Bruisers and Fighters are the kings of top lane. Champions like Sett, Aatrox, Jax, Renekton, Darius and Fiora all have been a part of the top lane meta patch after patch. Their strength comes from their dueling power and strength in a side lane. Items like Trinity Force, Black Cleaver and Ravenous Hydra all enhance the 1v1 power of these top lane carries. However, it can be tricky to understand the nuances of specific champion build paths. Should Aatrox build Black Cleaver or Ravenous Hydra? What about Blade of the Ruined King or Trinity Force? Let's take a deeper look into the items and find out!

Black Cleaver

Stats:

• 40 Attack Damage
• 20% Cooldown Reduction
• 400 Health

Cost: 3000

UNIQUE Passive: Dealing physical damage to an enemy champion reduces their armor by 4% for 6 seconds. This effect stacks up to 6 times for a maximum of 24% armor reduction.

UNIQUE Passive: Rage: Dealing physical damage grants 20 Movement Speed for 2 seconds. Killing any unit or receiving an assist on a champion that has any amount of Black Cleaver armor shred grants 60 Movement Speed for 2 seconds instead.

Explanation:

Black Cleaver has a history of being one of the most broken items in League’s history and is still a strong item in the current meta. The item is geared towards champions that need CDR and AD while being able to reliably and quickly stack its AR reduction passive. The item is best used for champions whose main damage comes from quick combos and ability usage such as Aatrox and Riven. For example, if Aatrox lands his W ability, he can easily hit his Qs which all stack Black Cleaver’s passive. Champions like Aatrox and Riven are both gated by CDR, making Black Cleaver’s 20% CDR help them out even more. Overall, Black Cleaver is a great item for manaless fighters who want to hit big combos on their enemy to stack the item’s passive and destroy their opponent.

Blade of the Ruined King

Stats:

• 40 Attack Damage
• 25% Attack Speed
• 12% Life Steal

Cost: 3300

UNIQUE Passive: Basic attacks for melee users deal 12% of the target's current health in bonus physical damage on-hit, with a minimum of 15 damage against all targets, and a maximum of 60 damage against minions and monsters.

Ranged users only deal 8% of the target's current health in bonus physical damage on-hit.

UNIQUE Active: Deals 100 magic damage and steals 25% of the target's Movement Speed for 3 seconds (90 second cooldown).

Explanation:

Blade of the Ruined King is a versatile item that just recently received some buffs, making it a viable option for many fighters and bruisers. The item provides excellent sustain along with providing AS and AD. Champions who want to split push or build on-hit love this item as it provides the ability to push towers and gap close on enemies better with the item’s active. The current health damage also enables the champion to better deal with tanky top laners or juggernauts while also providing the sustain to tank the enemy ADC. This item is going to be used by champions who want to build AS and can auto-attack quickly to make use of the life steal and on-hit damage. Champions such as Irelia, Renekton and Jax all utilize this item extremely well and can be unmovable in a side lane with the item.

Death’s Dance

Stats:

• 30 Armor
• 50 Attack Damage
• 10% Cooldown Reduction
• 30 Magic Resistance

Cost: 3600

UNIQUE Passive: Instantly heal for 15% of all damage dealt, including physical damage, magic damage, and true damage. Area of Effect and Pet damage only heals 5% for every unit affected.

UNIQUE Passive: Stores 30% of all post-mitigation physical and magic damage received, which is successively taken as damage over time true damage instead, dealing one-third of the stored damage every second. Ranged champions only store 20% of damage.

Explanation:

Death’s Dance isn’t usually built as a first item but can be built if needed. The item provides fighters and bruisers a better way of building tanky while still retaining the ability to deal damage. Champions who build this item will want to be tanking up damage in the enemy backline while dealing their damage on the enemy carries. Aatrox, Riven, Renekton all love building this item and killing enemy backlines while soaking all of the damage the enemy can throw at them. Usually this item would be built first if the champion needed the AR and MR as early as possible due to either playing weak side or trying to mitigate damage from the enemy.

Ravenous Hydra

Stats:

• 80 Attack Damage
• 100% Base Health Regeneration
• 18% Life Steal

Cost: 3500

Passive: Damage dealt by this item benefits from life steal (melee only).

UNIQUE Passive: Cleave: Your attacks deal physical damage up to 60% of your Attack Damage to units around your target, decaying down to 20% near the edge.

UNIQUE Active: Crescent: Deals physical damage up to 100% of your Attack Damage to units in front of you, decaying down to 60% near the edge. (10 second cooldown)

Explanation:

Ravenous Hydra is the item of carries. If your champion builds Ravenous Hydra first, your champion looks at the enemy and says fight me. Camille and Fiora are the main two champions who build Ravenous Hydra and they love the Life Steal and raw AD the item provides. Champions who want to wave clear while gaining insane sustain want to build this item as it is one of the best options in both categories since it builds out of Tiamat and a Vampiric Scepter. This item is best built on champions who are tanky through attacking as opposed to building HP. For example, Shen can build tanky with Titanic Hydra and still provide relevance in a teamfight while Camille will be much more dangerous with Ravenous Hydra as she can heal through the damage more effectively then by tanking it through Titanic Hydra.

Trinity Force

Stats:

• 25 Attack Damage
• 40% Attack Speed
• 20% Cooldown Reduction
• 250 Health
• 250 Mana
• 5% Movement Speed

Cost: 3733

UNIQUE Passive: Rage: Basic attacks grant 20 Movement Speed for 2 seconds on hit. Minion, monster, and champion kills grant 60 (half for ranged champions) Movement Speed for 2 seconds.

UNIQUE Passive: Spellblade: After using an ability, your next basic attack deals bonus physical damage equal to 200% of your base Attack Damage. 1.5 second cooldown. Does not stack with Sheen or Lich Bane.

Explanation:

Trinity Force. The rightful king of top lane. Probably the most iconic item of the top lane, Trinity Force provides a little bit of almost every stat bruisers and fighters love. The item gives tankiness, damage, CDR, AS and MS. With the Rage passive, Champions can run down their enemies with ease and the Spellblade passive provides even more damage. Champions who want all of the stats love this item. Champions like Jax, Irelia, and Sett all use this item effectively as they can use the Spellblade passive easily and want to run down their opponents. Any champion who can build this item usually wants to build it unless another item is even better.

Conclusion:

Overall, every champion has certain items they use better than others and while pro players and high ELO players can find innovative itemizations for champions, the meta builds work for a reason. This guide is designed to help you understand why your favorite champion builds the items they do. So good luck on the Rift and go gain some ELO.