The biggest reason that ADCs are OP AF atm is that they dont have to change builds.

DeusVult··3 votes·393 views

If you play any other class, you have to change your build or at least your build order depending on the enemy team composition in a game and how strong you are compared to the enemies fed champs.

If you are a tank you can't just stack armor against a team where your lane opponent and the mid laner are mages and the enemy jungler is a tank. You have to buy some health and MR and then go into armor in the mid game. Mid laners against an AD assassin will delay a build to pick up 2 cloth armors. Bruisers will delay BC or TF to get some early MR against a mage or tank, or tabis and a cloth armor against an AD threat.

But ADCs in every game have the same build and the same build order. If you are a crit ADC you go item 1038 into a zeal item, then finish IE and get another zeal item. Then you pick up a item 3035 item or a defensive item at your leisure. That choice of items is your only expression in terms of build diversity. If you are Ashe/Xayah, you get item 3508 before IE, which becomes your third item instead of a double zeal.

If you are an AS on-hit ADC, you go rageblade into hurricane into wits into bork.

ADCs, unlike other classes do not have to adapt based upon the game. A year ago when the memes where "ADCs in 2017" it was because they were all rushing crit, which actually had a cost on it at the time, and lethality (which had been overbuffed) was beating the crit users in lane. (because adcs dont build any armor. They dont adapt builds) So instead of nerfing lethality and ADCs adapting to changes where they might have to pick up an early cloth armor to combat lethality, Riot just buffed crit itemization. Which was the worst thing they could have done. Because when crit itemization is strong it takes all its competition out. By getting 3 crit items you can deal damage to EVERYONE.

If against a strong tank, who has picked up a bunch of kills and is stacking health and armor, common sense would be to build a bork and a LW item, (not even completed, LW alone gives 35% bonus armor pen, the same as the upgrades versions. For 1300g) but instead ADC players just whine about how tanks are unkillable in the early-mid games. Which is when tanks are meant to be strong and ADCs haven't hit their stride yet. Because they are buidling crit. Which scales.

If you are against a strong AP threat, maybe an early hexdrinker for safety? No, you need crit items.

ADCs aren't like other classes, they are literally left with cookie cutter builds that do not vary game to game, yet scale harder than anyone, and if a class builds to become more powerful at a certain point in the game than them Riot nerfs them and their items.

2 Comments

Chembaron Yamada2 votes

There is a major problem with that logic. According to boards, many, many, many items are not supposed to be built by marksmen and are seen as a case of abuse.

You mentioned that ADCs are not adjusting by building an early hexdrinker against AP. Yet people claimed that Malmortius is not supposed to be taken by marksmen, it is a bruiser item.

Some ADCs get a Black Cleaver, so they can deal with tank targets. Again, people claim that this is abuse and ADCs are ruining their item (even if it seems that Riot has another view on that) and it gets demanded really often to change this item to melee only.

Marksmen are not building armor to adjust to lethality.... there is just a single armor item intended for marksmen and people complained about that case. item 3026 It doesn't provide alot of damage, just a small portion of AD, no AS, no crit, nothing in terms of damage at all and that little armor it provides will rarely save you. It's better to go for damage first to fight back.


And last but not least: you said if you are a tank, you don't go for armor early if your enemy is a mage and the jungler a tank, since you want Mr to make your laning phase better.

Now apply this principle to bot lane. You are a marksman and you got your enemies you have to deal with. In that lane, 1 enemy will at least always be a squishy. Maybe the support is a squishy or it is a tank. But rarely you want to focus the tank in that lane. Best strategy in most cases is to focus the squishy marksman, which means the best way to deal with your lane opponent is to go for damage to kill the squishy. A tank support will oftenly lack the ability to kill you solo afterwards.

It makes sense that you go for killing potential on squishies instead of tank busting like with last whisper. Going raw damage always helps you, going tank busting just helps against the tank in your lane. If there is any.

Zeyphel1 votes

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