Reign of Gaming

Intro

Gentleman Gustaf here today with another quick item comparison. In Season 2, Infinity Edge was the go-to first AD Carry item, then PD, then Last Whisper (although occasionally LW came right on the heels of Zeal). However, on some AD Carries, BT first started to become a very strong build. The jury was still split, but it was far from uncommon to see either build. Has this changed in Season 3?

Changes

What changes did the new season bring? We can ignore the pen changes and the armor changes; both affect BT and IE equally. But BT got a 10 damage buff when not yet filled (but remained the same with full stacks), while IE got a 10 damage nerf. I will show how this small nerf to IE has actually made BT THE top choice for AD Carries who previously had dabbled in a BT first build, but more interestingly, how mandatorily IE first champs like Caitlyn, Ashe, and Tristana may now benefit from a BT rush.

First, the basics: let us assume that these items are finished around level 11. At level 11, the average AD Carry has 106 AD (counting runes and masteries), and 1.002 AS (counting Berserker Greaves). The same champion also has .05 Crit Dmg (from masteries), and 0% Crit Chance. For this whole article, I am not counting armor; it will affect both equally.

This gives them a DPS of 106*(1+0*1.05)*1.002, or 106.4 DPS

What happens when they get BT? They get a bonus of 70 AD.

This gives them a DPS of 176*(1+0*1.05)*1.002, or 176.6 DPS

And when they fully stack BT? They have an additional 30 AD, for a total of 100 AD.

This gives them a DPS of 206*(1+0*1.05)*1.002, or 206.6 DPS

As for the guy who got IE instead of BT? He has a bonus 70 AD, but 25% Crit Chance and .5 Crit Damage.

This gives them a DPS of 176*(1+.25*1.55)*1.002, or 245.5 (this would have been 258.9 with the old IE)

So Gentleman Gustaf, what I'm hearing is that IE is just better than BT?

Not really; IE costs more than BT. So, to calculate the efficiency of our purchases, what we really have to look at is how much DPS we gained, and how much gold it cost us.

The empty BT gave us (176.6-106.4), or 70.2 DPS.
The full BT gave us (206.6-106.4), or 100.2 DPS
The IE gave us (245-106.4), or 138.6 DPS (152.5 for Season 2 IE).

Dividing DPS gained into their relative costs (3000 and 3830), we get the following gold costs (lower is better) for 1 DPS with these two items:

Empty BT: 42.7
Full BT: 29.9
IE: 27.6 (25.1 for Season 2 IE)

When you add PD into the mix (and assume level 16), things don't change much, we get the following DPS and Gold efficiency values

BT(empty)PD: 359 - 23
BT(full)PD: 415.3 - 18.8
IEPD: 505.7 - 16.6

Once again, IE beats out BT slightly.

Finally, when we add Last Whisper, and also assume level 18, we get the following DPS and Gold efficiency values:

BT(empty)PDLW: 457.5 - 22.6
BT(full)PDLW: 515.3 - 19.4
IEPDLW: 644.4 - 16.3

Overall, IE lost about 9% of its efficiency, and is now only slightly more efficient than BT. However, IE maintains a slight DPS advantage over BT, which grows the longer the game goes on.

But on top of that, BT has two advantages over IE.

Lifesteal

The first advantage is simple: BT has 12-18% Lifesteal, depending on how stacked it is. IE can never compete entirely with that, but you can pick up a Vamp Scepter to attempt to compensate. So let's look at our previous numbers, but also compare them to the same IE build, with an extra Vamp Scepter.

Empty BT: 176.6 - 42.7
Full BT: 206.6 - 29.9
IE: 245 - 27.6 (pre-season 3 changes, 25.1)
IE+Vamp: 258.9 - 30.4

So IE + Vamp is slightly LESS dps/gold efficient than BT (and the lifesteal amount is lower)

BT(empty)PD: 359 - 23
BT(full)PD: 415.3 - 18.8
IEPD: 505.7 - 16.6
IEPDVamp: 532 - 17.4

Once you pick up PD, IE + Vamp beats out BT slightly (although loses out in dps).

Finally, when we add Last Whisper, we get the following DPS and Gold efficiency values:

BT(empty)PDLW: 457.5 - 22.6
BT(full)PDLW: 515.3 - 19.4
IEPDLW: 644.4 - 16.3
IEPDLWVamp: 671.6 - 16.9

So the later in the game you go, the better IE gets over BT. Early on, BT actually outperforms IE, once you account for having to pick a Vamp Scepter up. But later, IE beats BTs DPS by a sizeable margin, without the risk of losing stacks. It would seem like you should choose IEvsBT depending on whether you want early game strength or late game scaling. But there is one factor which remains to be considered.

AD Scaling abilities

Almost every AD Carry (every AD Carry except for Tristana) has at least one ability which scales with AD. As such, these champions will benefit more from Bloodthirster. So, for example; let's say you are Graves.

You will use Buckshot and your Ultimate; you will gain 40 damage for each target hit with BT vs IE (16 from Buckshot, 24 from Collateral Damage). This will obviously vary from AD Carry to AD Carry, but will benefit all of them in some way. This will not surpass the late game dps gains from IE, but it can begin to mitigate them.

A new standard?

As such, I think IE is no longer a clear-cut first choice. In fact, I think it is arguably the clear frontrunner only for Tristana (no AD Scaling abilities). On almost every other AD Carry, it is a tradeoff; early game for late game strength, and affected by your AD Scaling abilities. I would also probably prefer IE on champions with weak steroids, like Ashe and maybe Caitlyn. But on most other champions, I feel the combination of bonus AD scaling and lifesteal makes BT not only a strong alternative, but the clear frontrunner.

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