Riot, you've finally convinced me that you don't play your own game.
Let me spell it out. The ONLY champions who EVER built Liandry's Torment were ones that already inflict DOT magic damage and Zyra. We're talking one of THE most cost inefficient items in this game, and the passive isn't even that good.
Penguin Eclipse13 votesI think you would be surprised how many different champions buy the item. Regardless of how well it works on them.
The Bearded Bard10 votesHmm champions that don't do DOT damage that can still very easily build Liandries would include Elise, Anivia (I personally don't, but it's not the worst item on her), Amumu, Heimerdinger, Eve, Karma (yes, she's got DOT, but I'd build it on her more for her awesome poke than for the W damage), Kat (I personally think this item is trash on Kat, but other people don't.), Lissandra, Vlad, Viktor, Velkoz, aaaand Nunu.
junglerboy165 votesAnivia and Amumu are both very much DoT champs with Glacial storm and Despair being their two highest damage sources. Viktor doesn't ever build Liandry's anymore because they removed his E's DoT (RIP Lazerburn). Other than that, yes those guys can use it, some to excellent effect like Lissandra and Vlad, but most do not get it often. Mostly, it is more of a tank/AP bruiser item since it is relatively inefficient compared to raw AP on most mages who don't have a ton of CC to proc the bonus damage.
Darkwind8 votesAnivia's damage is NOT mostly from glacial. It's mostly Q and E. The only time most of her damage is from her r is when the enemy team is shit and just fights forever in the ult, and that doesn't happen in mid gold+. Also, if it does happen, you're pretty much guaranteed to win the fight. You 100-0 people with e>r>q>e, whether they are tanky or not. Squishies you can often kill with just q+e if you land it perfectly (very difficult), and failing that a stun+e+3 ticks of r dmg (1 second stun+toggle off r) will kill them.
Raja Chachki3 votesFor your Q>E combo, I suggest just placing R before E to get the double damage. (Blackfrost Anivia best skin NA)
Serpens3 votesHe was talking about using Anivia's E right before using her R so that the combo comes out faster. He didnt mean use E by itself then use R.
Hyrum Graff1 votesWhat The Ice Wizard said. If you cast R very quickly before E, because E has a travel time but R is instant, you still get the bonus damage.
#Things only anivia mains know
Darkwind1 votesNot a big fan of blackfrost, actually. I never got used to the different animations, i play a lot worse on it. Team spirit is my most played, although hextech and bird of prey are also very good. The only subpar aniv skin is noxus hunter.
Also, these other guys know their stuff, that's exactly what i meant. using e then placing r makes the combo much more reliable and much faster.
Drunk Rummate4 votes[{quoted}](name=Corporal Cupcake,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wGxMjW8i,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2015-01-27T22:41:41.296+0000)
Hmm champions that don't do DOT damage that can still very easily build Liandries would include Elise, Anivia (I personally don't, but it's not the worst item on her), Amumu, Heimerdinger, Eve, Karma (yes, she's got DOT, but I'd build it on her more for her awesome poke than for the W damage), Kat (I personally think this item is trash on Kat, but other people don't.), Lissandra, Vlad, Viktor, Velkoz, aaaand Nunu.
I would sooner have a 1 stack mejais than a liandry's on kat, because at least the mejais may be useful eventually.
Remlap12234 votes30 flat pen on top of 35% magic resist ignore isn't useful? Is this Season 2?
ndruo2 votesLeave it at a Haunting Guise.
That 1415 upgrade cost is most of a NLR, and getting the Zhonya's out faster is vastly more important.
ABlueQuaker2 votes[{quoted}](name=Corporal Cupcake,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wGxMjW8i,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2015-01-27T22:41:41.296+0000)
Hmm champions that don't do DOT damage that can still very easily build Liandries would include Elise, Anivia (I personally don't, but it's not the worst item on her), Amumu, Heimerdinger, Eve, Karma (yes, she's got DOT, but I'd build it on her more for her awesome poke than for the W damage), Kat (I personally think this item is trash on Kat, but other people don't.), Lissandra, Vlad, Viktor, Velkoz, aaaand Nunu.
You forgot Mundo, Zac, Cho'Gath (every single E applies Rylai's and Liandry's), Mordekaiser, Kennen, Katarina, Azir...
balbraaksel2 votesBrand.
FistOfSharkiesha5 votesIt's especially funny because it's a recommended item on like 80% of mages.
junglerboy164 votesEvery AP bruiser I can think of builds it, but you're right in that most of them are pretty DoT heavy already. BTW, do you even realize how ridiculously strong its passive is? 2% per second for three seconds is 6% Current health bonus damage each spell, even more for DoT, and if they are CCed, it is 4% per second, or 12% Current hp total. I know it isn't that exact amount, but it really, REALLY burns for a ton.
SerBlaise2 votesthis isn't true damage though, its magic damage. so that 6% or 12% current health is mitigated by MR, which tanks usually build anyways.
junglerboy161 votesBotRK is physical damage and most tanks stack armor. What is your point? I'm not trying to say that I could 100-0 you with Liandry's, I'm just saying it is more powerful than the OP gives it credit for.
SerBlaise1 votesidk why you mentioned botrk, as i don't see where it was mentioned. I agree liandrys is powerful, but its not what I would prefer in a tank buster IMO. It just takes too long to have any effect. It's fine if you are seiging or trying to break a siege. but in a straight up teamfight it's little more than a tickle. The magic penetration does more than the actual burn i bet.
junglerboy162 votesLiandry's is the AP % damage item, BotRK is the AD % damage item. Of course neither deals true damage, but there is no denying that both deal a ton of damage. I was responding to how you said it doesn't deal true damage. As for not dealing damage quickly, I don't think most people realize that it is an AP BRUISER item, not a mage item. If I ice that up on Amumu or Alistar, I can do a huge amount of AOE DPS, and when my kit as either one lacks burst, DPS is the absolute best option. It is designed for tanks to use against tanks, not as a mage item unless they want a hard early game powerspike (where they usually stop at haunting guise).
Moonshade2 votesEvery AP bruiser I can think of builds it, but you're right in that most of them are pretty DoT heavy already. BTW, do you even realize how ridiculously strong its passive is? 2% per second for three seconds is 6% Current health bonus damage each spell, even more for DoT, and if they are CCed, it is 4% per second, or 12% Current hp total. I know it isn't that exact amount, but it really, REALLY burns for a ton.
Your math is off, each tick functions on current health meaning that since their HP is 2-4% less after each tick the next tick is less than 2-4% of their current HP when it was applied. The damage from Liandries passive also means it can never kill unless the target is at 1 HP since it will just keep doing a % of current HP. The damage from Liandries also is flawed in that the only mages which can use it consistently and to full effect are mages like Anivia, Swain or Azir since they have spells with low cooldowns that they can use to constantly reapply the DoT. Azir with his soldiers and Anivia with her storm (more so in team fights where people may not notice it and escape early).
alagore4 votesEvery AP bruiser I can think of builds it, but you're right in that most of them are pretty DoT heavy already. BTW, do you even realize how ridiculously strong its passive is? 2% per second for three seconds is 6% Current health bonus damage each spell, even more for DoT, and if they are CCed, it is 4% per second, or 12% Current hp total. I know it isn't that exact amount, but it really, REALLY burns for a ton.
Except that each tick reduces the damage of the next if I remember correctly.
Cindikle4 votesThe damage the item does is actually very strong. As long as you can keep procing it.
Kouga4 votesWho built them isn't the point so much as why they are building them.
DFG was originally meant as a buy against tanks. It has AP for damage, %HP damage active (to counter health stack) and amplified magic damage active (to counter resistances). Lissandry's also fills this role against tanks, and does it better. It has AP for damage, a persistant %HP damage (to counter health stacking, but is sustained vs an active), and has MPen (to counter resistances, and again is sustain and permanent effect rather than a brief window like DFG), plus it gives Health for durability.
Most caster or burst mages could (not saying should, saying could) built DFG or Lissandry's for the purpose of fighting tougher champions, while AP fighters and AP Tanks (Singed, mumu, zac, etc) could build Lissandry's, but would not want to build DFG
Their point isn't who builds Lissandry's, because any of them can. The point is why certain mages build DFG, and the answer is resoundingly: MOAR BURST.
Mistress Madoka6 votesLissandry's
: -Heavy Breathing-
*Liandry's Torment
Kouga1 votesCurses! Thank you for catching that. My mistake - I was writing this during the tail end of a 15 hour night shift. I'm surprised that was my only error
Mistress Madoka1 votesLol. No problem. It gave me a good chuckle while reading it.
Orangesilk3 votesI've seen Rumble, Cho'Gath, Amumu, Elise and Sejuani build it.
It's not an anti-tank item, it's a TANK ITEM
Champion Skin2 votesThat is because Tanks generally have the CC to increase the burn and tanks generally have low damage which means that the target is usually still at high health when they proc the burn (which means the burn deals more damage and is more useful as it is based on current health)
And tanks also generally have rather bad scaling but high base damages which works well with the magic pen
Arkna2 votesEvery single aspect of the item describes, to me, an ap bruiser/tank item. It's an item that can be procced on multiple enemies with a strong incentive to cc them. It offers both offensive and defensive stats, and the lack of an internal cool-down promotes extended use over a teamfight.
balbraaksel2 votesLooks to me they haven't realized yet that with all the percent health abilities they gave champions lately they too become tankbusters with enough penetration. 4000 health against flat damage wis 4000 health (no surprise there) but against percent health damage the tank with 4000 health has 100% just like any other champion. Making health far less effective.
I especially dislike Gnar for it, can't it just be flat damage? :s Riot should really stop with percent health damage on abilities unless there will come a tankdestroyer class champion.
Cupkek1 votes
I build Liandry's on all of the above champions. Sure it's not WTFBOOM1SHOT420SWAGOPDMG, but it's great for whittling down tanks with a couple taps.
Do I need to continue?
Hinagiku331 votes[{quoted}](name=Oopsie Daisies,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=wGxMjW8i,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2015-01-28T01:00:33.016+0000)
I build Liandry's on all of the above champions. Sure it's not WTFBOOM1SHOT420SWAGOPDMG, but it's great for whittling down tanks with a couple taps.
Do I need to continue?
Considering all but Elise in that list do magic DOT damage, aren't you just agreeing with the OP? Hell, even Elise sorta does magic DOT if you count her spiderlings attacking...
5G8Nri0B544 votesHer spiderlings don't proc Liandries.
However the item is good on Elise because she scales better off magic penetration. It also provides some hp to let her survive, and the Passive effect is just bonus atop her harass.
...of course that is talking about an Elise that's any good. In her current state who knows what items are good/bad on her. But before it was a great item on her.
EndlessSorcerer3 votesI don't think I ever really upgraded to Liandry's Torment on Elise. I'd usually get Sorceror Shoes and Haunting Guise early in the game for damage, followed by tank items. If the game went on long enough, I'd usually sell the Haunting Guise for a Void Staff instead of upgrading it.
I can understand Liandry's Torment being better for poking and sieging, but how do they compare for straight-up fighting enemy targets (tanks or squishies)?
Raxistaicho1 votesYes, Elise still prefers mpen. You'd be forgiven for not being certain because a depressing majority of her players STILL go AP >
Meep Man1 votes
On a side note, Brand can deal 8% max health and 12% (24% while CCd) current health with one spell, increased to become a 4 second 15% slow with Rylai's. Brand IS tank burning LITERALLY!
I just wish Brand had DoT spells.
Xx420n0sc0p3sxX1 votesno, its 6% base, 12% when cc'd. Sorry bro.
Manwad1 votesVel'Koz buys it too.
It helps his absurdly high base damage to bring low MR opponents to like 0 or less MR.
Champion Skin2 votesIsn't that why you buy haunting guise and sit on it? As upgrading gives so little
upgrading haunting guise costs 1415 gold and it only gives you 25 ap and 100 hp... and the passive which really doesn't do much as it is % of current health (and you need to hit them with an ability and damage it for the burn to start)
Ellphi1 votesI don't understand what this 'tank' thing everyone keeps talking about is.
You mean the guy with short range in front that dies in 2 shots?
VegetableFoe1 votesI am a Zyra main and I don't buy Liandry's Torment, except late game very situationally.
There are many, many, many issues with Liandry's Torment which make it a joke of an item in a lot of scenarios. First of all, the item is flawed to begin with. The flat magic penetration on the item is ineffective against tanks, and the passive burn is supposed to be good against tanks. It ends up being good against high health targets who don't have magic resist. That generally doesn't happen, but on top of that it's more effective to just stack AP because as you build more damage, your initial damage does a greater chunk of the enemy health. If you use your full combo as a mage and chunk the enemy to half health, your Liandry's burn isn't "burning" the tanks healthbar, it's just a small chunk of damage which isn't significantly better than any other AP item you could buy. Additionally, flat magic penetration is NOT a late game stat. Come late game, enemies will have large amounts of magic resist, and even the carries will have probably have 122 magic resist.
On top of that, you get 300 health from the item. This is really awkward since flat health is most effective early game, and becomes almost entirely useless late game without resistances to back it up. If you're 500 health compared to 200 health late game, you're still dead in one spell or auto attack unless you have the resistances to make it otherwise. Mages, especially the ones who can build Liandry's Torment, are not building much in terms of resistances. If you look at Zyra, who is the "poster child" for Liandry's Torment, the only resistances she gets in the game are Zhonya's and maybe Athene's, and then potentially a Banshee's last item (but with Liandry's built in addition to that, you're lacking the damage of a late game mage). If you're playing mid lane Zyra, you're running scaling health yellows or if you're a support you are running flat health yellows. You have zero armor from runes, at most you're running 12 magic resist going into a game. 50 bonus armor and 37 bonus magic resist. 50 bonus armor and 92 bonus magic resist in the absolute best-case scenario. That 300 health is worthless. It makes you a lot tankier early, and it is wasted gold late. Yet another early game stat on what is supposed to be a late game item.
Earlier I was playing a game as Zyra and someone told me that Liandry's Torment would be a good buy. Presumably because they figured Cho'gath has about 4000 health. However, between MR/lvl from being a melee, Spirit Visage, Mercury Treads, runes, and masteries, Cho'gath had so much magic resist that it was better for me to buy a Void Staff. The health doesn't help me, the magic penetration is pitiful compared to an equal amount of gold spent towards ability power. So it's 2900 gold for me to get 50 AP and a passive which deals magic damage. But the magic damage won't put a dent in him because he has too much magic resist. Probably the single best champion in the game to buy Liandry's Torment against, on what many people (not I) believe to be the best Liandry's Torment user, and it was still not the correct purchase. Void Staff is cheaper, it is better, and it is more effective against the other enemies as well.
Liandry's Torment is just such a mixed bag. It has early game stats and a late game passive. The passive requires magic penetration to be effective. But having a full AP build will do more damage than sacrificing an item for Liandry's Torment. And Liandry's Torment doesn't synergize with building more AP, because more AP means less health to burn. Liandry's burn damage is most effective against high health targets, but the only way it is going to hit a high health target without them already being chunked is to be hit by a poke spell. But there aren't very many "poke" spells that don't already come loaded with damage. Nidalee Q, Xerath Q, and Ziggs Q are some of the only spells long range enough to be used without being in a fight, and those all chunk health bars on their own. Zyra's 800 range Q isn't long enough to poke people late game, and her plants sure as hell won't live longer than one auto attack, if they get an attack off at all. Most likely you spawn the plant while sieging and it attacks a minion, gets one-shot by the tower, or people are out of range of it. Bam, about a 7-8 second cooldown seed which is useful for all-ins is now dead without accomplishing a thing. It just isn't feasible to get Liandry's Torment to burn on a full health target.
Mistress Madoka2 votestl;dr
Wînter Fox1 votesEarlier I was playing a game as Zyra and someone told me that Liandry's Torment would be a good buy. Presumably because they figured Cho'gath has about 4000 health. However, between MR/lvl from being a melee, Spirit Visage, Mercury Treads, runes, and masteries, Cho'gath had so much magic resist that it was better for me to buy a Void Staff. The health doesn't help me, the magic penetration is pitiful compared to an equal amount of gold spent towards ability power. So it's 2900 gold for me to get 50 AP and a passive which deals magic damage. But the magic damage won't put a dent in him because he has too much magic resist. Probably the single best champion in the game to buy Liandry's Torment against, on what many people (not I) believe to be the best Liandry's Torment user, and it was still not the correct purchase. Void Staff is cheaper, it is better, and it is more effective against the other enemies as well.
I think it's silly to compare Void Staff vs. Liandry's since you're probably going to get both. But I'll still do the math for you, and we'll see if you have the same opinion afterward. You're welcome in advance.
Void Staff vs. Liandry's:
Lvl 16 
4000 Health
21 in Defense tree
Flat MR Glyphs
Total Magic Resist: 163
51 base + 55 
+ 25
+12 runes
masteries: +5 "Resistance" + 10 "Legendary Guardian" (we'll assume he has 5 enemy champions around him) + 5% of bonus MR = 163
Void Staff 
:
We'll assume our 
has 300 AP before her purchase. Let's just say she has 0 Mpen at this point because she messed up her runes/masteries, doesnt buy Sorc boots, and I'm too lazy to calculate her crap. This is even more in Void Staff's favor.
370 AP 35% Void Staff Passive
Now manages to hit Cho with one Q. No plants - just one simple hit with fully leveled Q.
*Q damage: * 210 base + 370 AP × (65% scaling) = 450.5 damage
Reduction: 163 MR × 0.65 (Void Staff) = 106 MR
1 - 106/(106+100) = 48.5%
Actual Q damage:
450.5 × 48.5% = 218.7 damage
Liandry's Torment 
:
Same assumption - 300 AP, 0 Pen beforehand, and one Q.
350 AP +15 Pen
*Q damage: * 210 base + 350 AP × (65% scaling) = 437.5 damage
Reduction: 163 MR - 15 (Liandry's) = 148 MR
1 - 148/(148+100) = 40.3%
Actual Q damage (initially):
437.5 × 40.3% = 176.3 damage
Now we calculate Liandry's passive damage- we'll even assume decided not to buy 
so the damage isn't doubled.
1st tick: 3,825.7HP × 2% = 76.5 76.5 × 40.3% = 30.8 damage
2nd tick: 3,794.9HP × 2% = 75.9 75.9 × 40.3% = 30.6 damage
3rd tick: 3,764.3HP × 2% = 75.3 75.3 × 40.3% = 30.3 damage
Total Q damage:
176.3 + 30.8 + 30.6 + 30.3 = 268 damage
Conclusion:
Void Staff: 218.7 Liandry's: 268
While Q does more damage initially with Void Staff, Liandry's does more overall. The total damage actually evens out when Cho'gath is a bit less than 50%HP, and that's when Void Staff takes over. Of course, this is all assuming Zyra has 0 MPen besides VS/Liandry's, no plants to reapply the burn, and no Rylai's which are all pretty ridiculous assumptions. With Rylai's, Void Staff only takes over when Cho is around 20%HP with 1 no-planted Q
TL; DR Everyone severely underestimates Liandry's burn damage.
Trylobyte1 votesThe problem with it being an AP bruiser item is that as an AP bruiser you're still better off with other items. As others have explained, the MPen gets insignificant very quickly and the burn damage vs. other tanks eventually approaches nothing as they get more magic resist. If you want to get the most out of it, you need to have four things: AoE, DoT, CC, and a way to sit in the middle of the enemy team. Which would make it useful to 
and, uh, 
I guess since other people can slow them. And even then, two of them ( ) would rather be building health over AP anyway because they scale better with it and it fits their role in a teamfight better and usually wants other items.
Raxistaicho1 votesThe problem with it being an AP bruiser item is that as an AP bruiser you're still better off with other items. As others have explained, the MPen gets insignificant very quickly and the burn damage vs. other tanks eventually approaches nothing as they get more magic resist. If you want to get the most out of it, you need to have four things: AoE, DoT, CC, and a way to sit in the middle of the enemy team. Which would make it useful to
Shyvana has innate %hp magic damage in her E anyways and has no reason to get it from LT, especially since bork's better if she needs more.
f00G3MxfPP1 votesliandry's deals 6% per ability (actually less since it's 2% then 2% then 2%) 2% per second
botrk deals 8% per auto (autos come more frequently than abilities) per second scales with attack speed, triggers from .65 times per second at lvl 1 to 2.5 at max as
even considering magic dmg usually > physical (and usually this is the result of people building armor and not magic resist), botrk's passive is way better
Zerana1 votesI wonder which will happen first? A tank mage meta OR the super penetration meta. I imagine 
will replace DFG as the go to item since it provides a shield.
