Talk:Kassadin/@comment-24621775-20150204022137

I did some calculations with Kassadin and Lich Bane. Basically, if you can get 2 LB procs off in a spell reel, Lich Bane is the strongest single damage item you can possibly build on Kass. The optimal combo for getting 2 Spellblade procs is something like:  R - LB AA - W - Q - E - LB AA. You Riftwalk in, get your first LB proc off, get the AA reset on W, cast Q, Cast E and walk up to them while they're slowed, getting the 2nd LB AA off. Now, this is the IDEAL combo, and oftentimes you will face an enemy team comp that won't allow this combo, through focus fire and CC. In that case, normally you'll want to go Zhonya's as a 2'nd item, so you can just Riftwalk in, W Q E, Hourglass Active, then jump out or continue chasing.

As a 2'nd or 3'rd item, Lich Bane will give you more damage than a Deathcap or Void Staff (unless the enemy has already stacked a LOT of MR). Just looking at the math, Lich Bane as a 2'nd item (assuming you have about 200 AP with RoA + LB + Runes + Masteries) would add about 160 damage per proc, plus the 160 damage it adds to your Q W E combo; as a 3'rd item, built after RoA + Hourglass, with around 340 AP, as I prefer to build it, 2 LB procs will add 500 damage to your combo, plus the 160 damage it adds to your abilities.

Contrast that with Deathcap, which as a 2nd item puts you at around 300 AP, and adds about 200 damage to your full combo (and an extra 10 damage per auto over the RoA + LB build). As a 3'rd item, after RoA + Hourglass, Deathcap will put you at around 475 AP, and adds around 480 damage to your full combo.

So it basically comes down to whether you can get 2 procs in or not. If you can't, then Deathcap is better; if you can (and I pretty much always CAN get 2 procs in my rotation), the Lich Bane is straight up better. Keep in mind that these are base numbers, not taking MR into account, so yeah - if the enemy is stacking MR, then a Void Staff would be a better item purchase. But just know that LB > Deathcap in all situations where you can land 2 Spellblade procs.