Marksman Item builds = boring

The ironic part is that right now ADC item diversity is the best it's ever been.

Deciding whether to build shiv or pd is hard sometimes.

Become a support :D Never build the same thing twice!

(just kidding XD though I do agree)

Each individual marksman has about as much diversity in their build as any other champion. You always want the highest possible output on any champion. You will therefore always build an incredibly similar set of items in every game. All champions have this problem (except Ezreal and Corki).

This looks like a bigger problem for marksmen because they all have a similar job. Rain AA down on your enemies. The optimal build for each of them is the same. Want a more diverse build for ADCs? Make ADCs that aren't focussed on auto attacks. The trouble is that then they wouldn't be ADCs. This is something that I think is impossible to be fixed.

Mandatory crit keeps down Runaan's and people who could use it combined with their kit and more items with onhits to shred and/or melt whole teams.

It also squelches both AS/AP builds and AD caster marksmen, neither of whom use it well enough.

Crit needs nerfs before marksman itemization can open up.

The only real decision making is deciding which items to build before others, in the end you'll have your standard ADC build.

Critical strike doubles your damage and is not optimal not to go for it. If they remove crit strikes and boost the stats and abilities of adc, people will build different items depending on the enemy team (but RIOT will have to add some new AS and AD items)

Situationally... If there is a teemo on the enemy team, you better be building a QSS.

Statikk Shiv and Hurricane are super fun items

It's only the same for people who don't have the balls to try a changing up what items they get on their ADC.

The itemization isn't that bad, everyone's just convinced that nothing else is better.

I prefer it for its simplicity though. At least I don't need to stop and think "what do I need to buy" for 10-15 seconds in the shop. The only thing I really look for is if 2+ have armor so get zeal and forgo PD/Shiv and get LW. After that only time I have to think is my defensive item.

I feel a lot of it has to do with marksmen being the most stat-oriented class in the game. Core items like and , along with less mandatory items like or even , offer pretty much nothing but stats, as opposed to more unique or impactful bonuses. Even mages, who also have stat sticks (e.g. , or ), have many more options, each of them with interesting effects, and more often than not those items are sought out because of their effects, and not just their stats (though those are still important). By contrast, even the more interactive marksman items out there (e.g. , , ) are selected almost purely for their ability to fill out a marksman's typical stat requirements (attack speed, attack damage, crit, life steal, armor penetration...) and for their ability to provide optimal DPS. There aren't really that many situational bonuses a marksman can opt into, and while other classes can itemize for different strategies, marksmen are discouraged from deviating too much from their standard build ( doesn't synergize at all with crit, and even is often deemed too expensive relative to ). Marksman scaling and itemization needs to change a little so that ADCs choose items based on the unique bonuses and synergies they bring, rather than just the raw stat increase they provide, and the stat sticks they depend on today need to undertake significant changes or leave completely.

Bring back old BT :3

I don't think the cookie-cutter marksmen build is really the optimal one for every single marksmen, and I see some really nice options in season 5.

is a really good one on Tristana for example, because her abilities and autos feed into each other, and you can easily get mana back with her AS buff and keep planting bombs nonstop.

The new also seems like a good option for bursty marksmen too, and we get an excuse to use a bruiser item on marksmen now with its CDR and debuff, along with helping out your AD teammates and fulfilling your "carry" role.

I haven't seen many marksmen take , but it might work with Quinn to help her dive in and out of fights without dying.

That's just a few examples of items on certain marksmen and situations, but I think there are a lot more. You just have to consider your champion and situation.

The only unique marksmen seems to be Ezreal .

It's not that there are no variations to adc builds, but people are just too stubborn or too stupid to make those changes.

For example IE is definitely an important item in the build, but it math shows that it is not the best first item by far. Static Shiv or Phantom Dancer followed by BF Sword, costs about the same, has way more dps and is a lot easier build path for the early game.

Cutlas followed by Runaan is also an easy build in the same price range that gives you nice waveclear and sustain.

Urgot got completely unique build options all on his own and don't let me get started on Teemo...

Crit strike has become an absolute must on all adcs which really limits their choices in items.

You don't pick your items.

You pick your champion, then build the same items as every other person that plays that champion. (May or may not be "every".)

At best a Graves might build BoRK over BT if he's got a Mundo in his face all game.