Know Your Role - Bot Lane ADC
Itemization and Builds
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| One of the original ADCs |
Note: I was going to include everything you need to know about Bot Lane ADCs in a single post, but it got so long I have to split them up into separate posts. Check back for the guide on the ADC Laning Phase soon!
Basic Builds
Building an ADC is about one thing and one thing only: dealing damage. You should be constantly striving to top damage charts through constant auto attacking and re-positioning. With this in mind we can look at some of the standard builds for the most popular ADCs. |
| Builds are always subject to change based on who you're facing. |
Most games you'll be building these items on ADCs such as Ashe or Cait. This is because they all have high AD coefficients on their skills, and you want to capitalize on that. Cait's ult, for example, deals 200 (level 1 ult) to 700 (level 3 ult) base damage + 200% Bonus AD. The more attack damage, the better.
The build order will depend on how you're doing in lane and how your enemy is building, but a good rule of thumb is to build damage before building attack speed. Many times you'll rush the Bloodthirster then figure out if the enemy is building armor or not. If many of them have armor close to or exceeding 100, go into Last Whisper ASAP. If not, go for some attack speed. In some games that you're doing really well, you can probably spring for the Infinity Edge first.
The variation of this build for %Damage auto attackers is swapping out one of the items for a Blade of the Ruined King. These ADCs include, but are not limited to: Vayne, Kog Maw, and Twitch. You lose out on a bit of attack damage, but since these champions rely a lot on percentage damage to target, the attack speed ends up dealing more damage for you.
Does their team have a lot of CC? In a game where getting caught one last time will cost you the game, you're better off buying one of these. A dead ADC doesn't deal any damage. Swap out one of the standard items for this if you're constantly getting CC'd. This baby will save you from a Zed ult, Nami bubble, anything and everything that will stop you from dealing damage. When used in conjunction with your Guardian's Angel, you should be around a teamfight long enough to deal a lot of damage and kill their entire enemy team.
Standard Build Order
Building your ADC to be the most effective for your gold and how their team is building can be hard at times, so I'd like to normalize it for you. Most of the time on high AD coefficient ADCs, you'll stay in lane until you have enough money to buy a BF Sword and Boots. This build can evolve into either an Infinity Edge or a Bloodthirster, depending on if your team is doing well and you want to deal more damage, or if you need to sustain more in lane.
If you get pushed out of lane earlier than you can get a BF Sword, get the Vampiric Scepter, some potions, and boots if you can. This will help you from constantly getting pushed out of lane (because of the innate sustain from the vamp scepter + potions).
For percentage damage dealers like Vayne, you'll want to rush a Blade of the Ruined King as it's core on many of them. Rushing the Bilgewater Cutlass on your first back, then finishing it off as early as possible allows you to stay in lane and trade fairly evenly with most opponents you will encounter. Remember to use the active! It slows them to allow you to get more auto attacks in.
From here we'll decide on if you're even going to deal enough damage to the enemy. In many low ELO games you'll notice that the enemy would rather build more damage than armor, so you can go into a Statikk Shiv or Phantom Dancer. However, pay attention to the enemies armor. If they have more than 100 armor, you'll need a Last Whisper.
You can always opt for more damage, but if one teamfight will determine the fate of the game, a Guardian Angel is always a good buy. You have to make the decision for your specific game though; there is no exact time for each game that you should be buying this item. If I'm getting focused and I constantly can't get away, even with a Mercurial Scimitar, I'll usually get it. If no one is paying attention to me shooting in the back, then I'll get more damage. Just remember that your positioning is crucial in late game teamfights, and you are an integral member of the team at this point. Hence the role's name: Attack Damage Carry.
Remember the mantra: Not every game is the same. Your builds will usually end up somewhere around the standard build, but you should focus more on the build paths and who you're up against before making a purchase.
League of Meta Challenge: In your next 10 games as an ADC, try to have the most damage on your team. If this is too easy, try to have the most damage in your game. If you're not at the top of the damage charts, work on your build pathing and figure out what's more optimal.
Note: As stated at the top of the post, I'll have to split up the guide into multiple posts because of the amount of information. Check back later for the guide on laning in bot.
