I don't know, probably because every time an ADC builds an item that has HP on it, or any defensive item that isn't Maw/EoN, it gets nerfed into oblivion and made non-viable? Maybe, just maybe because Riot guts defensive items when an ADC looks at them funny, to the point where just building glass cannon into lifesteal gives a longer average survival time than building pure defense. Maybe that is why :^)
MissingKayo50 votesMaybe it's also because when they did use those defensive items, it was abusive and still gave them too much damage while making them far more defensively capable than they were supposed to ever be?
Not to mention those items usually weren't even meant for them ever?
Mira Arya Enthe10 votesYes but that would be a reason they WOULD build defensive, this is the reason they do not, and should not, be built tanky.
MissingKayo17 votesBut they're not really supposed to be tanky outside of options like Mercurial Scimitar, certain boot options, and then maybe like a Hexdrinker or Maw (and then Guardian's in a longer game).
Sorry, I'm being stupid, I don't really get the point you're trying to make.
Wheee, downvotes for trying to ask for clarification. Thanks Boards.
Mira Arya Enthe10 votesNot stupid. Lemme explain.
Some people on the boards suggest when an ADC is behind they should start building tanky. My post counters that by saying it isn't viable, it isn't viable because when they touch tanky items those items are nerfed(unfortunate for the tanks who use them). Because those items are nerfed, building tanky on ADC is not an option, since building tanky on an ADC is not an option they should not.
MissingKayo5 votesAh yeah, makes sense. I agree now. Thank you for the clearer explanation!
LordGeovanni20 votesexcept its never defensive items its always ad items that have defense on it
Mira Arya Enthe6 votesIt is defensive items with some AD on them you mean. Sterraks, Mallet, Gauntlet and so forth...
LordGeovanni10 votesSterraks was a great offesive item until adcs got it nerfed for everyone now its defensive but so bad that no one uses it
SH Azykan9 votesexcept the rare exceptions
can all use steraks still
macromite2 votesga is an item for carries and it is a never buy, damage is too much.
Sahn Uzal17 votesI do not think anyone expects their ADC to build tanky when behind. An early Vamp Sceptre/Ninja tabi? ok but that should be it
Mira Arya Enthe18 votesYou would think. But I have seen on the boards not once, but about 10 times "Fucking selfish ADCs build pure glass cannon when behind." "ADCs never build defensive items them expect to not be one shot."
Sahn Uzal4 votesWelp, that wouldn't be the first time nor the last time I see some crippling stupidity here lol
Mira Arya Enthe5 votesPretty much. And all I do is try to counter stupidity. Unfortunately I am human.
Disulfiram9 votesI fondly remember an ARAM game last season... we had 3 adcs (or something like that, I don't remember exactly; I'm only sure I wasn't our only damage source), one of which was me as Draven. I built him full tank, but the enemy never caught on and kept focusing me while the rest of my team destroyed them... good times.
Mira Arya Enthe11 votesCheese is always fun but if kept around too long gets smelly. It only works once in a blue moon to do something terribly off meta. Or else it would become meta.
Disulfiram4 votesIt's even funnier if you consider I was a victim of this strategy too... in a normal game, don't remember if after or before that ARAM one, the enemy was running full AP jungle Amumu and full tank Veigar mid. We got destroyed... XD
(Though to be fair, Veigar does tend to accumulate enough AP to be effective even without building any)
TurquoiseYoshi6 votesYeah, full tank Veigar is actually fairly popular for an off meta build, considering the AP you can get if you're smart. Works even better in top lane where champs tend to eat more damage (and therefore more skills that Veigar turns into AP) in trades.
Risk of Fate4 votesYou should see the dumb looks I got when I built a thornmail against an AD-heavy team or a very fed Zed. "OMG, you don't build that!" Go from being 100-0'd to killing him UNDER TURRET. It was hilarious seeing a 15-7 zed being beaten by a 3-6 Ashe who's 2 levels down.
SSJTribe8 votesSomewhere, the person who made the tutorial is smiling and nodding in approvement.
BladeSingularity2 votesLOL! Probably true.
That tutorial needs to be updated, though ...
MrHaZeYo3 votesI built a Thornmail on Kog vs a AD team and was able to survive to tell the story.
Seriously I was being dove over and over again then we lose teamfights, we had no base left and needed to get through Inner, Inhib Turret, Nexus Turrets, Nexus to win.
We fight the fight I survive the upfront damage after purchasing Thorn and just turned and spewed a metric shit ton of damage, we run it down mid and win lol.
Skias1 votes[{quoted}](name=Tidal Tyrant,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=dmYHjdZE,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2017-03-12T20:52:17.744+0000)
I do not think anyone expects their ADC to build tanky when behind. An early Vamp Sceptre/Ninja tabi? ok but that should be it
You should have Tabi no matter what. Tabi is so insanely good and efficient.
Sahn Uzal2 votesNo, you don't.
The current popularity of Ninja Tabi's are a result of the Meta. Not every game is gonna have a Graves in it. Not every game is gonna have a Lethality Marksman in it Not every game is gonna have an AA focussed/Lethality or even AD solo laner/jungler in it.
MOST of the games will probably have atleast 2 of these, but that is not ''build tabi's no mater what''
Sona Ping6 votesYou don't have to go that far. If you are playing a champion who is designed around doing damage and damage is all that they offer, and if you are behind on damage and don't do enough, your champion is all but useless. Building defense items and surviving long enough to do nothing for a few more seconds doesn't help anybody.
Irelia Bot5 votesBanshee's and GA use to be build by marksmen all the time and they were not nerfed becasue of it.
Every time they buy an item that was intended for fighters that item gets nerfed.
LordGeovanni4 votesExactly when adcs and mages stopped building defensive items at the beginning of season 4 because the pros did it they got every defensive items in the game nerfed except for 
and 
. because pros playing it can rely on and protect their carries. while in solo que you cant rely on a carry to do damage so you arent gonna pick people to protect that carry there for fighters are now dead and tanks and fighters are all mixed into one pot where we call every one juggernauts. they made magic resist and health on items worse again when they did the mid season mage update while giving mages lower base cooldowns and more cooldown items. then they lowered armor and health on when they did the adc update. thats to say nothing of the tanks and fighters that lost both damage and gained longer cooldowns.
Geshultz1 votesActually Mecurial Scimitar, Zhonyas and Abyssal sceptor have all gotten nerfed as well. What do i mean by that? Mercurial active no longer removing all debuffs only cc, removal of 10 ad For zhonyas(reduction of 50 ap cooldown increased by 30 seconds 5 less armor) For Abyssal (changed from magic reduction to 10% damage)
Penns4 votesThat or because they need to do damage and rely on their positioning and team to keep them alive kappa
Mira Arya Enthe5 votesYes, but if it was an option for them to build tanky, they would. It isn't, because Riot nerfs items they touch other than the ones meant for them. So they do not.
Penns1 votesThey do build Tabi rn tho and Id say tank items dont get nerfed because adcs build them, they get nerfed because they are broken, which is why adcs abuse them..
PB4UAME4 votesLook at BotRK, Cleaver up 'till recently, Maw, Sterak's, Deadman's Plate, Warmogs, and GA. All have been nerfed and changed exclusively for ADCs, when all of them were originally designed as bruiser or tank items.
LordGeovanni1 voteseverybody relies on their positioning to keep them alive. if tanks or fighters didnt ranged top laners wouldnt be so toxic
LordGeovanni3 votesexcept that nerf never effects adc only the fighters that the item was intended for.
Mira Arya Enthe4 votesWell yes, but it is still the reason you don't build those items on marksmen anymore.
LordGeovanni3 votesyou dont build them none on fighters either what is your point? they were nerfed so nobody touches them not just adcs dont touch them
llIllIllIllIll3 votesADCs offer literally nothing as a tank (except for a few of the weird ones) - if you don't have CC/% dmg/utility like few ADC's do then you're useless built as a tank. Same reason why noone plays tank riven
Mira Arya Enthe7 votesYes, but for a while ADCs tried to build 1-3 tanky items. Those items were nerfed at the expense of tanks and fighters. So now ADCs don't touch them.
Erockandroll3 votes[{quoted}](name=Mira Arya Enthe,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=dmYHjdZE,comment-id=00080000,timestamp=2017-03-12T21:58:34.708+0000)
Yes, but for a while ADCs tried to build 1-3 tanky items. Those items were nerfed at the expense of tanks and fighters. So now ADCs don't touch them.
Honestly, the reason why ADC's get those items nerfed, (or nerfed for them) is they never seem to give up enough for those extra defenses. Realistically they should be forfeiting damage, since ADC's pretty much rely on stacking AD, AS, and Crit chance at the same time. Yet those items gave them enough damage while offering those tanky stats.
Arguably because of their High DPS, their Tank(ish) option should be Life steal, even though it doesn't help much against burst. And people just complain about ADC's having no dueling power. But realistically, they need to forgo that power in exchange for the objective taking power, afforded to them for being the glass cannon.
TotalJerk2 votesSo... what? Buff Bloodthirster?
SanKakU2 votesI don't know man, I feel like GA is still a solid item to rush if you have enough damage in your basic kit combined with a good mastery page.
PePsiLemoNN1 votesYour point being?
Mira Arya Enthe7 votesAnswering a common question the boards have when criticizing ADC players.
junglerboy161 votesMainly because they provide nothing to their team if they don't deal damage (with a few odd exceptions like Ashe and co.)
The fundamental reason for picking an ADC is to deal damage, and if you aren't getting more damage, you fall further behind because an extra tiny bit of durability (unless it has damage attached to it like Merc scimitar) means nothing if you still can't kill the enemy before they kill you.
This has only become more of an issue recently because of damage creep, but ADCs are and should always be looking to get lucky kills in a fight to pull themselves back in, otherwise they are dead weight on their team.
Skins Project5 votesRemember me...
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junglerboy161 votesToo situational really, and it's not nearly as strong as you'd expect outside one-on-one interactions ever since they nerfed slows to not stack. That and it's expensive for what it gives you.
If you're close to full build and want to become that much more annoying, then sure, but I've never seen someone use it as an effective comeback item.
Skins Project2 votesI like it on champions like kalista/twitch... Helps stacks get on a bit more reliably.
junglerboy161 votesI'd agree with those two, but for the majority of ADCs it's not really worth the investment until last item
Critmaster Garen3 votesI'd agree with those two, but for the majority of ADCs it's not really worth the investment until last item
its worth the investment when youre already snowballing.
its also worth the investment to buy either 
or 
when threatened by mages or assassins, and then just sit on the item until you finish the g.a. later.
really, the only time adc are using defensive items is when they can abuse them offensively somehow, like they did with mallet and steraks.
its a mentality issue that they want to snowball off damage builds.