Let's talk about Lethality... Again..

Euthertrix·Feb 12, 2017·16 votes·3,974 views

Lethality is not balanced and is 100% gamebreaking. This meta sucks.

How do I know? A Zed, Quinn, and a Jhin spawn on the rift. I wonder which 3 items they're going to build? I just find it really hard to understand how Riot is not catering to AD champions.

To top it off, even the Quinn agreed. I was Top Lane in this game. I was 3/0 at 18 minutes w/ a Zhonya's already completed. Quinn started the game 0/3. Builds 3 Lethality items.. 1897 Damage in 1.83 Seconds. How is any one okay with this? She has 0 Armor Pen, but because she was able to complete 3 lethality items, she can engage me and I'm suppose to out play that? 3/0. 0/3. I lose because Lethality.

Meta is broken. Call me when Lethality is gone and I'll come play again. 'Till then, good luck to all of you in this cancer meta.

http://i.imgur.com/HZQqQcZ.jpg?1

I'd also like to point out that I didn't have 12/18/0 Masteries, but rather coming prepared for the Lethality overdrive and went 0/18/12. So not only did I itemize against Lethality, I also coordinated my Masteries for a little more tankiness too.. But I'm a Mage. Like cmon Riot.

56 Comments

TheHappyReaperzFeb 12, 20179 votes

So you bought a grand total of 45 armor, decided that was enough to negate three items worth of lethality, and was satisfied with that? Secondly, you said she did 1897 in 1.83s. Did you Zhonyas? Did you dodge her skillshots? Or did you just face tank the damage?

Asayake 5150glowFeb 12, 20173 votes

{quoted}

So you bought a grand total of 45 armor, decided that was enough to negate three items worth of lethality, and was satisfied with that? Secondly, you said she did 1897 in 1.83s. Did you Zhonyas? Did you dodge her skillshots? Or did you just face tank the damage?

To be fair, there's no way you'd expect someone 0/3 to be oneshotting.

That's what happens when you 'keep assassins relevant when behind'. Aka they'll still oneshot you, you still gotta play as tho you were even.

TheHappyReaperzFeb 12, 20177 votes

I played an Aatrox game a while back, I 1v1ed an 0/5 Illaoi as an 5/0 Aatrox. I barely won. Disrespecting damage is how you throw.

Asayake 5150glowFeb 12, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I played an Aatrox game a while back, I 1v1ed an 0/5 Illaoi as an 5/0 Aatrox. I barely won. Disrespecting damage is how you throw.

A 0/5... Illaoi.

Well, for one, Illaoi is a juggernaut, who relies on base damages. Quinn, on the other hand, is item reliant for damage (her bases are shit). So of course a behind Illaoi does more damage.

Also, Illaoi's dueling falls off like hell mid-late game. Any respectable duelist should easily crush her. While Aatrox isn't really respectable, he's still a duelist. There's no way the fight should've been that close, unless you ate literally every one of her skillshots, twice (on spirit and you)

TheHappyReaperzFeb 12, 20177 votes

i don't know how you think Illaoi's dueling falls of Mid game. At that point in time, you have your BC, your tentacles do pretty much max damage, your W is scaling nicely, and you do a nice amount of damage. The only time I would say an Illaoi is weak is levels 1-3, as she can't do much in that time frame.

Yeah, face-tanked the damage, which is what I assume the OP did. I was merely stating how disrespecting someones damage because they are behind, is foolish.

Sun Wu RyuumokuFeb 12, 20171 votes

Well, for one, Illaoi is a juggernaut, who relies on base damages. Quinn, on the other hand, is item reliant for damage (her bases are shit). So of course a behind Illaoi does more damage.

Whut ???

Sun Wu RyuumokuFeb 12, 20173 votes

To be fair, there's no way you'd expect someone 0/3 to be oneshotting.

blame ur expectation.

Asayake 5150glowFeb 12, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ryuumoku no koke,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=69FkEjOY,comment-id=000700000001,timestamp=2017-02-12T17:41:40.246+0000)

blame ur expectation.

So you're saying that 0/3 should oneshot me as easily as 3/0?

Sun Wu RyuumokuFeb 12, 20171 votes

Its not about what should or shouldn. Its about what happen in this game. And a Illaoi in 0/5 can OS in 1vX. For Quinn u just have calculate arpen against ur poor armor of taliyah. U can add to this we have no info on their farming and how he was killed.

Asayake 5150glowFeb 12, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ryuumoku no koke,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=69FkEjOY,comment-id=00070000000100000000,timestamp=2017-02-12T20:35:54.032+0000)

Its not about what should or shouldn. Its about what happen in this game. And a Illaoi in 0/5 can OS in 1vX. For Quinn u just have calculate arpen against ur poor armor of taliyah. U can add to this we have no info on their farming and how he was killed.

Why isn't it about what should or shouldn't? Isn't that how the game is supposed to be balanced? Around what should or shouldn't? When Jax and Kayle abused Rageblade, did we say 'that's just what happens in this game', or did we say that that shouldn't happen in the game and then get Rageblade nerfed?

It's completely about what should or shouldn't.

Sun Wu RyuumokuFeb 12, 20171 votes

so when u go against jayce it should be a fair match up if u go as a melee because he's also a ranged champ ?

CudyDarkyzFeb 12, 20171 votes

Personal i'd expect the oneshot, or to lose a all in being 0/3 means nothing if you 3 items that counter the enemy's 4. Not saying its fair but it is foreseeable. The Taliyah's item build was pretty bad vs a lethality but almost everything is atm.

Maddened King Feb 13, 20171 votes

2 also be fair, what sort of items in the game grant armor and AP? Only Zhonya's. Lets take a look at AD right now. What items grant MR and AD, oh right a shit ton. If we are going to have more Lethality, AP classes need more AP/Armor items.

MinaZer0Feb 12, 20175 votes

oh yea Quinn has alway been super fun, but now, magnificent

Rock MDFeb 12, 20173 votes

{quoted} Quinn started the game 0/3. Builds 3 Lethality items.. 1897 Damage in 1.83 Seconds. How is any one okay with this? She has 0 Armor Pen, but because she was able to complete 3 lethality items, she can engage me and I'm suppose to out play that? 3/0. 0/3. I lose because Lethality.

She has 0 Armor Pen

she was able to complete 3 lethality items

do you think someone should tell him?

EuthertrixFeb 12, 20171 votes

I can clearly see she has Last Whisper. The tense implies it wasn't there when she engaged me 0/3.

Rock MDFeb 12, 20172 votes

{quoted}

I can clearly see she has Last Whisper. The tense implies it wasn't there when she engaged me 0/3.

lethality IS armor pen you dolt.

EuthertrixFeb 12, 20171 votes

Lethality Flat armor penetration has been replaced with Lethality, which scales with target level.

Assassins have a snowball problem. When ahead, they’re really ahead, but when behind, they’re pretty underwhelming. In part, this is the nature of a 1-on-1, outplay champion. But for physical assassins, flat armor penetration is exacerbating the problem. Mages and marksmen—the assassin’s natural prey—don’t typically build defenses early on, so the bulk of their armor in lane comes from levels (Zhonya’s Hourglass is the main exception). So, if assassins start snowballing, flat armor penetration punches through a significant portion of their target’s armor, continuing the snowball. But if assassins fall behind, their threat is mitigated by their targets’ innate stats alone. To give attack damage based assassins more consistency, we’re reworking armor penetration to be more consistently impactful late game without being overbearing early on. Lethality MATH Lethality immediately grants 40% of its value as flat armor penetration. The remaining 60% scales linearly with enemy level. EXAMPLE 10 lethality grants 4 flat armor penetration up front and 0.33 flat armor penetration per enemy level, capping at the full 10 once enemies are level 18. UPDATEDPrecision (Tier 5 Cunning mastery) About the same amount of flat armor penetration, except now it’s lethality.

LETHAL PRECISION! 0.6 (+0.06 per level) flat armor penetration / point ⇒ 1.7 lethality / point FIVE TIMES AS PRECISE At 5 points, grants 3 (+0.3 per level) flat armor penetration ⇒ 8.5 lethality UPDATEDFlat Armor Penetration Runes These now grant lethality instead of flat armor penetration, and they all break even at level 12.

NAME “...of flat armor penetration” ⇒ “...of lethality” GREATER MARKS 1.28 flat armor penetration ⇒ 1.60 lethality GREATER QUINTESSENCES 2.56 flat armor penetration ⇒ 3.20 lethality FULL PAGE 19.2 flat armor penetration ⇒ 24.0 lethality UPDATEDHybrid Penetration Runes Only the armor penetration is changing (to lethality)! These also break even at level 12.

NAME “...of hybrid penetration” ⇒ “...of precision” GREATER MARKS .9 flat armor penetration ⇒ 1.13 lethality GREATER QUINTESSENCES 1.79 flat armor penetration ⇒ 2.24 lethality FULL PAGE 13.47 flat armor penetration ⇒ 16.89 lethality

Rock MDFeb 12, 20171 votes

{quoted}

snip

How does that prove your point?
If you're going to post statistics use the right ones. 60% starts off as flat armor pen now and there's significantly more lethality than armor pen. It now breaks even with armor pen around level 9, and I know for a fact if she has 3 items that give lethality then she's far higher than level 9.

So I guess you're right, at that point it's not just armor pen, it's armor pen that scales better. The fact remains if all you have is the 50 armor from a Zhonya's you have like 100 armor and that lethality IS armor pen that reduces it to around 40 or so (assuming she didn't go lethality runes) and by the time you're that far into the game resistances don't matter.

Asayake 5150glowFeb 12, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Lethality Flat armor penetration has been replaced with Lethality, which scales with target level.

Assassins have a snowball problem. When ahead, they’re really ahead, but when behind, they’re pretty underwhelming. In part, this is the nature of a 1-on-1, outplay champion. But for physical assassins, flat armor penetration is exacerbating the problem. Mages and marksmen—the assassin’s natural prey—don’t typically build defenses early on, so the bulk of their armor in lane comes from levels (Zhonya’s Hourglass is the main exception). So, if assassins start snowballing, flat armor penetration punches through a significant portion of their target’s armor, continuing the snowball. But if assassins fall behind, their threat is mitigated by their targets’ innate stats alone. To give attack damage based assassins more consistency, we’re reworking armor penetration to be more consistently impactful late game without being overbearing early on. Lethality MATH Lethality immediately grants 40% of its value as flat armor penetration. The remaining 60% scales linearly with enemy level. EXAMPLE 10 lethality grants 4 flat armor penetration up front and 0.33 flat armor penetration per enemy level, capping at the full 10 once enemies are level 18. UPDATEDPrecision (Tier 5 Cunning mastery) About the same amount of flat armor penetration, except now it’s lethality.

LETHAL PRECISION! 0.6 (+0.06 per level) flat armor penetration / point ⇒ 1.7 lethality / point FIVE TIMES AS PRECISE At 5 points, grants 3 (+0.3 per level) flat armor penetration ⇒ 8.5 lethality UPDATEDFlat Armor Penetration Runes These now grant lethality instead of flat armor penetration, and they all break even at level 12.

NAME “...of flat armor penetration” ⇒ “...of lethality” GREATER MARKS 1.28 flat armor penetration ⇒ 1.60 lethality GREATER QUINTESSENCES 2.56 flat armor penetration ⇒ 3.20 lethality FULL PAGE 19.2 flat armor penetration ⇒ 24.0 lethality UPDATEDHybrid Penetration Runes Only the armor penetration is changing (to lethality)! These also break even at level 12.

NAME “...of hybrid penetration” ⇒ “...of precision” GREATER MARKS .9 flat armor penetration ⇒ 1.13 lethality GREATER QUINTESSENCES 1.79 flat armor penetration ⇒ 2.24 lethality FULL PAGE 13.47 flat armor penetration ⇒ 16.89 lethality

Sadly, assassins are still snowbally as hell. Getting oneshot by a Zed Shadow E+Q, also assassins but not Lethality: oneshot by a Kata Q+R+W+E.

GreenBoÍFeb 12, 20173 votes

Thats litelary exactly waht happened to me I was Fiora vs Quinn top last game... And guess what she builded same build litelary... I won early 5/0 and she was like 1/6and guess what in the end after those 3 items she litelary became 13/9 deleting everyone in game... Thats just not even balanced... And ruines all the game...

Its already hard to deal with ranged ad top... -.-

StorrenFeb 12, 20172 votes

The problem is Edge of the NIght really. It gives so much offensive stats and has a defensive utility that is pretty spamable. People say zhonyas is broken but heres what I think people forget.

The highest Ad item in the game Is Blood Thirster at 75. Edge of the night doesn't even require a bf sword but gives you 60 15 pen 35 mr and a decently good active that stops imitations to where only a 15 second window is available. When you finish the item while Dusk blade has a bf sword yet gives 65.. seams kind of bull to me and gives penetration with defensive capabilities.

Then mages have Zhoynas which is supposed to be like maw for bruisers and Edge for tanks.

The highest ap item is DC at 125 yet Zhonyas gives you only 75 10 cd and 45 armor at a similar price to edge of the night. Yes you are paying more for a great Active but the active on Edge of the Night and combined with ghost blade give you so much defensive capabilities while having amazing offensive stats that you feel beaten before the fight even starts.

I think the solution relies in nerfing the offensive stats of ghost blade and Edge so you don't have 60 ad with the same utility. The actives gives you defense capabilities and reposition potential that makes you use your gap closers to keep up with them and kill them.

While Zhonyas can be used to grant time and let your team help you or cooldowns for your moves. The stats it gives is very incomparable, just way better offense stats while having a pretty decent active.

I may sound like I am repeating a lot but its just I want to get my point acrossed.

HigeFeb 12, 20172 votes

uhm I mean mages can do this too with just magic pen boots ._. I think no one has noticed but magic pen is equally as broken as lethality, the thing is that you don't have that many sources for magic pen and mages seem to need other stats a bit more...

I mean, look at supports now, they barely build much AP before lvl 6 and as soon as they hit that level they CAN burst you down, I've seen zyras doing it, malzahars and even Vel'koz :S with JUST a spellthief edge and sightstone... so yeah lethality is somewhat broken but mages have been bursting people since forever, the only novelty here is AD champions doing it too.

EuthertrixFeb 12, 20171 votes

I would say this is a good argument, but I don't think it is. Not every mage does this. Taliyah for instance. I melt you over 4-6-8-10, etc. seconds depending who you are and how you itemize. The problem I have with lethality is that EVERY single AD Champion is building it and you cannot out play it. You can dodge Mages abilities. You cannot dodge point and click AD champions, who also get a Speed Bonus from Yomuu's in order to close and engage with.

HigeFeb 12, 20171 votes

I agree that not all mages can blow you up but since forever that's been the identity of mages and no one has batted an eye for it, even for point and click type of mages (Kassadin, TF, Cassiopeia, Ahri, Syndra, Katarina) Taliyah can't do this though, sure, that's why she's not considered viable right next to Lissandra and probably Fiddlesticks to some extent.

As for Lethality, actually you CAN itemize against lethality, but the answer isn't as intuitive and the sources of this strategy has been somewhat nerfed, the concept is fairly simple, lethality penetrates armor as flat armor pen does but it scales with the enemy's level, meaning that if your opponent has 10 lethality throughout a game he only has 6 flat armor pen at lvl 1 and 10 flat armor pen at lvl 18

Flat armor pen CANNOT bring armor below 0, armor reduction effects like Corki's Gatling gun CAN tank your armor below 0 but lethality CAN'T

Now your beloved Taliyah starts the game with 20 armor, if an enemy has 10 lethality, this means that he has 6 flat armor pen at lvl 1 so Taliyah effectively has 14 armor against them at lvl 1 and 10 armor at lvl 18 because flat armor pen is exactly that, a flat value that negates armor.

The current strategy is to stack lethality to oblivion BUT for this example, on Taliyah you can ONLY penetrate 20 armor, with just ONE Lethality item you are effectively doing true damage to Taliyah but here's where it gets interesting...

There are 3 defensive stats on the game, armor for physical damage, magic resist for magic damage and HP, both armor and MR increase your effective HP, meaning that armor simply increases the amount of hits your champion has to take in order to die BUT FLAT HP ALSO DOES THAT

If you sit down and stack armor against a champion that is stacking lethality you are indeed gimping yourself, your beloved Zhonya's isn't cost effective because the enemy negates a portion of its defensive stats and you end up wasting gold on an item with half utility but if you stack HP, the one buying a useless stat is the enemy, because he can ONLY negate 20 armor from you.

Now adcs are screwed because we have like one item that gives us HP and the stats on it are awful, but mages... oh boy, you have item 3027 item 3116 and item 3040 (shields count as flat HP) so... if anyone shouldn't be complaining about lethality, it's mage mains because you DO have the tools to counter lethality stacking considering that your enemy barely has a spell shield that covers 1 spell, throw a Taliyah's Q and edge of night shield is gone and this succulent champion with NO magic resist and NO hp whatsoever is spread open right there.

NineTailedMysticFeb 12, 20171 votes

even for point and click type of mages (Kassadin, TF, Cassiopeia, Ahri, Syndra, Katarina)

Since when was Ahri point and click? A champion that is skillshot reliant.

THE RlVER KlNGFeb 12, 20172 votes

Her W and ult are targeted for you

NineTailedMysticFeb 13, 20171 votes

There's still margin for error with her E and R. Yes, they prioritize champions, but it's not impossible to fuck up.

HigeFeb 12, 20172 votes

you only rely on one skillshot though, your E, as soon as you hit that everything else hits, there's barely any difference between her and Syndra in that regard

NineTailedMysticFeb 13, 20171 votes

Still skillshot reliant. Miss E, do nothing. Q is vital for poke which can be dodged.

THE RlVER KlNGFeb 13, 20171 votes

Q has a large hitbox and because of the way it works if you get hit by the very end you take both procs of damage instantaneously with no counterplay

NineTailedMysticFeb 14, 20171 votes

If you get hit by the very end, you also had the most time to dodge.

The Yetii RiderFeb 12, 20171 votes

Assassins are supposed to kill mages. That is an intended interaction. Mages kill marksmen. Their lethality doesn't mean shit if you blow them up from 1000 range. Juggernauts are easy to kite as a Mage, you have zero reason to be that close to an advancing Darius/Garen unless the support locked you down. Divers also kill mages. Working as intended.

Tundra HunterFeb 12, 20171 votes

Yes, here is the prob: MF (or other lethality-friendly i.e. a lot of champion) build the 3 lethality item + black cleaver + lord dominik regards.

It's not focused "assassinate squishy" or "can deal with tank".

It just kills everybody.

Actually, with that build, MF ultimate can one-shot a Poppy or a Rammus full armor. Or even OS 5 tank full armor.

Do the maths: I am not even exagerating

NiaphimFeb 12, 20171 votes

IMO it's plain retarded how 3 lethality items+any last whisper item invalidate most of armor on any champion, even if you build full armor (someone here on boards has posted math that it shoves armor that is worth 5k gold), while simultaneously giving defensive stats against AP and a spellshield. Also that true damage from duskblade.

TeCoolMageFeb 12, 20171 votes

At 111 armour, Mortal reminder or LDR beat all 3 lethality items combined. 66 at level 1.

Zhonya's gives 45 armour, and masteries probably bump it up to 50-55. You could've bought Ninja Tabi, Frozen heart, or GA to make them useless. And this is coming from someone who mains mages.

By buying 2 defensive items, one of which is among the strongest of the AP items and another merges with boots, and can be taken every game, you turn 3 full glass cannon items into 1 - 1.5 item's worth of damage.

TeemodanegroFeb 12, 20171 votes

Lets talk about why your syndra had 12 deaths? yeah thats probably more appropriate because anyone that gets 12 kills is going to do some damage.

Risen29Feb 12, 20171 votes

There are several flaws with the understanding behind lethality complainers.

A 300 gold cloth armor 100% negates a 2900- 3250 gold lethality item.
The cloth armor will actually negate it with armor to spare if you are below level 18.
An 800 gold chain vest negates two lethality items, with armor left over to spare even at level 18.
A 2400 guardian angel will negate all three lethality items (totaling 9250 gold), with armor left over.

Threads like this one can be summed up as "squishies who build no armor complaining that lethality is doing it's job against squishies who don't build armor".

EuthertrixFeb 12, 20171 votes

Because Zhonya's isn't Armor..?

Check it. I play a Mage. A Zed, Quinn, or Jhin build a Maw. I'm still being 3 shotted, while it takes me 4-6 seconds to bring them down, a window for them to disengage at any time, and nothing I cast is point and click, leaving room for them to dodge abilities for an outplay, while I have zero way of dodging lethality autos and have to land all skill shots..?

Maddened King Feb 13, 20171 votes

Yes, but we don't have any items other then Zhonya's that can give us offensive and defensive capabilities against our counterpart. AD's do.

Automated RivenFeb 13, 20172 votes

ok, so lets be selfish and buy one item that lets you do damage ( item 3157 ) and then lets buy one that helps the team by keeping you alive ( item 3026 item 3075 item 3068 ) and now the full lethality assassin will likely die trying to kill you through zhonyas and all the armor while you get to live and put out more damage. and if they do manage to finnish you they wasted everything and you come back cause of GA. there are other options you just are choosing not to look for them. If you arent building to the fed enemies then you deserve to lose.

Risen29Feb 13, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name= Maddened King ,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=69FkEjOY,comment-id=000d0001,timestamp=2017-02-13T01:08:22.763+0000)

Yes, but we don't have any items other then Zhonya's that can give us offensive and defensive capabilities against our counterpart. AD's do.

There are some major flaws with your reasoning: First, he's not complaining that the AD player has stacked magic resist and that is the cause of his defeat. There's no implication that is even a problem here. He's complaining about the damage he takes, not the damage he is able to output.

Second, assassins are designed to kill APCs quickly if they don't sacrifice damage for armor. That's why you don't have a lot of AP and armor options - you're not suppose to.

Silius MemoriaeFeb 20, 20171 votes

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2431200139/51024856?tab=overview

So Explain this to me please and i lained against a zed.

Risen29Feb 20, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Silius X Karma,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=69FkEjOY,comment-id=000d0002,timestamp=2017-02-20T19:35:53.618+0000)

http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2431200139/51024856?tab=overview

So Explain this to me please and i lained against a zed.

I can't view that link, for some reason matchhistory website doesn't display for me on this computer. You'll have to link to OPGG, Lolking, or describe it.

Silius MemoriaeAug 7, 20171 votes

so its been 6 months lethality is still broken and the game i show your has a lucian building full lethality and going 23 and 4

and i have pleanty more games of lethality being busted beyond belief

Snowman ArcFeb 13, 20171 votes

Have you thought that maybe picking a mage in the top lane might not be the best idea, considering the type of champions that usually inhabit that lane? Lethality is fine. I played Pantheon with full leth runes recently and the lethality build. Even though I was stomping on the enemy Poppy early, and a couple of kills and lane control, she was able to easily 1v1 me after level 7.

Lethality is fine, it's even worse early game than was it was before it was changed. People are just having a problem with it, because "the pros" said so. Just watch how many times a Varus lethality build actually wins a game in pro play, then come back to me.

Risen29Feb 13, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Snowman Arc,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=69FkEjOY,comment-id=0010,timestamp=2017-02-13T01:22:07.669+0000)

Have you thought that maybe picking a mage in the top lane might not be the best idea, considering the type of champions that usually inhabit that lane? Lethality is fine. I played Pantheon with full leth runes recently and the lethality build. Even though I was stomping on the enemy Poppy early, and a couple of kills and lane control, she was able to easily 1v1 me after level 7.

Lethality is fine, it's even worse early game than was it was before it was changed. People are just having a problem with it, because "the pros" said so. Just watch how many times a Varus lethality build actually wins a game in pro play, then come back to me.

That is the absurdity of this whole line of whining - lethality is nothing new. You could do this with the old armor pen items. Ghostblade, Maw, and Duskblade all had flat armor pen. It was actually better than lethality.

Why all this whining now?

BârdFeb 13, 20171 votes

I get you are trying to make a point here, but I am just distracted.

What the hell is that Trundle building?

Warmogs as your first major HP item? Merc treads against a team with two ADC's? Thornmail vs Jhin?

He just gave me cancer.

Risen29Feb 13, 20171 votes

I think the only thing that has changed is that people desire to build full lethality more for burst than they use to, for the simple reason that they are better items that synergize well together.

The new ghostblade is more focused on assassins than the old version, not having attack speed. Maw was defensively more powerful, but not as offensively powerful. Duskblade's passives weren't as good.

The new items synergize well with their movespeed bonus out of combat, fitting assassins. Duskblade's passives are more useful to a roaming assassin. Edge of Night is more useful than Maw for an assassin, because they need anti-CC for diving and you get more damage with it. Ghostblade was actually nerfed, but you don't care about the extra attack speed.