Thornmail isnt meant to return damage as a tank

That's why the tutorial has build a . If the Adc build it, then all the assassins are gonna stop hitting him/her/

thornmail should have been reworked into a bruiser item instead of catering to baddy tanks tbh

Isn't the very act of returning damage a way to make you less favorable though?

ok

Lol good intention but bad reasoning. If a tank isn't a target you want to hit than why would anyone hit them xD

The change was so that adcs can't just drain tank off a tank while out of range of priority squishy targets.

in which you need to return damage to be a less favorable target.