With a series of system changes from Riot Games, the Top Lane position in Season 12 has significantly diminished its influence on League of Legends matches. The inability to Teleport to minions, and wards before the 14th minute, means that Top Lane players can only use it to get to lane quickly and farm. In fact, for many, the Top Lane position currently has almost no impact on the game during the first 14 minutes.
This has led to the rise of Janna gameplay or, more broadly, Support champions going Top Lane with the Smite spell. Although it’s called going Top Lane, this playstyle actually involves constant ganks and stealing the enemy jungle, making the other two lanes extremely strong due to securing many important objectives. Meanwhile, the only trade-off is that the enemy Top Laner can farm freely.
Naturally, those who specialize in the Top Lane position would never accept becoming the “outsider” in this game. Therefore, they have turned to the Hammer of Progress as a tool to help Top Lane Fighters secure victories and potentially dictate the game. Even when not facing Janna or Support champions, this item is still extremely powerful.
The first reason the Hammer of Progress has become a strong item is that it is incredibly cheap while providing a lot of strong stats. At a price of 2800 gold, it grants 50 Attack Damage, 400 health, and about 25 armor/magic resistance from its passive. This is an enormous number for an item priced at just 2800 gold, allowing players to achieve victory quite easily in the early game with the Hammer of Progress.
Thanks to this dominance, the Hammer of Progress has become an extremely strong item for champions that are not particularly suited to Mythic items. Moreover, the additional 20% damage to structures will make the process of pushing towers and earning gold from tower plates extremely quick. If the opponent plays a strategy with a Support champion and neglects Top Lane, you can take the first tower incredibly swiftly with the Hammer of Progress.
Of course, not every champion should use this item; only those strong in split-pushing should purchase the Hammer of Progress. Names like Yorick, Tryndamere, and Jax are among the best users of this item. Additionally, Fiora is also a solid choice for using the Hammer of Progress as she can take down towers very quickly.
In conclusion, with the meta shifting away from Top Lane, the Hammer of Progress has become extremely useful, allowing champions to push towers and duel powerfully in most situations. If you find the current Top Lane meta too dull, the Hammer of Progress will be an incredibly interesting choice to “spice things up”.