League of Legends (LoL) Question: How to build an ADC

Posted in Champions 51,763

How to build an ADC

Asked by KingsGlory on January 1, 2014

I've noticed that there are essentially three ways to build an ADC: emphasis on crit, emphasis on lifesteal, or a caster adc build. My question is how can you tell which way is the most optimal way to build on a specific champ in a specific game.

Answers (5)

(538) |

The ranged ADC formula:
1. Berserkers greaves
2. Infinity edge
3. 1 lifesteal item (BotRK or BT)
4. 1 crit+AS item (phantom dancer, statikk shiv maybe even trinity for eg Ezreal)
5. Last whisper
6. Defensive item (banshees veil, mercurial scimitar or guardian angel)

@3. BotRK best in most situations. Get BT if your champion has high AD scaling and you are not behind the enemy ADC.
@4. Phantom dancer best in most situations. Get statikk shiv if you are in need of that poke or want more splitpush potential, get trinity force for ADC's that benefit from the sheen effect (aka Ezreal)
@6. Get banshees if enemies have hard engage (eg Amumu Q+R), get scimitar if the enemy have other dangerous snares (Like malzahar supress) and get guardian angel in all other situations.

Considering the three ways of building you mentioned, afaik what I just mentioned is the way to build an ADC atm. You shouldn't really get more than 1 crit+AS item nor getting more than 1 lifesteal item.

(538) |

@kingsglory; Always get BotRK and Phantom Dancer for Tristana. Pick your defensive item based on the enemies.

(569) |

You should use the guides on mobafire.com

Most of the (should) be good if they are at the top, DarkPercy's Tristana guide for example

(2) |

So let's say you're like tristana who doesnt have any ad scaling apart from her autos and the AS steroid Q. Would you still follow this formula?

(569) |

You can also build if you are looking for more burst damage on someone like

And is better choice in like 50% cases tbh. I'd never build it on someone like , , or and it's a choice on , or for example

(569) |

Well, on most ADCs you build: , /, , , and a defensive item.

E.g. , , ,

Then there are those who build more around just penetration and damage: , are must on them.

E.g.

And then those "AD caster" ADCs: , and are seen on them.

E.g. , ,

The ones who build standard ADC are those who rely on their autoattacks

Those who prioritize damage have scaling(s) on their teamfight abilities ('s )

And the "ad caster" ADCs have spammable abilities which are important part of their dueling/fighting ('s , 's )

(538) |

Its funny that you said that BotRk is the way to go most of the times as an ADC, while you had put it nowhere in your answer :P

(353) |

I thought on Varus, Jinx, Sivir you build BT shiv?

(2) |

Ohhh okay thank you.

(1) |

As with all champions, in all roles, it depends on what the enemy team are building. Most importantly you want to look at what defensive items they are building. If you are part of a heavy AP team you may find that your opponents aren't building armour. This would make last whisper suboptimal. If they are stacking health then you'll want the %hp passive from BoTRK.

Even building Berserker's Greaves isn't always the best idea. If you're going to be relying on abilities then CDR boots may prove to be more useful. Likewise, for champions like Corki who scale off AD but who inflict magic damage you may want to use Sorcerer's Shoes instead for some early game MPen.

Additionally, don't overlook some of the less popular items. I consistently purchase Runaan's Hurricane on AA champs, the additional AS along with the attacks against two adjacent enemies make it great for split pushing and applying extra multi-target damage in team fights.

(3) |

The most important thing to watch when you are building and adc is the enemy team.If they have a lot of armor get after and , if they don't get .You shouldn't use only one build every single game because the situations will be different. Of course you should have a basic idea on what to build on a certain adc like caster or a dps carry, but the items you use shouldn't be strictly defined.

(1) |

Yeah, it seems like i never use the same exact build every game, I'll always have 1 or 2 items i conditionally swap out from my regular builds based on if i need sustain, burst, or extra defense.

(29) |

It's simply very dependant on the kit of the champion: profits a lot from attack speed because of the amount of true damage she would get from her , so something like and are amazing items on her. but then you got that also profits a lot more from flat AD because of the massive attack speed steroid from her into her machinegun Pow-Pow, so and work a lot better on her as early items. Finally, profits a lot more from burst damage because of his + combo, so and are great for him to pick up early.

TL;DR: little knowledge of the kit of the champion and you're half way there :P.

(29) |

is great if you manage to get an early-game lead in your lane because of BF sword giving you strong trading potential, but I'd rather go with if that's not the case.

(49) |

actually, BT Vayne becomes more and more popular i think

(2) |

Alright. Thanks this was all really helpful. I can play most anywhere but adc and I want to be able to build it on the fly.

(1495) |

Build LW as your 3rd item and you should be fine. You can build it second on a few AD-caster-ish adcs like Draven, Varus and MF. essentially amplifies your damage output so it doesn't matter a whole lot how much armor the enemy team has as long as you have an AD item or two before you buy it.