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ADC for Dummies; ADC 101
Topic Started: Feb 15 2015, 09:21 PM (2,487 Views)
Wizard996
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Random Silver Scrub
I usually do at least mediocre in the early game, provided my support is willing and able to help me. However, even if I get massive food in the early game and/or win lane, how do I transition this into the mid/late game?
Currently, my best guess is poor positioning, lack of peel, and running at times I should just be shooting (or vice versa: engaging when unwise).
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ShadowKnight1224
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Every day is Lissandra Appreciation Day
I really want to see the trend of Kalista with Runaan's die a swift, painful death. Kalista works 100% perfectly fine with a standard marksman build (IE into Zerks into PD into LW into BT into GA) and you can easily sub the BT for a BotRK and change up the order of your items if you want to add more spice to your life. You don't need Runaan's. You really really really don't. Runaan's is for a very specific strategy that hinges on mechanics that most players haven't fully mastered.

Also if you're ever in ARAM and you get a long-ranged ADC with spammable physical damage abilities (Caitlyn, Varus, Jinx, may work on Graves if you're good enough, etc.), the following build is a hilarious amount of fun:

Masteries: 21 Offence, nab the 5% CDR.
Runes: Arpen, AD, defensive runes to taste.

Starting items: Brutaliser and potion.
First back (hopefully): BF sword.
Core: Brutaliser, Lucidity Boots, Essence Reaver, Last Whisper.
Late Game: Black Cleaver, Lucity Boots, Essence Reaver, IE, Last Whisper.

Congratulations, now you're an AD caster that sports mage-levels of burst and poke, only AD-flavoured.
Edited by ShadowKnight1224, Mar 29 2015, 12:27 AM.
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Very true, I definitely love to build some ADCs like Twitch and Caitlyn like casters in ARAM. Super fun if you can get away with it.

Though, you can build Caitlyn AP in ARAM and still win, so it doesn't count for much.
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ShadowKnight1224
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Every day is Lissandra Appreciation Day
I went AD Caster Caitlyn in SR and if your team is on board with it, you deal absolutely oppressive amounts of damage every couple of seconds. The main problems you'll encounter are A) teammates criticising your build, B) needing to win lane and staying ahead of everyone else, and C) not being as good as standard ADC Caitlyn when it comes to taking down towers or dueling (no AS). You have to play her like a mage, basically.

EDIT: Do not besmirch the holy name of AP Caitlyn. An AP Caitlyn with Liandry's is a thing to be feared.
Edited by ShadowKnight1224, Mar 29 2015, 12:33 AM.
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I'm just saying I've seen a Caitlyn with tank items and a wits end carry an ARAM. Anything works for her, since she's just so strong in a lane situation.
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Crzymstrbkwrm876
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EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY TO TORTURE, MAIM, AND DESTROY
looking at all the things you need to be thinking about and be doing well as an adc has made me realize, I never want to do adc again :)
Edited by Crzymstrbkwrm876, Mar 29 2015, 11:22 AM.
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XalkXolc
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Lightning Ball goes Boom
Crazymasterbookworm876
Mar 29 2015, 11:22 AM
looking at all the things you need to be thinking about and be doing well as an adc has made me realize, I never want to do adc again :)
I dunno. I feel like the other roles can also have a similar level of depth, if you go far enough down the rabbit hole. Jungle and ADC are the ones with the most obvious complexity, but that doesn't mean the other roles don't have that complexity as well.
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Jpdaniel
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We've GOT to have GOLD
ADCs have very precise mechanics and positioning. But honestly, it's just a role that has a high skill floor.
ANd hey, at least your build paths are straightfoward! Outside some examples ("There's a squishy giving us problems and not many others are. Shivv might be better than PD") an ADC has set in stone builds to do the job ADCs are built for.
Pretty much every other role likes to play the magical game of "What the ever-loving hell am I building?"

Unless you're Lucian, where you can build absolutely anything you want and it's viable somehow.
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Wizard996
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Random Silver Scrub
I agree that ADCs have fairly straightforward build paths most of the time, but all the little mechanics like positioning, fight or flight, having half the damage of your team, etc make up for it.
Sometimes for some tanks the builds are more complicated depending on the situation, but gameplay for some of them amounts largely to A) throwing self into middle of enemy team and soak damage, B) lock down ADC or mage from fight, or C) guard the ADC/mage.
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LightPhyXer
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Conjurer
If people still care, I'm going to add my own ADC "guide".

I wouldn't consider myself an ADC main, though. I just have champions I like to play for each lane, so even if I end up ADC, I can play it.

THE ROAD TO ASCENSION

BEING AN ADC - THE FARMING MENTALITY

When you play ADC, you need to have a certain mindset.

This really applies to most carry roles, but you need to get farm. Farm > Lane Kills. Farm is your life. You might as well dress up in overalls and ride a tractor, cause you're a damned farmer to the core. Worship and love those minions even as they die to your hand because they're helping you become a god with every bit of gold they give you.

As a caveat, though, farm is NOT greater than your life. Cause you see, when you die, you aren't able to farm, and your godhood begins to weaken. Die to much, and you become just a man, and you will have lost your chance at the coveted "5 kill-secures in a row"--also known as the legendary "Pentakill".

What this means is you must farm, but farm in safety and in moderation. Look at your opponents in lane. Is that tin can known as Blitz trying to hook you? Stand behind a minion or your glorified meatsh--erm, Support and last hit for that sweet +16.

You must also be wary of the greed that can grip those that gather gold in such large quantities. +16 is always a welcome sight, but it should not be accompanied by the loss of half your HP bar. For when you are low on HP, mere mortals become unafraid to stand within your presence. They begin to have ideas. Ideas of diving your squishy ass, for you have not yet reached your final form.

So you must nurture your health as much as your gold. You are a farmer. Not only must you farm, but you must be healthy enough to farm.

Become a farmer, young one, and the road to ADC will begin to open.

BEING AN ADC - BUYING POWER

Assuming you've worn your overalls well and farmed up tons of gold, the next step comes in turning that gold into pure power. Caution must be exercised during this step, for while the League offers many items, only a few should warrant your eye. Anything else, and your rise to godhood may be delayed for all eternity.

If there is one tried-and-true road to becoming an incarnation of damage, it is this path:

Doran's Blade + Pot (Or boots + 4, for those adventurous) > Infinity Edge (For is your power not infinite?) > Bersekers (For they shall fear your wrath!) > Zeal (Religious reference here) > Phantom Dancer (While lightning fits with the godhood model, Shiv is simply not as synergistic with IE due to nerfs. The total difference is now 15%, which is a LOT.) > Vamp Scepter (If you're not a man) or Last Whisper (They shall whisper your name in awe on their last breath!) > Bloodthirster (Wow this extended joke actually works!) > Guardian Angel (For a God has his Angels, yeah?)

This path can be followed by every ADC, although some have better synergy with other items. Trinity Force is a popular item, for example, which would simply replace PD or perhaps the GA.

Small variations can be made, but because of the multiplicative nature of AD/AS/Crit, ADC builds are pretty rigid. You can't be like your toplane tank than can decide to build whatever to match his opponents, or you'll lose your ability to contribute as an ADC.


BEING THE ADC - SMITING TIME

Okay, now you have all this damage. What are you going to do with it?

If you've been reading, you'd probably think you become a God among men, dealing out bolts of furious smiting power with every auto. The corpses of your enemies will litter the rift, and you will walk out THE MAN.

That's one version.

Or you could think you're a god, and walk into that Morgana snare and die before you can move again.

In the end, you're a farmer. That means you're a not some god of war at heart. You're a damned pussy and you want to survive. You hit whatever it is you can hit instead of trying to walk through two tanks trying to lock you down. You stay out of the way until you know that Fizz used his ult and was forced to trollpole on someone else. You make Zed work to come to you, not walk into his ult range.

And sometimes, you just have to trust that your teammates will peel that Vi off you.

So yeah, you can think about it in terms of positioning or whatever, but the general rule is just to be hitting whatever is nearest to you and keeping safe. You need to look for obvious signs like that Syndra walking closer, or Hecarim starting up his charge, and change your position accordingly. You should always be asking "Am I safe?" and if you're not, move.

And that's how you ADC.
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Kwon Ri Sae
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Name Changer Extraordinare
And remember, there's no point in building only damage items if you die instantly. Which means fix your items, positioning, or team strategy in order for you to maximize your damage output.
Edited by Kwon Ri Sae, Mar 30 2015, 02:06 PM.
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Tofuology
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Nya Nya~
Ask Konata
Mar 30 2015, 02:06 PM
And remember, there's no point in building only damage items if you die instantly. Which means fix your items, positioning, or team strategy in order for you to maximize your damage output.
Build Warmogs and Banshee cause I'm dying too fast? Got it.
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Wizard996
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Random Silver Scrub
No you fool, you need frozen heart and zzy'rot portal!
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XalkXolc
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Lightning Ball goes Boom
Nah, 'sall about that lifesteal. Drop and give me 6 Vamp Scepters!
('Course, that actually is part of the concept of Nagga's Graves build. Bork and BT OP.)
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Wizard996
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Random Silver Scrub
Pfft, I go BT and ER. That cdr and mana restore is just too much lure for Q harassment.
Before you ask which Q, think about it: it's the spam skill, using it a lot works with almost anyone (Graves, Varus, Cait, Jinx's W isn't Q but rockets and w/e, MF, you get the point).
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TerraBooma
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Sorcerer
Something worth noting:

CORKI BUILDS SORC SHOES FOR MISSLE POKE

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Rextreff
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Hoy, small fry
The most important thing to know about ADC is that ADC doesn't mean you build AD. Most ADC build AS instead.
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ShadowKnight1224
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Every day is Lissandra Appreciation Day
Never build AS first unless you're Vayne or Kog, and even then, BotRK still has some minimal amount of AD precisely because the person with the BF sword and T1 boots is going to crush the person with the Zeal and the Zerk Boots 9 times out of 10.
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Rextreff
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Hoy, small fry
There are several ADC that should build AS first. Braum, Teemo, and Jayce already has the highest AS at level one. If you also have Jarvan IV and Ezreal on your team and you're Tristana and you buy dagger that's at least a high level of AS at level one for 3 minute turret destruction
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Rextreff
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Hoy, small fry
There are several ADC that should build AS first. Braum, Teemo, and Jayce already has the highest AS at level one.

Edit: This is what happens when you duplicate a tab that you wrote your post but forget if you posted it or not
Edited by Rextreff, Apr 1 2015, 03:55 PM.
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Building AS on Jayce is a waste since he has a skill that maxes out his attack speed. At most, you'd buy botrk for the on-hit, but muramana's on-hit proc would be far superior.

No, what jayce wants is CDR so he can max out his attack speed more often.
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