Why doran shield on kaisa

Quil Evrything·Mar 10, 2018·1 votes·3,074 views

Can someone explain why the recommended item start for kaisa.. a kindasorta adc.. is dorans shield? And even pros take it (whereas pretty much all other scrubs seem to start dorans BLADE?)

11 Comments

JustMonika13Mar 10, 20182 votes

To help get her through her utterly terrible laning phase.

Darkin HybridMar 10, 20181 votes

It would be decent but looking at her base AD it's just not worth it because it will make farming that much harder.

paisyMar 10, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name=Darkin Hybrid,realm=EUNE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iE0F5VXT,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2018-03-10T15:36:38.533+0000)

It would be decent but looking at her base AD it's just not worth it because it will make farming that much harder.

Did you take into account the bonus ap she gets on auto attacks?

TegashMar 10, 20181 votes

Here's the thing.

I believe Kai'Sa is meant to be an on-hit champion (like Lucian and Kog'Maw USED to before they gutted them.)

Since one of her first items, ideally, would be recurve bow, she'd be able to apply her magic damage passive AND the +5 damage to minions on Doran's Shield far more often. It's the same reason why they recommend Doran's Shield on Kog'Maw.

Quil EvrythingMar 10, 20181 votes

{quoted}

... Since one of her first items, ideally, would be recurve bow, she'd be able to apply her magic damage passive AND the +5 damage to minions on Doran's Shield far more often. It's the same reason why they recommend Doran's Shield on Kog'Maw.

+5 is nice an all.. but dorans BLADE, gives +8, seeing as how +8 ad ;) seems kinda wierd. its like they're saying explicitly, "dont even TRY to be useful early game".

Which is kinda true, since that garbage range. but its still possible to do cool moves early, if you have a good support. (and press the attack helps)

TegashMar 10, 20181 votes

That's true. However, because Kai'Sa has such a short attack range, she can rarely make use of Blade without suffering and losing that lifesteal she just got.

Doran's Shield, on the other hand, rewards her for backing off of poke every so often and allowing the health regen passive to do its work, while still allowing her to deal damage to minions effectively.

Leaf on BushMar 10, 20181 votes

"dont even TRY to be useful early game"

Exactly, that's the reason.

Leaf on BushMar 10, 20181 votes

You deal 3 damage less to minions, I think it's managable. In return you get sustain.

l MrD lMar 10, 20181 votes

To help her poor laning .... but tbh a lot of people may disagree but she as an ADC is terrible.... shes better played mid lane... to have a range of 500 her laning would be poor she doesnt have reliable mobility like lucian does since E locks you out for a while which eases off after some attack speed into late game... i find with her range her teamfighting is poor unless you got enough AD for Q but even then Q alone wont do it ....... Her main strength to me is finding weak targets and getting picks... which is why i think shes better off played midlane... shes not reliable to be doing DPS shes an all in champ that must walk away with a kill ... kinda functioning like an assasin

Quil EvrythingMar 10, 20181 votes

So.... kaisa jungle

Leaf on BushMar 10, 20181 votes

Dorans shield is better if your goal is just to survive and farm. It gives you more reliable sustain without interaction. Dorans blade is better if you play a bit agressive or even try to go all in. In most matchups Kai'Sa can only try to survive and farm most of the time. So Dorans shield makes perfect sense.