A reminder: Last Whisper and its upgrades are good against squishies now

YumaS2Astral·Jun 5, 2018·3 votes·1,686 views

While lethality items are probably still a better rush for AD assassins, are good against squishies, now that the bonus armor penetration has been changed to total armor penetration.

is essentially the same as old https://i.imgur.com/bOlfc98.png - the only difference is that it is 500g more expensive.

is an alternative that provides a bit less armor penetration, but it is much better against sustain reliant champions, like - and now that it provides total armor penetration, it is a much better choice against squishier sustain reliant champions like and ADCs with lifesteal.

I am saying that because I still don't see people purchasing Last Whisper items, even though they have been changed now. I expected those items to be built a lot more times.

8 Comments

KhristophorosJun 5, 20181 votes

But is it worth rushing before other items? You could make the same argument about Void Staff but it's not actually an efficient item to buy early or vs a squishy team at all.

YumaS2AstralJun 5, 20181 votes

{quoted}

But is it worth rushing before other items? You could make the same argument about Void Staff but it's not actually an efficient item to buy early or vs a squishy team at all.

Probably not, but Last Whisper could be a situtional rush against something like Malphite if you are playing, lets say, Riven.

Also, Last Whisper IS efficient against an all squishy team, because even if they buy no armor items (which is unlikely to happen), you are penetrating through their base armor. Remember: champions gain armor per level, a lot more than magic resistance. Most champions will end up with an average of 80-100 armor. Even if you stack every lethality item possible, it will still not penetrate through all their armor - especially because you don't gain the full benefits of lethality until level 18, unlike flat magic penetration. That's where Last Whisper enters; it lets you deal with that bit of armor that the lethality items aren't penetrating. Considering that it is likely that they will buy items like GA, Zhonya, and/or Ninja Tabi, it is clear that Last Whisper will be necessary.

The same doesn't apply to Void Staff because even though champions now gain magic resistance per level, assuming none of them builds a single magic resistance item, Sorcerer's Shoes + Oblivion Orb/Morellonomicon will be enough to penetrate through most of their magic resistance, letting you effectively deal true damage to them, as most ranged champions end up with a maximum of 36 magic resistance, and most melee, with 50 magic resistance at best. The thing is, a smart team will never ever not buy magic resistance against magic damage threats. So don't expect to not be forced to buy Void Staff in your average game, even against a squishy team.

RexxieeJun 5, 20181 votes

Theres a big different between old and new LW.

The new costs 500g more for no extra stats compared to the old one.

Thats it, thats why almost nobody is building it, because at 2800 its better to just save a bit more gold and buy a better item, at best its just a late game item against armor stack that you build sometimes.

They should have reduced its cost if they want to make it actually good.

YumaS2AstralJun 5, 20181 votes

{quoted}

Theres a big different between old and new LW.

The new costs 500g more for no extra stats compared to the old one.

Thats it, thats why almost nobody is building it, because at 2800 its better to just save a bit more gold and buy a better item, at best its just a late game item against armor stack that you build sometimes.

They should have reduced its cost if they want to make it actually good.

The problem is that then Last Whisper would return to be a mandatory item on any physical damage dealing champion.

This item is just too good against everything, but now it is balanced by being more expensive than before.

Zeppelins circusJun 5, 20181 votes

{quoted}

The problem is that then Last Whisper would return to be a mandatory item on any physical damage dealing champion.

This item is just too good against everything, but now it is balanced by being more expensive than before.

I used to rush LW on third, or even second back in the old days. But again, we didn't have duskblade so...

GabresolJun 5, 20181 votes

35% armore penetration is like tops 30 flat vs squishies. You can get the same with leathality items and also gain the duskblade passive, the ms from youmuus and the shield from edge of night + the whole cdr.

And once you have these, more you one shot suishies anyways. In fact BC is better, with its cdr and health as next item.

MLDzXnRRRJun 5, 20181 votes

Garbage item built only vs Soraka or Mundo teamcomps.

YumaS2AstralJun 5, 20181 votes