I've had mixed success with both. RoA gives more sustain and survivability and more pressure mid/late - Lichbane gives early powerspikes to destory early/mid but seems to fall late. I fell like Luden's is more of a luxury item on Ekko if you plan to end the game before 30mins.
I was wondering from high elo and other people playing Ekko in general what thoughts are for item builds.
I've been rushing lich on him but thats just because I'm a fizz main and its second nature. If you need a little more punch in lane I'd say always get the sheen first.. It complements his E too well. You pretty much hit it on the head in the post though. Take Lich when you NEED to devastate your laner early, take RoA when you think staying alive is gunna be a huge pain in the ass.
not RoA, that is just a lot of extraHP and mana that doesn't really fit his style (unless you are building him as some sort of AP bruiser or are having a really hard lane and need the catalyst to survive). Lich bane is also a bad rush item in general (you actually need a fair amount of AP or else it is basically a really expensive Sheen in terms of damage). I'd suggest rushing Luden's echo into sorc shoes and get Lich bane as your 2nd or 3rd item (depending on whether you want a mana regen item or not).
Rushing Lich Bane is a bad idea on practically every champion. It amplifies your AP through its on-hit passive; rushing it is counterproductive because it doesn't provide as much AP as an item derived from 
.
If you're dead-set on rushing 
or 
, I'd suggest rushing Rod of Ages so it can stack up before the game is over, but I don't think it's an optimal item for Ekko. You're probably better off rushing a 120-AP item and using Doran's Ring[s]+
for sustain.
or 
From what I can tell, Ekko really loves having maxed out CDR. He does incredibly well with it, because it allows him to keep on poking Q's and have all of his abilities up and ready since he doesn't have any form of resets and well... throws himself into the fray.
My personal favourite rush is a 
. Gives him mana sustain, CDR, and the Greivous Wounds makes sure his opponents are dead dead once he hits with his W's passive. Abyssal Scepter is a great second item on him (or first if you really need the MR) because he does a lot of close range damage.
Honestly I feel like Luden's Echo is a very situational item on Ekko as a whole. It's only good, but in no way great. What do you replace in his build? He needs an Hourglass for the survivability. He syncs well with a Lich Bane. He wants the CDR of a Morellonomicon. That's just me, though.
I get the sword part of lichbane first then rush roa alot of the time, unless the game is easy and I dont need the survivability
