Branmuffin's ADC Building Tenets

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When building for Hunters as ADCs, these are the main stats I consider and how I approach my builds. Note that these are not necessarily meta / pro builds, and are not claimed as being best, but there's a method to my madness.

TL;DR for most, sorry. If you're willing to read, I'd love a constructive discussion.

Understand that there are a few points that affect how I build, and definitely not everyone will agree.

I don't like too much build inefficiency. If not building into Silverbranch Bow, I would rather brush just below the AS cap of 2.5 - rather than exceed it - by changing an item. While I also don't prefer mixing protection reduction w/ % penetration, sometimes more pen (and adding % pen to the build) is too good to pass up.
I hate the concept of benefitting from overcapping (i.e. Silverbranch Bow). I do acknowledge its effectiveness in the current meta, but I don't have to like it.
I don't always build for max DPS through the match. I understand concepts of power spiking, but am not always aiming for early-game dominance. In some cases, I'm satisfied with a general stalemate in laning phase, instead looking for efficiency of stats for the end build and focusing on what the ADC should be doing late-game (e.g. objectives).

So here we go. Reference again for my hunter DPS spreadsheet is here.

Starter Items

Crit vs. Qin's / Attack Speed

Crit builds can be legitimate on almost any ADC, even those without steroids, and even those that are typically considered ability-based. The gods with steroids can build a bit lower base AS, focusing more on crit items, power, and pen, and take advantage of their steroids that way.

Expect better DPS with crit builds, along with better jungle objective damage.

Crit builds can go a few ways:

Ornate Arrow upgrade + Wind Demon + Deathbringer + additional crit optional. Pretty high base AS in this build. Best for no or low consistent steroid gods.
Hunter's Cowl upgrade + Wind Demon + Deathbringer + additional crit suggested. High base AS in this build. Also best for no or low consistent steroid gods.
Hunter's Cowl upgrade + Rage + Deathbringer + additional crit optional but not needed. Lower base AS, strong for high steroid gods. If you build more AS through items like Asi, Ichaival, or additional crit in Wind Demon or Poisoned Star, this can be good for no or low consistent steroid gods.

Other combos may be viable but these are the ones I feel are most viable.

So why would you go with a high AS / Qin's type build?

Firstly, when is it best to build close to the cap, and when is it okay to blast past the cap in combination with Silverbranch Bow? IMO, if the god has no or a low AS steroid, you're not going to be able to get quite as much out of Silverbranch Bow. Yes, you can build all attack speed items, but you won't get the same benefit as if someone like Artemis would. So feel free to blast past the cap using a god with a strong steroid, but I'd just just brush the cap with others.
Depending on build, you can get additional use out of basic attacks with Odysseus' Bow's teamfight damage potential. O-Bow, with no power, really shouldn't be built in crit builds, because crits multiply damage based on power.
If facing a very heal-centric enemy team, it's easier to fit Toxic Blade into an AS build compared to Shadowsteel Shuriken in a crit build.
If you're only brushing the AS cap, there's usually more flexibility to build higher amounts of penetration. This can really help with structure takedown, and Qin's + high pen should be able to take enemy tanks down easily.
If the enemy tank is Geb or the tank builds Spectral Armor, it counters crit damage fairly hard, allowing a Qin's build to out-damage it significantly.
If you have other teammates that are building into crit, it's more likely the enemy will look to counter your build with Spectral Armor.
High base pen from an item like Titan's Bane can allow a god semi-reliant on abilities to deal more damage with said abilities.

Building for Power Spikes / Early Pressure

I'm going to provide a few build examples for some of my preferred gods now, and provide explanations for these choices.

Cupid

Medusa

Cernunnos

Anyway, that's a bit about how I think about builds and build structure. Again, some of this probably doesn't align with the current meta, and I know there are some weaknesses, but I also think there are alternatively some different strengths that have made these build types feel good to me. Preference based on god and kit.

Would enjoy discussion.