I mainly play DotA, but a number of my friends play league and at this moment I abhor DotA's meta/balancing. As I did when I started learning DotA, I tend to use build guides (in this case, on a recommendation fro ma friend, champion.gg). Ever since I started, I've liked Kindred's playstyle. However, the builds never get a defensive item until 6th item. Comparatively, you tend to build a defensive item in DotA as a 3rd/4th item (usually an anti-spell or hp item). Important note, the site only shows completed builds, and as such any game where you wouldn't get 6 slotted doesn't show up.
League's fights, compared to DotA, end much much quicker. As such, I tend to feel like I'm missing a defensive item when I get instagibbed. Is it purely down to positioning/initiation, or should I be building things like maw/gage? For example, if I'm doing alright, but my opponent's ADC is starting to ball heavily (let's say they got a number of kills & good cs, and ganks aren't working), do I build something to slow down my death? Or just try to build more damage to kill her before she kills me?
Best Answer
Building defensive items is highly dependent on the game state and the champion you're playing so there's no hard and fast rule when it comes to when you should build defensive items. But let's help you with Kindred.
Kindred is an ADC, so they should be focusing on maximizing your damage. Kindred also has several tools to help keep them alive in teamfights. Their Q allows them to dance around the fight, improving their ability to dodge skillshots when used properly and their ultimate ability literally prevents them from dying. As a result, you shouldn't be building too many defensive items as Kindred or you won't be able to do damage, which is your primary role as an ADC.
But in the case that the enemy team is way ahead of you and you're getting steamrolled in teamfights, here's what you can consider: