Honor of Kings Items & Arcana Guide｜OTOM-LINGBAO

Overview

How to build items and arcana in Honor of Kings: the difference between items and arcana, the three build phases, the three arcana colors, and tuning to your matchup.

The difference between items and Arcana

What items are：Items are things you buy with gold during the match, purchased as the game flows. You can adjust them by swapping items as the game progresses.

What Arcana are：Arcana (on the international server, emblems are called Arcana) are a page of stat boosts you set up before the match; they cost no gold at all. They're locked in before the match starts and can't be changed mid-game.

Tune both：To get the most out of a hero, you need to set up both of these correctly.

Building your items

How many you can hold：The international server has 107 items, which you buy with gold earned from farming, kills, and objectives. You can hold up to 6 items at once, plus one line of boots on top of that.

Think in priorities：Think of items not as a fixed shopping list but as a priority order you swap around to fit the match.

Build around the recommendations：Each hero's recommended items show the buy order, when to use them, and which lane they're for. Use those as your basic foundation, and read the phase-by-phase thinking below to judge when each item should be completed.

The three build phases

Early game：In the early game (levels 1-4), buy your first item and boot line. The aim is lane resilience and your first power spike, not completing your damage. Marksmen and Mages rush physical-attack and magic-attack components; Tanks and Fighters buy early defense and resilience components so they can trade in lane.

Mid game：The mid game (2-3 core items) is where the character of your build is decided. Carries complete two damage items to ride the team-fight power spike; Tanks complete one defensive item and one team-supporting item. Most heroes are stronger than the enemy in this window, so group up with your team and go take objectives.

Late game：In the late game (a 5-6 item complete build), swap your boots or first item for a single situational item. Physical defense to deal with a fed Marksman, magic defense to deal with a burst Mage, healing reduction against heal-heavy comps, and so on. A complete build should answer the enemy's threats, not just pile on more damage.

The three Arcana colors

Basics：Arcana are the international server's version of emblems: 27 runes you equip before the match. Each character holds 10 each in 3 colors (red, green, blue), for a total of 30 Arcana. Arcana grow from level 1 to level 5, and level 5 is standard in ranked.

Red：Red is offense — physical damage, attack speed, crit, lifesteal, and other aggressive effects.

Green：Green is survivability — max HP, healing, movement speed, lifesteal, and other durability boosts.

Blue：Blue is utility — physical defense, magic defense, cooldown reduction, penetration, and other stats that support durability and game tempo.

Adjusting to the matchup

Don't just copy：The most common mistake is copying the exact same build every single game. The recommended core items are only a starting point; choose your last 1-2 slots to answer the enemy team.

Pick based on the enemy：If the enemy's physical damage (Marksmen and Assassins) is fed, buy physical defense; if a fed Mid Mage is about to burst down your backline, buy magic defense; against heroes with a lot of lifesteal or shields, buy healing-reduction items.

Arcana prioritize your role：Since Arcana can't be changed mid-game, pick a combination that suits your role rather than one specific opponent.