Introduction
Of all the roles in League of Legends, it seems that Marksmen have had the most difficult time in Season 4. With tanky top lane bruisers like Trundle and Shyvana becoming extremely strong, alongside the power of high damage, early presence junglers like Kha'Zix and Evelynn, poor Marksmen have found have had more and more difficulty keeping their squishy selves safe.
Not only that, but the Marksman meta itself has become quite stale. Lucian and Twitchwere particular offenders, with their power "spike" looking more like a power skyline. With safety, burst, and scaling in all the right places, these two Marksmen have been dominating the pro scene for some time. Other champions, who suffer from certain weaknesses like immobility (Ashe, Varus), or subpar itemisation choices (Corki, Ezreal), have been left behind.
Enter Patch 4.1o. A multitude of AD itemisation changes, as well as some deserved nerfs to Lucian and Twitch, aim to right the wrongs that Season 4 has given to Marksmen. Major changes have been made to almost all of the major Marksman items, including a revamped, non-stacking Bloodthirster, a new mana-restoring item named Essence Reaver, and the focus of this article: a surprisingly Season 2-like Doran's Blade.
Patch 4.10 made significant changes to Doran's Blade.
The Numbers
80 Health -> 70 Health
8 Attack Damage -> 7 Attack Damage
3 Health On Hit (5 for Melee) -> Removed
New -> 3% Lifesteal
To summarise, the flat, early game stats provided by Doran's Blade have been reduced across the board. At the same time, the item has been compensated in the form of 3% Lifesteal, which is the same amount as it used to have before Season 3. Obviously, these hanges have consequences with regards to item choices.
As A Starting Item
Doran's Blade remains as a strong starting item for a great variety of AD champions. However, the change has significantly reduced the power of Doran's Blade as a first item, thus allowing other items to take its place in certain situations. To add context to these changes, the Doran's items have always been intended for early game, gold-efficient power; the problem was that Doarn's Blade was unquestionably the most effective starting item for Marksmen, which suffocated choice and strategy in the bottom lane.
The Doran's Blade in Patch 4.10 is designed to be less limiting in its strength, but simultaneously to be more effective past the very early game. This is realised in the 3% Lifesteal added to the item. To quantify the difference, you're likely to be getting only 1 or 2 health per hit at level 1, compared to 3 on the previous iteration of the item (as a ranged character). This may not seem like much, but it can be a hefty difference cosidering how many times you use your basic attack during the laning phase. Without factoring in amour values, this will even out at 100 AD, but will actually be much higher against champions.
Still the best start?
Other Starting Items?
Now that Doran's Blade is weaker, we may begin to see starting items such as Longsword for Marksmen. This is compounded by the dip in popularity of supports likeAnnie. Supports offering high burst and engage power made Doran's Blade even more essential, because its bonus health allowed Marksmen an extra defence against an all-in.
We have not seen any variation in startnig items for the LCS Marksmen as of the writing of this article, but a more level playing field is likely to mean more variety in level 1 items. Solo Queue is different from LCS games, and strategies differ just the same. It is quite possible that other starting items will be seen in Solo Queue, but not LCS (or vice versa).
AD casters might find this start more effective.
Fighters such as who regularly start Doran's Blade, such as Trundle, have suffered an even larger loss due to the extra health on hit given to melee champions. In a similar way to the changes to Marksmen, Fighters will still find Doran's Blade to be a strong and popular level 1 item. However, losing a hefty amount of sustain may discourage some champions who lack built in sustain, or a strong laning phase, and certain situations may call for a Doran's Shield or even an Elixir of Fortitude.
Options - Marksmen
The previous sections noted that Doran's Blade may be forgone in favour of another item by certain Marksmen, as well as Fighters. An example of one of these situations is when you are looking for an early all-in with certain supports. Taking Longsword over Doran's Blade does sacrifice some health, but more attack damage and a faster Vampiric Scepter can bring you advantages.
Consider a situation in which your lane is Graves and Leona against Kog'Maw and Sona. The enemy team's combination of champions has very low kill potential and peel, whilst your team has plenty of all-in power. In this situation, risk of death is low when you all-in (assuming that you know the enemy jungler is not nearby). If you are planning an early all-in for a kill, the extra damage from the Longsword may win you the lane.
Graves scales very well with AD, and Leona can enable kills for him.
It is true that Doran's Blade is much more gold-efficient than Longsword, but efficiency shouldn't be the only thing considered when buying your first item. You may not need the extra health against a passive lane, or the extra lifesteal if you are planning on an all-in at level 2. Forgoing Doran's Blade at level 1 does not mean you can't buy any of them. Now that the lifesteal is percentage based rather than a flat on-hit effect, they are more effective as your damage scales, and you may even be able to afford one from very early on with the First Blood you scored with your early all-in.
Doran's Blade is still great for laning as a Marksman, but pulling off a Longsword start might be even more effective in some cases. Lifesteal runes or a support than can sustain you are important when considering the Longsword start, but do not forget that you also gain 2 extra Health Potions, which is 300 extra health.
Options - Fighters
Fighters with sustain such as Renekton and Aatrox will probably keep using Doran's Blade in almost every situation. This is because they require as many early game stats as possible. In a bully's case like Renekton's, you want as much early game dominance in the lane as possible, which means the most powerful offensive stats for as little gold. For Aatrox, the early stats compensate for his weak base values.
Other melee fighters like Jax or Trundle might find themselves leaning more towards Doran's Shield in some cases. For users with mana problems like Jax, Crystalline Flask may be the most popular item choice. Some early game snowballers may even return to the Elixir of Fortitude as their first item. Much higher attack damage, an extra 300 health from potions, as well as the extra burst of health from the elixir is now an even bigger advantage over Doran's Blade. The risk involved is obviously that you do not score a kill in your window on power, but that is made easier than before if the enemy starts Doran's Blade.
Jax is likely to be heavily affected by the early sustain nerfs.
Scaling
One of the key aspects of the new Doran's Blade is its Lifesteal. As mentioned before, this is a small early game sustain reduction for Marksmen, and a significant one for Fighters. However, this also means that, once you reach a certain damage threshold, your sustain will be much higher, especially if you stack Doran's Blades.
The new scaling power of Doran's Blade is compounded by the changes made to the essential Lifesteal items The Bloodthirster and Blade of the Ruined King. These nerfs makes Lifesteal an even more coveted stat, and a popular strategy has been to delay the acquisition of one of these items, and build 2 Doran's Blades into Infinity Edge. 6% Lifesteal is adequate, and the combat stats are powerful with this new combo. This is generally best used on auto-attack reliant Marksmen who can use the critical hit damage.
This is currently a popular and strong option for Marksmen.
However, should you choose a champion who relies more on abilities, or one that requires more time and items to scale, you may want more Lifesteal more quickly, or choose items like Essence Reaver for your mana problems. In this case, you may choose to rush a Vampiric Scepter, going with a Longsword start, but buying a Doran's Blade on your first buy. As for Fighters, their mid to late game itemisation may not change so drastically as a result of the Doran's changes. This is becuase they are likely to get plenty of sustain from their regular build path anyway. Ultimately, the scaling is much more effective, and opens up more options for many champions.
Conclusion
Doran's Blade is still a very powerful item, and will certainly remain a staple item in all levels of play. However, the changes in Patch 4.10 have done the job of diversifying Marksman item builds very effectively. This article has given some ideas about unorthodox starting items that may take your opponent off guard, or better fit a certain situation.
The key points to remember are that Doran's Blade is not as strong in the first few levels, which opens up some new starting strategies for AD casters and Fighters. On the other hand, Doran's Blade is now more useful as the game time progresses. It is up to you to find your optimum build paths, and hopefully this article has helped you on your way!
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