Rabaddons vs. Void Staff?

I Sushi I·8/26/2016, 3:58:56 PM·1 votes·1,469 views

So this has probably been talked about before, but I have two main questions for anybody who happens to click on this measly post (perhaps if it HAS been discussed you can link the previous discussion on here):

When, in the current meta, is the ideal time to build rabaddons? Is it better to build it 2nd, 3rd, 4th..? I know that Rabaddons is essential for damage but it always feels like as a mage i need more utility like a protobelt, zhonyas, etc.
Is it better in some cases to trade rabaddons entirely for void staff? It feels like rabaddons is too huge of an item to not go for, but I've seen builds where people pull it off by simply replacing it with a void staff. When is it appropriate to do so? If an AP Carry main or knowledgeable person could answer these I would be pretty grateful

5 Comments

Restless Slumber8/26/2016, 4:05:53 PM1 votes

So I main nidalee jungle and always opt for a void staff over rabadons because it is essential for me to being doing damage to all of their players, not just squishies. If they have no MR I go for something else, usually not rabadons. But when I play mid, I play Orianna, which I go Morello>Rabadons>Void 9/10 games that I play with her. Some champions have good AP scalings with low cds so an early rabadons is great as long as you are able to survive. As for late game if you have core items to build before either items the enemy most likely will have built MR, so Void will almost always be the better choice when you're heading into 3rd or 4th item. I hope this helped. :)

BLYAT moon Akali8/26/2016, 4:06:07 PM1 votes

rabadon's is gold-efficient in mid-to lategame. except on veigar.

what you build depends on the damage composition of your champ (base damages and ap ratios, % health damage, true damage) and enemy mr and also on your goals. high base damages and & health damage encourages building MPEN. high ap ratios and true damage in your kit encourages building AP. this is why i don't build MPEN on velkoz any more most of the time.

when i play ap akali, i don't buy void staff in like 90+% of my games for tactical reasons. why? my job is to kill squishies, not tanks or bruisers. killing those is accomplished by the adc, fighters or the whole team. i don't care about them until the team isolates and focuses them down. i don't need void staff to do my job.

you can also just calculate combos. you can calculate that lichbane is a better third item on akali than rabadon's after gunblade and hourglass (which i did) and such things.

oSEXYPLATYPUSo8/26/2016, 4:08:21 PM1 votes

Getting death cap too early with out other ap items don't make the item cost effective, you're not gaining much from passive and the overall cost is the highest ap item in game. Where as void staff is very cheap in comparison and provides ap and magic pen by ignoring 35% of targets magic resistance. and together the allow for maximum damage out put by increasing each items individual stats. I would state get your core item then void staff then death cap 3rd

Very Hard Engage8/26/2016, 5:58:52 PM1 votes

rab cap 3rd item for maximum power spike and scaling.

void staff as soon as someone on the enemy team has 2 MR items. otherwise last item if at all.

if you dont build rab cap as a 3rd item, you can build it whenever you deem appropriate which is usually the last item as other utility stats are needed before the extra damage that rap cap gives.

sauce- bjerg stream (back in the day) and me a mid lane mage.

Erockandroll8/26/2016, 6:41:27 PM1 votes

Their could be some variants to the build, depending on how well your doing. I've heard Void staff be refereed to as the poor man's death cap. Which would be a fair option if your opponent is building up defenses. But Death cap can be a better option if your already ahead, and trying to snowball.

I would mention two points regarding AP, which could make Death cap a better option. 1) Minions are not effected my the MR reduction because they don't have any. So if your trying to wave clear, Raw AP is going to help you do that better. and 2) Mpen is only useful for damage. It won't help as much if you have utility ratios.