↑ zoraster wrote:↑ hitogoroshi wrote:I mean Corki is more of an ad caster than a conventional carry, focusing on crits is a great way to spend a lot of money not making your missiles, bombs, or gatlings any stronger
Well the crit part maybe not, but IE is still better for Phos bomb, missiles and gatling gun than BOTRK is. Plus except for when you're long distance missile sniping, presumably you're weaving in AAs to proc the triforce's sheen, which the crit is meaningful for but attack speed isn't very meaningful.
If you're using Corki as an ADC, of course. If you want to just focus on casting, you're better off with the AP items' higher numbers and better passives and better penetration options.
Right, the raw damage from IE is higher, but BotRK gives life steal, attack speed AND the active, for a cheaper package. (Bork + pickaxe is almost the same cost as IE).
Honestly, I don't think Corki should even count as an AD carry; I think he gets in by historical accident and because he happens to lane well against ad carries / has trinity siege. And so people just call him a "midgame ad carry" even though he's a pretty huge outlier in adc space.
Imagine this definition of ad carry: "A ranged champion with either an attack speed steroid OR abilities that scale with BOTH attack speed AND damage." It's almost perfect - it captures how ad carries are those champs who get a lot of value buying in to the crit / attack damage / attack speed system. The only two real discrepancies are Caitlyn and Corki. Caitlyn because she has no aspd steriod and only her passive scales with attack speed - but she clearly gets her outlier status as a result of her extraordinary range. Corki is in the same boat - no aspd steriod, and his only aspd steroid is his passive - and that's a very small aspd scaling factor that doesn't change the fundamental math of the crit / attack damage / attack speed network - just makes the whole thing a little more efficient.
When you think about the two paths to becoming an adc - either getting free attack speed or having your kit benefit strongly from building attack speed and damage - I think it's more clear how distinct Corki is from other ADCs, and why the conventional itemization wisdom doesn't apply. And if you get out of that mental model, it's hard to make a compelling case for IE. Unless you're rich enough early enough that you want the endgame power of the crit / attack damage / attack speed network, even though your kits only contribution is making the endgame state a bit more efficient.