Optimal CDR amounts on champs.

EbonRypper·May 5, 2015·1 votes·1,397 views

I know 40% CDR gets the lowest cooldown durations you can have on said champions at any point, but I have a serious question though. What is the REALISTIC performance point to reach for CDR? I think that building up to 40% with your masteries and items has some kind of trade-off like less tanky stats, or less damage per hit. Is there some area that's the actual optimal CDR point to reach?

Like let's take and who are big with CDR. Sure yeah their abilities will be low CDs and all and a bit spammable, but is going for max CDR actually worth it? I feel personally that it's not because of other important stats like MR and MP, Armor and Armor Pen, Health, Attack Damage , and other things that flow into the equation of your champion's effectiveness weigh it down some and make it counterproductive.

Any points? I'm welcome to it, and please feel free to share your opinions. Thanks.

15 Comments

ZytenMay 5, 20151 votes

Maybe Full AD Riven would deal more damage in a short trade. The thing is, that a stun and a shield with a low cooldown let you survive easier while also providing her damage through her passive.

Nasus gets CDR through Frozen Heart, Icebaun Gaunlet and other items. He gets CDR without losing possible tanky stats.

EbonRypperMay 5, 20151 votes

Ahh okay makes sense thanks.

LifeCyclesTWAMay 5, 20151 votes

As Mordekaiser CDR is necessary because the more often you get your spells off, the more often you build your shield up. The key thing is trying to maximize purchases.

FE: Spell Vamp is necessary on Mord, so if you grab Spell Vamp quints that means you don't have to buy a Spell Vamp item in game, effectively freeing up a few thousand gold to go to other places. However, I like buying Magic Pen because there aren't many magic pen items in the game and it synergizes well with my ult. My standard runeset for Mord is: Magic Penetration marks and quints, grab CDR glyphs (15% cdr at level 18), and armor per level seals.

So I have a combined 20% CDR, I buy WotA item 3152 because it gives me AP, CDR, and Spell Vamp, which gets me to the 30% mark. That 20% from runes and masters saved me from having to buy a item 3165 , which gives the same amount of AP as WotA and 10% more CDR with no Spell Vamp. Now, later on in the game I can grab a item 3065 to cap off that final 10%

Nasus is special in that the items that provide him his much-needed tankiness also provide him with CDR. Mord is not in that position as he has to go out of his way to get CDR. So its varies from champion to champion. Key thing here is to get runes/masteries that open up different opportunities for your champions. Sure, by getting 15% CDR @ lvll 18 from my glyphs I lose 27 MR @ lvl 18, but because I did that I have more gold around to buy MR.

EbonRypperMay 5, 20152 votes

So basically by the Magic Pen quints and marks, armor per level seals, and and full CDR glyphs you can have 20% CDR by lvl 18, and then grab two 10% CDR items that are core and then can focus on other things for Mordekaiser ? Awesome.

CronofugeMay 5, 20151 votes

Well on Nasus I like to go 10% in runes/masteries and go for item 3024 into item 3067 , finishing the item 3110 next. You get some effective hp against ad champs but you're pretty screwed against ap. As for most other champs I usually also go 10% in runes and masteries. Stopping at 30% for mids after item 3165 / item 3174 and hitting 40 with blue, and capping at 35 for AD champs after item 3158 + item 3134 . The boots are a tad risky so on ad champs I can't offer that much insight, for ad casters aren't my thing.

EbonRypperMay 5, 20151 votes

What about item 3065 though? That gives CDR and health with MR, and increases bonus health regen, lifesteal, and similar forms of sustain like that.

CronofugeMay 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

What about though? That gives CDR and health with MR, and increases bonus health regen, lifesteal, and similar forms of sustain like that.

I didn't mention that because I was just talking about my route to 40% on nasus, one of the few champs I'd actually grab 40 on from just items. I do grab item 3065 next and then either item 3078 or item 3143 depending on what my team needs. Love that massive lifesteal spike every Q.

EbonRypperMay 5, 20151 votes

Ahh makes sense then.

Casi YMay 5, 20151 votes

Obviously some champs work better with CDR than others. On an Azir for example who has got interscaling with CDR, it's probably best to go for a straight 40%. But usually, I'd rather try to get the CDR on stuff you need anyway. Fully depends on your pick anyway. Several tanks get a 35% of CDR with just 10% item 3065 and 20% item 3110 plus 5% in masteries. This is the optimum here obviously as another CDR item would be a waste, 5% extra CDR in runes would often be a bad tradeoff and leaving out the 5% in masteries for a sip of AS and getting another 10% item would usually be stupid on such a champ. The difference to 40% is minor.

ADCs often won't build any CDR as they're pretty AA focused and the gold would be spent ineffectively here.

A guideline, however, is to never go above 40% CDR. The cap should be respected for else the gold efficiency of the item build will be lowered and there'll be better options.

EbonRypperMay 5, 20151 votes

How about Riven though? If I got masteries, and then item 3158 + item 3134 I'd have 30% CDR right? Is that optimal for her? If so then I guess it would do me good then right?

SerBlaiseMay 6, 20151 votes

i always try for max cdr. and now that BC gives 20% it's super easy. I run 15% CDR from runes and masteries, Lucidity, and BC, which is 40%, while still running armor seals and 13AD runes.

Casi YMay 14, 20151 votes

Riven is a champ who highly profits from CDR, seeing as she has no resources like mana or energy and her CD limits her mobility CC and damage.

You should definitely pick up the 5% in masteries, so you're at 30 with item 3158 and item 3134 / item 3142 . That sounds fine and is definitely an option. Especially if you are jungling Riven, you will probably also want to pick 5% CDR in runes and go for a 35-40% build there. Also, don't forget that item 3071 is a really viable item on Riven, not only giving you a 20% CDR but also extra armor penetration.

Many Rivens actually go for item 3158 + item 3142 + item 3071 and CDR in masteries (maybe also runes) for early game. This goes far above the 40% and I would not really advise to do this. [Example: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/quot-a-sword-mirrors-its-owner-quot-riven-mid-393832 ]

At the moment I would definitely make my pick between ![item 3071](https://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/16.21.1/img/item/3071.png)  and ![item 3158](https://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/16.21.1/img/item/3158.png) .
Depending on your choice you ought to be at around 40% with the cleaver or around 35% with the boots (with brutalizer/youmus, 5% masteries and 5% glyphs).

It is also an option to go for 6 flat CDR glyphs and 3 scaling CDR glyphs (instead of just the flat ones). This will let you have 40% CDR on level 18 with CDR boots and Brutalizer (or theoretically 39.99%).

BluePolarizerMay 14, 20151 votes

I don't take the shoes. Riven needs armor as well for survivability. item 3074 item 3142 item 3071 item 3035 item 3047 item 3026 gives her 35% CDR and a crap ton of damage, HP and armor.

T RexHasLongLegsMay 5, 20151 votes

A lot of the time it depends on how important CDR is. Nasus I rush CDR on (usually frozen heart w/ 5% from masteries, and 5% scalinging blues, and then frozen early with kindle gem into SV, because CDR is the best stat to build on Nasus since the more often you can use Q the faster you stack.

Similarly I build morello's first on Heimer and often build lucidity boots if I'm not getting every blue because CDR let's his turrets shoot more lasers and ups his damage, but more importantly generates kits fast so he doesn't just lose turrets and damage late game bc he can replace them. Also being able to get 2-3 kits up quick lets you rotate between lanes and push towers really fast mid game, and the tower gold can snowball the entire team ahead and win games just from pushing. However, if I'm ahead and not losing turrets in lane, I'll often build a needless on first back because I don't need more turrets if my opponent clears them slow, the ap gives turrets health, and I'm probably poking w/ W more than doing turret damage to the enemy champ if I'm ahead very far.

On an ADC though it doesn't mater much, so think about what the benefits of CDR to the champ are. Often the only answer for CDR is if it fits how you want to play the champ and is worth waiting on raw stats in order to get early.

Drunk RummateMay 6, 20151 votes

It's not just about CDR, but also resource management. You can build 40% CDR on a lot of mages but you will find yourself out of mana very quickly if you use it all. Generally it's a good idea to build 40% CDR on resourceless champions (Riven, Vlad) but you want to avoid it on champions with high mana costs.

If you're playing a champion with low mana costs or who scales well with a Tear (Ex: Ryze) then maxing CDR isn't necessarily bad either.