Talk:Syndra/@comment-6301771-20131203221311/@comment-9533487-20131204030020

You lose out on about 44 bonus damage once you're level 9, on a skill with a 4s cd, due to the ap you usually have without ap items+your passive. That's about half a healthbar.

The other reasons I didn't care for leveling E first were: way lower dps (250/12 vs 264/4 which is 20.8 vs 66 damage per second at level 9 with no ap.), and shorter range than Q unless you use a Q first, which makes it the same mana cost increase as Q, only at all ranks.

Maxing it second isn't too great, but sometimes you have to if someone's gapclosing on you 24/7.