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AD Casters: Who are they and what defines them as such?

Ralanr··1 votes·3,932 views

As the title asks, which champions are AD casters and what makes them AD casters? The best way I guess to define them as champions who rely on their abilities as their main source of damage and those abilities mainly scale with AD.

By that definition, here is a list of champions that fit it. Note that some champions of AP scalings, but they either have one AP ability or their main damage abilities are AD. Note: This list is subject to change. Graves LeeSin Pantheon Riven Talon Yorick Zed Renekton Lucian Darius Garen Urgot and Jayce.

Would these make sense as AD casters? I know people say Riven is more of a bruiser. She is built like one, but I feel she is more of an AD caster because of the constant use of her abilities. Course that would meanYasuo qualifies as an AD caster, and I don't really know how to work with that.

Edit 1: Added Jayce to the list of AD casters. Edit 2: Added Lucian and Renekton. Edit 3: Added Darius and Garen. Unsure on Varus, will need more opinions. Edit 4: Added Urgot.

22 Comments

Beuhlakor3 votes

AD casters are champions who are focused on using their abilities.

Then, there are different kind of AD casters. You could call them sub-classes :

  • Renekton and his like are bruisers AD-casters.

  • Zed or Talon are assassins AD-casters.

  • Graves and Lucian are "marksmen" AD-casters.

  • Riven is a weird case. The majority of her damages is coming from her passive (AA) and not from her abilities. But she is heavily abilities-orientated (simply because you need to cast abilities to proc her passive). But nonetheless she is an AD caster.

Etc.

On the other hand Vayne is a pure AA marksman. XinZhao while using his abilities quite often, is not an AD caster since his whole kit is working with his AA (healing coming from his AA, AS self-buff etc, it is quite different from Riven). Etc.

Ralanr1 votes

I'll add Lucian and Renekton to the list. Lucian I wasn't sure with since I think his ultimate scales with attack speed. Renekton I don't know enough about in general.

Edit: Though your subclassifications are interesting. Where do you think Pantheon would fall under? I know many people consider him a bruiser, but personally I feel he's more of an assassin given his killing potential to low health targets. Early game I can see bruiser, but late game I see him more as an assassin/peeler.

Beuhlakor1 votes

Pantheon is definitely more of an assassin AD-caster rather than a bruiser.

But people are building him a lot like a bruiser simply because if he is not very far ahead, he is so damn squishy in teamfights that he will melt if he is built glasscannon. But he can fit both definition depending on his build (like MonkeyKing ).

Darius and Garen are definitely AD casters too. They are also bruisers and they are a sub-class of bruisers that Riot calls "Juggernauts" (low mobility bruiser champions).

Ralanr1 votes

I'm a little hesitant to call Darius and Garen AD casters. Not because they don't rely on their abilities, but rather that the definition starts getting muddy.

Every champion relies on their abilities. But whereas Jax and MasterYi's abilities are more focused on positioning or enhancing their physical capabilities, Pantheon and Zed's are more focused on being the main source of their damage. By this definition, Darius and Garen fall under the category of AD casters due to their reliance on abilities to deal damage, but they're also bruisers/juggernauts. Champions can fit into more than one category, but it seems a lot of people (and I guess myself because of my hesitation) think a champion only falls into one category. I guess this could be explained by them fitting into one category more than the other, but then we'd have to find all the categories and that gets crazy complicated.

Obviously Riot does this with fighter/mage/tank/assassin/support. But then we got subcategories that are not really "official" but are used to describe champions. Duelist for example.

Beuhlakor1 votes

This is where you are wrong and you said it.

Many champions are between 2 or more categories and Riot knows that. Meddler explained a couple of weeks ago, about Aatrox , that he was what Riot calls a "Diving Fighter". Diving fighters, according to Meddler, are bruisers that are good at picking one very specific target (and Aatrox fits this definition because of his whole kit and more specifically, his Q).

Let's take tanks as an example. Tanks are supposed to be very durable melee champions that have high base damages, low scaling and a big amount of CCs and they tend to be built purely defensively.

According to this definition from Riot and Meddler, Sion and Sejuani and Maokai are tanks. But then, what about Shen and DrMundo ?

These 2 champions have high base damages (higher than most tanks in fact) and low scaling and they are built most of the time purely defensively. But they lack the CCs of "true tanks". But they have higher base damages than most tanks. So what are they ?

The answer is that they are a weird mix of tank and bruiser.

Most champions can not fit in only one category. Most of them can fit in several categories and AD casters are no exception.

Darius Garen Renekton are true AD casters because they are over reliant on their abilities to do any meaningful damages. But they are also bruisers. And Garen and Darius are a sub-class of bruisers called "Juggernauts" : low mobility (low mobility = no dash) and big base stats. On the other hand Renekton is a bruiser AD-caster but not a Juggernaut since he lacks the "no dash and big base stats".

Ralanr1 votes

Good point. I'll update the list accordingly. I'll admit that the classification system still confuses me every now and then. The bruiser and fighter titles respectivly. Someone once told me that fighter automatically means bruiser and thus Pantheon is a bruiser. I can't help but feel there's more to it than that since their wouldn't need to be a bruiser category if that was that case.

I could be talking in circles. I apologize.

Beuhlakor1 votes

Fighters is the term that Riot uses.

Bruisers is the term that the community uses.

Until recently, fighters = bruisers for the community. Renekton Garen Darius Irelia etc used to be called by Riot "fighters" and "bruisers" by the community. At that time, fighters used to mean "Tanky melee champions with bigger damages than a true tank".

Fiora Yasuo Tryndamere and their like used to be called "melee carries". Not fighter.

Riot changed that. For Riot, fighters are now simply "melee champions" and there are different categories of fighters. Fiora Tryndamere Yasuo are now called "light fighters" (because they are built squishy) instead of melee carries. Juggernauts are now a sub-class of fighters which means "Low mobility, big base stats champions". Diving fighters, I already explained. Etc.

I have no idea in which category Riven should be put in. She is definitely an AD caster, but what kind of fighter is she ? ^^

Ralanr1 votes

I've never been a fan of the term "light fighter" We should at least try to keep it consistent with one word terminology.

Skirmishers maybe.

As for Riven...Well she's a high mobility champion from my understanding. Maybe a diving fighter?

MargaretThatcher2 votes

Urgot you forgot the most loved ad caster in the game

Ralanr1 votes

Ahh! My apologies. I know very little of Urgot. Updating the list.

Guyy Fieri1 votes

Champs can be AD casters and bruisers...shoot, they can be AD casters and tanks. The term AD caster just refers to the main source of their damage, not their play style.

Jayce would be an AD caster as well btw

Ralanr1 votes

I wasn't sure on Jayce since I don't play him enough. I thought AD casters referred to a specific type of playstyle within the character. It's why I don't consider Olaf or Irelia AD casters because they're encouraged to build attack speed (I mean Olaf is encouraged to autoattack...so one attack speed item doesn't hurt imo). I haven't played Olaf in a while.

EndlessSorcerer1 votes

Should probably add Varus to the list.

AD Varus mid definitely fits.

Ralanr1 votes

Is he more reliant on attack speed or his abilities? I've only played him once so I'm not sure.

Plus a lot of ADC champions could qualify as AD casters. The only reason I put Graves (and later Lucian) is because they are burst focused champions. I think one of the common areas that AD casters thrive in is that they are burst champions or have burst like abilities.

EndlessSorcerer1 votes

If you build Varus as an ADC, he's more reliant on his autoattacks (attack speed). item 3006 item 3031 item 3046 item 3035 item 3072

IF you build him as an AD Caster, he's more reliant on his abilities. item 3158 item 3004 item 3142 item 3035 item 3031

They are quite different playstyles, but both are viable. Varus as an AD Caster is centered around his Q for sieging around objectives so you want to prioritize Armor Penetration and CDR for consistent and damaging poke.

DrCyanide1 votes

I'm surprised Ezreal isn't on the list.

Ralanr1 votes

I looked at the wiki and saw that all of his abilities scaled off AD and AP. So I'm not sure if I can call him an AD caster due to that.

DrCyanide1 votes

Normal ADC or AD Caster are the more common build path, with AP Ezreal being more of an off meta build (barring release Runeglaive).

Toxic Feeder1 votes

no gangplankGangplank ?? literally the ad caster of all ad casters

Loggit1 votes

i know this is a dead thread, but it is a very good question that i myself am interested. in my personal opinion, the ad caster is the smallest classification made up of only a few champions. My personal opinion of who the AD Casters are would be Ezreal, Jayce, Aatrox (odd choice but i can explain if asked), Kayle works as both an AD Caster and AP Caster, i would also classify Xayah as an AD Caster, Corki is fairly similar to an AD Caster, and thats honestly it for my definition of ad caster. they are a very strange classification that isnt really a typical marksman/adc, and doesnt fit into any other role. also a difficult champion classification to give an exact definition to.

Paroe1 votes

{quoted}

i know this is a dead thread, but it is a very good question that i myself am interested. in my personal opinion, the ad caster is the smallest classification made up of only a few champions. My personal opinion of who the AD Casters are would be Ezreal, Jayce, Aatrox (odd choice but i can explain if asked), Kayle works as both an AD Caster and AP Caster, i would also classify Xayah as an AD Caster, Corki is fairly similar to an AD Caster, and thats honestly it for my definition of ad caster. they are a very strange classification that isnt really a typical marksman/adc, and doesnt fit into any other role. also a difficult champion classification to give an exact definition to.

AD casters are champions in the AD variety whose damage comes mostly from their active abilities and not their basic attacks. Zed Graves Lucian Jayce Riven Aatrox would all be considered AD casters

Ezreal is just a caster.

ModJikker1 votes

Please do not necro old threads as doing so violates the Board Universal Rules. I'm going to lock this thread down now.

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