Choosing the right gear for Illaoi in League of Legends’ latest season can be as tricky as landing the perfect ultimate. Some players ponder whether to infuse her with the raw power of Attack Damage or dabble in the mystical realm of Ability Power.
Her abilities may hint at AP potential, but they truly resonate with AD-enhancing items. This guide unpacks the evidence and arms you with the knowledge to harness Illaoi’s full AD prowess, ensuring your path to victory is as crushing as her tentacle strikes.
Key Takeaways
Illaoi primarily scales with Attack Damage (AD). Her abilities benefit significantly from AD, enhancing her physical damage output. While some items with Ability Power (AP) can offer utility, her core gameplay and damage-dealing potential are optimized through AD-focused builds, ensuring maximum effectiveness in her role.
Illaoi’s Abilities and Their Damage Types
Illaoi, an AD champion, excels with abilities that scale with attack damage. Her passive, ‘Prophet of an Elder God’, spawns tentacles on walls, dealing physical damage and playing a key role in her strategy, especially in controlling objectives.
Her Q, ‘Tentacle Smash’, amplifies her physical damage, essential for farming and poking opponents. It’s crucial in team fights for its area damage.
Her W, ‘Harsh Lesson’, is a short dash enhancing her next attack, causing nearby tentacles to strike the target too, ideal for targeting tanky foes or securing kills.
The E ability, ‘Test of Spirit’, pulls an enemy’s spirit, dealing indirect damage and exerting pressure. It’s effective for zoning enemies from objectives or influencing team fights.
Lastly, her ultimate, ‘Leap of Faith’, is a powerful team fight tool. It causes massive damage and spawns additional tentacles, making her particularly formidable in tight spaces like the jungle or around Dragon/Baron.
Is Illaoi AP or AD?
Taking the information above into account, you’ll quickly understand that Illaoi is a champion in League of Legends who excels with attack damage (AD).
Her abilities benefit from AD items, and her typical role as a fighter often places her in the top lane where physical damage is advantageous.
To appreciate why AD is the preferred build for Illaoi, consider these points:
- AD Scaling: The power of Illaoi’s abilities increases more with AD, leading to greater damage.
- Itemization: Items focused on AD, like Divine Sunderer, offer both damage and durability, which are vital for the way Illaoi is played.
- Survivability: Opting for an AD build helps Illaoi become more resilient, allowing her to effectively lead the charge in team confrontations.
- Efficiency: Choosing AP items doesn’t tap into her strengths, leading to a less strategic use of in-game currency and assets.
Your strategy should, thus, concentrate on AD items to enhance Illaoi’s impact in the game.
The Viability of an AP Illaoi Build
While you may feel an urge to try an AP build with Illaoi, her abilities don’t align well with such a strategy in Season 13. Looking closely, her skills all favor AD scaling, with the exception of her tentacle strikes, which have AP ratios.
However, these alone are insufficient to warrant an AP-focused approach. You’d be limiting her effectiveness as a fighter by not making the most of her natural synergy with AD items such as Divine Sunderer or Sterak’s Gage.
Entertaining the idea of AP Illaoi might be enjoyable in informal games, but it doesn’t hold up in competitive play due to a lack of damage and durability.
You’d find more success adhering to the conventional AD build, enhancing her capabilities and supporting her role as a powerful front-line champion.
The Best Build For Illaoi in The Current Season
Item Build:
- Early Items @ 4 min: Hullbreaker
- Core Items @ 20 min: Plated Steelcaps, Iceborn Gauntlet
- Full Build: Hullbreaker, Plated Steelcaps, Iceborn Gauntlet, Black Cleaver, Sterak’s Gage, Death’s Dance
- Situational Items: Gargoyle Stoneplate, Spirit Visage, Randuin’s Omen
Runes:
Primary Tree (Precision)
- Keystone: Conqueror
- Presence of Mind
- Legend: Tenacity
- Last Stand
Secondary Tree (Resolve)
- Bone Plating
- Demolish
Rune Shards
- Adaptive Force (Offense)
- Adaptive Force (Flex)
- Armor (Defense)