Carries’ objective is to maximize their damage output and for that many statistics can be improved. If attack damage (AD) is the more direct, attack speed (AS) comes closely behind. Some champoins with powerful passives can benefit from AS, so as to trigger bonus damage or make the most of an extra effect to their auto-attacks.
In the table below are listed all items that provide an AS bonus. Clicking on a header sorts the table with that criterium. Cost effectiveness is obtained by dividing the gold cost by the bonus provided. Let’s see what surprises await after sorting.
| Name | AS | Other Bonuses | Cost | Cost/AS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berserker’s Greaves | 25 | UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2. | 920 | 37 |
| Cloak and Dagger | 20 | +20% CS, +35 Tenacity | 1450 | 73 |
| Dagger | 15 | 420 | 28 | |
| Elixir of Agility | 22 | Click to Consume: grants 12-22% AS, based on champion level, and 8% CS for 4 min. | 250 | 11 |
| Guinsoo’s Rageblade | 32 | +35 AD, +45 AP, UNIQUE Passive: on attack or spell cast, increases your AS by 4% and AP by 6. Lasts 5 seconds (stacks up to 8 times) | 2235 | 70 |
| Madred’s Bloodrazor | 40 | +30 AD, +25 Armor, UNIQUE Passive: on hit, deals MD equal to 4% of the target’s maximum health | 3800 | 95 |
| Malady | 50 | +25 AP, UNIQUE Passive: your physical attacks shred your target, dealing 20 MD and lowering their MR by 6. MR reduction stacks up to 4 times | 1825 | 37 |
| Nashor’s Tooth | 50 | +55 AP, +10 Mp5, UNIQUE Passive: 25% CDR | 2885 | 58 |
| Phantom Dancer | 55 | +30% CS, +15% MS | 2845 | 53 |
| Recurve Bow | 40 | 1050 | 26 | |
| Stark’s Fervor | 40 | +20% AS, UNIQUE Aura: gives nearby allied champions 20% LS, 20% AS, and 30 Hp5. Reduces the Armor of nearby enemy champions by 20 | 2550 | 64 |
| Stinger | 40 | UNIQUE Passive: 10% CDR | 1140 | 29 |
| Sword of the Divine | 60 | UNIQUE Passive: every fourth attack deals 100 extra MD, UNIQUE Active: your attacks cannot be dodged and you gain 30 armor penetration for 8 sec. | 1970 | 33 |
| The Black Cleaver | 30 | +55 AD, UNIQUE Passive: physical attacks reduce your target’s Armor by 15 for 5 seconds (maximum 3 stacks) | 2865 | 96 |
| Trinity Force | 30 | +30 AD, +30 AP, +15% CS, +12% MS, +250 Health, +250 Mana, UNIQUE Passive: 25% chance on hit to slow the target by 35% for 2.5 seconds; on cast, your next attack deals bonus damage equal to 150% of your base attack | 4070 | 136 |
| Wit’s End | 40 | +30 MR, UNIQUE Passive: your attacks deal 42 bonus MD, UNIQUE Passive: your attacks increase your MR by 5 for 5 sec. (stacks up to 4 times) | 2000 | 50 |
| Youmuu’s Ghostblade | 50 | +30 AD, +15% CS, UNIQUE Passive: +20 Armor Penetration, 15% CDR, UNIQUE Active: you gain +20% MS and +50% AS for 4 sec. Attacking enemy units with melee attacks increases the duration by 2 to a maximum of 8 seconds (60 sec. CD) | 2687 | 54 |
| Zeal | 20 | +10% CS, +8% MS | 1195 | 60 |
There’s nothing unusual in seeing the basic items as the most cost effective. It’s a trend that has been constant all along previous analysis. Continuing on the list we see Sword of the Divine great bonus and low price positions it as a very cost effective item, though less effective than Stinger. However, as Stinger can only be built into Nashor’s Tooth it’s attractiveness to non hybrid champions greatly diminishes.
Berserker’s Greaves presents itself as good item to boost AS, despite the bonus being one of the smallest it is very aggresively costed. Just as effective is Malady. If the objective is to add magic damage to auto-attacks Malady does so and also raises AS by a good amount.
As we continue moving on the table we notice a steep decrease in cost effectiveness with Wit’s End. While Berserker’s Greaves are 30% less cost effective than Recuve Bow, Wit’s End is 48% less effective. At least Wit’s End is one of very few items that help a carry stay offensive while improving defense thanks to its magic resistance bonus.
Other items prove even less cost effective, like the well liked Phantom Dancer. Fortunately, its critical chance bonus far outweights the AS ineffectiveness. This trends continues with the rest of the items. Other bonuses inflate the price while the AS bonus decreases.
The case of Yoummu’s Ghostblade is particularly interesting because the AS bonus is activated and not cost effective. Something similar to what happens to Guinsoo’s Rageblade but its stacks. Temporary AS bonuses don’t provide any increased effectiveness. On the contrary, when buying this items their AS bonus shouldn’t be highly priced.
Closing the table is Trinity Force, an item that always proves inneffective in any one stat but that ultimately can boost almost any stat. Its set of bonuses proves quite attractive for an overall boost to a champion but no bonus particularly distinguishes itself from the rest; at least so far.
In conclusion, attack speed is a primary statistic for raising the damage output of a carry and goes hand in hand with attack damage. Regardless, only The Black Cleaver and ,indirectly, Phantom Dancer are able to boost both speed and damage. While Sword of the Divine is a cost effective option Phantom Dancer seems like the strongest choice in spite of its cost thanks to its critical chance bonus.
Notes:
– Acronyms: AD: attack damage, AP: ability power, AS: attack speed, CD: cooldown, CDR: cooldown reduction, CS: critical strike chance, Gp10: gold per 10 sec., Hp5: health regen per 5 sec., LS: life steal, MD: magic damage, Mp5: mana regen per 5 sec., MR: magic resist, MS: movement speed, PD: physical damage, SV: spell vamp
– Guinsoo’s Rageblade bonus AS corresponds to eight stacks
– Stark’s Fervor bonus AS corresponds to its flat bonus plus its aura bonus
– Youmuu’s Ghostblade bonus AS corresponds to its active
– You can sort multiple columns by holding shift and clicking on other column headers