anyone else awful with items?

[Dick Dastardly Richard]

genuinely feel brain dead trying to figure out the best picks, any tips?

[Nefser]

You can actually go with Recommended ones as a start, while taking note of the 'type' of item they add as to why it's being suggested, such as "Sustain" or "Damage", etc.

Just start to think about the various benefits each adds, and what you think you want in the build:
Damage, Health, Mana, Lifesteal, etc


You also need to learn a bit about other heroes, and what types of damage they do, so when you are getting ripped by a hero with Magical Damage, you might consider building Crystalline Cuirass, for example.

[FishTiddies]

Unlike a lot of other mobas, pred has pretty solid recommended items.
It would be nice for them to add item functions that they display in the menu like "anti-heal, anti crit, cooldowns, etc" to the in game shop for quicker reference when building mid game.

But as you play the game and pay more attention to what the items do youll start memorizing them.

[SneeZ]

Im usually building the same starters that make my champ better (heal on cast for support, onhit heal on carry etc) and then adjust to my enemies.