I.10d - Method and Discipline - military expenditure

10. By METHOD AND DISCIPLINE are to be understood the control of military expenditure


Spending your gold wisely is probably the most discussed topic in League of Legends. Guide quality has improved drastically because the pros have gotten involved. This post will discuss the mindset behind making the most out of your builds rather than answering specific questions about what to build in a particular role. While some champions have fairly stable build paths, builds should always be adjusted according to the context of your current game. On the flip side, there are core principles that should inform your decisions and not be compromised, regardless of the situation you are in.


Guides have been improving in quality and the greatest improvement is that builds often consist of core items as well as situational items. One topic that gets less attention however is what order you buy items, even while trying to finish the same core build.


Tanks need health and mitigation to be effective. The most common mistakes players make is to build mitigation before health. As a quick disclaimer, while I am a numbers guy, I am not a huge fan of number crunching in LoL because so many factors are related to human behavior, which is very hard to quantify. 

Now I'll illustrate how you can maximize the value of your build even when building the same core items. 
[edit] This portion of the post has been rewritten because it was too long and I had some bad data. The followup is linked below.


A few core principles that you should consider while you adjust your build.

Ad Carry: You need carry damage, finish two damage items (iedge + pd) before building an expensive mitigation item (banshee's). If you are struggling, go dorans blades and wriggles to add some damage as well as survive.
Ap Carry: You need carry damage, if you're forced to buy mitigation consider an early Null Mantle. Go for RoA or Rylai's rather than doing something crazy like building a Banshee's before you get damage. A Catalyst and Negatron would be the absolute tankiest I would ever go, this still allows you to finish a RoA and keep working towards real damage.
Tank: Health is king, a 1000hp singed with FoN isn't really doing that much for you, really.
Tanky DPS: Aim for items that give you damage and mitigation, Wriggles, Wit's End, Frozen Mallet and Atma's are excellent at giving you great value for tanking and dps'ing.
Support: gp/10 is critical, always. Shurelya's, Aegis, and other aura items are legit.


Maximizing the value of your build is complicated. Experiment, study, watch the pros, and you'll increase your itemization efficiency in no time. For the follow up on this post, check out Method And Discipline Take Two.