Sword of the Occult
If you’ve been playing League of Legends long enough, you maybe remember this item. And if you don’t, be glad because that was one of the most unfair mechanics the game ever had.
Sword of the Occult was basically the AD version of Mejai's Soulstealer. Same idea, just for physical damage. Get kills, stack AD, die and lose it. Simple, but it was broken.
The problem was how hard it snowballed. Once you got ahead, the game was basically over. It didn’t just reward you for winning fights, it multiplied your lead to the point where it got ridiculous.
Who used it?
The most disgusting user of this item was Rengar. And anyone who played back then knows exactly why. His passive already gave him bonus AD through trophies, and Sword of the Occult stacked on top of that. So every kill made him stronger twice.
I still remember games where a slightly fed Rengar picked this up and suddenly started oneshotting people before they could even react. Even tanks weren’t safe if he got ahead. Other assassins could abuse it too, sure but Rengar was the main user of this item.
Sword of the Occult Stats
- Cost: 1400 gold
- Base Stats: +10 Attack Damage
- Passive: Gain +5 AD per stack
- Stacks: +2 per kill, +1 per assist
- Max Stacks: 20
- Death Penalty: Lose half your stacks on death
Max Stack Bonus: At max stacks, Sword of the Occult reached around 300% gold efficiency, granting up to +100 bonus AD and an extra 20% attack speed on top.
This item was the perfect example of a snowball mechanic gone too far. You were either useless, or completely unstoppable. Nothing in between.
Eventually Riot Games removed it from the game and honestly, they had no choice.