In the early seasons of League of Legends, Bloodthirster was considered an essential item for every marksman since there were very few items that provided lifesteal at that time. Not to mention, Bloodthirster also allowed for farming minions while stacking damage. However, as more items with substantial damage and superior lifesteal features emerged, Bloodthirster gradually fell out of favor to the point where no one uses it anymore.
Numbers don’t lie, and the 0.9% pick rate of Bloodthirster (meaning only 9 out of 1000 matches see this item built) is more than enough to highlight how neglected it is by League of Legends players. So what is the reason for this drastic decline?
The main reason lies in the fact that this item is too one-dimensional and only provides lifesteal, whereas similar items (like the Infinity Edge, Galeforce, or Death Dance) offer many more activations, passives, or stronger stats. In the late game, an additional 20-30 attack damage is less important than effects that deal damage and provide strong defenses.
Remember that as a marksman, you need 2-3 items to deal damage; having too little defensive capability from Bloodthirster will make you fragile with very few chances to survive or eliminate opponents. When there are so many items that provide equivalent healing and have stronger effects, it is easy to understand why League of Legends players abandon this item.
However, this item didn’t fare any better in Teamfight Tactics, as per statistics from Tftactics.gg, the power of this item is even worse than that of a Giant’s Belt (a standalone item). This has surprised many as B.F. Sword remains the hottest solo item in the game, and physical carries are still incredibly strong.
With the nature of the game shifting towards compositions that can deal high burst damage and eliminate opponents quickly, any additional healing becomes meaningless as your champion has no chance to survive and regain health. To counter this meta, effects that provide crowd control resistance from Quicksilver or block a skill from Guardbreaker are far more effective than the lifesteal effect from Bloodthirster.
The development team of Teamfight Tactics is looking for ways to change this, but their approach has not resolved the issue as they continuously increase the lifesteal stats of this item. It is no wonder that many players want Riot Games to add new features, such as the ability to create shields like in League of Legends, to this item.
Bloodthirster can be said to be the biggest victim of Riot’s game development; this item is not weak, but the emergence of many other stronger items with more effects has caused this item to gradually fade from focus. If Riot Games wants to change this, they need to buff this item further, adding damage or a significant activation effect to compete with other items.
