Mage Mid Build Guide 9.11+ (ROUGH OUTLINE)

Your last item slot in this build is situational. You have 40% penetration and Soul Reaver already so there's no must-build item to do enough damage for sixth slot. That's why this build is so strong, you have everything you need once you finish your starter item. The main weakness/biggest mistake in mid builds at the moment is that they don't have all their necessary tank killing items until 6th slot which is way too late. There is a larger gap between your fifth and sixth slot because you get your starter item upgrade before you complete your sixth item. The first two items in this list will be the ones you most commonly build, the other three are niche alternatives which are the strongest option in different situations. Below all six are explained.

Polynomicon: Your highest damage option in any situation. The catch to this item is that you don't always get the proc. The usual three reasons are because you are too far away to auto, you can't auto over walls, and autoing while being dove can be bad if you dont have enough damage to turn on the enemy dive because of the auto attack movement penalty.

Ethereal Staff: The best item to deal with tanks. An unmitigable Reaver proc which makes you harder to kill. Including the base stats, at 2 stacks from tanks you'll be getting about 650 health, and at 3 stacks you'll be getting around 875. It does less damage than Polynomicon however it makes you a lot harder to kill and you will always get value meanwhile Poly isn't consistent on most backline mages.

Spear of the Magus: This item has the best base stats out of every mage item in this list. It's only rivaled by Spear of Desolation however the passive does a lot more. This item is just like Ethereal Staff where it's underrated because you can't see how much damage/value you get from the proc. There are only 8 seconds of downtime on the proc so you are getting constant value. The proc is the same % damage increase as Sundering Blast and stacks with it. This item is best when your team is focusing a single target. This is common when you're against Cthulhu and when your team runs Atlas , Ymir , Athena , or Nemesis .

Soul Gem: This item is best in this slot on the few gods who can proc it constantly. Discordia , Merlin , Agni , and Tiamat . All mages get value but this item isn't better than Polynomicon or Ethereal Staff unless you really abuse it.

Book of the Dead: This item is the best for survivability when you're under extreme pressure. There will be some games where you can't live long enough to stack Ethereal Staff onto tanks because the enemy jungler or bruiser solo laner are one shotting you. Book of the Dead is less damage than every item on this list but damage doesn't matter if you can't get it out before you die.

Divine Ruin: Do not go Divine last if the enemy team has a lot of healing that you know of when the game starts, buy it first instead of Book of Thoth. Divine Ruin is an option late because you have the freedom to buy a luxury item and there are many situations where you won't need a Divine until the mid to late game because an enemy has bought an item or relic which heals them a lot for example Mail of Renewal , Soul Eater , Cloak of Ascetic , Cloak of the Avatar , Sundering Siphon , or Asi . Do not buy Divine Ruin in the mid game when you notice these items being bought as you will end up getting Soul Reaver and/or Obsidian Shard one item slot later which greatly reduces your ability to kill tanks.

NOT EVERY MAGE WILL GO THIS BUILD. THIS IS A GENERIC BACKLINE MID LANE MAGE BUILD.

EXCEPTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: The Morrigan , Ao Kuang , Anubis , Aphrodite , Nox , Janus , Freya , Olorun , and Hades .