[Item Discussion] Essence Reaver: "It's like communism"

"It's like Communism: Great in theory, falls apart in implementation"

So I wanted to talk about Essence Reaver (Which doesn't have a CB icon yet) because I feel that it's kinda worth talking about. So, for background, the apparent reason this item was brought into existence was to diversify the Marksmen's build paths (). Mostly, it was made to accommodate those who used mana frequently but didn't really justify buying /.

So, in theory, it's a great idea. Gives mana for restoring auto-attacks, a bit of utility stats for ADCs (Mana Regen, Cooldown reduction, lifesteal) and overall it's a cool idea. Where it falls apart, however, is in the implementation of this item.

Here are my main complaints about this item:

• It's expensive- At 2650g in total, about a 150 less than , this item is a pretty pricey purchase to deal with mana. Sure, it gives lifesteal/CD reduction but if you rush this or even buy it as a second/third purchase, you're going to be hurting a bit versus the enemy adc who rushed some other big ticket item.

• It's incredibly niche- 2-8% of the damage dealt as mana sounds nice, but most ADCs rarely use that much mana at ALL. The only ADCs I ever run into mana problems on are and . Most of the time, this isn't even a problem with mana drain from skirmishes. Rather, I'm just spamming and not moderating my mana efficiently enough.

• It has to compete with Manamune- Manamune is only 2100g. While it doesn't have the same stats that most ADCs want, that's almost 2 kills worth of gold packed into Essence Reaver. Furthermore, when mana becomes less of an issue late game, Manamune turns into Muramana and increases the damage dealt. Do many ADCs get this item? Not at all, but from the sound of it Manamune seems like a better purchase than Essence Reaver. ESPECIALLY considering how it grows stronger late game.

• It's a bitchin' Scythe- Not an actual problem but god damn if it doesn't have a cool icon.

• It overlaps with Sanguine Blade- Not a huge problem but it has the EXACT same build path as . On maps like Dominion/ARAM, this would be a bit of an issue especially considering that sanguine's stats end up being stronger when you put in the passive. Do I want to save a little more gold and get 10 more damage, CD and mana regen at all times? Is mana regen enough of an issue for me to get this item? Will my attack speed compensate and turn 40 to 70 and 15 to 20? It was a bit of an oversight, for sure.

• The price and stats don't justify the need- My biggest problem, the item's stats and what it gives doesn't seem to justify the cost for the items. If I wanted lifesteal on an item, I'd be better off with any of the other options. Cooldown reduction is decent but not that often required on an ADC (And 10% isn't really going to do much), 50 attack damage is cool but why wouldn't I just get a BF sword? The reason I'm getting this item is for the mana regen and, at it's core, a little more mana won't win a fight like an early BF sword/crit cloak will.

So, what about essence reaver is cool? Well, for starters, it seems to work better on other champions than marksmen. Champions like and can purchase this item and rarely deal with mana issues instead of buying a manamune (Especially if they're like Yorick, who spams so much he runs out of mana at almost all stages of the game). Furthermore, I think this item is cool. I like this item, it's neat. I just think it could be built/implemented in a bit more clean way.

Is it bad? Naw, not at all. For getting on the client for a single patch it's pretty awesome. I just feel that it could be improved a bit:

• Have an in-between or T1 version- Maybe do something like...

+ 400g = Mystic Viper

Total Cost: 1200g. Stats: 8-10% Lifesteal (Negotiable for price), 15-20 Attack Damage. Unique Passive: Mana Venom: Basic attacks grant 1-4% of the damage dealt as mana. The lower the mana, the higher the return.

This way you can build a smaller version to deal with current mana problems (As well as expand the early-mid tier of marksmen items that seems to be lacking a bit) and upgrade it later when you feel the need.

• Change the buildpath- How about instead of overlapping with on maps, we can change the path so that it's a bit more "unique". For example:

+ = Essence Reaver.

Now the cooldown reduction doesn't seem to pop up from thin-air (As it's on brutilizer), the armor pen could either be added or lost upon upgrade (Giving a meaningful trade-off between the various brutilizer upgrades you could get) and there is no longer an overlap. Not to mention you have two decent mid-game marksmen items to carry you until you A.) Build essence reaver or B.) opt for rushing a different item.

• Make the divide between Essence Reaver and Manamune more unique- How about we make there bit a more of a divide between the two. Maybe Manamune is for champions who function better with higher mana pools or tanky champions who will build more mana items while Essence Reaver works best for champions who need just a -little- more mana to get through the day. As of now, these two items feel like they're fighting to occupy the same position.

Overall, I'm not design expert. I'm just suggesting some ideas and trying to diversify the build path and what may be best for an item like Essence Reaver. In indea, it's an awesome concept. In execution, it leaves a bit to be desired. However, for being out for only a patch, at least the problems aren't that bad at all.