A Mathematical Analysis between Press the Attack and Conqueror
- Based on Volibear auto attacking with no items or other runes (9% Attack Speed bonus)
- Timer starts from first auto attack hitting
Here's the graph with all my math
To read, points listed in red are Press the Attack, Points listed in Blue are Conqueror without the bonus, and points listed in green are Conqueror with the bonus. Volibear's Level, his W's rank, and the enemy's "resistance" (armor) are left variable and you can play with them.
If you can read my graph, there's a lot of little bits you can read into, but the most important note is that almost no matter how you play with the variables, Conqueror's DPS (the sloped Green Line) has a higher slope than Press the Attack's. What this means is that in a 1v1 slugfight, Conqueror will almost always win out. This further compounded with the fact that Conqueror's True Damage component, if converted to a damage bonus, has a higher bonus than Press the Attack's at all but extremely low levels when the enemy has extremely little armor or resistance. Not only does Conqueror have a higher %Bonus Damage, but it also grants Bonus AD so any AD ratios on your champion's kit is further utilized. Conqueror also has the advantage that if you are using a melee champion, you don't need to reset it like you would Press the Attack after so and so seconds and it's a self buff, vs a targetted debuff.
There are some areas where Press the Attack is significantly stronger. Because of the Adaptive Burst damage it applies, especially as you go higher in levels, it ramps up damage far more quickly under the 4 second mark. This is especially true for any particular animation canceling combo, applying the Burst damage far quicker and allowing even more time to put in damage before the 4 second mark. The targetted debuff aspect of it is also far stronger in the case of teamfights when multiple members can focus down one target. This is ignoring that I calculated these numbers starting Conqueror's timer from the first auto attack hitting. Because Conqueror's higher damage output when the bonus is applied, and because you can start a fight with Conqueror by hitting minions or possibly from light poke leading up to the fight, you can start the fight immediately with Conqueror's bonus in effect and massively outpace Press the Attack even before the aforementioned 4 second mark. This makes it the far more superior tool in laning where you're almost always "in combat", whereas Press the Attack may be more significant to Junglers who look towards upfront Burst and Team play, and don't have the advantage of being in combat all the time to start the fight with Conqueror's bonus.
In summary, in 1v1 duels, Conqueror is the superior option in almost all areas if the fight lasts more than 4 seconds or if you can start off the fight immediately with Conqueror's bonus in effect. On the other hand, in skirmishes and Teamfights, if you need to capitalize on Burst windows shorter than 4 seconds and have teammates to focus fire a particular target, Press the Attack is far more preferable.
