Most champions in League of legends tend to have their itemization revolve around one (maybe two) particular stat, whether it be AP, AD, Armour, Crit, HP, MR, Attack Speed, and Lethality. However, while most champions tend to focus on that particular line of items, there are a few that have the capacity to potentially use multiple lines of itemization. In this piece, I will identify three champions who can utilize multiple build paths, break down the core items of set builds, and what the goal of the set build is.

Varus: Lethality vs On Hit

We start with the most current meta champion on this list, but what are the builds? Well, in this round, it is AD/Lethality combo versus the AD/Attack Speed combo.

First, we shall break down the AD/Attack Speed combo, also known as the ‘On Hit’ build. This build focuses on items that increase attack speed and increase auto-attack damage such as Blade of the Ruined King and Wit's End. This is done to maximize the damage potential from Varus’s passive, Living Vengeance, alongside his W passive, Blight. This build is designed to do a lot of damage over time in a front to back teamfight setting and is ideal against a line-up featuring tanks.

Secondly, we have the AD/Lethality build. This build is all about stacking the Lethality stat and the AD that comes with it. With priority items core to the build being Yonmuu’s Ghostblade and Edge of Night, this build is designed to do the same thing as the Lethality stat itself - penetrate health bars. It does this by taking the amplified (by Varus’s W, Blighted Quiver) Piercing Arrow (Q) and its physical damage, and making it almost true damage to squishy targets by bypassing their armour, turning a simple poke into a way to end a fight before it's even begun.

Maokai: Tank vs AP

While the tree is making a meta return over the last few patches, he isn’t meta dominant just yet in his tank form with a tank build, and he does have an alternative in the form of a solo queue special.

Looking at the bread and butter route for Maokai first. Usually, he will go and use a standard Armour and MR (with HP coming in with the resistance items) build with the simple purpose of using his almost unmatched level of CC (and targeted gap closer) alongside his stats to soak/disable enemy carries for as long as possible in a teamfight setting. The core items of Sunfire Cape and Spirit Visage work really well with Maokai, as his passive, Sap Magic, will be amplified by Visage and Maokai can easily proc Sunfire with his entire kit. This build is simply designed to make Maokai a teamfighting brick wall.

Now we come to the solo queue special, the AP build. This build revolves around two main items; Luden’s Echo (Runic Echoes can be used in a jungle variant) and Liandry’s Torment (this can then be followed up with tank items or even more AP depending on what you need). This build is all about the use of one spell, Maokai’s E, Sapling Toss. These AP powered saplings become minor nuclear mines when placed into brushes (which empowers the saplings even further), making them capable of completely zoning out teams from objectives. It is this power that can make this build work effectively. However, your playstyle has to match this! You are no longer are a pure tank and your focus is all about zone control and winning fights with good saplings before the primary engage even happens.

Jarvan IV: Tank vs AD

Jarvan IV has been a solid pick throughout many seasons and metas and one of the reasons is that he can very easily go into either a damage (AD bruiser) or tank build depending on what is needed to make a balanced team composition.

The most common of these builds is the tank build, which starts with Cinderhulk Enchantment and then is fleshed out with tank items such as Sunfire Cape, Warmog's Armour, and Adaptive Helm. The reason this build works so well is because it makes the Exemplar of Demacia a great frontline engage threat not just because of his solid CC but all the bonus health he gets with this build is synergetic with his W, Golden Aegis, which is a shield that scales with HP (and gets even stronger when used near multiple enemy targets). This setup is designed to make Jarvan IV a frontline engage threat that can put enemy carries in such vulnerable positions that their demise is inevitable.

This, however, does not mean that J4 cannot build damage. In fact, there are times when the addition of an attack damage threat who can get through frontline and potential duel and ADC can single-handed win you the match. This is where bruiser Jarvan comes in, with a Warrior Enchantment followed up with a Black Cleaver he has enough HP to allow him to survive the journey through a frontline (Golden Aegis helping here too) yet more than enough AD to pop the squishy backline. This is another teamfight build, but this time your goal as champion is to hit the backline champions and make their lives a living nightmare.

Conclusion

These champions are very fortunate to have the option to go these multiple avenues but for them to be effective it is up to you, the player to understand when to use these builds and how to execute their different win conditions. Whether it be using the poke build when the opposition has no frontline, going the zone build when your team wants to control objectives, or pivoting to a bruiser build when your team lacks damage/backline threat. So, there have it, 3 examples of champions with multiple built paths, and while there are others, I hope I’ve enlightened you to how to utilise these lucky champions. With that, I once again leave you with the thoughts of GL, HF, and GG.