Tank Itemization Theory

[quote=Riggsinator]So recently I've begun to play mostly tanks (in solo ranked). When playing a tank with a semi-competent team that knows how to not feed I am right around 90%. But I've also noticed that when people take the tank(s) I play, they don't seem to be near as effective and/or knowledgeable on playing them. This can be attributed to being in the ELO where I'm constantly playing with people who have sub-10 wins in solo ranked. But when I try to give them a few tips I'm always met with "I know what I'm doing noob." or "Play your own @$%^%#$%!% champ." So tell me if you disagree when I say this is my tank theory: Step 1: Start with something you feel is useful. I change my 1st item a lot. Jungle: Cloth Armor + potions Lane: Doran's Shield most likely, or maybe a regrowth pendant if I'm Morde/Mundo Step 2: Basic boots > Whatever boots you desire. Step 3: Hit Points! If it doesn't have a decent amount of +Health on it then I don't touch it until mid-late game. Step 4: Armor/MR depending on the other team. I like sunfires for their added farming capability, HP, and armor. Can start to tank towers soon after buying Sunfire, or even before completing it and just having the Giant's Belt and Armor Step 5: Armor/MR If I got the sunfire already I probably am going to get Banshee's next. If I'm a tank without mana I'll probably get Force of Nature. Things I rarely ever buy (and why): [b]Warmogs[/b]: Lots of hit points and health regen. No armor, No Magic Resist, No movement speed, no dodge, no nothing that isn't just pure hit points. Makes you have more hit points yes, but the other team is constantly ramping up their damage, so really you don't live any longer than before. [b]Heart of Gold[/b]: +5 Gold should be a win/win at low levels right? Not if it's causing you to be less tanky than you should be. Sunfire easily will get you more gold. Get sunfire and stand in creep waves, use a few abilities. +Gold! Ever time I buy a Heart of Gold, I do much worse than if I hadn't bought it. I see a lot of people buy these items first, "Oh its good item. It gives me lots of hit point." or "It gives me a lot of gold, I cant farm, I'm a tank." But they continue saying this even after they have died 5 times in the next 10 minutes and can't tank for more than 5 seconds in a team fight. Looking forward to hearing what other people think on these matters. Ultimately what I want to know: Do you think Warmogs is a good first item? I surely don't.[/quote]

[quote=Jebus McAzn]Warmog's is a very situational item that's really only good on Cho'Gath in my opinion, just because he reaches massive amounts of health and can easily score the creep kills to fuel it. Other than that, I agree in that you'd be better getting flat armor/MR.[/quote]

[quote=Adonikam][quote=Jebus McAzn] Warmog's is a very situational item that's really only good on Cho'Gath in my opinion, just because he reaches massive amounts of health and can easily score the creep kills to fuel it. Other than that, I agree in that you'd be better getting flat armor/MR. [/quote] Shen and Malphite do good with it too. To the first post: Heart of Gold is an average item but it builds into Randuin's Omen which is one of the best tank items.[/quote]

[quote=Freki][quote] Lane: Doran's Shield most likely, or maybe a regrowth pendant if I'm Morde/Mundo [/quote] For mundo go ruby first, with hp quint you have 898hp (if I remembered correctly). That makes you 27HP/5 from passive, and It will easily become a spirit visage. And yes on Mundo warmogs are great ;) And I don't like your analysis on banshee, the mana component is icing, the true strength of this item still lies in the passive shield, and the mr and the hp what a tank needs. About warmogs analysis what I do think, is HP is good as an all rounder. pure hp < armor or magic armor but pure hp > armor + magic armor. (if you get my point, not really clear the way I put it)[/quote]

[quote=Kael312][quote=Freki] pure hp < armor or magic armor but pure hp > armor + magic armor. (if you get my point, not really clear the way I put it) [/quote] so hp is worse than stacking either magic resist or armor, but when you try to get both, hp becomes better as you have less of each?[/quote]

[quote=DEWO]Pre nerf all tanks could go Boots -> Sunfire -> Thorn/Force -> Sunfire -> Thorn/Force -> Sunfire/Guardian Recepie good for anyone.[/quote]

[quote=Freki]This is the idea Kael, but still it depends on how much armor and mr you have. Hp is linear, armor is logarithmic. At one point you'd better invest in hp rather than armor or mr, so the more you add mr or armor the less it becomes effective unlike hp. Also for the specifics: hp is affected by hp based skills (mord ult, malhazar's void sphere, madreds), and armor is affected by armor penetration. So in each game you need to evaluate what the opposing team is doing and respond accordingly. Then you create your purchase list.[/quote]

[quote=Trojan995]Warmog's can be great when, for instance, I play tankplank and I want my parrley to actually do more than tickle the opponent. In which case I grab Atma's, then Warmog's, then a bunch of other Hp items that are also helpful (frozen mallet, aegis, shurelya's reverie) and then boots of course. With this build I have decent armor, what looks to be atrocious MR, and a lot of health to make my Atma's do decent damage. This is a work in progress, mind you, so a bunch of "blah blah get more MR and tankplank sux" would be best saved for a tankplank thread. Aaaaanyways.. Warmog's has situations in which it's helpful (atma's synergy, for instance) and I don't rush a heart of gold, but I grab philosopher's stone pretty quickly because I find the regen to help amazingly during laning. I'm a huge fan of health regen early game, and tankplank is no exception. You may dislike heart of gold, but I've always loved philosopher's stone and I really do like Shurelya's Reverie.[/quote]

[quote=PFP][icon=Aegis of the Legion size=19] Aegis. [icon=Banshee's Veil size=19] Veil. [icon=Guardian Angel size=19] Angel. My 3 must-haves. [icon=Spirit Visage size=19] Visage. My favorite item in the game, great on Warwick, Mundo, & Taric among others.[/quote]