Tier 1 – Silver Augments
Hyper Roll
If you have less than 10 gold at the end of a round, gain 2 gold.
Contrary to the name, this augment is incredible for both pushing levels and hyper rolling for three stars. To start with the obvious, Hyper Roll allows you to roll all your gold every turn to try to get those three star one costs. This is especially nice to do at 3-1, right before you naturally hit level five.
However, Hyper Roll is arguably better for pushing levels. You can spend all of your gold leveling up and playing the strongest board while maintaining the same econ as someone with 20 gold. Leveling to 5 on 2-2, 6 on 2-5, and 7 on 3-2 are all possible.
Phony Frontline
Gain 2 Target Dummies.
It’s not the most exciting augment, but Phony Frontline will help you win games. They can be positioned up front to soak damage early game. Just having an extra two units to burn through is often enough to win fights.
Later on, they can be placed in corners for Blitzcrank bait or to pin your carries safely into a corner. If you’re really quick, you can swap them into enemy Zephyrs as a counter.
Weakspot
Your units’ attacks ignore 20% of the target’s Armor and reduce healing received by 50% for 5 seconds.
The armor shred on Weakspot is nice, but this is mostly about the healing debuff. Healing is a big part of this set, so getting anti-heal from a silver level augment is great. This means you won’t have to commit an item to Sunfire Cape or Morellonomicon.
While the trait is definitely better in AD comps, the healing reduction makes it so it’s viable to use in AP comps as well.
Tier 2 – Gold Augments
Rich Get Richer
Gain 10 gold. Your maximum interest is increased to 7.
This is the most powerful gold augment you can receive on 1-4. Forget about the ability to earn extra interest. The main point here is that you get 10 gold right away. But with compounding interest, even ignoring 6 and 7, that translates to another huge chunk of gold.
The augment is less valuable as the game goes on, especially for the third offering. However, it’s an insta-pick on 1-4 every time.
Trade Sector
Gain a free Shop refresh each round.
Gaining a free shop refresh every round is another augment that is incredible early. Over four full stages, that’s over 40 free gold. The value goes down as a second augment, but it can still be worth it, especially when rolling for three stars.
With Trade Sector, your board should be strong at all stages. It should be, as you’re seeing twice as many free shops as everyone else. It makes Trade Sector one of the most consistent augments in the game.
Metabolic Accelerator
Your Tactician moves faster and heals 2 Health at the start of each round.
This is the perfect augment for taking an early loss streak. You can save gold, get a priority pick on the early carousels, but not be afraid to bleed out. Moving faster is just a small bonus that helps you win the 50/50 on the carousel if needed.
Your team basically plays an augment down the entire game, but the health you save more than makes up for it. This augment can guarantee a top four if played around correctly.
Tier 3 – Prismatic Augments
Windfall
Gain gold based on the number of Augments you currently have. 0 = 20g / 1 = 25g / 2 = 30g
Like Rich Get Richer, Windfall is the no-brainer best augment on 1-4. The econ you get from a 20 gold opener makes you hit the breakpoints for more interest immediately.
It can still be good for second and third augment choices if it helps you rebuild your economy. However, it’s not the best if you’re already sitting on max gold interest.
New Recruit
Gain +1 team size.
New Recruit is the equivalent of a free Tactician’s Crown (formerly known as Force of Nature). This is good at all stages of the game, for the obvious reason that gaining an extra unit is always good.
New Recruit can also be used to punish opponents by hitting them for extra player damage in wins. It is great to use for splashing in small synergies like Clockwork and Enforcer.
Golden Ticket
Each time your Shop is refreshed, you have a 40% chance to gain a free refresh.
Golden Ticket is like Trade Sector, but better. You already get a 40% chance to get a free refresh each round, but each refresh after also gives another 40%. So almost half of your rolls in your rolldown will be free. That saves countless gold.
Golden Ticket is incredible for re-roll comps for the sheer number of free shops it gives. It’s also plenty useful for hitting your four and five costs later in the game.
Level Up
When you buy experience points, gain an additional 3 experience points. You can now reach level 10.
The extra experience from Level Up is far more important than the ability to reach level 10. With it, you get to spend far less gold to hit your power spikes on levels 6, 7, and 8. Only if you can use that to snowball your lead will you ever worry about hitting level 10.
That said, hitting level 10 is also incredibly strong. You get shops that are even more geared to four and five costs and can play a legendary-based comp.
