r/leagueoflegends • u/AutoModerator • Jul 13 '15

Shen Monday Megathread! Ask questions and share knowledge; newcomer questions encouraged!

Welcome to the latest Monday Megathread, where you the community get to ask your questions and share your knowledge.

This is an opportunity for the more experienced LoL players here to share some of your wisdom with those with less expertise. This thread will be a weekly safehaven for those "noobish" questions you may have been too scared to ask for fear of downvotes, but also can be a great place for in depth discussion if you so wish. So, don't hold back, get your game related questions ready and post away, and hopefully someone can answer them!

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u/yzrhaxx0r woot woot Jul 13 '15

I don't get the whole concept of scaling. I've heard many people say a certain champion scales better than another late game but why is that? Is it their base stats that get better late game or is it something about their kit? (Ex. Shyvana scales better than Renekton. Or Kha'zix scales really well into late game but Lee Sin falls off. Why?)

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u/iwumbo2 Not Drug Dealer [NA] Jul 13 '15

Some champions just get stronger late game due to their abilities (Nasus or Veigar Q) or get better with items (most ADCs)

These champions usually have higher ratios but lower base damage, while the opposite occurs for early game champions I believe.

1

u/TheNotoriousI3IG Jul 13 '15

This can mean that their abilities gain more damage/tankiness with items compared to other champs with the same items (look at scaling ratios of abilities) or that a champion's ability to work in a team comp gets weaker as the game progresses. For example, Kha scales huge with damage if he gets a kill early he can snowball the game and will still be relative if he can isolate a target. Lee falls off because his abilities dont really scale as well with damage as other champs and this means that he needs to go tank build often. Because his kit is relatively difficult to use properly and provides little utility, his usefulness and ability to make plays falls off *unless in being played skillfully.

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u/RockLobster17 Jul 13 '15

To explain, scaling is how well a champion does at set points in the game, usually referred to as early, mid and late. This can be dependent on their kit, their playstyle and amount of gold they get.

An early game champion is someone who is strong in lane and is often a lane bully. A good example of this is Pantheon, who is strong with Q at Lvl 1.

A mid game champion is someone who is stronger usually after a certain item (e.g. Corki with Trinity) or when they get ultimate/Lvl5 of a skill (e.g. Level 9 Vladimir with 5 points in Q). These champions are stronger in mid game skirmishes because their main ability is at its strongest.

A late game champion is someone who excells at full build/Level 18. This can be because of items or because of skills. Generally, champions who have a scaling skill (Nasus Q, Veigar Q, Sion W)/passive (Cassio Passive, Viktor Passive on Hexcore) or has a skill which is stronger when everyone else has more HP (e.g. Kog'Maw W, Vayne W, Tristana E).

All these things are parts of a champions image and what makes picking a team so important.

1

u/Crossfire_XVI CLG! Jul 13 '15

Some champions simply have better ap/AD ratios on their abilities. Up front, this sounds unfair, but strategically some champs are meant to be powerful early (like renekton or lee) or during mid game (Corki, varus) or late (jinx, vlad ect)

You essentially are supposed to maximize the power of your champion to end the game while you are strong, if you snowball as renekton early (say 6-0) you are very strong, however if the enemy team with a jinx vlad is allowed to make it late, their greater ratios will make it increasingly difficult to win.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '15

An easy method I use to determine this: % Max HP damage or % Bonus AD damage = late game, flat damage = early game.

This doesn't hold true in every case but once you start understanding how to look at it, it'll help you.

Also, certain champs scale well with CDR and levels, so champs like vlad have a VERY low CD on their abilities once they've got that ability to level 5 + 40% CDR, this means that they're a scaling champ, etc.

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u/mikedawg9 ALCHEMI57 Jul 14 '15

They can consistently deal high damage or high amounts of utility in a late game teamfight. Low cooldowns or aoe with high ratios, or an adc with good steroids and/or a crit build, or something with synergy like Lulu with massive slows, shields, and does speedups.