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Before durability patch, it used to be that you would buy lethality items (Collector, Edge of Night) for squishy champions because they gave flat armor penetration. While armor pen items (LDR, BC, SG) were for armor-stacking tanks.
Nowadays, ADCs would get like 70 base armor at level 10 and 110 armor at level 18. LDR gives 30% armor pen while Collector/Edge of Night gives 12/10.
To put that into context, 12 lethality would get out-scaled by 30% armor pen at 40 armor. So there’s really no reason to buy lethality items over armor pen items, not even for squishy champions.
Lethality items used to serve a purpose of being the correct and more valuable buy (gold efficiency wise) against squishy champions but now they just become add-ons because armor pen items are a must have.
The whole “collector is better for squishy champions” argument is no longer a thing because the extra 25AD would get outscaled by 30% armor pen really early into the game.
TLDR :
Before - Enemy squishy, build Collector/Yomuu’s first because flat pen and more AD.
Now - Doesn’t matter what the enemy is, math says to build LDR/SG first because everyone has too much base armor. Extra AD from collector doesn’t justify it’s measly 12 lethality.
NOTE :
I AM NOT SAYING THAT ASSASSINS ARE WEAK OR THAT LETHALITY IS A USELESS STAT. IT JUST LOST ITS PURPOSE. USED TO BE THE ITEM YOU’D BUY AGAINST SQUISHY CHAMPIONS. NOW LDR/SG IS JUST MATHEMATICALLY BETTER AGAINST ANY CHAMPION.
LIKE HOW DOES IT EVEN MAKE SENSE TO HAVE TO BUILD LDR VS SOMEONE THAT ISN’T BUILDING ANY ARMOR??????
ZED, MOST HATED ASSASSIN HERE :
Zed’s best build is currently Hydra -> BC -> SG, whereas before it would just be lethality items then SG 3rd/4th. So if anything, this just tells us lethality is just pointless to build. The durability patch is useless and all it did was make armor pen items outclass lethality items.
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