Champions with odd skill max order? Like Tryn not maxing ult

AlienPrimate·Feb 16, 2018·4 votes·3,442 views

I only know of 2 with odd skill orders and I'm wondering if there are others. Tryndamere doesn't max ult because all he gains from it is a little bit of CDR. The other one is Taric who puts 2 points in Q, maxes E, 4 points into Q, then maxes W (at least if you know what you're doing). Are there any others who don't do the generic max one skill into the next and get ult at every chance?

Edit: I did not mean not taking a skill at level 3. A lot of champions put 2 in the skill they are maxing at level 3. I meant not getting a skill at all until like level 8 or putting 3 or 4 points in one then switching to max another.

Another one I forgot is Singed. I've seen a lot of Singed players skip W until level 8.

22 Comments

Maldini30Feb 16, 20182 votes

You still have to max Trynda's ult at lvl 11 and 16 because it gives you also extra fury, so it can be quite important in some situations, even though you're likely to already have max fury when you hit R, but yeah, there's the cdr too.

AlienPrimateFeb 16, 20183 votes

Getting 10 seconds off the cooldown and redundant fury that you should already have maxed out in combat anyways is never more useful than lowering your spin cooldown by 1 second or the enemy's ad by 15 and movement speed by 7.5%.

Maldini30Feb 16, 20181 votes

Maybe, but there are some situations where maxing R can still be useful. For example, you get ganked but you don't have enough fury yet, or you engage a teamfight without having stacked fury beforehand, so extra fury coming with R can come handy. But I share your point of view, but that's very situational imo, and E is already reduced by crits (which you'll have more if you maxed R as well).

Need Gold 4 TentFeb 16, 20182 votes

Udyr is another obvious one. Based on (I think Quas) game, he initially started tiger top. Then, I think because of armor he stopped at rank 3 and started putting points into phoenix. W and E are also ranked up based on need, such as difficult lanes needing more W, more E if you need the movespeed etc...

Re: Trynd, all the high elo Trynd one-tricks rank up their R only at 17 and 18

MetaVolcaFeb 16, 20182 votes

When I play Kayn I usually go Q>E>Q>W and then maxing E first.

yoshi2790Feb 16, 20182 votes

Ryze sometimes doesn't max R at level 6 but waits until level 10&11

Leblanc has a weird leveling order, because what you put your points in is dependent on the situation. Just look at champion.gg her leveling order changes frequently and now it is (highest winrate) : Q>W>E>W>Q>R>W>Q>Q>Q>R>W>W>E>E>R>E>E

Udyr too but I never play udyr so idk why&how

There are probably much more I forgot about

AhristocatsFeb 16, 20182 votes

ryze puts 3 points in Q then maxes E

TiltoverEnforcerFeb 16, 20181 votes

On Diana jungle I like putting two points in W by level 4, then maxing Q. It helps give a little extra shielding and damage to help you remain healthy during your clear, even though Q is your main damage tool.

DoozkuFeb 16, 20181 votes

Last time I checked, Ryze used to take 3/4 points in Q before maxing his E then going back the Q max. His skill order is pretty weird in general seeing as how he has 2 points in his ult and 6 in his Q.

SasogwaFeb 16, 20181 votes

Really unconventional pick, but on Yi top you can have various choices of max. Q is good for waveclearing, E for all inning and W for sustaining through terrible matchups. But like, really. E gives insane all in damage, Q oneshoots casters and W maxed can heal you for 80% of your health.

In general, (since E changes, E maxing has become eh, so) I go Q-> E (great lvl 2 all inning) then W W (you fall off, go safe) then max R->Q->E->W you can go 3 point in meditate if you want. More is kind of overkill.

ShuyinTheXFeb 16, 20181 votes

Trundle has an interesting skill max order I seen a few one tricks do. You put 3 points into Q then max W then max E then max Q (ult every time available).

wildfox99Feb 16, 20181 votes

Ahri starts with : Q > E > Q > W, max Q then W despite unlocking it as last

Viktor : in some matchups i only max E/Q and unlock W when we start to group

SohleksFeb 16, 20181 votes

By level 5 you can put 3 points in one skill but then pivot and max a different skill by level 10 just one level later than normal and still before ult 2 rank.

I used to do this on both fizz W's (W, then E) but they have nerfed W rank increases hard enough. I sorta wish bases and scaling can be tweaked to bring it back as a valid option but oh well. Now I do E max, then Q rank 2 to bring cd just low enough then W

With a higher damage meta Q max Kennen is actually quite effective now unlike before. But I'm still used to laning with him with the better pushing W and targeted attacks so to compromise I can do a hybrid like fizz. 3 W then 5 Q.

Lulu used to max w/e she wanted how she wanted. But with a higher damage meta and her mana cost tweaks Q max seems to be the way to go to provide assistance waveclear and strong damage. (why did I bring this up)

Tryndamere yeah I play jungle Tryndamere. You max Q and E before upgrading ult again and probably W too.

Tristana is similar to Trynd. Upgrading Q is more powerful than ult. You could upgrade W once to add 0.5 seconds to a 1 sec slow. Probably not tho. Upgrading her ult increases the knockback which can be useful but it also means you knock them out of auto range so if you're doing good already you may prefer to increase her steroid instead.

Sona's W heal is purposefully(?) inefficient rank 1 so an extra point there makes her more rounded at the cost of a bit of her peak dmg.

I think Corki's E gatling gun is slightly underrated. MF's W resetting steroid/strut is largely underrated. Rank up MF W for push/mobility = map macro and you can build straight AD for her Ult and still have good dps. Makes shoe upgrade unnecessary too. MF's a woman that prefers big swords instead of neat shoes.

Oh Vel'Koz mid. In order to combine having both effective waveclear and fun and strong poke I do the 3 & 5 pivot with his W into Q

Sometimes if I just beat someone with my ult and it made me level up and I have a lot of game momentum I rank up the 2nd basic skill if it's a good ranker upper because ults on cd for 2 mins.

Oh! And how could I forget Veigar! Q max naturally ofc but 3 in W for sufficient waveclear before maxing stun.

HalcyonDwellerFeb 16, 20181 votes

Taric doesn't level his ult? I'm super confused now, can you provide an example of the max-ing order with ult shown where you would normally level it?

AlienPrimateFeb 16, 20182 votes

Taric maxes ult. I just thought that was a given.

Level order is E, W, Q, Q, E, R, E, E, E, Q, R, Q, W, W, W, R, W, Q

HalcyonDwellerFeb 16, 20181 votes

Oh okay I see, I'm sorry I misunderstood the post to mean unusual ultimate leveling order.

AlienPrimateFeb 16, 20181 votes

I just wanted to give an example and Tryndamere not maxing ult is a lot shorter to write in the title than describe Taric's level order.

HalcyonDwellerFeb 16, 20181 votes

Yeah no worries, it looks like most people got what you meant.

[vlad-salute]

The confusion is all on me!

ValyrianBladeFeb 16, 20181 votes

It's probably optimal for a lot of Champions to skill order inconsistently, but players just haven't optimized that much.

E.g. i find that getting 3 points in charm on Ahri (to get it from 1sec to 1.5sec cc) has been really good without significantly affecting my damage (only difference between W second and E second is the W cd, they both gain similar damage per rank). However beyond the 1.5 sec often seems unnecessary, as allies may be too slow to react to chain cc on the 1 second charm, but they can all do it in 1.5 sec and no one waits for the full 2 sec to get optimal chaining.

I remember checking, and various skill orders with a few points in E before maxing W second, and sometimes even before maxing Q first, were higher win percent than the standard QWE or QEW.

ahferroin7Feb 16, 20181 votes

There are a handful of champs for whom taking their third basic skill at level 3 can be sub-optimal in some cases.

I always go W, E, W, Q then max W on Amumu when I jungle, because the single target stun is kind of useless on the red side of the jungle (and if you start blue, you get level 3 right as you're going to the red side).

rework trundleFeb 21, 20181 votes

It's been a while since I played Kha'Zix, but at that time the best KZ player went Q W W E Q R then maxed Q (extra point in W to clear raptors + sustain).