@feral pony, Spell vamp and on hit abilities

Jingerbeardman·5/9/2014, 6:06:45 PM·2 votes·551 views

So I have been wondering something lately regarding spell vamp and abilities that buff auto attacks with on hit effects. It seems like they do not benefit from spell vamp even though they are technically dealing spell damage. I myself play multiple champions with on hit auto attack buffs and have tried building spell vamp in the past only to find out that it does not help me at all the way I expected it to.

I am wondering what the reasoning behind this is. It is understandable not to allow spell vamp to work on item derived on hit bonuses but why not kit based on hit spells and effects?

7 Comments

CaptainWednesday5/9/2014, 7:07:46 PM2 votes

Because these abilities are Auto-Attack enhancements, not spells, technically. If an ability reads, "(insert champion name)'s next basic attack will an additional X damage", then the ability counts as a basic attack. However, if the ability reads, "(insert champion name)'s next basic attack will an additional X damage and does another effect", the ability is an on-hit effect ability, thus applying Spell Vamp.

For example, let's compare Nasus's Q and Leona's Q.

Nasus Siphoning Strike: Nasus's next attack within the next 10 seconds will deal bonus physical damage.

Leona Shield of Daybreak: Leona's next basic attack deals additional magic damage and stuns the target for 1.25 seconds.

Nasus's Q is an auto-attack enhancement, an on-hit effect. That being said, this ability will apply Life Steal. Leona's Q is an auto-attack enhancement as well, but her's is an on-hit effect ability. It does something a basic attack cannot. The physical damage from Leona's basic attack will apply Life Steal while the bonus magic damage will apply Spell Vamp.

I hope that answered your question, or at least got you to understand things a bit better. Sometimes it takes a little research to tell what your ability is going to do. All these champions are so different! Best of luck to you, fellow Summoner.