Can we bring back zephyr

Look at that, riot op

That's such a shitty reason to remove an item. Can't the same be said for anything?

Infinity Edge became the item for ADCs to stack another DPS item on top of their already DPS-heavy kits.

Warmog's became the item for tanks to stack another HP item on top of their already HP-heavy builds.

X became the item for Y to stack another X's stat on top of their already X's stat-heavy kits.

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Well the main reason they removed DFG was Ahri, Katarina, Fizz, and Leblanc were broken using it and no one else used it. They all built stuff like lich bane or gunblade with guaranteed damage to kill someone.

And to be fair, duskblade gives NO WHERE near as much damage as "deal 15% of targets maximum health and +20% amagic damage for x seconds." This is an insane amount of damage. On just a 1000 burst combo vs a squishy with only 2k hp it adds 450 damage. You're not going to have only 1000 burst on anyone using it though. Odds are it'll add 1000s of damage to you.

Then again, it is frustrating that they nerfed lich bane to 50% AP scaling from 75%, nerfed gunblade's active, AND removed deathfire grasp all because of a few abusers.

As an aside, it's this kind of inconsistency that makes it seem like Riot's deep reasoning on their design philosophy is sometimes made up on the spot, or at least on a less solid foundation than is meant to come across. It's excellent that Riot shares their thoughts on their ongoing design process with us players, but it also means that whatever we glean from them, we memorize and hold onto for basically ever as a given truth. This also means that we tend to compare and contrast how subsequent design decisions chalk up to the values and reasons Riot has given us in the past, and if there is a disconnect, it tends to feel pretty bad. Duskblade adding raw additional burst when DFG was removed for the same reason is one such example, but so is Riot's recurring assessment of the dangers of overloaded kits, often immediately preceding the release of an overloaded champion, with their kit overload causing immediate and serious balancing and game health problems.

It's likely Riot evolves their own thought process over time on these topics, but we players don't get to see this, and so each time we're faced with these kinds of ongoing inconsistencies, and very little apparent follow-through based on prior design rationale. It would help to have more updates from Riot that precisely addressed how their design philosophy evolved on these points, or at least where they think lies a critical difference that justifies what otherwise comes across as an unjustifiable decision.

I never played when it was still an item, but wasn't it really bad?

Who?

I'm fairly sure would build Zephyr before any ADC I know of.

See, the issue is rn ADCs do need something to deal with the Zacand Ornn missing everything and walking at them or the Leona who just strolls out of combat after engaging into 5. The current valuation and itemization of effective kiting is next to none

25 AD*

it did.