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Building Items For The Situation

Creator: MinnE February 5, 2018 6:02am
MinnE
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Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep February 5, 2018 6:02am | Report
Hi All! So about 1 month back I started playing LoL, I have been practising lots and I am getting the hang off it. But there is 1 problem that stumps me every time. Situational Building. I get all my builds off the internet and that's what I use. But let's say that the build I'm using has a high loss rate against a certain champion. How do I change my build to suit my role against the opponent?
Ronyk
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Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep February 6, 2018 11:53am | Report
Hi MinnE!

Choosing the right items for a champion requires you to answer a few questions every game:
1. What items does my champion NEED to perform well, and what kind of damage does my champion do?
2. What type of damage does the majority of the enemy team do... or at least the ones I'm worried about?
3. Am I winning?
4. What type of defenses are my opponents building?
5. Why am I dying, or What's killing me?

Some builds and guides go very in-depth about what the normal build is, along with what different situational items could be needed, but they may be speaking in terms assuming you're more advanced than you are, so let's start at the beginning.


1. What items does my champion NEED to perform well, and what kind of damage does my champion do?

This is the question best answered by builds and guides, even quick ones. The recommended section in the item shop while in game also gives a decent answer to this question. Before even thinking about how to change your usual build, you should have an idea of your character's "required" items. Any character with a Lich Bane, Iceborn Gauntlet, Trinity Force, Hextech Gunblade, Ravenous Hydra, Black Cleaver, Morellonomicon or Titanic Hydra in their build usually requires that particular item AT LEAST. Generally, know what your first two completed items will be, and then start to answer the second question...

2. What type of damage does the majority of the enemy team do... or at least the ones I'm worried about?

You're pretty new to League, and there are A LOT of champions out there; many experienced players know the answer to this question by glancing at what champions the other team has. For you to answer this question, hold TAB during a game, and mouse over the items the enemy team is building. It'll show a tool tip saying the items' stats. Look to see if champions are building items with +AP (for magic damage) or +AD (for Physical Damage). After dying, you can also click the "death recap" button, which will break down what type of damage killed your champion.

Using this information, you'll make your first situational purchase: Upgraded Boots. You'll usually buy boots before finishing your first big item, and you'll usually upgrade them between finishing the first big item and the third. The most popular boots for any champion are the Mercury's Treads and the Ninja Tabi. The player looks to see if there is a lot of AD or AP on the enemy team, and makes their choice. These rules definitely aren't set in stone, and the other boots upgraded boots are good too, depending on the Champion.

Around the time of finishing your boot upgrades and your second big item (three items including the boots), you should have a decent answer to question three...

3. Am I winning?

Take a minute to think about it. Look at your level compared to your opponents, and how far into your build you are compared to them. The answer to this question will determine how you should continue. If it's about even, you'll need to answer both questions 4 and 5. If you're definitely winning, focus on question 4. If you're definitely behind, focus on question 5.

4. What type of defenses are my opponents building?

Alright, remember the answer to your first question: does your Champion deal mostly Physical Damage, Magic Damage, or a combination of both? Now, using the TAB key to look at your opponents' items again, see what kind of defenses (if any) they're building. If they're building against your type of damage (Armor for AD and Magic Resist for AP), building an item has has either Lethality, Magic Penetration, or Armor Penetration might be in order. If your enemies aren't building any defenses, or they're just building defenses for the other type of damage, you'll get more mileage out of raw stats, without needing penetration stats. Don't forget that some abilities of yours might scale off of stats other than AD or AP, such as Feast, which gets more powerful as Cho'Gath builds more HP items. This happens most often with tanky champions.

When people talk about building situationally, they usually mean question 5.

5. Why am I dying, or What's killing me?

Every time you die, take a minute to click the "Death Recap" button. It won't tell the full story, but it'll list your final moments. Is there a lot of AP (Magic) Damage coming through? AD? Does the death recap only account for a third of your HP? Maybe you were wandering around at low HP. Did you die because your champion got stunned by everybody and couldn't defend herself?

A little bit of Armor and Magic Resistance goes a long way.
"Fighters/Bruisers and Mages" usually build situationally by building items that increase their defensive stats and offensive stats at the same time ( Maw of Malmortius, Frozen Mallet, or Zhonya's Hourglass, for example).

"Assassins" usually build situationally by working in an escape mechanic or a safety net (things like Zhonya's Hourglass, Edge of Night, Mercurial Scimitar, and Guardian Angel)

"Marksmen/ADCs" usually build situationally with items that increase their lifesteal and damage output (like Bloodthirster and Blade of the Ruined King), relying on their team to protect them. When that doesn't work, they'll build the same sort of things the Assassins do.

"Tanks" need to change their build almost every game to account for the types of damage the enemy team is producing. Aside from their "Core" items (remember question 1) and their boots, their last three items should be used to increase their defensive stats: Armor, Magic Resist, and HP. I don't want to get into the math for this example, but suffice it to say a combination of Health plus Armor (or MR) is much better than just Health (or just Armor, or just Magic Resist).

That was a lot. Feel free to ask any follow up questions you have.
My 3 rules of gaming:
1. If your game starts to feel too much like work, play a different game.
2. Have fun
3. If your idea of having fun is ruining somebody else's fun, find a different way to have fun.
WitsEnd
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Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep March 6, 2018 12:51pm | Report
Quick reply: the post above summed everything up very well. There are core items that you MUST build, and you should always keep.

The most important thing about building is knowing what each item does and why you want it. For example, on Teemo you build Nashor's Tooth because his auto attacks scale with AP because of his E. Another example is AP champs building Magic Pen when there aren't any enemies building Magic Resist. This is what you should think about with every champion. Build your core items, and then build what items will work best in this scneario.
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Permalink | Quote | PM | +Rep March 8, 2018 10:24am | Report
Its always better to know a little bit about the champ you are playing against. Especially if you are going tank, you might need to know whether the abilities of the enemy champ are magic damage, physical damage or both. Sometimes you might want to consider going away from the traditional builds, for example when playing support and the enemy team is far far ahead, I hate it when supports still continue to build support items where other items such as randuins omen and abyssal mask might be much more effective.

Although still shabby, the death recap does provide inaccurate but enough information to show you what you are missing.
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Prate_k wrote:
Its always better to know a little bit about the champ you are playing against. Especially if you are going tank, you might need to know whether the abilities of the enemy champ are magic damage, physical damage or both. Sometimes you might want to consider going away from the traditional builds, for example when playing support and the enemy team is far far ahead, I hate it when supports still continue to build support items where other items such as randuins omen and abyssal mask might be much more effective.

Although still shabby, the death recap does provide inaccurate but enough information to show you what you are missing.


I hate Teemo

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