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how many people who think build diversity sucks are actually trying to find it

Moody P·9/20/2019, 1:25:55 AM·7 votes·4,143 views

don't get me wrong I want nothing less than a total overhaul of this games items at some point but I've been having a ton of flexibility in build paths for so many of the champs I play that i can't help but wonder why people think they aren't allowed to deviate; I have at least two builds or playstyles for everyone I play regularly

and yes, build diversity includes keystones

For Illaoi I've got Conqueror, HOB, Klepto, and I can run Transcendence secondary into IBG rather than another AD item while still squeezing a little AD out of the CDR overcap. I don't need to take DD if I don't want it, if I just need to meat sack aggro as long as possible I might go Steraks into Stoneplate.

Volibear, you've got the usual standard Titanic tank builds. Tank support items work great on him, but so does Shojin into 2 AP items which turns you into a teamfight monster (Protobelt and Liandrys, Morello if Grievous is needed). Conq, Predator, etc

My favorite Mordekaiser build is Predator with a Proto Dcap rush into stacking a bunch of on hit like DMP and Lich and being a pseudo assassin.

Shyvana, she's got full AP jungle, she's got Shojin tank top, she's got her classic onhits juggernaut, she can build almost anything she wants and mix and match and make it work.

The thing about build paths is that they're only going to change if it's necessary. Marksman builds might diverge if onhit becomes better, or lifesteal > crit, but mages and divers have very self sufficient kits and usually only need a handful of core stats to keep those kits going strong throughout the game.

I guarantee you though, most champs can definitely change their builds a little bit and you're doing a disservice to yourself by not exploring more.

23 Comments

macspam9/20/2019, 3:53:07 AM4 votes

The fact that you give only juggernauts as examples is kinda telling. Juggernauts and bruisers do have the most build diversity. Ezreal and kaisa are the golden children of ADCs.

Makarakarn9/20/2019, 3:01:49 AM4 votes

Because as I've said many many times by now, League is a strategy game where most people hate using strategy

Gamma Sector9/20/2019, 1:33:36 AM3 votes

I'm purely playing Kai'sa and Ahri, but Kai'sa is well known for her wide build possibilities. Could go manamune>rageblade>nashors, bork>shiv>IE>nashors, fuckin IE>zhonyas>Nashors, she's just so versatile

Śhunpo9/20/2019, 10:21:13 AM3 votes

What I love is when people think that by changing one minor rune that that's somehow "build diversity". I kid you not, there have been countless YouTube vids on "TOP 10 NEW WEIRD KOREAN BUILDS TO TRY OUT IN SOLO QUEUE!" and all that's changed is now they run Gathering Storm instead of Scorch. Like wow, one tiny difference is somehow build diversity.

Póppy Chulo9/20/2019, 7:23:43 AM2 votes

I thought the complaints people had about build diversity was build paths and not actual new build/playstyles. That already exists, Ap/tank/as shyv for example.

There isnt diversity in stuff like items for mages or ad assassins expect in their boots. This was done by introducing a must rush item like ludens and duskblade.

Eedat9/20/2019, 2:18:12 AM2 votes

Hmmmm my guess is 3

Saezio9/20/2019, 1:40:16 AM2 votes

and yes, build diversity includes keystones

Amen brother. I think a lot of people tunnel into 1 keystone and from there on it really narrows your options (you still have at least 2 slots or so to adapt build) because the core play pattern is always the same.

ArtumisPrime9/20/2019, 9:26:19 AM2 votes

As I said the last time one of these topics was made, I don't think build diversity is any worse than it has been in the past (and no, I don't think masteries count), however most champions have 2-3 core items and games usually end at 2-3 items. This can make it feel like the same exact items are being built game after game after game.

Kai Guy9/20/2019, 1:38:27 AM2 votes

People cookie cutter. I have my theory why.

Love Anastasia9/20/2019, 2:46:24 AM2 votes

Well, they are the same kind of people that spam ping your items if you build something different, so...

Also, they are the same people that complain about mages in top because "They don't belong that lane" (????)

FrostR3miix9/20/2019, 9:29:07 PM1 votes

Maaan thank you for this. I had a team try to send me to prison for building item 3155 on Akali vs Karthus and Syndra

Chainman39/20/2019, 2:18:34 AM1 votes

It sucks but when Riot was removing build diversity no one complained. Tank fizz, tank ekko, tank akali, ad neeko, runic echoes ezreal when it had that AoE on it, frozen force yasuo. You name it. When it was there, people complained about it. Sure these are cases that felt too oppressive, but they couldve been toned down to remove the oppression instead of reworking how the champions abilities scaled entirely.

ModCaptainMårvelous9/20/2019, 8:20:56 AM1 votes

Because people like to pigeonhole themselves into assuming there is no diversity. It's ironic because the same mentality of "old runes so GOOD" is completely absent with new runes despite the differences between the two: Loading in with a bad runepage back in earlier seasons was pretty much a lost game. Current runes have pretty small/minute differences in terms of what is good.

For example, Xin Zhao. I've seen everything from PTA to Conq to Hail to Aftershock to Phase ran on him. Sure, one is usually the "ideal" one to pick but he has an overwhelming amount of runes that not only are pickable but are completely viable. In truth, while these differences between the best rune page and the second best rune page have shortened, the skill gap has widened exponentially.

Season 1-5 (perhaps earlier, say 4) was a phase when player skill was much lower than it is now. Because of this, builds didn't matter as much as raw skill. Your average gold player could dunk on anyone with what they figured was "the secret meta build" that used some horribly unoptimized rune page because their skill made up the difference. However, these days, players are much better than before. Silver players know things like proper CS and macro, things I'd never say a Silver would know. Because of this, small changes matter more and more. Suddenly a 51% and a 50% can be massively crushing in terms of advantages.

That said, while runes are factually more diverse across champions, items have still sucked due to being 100% stat sticks across most classes save for support. I really do hope that item pass for preseason is good. (Apparently pros/high ELOs have been testing it and apparently all of them are raving about how amazing they are but eh.)

Aatrox Airlines9/20/2019, 9:00:41 AM1 votes

Only champion on whom i always run one build every single game is aatrox.

Aside from him, i find tons of build diversity for champions like morde on whom i can build around the different parts of his kit. I can build around his passive circle (rylais, liandrys), his passive on hit (nashors and, rarely, wits end), his q and e big ap scalings (pretty much any ap item here except lost chapter items), his w shield (pretty much any tank item except for glacial shroud items) and hise pen allows me to skip voidstaff.

As far as aatrox build diversity goes, you dont have anything except your q to build for. What your q wants is ad and cdr and you need hp to not pop instantly so you go bc dd steraks

Darkdemon6539/20/2019, 10:11:14 AM1 votes

In order for a build to be an alternative build, it has to actually be the ideal build in realistic circumstances.

Midg3t9/20/2019, 10:33:10 AM1 votes

The thing is, champs you named can be diverse because of their designs. Morde and Shy have no mana + their natural tankiness allows you to choose between more dps or more tankiness. Voli and Illaoi are also tanky and have a lot of sustain, which again, allows you to branch out your build and rune choice.

On the other hand, have you ever seen any ad assassin going anything else other than lethality, thats on par with their classic build? Have you ever seen an adc like trist being able to go anything else other than a classic marksman build thats as strong as the regular build? And granted both cases are diverse buils that're being taken on a regular basis.

And im not talking about changing 1-2 items/runes, im talking about a completely different build/rune setup.

ProfDrDeath9/20/2019, 10:37:50 AM1 votes

There's another factor involved as welll, and that is that different builds can require different playstyles (especially with radically different keystones, like swapping PTA for Phase Rush). Most people don't see that they need to put in the effort to make a different playstyle work.

preternatural9/20/2019, 4:32:16 PM1 votes

what people mean by build diversity is they want it to be as viable to go AP talon as it is to go AD talon.