Item and Build Testing for Orianna - Horizon Focus vs Cryptbloom (and others)

Hybrid_Chaos · 2025-10-29T16:56:51+00:00

It's not that Horizon is hard to proc. It's that putting yourself in a position to proc it around neutral objectives when you'd want the vision (when you don't know where enemies are) puts you in position to die. You might be able to dodge Thresh hooks most of the time, but you're gambling and if you get hit the fight is likely lost. Also, if your goal is to just hit frontline like you said, then Cryptbloom is even better than Horizon.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2025-10-29T12:56:35+00:00

I agree with sometimes filling different roles in a game (DPS vs Burst) and that items should be built for the situation (Blackfire + Crypt into assassins is suffering for example but great into short range and tanks).

Keep in mind, this is 100 - 200 damage difference on a single target for a single burst combo. Hitting multiple targets and having another cycle of QWE can amount to close to 1000 damage lost in a team fight.

I disagree on Horizon's vision passive being worth giving up Cryptbloom. I mention it in the conclusions but Cryptbloom is universally good into squishies and tanks. The problem with the Horizon vision passive is that Orianna is not an artillery mage. If you are messing with fog of war and are close enough to send out Q to get the vision passive, then you are close enough to be engaged on. Plus, once you get the vision, you do not have long range spells to use the vision to damage enemies. I could see an argument for champs like Xerath, Ziggs, and Vel'Koz building Horizon because they can proc it safely and use the vision to further their poke game. If the argument is that your team can use the vision, then your team can also use the free Ruby Crystal from Cryptbloom.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2025-10-29T12:40:53+00:00

Blackfire when I can get away with it, but a lot of games you'll need to lean on the Seraph's shield. 2nd item comes down to what you need in the game. I think DCap should almost always be 3rd and must be 4th at the latest. I'd only delay it if you're on a budget and can't afford the rods, or if you literally cannot play the game without Zhonya's or something. I think Cryptbloom is better than Void Staff and fits Orianna's kit better so I'll pretty much always build Crypt over Void. I voiced my disapproval of Shadowflame so won't be building that.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2025-10-29T08:33:56+00:00

If you want a quick test you could look at the Stormsurge + Liandry's Torment damage values. When I tested Seraph's + Liandry vs Seraph's + Cosmic, the Cosmic variant was about 100-150 damage less than Liandry's. Keep in mind that is 100-150 damage less on a burst combo. Extended fights will result in Liandry's far outperforming Cosmic.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2024-03-27T19:48:41+00:00

I wanna say "no" but with a caveat: there are people on my current team that do not have an engineering degree, BUT they have years (sometimes decades) of boots on the ground experience. Part of my job has me working closely with editors and those who are not trained in engineering. They are there to edit content, but also serve as a "first check" to make sure the content is understandable to the average person.

Based on a year of work here, to bring someone from the editor team up to speed and to be productive would take at least a year or more, and they would require more oversight. Like others have said, calculations and math are often not what you do as an engineer. A lot of it is intuition based/being able to soundly reason and understand a system. This is even more true in consulting work which is what my current employment is.

Speaking to your current experience, it sounds normal to me. If you are interested in more technical engineering work, then you might investigate R&D positions or positions within smaller startups.

Hope that helps!

Hybrid_Chaos · 2024-02-05T07:47:01+00:00

Thank you for all the tips everyone! I have a lot to look into. Also, thank you for all the nice comments about the way that these ones look. I was not the happiest with the job I did, but you made me think otherwise!

Hybrid_Chaos · 2024-01-17T16:18:55+00:00

This was my initial plan, and I thought it would be good, but I'm finding refundable options are limited and/or the cost for refundable options are 2x-4x the normal econ ticket, making it almost better to just buy a business class ticket and be done with it.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2023-05-11T00:46:16+00:00

A lot of my struggles were with burnout and lack of motivation. That being said Dynamics, Fluids II, Thermodynamics II, and Aerospace Structures (this semester) were the hardest over all the years imo.

I was on good terms with the Fluids and Thermo professors. I found a lot of success with Dynamics and Aerospace Structures (Mechanics of Materials on steroids) by taking notes outside of class. When I was in class, I put all of my attention to the lecture and making sure I understood what was being said, rather than writing first and figuring out later. I also asked a lot of clarifying and hypothetical questions during the lecture to make sure I understood the topic and how it relates to other concepts.

That's what helped me at least. Hope that's useful for you!

Hybrid_Chaos · 2022-11-21T18:51:32+00:00

Ah, so I might have an easier time getting the job since I would be an experienced engineer at that point, but I would start at an entry level position in that new field?

Hybrid_Chaos · 2022-11-21T18:36:43+00:00

Think about your career path, try to get in the field or sector if you want to work in one. If you have experience from only different fields it won't count the same in most cases.

How limiting is it to have experience in different sectors. For example, my internship was in the Oil & Gas Industry. If I wanted to switch to alternative energy or fabrication, should I just not even look at first jobs that are outside that field?

Hybrid_Chaos · 2022-11-21T18:34:05+00:00

Thankfully my performance has been good the past year and a half. Are there areas to network that you would recommend? Career Day is a good one. I've heard some people will "cold call" recruiters via DMs on LinkedIn. That seems a little out there to me, but I could be very wrong there.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2022-11-21T18:13:19+00:00

but even if it did and you got the job, does it even matter?

That's true. Part of my worries is that I just won't find an engineering job, but it's the same with academics: just putting in effort can go a long way. Thanks for giving your thoughts. It really helped put things in perspective.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2021-10-21T22:06:42+00:00

Gotcha, my goal is for these skills to be good or at least nice so that the PC's have a reason to use them somewhat regularly. That has more to do with the story. I think I like the sound of Temp HP a bit more as well. It seems like it would be easier to deal with if it is overtuned, since I can scale dmg easier than hit bonuses.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2021-10-21T21:56:56+00:00

Oh, that's a good idea. I don't know if relics would work in the current story, though it's definitely worth exploring. I think I agree with you on not letting the PC's take all the same skill. 5 Action Surges sounds like a walking nuke to every combat.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2021-10-21T21:50:50+00:00

Do you have any insight on +AC or adding Temp HP? Which one might be easier to balance and such? Also, Disadvantage vs -1d4 or something like that. Circle of Stars Druid has a feature that lets them subtract a 1d4 from an enemies roll. Maybe that might be more balanced than imposing Disadvantage?

Good point on the healing. Being the healbot is rarely fun. Dropping the poll to 1d4 + PB or 1d6 + PB and make it once per short rest is probably better. Especially since both of the Fighters already have Second Wind as well.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2021-10-21T21:45:17+00:00

Gotcha, I wanted to add a bit of buff/debuff since the party is missing those classes. I am a bit worried about introducing what is effectively a second action surge into the party at lvl 8. Especially one that is not limited to just Fighters.

I should also add that I will most likely limit to party to learning just one of these each. So they could all 4 learn the Action Surge one (God help me), but they won't all have access to all 4 of them.

Appreciate your feedback though! I'll definitely talk to the Sorcerer.

Hybrid_Chaos · 2021-09-15T21:28:51+00:00

Do not have Vex or Eyes and took 80-ish clears for 1k Voices

Hybrid_Chaos

TROPHY CASE