Taking a pass at ADC itemization in the Pre-Season

So it's happening, according to Riot. Not sure what it'll consist of, but it's happening.

Regardless of how things go down, I thought I would discuss the issue of ADC itemization and precisely what's causing it to be so stale.

To begin, what does the average end-game Ranger build look like?

Boots, an AD/Crit item, an IAS/Crit item, a %pen item, a lifesteal item, and a defensive item. Defensive itemization already has plenty of options (except an AD/Ar item, Rito plz) so we won't go there. Boots are (more or less) fine as well. Instead, we'll look at the options we've got for the other four slots.

AD/Crit options: Lifesteal options: %Pen options: IAS/Crit options:

You're probably wondering why I included YoMama's Ghostblade, Hextec, and the ever-awful Reaver in the list. Let's get to that right off the bat.

In these sets of items I see the foundation for four different types of champions that could be supported. The traditional ADC (Thirster) the OnHit ADC (BoRK) the hybrid ADC (Gunblade) and the AD-Caster ADC (Reaver). You can see it to a degree in the IAS/Crit options as well. The problem is that most of the options are either (very) poorly executed or simply lack the support in the other item categories.

I propose that Riot should zero in on these four item sets to make all four types of of ADCs viable to build as rather than EVERYONE sticking to more or less the same cookie cutter build. Now, before I go any further I want to say that some champions would without question be unbalanced by the following proposed changes. That's the case with any disruptive change to the game. But I think shaking things up a bit would be worth the creation of actual diversity in ADC itemization.

We'll start with the Lifesteal line. Thirster and Bloodthirster are more or less fine. Gunblade will be getting a great buff with the addition of stealing health from ALL damage you deal come pre-season. The only other change it could use is making its active scale off bonus AD as well as AP. That leaves us with poor, maligned Essence Reaver. The solution there is really, really simple. Make it build out of Pickaxe, Forbidden Idol, and a Vampiric Scepter. Make its passive grant 10% spellvamp in addition to lifesteal. That would cement it as the game's lifesteal item for AD casters.

The IAS/Crit line is likewise pretty healthy. The only change I would suggest here is MAYBE adding some kind of additional mobility option to Dancer to make it a bit more attractive over Shiv.

For %pen, the items we've got right now are already pretty versatile. The only glaring omission is a lacking option for hybrid champions. The solution here would be to remake the more or less ignored Rageblade. 25 AD, 40 AP, and somewhere between 25% and 30% hybrid penetration. Rageblade would share a named passive (Ruin, maybe?) with Void and Whisper to prevent them from stacking.

And finally, we come to the worst offender. The reason why we can't have nice things.

Infinity Edge.

Infinity Edge is, single-handedly, the reason why ADC itemization is so stilted. It's a great item for traditional ADCs, but doesn't offer much for... well... basically everyone else. So what do we do here? Add in a new named passive line, Augmented Critical. Infinity Edge would have it. And so would three NEW items catering to the other three Ranger types. We'll assume here that Wicked Hatchet would be entering the Rift as a new item component. Some items would keep its Bleed, others would swap it out for new (and better) options.

OnHit ADC: (++ ) Its Augmented Critical effect would cause OnHits to strike twice on critical hits. AD Caster: (++) Its Augmented Critical effect would cause targets to have a (your crit%) chance on each instance of physical damage to bleed for (percentage) of your bonus AD in physical damage over three seconds. Hybrid ADC: (++) Its Augmented Critical effect would deal (percentage of your AP) in magic damage on critical hits.

Well!

There it is.

My take on how to make ADC itemization a little less one dimensional. If anything stands out to you as an awful idea, let me know! I can always amend the concepts with better ideas to make a more sound topic.