DEEP Anylasis of Rejuvenation Bead (+Selling later) vs 2 health pots on First back.

I would like to present a mathematical approach to the viability of buying the 180 gold cost Regeneration bead over a few pots, on some situations, with some champions, with the intention of selling it back later; and answer why I think it is a great idea.

First of all, let's look at the sell back value of the Regeneration bead: 126 Gold. That means, when you sell this item back to the store, you will lose 54 gold overall and you keep all of the Health Regenerated during that time span.

The strategy begins when you come back to base after backing, or dying, buying whatever items you need, then having gold left over. If you have more than 180 gold after buying, this is the exact spot we are going to look at.

Let's say that you bought a ward, 2 pots, maybe switched to a sweeper. You decide to save that remaining money to buy more ap/ad on the next back, as a power house mid laner.

Question: Why didn't you buy regen bead instead of the pots???????

If you have a good answer, GREAT. Here is the problem: You probably DON'T have a good answer. Your answer is likely something like "I don't build that item into anything, so I am not going to get it."

Here is a better answer. "Just, DO IT."

Turns out, there actually are situations where this works very very well, and some where it is a very very bad idea. The answer depends largely on your champion, and your effective sustain. When I say effective sustain, I basically mean your opponent laner, your opponent's jungler, your runes/masteries, and even sometimes, other champs on your own team. Mostly however, I am talking about the champion you are playing. Every champion has a different amount of base health regen, which the bead scales off of. This is the single most important thing when considering this strategy. In a link above, there is a wiki page of all the champions in the game, and their hp regen, and their scaling hp regen. For this breakdown, we will be looking at 3 champions, one from the bottom 6, Katarina, one from the average rate, Lulu, and Heimerdinger, the best regen champ in the game. In each situation, we will look at the level 4 rates, assuming they are back to base with 180 gold remaining, and will attempt to compete with potions, on a theoretical level, dollar for dollar. These values start at level 4, but the bead actually scales with levels, which means these numbers are actually LOW compared to what they would be in practice, assuming you survive until level 5 that is.

Bead increases Health Regen by %50.

Katarina Level 4 Health Regen 5.7 per 5 seconds

After 1 minute: ~35 Health After 2 minutes: ~70 Health After 4 minutes:~140 Health

Verdict: Buy Pots on Katarina. It would take roughly 7 minutes to break even with 2 pots in terms of value when compared to regen bead. (2 pots = 70 gold/300 health in a small period of time, vs Regen bead which is 54 effective gold for 280 health, but slowly regenerated)

Lulu Level 4 Health Regen 7.4 per 5 seconds

After 1 minute: ~45 Health After 2 minutes:~90 Health After 5 minutes: ~225 Health

Verdict: Take Regen bead on Lulu a percentage of the time. Regen bead breaks even with 2 pots after 5 minutes. (2 pots = 70 Gold/300 health, bead is 54 gold for 270 health)

Heimerdinger Level 4 Health Regen 15 per 5 seconds

After 1 minute: 90 Health After 2 minutes: 180 Health After 5 minutes: 450 Health

Verdict: Almost never buy potions on Heimerdinger when leaving base with more than 180 gold. (1 pot = 35 gold/150 health, Bead=54 gold/250-500+ health)

Pros/Cons of Health Pot vs Regen Bead

Health Pots:

Pros:

1. Health is restored over a short period of time
2. Can be bought for 35 gold and in 35 gold increments
3. As a biscuit, OP
4. Can discourage opponent from attacking you, since they know you can heal up after trades.
5. Can quickly increase your health above %50, and decrease opponent's damage from the Executioner's calling mastery. 6.Guarantees sustain in lane from crazy burst.
6. Can save you from dying to ignite

Cons:

1. Can get into harsh situations at the shop with 4-5 pots and no slots, where selling all the pots is mandatory.
2. Can be misplayed by using then backing, or forgetting to use
3. Grievous Wounds
4. A little bit Overrated
5. Terrible Sell back value (Over half gold lost, with no health gained while in inventory)

Regen Bead:

Pros:

1. AMAZING sell back value for a small item (All but 54 gold)
2. Grants more raw health than pots on most champions (sometimes based on survival performance)
3. Can decide not to sell, if there is no item to get with the money when sold!
4. Amazing Win-more sustain
5. Can be built into New Aegis of the Legion (in Niche cases)
6. Can be combined with pots
7. Stacks with itself
8. Underrated
9. Good vs poke comps
10. Great filler item
11. Breaks the 5 pot rule when combined with 5 pots
12. You feel like a boss when using
13. Can confuse the enemy
14. Almost always better than pots on champs after level 8
15. Often Capable of doubling, or even tripling the value of a pot(s)
16. Stay over %50 health longer and more often, and decrease the value of opponent's Executioner's calling mastery.

Cons:

1. Takes item slot

2. Bad short term sustain without pots

3. Bad vs burst

4. Can only be bought (for 54 effective gold) when you have 180 gold or more

5. Enemy Champion may go offensive, thinking you have no sustain from pots

    tl;dr -Regen Bead is strong and versatile, and often cost effective on most champions when compared to pots all things considered, so long as you sell it back to the shop when you need the money; Potions can be still be strong, despite specific weaknesses.
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

This is a list of some champions and their health regeneration at level 1, health regeneration growth and health regeneration at level 18. No effects from passive or active abilities will be included in this list. Nor will any health regeneration gained from items. Champion Value Level 1 Growth (per level coefficient) Value at 18

Gnar 2.5 +0.5 11 Lower Tier Examples (Bottom 6) Soraka 2.5 +0.5 11 Riven 3.34 +0.5 11.8 Mordekaiser 3.37 +0.55 12.7 Rengar 4.27 +0.4 11.1 Katarina 4.5 +0.55 13.9

Kog'Maw 5.92 +0.55 15.3 Mid Tier Examples Kalista 6 +0.55 15.4 Gangplank 6 +0.6 16.2 Lulu 6.005 +0.6 16.2

Cho'Gath 8.925 +0.85 23.4 Top Tier Examples (Top 10) Skarner 8.925 +0.85 23.4 Ekko 9 +0.9 24.3 Nasus 9.01 +0.9 24.3 Vi 9.01 + 0.9 24.3 Trundle 9.425 +0.85 23.9 Evelynn 9.82 +0.55 19.2 Darius 9.845 +0.95 26 Sion 10.18 +0.8 23.8 Heimerdinger 11.005 +1.75 40.8