Path to learning a champion
To any random who finds this, I’m using this old post as a place to test formatting and styling my post before posting it live, just so it’s easier to read and enjoy. So if it looks like a duplicate, it’s just my most recent serious article.
TLDR: AP Bruisers are Fighters and Juggernauts that use or could use use AP, but rarely do. The main issue is that no items give the mix of stats they need early to then move into a full AP build. There's a brief description about what these champions need and some pitfalls that need to be avoided when introducing new items for them. Some rough concepts of items are provided to give examples of what all of this would coalesce into. Share your own thoughts on AP Bruisers or what you believe they need down bellow in the comments.
Part 1: What is an AP bruiser? An AP Bruiser is a Juggernaut, Diver, or Skirmisher that could or does use AP. The most recognizable one that everyone knows is Mordekaiser. As the poster child of AP bruisers, he shows their potential and also many of the issues that they have as a class of champions. So besides him, what makes another champion an AP Bruiser?
- They need Multiple AP ratios in their kit
- Reliant on Melee Auto-Attacks for a large % of their damage
- Front line characters meant to take a lot of damage
Some champions are recognizable instantly, while others like Shyvana or Volibear might surprise you. They both have fairly large AP ratios on 2 or more of their abilities, Volibear not having any ratios besides health and AP, but are never seen building any. Some other champions like Nasus have fairly established AP builds, but are so ineffective they are often called trolls for building it. Here’s a list of all of them:
- Mordekaiser
- Nasus
- Volibear
- Skarner
- Shyvana
- Hecarim (distinctly different from the rest)
- Nunu and Willump
- Galio
- Jax
- Udyr
- Irelia
- Diana
- Maokai + most Tanks
- Some supports like Leona and Alistar
Some other champions like Shen or most other tanks almost make this list. However, they are viewed as “secondary targets” in this situation, the same way that triforce wasn’t built for Corki, but he often uses it. If it provides some unique mechanics and interesting choices for these champions, that’s great, but it’s not the goal.
AP Bruisers fall somewhere between a Battle Mage and a AD Bruiser. They rely heavily on abilities for damage and survival in team fights like a battlemage, while meant to absorb a lot of damage and act as a front line threat like an AD Bruiser. Champions like Irelia or Jax focus on different abilities than normal when they build AP while champions like Galio or Nunu meet somewhere between their full tank builds or bursty mage builds. Some Champions like Shyvana can feel like new champions, completely changing their approach to a team fight. So why is it rare to see these builds? The issue is in their items.
Part 2: What AP Bruisers Need Imagine for a moment Triforce and Black Cleaver were not in the game. What would be the first item you would buy for a Juggernaut or Skirmisher? A lot of them offer parts of what those two do, but their all missing something. The combination of stats you need as quickly as possible no longer exists on any one item, and your stuck buying components of multiple trying to patch together a workable build.
This is the issue AP bruisers face. They need a combination of stats that no item offers in the game. What they need is
- Ability Power
- Health
- Attack Damage (small amount)
- Mobility
The first two are probably obvious at a glance. Many items have these, but then lack the second two. Let’s go into why these other stats matter.
While probably the last thing you’d expect an ABILITY POWER BRUISER to be needing, AD is a crucial stat. Look at Mordekaiser, the poster child of AP Bruisers. He has one of the highest base AD in the game at all levels in order to function. Other champions have to be balanced around AD builds and can’t be gifted such extreme stats. Making sure that they have access to small amounts of AD at the start is crucial for them getting off the ground consistently into AP builds.
Position in a teamfight can make the difference between getting deleted instantly or winning it. Mobility should be available in small amounts, comparable to what Triforce offers champions.
So if this is all they need, why hasn’t Riot made items like this already?
Part 3: Item Poachers and Abusers The most technical section of the article, jump down to section 4 to see what you can do to help these champions.
Some of the biggest challenges with balancing an item are champions that weren’t the intended targets using them or champions with extreme synergy. A very strong example of this was the poaching of Support items.
For a large portion of leagues history Supports were walking wards with some utility, and not very popular as a result. To try and remedy this, supports main items and gold generators, Spell theif, Targon’s Brace, and Ancient Coin, received buffs. The first one to be poached was Spell thief. Some ap junglers realized they could farm normally then gain free extra damage with its passive when fighting early, all the while paying for itself rapidly. To counter this, new mechanics were introduced to prevent the abuse back in patch 8.10, but others had already began experimenting. Targon’s was picked up by adc to have extra sustain and funnel gold onto a support, while Nasus and a few other weak early game top laners picked up Coin to make for a far more forgiving lane. Eventually all these items were given penalties for farming outside of the items passives just to stop abuse champions.
This example shows the dangers that even tweaking an item can have. Introductions like the reworked Abyssal Mask or Shurelia’s Reverie’s reintroduction lead to their own issues with a few champions taking advantage of them. Ap Bruiser Items suffer the same potential issues and need to be accounted for.
There are four major groups to account for as a result: AP mages and Marksmen, AP melee assassins, Tanks and existing AD alternatives.
Ap mages and Marksmen are probably the least worrisome. Designed for melee champions, including a melee-only clause on some of the passives would largely filter them out. Some might even be healthy, like an Ezreal using a Triforce as part of his regular build, but not gaining the movement speed passive.
Ap Melee Assassins are probably the most worrisome group out of all of them. The items need to offer survivability on top of AP, a potentially disaster plus combination for an assassin. While the inclusion of AD does mean the items are stills effective for AP bruisers while also having less AP, the danger is in whatever passives are included. If they offer a potential front loaded source of damage, then these assassins could wind up killing easier while also harder to kill. Melee-only clauses won’t stop them, and while their lack of AD ratios does hurt, they do use melee autos for damage to a lesser extent than AP bruisers. The best option is to offer long term passives. An existing example is Liandry's Torment. The damage takes time to build up, making it very unappealing for a champion that wants to get in and out of the fighting as fast as possible. Passives on these items should take similar but different approaches, boosting the strength of a champion that is trying to get into and stay in combat.
Tanks are a difficult case. Their reliance on %hp damage can mean that items like these can be extremely abusive on them. The best option is to avoid large quantities of AP, and balance the damage on also providing AD. Tanks are similar to AP bruisers in that they do fit all the criteria, but usually have a different set of tools like the before mentioned %hp damage. By giving them AD instead of pure ap, they can still act like bruisers without over buffing their very powerful abilities.
The final danger actually lies within some of the champions trying to be helped by these items. Think of Jax or Irelia. They have VERY effective AD builds. If an item strengthens their AP ratios, gives a bit of AD, and doesn’t encourage them to build more AP over AD, then you simply wind up with a stronger version of the same champion. These items not only need to offer AP for a new build, they need to encourage building more AP. The best way is once again in the passives the items offer. Things like AP ratios or something along those lines is crucial to achieving this.
Now we know what needs to be avoided, So what is next?
Part 4: Rough concepts We’ve clearly said what they need and what they need to avoid, but what does that kind of item look like? This is where it’s a great idea for you to start thinking about concepts of your own. Let’s get some rough concepts that can work as examples and look at their Pros and Cons:
Item 1: AP Triforce (names are irrelevant, just needed a place holder) Builds from: Phage+Lost Chapter+Recurve Bow+450 gold (4000 total)
- 20 AD
- 50 AP
- 250 HP
- 300 Mana
- 25% Attack speed
- 20% CDR
- UNIQUE: +15(+X% Base AD)(+Y% AP)on-hit physical damage
- Unique - Rage: basic attacks (on-hit) grant +20 flat movement speed for 2 seconds. Killing a Unit grants +60 flat movement speed instead.
(100% gold efficient before passive, same as Black Cleaver)
Pros: Proper mix of stats and encourages damage over time. Base AD ratio means that it's harder to abuse while also helping keep the AP ratio smaller, hopefully detering champions more interested in On-hit builds, while not completely locking them out.
Cons: The price is the highest in the game. It is close to Triforce in terms of cost and efficiency, but any nerfs would require trimming AP, the most important stat on the item. Also, the items sheer cost puts it much later than most others, and testing would need to be done to see if it simply comes on too late into the game.
Item 2: Haunted Hammer Builds from: Phage + Fiendish Codex + Kindlegem + 650 Gold (3600 total)
- 20 AD
- 60 AP
- 400 HP
- 20% CDR
- Unique - Rage: basic attacks (on-hit) grant +20 flat movement speed for 2 seconds. Killing a Unit grants +60 flat movement speed instead.
- Unique - Basic Attacks grants a stack of Haunting for 3 seconds, up to a max of 3 stacks. At three stacks, your next ability gains 20% magic penetration and deals an additional 10(+X%AP) physical damage to all champions it hits.
(99.3% gold efficiency before Passive)
Final Thoughts AP bruisers are a class of champions as well as a playstyle that should be supported. Introduction of new items targeted at providing the stats they need to transition into full AP is perhaps the single largest step in making them viable. Items should offer interesting choices early in the game to help avoid defining a champion or playstyle by only the items. It is a project that will greatly benefit both Champion and Game diversity by offering more options to players.
Let me know what you think bellow! Comments, positive or negative, help refine the ideas presented. I’ll respond to as many of you as I can!
This is has been a long term project that I’ve edited and researched a lot, so point out any errors, Large or small. If there's some pretty clear issues you have with the argumen, let me know. Or if its a spelling mistake, it'd really help if you pointed it out! Thank you all for reading!!!