Talk:Hextech Gunblade/@comment-24632274-20140304140023/@comment-25130104-20140702065215

I would have to say that going tanky after Triforce+Blade of the Ruined King is probably the best way to go.

Why assassin Jax is fairly useless: Jax is not meant to be an assassin! Although he can burst down an adc in about four hits with the Triforce and the Blade of the Ruined King, it isn't an excuse to try and build Jax like an assassin. He isn't meant to be built as one; his scaling on raw stats isn't nearly as good as others. Case in point: tallying up all the damage from a single rotation of his abilities won't kill anyone but an off guard, post-nerf Nidalee without extra defensive stats. He isn't a hypercarry, either; his damage dealing comes in a steady stream from autos, not from the bursts of crits like Yi.

Jax's main purpose after the laning phase is splitpushing, and using his mobility to escape from ganks while doing so. In teamfights, his job is to demolish the enemy damage dealers.

I tend to build a Frozen Heart, a Randuin's, a Spirit Visage and a Zephyr to finish it all off. The 40% CDR means more leaps, more dodges and ultimately, more sticking power in teamfights. The resistances and health give him survivability, while the 408 (440 with the Triforce active) movement speed gives him almost unparalleled mobility. The build above also makes him an unparalleled duelist, forcing an opposing team to have to devote much more to stopping a splitpush than what they would like.

Now, as to the items mentioned above. Here're the problems with said items.

Hextech Gunblade: The spellvamp is pointless, really. Jax tends not to build heavily into AP, and the amount of health gained from it is not likely to add much to survivability in any way. AP on Jax tends to come with fairly mediocre results; 60% on his leap and empower, 70% on his ult. Without a heavy investment into AP, it would amount to a disappointing amount of damage. The AD is nice, as is the lifesteal, but not worth as much on their own to warrant buying such a costly item. With the recent nerfs to Botrk, I'd almost say Gunblade's passive is worth it, but it doesn't heal and thus only has limited utility. Probably better on someone like Poppy.

Guinsoo's Rageblade: Once again, AP is of middling to no concern. AD is nice, as are the passives, but they necessitate time to ramp up damage, and time isn't always something you have in a teamfight. It doesn't provide very much in way of utility, either. A decent item, but not one that can overshadow the benefits of going tanky, or provide more damage than the ultra efficient Triforce or Botrk. Also, Jax doesn't scale well on stats alone.

Ravenous Hydra: No. Just... No. I've seen Jaxs' buy it countless times, and every I never fail to be annoyed at it. AD is good, lifesteal not bad, passive not bad either, but the fact is, it just isn't a great item for a duelist like Jax. The hydra is often rushed in lane because of its active auto resets, but Jax's empower makes it unnecessary. Not only that, but Jax simply doesn't scale too well off of raw stats, which makes the Blade of the Ruined King almost infinitely better. By the way, if you look up "no damage" on the shop item search screen, you come up with the Hydra, which is yet another reason not to use it. Also, it's not like he really needs the passive to clear waves; his attack speed alone is high enough to clear waves in seconds.

Black Cleaver: Stats are ok, but but not even as close to as useful as either the Triforce of the Blade of the Ruined King. Jax does not live on stats alone.