What are Radiant Items in TFT?

Perhaps the biggest change coming to TFT in Set 5.5 is the removal of Shadow Items and the introduction of their replacement, Radiant Items. Unlike Shadow Items, which granted a more powerful version of the item, but at a cost, Radiant Items give all the benefits without the costs. However, Radiant Items are limited to only one item per game and are only available at a specific Armory during the third Stage.

This means that choosing the correct Radiant Item is critical in order to place high in a game of TFT. Generally, any item that a champion on your board would like will also prefer its Radiant version. However, if you are still working on finalizing your comp or don’t have a Radiant Item that works for your main carry, picking the best of the Radiant Items available will have to do. 

How is this tier list created?

If you’re unsure which Radiant Item is the best overall, this tier list will attempt to help. The tier list ranks the items based on their general applicability, with more powerful items that can fit almost any comp or carry in the S tier and Radiants that are only good in specific instances in the D tier.

It is also worth noting that this ranking is based on each item’s strength at the time Set 5.5 releases. In the future, some of these Radiant Items might be buffed, nerfed, or reworked in such a way to change their power in the rankings. 

S Tier Radiant Items

• Hand of Justice
• Jeweled Gauntlet
• Guardian Angel
• Runaan’s Hurricane 

These items can work on almost any carry in any comp in TFT and, even if they aren’t a perfect fit, they grant a bonus that will almost always be useful. For instance, even if your champion can’t take advantage of the bolts from Runaan’s Hurricane, it can still benefit from the Radiant bonus of extra attack speed. If none of the items in your armory fit your carry perfectly, any of these items should work.

A Tier Radiant Items

• Bloodthirster
• Dragon’s Claw
• Hextech Gunblade
• Zephyr
• Morellonomicon
• Quicksilver Sash
• Rabadon’s Deathcap
• Shroud of Stillness
• Infinity Edge
• Trap Claw

These are all really good items and in many circumstances, they may be a better fit for your comp and best carry then S Tier items. In fact, some of them, like Radiant Shroud of Stillness and Zephyr are so much better than their vanilla versions that they should be considered if available.

B Tier Radiant Items

• Blue Buff
• Archangel’s Staff
• Ionic Spark
• Guinsoo’s Rageblade
• Deathblade, Redemption
• Titan’s Resolve
• Sunfire Cape
• Zeke’s Herald

It’s unlikely, but there will be instances where a B Tier item may be better than an S or A tier item for your comp. For instance, while a Radiant Jeweled Gauntlet or Rabadon’s might be exceptional on Karma, a Radiant Blue Buff shouldn’t be overlooked. Alternatively, if you’re running a Hellions comp and would like a Radiant GA for Teemo, if you’ve got a 3-star Kennen, a Radiant Ionic Spark might actually be even better to sap the enemy’s magic resistance.

C Tier Radiant Items

• Giant Slayer
• Lord Dominik’s Regard
• Frozen Heart
• Locket of the Iron Solari
• Rapidfire Cannon
• Thief’s Gloves
• Spear of Shojin
• Warmog’s Armor
• Titan’s Resolve

All of these are strong options but for most of them, their power is dependent on the enemy team having a certain type of comp. For instance, Giant Slayer is good, but you don’t get the full power out of the item if the enemy doesn’t have tanky units. For other offensive items like Rapidfire and Spear of Shojin, the power that they give your carry isn’t quite enough to make it preferable to another Radiant that will probably be available. For instance, why take a Rapidfire Cannon for a ranged carry when you can probably get a Guinsoo’s, IE, GA, or Runaan’s?

D Tier Radiant Items

While these items are not bad, they are among the least appealing Radiant Items. Their bonuses are not strong enough to make them preferable to the base version of the items. For instance, Chalice of Power’s Radiant version only grants an extra 20 ability power and 10% omnivamp. That’s not enough to outweigh taking an item like a Radiant Rabadon’s (grants the holder 40 extra ability power), Radiant Gargoyle’s Stoneplate grants 18 bonus armor and MR, but does that outweigh the 800 extra health Warmog’s grants? Perhaps, in the future, buffs can be sufficient to make these items viable or overpowered. As they exist on release, though, they’re outclassed by almost all their peers.