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Why League's community dislike the tank itemization in game.

I say Facts·1/20/2020, 2:46:45 AM·2 votes·1,886 views

I answered this to one fourm, but I thought of copying the whole thing and putting it in here instead. Alright let's begin

Based on all other games I played. They care a lot about Marksmen, supports, mages, warriors, assassins and all types of Tanks in general.

League only cares about marksmen, assassins and supports. You never see them in a bad meta and always picked confidently

I think warriors and mages are doing fine honestly, but tanks... let's not mention that at all.

When I mention that other games care about "Tanks" I am saying that they give them interesting items that are super expensive, yet very rewarding if you managed to get there, so if you are a fed tank, you will keep farming as much as you can for later game, and the later the game becomes, the more monster you will be. Assuming it will never be a big issue because we have an extreme amount of true damage, % damage and hybrids right now. So much penetration and lethality too, so why not make the tank users powerful for late game?

There are so many interesting concepts of tank items other games have, but it is sad but only truth to admit that League has the worst tank itemization in all the gaming history. All of the tank items in league are just way too boring, at least we have interesting magic resist items in the game but the armor items are very disgustingly poor made concepts of an items. They truly need more armor items in the game, that provides other stats so that the users feel like they belong to the game when they pick defensive melee fighter. If we mention the interesting armor items, we have Deadman (good for divers), iceborn gauntlet, (nice slow for vanguards) frozen heart (nice aura for wardens). Anything else? Could be Randuin omen which is pretty common item to build, but we don't see legendary tank items that provide nice amount of stats and a mix of different stats all combined in one.

Think of Trinity Force, I am talking about a mixed item that works perfectly for tank users. Something with a very interesting passive that makes them feel "Tanks" and as well as having enough room for play making or doing their DPS.

Most importantly, we have 3 types of different solid melees.

  1. Juggernauts:

Pros: A. Sustainable warriors B. High HP, and scales well with HP stacking C. Executers, they deal heavy damage to close targets

Cons: A. Slow and immobile B. Easy to kite and outplay C. More vulnerable to all % target damage

  1. Wardens:

Pros: A. High Defense, and scales well with defensive items, including both Magis Resist and Armor B. Good amount of Crowd Control C. Peelers

Cons: A. Low Damage B. Slow and Immobile C. More Vulnerable to all types of penetrations

  1. Vanguards:

Pros: A. High Defense B. Heavy Crowd Control C. Damage scales off their defense or HP D: Initiators

Cons: A. Bad at peeling B. Mistake in teamworking can cost the team's fight with the enemy team because they are usually the first to go in. C. Vulnerable to all Tank Meltings D. They require a lot of time in order to scale (late game)

What makes the tank itemization the worst in the game?

First of all, all these 3 different types of "tanks" play very differently and they completely build a different path to their playstyle. For example:

Juggernaut normal build path is: item 3071 item 3065 item 3083 item 3748 item 3053 item 3047 (It looks good honestly, and I have nothing wrong with it)

Warden normal build path is: item 3109 item 3190 item 3194 item 3143 item 3110 item 3117 (They lack HP, even though their itemizations are helpful. Although, they could use newer Warden items)

Vanguard normal build path is:item 3068 item 3025 item 3075 item 3001 item 3800 item 3111 (They have a good amount of defense and HP, but in fact, these items are not greatly supportive to their playstyle other than possibly Abyssal mask and Iceborn gauntlet.)

Overall, Juggernaut items are fair enough, while Warden items are lacking HP or higher amount of defense required. As for the Vanguard items, they need more interesting itemization that provides them the damage that scales off defense. Both of Thornmail and Sunfire are hilariously rediclous in terms of the damage they deal, and anyone can counter all of these damaging items with a lifesteal. It is not just that, they need itemization that provides them different stas, such as movement speed, AD/AP, more mana and health, or more defense as well as adding interesting unique passives that allow them to feel initiators and scary in teamfights late game.

I don't mind making item concepts honestly.

5 Comments

Jamaree1/20/2020, 3:03:40 AM3 votes

As much as people here don't want to admit it, it's because doing damage is fun, and smacking someone for a good five to ten minutes straight is cool to watch every once in a while, it gets really boring really fast.

Also, when tank items were better in the earlier seasons, like Randiuns also lowering MS alongside AS, it was cancer to play against is why tank itemization can't be stellar.

Cind3rkick1/20/2020, 3:14:50 AM1 votes

For me, the issue with tanks is that there isnt enough incentive at the moment to play the slower, scaling style compared to a bruiser like Renekton and Sylas who have much greater damage and are nearly as tanky.

I wouldnt count Juggernauts as traditional tanks simply because of their damage and lane presence, and then falling off somewhat late rather than becoming stupidly strong.

The only viable tanks at the moment (Ornn and Nautillus) both can easily snowball a lane as a powerful early game presence as well and being late game monsters.

Its just far more effective to play a lane dominant champion and try to end the game earlier, and even if the game does go past 30 minutes, you still do the same thing as a tank while being able to build one or two damage items ontop of that.

And that's not bringing the lack of itemisation into count, having only MR items for a very specific purpose as opposed to many general-purpose armor items. You mentioned Thornmail and Sunfire being weak, but they are some of the best tank items, and along side things like Iceborn Gauntlet or Deadmans Plate should be the kind of thing that alot of other ones are turned into.