What are Anvils in Teamfight Tactics (TFT) Set 8

With each new Teamfight Tactics set comes new mechanics, and in Set 8 one of the most impactful changes is replacing previous loot systems with Anvils. This set has a serious focus on creating the perfect, super-buffed hero or villain, so it makes sense for Anvils to cater to that. To learn more about picking the best items for your team, here’s a quick guide to TFT’s new Anvils.

Related: What are Aura items in Teamfight Tactics (TFT)?

What is inside TFT’s Anvils?

In sets long before Set 8, Ornn’s Armory has been an Augment or consumable item that gives your access to his Artifacts. When offered these Artifacts, you can pick one of these fully-built items to best improve your team.

This is the same way Anvils work. You fight a PvE monster during Stages 4, 5, and 6 and a consumable armory spawns. Once you pick it up, you get to choose one item from that armory (a component in Stage 4, a fully-built item in Stages 5 and 6).

In theory, the devs hope this helps players be a little more deliberate in their choices and a little more flexible with their builds. For example, if you’ve got a few Nasus Hero Augments, it makes picking resistance and damage hybrid items like Bloodthirster, Titan’s Resolve, and Runaan’s Hurricane all the easier. If he’s already fully itemized, it’s the perfect time to grab a Titan’s Resolve or a Warmog’s Armor for a Malphite or Lee Sin.

How are they different from Treasure Dragons?

With Set 7 and 7.5’s Treasure Dragons, you have the ability to use your gold to reroll your loot offerings. While this can feel like a solution to let players build the strongest teams, it heavily favors economic gameplay and lessens how much a player has to adapt to what’s given to them. Also, sometimes it means that low-econ players are trapped with less helpful items because they can’t roll.

With Anvils, you can pick your perfect item out of five instead of gambling in hopes of getting your preferred unit. So, it limits item options but also improves your odds of getting something that will actually be of use to you and your team.