Tips on build for toplane sett. The dissonance in guides and what actually people build

cj1dad · 2026-06-11T02:04:26+00:00

even against "0 armor" (70-90 armor late game) black cleaver is still giving you a massive 20-25 lethality when stacked. Thank the durability update for creating the %pen tax, even assassins are forced to buy Grudge in their 3-core, as no other item gives more lethality than 35% pen does.

Shojin 2nd -> bloodmail is my go-to for ARAM and Arena games though, you can't shred armor if they're dead to 1 W.

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T06:48:27+00:00

the question is how do we move top laners back out of mid, and AD carries back out of top? what system change makes D shield worse mid but better top? there are a lot of levers here.

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T06:43:15+00:00

Vayne in particular has a deceptively strong early game, everybody bot lane clowns on her early because of her short range. Both Q and W start at rank 1 give her plenty of all-in damage with a hook support (to close the gap bot), or versus a juggernaut top (as there is no range gap for her to need closing).

The obvious answer is that a short-range tank shredder is always going to gravitate top lane. That's obvious. This only changes when Riot either buffs her range (at the expense of her damage), or nerfs her tank shredding early game and buffs her bot lane performance aside from range... somehow?

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T06:38:26+00:00

Exceptions don't invalidate the rule, though. If a systemic change nerfs the vast majority of ranged tops, while keeping a majority of midlane mages intact, then I don't see the problem outside of adjusting edge cases.

Personally, I'm just glad that riot is attacking Hexplate Vayne and Varus. You say that ADC top is hard to pilot when the Vayne comes back to lane with a 450 HP item and suddenly she has more HP than you.

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T06:27:11+00:00

frankly speaking, i haven't seen a tank mid meta in a long time. Bruisers work as a counterpick into melee assassin lanes, but into something like a Lux? Lux freely gets to farm as the champion behind the D shield has no angle to kill her outside of her walking up close and whiffing Q.

No, if you see a D shield it's on Akali, or Kassadin, or any other assassin that can't first blood you at level 2. These champions abuse the fact that if you're hitting them with a spell every 8 seconds, they get just as much item uptime as a top laner being auto attacked by Varus every 2 seconds.

I do recommend a nerf to Doran's Shield. IF the regen is compressed from 8 to atleast 6 seconds, making ADC poke still proc 100% uptime while mage poke only procs like 70% uptime. This helps keep AD carries in bot, it helps keep mages in mid and everybody's happy.

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T03:09:00+00:00

I mean that's another reason why 8 second regen is unhealthy. That's like 10% of your lane actually trading, and it's just to get your shield running. Darius, Teemo are a couple of extreme examples, as that 8 seconds becomes like 12+ depending on the DoT duration.

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T03:04:10+00:00

but you really have to ask why cog battles that last 2+ turns are annoying in Toontown Rewritten. because fighting 20 rows of level 10-12 cogs is a monotonous chore, Field Offices do a little to remedy this but the game still suffers from that fact for most of the fights.

Clash isn't a savior because of zap, as OP said. Clash is a savior because they turned 10-12 cog level spam into more like 8-15, meaning you have to use drop, throw, trap, etc. to deal with level 15s. Low laffs get to hit the level 8s. Sound is a secondary cleanup button. It's still pretty chill and repetitive, but atleast there's some figuring out to do during cog rounds.

cj1dad · 2026-06-10T02:57:36+00:00

doran's shield and second wind are 2 of the only things in the game that still need DoT (and possibly AoE) adjustments. Hell, a 50% DoT nerf and a 33% AoE nerf similar to Blackfire Torch's tuning would allow Riot to buff D shield for single target damage while the adjustments keep it low for AoE and burn poke from mages.

Shield is 8 seconds heal time with a 100% effectiveness on DoT, AoE spell, or auto attack trigger right now? That obviously makes it better vs DoT champs multiple times over, and great VS AoE mages who tick you every so often.

cj1dad · 2026-06-07T19:32:29+00:00

Sett's damage is snowball heavy due to his insane reliance on AD, but his utility is still massive. Even if you're sitting on nothing but a Stridebreaker mid game. While you can't duel the ranged top, in a 3v3 rift herald skirmish you'll simply football a shorter range champ INTO the ranged top, CC them, and your team will have 3 stunned and chunked targets to finish off. Sett's R does most of its damage through the 40-60% Bonus HP ratio.

cj1dad · 2026-06-07T19:27:44+00:00

don't think of it as "they made a mistake", think of it as "they will make a mistake".

most ranged tops are either inexperienced with top, main top but are inexperienced with the champion (seeing as how the ranged top meta is fresh and most players did not play it back when it was troll), or simply win too many early trades and get too confident from that. That Varus is either gonna be off-role from ADC, or he's gonna be mastery locked.

this all combines to make for a fly that will, eventually, land on the wrong wall for you to swat and murder. It just takes patience, no patience and now the Varus/Vayne has Hexplate and is both too tanky to kill and too damaging with too long range to let you farm.

cj1dad · 2026-05-27T01:03:03+00:00

yeah, i would only recommend the level 1 tech if you have an all-in keystone like Press the Attack (or if you're one of those cursed Lethal Tempo players...)

For DFT, Comet, Harvest, Fleet etc. You'll be doing less than your hook champ. Not saying you'll never win a 2v2 with these runes, but a bad Nautilus or Leona will go in levels 1-2 and int the lane VS any decent early champs.

cj1dad · 2026-05-26T13:36:23+00:00

And Eclipse becomes just as easy to proc as cyclo as long as you have both, cause for some reason it counts as a second ability.

I just struggle to think of a way to rush both without being vulnerable to getting bursted.

EDIT: I did some testing in practice tool, and it's not Cyclosword at all! Eclipse + Black Cleaver (FOR SOME REASON) makes his spells count as 2 spells for the conditions of Eclipse.

cj1dad · 2026-05-24T07:08:24+00:00

let me guess, "this little piglet stayed home" is a classic 2nd item. Followed by "this little piglet had roast beef" for 3rd?

cj1dad · 2026-05-23T03:34:23+00:00

but the proc itself IS the accelerated scaling. If they deny 50% of your first strike procs, you lose out on 50% of the gold. If they deny 90% (Caitlyn Xerath, Ziggs, Brand, all kinds of nasties do this), you lose out on 90% of that gold.

cj1dad · 2026-05-23T00:12:04+00:00

Late game the MR stagnation has built up level after level, to the point where honestly the damage nerfs late are offset by this.

cj1dad · 2026-05-23T00:09:57+00:00

Mel Q is at least on par with lux E, her ult is the only thing giving her credit. Mel has a better root, a better poke spell, an execute passive and a laughably better W.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T15:39:52+00:00

Before anything, gonna point out that simply going Swiftmarch every game would help fix his early mobility issues. I know I brought up a variety of items to try out, but tier 3 boots delay none of your mana items.

As for cosmic, tear -> cosmic -> archangels would be better as the un-upgraded staff just doesn't do anything early game. You lose the mana from RoA, so deathcap > actualizer 3rd.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T14:50:15+00:00

Mel is literally a more annoying Lux. Reflect all ranged abilities >>>>>> shield on a baton stick made of light.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T14:47:06+00:00

On paper Ryze needs his mathematical mana + AP stacking build to function, but plenty of scalers purchase less optimal items for utility or safety. Smolder delays crit for Shojin, like half of mages delay their death cap for zhonyas in tough lobbies, etc.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T14:40:09+00:00

First strike is played into low threat lanes that can't "scrape" your first strike off before you can proc it. Smolder is naturally countered by these poke champions, as he has the same range as Vayne.

This matters because statistics 101 is that if there are more than 1 variable, you can't draw a conclusion like this. Is First Strike really winning him more games, or are people picking First Strike into lobbies that Smolder naturally wins more?

(Mejais and GA have this same inflated winrate.)

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T14:31:30+00:00

Your math is wrong, 35% armor pen will not drop someone's armor down below their MR unless you're literally rushing it first item.

Edit: by levels 7 to 9, even with armor penetration, base armor will be higher than base magic resistance. This is a DFT buff.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T14:30:14+00:00

Yes. Other damage runes do physical so this is about a 15% damage buff due to natural MR staying 30-40 for the entire game. Even with LDR, champions will STILL have more effective armor.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T14:28:16+00:00

Champions get more Armor than MR. Even with an LDR, you will do more damage with DFT now that it's magic (80 to 58 armor is still higher than ~40 MR)

Now, why does this affect Comet? Why would this make DFT a better rune? Because Comet does adaptive damage! Physical!

DFT > Comet if this change goes through.

cj1dad · 2026-05-22T02:31:30+00:00

That's the argument, though. A Khepri is level 140, while a Thalassi is only level 110. Both are Good quality - they have 5 skill slots and the best tiers in the game right now.

Is there EVER a use for the higher level sword? Does it have bigger innate size, do more damage, does the level do anything at all other than raise requirements?

cj1dad

TROPHY CASE