For this I will use Vayne as an example as I am playing her a lot recently, but the question I think it does apply to any ad/ap carries or even assassins.
My first two major items are offensive items (BotRK and Phantom Dancer or Statikk Shyv).
The third item could be either another offensive one (Last Whisper, IE or Bloodthirster) or a defensive one (mostly GA).
Lets say that by the time I have to make the choice we are (partially) out of the laning phase and skirmishes are happening over the map with full 5v5 teamfights soon to come.
If I am behind then I choose based on whether or not I am being focused in teamfights and the ability of my team to protect me. If I am ahead and my whole team is ahead then I chose damage, as there is little risk involved.
My question is what to do when I am ahead but my team is behind (I am fed, but most of the kills in my team are mine and the enemy team has 2-3 fed champions).
- As I am the only one at this state of the game that does real damage in my team I could choose damage, as it will scale exponentially with what I already have. This way I think we stand a chance of winning if I manage to deal my damage but any little mistake (getting caught, being focused etc) will pretty much cost us the game since if I die my team loses any advantage or leverage it had.
- If I choose a defensive item I can survive a little longer to deal my damage, I can take bolder risks, I can escape some situations where I would have been otherwise dead. However I feel like I won't have enough damage. Also if I get caught most of the time won't matter what defensive items I have, I am dead anyway.
So what is the smart choice here? Should I risk it all and get more damage and hope I kill them before they kill me, or play safe and hope we can last longer and win (maybe they throw, maybe we get a few lucky kills/objectives)?
Please note that is only about the 3rd item choice, not about if I should go glass cannon all the way. Even if I choose damage, there will be be eventually a defensive item (maybe the next item, maybe the last).
Also the question I have is about the route: offensive or defensive, not which items specifically. Once I made my choice, I know what items to take depending on the game.
If it matters, I am Silver.
Thank you.
Best Answer
It depends on your team!
The opponents also know you're the biggest guy. They will focus you, trying to take you out as quickly as possible to win the fight because once you're gone, your team is massively behind. In the long run, this means your team will lose the game. There is nearly no carry in the game that can truly carry a game on his own, you always need your team's support in some way or another. So the question is actually, what is the general route you want to take from here in order to squeeze out a win?
End the game as quickly as possible. If you're the only one ahead, chances are you're far ahead. You must capitalize on this and press your advantage before their multiple fed carries can take over and get close enough in strength to overwhelm you together. Taking objectives (mainly turrets) becomes very important and has the nice side-effect of getting your team extra gold. But most importantly, it brings the game closer to its end. And you want the game to end while you're still far ahead. To do this, get damage. The more, the better. Gimmicky tricks are worse than raw damage, you main objective is to bring down those turrets and Inhibitors. This is a high risk, high reward kind of approach. You're basically on your own and need to end the game while your team "distracts" theirs. If they have the means to hold turrets and possibly even split push, you will lose.
Level the field. Carrying can also mean helping your team catch up. If you have several item dependant team members just waiting to get gold and catch up to the enemy team, your main objective becomes giving them the opportunity to farm. This includes minions, objectives, jungle creeps and enemy champions, especially ones with bounties. At this point it's important to focus down their main damage dealers and let your team get kills. Don't take the kills, they serve you much less than the rest of your team. Communication is important here, make sure everyone knows they're supposed to "steal" those kills you're preparing for them. If you can use your lead to have your team catch up, you will come out stronger and possibly catch the enemy team off-guard if they think they're still ahead of most of your team. As always, vision is crucial. In this setting, your main goal is to deal damage consistenly so your team can capitalize on it. Taking out 2 targets quickly and then dying to watch your team get destroyed by the remaining 3 champs is bad, you want to last the entire fight or most of it to make sure your team wins it. This is a situation where a defensive item, especially Guardian Angel, becomes very viable. It ensure exactly that, you outlast their damage dealers. It also has the added benefit of making you a much less attractive target. People don't like attacking an opponent with GA. Use this psychological effect to your advantage so you stay in the fight as long as possible and can help your team win the fight and pull ahead as a whole.
Snowball them to hell. Another possible team composition is a support and crowd-control heavy team. If your team is able to either save you from dying or stop them from damaging you altogether, you don't need defenses. Your team is your defense. If they can keep you alive for as long as possible and help you wreck the enemy team with their skills, go for damage and do wreck them. This is especially true if you have few or no other carries on your team that can benefit greatly from a gold boost. In this case, your team needs you to carry them to victory and will do everything to help you do that. It's fine to be a glass cannon if the other team won't ever get close enough to killing you because you have potent tanks, aoe disablers and healers backing you up. In this setting, you need to snowball. Get all the kills, farm like a madman whenever there are no opponents to kill, get the buffs, get the objectives, build more items and rack up as much damage as possible to mow through all 5 of them. If your entire team dies trying to save you, but buys you enough time to get a pentakill doing so, you will be alone. And you're the one doing the damage, so you'll have quite some time to crush their base.
Here's a summary: