User blog comment:Willbachbakal/(Item Concept) Hybrid Items Must Die!/@comment-6016076-20140620154851

Why hate hybrids

As stated in your first paragraph, the attraction of their design is they can tap into two different groups of items. Since AP and AD item paths feature different unique actives and passives, then, assuming the hybrid champion scales equally well with both, you can add variety to that champion's playstyle through choice of itemization.

The problem is that as soon as a champion has substanial enough ratios to be strong in either AD or AP builds, adding in a hybrid item which taps into both substantial ratios becomes OP. You'd have to nerf the hybrid item significantly to compensate. Both AD and AP itemization offer multiplicative synergy (DCap, DFG vs. IE/PD) as well as specialized penetration. These attractions are too much to ignore for a hybrid champion, precluding picking a weaker hybrid item. Ultimately, you'd need a wide set of hybrid items that a hybrid champion can specialize towards. You either go all in on hybrid items, or not at all.

As you said, it's not really worth investing the time since there are so few hybrid champions. Hybrid champions are exceedingly difficult to design with meaningful decisions in their build routes. All in all, I agree with I think every point.

Guinsoo's Rageblade

This looks a lot better. It offers synergy among its stats and costs more gold. Costing more gold allows it to pack more stats which makes it more slot efficient. Items that max under 3k gold typically aren't worth it, unless you do dirty things like attach a massive health bonus to it (Sunfire).

Hextech Gunblade

The new Gunblade is very good for assassins. I think it might be a bit problematic for the %MS to go with a nuke that slows. It would buff your chase potential in the most efficient way possible. I don't know how this would play out. I'm just worried thinking about a TF who now sustains really easily in addition to being inescapable, or a Fizz who can burst you 100 - 0 and in the process heal himself up--oh and he's also faster than you and can slow you. It's kind of a nice quadfecta of stats for an AP Assassin--slow, nuke, MS, and spell vamp.

Sheen/TF

I spoke above how each item path, AD or AP, has built in synergies along the way. The gimmick of Sheen and TF is that they have this incredibly powerful passive in their spellblade, with just ok stats to go with it. Already TF is deceptively strong despite low stat numbers because all of its stats provide orthogonal scaling, but I feel that adding +15 AD to the item tips it from "just ok" stats to "respectable stats." With Spellblade and triple AD scaling, it seems a bit too much.

Iceborn Gauntlet

I feel an important limiting factor with the Iceborn is that it has no synergy with AD. There are very few AP Bruisers, and they tend to be a little UP because AP champions just don't rely on autoattacks. They deal out some burst, which on a bruiser is typically small, and then they're done. The Iceborne Gauntlet with AP fills this niche of catering to AP Bruisers.

An AD bruiser benefits from autoattack abilities. I feel the Iceborn with AD becomes a bit of a defensive Atma's, in that it offers a very desirable mixture of stats to an already powerful class of champions. I think items that add a mixture of offensive and defensive stats, even more so when utility is involved, need to be carefully controlled because they have the potential to take any champion and make it well-rounded, with strengths on many fronts and few weaknesses exposed. The AD Bruiser class is already very well-rounded. Providing them with an item to accentuate those strengths I don't think would yield good results.

Lichbane

With the change to the Spellblade, I think this is a fair exchange and won't affect performance to a large degree. It might actually be kind of nice to have the AD readily available as opposed to gated by abilities.

Overall

I understand wanting to adjust Guinsoo's, and I think that was done successfully.

Hextech I can also understand. While I can only speculate to how it may play out, I am worried of its synergy with assassins. But this is speculation and just me trying to think of whatever critical feedback I can offer.

As for Sheen and derivates, I do disagree with the changes. First, I am not sure why they need to be changed. Lich Bane already is not hybrid and is fine as an AP item. Iceborn is not hybrid but mostly defensive in nature, notably lacking a stat that enhances sustained DPS. It seems to be in a good spot at the moment, although I think it's susceptible to meta shifts because of its utility. Trinity Force is the only true hybrid of the Sheen family, but it's kind of a quasi-hybrid because so much of its value resides in Spellblade. I think in practice it's more useful to view it as an AD item with a big passive.

So while I am unsure of the Sheen family's balance (mostly have a problem with TF's efficiency and Iceborn's utility), I think these changes risk worsening that state of balance while not serving to alleviate any specific deficiencies in LoL's item scene.