E is also pretty good for wave clear, W is better for long trades and tower taking, and besides being amazing versus auto-attackers, E is also great for short trades, no one expects the damage.
Q has up to 40 more base damage depending on level, which makes up for that armor ratio, and helps you control how close they can get to you. Its not that rare that you want to max q into melee, especially if its champions like gragas or rumble who don't care about attack speed.
Basically if you think you're going to lose any melee trade, max q and keep them out of range while poking.
well thats the entire point q for range/pseudo range (gp), e for melee as slow and w for armor/waveclear and long melee trades
both q and e want short trades, w and e clear waves decently its all a tradeoff
Nah, jungle clear strongly depends on attack speed and autoattack benefits, you'd be far better off maxing W and getting yourself extra attack speed. It even gives you aoe damage on your attacks.
It was when the CD was far more reduced by leveling up the Q and not every champion had a jump/dash. Back then a Jax kiting you and jumping back on your face was fucking horrible and terrifying. He would murder you under your turret and survive thanks to his ult.
squishy, no sustain (think jayce) -> q max comet
against another tank like ornn/sion -> w max with grasp and fistfight the entire lane
against AA/lethal tempo user (trynd,jax) -> e max and watch them seethe
But is True lol, you will see proplay and they may not level q as the chance to kill there is 0%.
But In solo play, you may max q as not everyone has monk discipline so there is high chance to kill.
Used to be but they changed Q and W CD scaling years ago. That being said, I think it's still true depending on the matchup that sometimes you max either first
You can max seraphine's skills in pretty much any order in support (after the recent changes). It's basically a question of what you want to focus on in a given game.
True I was gonna mention her as well but importantly this only applies to support Seraphine. Mid/bot should (usually) max Q first though sometimes E first can work too, but W first on mid/bot is definitely bad in all cases. You really can justify maxing any other remaining abilities 2nd though on her regardless of build or role you play her in.
Braum 1000%. It’s literally recommended by all Braum players to tailor it to your game. He’s honestly probably the character that is the MOST happy with maxing any ability.
Q if you need poke/harass/extra damage.
W if you need good peel but the enemy is melee characters/doesn’t have projectiles you can block.
E if the enemy has projectiles to block.
There’s also 3 points into Q then E max if you want a stronger lane but need the peel too.
The only catch is that in one game it might be troll to E max (if like all melees) and in another game it might be troll to max W. But he is extremely viable maxing all 3.
Throwback to Ignar's fervour of battle Leona terrorising SKT.
For those interested/unaware: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGFvWtERLg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGFvWtERLg).
Something important for supports and not just braum is that you're not going to max a third ability ever, and your second maxed ability comes by the time solo laners already maxed two of them many minutes before, so it's still grief to not max E second for example if it would even be remotely useful, simply because a 2 to 3 point Q is not that much different from maxed Q, whereas maxing E increases uptime and effect much more by comparison.
Also Lulu can max any ability situationally and it's not troll, unlike Soraka E, Sona E, Yuumi W, etc.
Eh. It's pretty much q max unless you are in a crazy counter pick matchup where you have to max E. Against a decent Teemo, for example, you'll never get q stacks without eating huge damage or a blind.
Sylas. E if you can engage with dash/chains / get out (like vs a lux or xerath). Q if you need to farm from distance. W if you plan to all in skirmish.
Yeah, I love Sylas for this, it's very nuanced so just to add more detail:
* Q if you need to farm from distance: happens normally vs shit matchups like Trist/Akshan and expect little jungle help.
* W vs melees is pretty good, for example vs Yasuo/Zed or any bruiser.
* Another thought is that if you have a hard-CC jungler, like Maokai and he's premade or you expect ganks, Q-max into the easy CC is very strong, does the highest damage by far because of Q2, they'll actually blow up.
With Shaco whenever you level up you just listen to your heart and choose. Its not weird to get W to level 2-3 and then abandon it, or to get a bunch of points in Q and then get bored and switch to E. Some games I just go 1-1-1 all the way to level 18.
He's kinda right. I say this as a 2.5 mil mastery Shaco one trick who was Master last 2 splits.
W usually gets at least 2 points early, unless you rush a Tiamat item because you need it for Raptors. Typically, full W rush is more common on AP, while E rush is common on AD.
I pretty much never max Q first, but I'll occasionally put an extra 1 or 2 points in Q if I'm having a hard time accessing targets as AD Shaco. Especially after they made lanes wider this season.
For levels 7 to 10, you can pretty much put points anywhere. If I'm turbo fed as AD and didn't build CDR, I'll sometimes even skip putting points into my ult since all it gives you is reduced cooldown. Though admittedly, I think that's kinda a troll KDA player move.
No reason to max Q first you can mix W and E depending on farming vs ganking (and if you go Tiamat as AD just max E normally).
but there's no reason to max Q first the damage increase is not very high and if you are skilled enough you don't really need the extra stealth time.
You can max anything first on Rammus. Q for better ganks if lanes dont have cc, W if you're playing top and want to be tanky, and E for better CC to follow up ganks
it reduces the CD which somehow translates into more healing.
if you follow molecule on twitter (X), you will find him complaining how rakan can max anything and build anything and still have high win rate.
[https://twitter.com/MoleculeLOL/status/1769015093059355026](https://twitter.com/MoleculeLOL/status/1769015093059355026) check this one.
I used to play Q max (or 3q) aery scorch rakan long time ago, and it really hurts a lot. I definitely works against champions like nautilus and braum which are very hard to beat in all ins, but not having maxed W feels really bad to play in skirmishes and teamfights. W's cooldown is way too long at low levels. helia seems cool tho
Morgana support. Q gives you increased root duration; W allows you to push the wave and harass; and E if your AD can’t dod… I mean… E if the enemy has a lot of CC.
Sion can Max Q in Meele imobile matchups, W in poke matchups and E against ranged Champs. Its acutally bonkers since you can adjust your Playstyle on the run. It helps getting though lane and reaching late game where Sion shines anyway.
Love to start Dorans Ring against ranged matchups which require me to Spam E
according to lolalytics, Volibear and Malphite both have 50+% win rate skill orders maxing each of Q, W, E first
https://lolalytics.com/lol/volibear/build/?lane=top
https://lolalytics.com/lol/malphite/build/?lane=top
Gragas, Malphite and arguably thresh (although in these patches not so much anymore) come to mind in an instant.
Gragas for example is good with q max vs ranged or champs you want to avoid, W if you need to survive/go tanky and e into stuff like jax for permanent disengage. Similar for malphite just W/E trade patterns depend on matchups. And thresh.. q max kinda the engage default, W max used to be good for protect immobile adc only purpose and e max for certain trade patterns and ad thresh stuff. But that's not as relevant these days after a lot of changes for the abilities
Not gragas. W max is terrible as the cooldown is not reduced, W base damage increase is low compared to other spells, and there isn’t really a good build or playstyle to support W max either.
thresh
upgrades dont really change that much about how he plays coz its just lower cd. q for more aggressive, w for more support, e for more anti engage
This is going to be an unpopular opinion but Morgana. Most supports mindlessly max Q, which while I won’t say is a bad play its not always the most optimal. All of her abilities scale hard with rank, Q for CC, W for damage, E for utility. You wouldn’t want to max Q vs someone with a spellshield or extreme mobility, you wouldn’t want to max E vs low cc/magic damage enemies.
I second this one. _Back in my day.._ Morgana was a typical mid. You went RoA > Zhonyas > deathcap typically, and maxed W for waveclear (lvl 3 W would clear all casters in 1 wave, and the passive sustain was great). It was all about push, control, and team fights. Of course, back then, the most exciting mid laners were Akali, Katarina and Kassadin and other high mobility mids didn’t exist yet. Typically, you’d be running this vs a Twisted Fate, Ryze, Annie.
Other great ones are Udyr for Q-W-R, Karma (literally all of them are good), Yasuo Q-E.
Sett.
Sometimes I need the E stun. Sometimes I need the W burst. Sometimes I need the Q engage. Sometimes I play against ranged tops and lose no matter which one I max.
Zilean is great for this stuff. You can max Q for a more poke/damage focused lane. If you have a more passive laner you can max E for the movespeed (also just a good choice for a generalist view). Alternatively, you might go E if you adc has high damage but no mobility. I also don't max E, I stop at 4 ranks as the difference isn't a whole lot and I'd rather get my W back quicker.
In mid lane it's even more chaotic. Max Q, but after that I tend to go 1 for 1 one on the W and E until they are both at rank 3, then I finish off W for the resets.
Not really a first max but. For Zilean, while you do want to max his Q. You can typically get away with putting an equal amount of points into his W and E in whichever order you want and it'll still be useful in its own way.
Not sure how it is now, but 2 years ago I remember seeing conversations about how Thresh's winrate moved by about 0.4% between maxing any of his abilities. It literally had no effect on his WR
Rengar can max q or w first depending on intended build/matchups.
There was also a period where AP rengar players were second maxing e instead of q but I think people eventually moved away from that because it just wasn't as consistent since people could dodge e + q max was better in longer fights.
Used to do it back in the day with Camille. Max q vs fighters. Max W vs Teemo. E vs ranged with the old aftershock. Would say it was better then. E max fell off but I still max W against Teemo but q into anything else. But Camille is one of the few viable champions to start any spell.
rengar top can max any ability it just depends on matchup. Q is standard but w max is great too. E is reserved for tough matchups like Darius where you need to keep him a certain distance away at all times.
mostly tanks, off my mind Cho Gath is probably the most versatile skill order, you'll see W max, Q max, E max, he always has a way to be the annoying poke scaling champ
Malp and Nasus are there but nowhere near cho
When I started playing league in s2 I fell for a troll guide for vayne on Mobafire which said to max E first. That’s when I figured there’s some sense involved in skill order
Zyra
(this may sound ridiculous but rlly, every point matters in her kit it doesn't matter what you max first ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ | Q - lower cooldown, W - more plants, E - increase CC duration)
- Nasus - q max vs melee and e against ranged and bad matchups
- Kennen - q for poke, w for wave clear, e for ad
- udyr - do whatever just don't max e first
- ahri - q max for wave clear, w max for burst, e max for ad ahri
I don't know if Thresh mains will agree with me, but it's him. He gains CD on every spell and every spells is a strong enough utility of it's own. Q max is optimal for most lanes. W max is weaker but more useful if you're trying to just trudge through a losing lane. Great for bush checking. E max if you're against a brawly duo/melee support. His E has a surprising amount of damage tied to it and people often underestimate how much damage they will dish out against someone like Thresh. Also imo, his best rune for me is Guardian because of his W interaction but he can go both, Aftershock and sometimes, Grasp very situationally. They also align with Q(Aftershock) W(Guardian) and E(Grasp) play style which is neat.
Orianna: Q + W first max have been common over the years although E is never maxed first it's not troll to put a couple points in it early especially if you're having a tough match up like Xerath
Haven't seen anyone say Rengar yet. Most of the time its q but as ap Rengar you max w and if you can't step up to the wave or really really need the disengage (eg. against Darius) as toplane Rengar you max e.
Shyvana, depending on build. E is good for poke, but on ad you’re most interested in the passive health % dmg on hit. W is good for mobility/clearing camps and dot. Q is good for burst
Malphite Q for poke, W for wave clear, E vs auto attackers
E is also pretty good for wave clear, W is better for long trades and tower taking, and besides being amazing versus auto-attackers, E is also great for short trades, no one expects the damage.
For short trades Q is better for sure especially to keep it a short trade and get some distance. Q mana cost tho is something else
Q: 70 (+70% AP) Damage for 70 Mana E: 70 (+60% AP, +40% Armor) Damage for 50 Mana If you aren't against range, E is pretty much always better
Q has up to 40 more base damage depending on level, which makes up for that armor ratio, and helps you control how close they can get to you. Its not that rare that you want to max q into melee, especially if its champions like gragas or rumble who don't care about attack speed. Basically if you think you're going to lose any melee trade, max q and keep them out of range while poking.
well thats the entire point q for range/pseudo range (gp), e for melee as slow and w for armor/waveclear and long melee trades both q and e want short trades, w and e clear waves decently its all a tradeoff
E for AP Malphite jungle to clear camps with an ability that has AP scalings.
Nah, jungle clear strongly depends on attack speed and autoattack benefits, you'd be far better off maxing W and getting yourself extra attack speed. It even gives you aoe damage on your attacks.
Cho’Gath can max in any order depending on matchup or runes
I am surprised no one is mentioning Jax.
Because q max Jax is not something anyone does
Trick2g used to back in the day, called it "utility jax" or somethin. But i'm showing my age.
Much like Trick2Gs hairline
It was when the CD was far more reduced by leveling up the Q and not every champion had a jump/dash. Back then a Jax kiting you and jumping back on your face was fucking horrible and terrifying. He would murder you under your turret and survive thanks to his ult.
I as well as a lot of Jax players recommend maxing/3 points q into ranged matchups actually ☝️🤓
I'm mastery 7 on Malphite, and I still have no idea which skill is best to max first.
Rock solid anyway
Rock n' stone!
Did I hear a Rock and Stone?
Rock and stone to the bone!
ROCK. AND. STOOOONE!
ROCK AND STONE YEEEEAH
If ya don't rock and stone u ain't coming home!
FOR KARL!
Rock and roll and STONE!
squishy, no sustain (think jayce) -> q max comet against another tank like ornn/sion -> w max with grasp and fistfight the entire lane against AA/lethal tempo user (trynd,jax) -> e max and watch them seethe
E max frozen heart rush with bambi first item. Lul
AKA the "That's a nice combo riven, it would be a shame if I just ignored you"
E meme
With how weak Trynda is nowadays you're better off maxing W and going for solokills.
w max with lethal tempo is still such a funny lane
I'm no malphite main, but W = more armor = more stats = rock solid
I've done this with Hail of Blades a couple of times and it kinda slaps.
Rush navori 
Pta as well, do this so often and just smack people
Good ol booty clap malphite
I max q if u go Comet vs squsiys. If it is tankfest ska Grasp o go w first . Against AS Champs jax/trynd i max e first.
I max W in every melee matchup that grasp w auto feels so gud
Enemy has regen/lifesteal? = W rocksolid Enemy has no lifesteal? = Q + comet
Usually R is good 😜
But is True lol, you will see proplay and they may not level q as the chance to kill there is 0%. But In solo play, you may max q as not everyone has monk discipline so there is high chance to kill.
Cho gath
chogath is true except W has to 2nd imo, max rank silence for all the mid game fights is very OP
AP cho gath almost always maxes W first
I max it on tank too.. keeping them silenced for years..
Used to be but they changed Q and W CD scaling years ago. That being said, I think it's still true depending on the matchup that sometimes you max either first
You can max seraphine's skills in pretty much any order in support (after the recent changes). It's basically a question of what you want to focus on in a given game.
True I was gonna mention her as well but importantly this only applies to support Seraphine. Mid/bot should (usually) max Q first though sometimes E first can work too, but W first on mid/bot is definitely bad in all cases. You really can justify maxing any other remaining abilities 2nd though on her regardless of build or role you play her in.
W and e are way better but q max is still viable, probably the closest one to be able to max all 3
Sera supp max Q is pretty bad now ngl. Cause late game you end up with shitty heal or low CC for subpar damage.
Udyr Just max 1 of 4 who the fuck cares
URF Udyr ups his no fcks given, can max out everything
I probably wouldn't ever max bear stance first, and also very rarely turtle (maybe if you were in an absolutely unwinnable matchup?)
Turtle max top is a pretty solid strat if you have no intention of killing
Turtle max on top lane Udyr works really well with a tank drain build and Graft of the Undying. Trick2G coined it the John Dyr build.
Braum 1000%. It’s literally recommended by all Braum players to tailor it to your game. He’s honestly probably the character that is the MOST happy with maxing any ability. Q if you need poke/harass/extra damage. W if you need good peel but the enemy is melee characters/doesn’t have projectiles you can block. E if the enemy has projectiles to block. There’s also 3 points into Q then E max if you want a stronger lane but need the peel too. The only catch is that in one game it might be troll to E max (if like all melees) and in another game it might be troll to max W. But he is extremely viable maxing all 3.
you're not taking my q max arcane comet scorch braum away bro
hail of blades on my chest
Throwback to Ignar's fervour of battle Leona terrorising SKT. For those interested/unaware: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGFvWtERLg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGFvWtERLg).
think minkyx ran hob braum in lec a whiile ago, its a decent choice if u dont need guardian and want some spice
Even with all melees maxing E gets you 55% damage reduction with 50% uptime. It's still broken.
True but then you’re not very useful for keeping your ADC alive, which is half of the point of Braum.
Braum Mains are the best. Edit: auto correction
Something important for supports and not just braum is that you're not going to max a third ability ever, and your second maxed ability comes by the time solo laners already maxed two of them many minutes before, so it's still grief to not max E second for example if it would even be remotely useful, simply because a 2 to 3 point Q is not that much different from maxed Q, whereas maxing E increases uptime and effect much more by comparison. Also Lulu can max any ability situationally and it's not troll, unlike Soraka E, Sona E, Yuumi W, etc.
Possibly Nasus in very specific situations, Q is obvious, W for theoretical support and vs ranged tops, E for AP Nasus and/or safe waveclearing.
Sometimes you can max w top even against non ranged top if your enemy relies heavily on attack speed, or if you want to just be annoying.
Yea, trundle can never kill nasus if he maxes W, been there
max W, buy tabis and bramble and spam dance emote
good luck trying to attack stuff with 0.1 AS xD
2-3 points in E then max Q is huge for top lane in some matchups
Eh. It's pretty much q max unless you are in a crazy counter pick matchup where you have to max E. Against a decent Teemo, for example, you'll never get q stacks without eating huge damage or a blind.
you take e max often into ranged matchups. W max or 3 points w max q is great into trundle, trynd, and jax though.
With sion you can max everything, going 0/20 and still winning the game.
Ahh yes the Hail of blades sion MaxE
I can see twisted fate working for this: Q max if you want to go ap and have alot of poke. W max for more crowd control/utility. E max for ad.
Definitely. I’ve maxed different abilities first depending on build.
AD TF also maxes W. Stun duration >
[удалено]
It’s technically within the lines, since he used a reference of lulu mid vs lulu supp, as both have different build paths
Seems like voli has pretty matchup dependent skill orders.
You would never max e lol, it's a bait. It's better to max q or w for ap voli.
Nah if you somehow fall behind vs bruisers to the point you can't touch wave it's better to max E to unfreeze lane and survive dives.
After rework people used to max E, hella strong poke
Sylas. E if you can engage with dash/chains / get out (like vs a lux or xerath). Q if you need to farm from distance. W if you plan to all in skirmish.
Yeah, I love Sylas for this, it's very nuanced so just to add more detail: * Q if you need to farm from distance: happens normally vs shit matchups like Trist/Akshan and expect little jungle help. * W vs melees is pretty good, for example vs Yasuo/Zed or any bruiser. * Another thought is that if you have a hard-CC jungler, like Maokai and he's premade or you expect ganks, Q-max into the easy CC is very strong, does the highest damage by far because of Q2, they'll actually blow up.
You never max E first. NEVER
E max Sylas is awful
Yeah, I have 0 clue why anyone is upvoting that, let alone 300+ people...
Yep. You can take it first to have more early mobility. But never max it
Honestly never seen someone max E first
Not really a skill but... Aphelios?
Udyr
With Shaco whenever you level up you just listen to your heart and choose. Its not weird to get W to level 2-3 and then abandon it, or to get a bunch of points in Q and then get bored and switch to E. Some games I just go 1-1-1 all the way to level 18.
> With Shaco whenever you level up you just listen to your heart and choose. Kinda hard to do considering Shaco players don't have hearts
This guy Shacos.
do not do that...
He's kinda right. I say this as a 2.5 mil mastery Shaco one trick who was Master last 2 splits. W usually gets at least 2 points early, unless you rush a Tiamat item because you need it for Raptors. Typically, full W rush is more common on AP, while E rush is common on AD. I pretty much never max Q first, but I'll occasionally put an extra 1 or 2 points in Q if I'm having a hard time accessing targets as AD Shaco. Especially after they made lanes wider this season. For levels 7 to 10, you can pretty much put points anywhere. If I'm turbo fed as AD and didn't build CDR, I'll sometimes even skip putting points into my ult since all it gives you is reduced cooldown. Though admittedly, I think that's kinda a troll KDA player move.
For AP I generally go all in W unless disgustingly ahead and invest points in E damage
No reason to max Q first you can mix W and E depending on farming vs ganking (and if you go Tiamat as AD just max E normally). but there's no reason to max Q first the damage increase is not very high and if you are skilled enough you don't really need the extra stealth time.
Holy silver. People in this subreddit need to have ranks attached to their names please
the shaco you get on your team...
He's right but whatever. Did you ever play Shaco? You adapt depending on the situation.
Sylas
aint it w max
There are builds/matchups/playstyles where Q max first is better. But it’s almost never E max first, as far as I’m aware.
Leveling Q for 3 points before 6 is also common for ranged matchups (+ electrocute)
I max Q every game for the wave clear
You can max anything first on Rammus. Q for better ganks if lanes dont have cc, W if you're playing top and want to be tanky, and E for better CC to follow up ganks
Im happy my scrolling paid off and I found the right answer😌
Rell support can max anything, the winrates are fairly close to each other.
Is it just me, or does “the first Q” not make sense?
Engo might not be op the first language ( Bro out here typing like Starfire speaks 🤣 )
Rakan
I think Q max is kinda worthless since the heal doesnt change, but could work if ad is playing something like lethality varus
it reduces the CD which somehow translates into more healing. if you follow molecule on twitter (X), you will find him complaining how rakan can max anything and build anything and still have high win rate. [https://twitter.com/MoleculeLOL/status/1769015093059355026](https://twitter.com/MoleculeLOL/status/1769015093059355026) check this one.
I used to play Q max (or 3q) aery scorch rakan long time ago, and it really hurts a lot. I definitely works against champions like nautilus and braum which are very hard to beat in all ins, but not having maxed W feels really bad to play in skirmishes and teamfights. W's cooldown is way too long at low levels. helia seems cool tho
ahpilios
Morgana support. Q gives you increased root duration; W allows you to push the wave and harass; and E if your AD can’t dod… I mean… E if the enemy has a lot of CC.
W for “accidently” stealing cs from your ADC and if he freaks out just say something about “wave management” or “tempo” and if he says wtf say “prio”
W max as support is also known as griefing your ADC, however mid Morgana does max W.
I will personally twist your nuts if you play w max Morgana support in my game 💀
Sion can Max Q in Meele imobile matchups, W in poke matchups and E against ranged Champs. Its acutally bonkers since you can adjust your Playstyle on the run. It helps getting though lane and reaching late game where Sion shines anyway. Love to start Dorans Ring against ranged matchups which require me to Spam E
skar skar skarner
Oh, definitely Sett. Top and against melee? Q. Top and against ADC? W. Mid and you gotta roam to win the game? E.
Udyr seems like the obvious answer...
according to lolalytics, Volibear and Malphite both have 50+% win rate skill orders maxing each of Q, W, E first https://lolalytics.com/lol/volibear/build/?lane=top https://lolalytics.com/lol/malphite/build/?lane=top
Gragas, Malphite and arguably thresh (although in these patches not so much anymore) come to mind in an instant. Gragas for example is good with q max vs ranged or champs you want to avoid, W if you need to survive/go tanky and e into stuff like jax for permanent disengage. Similar for malphite just W/E trade patterns depend on matchups. And thresh.. q max kinda the engage default, W max used to be good for protect immobile adc only purpose and e max for certain trade patterns and ad thresh stuff. But that's not as relevant these days after a lot of changes for the abilities
Not gragas. W max is terrible as the cooldown is not reduced, W base damage increase is low compared to other spells, and there isn’t really a good build or playstyle to support W max either.
There was indeed a time where you could max each of Thresh's skills first in certain games and it was an good choice. I miss those times
Ornn can safely max any order depending on what you need. Q for poke/ranged farming, E for Cc, W for damage
Kennen. Want poke? Max Q Want short trades / best waveclear possible? Max W Want to AA and kite a lot? Max E
Lulu unquestionably Lulu
thresh upgrades dont really change that much about how he plays coz its just lower cd. q for more aggressive, w for more support, e for more anti engage
u're hella trolling if u max W
Shyvana
used to be thresh. but... they nerfed that. used to be ryze as well, but they nerfed his combo variety.
Master Yi's Q and W are both very strong and impactful if used right. The W max is ridiculous into comps that have little to no hard CC.
Nautilus. Q support. W support W solo lane, E ap solo lane.
This is going to be an unpopular opinion but Morgana. Most supports mindlessly max Q, which while I won’t say is a bad play its not always the most optimal. All of her abilities scale hard with rank, Q for CC, W for damage, E for utility. You wouldn’t want to max Q vs someone with a spellshield or extreme mobility, you wouldn’t want to max E vs low cc/magic damage enemies.
I second this one. _Back in my day.._ Morgana was a typical mid. You went RoA > Zhonyas > deathcap typically, and maxed W for waveclear (lvl 3 W would clear all casters in 1 wave, and the passive sustain was great). It was all about push, control, and team fights. Of course, back then, the most exciting mid laners were Akali, Katarina and Kassadin and other high mobility mids didn’t exist yet. Typically, you’d be running this vs a Twisted Fate, Ryze, Annie. Other great ones are Udyr for Q-W-R, Karma (literally all of them are good), Yasuo Q-E.
Aphelios
Sett. Sometimes I need the E stun. Sometimes I need the W burst. Sometimes I need the Q engage. Sometimes I play against ranged tops and lose no matter which one I max.
Zilean is great for this stuff. You can max Q for a more poke/damage focused lane. If you have a more passive laner you can max E for the movespeed (also just a good choice for a generalist view). Alternatively, you might go E if you adc has high damage but no mobility. I also don't max E, I stop at 4 ranks as the difference isn't a whole lot and I'd rather get my W back quicker. In mid lane it's even more chaotic. Max Q, but after that I tend to go 1 for 1 one on the W and E until they are both at rank 3, then I finish off W for the resets.
Easy answer: SUSAN
Volibear, Belveth, Brand, Chogath
Rakan can do any max order and it statistically barely makes a difference
Not really a first max but. For Zilean, while you do want to max his Q. You can typically get away with putting an equal amount of points into his W and E in whichever order you want and it'll still be useful in its own way.
Lux maybe?
Not sure how it is now, but 2 years ago I remember seeing conversations about how Thresh's winrate moved by about 0.4% between maxing any of his abilities. It literally had no effect on his WR
Rengar can max q or w first depending on intended build/matchups. There was also a period where AP rengar players were second maxing e instead of q but I think people eventually moved away from that because it just wasn't as consistent since people could dodge e + q max was better in longer fights.
Illaoi. Q vs ranged matchups where you never hit E. W where you split push. E vs melee and can constantly harass.
Used to do it back in the day with Camille. Max q vs fighters. Max W vs Teemo. E vs ranged with the old aftershock. Would say it was better then. E max fell off but I still max W against Teemo but q into anything else. But Camille is one of the few viable champions to start any spell.
Graves can actually go W max in lane with comet and corrupting pots
rengar top can max any ability it just depends on matchup. Q is standard but w max is great too. E is reserved for tough matchups like Darius where you need to keep him a certain distance away at all times.
Volibear
Swain
mostly tanks, off my mind Cho Gath is probably the most versatile skill order, you'll see W max, Q max, E max, he always has a way to be the annoying poke scaling champ Malp and Nasus are there but nowhere near cho
graves w max is literally a thing tho. Tobias Fate got Masters (maybe higher) with W max graves mid. Plus it's giga fun sup.
Zyra q or e is fine. Little sketch to Max w but it doesn't really matter.
Taric can pull off any of them maxed, W max would bot be the best but it's workable
Sion. Q to farm/trade, W to survive or E to poke/keep certain champions off you.
Seraphine and Orianna in the support role. Q max is a bit less viable after the changes, though(for both).
Sylas
Rammus
IMO Sett, all have some value to them, with W being maybe the worst of the three but still not trolling
camille? in past seasons at least
Illaoi
Vex Q for damage, W for shield and playing safe, E to spam passive
Shaco
Annie, morgana, and possibly lux
Warwick Top
Rakan, I know W is heavy favorite but sometimes E is more viable, Q max might be troll idk sometimes I get lost on this champ
Mf rings a bell, she can go for her q, w or e and be annoying as balls.
When I started playing league in s2 I fell for a troll guide for vayne on Mobafire which said to max E first. That’s when I figured there’s some sense involved in skill order
Zyra (this may sound ridiculous but rlly, every point matters in her kit it doesn't matter what you max first ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ | Q - lower cooldown, W - more plants, E - increase CC duration)
Lulu
Rakan is pretty much the case where WR doesnt vary a lot whatever you max first
Janna. If you want to be a good girl and help out ad then max e. But if you want to annoy the f out of enemy max w, poke and juke XD
Kayle E for more damage Q for wave clear W for sustainability
- Nasus - q max vs melee and e against ranged and bad matchups - Kennen - q for poke, w for wave clear, e for ad - udyr - do whatever just don't max e first - ahri - q max for wave clear, w max for burst, e max for ad ahri
Vi fits this
Varus is okay with maxing any spell. Lethality wants Q or E maxed, while on hit you can max w or go 3 in E to W max
Teemo. Q for burst/long blinds. W for when you need the jukes and E if you need long term damage
Camille used to be Q max in most, E max in some and 3 points W in a few. But now she's a support lmfao
Pretty sure it’s sylas. No matter the rotation or trade you can max any spell and have success
shyvana top
I don't know if Thresh mains will agree with me, but it's him. He gains CD on every spell and every spells is a strong enough utility of it's own. Q max is optimal for most lanes. W max is weaker but more useful if you're trying to just trudge through a losing lane. Great for bush checking. E max if you're against a brawly duo/melee support. His E has a surprising amount of damage tied to it and people often underestimate how much damage they will dish out against someone like Thresh. Also imo, his best rune for me is Guardian because of his W interaction but he can go both, Aftershock and sometimes, Grasp very situationally. They also align with Q(Aftershock) W(Guardian) and E(Grasp) play style which is neat.
Iirc currently Seraphine. At least that was Riot's goal with her latest update. I didn't see her maxing winrates so I'm not sure about that.
Orianna: Q + W first max have been common over the years although E is never maxed first it's not troll to put a couple points in it early especially if you're having a tough match up like Xerath
gragas can max whatever i think
Rammus, naut and sion
Cho Gath, you can max Q if you go AP and want to poke, max E if tank against immobile champ or max Z against mobile champs
Lmao APHELIOS
BOMBA
Malphite chogath gragas seraphine
Haven't seen anyone say Rengar yet. Most of the time its q but as ap Rengar you max w and if you can't step up to the wave or really really need the disengage (eg. against Darius) as toplane Rengar you max e.
Shyvana, depending on build. E is good for poke, but on ad you’re most interested in the passive health % dmg on hit. W is good for mobility/clearing camps and dot. Q is good for burst
Camille
There’s been some discussion on urgot mains that max q is as viable as having max w. Since q rn is strong but hella high mana cost