Talk:Swain/@comment-188.2.96.124-20121211195726/@comment-71.82.220.166-20121215090304

Right but E is guaranteed to do full damage, whereas anyone with a dash/blink/brain isn't going to stay in your Q for the full duration.

Furthermore, you're ignoring the fact that the percent increase applies to all his skills, not just his E. If you max E first, at level 9 his combo will always do more damage than if you max Q, even if you hit Q for the full duration, because the entire combo will be increased by 20%, rather than 8%.

Assuming Q lands for the full duration and the enemy is hit by 3 ticks of your ult, your full combo does:

648 + 3.6 per AP if you max E first

605 + 3.24 per AP if you max Q first

And that's not even including the increase to autoattacks and ignite damage. There's really no question about it, you max E first on Swain. Period.