Why buy doran's starter items?
So I see a lot of players, including skilled ones, buying items like Doran's Ring and Doran's Blade, that don't build into anything. Why do this? You'll just have to sell them later, they don't give a significant boost to stats, it would seem like a terrible idea. Yet people keep doing it! Why?
Best Answer
You can either buy 10 AD (for 350 gold), or 8 AD (280 gold value), 80 HP (213 gold value) and 3% Lifesteal (112.5 gold value) for nearly the same gold (400 gold). (Long Sword vs Doran's Blade).
You can either buy 20 AP (435 gold), or 15 AP (326.25 gold value), 80 HP (213 gold value) and 50% base mana regen (250 gold value) for nearly the same price (400 gold). (Amplifying Tome vs Doran's Ring).
You can either buy 15 Armor (300 gold), or 8 flat physical reduction, 80 health (213 gold value), and 6 flat health regen (216 gold value), and given that early game, with low AD values and the fact that Armor is % reduction, the flat reduction is stronger for a while. (Cloth Armor vs Doran's Shield)
Given that the Doran's items are much more gold efficient than the other similar non-Doran's items, and you only have a small amount of gold at the beginning of a match, it is generally best to start with one of the Doran's items. However, the other items can be upgraded into different completed items which are also gold efficient and have a higher item slot efficiency (i.e. more stats per item slot) so it generally isn't good to purchase more than one or two of them Doran's items, and they should be sold later on for better items that scale in late game.
TLDR: Doran's Items are about the most efficient early game items, thus it is usually best to buy them early game for the most efficient use of gold. However they don't scale into late game, so stacking a bunch usually isn't good, and they should be sold later on for room for more important items that scale in late game.
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Quick Answer about "Why buy doran's starter items?"
- They are actually some of the most gold efficient items in the game, give lots of good stats at a good price, give you better sustain and trading than other starting items, and are priced so you can still get potion(s) at the start of the game. ...
- Oh, okay.
When should I go to Dorans blade?
Doran's shield is basically always the better option, but if it's a melee matchup and you're really confident or smurfing or something, Doran's blade can be ok too. Gives you a bit more damage than they're expecting early to maybe cheese a level 2 kill with ignite or something.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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