League of Legends - Tipps/Erfahrungen/Tricks

5. Mana Versus AP
I think most people playing the new Ryze competently agree that Mana is now the way to go with Ryze. However, just how bad is AP? Is it ever worth my time to go pure AP or hybridize? I ran some theory crafting to check it out.

First, we'll look at Ryze's scaling.

Overload .1 Mana Scaling, .2 AP Scaling
Rune Prison .05 Mana Scaling, .6 AP Scaling
Spell Flux .35 AP Scaling

As Ryze's spells have different mechanics, this info alone is a bit hard to judge. For now, we will analyze Ryze's potential damage versus single and multiple targets (I do not account for certain things like the Mred on E)

With an endgame spell cycle of:

Q/W/Q/E/Q/R/Q/W/Q/E/Q, we have:

6 Overload
2 Rune Prison
2 Spell Flux

So that damage output (assuming all spells at level 5, and 3 hits from spell flux+splash from self bounce after ult) comes out to be


6(130+.1Mana+.2AP) + 2(200+.05Mana+.6AP) + (3+3+1.5)(130+.35AP)

Versus 2 enemies you can get all 6 bounces from spell flux to do damage, as well as extra damage from splash after ult (We will consider the Q/W/Q/E/Q combo after ulting to all be used during ult duration)


(3+3+1.5)(130+.1Mana+.2AP) + (1+1+.5)(200+.05Mana+.6AP) + (6+6+3)(130+.35AP)

Finally, calculations versus 3 enemies. I don't think its reasonable to expect to hit more than this except in very unique situations.


(3+3+3)(130+.1Mana+.2AP) + (1+1+1)(200+.05Mana+.6AP) + (6+6+6)(130+.35AP)

Now that we have these numbers, lets see the base damage output at base 1260 mana (Ryze base mana at level 18)

Damage with no items:

1 Enemy
1536+526+975=3037 Damage

2 Enemies
1920+657.5+1800=4377.5 Damage

3 Enemies
2304+789+2340=5433 Damage

Woah! Ryze's E does more damage than I thought it would. We still haven't gotten any items though, so lets not make any conclusions yet.

So taking the base mana and AP items, Sapphire Crystal and Amplifying Tome, we get that

1 Mana cost 2 Gold

1 AP cost 21.75 Gold

This is actually a terrible estimate due to items like Tear of the Goddess, Archangel's Staff, Rabadon's Deathcap, ect. that screw the numbers up terribly, but we'll start with this.

On a theoretical 5k Budget, we get

2500 Mana

or

300 AP

Damage with 5kgold in Mana:

1 Enemy:
3036+776+975=4787 Damage

2 Enemies:
3795+970+1800=6565 Damage

3 Enemies:
4554+1164+2340=8058 Damage


Damage with 5kgold in AP:

1 Enemy:
1896+886+1762.5=4544.5 Damage

2 Enemies:
2370+1107.5+3525=7002.5 Damage

3 Enemies:
2844+1329+4230=8403 Damage


This data yields us some interesting finds. For one, Mana Ryze is more capable in a 1v1 situation. Versus Multiple targets however, AP Ryze has more theoretical output. You might say: But Penny! You just told us Mana>AP! What does this mean?

True AP has greater theoretical output, but this relies heavily on the unreliable Spell Flux to deal massive amounts of your damage. You will also be forced to get closer to your targets for self-bounces, and your damage will be more spread over multiple targets. Additionally, there are many good defensive mana items, but not so many defensive AP items.

So what did we learn? Although Mana>AP, AP certainly isn't trash. Unless you really liked the old Ryze I would never go pure AP. However, hybridization is a very real option: I think many people underestimate AP on Ryze.


On a sidenote, we can drool over the ridiculous cost effectiveness of Tear of the Goddess and later Archangel's Staff.

Fully charged, Tear of the Goddess gives 1350 Mana and 7mp5. The mp5 cost us 390, so the 995 for tear goes down to 605 for a potential 1350 Mana. That is ~.448 Gold per 1 Mana, compared to the 2 Gold per 1 Mana in the basic items. Even the most hardcore AP Ryze should buy a Tear IMO.

A mid-lategame Ryze will often have ~4k+ mana. Archangel's Staff cost 1860 over tear and at 4k mana will provide a total of 165 AP. Instead of 21.75 Gold per 1 AP, we are now paying 11.27 Gold per 1 AP. It's not quite as good as Tear, but lets be realistic. That is a good deal.

A second Archangels cost you 2855-700 (for the mana) or 2105 for 177 AP (Your old AA will get +12 AP, but I don't count it as I subtracted the cost of the mana) or 11.89 Gold per 1 AP. Even at this point, Rabadon's will cost ~14 Gold per 1 AP, or If you bought a rod ~13 Gold per 1 AP. Archangel's is better!