Talk:Aurelion Sol/@comment-25477230-20160824040137/@comment-28977071-20160824140807

Well, I tried Tear on most mages, it's one of my favourite items despite meta :D

Tear basically works for any mana caster and its purpose is to become late-game carry, even as a mage. Upgrading it into Seraph yields guaranteed 140 AP per slot, further increased by different steroids (like Rabadon), which provides massive carry potential for late-game damage.

Late-game Seraph also has great AP synergies with mana items as Morello, RoA, GLP-800 or Mejai, boosting AP even further. The massive AP provided makes objections about use of multiple mana items invalid- the undepletable mana pool is just a bonus as overall AP is still superior. However, RoA is also a late-game scaling item and one has to carefully fully switch attention to stacking AP and CDR after completing Tear. Otherwise he falls behind in DPS during early/mid game, mage's DPS is about maximizing a product of AP×AP Scaling×CDR (×mana, arguably).

Rito's attempt to make it an item that is gives advantage to champs with high mana cost spells.. failed imho. 15% cost reduction is virtually almost equivalent to mana pool amplification by cca. 18% and it also amplyfies the mana regen by same amount. This benefit happens equally to all mana champs- exactly what Rito didn't want to do.

A logical drawback of Tear's promise of late game power is weak early potential, you need to invest 750g into it. It provides no benefit to you as a burst threat at all, however a wise use greatly improves your sustained dmg and poke potential. I usually rush Tear by combining it with highly dmg-oriented runes (full AP) and masteries to conpensate its weaknesses regarding burst.