General Question: Build AP/AD Items On A Champ That Doesn't Usually

RookPusher·Feb 9, 2016·1 votes·265 views

To make this more straightforward, lets take Yorick. I was reading some guides and they all direct him to take AD. But two of his abilities have AP and I'm wondering why you wouldn't build him AP. Is it that his AD scales better? If that's the case, how do i find it out? Or is it assumed his Q (the AD ability) is worth more? Basically, what metrics are at work here.

Here's why I'm asking: I just read the thread on Spell Vamp, and given that builds as part of his core set, and his E and Q are both AP damage, could you get a as his 7th item to juice up his healing? Assuming you run:

- don't fight me on this, it's better than you think (I build it 3rd)

Then I'm wondering how a might work. Which leads me to my original question - is there some invisible metric I'm missing that makes bad?

Edit: Let's say i'm rolling tank support for this question. Not top or jungle.

3 Comments

SasogwaFeb 9, 20161 votes

In this build, with ANY champion, item 3152 would be garbage, because it heals off the damage you deal, and as a full tank you deal practically no damage. At this point you're better off with a utility/aura item. People build AD on Yorick to have better damage. Since he has spammable spells, item 3078 or item 3025 are good. He has manaproblems, so item 3004 comes naturally and then usually it's about survivability he should build full tank. Why not AP? Well first off, most AP items are about scaling together (like %AP from rabadons, pen from voidstaff) so you'll see very few true AP bruisers, while AD bruisers have some items that give very good damage not needing other itemization, such as item 3078 item 3153 item 3071 .. things like that and then full tank. (ad carry itemization is another story where it's similar to AP carry, you need all the items to combine to become really strong)

And also Yorick's AP ratios are garbage. He has only ONE ap ratio, which is 1.0 AP ratio A total of 1.0 AP ratio rotation of spells is terrible for getting items with AP. Most AP champions have a total of around 2.5/3 AP ratio, meaning they'll deal 3 times what you deal. Also it's on a rather long CD (12 seconds)

PS : spellvamp hasn't really anything to do with AP. It just heals on spells. For example, Riven with item 3152 would heal on her Q,W and R. It just happens to be tied with items that have AP in it.

RookPusherFeb 9, 20161 votes

Thanks for the note. That makes a lot more sense. Just one final question here, Maokai is a tank that works off of gaining health back hence the HP regen items and the +Health. The damage output doesn't need to be great since the idea is that he's gaining health back with items, his passive, and now with spell vamp.

I guess to put it more directly, would item 3152 + item 3065 +Sap Magic result in a net increase in health regen.

Also, I wouldn't underestimate his ability to chunk tanks with W.

Guyy FieriFeb 9, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Thanks for the note. That makes a lot more sense. Just one final question here, Maokai is a tank that works off of gaining health back hence the HP regen items and the +Health. The damage output doesn't need to be great since the idea is that he's gaining health back with items, his passive, and now with spell vamp.

I guess to put it more directly, would + +Sap Magic result in a net increase in health regen.

Also, I wouldn't underestimate his ability to chunk tanks with W.

I get what you are going for with that build. However, you would be much better off getting either Randuin's Omen, Dead Man's Plate or Banshee's Veil. Some item that provide high rank stats. Yes, if you build WOTA, you would gain spell vamp (similar to Vladimir). However, since a bunch of Maokai's kit is AOE, WOTA heals for less of the damage dealt. Not to mention, life steal/spell vamp tanks are actually incredibly succeptble to burst damage (like Aatrox). You would be better served to be a tank through tank items.

With that being said, if you want to build AP on Maokai I would suggest buying Rod of Ages. It is a great item on most AP Top Laners, even if they are a tank. While I don't play much Maokai, my suggestion would be Rod of Ages, Spirit Visage, Reightous Glory, Randuin's or Dead Man's depending on the matchup, Warmog's and your boots.