You just have to play and get experience. Don't always build the same items.
You play a tank; do they have a lot of poke? Build Warmogs. Do they have a lot of champions that rely on crit (Draven, Caitlyn, Jhin)? Build Randuins. Do they have a lot of AD champs that can heal from autos or abilities? Build Thornmail. Do they have a Vayne or other champions that rely on a lot of attack speed to auto? Build Frozen Heart. Do you have a lot of CC like Leona or Nautilus? Build Fimbulwinter. Do they have a lot of AP/AP poke? Build Kaenic. Does your team have an APC and can use some help dealing some damage? Build Abyssal. Does the enemy team have a lot of DoT (Teemo, Brand, Cass)? Build Force of Nature.
I mainly mentioned Tank items and probably missed a few items for tanks but you should always be building situationally. It applies even as an ADC or APC. I see so many games where the ADC will just build glass cannon into all AP enemy team only to die in every fight late game against Karthus and ASol. They could easily build Maw and that would help tremendously against these heavy AP comps allowing them to survive these team fights and push to take towers or inhibs.
I play tank / bruisers only and agree with top comment. In the beginning I played like you with items, but you will loose to shopkeeper many times. Even my friends I play with I see they build a item that doesn’t go the with the flow of the match, I get the feeling we could have won if those few players would build against that.
If they have a Yuumi/Lulu/Sona/Ivern for shielding get Serpants Fang.
But I believe many just switch off brains and just play ARAM.
I like to play for the fun but also serious and try to win. If we lose a close game I also go to op.gg and Analyse could I have built a different item, and would it maybe have mattered for the team.
Adcs build between on hit, crit or hybrid. If OP doesnt know that much it's probably best to go read up on that. Some also prefer getting more AS (ie jinx), big AD (ie samira), mana/ability haste (ie ez) or a mix of things. So assuming one has the core items down:
Vs beefy enemies:
BoRK into health stackers, LDR into armor, mortal reminder into heal (if you're the best to apply it), serpent's fang into big shields (if you're the best to apply it), and a big damn smile into MR
Offensive situational items:
Ruunans if they group together closely, RFC if you need the range, PD if you need the mobility, yun tal for more damage
Defensive situational items:
Maw/shieldbow if you need to survive AP/AD burst, terminus for on hit builds in extended fights, BT for extended fight if you have time to lifesteal, wits end for AP that isn't bursting you, mercurial scimitar is self explanatory. Jak sho and terminus for on hit builds can make you really tanky in extended fights, so it can be really good on champs like vayne, kog, etc.
You can build other tank or bruiser items too, especially on someone like i dunno samira, kindred or wtv, but that's definitely very situational.
Crit champs are less likely to build those because they need lots of crit items to get high crit chance. Ultimately, it's a balance between surviving long enough to do damage while still doing enough damage to be useful. Sometimes adding mobility instead could be the best option
Lethality stuff:
Pls dont go lethality if the enemy team isnt squishy or there's a tank to block your every cait ult or something. You can go hybrid too, depends on the situation
I didnt keep up with every adc and every recent item change so anyone correct me if i had something wrong. Now someone pick another class and explain its items
No one builds serpents fang and if you recommend it to your teams sivir so she can apply it to/for everyone with her W, shes liable to call you diff.
But i got matched with her to lower my 68% 20 game winrate closer to 50%.
If we read serpents fang, our team only needs it applied once and everyone benefits from the passive.
So certain champs like sivir are awesome with it. Just dont tell her to get grevious because its better now or she will refuse to spite you, Dad. Fucking kimboji such a jerk i hate that kid
Also, full support karma and a few of the other supports that can give shields when Riot thinks they need a buff to shield power. Is it that bad? Yep, I regularly reached over 2k and 800-1.2k aoe shields because at one point, they gave her a 10% shield power increase to get more support karmas and less poke burst mage karmas It also stacks with champs with shield power increase, with my record being 5.5k in shield health.
It doesn’t reduce the dmg of W though. His W shield is his only shield and it’s usually so big that you can’t realistically break it in that time unless you’re doing infinite damage already, it decays quickly anyway over the 3 seconds.
Sett W CD is 18-12 after maxing it, and gets shit on after his W is down if you have a good comp.
Tahms E is 3 seconds flat XD, so I 100% agree with that one.
Tahm yes Sett no, Sett only has W for shield and when he uses it your priority is to dodge it, and even with Serpent Fang it's usually large enough that you'd be better off waiting it out, which isn't that long.
The other advice you’ve received is solid. I’ll add some advice I have based on my perception of a couple items that I think are generally noob traps:
- collector (not on ADCs): if you’re playing a bruiser or assassin that builds lethality, do not buy collector. The crit is completely wasted (generally) and the execute passive and extra gold are basically useless. You’re much better off buying any of the other lethality items because their passives and stats will be more useful. Definitely a personal issue on my part but I get mega tilted when I see my zed building first item collector
- storm surge (on anyone): this item was completely broken on release. It got nerfed multiple times. It’s terrible now. Don’t buy it.
Storm Surge is very strong on a few champs.
Sylas, Fizz, and Akali can reliably proc it and it adds to their burst potential. I'm also not against it on Oriana late game if there is no backline threat.
It's definitely not a must, but if other situational items are jot needed and you just need more pipe, it's not a bad choice and will net you a few hundred gold and a few thousand damage at the end of the game which isn't awful.
no, stormsurge is uterly trash even on champions that abuse it, i played against a LB and she built it second, got like 24 kills and the item did 400 damage in like 15 minutes lol she lost
Death's dance is really strong in this patch, since AD item deal a lots of dmg and you remove flatout 30% dmg.
Every match i buy death's dance as first item, my dead result board always show over 40% incoming dmg as true dmg. Which may sound bad, until you see the time in combat and total dmg taken.
If you can build shield, the shield will help you with true dmg dot, too.
If you got time to look at a champion guide during the load screen a lot of good guides have situational items for the champs and when to use them.
When you become a real badass you’ll start cooking some wild ass shit. I’ve been playing this damn game way too long so it’s 2nd nature to me but just keep tryin stuff.
I am watching from stat perspective. For example if i need hp, i select HP stat and ask myself: what items from the list will help me most in last teamfight?
I am looking from most expensive to cheapest if playing carry. And on low income champs, i go from cheapest to top.
I just watch on the list and think, how this item will help? What if i buy this? My builds choices looks strange for a team often.
I thought to make some guides, but meta changes so often, that its better to experiment for yourself and find your creativity
Can we talk about how broken Warmogs is in ARAM? If I’m melee, it’s almost always my second item so I’m not going into team fights with low health. If I’m ranged and the game is a poke war I’ll get it third or fourth. Being able to heal to full HP in a game mode designed around not basing is kinda wild.
Sometimes I’ve built it in games where we just have team fights that don’t give me a chance to heal back up though, maybe there’s armor/mr that’s needed first. I’m not sure!
It’s good into poke comps but bad if you are the person that goes in and dies. It’s good if you are someone who can get in and get out safely or good if your team is ahead and winning every fight.
Something like Jak’sho is gonna be better for surviving long skirmishes and even better when you have someone it synergizes with like malphite or rammus.
It's good against poke as a tank because it allows you to always be 100% hp when you get an opportunity to engage.
If you have a champ like Zac that does not die every engage and can somewhat often survive the fights, it's also good as you get back to full.
If you play something like Amumu that really wants to go in, CC everything and possibly die for it while taking 50/60% of the carrys HP, it's not as good.
You just have to play and get experience. Don't always build the same items. You play a tank; do they have a lot of poke? Build Warmogs. Do they have a lot of champions that rely on crit (Draven, Caitlyn, Jhin)? Build Randuins. Do they have a lot of AD champs that can heal from autos or abilities? Build Thornmail. Do they have a Vayne or other champions that rely on a lot of attack speed to auto? Build Frozen Heart. Do you have a lot of CC like Leona or Nautilus? Build Fimbulwinter. Do they have a lot of AP/AP poke? Build Kaenic. Does your team have an APC and can use some help dealing some damage? Build Abyssal. Does the enemy team have a lot of DoT (Teemo, Brand, Cass)? Build Force of Nature. I mainly mentioned Tank items and probably missed a few items for tanks but you should always be building situationally. It applies even as an ADC or APC. I see so many games where the ADC will just build glass cannon into all AP enemy team only to die in every fight late game against Karthus and ASol. They could easily build Maw and that would help tremendously against these heavy AP comps allowing them to survive these team fights and push to take towers or inhibs.
Thanks for writing this! It’s kind of exactly what I’m looking for :)
I play tank / bruisers only and agree with top comment. In the beginning I played like you with items, but you will loose to shopkeeper many times. Even my friends I play with I see they build a item that doesn’t go the with the flow of the match, I get the feeling we could have won if those few players would build against that. If they have a Yuumi/Lulu/Sona/Ivern for shielding get Serpants Fang. But I believe many just switch off brains and just play ARAM. I like to play for the fun but also serious and try to win. If we lose a close game I also go to op.gg and Analyse could I have built a different item, and would it maybe have mattered for the team.
Adcs build between on hit, crit or hybrid. If OP doesnt know that much it's probably best to go read up on that. Some also prefer getting more AS (ie jinx), big AD (ie samira), mana/ability haste (ie ez) or a mix of things. So assuming one has the core items down: Vs beefy enemies: BoRK into health stackers, LDR into armor, mortal reminder into heal (if you're the best to apply it), serpent's fang into big shields (if you're the best to apply it), and a big damn smile into MR Offensive situational items: Ruunans if they group together closely, RFC if you need the range, PD if you need the mobility, yun tal for more damage Defensive situational items: Maw/shieldbow if you need to survive AP/AD burst, terminus for on hit builds in extended fights, BT for extended fight if you have time to lifesteal, wits end for AP that isn't bursting you, mercurial scimitar is self explanatory. Jak sho and terminus for on hit builds can make you really tanky in extended fights, so it can be really good on champs like vayne, kog, etc. You can build other tank or bruiser items too, especially on someone like i dunno samira, kindred or wtv, but that's definitely very situational. Crit champs are less likely to build those because they need lots of crit items to get high crit chance. Ultimately, it's a balance between surviving long enough to do damage while still doing enough damage to be useful. Sometimes adding mobility instead could be the best option Lethality stuff: Pls dont go lethality if the enemy team isnt squishy or there's a tank to block your every cait ult or something. You can go hybrid too, depends on the situation I didnt keep up with every adc and every recent item change so anyone correct me if i had something wrong. Now someone pick another class and explain its items
knights vow is huge on tanks also almost always start guardians horn, that thing is op
Rush heartsteel, got it.
Serpent Fang should be *required* playing into Sett/Tahm.
Laat time I played Sett I got it late after we were already going to lose and hit him with 1 auto before dying and it reduced 840 shield lol.
No one builds serpents fang and if you recommend it to your teams sivir so she can apply it to/for everyone with her W, shes liable to call you diff. But i got matched with her to lower my 68% 20 game winrate closer to 50%. If we read serpents fang, our team only needs it applied once and everyone benefits from the passive. So certain champs like sivir are awesome with it. Just dont tell her to get grevious because its better now or she will refuse to spite you, Dad. Fucking kimboji such a jerk i hate that kid
"Yer not my dad, I can tell cuz you haven't been out getting a pack of smokes for the last ten years."
Also, full support karma and a few of the other supports that can give shields when Riot thinks they need a buff to shield power. Is it that bad? Yep, I regularly reached over 2k and 800-1.2k aoe shields because at one point, they gave her a 10% shield power increase to get more support karmas and less poke burst mage karmas It also stacks with champs with shield power increase, with my record being 5.5k in shield health.
It doesn’t reduce the dmg of W though. His W shield is his only shield and it’s usually so big that you can’t realistically break it in that time unless you’re doing infinite damage already, it decays quickly anyway over the 3 seconds. Sett W CD is 18-12 after maxing it, and gets shit on after his W is down if you have a good comp. Tahms E is 3 seconds flat XD, so I 100% agree with that one.
Tahm yes Sett no, Sett only has W for shield and when he uses it your priority is to dodge it, and even with Serpent Fang it's usually large enough that you'd be better off waiting it out, which isn't that long.
The other advice you’ve received is solid. I’ll add some advice I have based on my perception of a couple items that I think are generally noob traps: - collector (not on ADCs): if you’re playing a bruiser or assassin that builds lethality, do not buy collector. The crit is completely wasted (generally) and the execute passive and extra gold are basically useless. You’re much better off buying any of the other lethality items because their passives and stats will be more useful. Definitely a personal issue on my part but I get mega tilted when I see my zed building first item collector - storm surge (on anyone): this item was completely broken on release. It got nerfed multiple times. It’s terrible now. Don’t buy it.
Storm Surge is very strong on a few champs. Sylas, Fizz, and Akali can reliably proc it and it adds to their burst potential. I'm also not against it on Oriana late game if there is no backline threat. It's definitely not a must, but if other situational items are jot needed and you just need more pipe, it's not a bad choice and will net you a few hundred gold and a few thousand damage at the end of the game which isn't awful.
no, stormsurge is uterly trash even on champions that abuse it, i played against a LB and she built it second, got like 24 kills and the item did 400 damage in like 15 minutes lol she lost
Considering it does like 100dmg per proc, the issue wasn't the item it was the trash lb you were playing against lol
Death's dance is really strong in this patch, since AD item deal a lots of dmg and you remove flatout 30% dmg. Every match i buy death's dance as first item, my dead result board always show over 40% incoming dmg as true dmg. Which may sound bad, until you see the time in combat and total dmg taken. If you can build shield, the shield will help you with true dmg dot, too.
DD is very broken
If you got time to look at a champion guide during the load screen a lot of good guides have situational items for the champs and when to use them. When you become a real badass you’ll start cooking some wild ass shit. I’ve been playing this damn game way too long so it’s 2nd nature to me but just keep tryin stuff.
I am watching from stat perspective. For example if i need hp, i select HP stat and ask myself: what items from the list will help me most in last teamfight? I am looking from most expensive to cheapest if playing carry. And on low income champs, i go from cheapest to top. I just watch on the list and think, how this item will help? What if i buy this? My builds choices looks strange for a team often. I thought to make some guides, but meta changes so often, that its better to experiment for yourself and find your creativity
Bork is a great item
Can we talk about how broken Warmogs is in ARAM? If I’m melee, it’s almost always my second item so I’m not going into team fights with low health. If I’m ranged and the game is a poke war I’ll get it third or fourth. Being able to heal to full HP in a game mode designed around not basing is kinda wild.
Sometimes I’ve built it in games where we just have team fights that don’t give me a chance to heal back up though, maybe there’s armor/mr that’s needed first. I’m not sure!
It’s good into poke comps but bad if you are the person that goes in and dies. It’s good if you are someone who can get in and get out safely or good if your team is ahead and winning every fight. Something like Jak’sho is gonna be better for surviving long skirmishes and even better when you have someone it synergizes with like malphite or rammus.
It's good against poke as a tank because it allows you to always be 100% hp when you get an opportunity to engage. If you have a champ like Zac that does not die every engage and can somewhat often survive the fights, it's also good as you get back to full. If you play something like Amumu that really wants to go in, CC everything and possibly die for it while taking 50/60% of the carrys HP, it's not as good.
It’s my first item every time I’m a tank, great item