Guide: ADC Builds in patch 4.11

Intro
As many of you know, there were a lot of ADC itemization changes in 4.10 and 4.11. I continually see players in high plat making mistakes with their item order. So I have no doubt that a lot of players are still confused about what to be buying on ADCs in the current patch.

The Items

Bloodthirster (3500g)		+80 attack damage +15% life steal UNIQUE PASSIVE: Your life steal overheals you, converting the excess healing into a shield that absorbs up to 50-450 damage and decays when out of combat for 15 seconds.	This item is really bad to rush on ADC (unlike before). The nerfs to total AD from removing the old passive was massive. Is OK as a last item in some cases.
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Blade of the Ruined King (3200g)		+25 attack damage +10% life steal +40% attack speed UNIQUE PASSIVE: Your attacks deal 8% of the target's current health in physical damage (60 max vs minions and monsters). UNIQUE ACTIVE: Drains target champion, dealing 10% of the target's maximum health in physical damage (min. 100) and healing you for the damage dealt. Additionally you steal 25% of their movement speed for 3 seconds - 90 second cooldown. (450 range)	This item can be a really good pick up first in lane for some ADCs. The nerf to the active means it is slightly less dominant in lane, but scales far better later into the game. A top pickup for all ADCs at some point in the game.
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Infinity Edge (3800g)		+80 attack damage +25% critical strike chance UNIQUE PASSIVE: +50% critical strike damage	This is a solid rush item on most ADCs. It recieved a bonus 10 AD in the changes. This makes the crit chance even more valuable. ALL ADCs should have an infinity edge at some point in the game.
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Doran's Blade (440g)		+70 health +7 attack damage +3% lifesteal	The passive was changed to lifesteal but the other stats nerfed slightly. Still a must have starting item for all ADCs but I would never buy more than 2 Doran's Blades now. They are gold efficient but due to no build path, can delay core items like IE if stacked.
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Essence Reaver (2650g)		+60 attack damage +10% life steal +10% cooldown reduction UNIQUE PASSIVE: Your basic attacks restore mana equal to between 2% and 8% of the physical damage dealt, based on your missing mana.	This item is rubbish. Even on champions who it might seem good on (Ezreal/Draven); it's just plain bad. Don't buy it, please.
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Youmuu's Ghostblade (2700g)		+30 attack damage +15% critical strike chance +10% cooldown reduction UNIQUE PASSIVE: +20 armor penetration UNIQUE ACTIVE: Gain +40% attack speed and +20% movement speed for 6 seconds - 45 second cooldown.	Not traditionally an ADC item, but I have been really enjoying using it on ADCs. This item is great on some ADCs, it synergises great with Infinity Edge and is a great item to buy even before that, for lane dominance. I'll talk more about when to build this later.
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Trinity Force (3703g)		+30 ability power +30 attack damage +30% attack speed +10% critical strike chance +250 health +200 mana +8% movement speed UNIQUE PASSIVE - RAGE: Basic attacks grant 20 movement speed for 2 seconds on hit. Minion, monster, and champion kills grant 60 movement speed for 2 seconds. The movement speed bonus is halved for ranged champions. UNIQUE PASSIVE - SPELLBLADE: After using an ability, your next basic attack deals 200% base AD bonus physical damage. (2 second cooldown).	This can be a really good item, but its cost is expensive. Consider selling a cheaper item such as ghostblade later in the game for a triforce. Keep in mind all of the stats it offers. Not all of them are going to be beneficial for you.
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Last Whisper (2300g)		+40 attack damage UNIQUE PASSIVE: +35% armor penetration	In teamfights, this item is core for an ADC. If you have a ghostblade as well, you will be attacking straight through your enemy's armor, dealing massive amounts of damage. The important thing here is to understand when and why to build a last whisper. I will talk more about this later.
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Phantom Dancer (2800g)		+50% Attack Speed +30% Critical Strike Chance +5% Movement Speed UNIQUE PASSIVE: Your champion ignores unit collision.	Was't changed, still a great item on ADCs and I would definitely always pick this up over a Stattik Shiv if I were going to such an item.
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Stattik Shiv (2500g)		+40% attack speed +20% critical strike chance +6% movement speed UNIQUE PASSIVE: Moving and attacking builds Static Charges. At 100 charges, your next attack expends the charges to deal 100 magic damage to up to 4 targets. This damage can critically strike.	Again, this item wasn't changed but it is still just a cheaper/slightly less effective version of Phantom Dancer. I would only consider buying this over PD if my team severely lacked waveclear, in which case the passive can be useful. Maybe buy in 1/10 games.

Defensive items recieved very few changes and remain fairly normal, I will talk more about this later on.

What to buy

• Never rush Bloodthirster (only buy it as a sixth item on champions who have good AD scaling (cait/varus/sivir etc)
  
• The double doran's rule: If you aren't rushing a bork, get 2 doran's blades for sustain.
  
• Rushing bork rule: Rush bork on Vayne/Lucian/Twitch/Kog'Maw
  
• When to Last Whisper: If you bought a bork, buy LW after completing your Infinity Edge. If you bought Infinity first, get a Last Whisper after completing an attack speed item (PD or Shiv)
  
• Boots: Buy Tier 1 boots after completing most of your main item and only upgrade to Tier 2 once your first item is complete. Boots are more important in a lane against morg/thresh.
  
• Corki and Ezreal rush triforce, LUCIAN DOES NOT
  
• Only buy a Guardian Angel if you are ahead and getting dived. If you are behind, it is wasted.
  
• Mercurial Scimitar (or QSS) is essential if you are getting CCed. If you are stunned, you aren't getting damage off. Also very much consider buying it against Skarner and Zed in particular.
  
• Banshee's Veil is amazing against assasin or blow you up mages (although due to nerfs to LeBlanc, less important). Can also still be a really good pick up for preventing engages on you from Lee Sin/Thresh etc.
  
• Only buy a Bloodthirster over a defensive item if you know your team is going to be able to keep you alive. If they are all diving the enemy team, consider picking up a defensive item
  
• You can buy sorc shoes on Corki because he does massive amounts of magic damage also, but I still prefer beserkers.
  
• Don't buy triforce on: Ashe, Trist, Varus, Graves, Jinx, Twitch and Caitlyn. It's good on other ADCs.
  
• On Draven/Lucian/Vayne only buy triforce if you are really fed, otherwise it generally isn't worth it.
  

That's basically my analysis of the item changes. Feel free to discuss your thoughts also.

really great guide +rep, can find my self in almost everything you wrote.

on diffrence is, latly i'm playing a lot with ashe and i always go with the Stattik Shiv as a first item, the pasive really works well with ashe's passive. the passive also does decent damage to enemy champs early game and i find it a great way to farm really fast early game

piramatrix wrote:really great guide +rep, can find my self in almost everything you wrote.

on diffrence is, latly i'm playing a lot with ashe and i always go with the Stattik Shiv as a first item, the pasive really works well with ashe's passive. the passive also does decent damage to enemy champs early game and i find it a great way to farm really fast early game

It can be a really nice early pick up to get crit chance if you are struggling to get your Infinity Edge.

I would definitely recommend getting an IE after and double dorans before if you are building Shiv first.

Ghostblade is really good second item after bork as well on champs like twitch/vayne. Great guide though.

I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

Heartstop123 wrote:I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

Dorans is still a way better start over longsword. Sure, the damage may be less, but the sustain it brings is massive.

BT is an all around trash item since you lost the passive. Sure, the lifesteal is ok, but if you're desperately needing lifesteal, double dorans is fine. If you rush a BT, you'll just be behind damage wise to the other lane. Vamp sceptre lifesteal was nerfed with the new patch so it isn't efficient to really build it early, since you could opt for a dorans if you're getting bullied.

Xavy does a very good job of explaining it and it is probably ideal, many pros think the exact same way as this post, but it's up to you ultimately.

Heartstop123 wrote:I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

I just think that BT used to only be rushed before for lane dominance. On champs like Lucian, a Q auto(with passive) would be massive damage with even a half stacked BT. Since the removal of the old passive, it feels so much less significant and I don't find it as dominant compared to say the crit damage from a cait with IE or even a tristana with bork. Getting it after IE is still okay because the crit damage and chance boosts the efficiency of BT's stats.

As for starting longsword, I personally never do this because with the current state of supports, every game will be morg/thresh/leona/braum. If you get CCed by any of these champions levels 1-4 without a Dorans, you are more or less dead. The lack of health from starting longsword puts you at a disadvantage just because of the support meta. 3 potions just aren't needed as supports tend not to offer as much poke currently. Even so, the lifesteal from Doran's is now a stat and is MORE beneficial.

But if you're more comfortable having the potions and can play the early game safe, I don't see why it wouldn't be fine.

Zombeh wrote:Ghostblade is really good second item after bork as well on champs like twitch/vayne. Great guide though.

Absolutely. Ghostblade is a pretty new item for ADCs to buy so I am experimenting a lot with it, but atm I think ghostblade after bork is best on twitch/vayne and sometimes trist (if you aren't going to get enough for a BF in 1 back, it could delay your IE so ghostblade may be the better choice)

personnally i never take the BT, bacause i'm not that good at league and i only get 2 or max 3 killstreaks thats whi i always go for the infinity edge

piramatrix wrote:personnally i never take the BT, bacause i'm not that good at league and i only get 2 or max 3 killstreaks thats whi i always go for the infinity edge

This is most people's opinion at the moment from what I have seen. I agree.

Heartstop123 wrote:I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

He underrates BT but not by much, BORK is superior in the was majority of situations. BT is now situational to help you snowball from a lane you should be stomping because you can only abuse the passive that way. I would probably only rush it on Caitlyn because of her heavy harass/push playstyle.

You need to tailor your builds to the situation. On trist I would still always rush BORK unless I won hard with my early game power spikes in which case I would IE first.

I play adc tristana a good amount. My build is usually Dorans Blade 3 health pots then I get shiv, ie , botrk, lw, (dont get far enough into game to get last item)

gunmage8 wrote:I play adc tristana a good amount. My build is usually Dorans Blade 3 health pots then I get shiv, ie , botrk, lw, (dont get far enough into game to get last item)

This is a solid build for sure, maybe considering getting IE before shiv and definitely pick up a 2nd dorans if you get getting botrk 3rd

AP Tris FTW

Ap tristana is broken as (f word here). But if you don't get fed and get your items you are a sitting duck.

Connor wrote:

Heartstop123 wrote:I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

Dorans is still a way better start over longsword. Sure, the damage may be less, but the sustain it brings is massive.

BT is an all around trash item since you lost the passive. Sure, the lifesteal is ok, but if you're desperately needing lifesteal, double dorans is fine. If you rush a BT, you'll just be behind damage wise to the other lane. Vamp sceptre lifesteal was nerfed with the new patch so it isn't efficient to really build it early, since you could opt for a dorans if you're getting bullied.

Xavy does a very good job of explaining it and it is probably ideal, many pros think the exact same way as this post, but it's up to you ultimately.

maybe things are different in higher ELO but in low elo the 3% lifesteal doesn't help for shit early. you take 2 autos and that ~120 damage. you have to do over 40 attacks to get that health back. health potions are Infinitely better for surviving in the early game. In my ELO harass is more common than csing. people finish games with under 100 cs in most of my games -.- That is why i take the health pots and just farm until a power spike (lvl 6 with trist)

EDIT: Also vamp is still better than dorans ring even after the nerf. 800g for 8% LS and 2 vamps is only 6% LS 880g

Heartstop123 wrote:

Connor wrote:

Heartstop123 wrote:I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

Dorans is still a way better start over longsword. Sure, the damage may be less, but the sustain it brings is massive.

BT is an all around trash item since you lost the passive. Sure, the lifesteal is ok, but if you're desperately needing lifesteal, double dorans is fine. If you rush a BT, you'll just be behind damage wise to the other lane. Vamp sceptre lifesteal was nerfed with the new patch so it isn't efficient to really build it early, since you could opt for a dorans if you're getting bullied.

Xavy does a very good job of explaining it and it is probably ideal, many pros think the exact same way as this post, but it's up to you ultimately.

maybe things are different in higher ELO but in low elo the 3% lifesteal doesn't help for shit early. you take 2 autos and that ~120 damage. you have to do over 40 attacks to get that health back. health potions are Infinitely better for surviving in the early game. In my ELO harass is more common than csing. people finish games with under 100 cs in most of my games -.- That is why i take the health pots and just farm until a power spike (lvl 6 with trist)

EDIT: Also vamp is still better than dorans ring even after the nerf. 800g for 8% LS and 2 vamps is only 6% LS 880g

You are forgetting the fact that dorans blades are actually MORE stat effective then a vamp sceptre. Their only downside is the fact they don't build into anything. As an ADC your early vamp sceptre would only ever now be built into a BOtRK and as such if you aren't a BOtRK ADC, it is far far better to get 2 dorans blades followed by rushing an IE (in most cases).

Heartstop123 wrote:

Connor wrote:

Heartstop123 wrote:I disagree with a lot of this post. I think that rushing bloodthirster is still efficient because the lifesteal + damage are two great things to have early. My personal build with ADCs since the changes has been:
longsword 3pots -> vamp scepter -> IE -> boots -> finish bloodthirster -> PD after this point the game is over and we have won. if the game wasn't over I would probably go LW then youmuu's or BoTRK

I mostly play Tristana ADC so i don't need the AS as much as other ADCs.

Dorans is still a way better start over longsword. Sure, the damage may be less, but the sustain it brings is massive.

BT is an all around trash item since you lost the passive. Sure, the lifesteal is ok, but if you're desperately needing lifesteal, double dorans is fine. If you rush a BT, you'll just be behind damage wise to the other lane. Vamp sceptre lifesteal was nerfed with the new patch so it isn't efficient to really build it early, since you could opt for a dorans if you're getting bullied.

Xavy does a very good job of explaining it and it is probably ideal, many pros think the exact same way as this post, but it's up to you ultimately.

maybe things are different in higher ELO but in low elo the 3% lifesteal doesn't help for shit early. you take 2 autos and that ~120 damage. you have to do over 40 attacks to get that health back. health potions are Infinitely better for surviving in the early game. In my ELO harass is more common than csing. people finish games with under 100 cs in most of my games -.- That is why i take the health pots and just farm until a power spike (lvl 6 with trist)

EDIT: Also vamp is still better than dorans ring even after the nerf. 800g for 8% LS and 2 vamps is only 6% LS 880g

Dont ever buy just a vamp sceptre, its better to buy double longswords and 2 pots. The +10AD means you win trades and all ins and the pots will heal you faster allowing you to zone the enemy from minions and lifesteal after a long trade. 2 pots are equivalent to 3750 damage dealt at 8% lifesteal.

is dorans blade really worth buying? just wondering because i always go diretcly for the shiv and then the ie, also never buy potions unless when i go jungle, which is almost never.

piramatrix wrote:is dorans blade really worth buying? just wondering because i always go diretcly for the shiv and then the ie, also never buy potions unless when i go jungle, which is almost never.

The standard is to always start with 1 dorans blade, buy a second if you ARENT building a lifesteal item (IE BOTRK) first. Aside from the fact that you need more than the 3% lifesteal on basically anyone this is also because non-BOTRK starts are generally weakish and the highly gold-efficient double dorans blade helps offset this.

Damn this is very detailed, I like it alot. + rep for sure. I wish the wouldnt have nerfed gorans blade ):

With the update to essence reaver and Bloodthirster since writing the post, what do you think to those items now ?

Venom wrote:With the update to essence reaver and Bloodthirster since writing the post, what do you think to those items now ?

I would occasionally consider buying a BT in the following situations:

• After getting IE, bilgewater and either PD/Shiv on trist/cait/anyone with AS buffs
  
• After getting IE and brutalizer(or LW) on Draven/Graves but only if you are super far ahead (and probably had 2 dorans)

Essence reaver is still reasonably trash but I might occasionally buy it on kog maw, because it does help his ult alot. I think ionian boots/triforce/essence reaver kog is alright but his other build paths are still basically as strong if not stronger.