Talk:Diana/Strategy/@comment-2210741-20150219064112/@comment-1666421-20150614121947

I did some theorycrafting around this the other day. Here follow my thoughts.

If you are considering getting Wit's End, you're probably weighing it up against Nashor's Tooth - another attack speed + on-hit magic damage item. (You're probably building Di like a fighter instead of an assassin.) Now, one of the biggest differences between those two items is that Wit's End doesn't bring AP or 20% CDR, so you'd probably want to get an item for those stats alongside Wit's End to make up for that. At the same time, Nashor's Tooth doesn't bring MR, so you're probably going to look for an MR item if you get it.

So let's compare Nashor's Tooth + Abyssal Scepter to Wit's End + Morellonomicon, as both pairs of items bring a very similar set of stats to the table.

First, the things they do equally well: either set of items gives you 20% AP and 50% attack speed, so we can disregard those attributes.

In terms of AP, NT+AS gives you 130 AP vs WE+M's 80. That's quite a big difference, especially considering Di's excellent passive scaling. As you read the rest of the points below, always bear this in mind: AP increases Diana's ability damage, shield amount, and on-hit damage (by virtue of the Arcane Blade mastery).

In terms of mana, WE+M has an extreme advantage: 100% mana regen vs 0%. Di has pretty big mana problems, so I would say if you're playing e.g. top lane where you can't rely on getting blue buff, this could sway your decision.

In terms of on-hit magic damage, Wit's End is much stronger early and falls off later (like the anti-Devourer, lol). Because NT's on-hit damage scales with AP, it has the potential to be much stronger late. NT+AS give you 130 AP between them, which means you only need another 50 AP to equal the on-hit damage of WE. In short, if you're planning to buy virtually no AP items and go full tank mode, WE is better; but if you're going to buy at least one more AP item, NT is better.

In terms of MR, I would say AS wins out. Wit's End is capable of giving you more MR, but it's only five points, and crucially, it relies on you stacking it first. In extended skirmishes, WE might rarely win out, but for the most part AS is just much more reliable because it's a flat 50 MR no matter what.

The MR shred is a similar story: WE can slightly outperform AS but it requires that you stack it first. Think of this scenario: you have an AP hypercarry like Veigar on your team. As Di, you mark a squishy carry and immediately R onto him, applying your MR shred. Veigar can immediately follow up with his full combo and obliterate the target, without having to wait for you to stack up the MR shred first. Furthermore, AS's MR shred applies in an aura - WE can only realistically shred MR on one, maybe two people at a time.

WE+M does give you one unique effect that NT+AS doesn't: Grievous Wounds. I suppose if you are up against a heavy healing-based champ like Vlad, that could make a difference in terms of shutting down their sustain.

Finally, cost: WE+M comes out cheaper by 460 G. If you are behind, that could make some difference, both in terms of letting you complete some items sooner, and because WE has the flat damage on-hit, meaning you can immediately do some real damage without having to spend money you don't have on big AP items.

In conclusion, I would say you can consider Wit's End on Diana if some or all of the following apply:


 * You are not building full Lich Bane burst mode assassin.


 * The enemy team's magic damage carries deal more sustained than burst damage.


 * You're planning to build minimal AP.


 * You are behind.