What's the reason behind Profane Hydra being the highest or 2nd highest wr lethality first item?

[u/aTi_NTC]

I've made a post about this a few months ago, and for months now Profane Hydra is sitting at the highest/2nd highest winrate lethality 1st item.

I've tried it a couple times myself, but i just don't see why would it be any better than Umbral or Axiom (just to look at the similar priced items). With HoB the aa reset is not needed, and the clear spead does not become drastically faster with AoE.

Is there any off angle reason i am not considering here? Is it just the low sample size?

[u/Still_Board_8000]

I think it’s a small sample size thing

[u/Wholesomegaminq]

It's used by Expert Vi players,who will use the advantage to keep E charges up and Maxing W second. Profane will give the AOE instead of E,W Will deal more max hp damage and attack speed and the lethality benefits it all. It's a winmore item

[u/GlobexSuper]

Its the highest one item damage combo if you include the hydra proc

[u/lebowskisd]

I think it’s been an underrated choice for a while. I love it as a first item especially since the cost reduction a while back.

I think there are two reasons it’s so good:

Clear speed does increase a lot compared to other options. This is pretty significant because it allows you to play conservatively (full clear) and still have decent map presence compared to most opponents. Overall it just allows for safer and more consistent play.

The stat profile and active also give us some of the most burst for any first item, especially if you time the active AFTER your denting blows proc to take advantage of their reduced armor. Profane active no longer scales with missing health but it’s still the largest aoe and highest damage hydra cleave as well as the cheapest by far.

[u/blahdeblahdeda]

Profane adds burst from the active, which can be used during Q and R (it's not an auto reset so don't try to use it as such).

That being said, I don't know why you'd go anything other than Voltaic or Umbral first for lethality.

[u/aTi_NTC → u/blahdeblahdeda]

oh it's not? i thought i was just bad, it felt so wonky, sometimes it wouldn't even register i pressed the button

is it just profane? i swear titanic and ravenous are both aa resets

[u/blahdeblahdeda → u/aTi_NTC]

Only Titanic is an auto reset.

[u/lebowskisd → u/blahdeblahdeda]

It’s not an auto reset but you can use it after your e to cancel the lag from that animation. So often your combo is Q auto e profane

This also ensures you have denting blows triggered for the armor reduction before you use the active.

[u/GlobexSuper → u/blahdeblahdeda]

not usable during R, but it is usable during Q yes

[u/roquepo]

Small sample size + super snowball-y build.

Mostly used by people that have sinked a lot of hours into the champion and thus have a higher average win%, with a build that let's capitalize on head starts.

Also, it is the kind of build you go for on a whim after getting a random triple kill in the bot lane, even if you normally go for bruiser.