League of Legends news » The Luden’s Lowdown

The purple blotches it leaves in the wake of Kog'maw's Living Artillery might not be visually impressive, but the damage done speaks for itself. Luden's Echo has made a splash on Summoner's Rift, replacing Deathfire Grasp as the game's newest magic burst item.

It's not come without controversy: analyst and coach Nick "LastShadow" De Cesare tore into it soon after release, postulated that the large chunk of Ability Power and the triggered passive splash damage still made it an inferior damage item to Rabadon's Deathcap's multiplier effects.

But according to Misfits mid laner Alex Ich, there are fringe cases and specific timings that allow for it to thrive.

Safe or shocking

"Luden's is a really good item for poke champions because it works really well with low AP-scaling abilities," said Alex, who's steadily torn through the ranks of the Alphadraft Challenger League off the back of mid lane Kog'maw. "I think Luden's is a bit overrated right now because of the hype around the item, but it is very good for something like Corki or Kog'maw that actually have poke and really low AP scalings."

Notably, Kog'maw's Living Artillery only gets bonus damage equal to less than a third of the champion's total Ability Power, making an item like Rabadon's Deathcap not as efficient as it could be. The same is true with Corki's Missile Barrage, and even the Big One still falls short of half of the AP he's stacked up. With Luden's Echo's AOE damage, their long-range bombardment becomes that much more effective, and greatly reduces the risk for them in fights. After all, if you can just pump damage from way outside everybody else's spell range, who can get the drop on you?

AHQ mid laner Liu "Westdoor" Shu-Wei, on the other hand, doesn't like that sort of safe and cautious play style, focusing instead on Luden's Echo's bonus movement speed and movement-based charge. "I feel that Luden's Echo is a good item on champions with high mobility and can't be touched," said Westdoor, suggesting LeBlanc and Ahri.

According to Westdoor, "it's kind of like a Statikk Shiv for the mid position. Normally your first item's going to be a Tear of the Goddess or Morellonomicon. After these items you can start building a Luden's. Sometimes, when you recall and you only have an Amplifying Tome and a Needlessly Large Rod, it's convenient to make that purchase."

Alex Ich is intrigued by Luden's as an early option for Ahri, compared to Rabadon's Deathcap. "I think someone needs to do really deep analysis on both items and do the math," said Alex. "For example, as Ahri, [Luden's Echo] for first item gets you the highest burst because you can get two procs during the burst rotation at level six. So you basically get a Deathfire Grasp burst."

Anacoustic Zone

"On the other hand, it is not as effective if you go for something like Morellonomicon first," cautioned Alex. "Because I think the AP stats you get from Rabadon's, or the raw stats from Abyssal, will overcome the usefulness of Luden's Echo."

Westdoor flat-out dismisses the item if you aren't going to rush it. "Luden's is not a good late-game purchase," he said. "If you already have four or five items, you should be going for Banshee's or Zhonya's or Abyssal—defensive items"

"I think, as a first item, Luden's can be more effective than most others. But as a second item, Rabadon's is mostly more effective," confirms Alex. "I would say [Luden's Echo] is not as effective as a second item on something like Lulu or Orianna, because it doesn't work with utility abilities." The conflict is with the AP-based scaling on abilities like Orianna and Lulu's shields, or the scaling movement speed bonus from Lulu's Whimsy. Though the 120 AP on Luden's Echo is a significant chunk, passing it over Rabadon's means giving up a significant part of what they actually contribute in team fights.

Luden's extra burst damage is also a lot more sparing with them than it would be on a champion like Kog'maw or Corki. A champion like Lulu, for instance, has only Glitterlance and Help, Pix! -- both of which have relatively longer cooldowns -- to trigger it, versus Corki and Kog'maw's rapid-fire barrage. Orianna, too, has comparatively long cooldowns to abuse it with until much later in the game -- when Luden's will have already fallen off.

But that probably won't stop players from building it. "It still gives movespeed and it's really fun," summarized Alex. "Basically, Luden's Echo is overrated, but it is still very good."

As we head into the Mid-Season Invitational on May 7, we'll be seeing more and more players experiment with the new item. Make sure to keep your eyes on Lolesports to find out how successful they are.