Talk:Nasus/Strategy/@comment-3493296-20120817200607

Long Version Quote for Lifesteal Quints on Nasus:

Quote: Hyfe

"Why Lifesteal Quints?

The primary reason I think lifesteal quints are great on Nasus is because of the damage growth and CDR on his Q. The Q gives you big burst damage and big lifesteal, scaling with both levels and farm. I will throw out some numbers, but the bottom line is this: if you are auto attacking an average amount for a top lane, and farming your Q as often as possible, lifesteal quints become stronger than hp5 quints by level 3 - 5, depending on a few variables, and scale absurdly well later into the game.

A very conservative average in the top lane is 10 regular hits on minions per minute + 5 Q hits on minions per minute at the very first level, with frequency of Qs going up slightly each additional level. Those auto attacks were for the purposes of a) last hitting when Q was down and b) regen/keeping wave in an optimal position. Assuming I'm hitting minions for true dmg because of their low armor values I then just added up the dmg and multiplied by .06 to find the % of additional lifesteal the quints would be giving me. I also used conservative static bonus dmg amounts on my Q at each level. These observations were made from watching 4 different replays and taking average attack amounts.

At Level 1 10 regular attacks (60 dmg each) = 600 * .06 = 36 lifesteal 5 Q attacks (60+30+0=90dmg each) = 450 *.06 = 27 lifesteal total of ~ 63 lifesteal/min

Level 4 10 regular attacks (67 dmg each) = 670 * .06 = 40.2 lifesteal 6 Q attacks (67+50+30=147dmg each) = 882 * .06 = 52.92 lifesteal total of ~ 93.12 lifesteal/min

Level 7 10 regular attacks (78 dmg each) = 780 * .06 = 46.8 lifesteal 7 Q attacks (78+90+75=243dmg each) = 1701 * .06 = 102.06 lifesteal total of ~ 148.86 lifesteal/min

I belive hp/5 quints give you roughly 97 flat regen/min. What these numbers tell me is that even with just completely normal minion attacking with no effort made to attack extra for additional regen, the quints are surpassing hp/5 in terms of regen per minute by level 4 or 5 at the latest. If you watch or play a top lane you will see that these numbers are actually pretty low in terms of auto attacking/min. In the case that you are attacking a bit extra to heal up and/or keep the wave balanced, these quints would surpass hp/5s in terms of regen benefits by as early as level 3. In one particular replay I observed myself playing against an AD Nidalee. She was harassing a good bit as well as auto attacking minions which pushed me to my tower. By level 3 I was at my tower trying to auto attack to regen HP and last hit. I auto attacked 15 times and Qed 5 times in a 1 minute period. Here are the numbers in this instance:

67 * 15 = 1005 * .06 = 60.3 67+50+24 = 141*5 = 705 * .06 = 42.3 ~ 102.6 lifesteal in 1 minute

What is all this saying to me? Basically that HP/5 quints are better only at levels 1-3, and only if you are auto attacking very little. They are surpassed by lifesteal quints by level 4 or 5 at the latest because of your bonus Q damage. If you have to auto attack to keep the wave balanced, lifesteal is better pretty much right off the bat, as observed by my lvl 3 example. In regards to the scaling, which we all knew the lifesteal would take the cake in, by just the 15 minute mark I observed an average of 10 autos and 10 Qs per minute with a level 5 Q which in all provides 284 extra lifesteal per minute, literally 3 times as much as the hp regen quints.

Of course, you have to consider the fact that hp5 quints provide you guaranteed regen, while lifesteal quints mean that you must be attacking, which also means you must be in range of the minions, which means you are in range of harass. This skews things back in favor of hp5 quints if you are looking for the safest possible option. However, the lanes where this will come into play is against a ranged opponent such as GP or a caster. In this case, they are going to be actively trying to harass you and zone you even as you stand back from your minions, and you are probably screwed either way. Even in these cases, the creeps will eventually push to your tower where you can last hit and regen off of them to an extent.

TLDR: Lifesteal quints are not as safe levels 1 - 3 as HP5, but because of the nature of your increasing Q damage are just as strong in terms of the regen provided by level 3 - 5, and scale immensely better as the game goes on."