Because I suck at not voicing my thoughts, AP ITEMIZATION.
So, first I want to address something I saw the other day. It was someone talking about how AP items still have the same problem as back when Morellonomicon was the must buy item.
Its true, you are right. There is never going to be a time in league where every single item is going to be the same value and worth for every champion.
There is never going to be a time where Seraphs is always the same value as Ludens. Good job you now understand meta and min maxing.
Alright now to address why this seems to happen and why riot has trouble trying to understand how to balance AP items.
1: The number of different types of champions that tap into the AP items.
- For example: Cho (Tank), Galio (Tank), LeBlanc (Assassin), Akali (Assassin), Varus (ADC), Kaisa (ADC), Ryze (HyperCarry), Cass (HyperCarry), and many many more.
2: The uniqueness of every AP champions kit.
-It is not similar to Right Clicking to win or just spam this one spell from really far back to win. They range from being auto attack based, to being able to fight like a fighter, to being a long range harasser, etc.
3: What champions would benefit the most if everyone got the same value out of every single item. -HyperCarries, and Strong Team Presence Mages would undoubtedly be the strongest.
To dive further into those points.
1: To balance AP items requires you to not only balance it for AP mages. But the ADC's that can run AP. The Tanks that can run AP. The Assassins that are AP. Hypercarry mages. Poke mages. Battlemages. Sustain Mages. You try to balance a tank, adc, and mage so that they all get the same benefit of buying one item and then do that for every single AP item. Good Luck. I'll be waiting in my grave.
2: To further talk about this and why certain items are just better on some champions over others. You'll never see a kata build a tear unless she is trolling. On the same note, you'll almost always see Ryze build a tear because he is a mana hungry piece of shit. Kit diversity creates problems for balancing too. If every item were the same in worth. Then There is zero reason to build anything that doesn't give you stats right away. To balance (ex) Lich Bane for Azir, Ryze, Varus, Cho, and Galio to all use as a good starter item is impossible. There kits are too different. Cho and Galio would never be able to get the procs as easily as Varus, Ryze, and Azir. And Then again Azir would also have problems because his soldiers don't proc lich.
3: Min maxing. Lets say that they buff the ever living shit out of GLP to hell and back. Certain champions would find it amazing like Aurelion Sol. While others like Ryze and Azir wouldn't get to benefit from it because they have core items they HAVE to have. But if we buff Seraphs to hell and back. Then Ryze would be the strongest mage in the game. Say we buff Nashor Tooth or Lich bane. Then Azir and Kass/TF. There are kits that just work well with said items. It is unrealistic to expect that all items should be first item buyable. Which this leads into something that I would like to bring up as well. The only item that actually needs a buff is RoA.
I think the stats for RoA need to be something as follows.
AP: 100>>>120
HP: 500>>>550
Mana: 400>>>550
Starts at 40AP, 250HP, and 200 Mana.
Gains 8 AP per minute, 30 HP per minute, and 35 Mana per minute.
Passive: 30% of damage taken from champion is converted to mana, and 10% of mana spent is restored as HP.
The item has very clear weaknesses and is as worthwhile if not more worthwhile than Ludens/GLP.
