Damage vs. Survivability

[quote=Jebus McAzn]Say you're playing Ashe and your core item build is the infamous Infinity Edge+Last Whisper, which is rather common. You've got both items, and the game is extremely even - both teams are playing very well, neither team is really ahead, and the damage from both teams is very balanced. You want to get a Banshee's Veil and a Phantom Dancer sometime during the course of the game. What do you build first? Do you rush Veil then PD? The opposite? Do you build your Negatron Cloak, build PD, and then finish Veil? Do you get Zeal, then BV, then PD? Etc, etc. What factors in an even game determine when exactly you need survivability? Just restating it, because I KNOW some people are going to miss this: Nobody on the enemy team is dealing massive amounts of relative damage - nobody is fed, nobody is doing terribly. Their Annie is just as deadly as their Corki, your caster is just as powerful as you. With that in mind, if you're in an even game, how do you determine whether you want to pump more offense or build an early defensive item?[/quote]

[quote=wRAthoFVuLK]I would say keep you items evenly balanced as well, however it depends on their comp. If they had more casters, I would say rush BV. However, if they have more physical, I would probably go the PD route than BV. If they seem to be getting a little pushy/getting an edge, I might get zeal, then BV, then finish PD.[/quote]

[quote=ShadowReign757]It depends really. Are they focusing you first? As you said, it was two balanced and evenly matched teams, so I am going to assume that the enemies have some sort of focus fire. So I'd probably go with Zeal then get BV then finish PD.[/quote]

[quote=Jet]depends what is killing you and what is stopping you doing your damage if you are getting a hard CC that makes you wide open for a few seconds / doing nothing for a few seconds, banshees if you're getting killed by their caster (all of their burst, say annie, for example) get negatron and finish banshees first if their caster isn't focusing you but still deals damage get negatron, your phantom dancer and finish the banshees. if they have no cc and have no magic damage, get your damage item first, otherwise banshee's (in these situations) will always be better[/quote]

[quote=Trojan995]Build an early catalyst to help with mana problems you kill two birds with one stone then, and you have a set place to build survivability so it's more a preventative measure than a responsive measure.[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf]It depends on how my team is. If there's a Karthus, I would already have a BV. If they have a ton of hard hitters, I rush some defense. If my team sucks, I rush some defense. Anything else, I continue as normal.[/quote]

[quote=wRAthoFVuLK][quote=Trojan995] Build an early catalyst [/quote] So you are saying, if you are planning on getting a BV later, on, say, Twitch, you are going to get an early catalyst?[/quote]

[quote=Xaioli]Like Jet said, it depends on your team comp. If you're getting cced hard, rush a banshee. If not, build your damage. Another point i'd like to make is your ability to avoid those stuns or ccs. If you're good about avoiding ccs, I'd consider building a neg cloak for safety, and a building dmg items primarily. If you are getting rapes, BANSHEES![/quote]

[quote=Adonikam]Boots->IE->Zeal->Veil->LW->PD[/quote]

[quote=JunSupport]I buy a Zeal, then build Banshee's Veil. That way, I get the delicious movement speed and attack speed, and then get myself some hp/mr[/quote]