that appear as the most cost effective item to raise CDR. Mejai’s Soulstealer also proves cost effective but it’s reliance on stacks makes Ionian Boots the better choice.
Kindlegem, Glacial Shroud and Stinger are all good items but as part of a build they will be exchanged for items with more bonuses. This extra bonuses inflate the cost and we end up with less cost effective items like Frozen Heart; among others.
Fortunately that’s not always the case: Nashor’s Tooth practically shares the same cost effectiveness as Stinger. Even thought Fiendish Codex is a little less effective, building Nashor’s Tooth for pure CDR is a good investment. Furthermore, Morello’s Evil Tome is also a net improvement over Fiendish Codex; having a reasonable cost.
Frozen Heart could be considered the last recommended item for CDR. It’s cost effectiveness is lower than Morello’s Evil Tome, in spite of the fact that their CDR bonus is the same. Regardless, other items not only have smaller CDR bonuses, but they also are less cost effective.
In case CDR is a secondary concern, Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Shurelya’s Reverie and other items can be purchased. However, as far as CDR goes, they can be substituted with items with larger bonuses.
To sum up, the items with the highest CDR bonuses: Nashor’s Tooth, Morello’s Evil Tome and Frozen Heart seem to be the most cost effective. In consequence, they are the items recommended when in need of shorter ability cooldowns. Regardless, a carry will find little use in CDR items, except for Youmuu’s Ghostblade; maybe.
From the look of things, CDR is a statistic aimed at mages, support and tanks while carries are left with little choice on the matter. Regardless, all champions can benefit from CDR if they buy Ionian Boots of Lucidity. While boots are not always easily interchangeable, CDR can be boosted while trading little offensive power.
– Acronyms: AD: attack damage, AP: ability power, AS: attack speed, CD: cooldown, CDR: cooldown reduction, CS: critical strike chance, Gp10: gold per 10 sec., Hp5: health regen per 5 sec., LS: life steal, MD: magic damage, Mp5: mana regen per 5 sec., MR: magic resist, MS: movement speed, PD: physical damage, SV: spell vamp
– Mejai’s Soulstealer’s bonus CDR corresponds to 20 stacks
– You can sort multiple columns by holding shift and clicking on other column headers