Is Frenzy Undervalued?

Frenzy has existed in some form or another since the Active system until the end of Season two. It was divided into two separate actives, known then as the Girdle of Inner power and Girdle of Support. They were seen as mostly gimmicky actives alongside Eye of Providence and were rarely picked up in higher rankings.

This changed with the introduction of the Relic system at the beginning of Season three. The Girdle actives were fused together to make Frenzy which is an area of effect akin to sprint that gives allies a buff to their power and tower damage. Sadly Frenzy was still underused for the early duration of season three. However in patch 3.12 a change was implemented which gave Frenzy an attack speed steroid alongside its buffs, which is a huge boon most notably for magical ADC’s like Freya who utilize magical attack speed items that are weaker when compared to their physical counterparts.

Then why is Frenzy so underused in the current meta?

At first glance the answer may seem that the relic Frenzy is weak compared to the other relics. However let us cover what Frenzy does, Frenzy gives units in a seventy foot radius a 20% extra damage buff, a 20% Attack Speed steroid and gives 10 extra damage against structures. Sounds fairly powerful for an item that is available every 120 seconds, so the relic being weak isn’t necessarily correct. The problem with Frenzy more so lies with the strength of defensive relics. For example someone picking up a Shell will have a larger impact on the game than someone with Sunder. That’s the major reason why relics like Sprint and Meditation have become meta, the utility from defensive relics allow for many more mistakes and counterplay than offensive relics. This is especially true for squishier roles like Mid and ADC who are forced to pick up Purification or Sanctuary in most games.

So what is it about defensive relics that are so powerful in the current meta?

We are currently in a Tank meta, where Solo laners and Supports are always going to be tanks, Junglers are generally bruisers since popular builds consist of Void Shield and the Cloak tree, and most of the damage comes from high burst Mages and Hunters. This essentially means that burst isn’t as highly valued as tankiness considering the majority of the roles in a team will be tanks. This also translates to the relic choices in a game, the Relics Shell and Meditation are most likely going to be in every game due to the fact that the survivability from these relics far outweigh the damage potential of Frenzy.

Then what scenarios does Frenzy excel in?

The meta has begun to shift as shown from competitive play, magical ADC’s have become more prominent in the offseason and as I mentioned earlier, magical ADC’s need Frenzy more than their physical counterparts due to the lack of DPS enhancing items for magical ADC’s, the only attack speed for magical ADC’s are the Ring tree and the Adventurer Blade tree, which the latter doesn’t give any bonus power when the items are built. So the magical ADC’s get both the power and attack speed benefits from Frenzy, whereas in the traditional team setup the physical ADC would mostly benefit from the attack speed and the Mage would only benefit from the damage buff.

Who would build Frenzy?

This is the most difficult part of getting Frenzy, mostly due to the strength of defensive relics. As I mentioned before, ADC’s and Mid laners need defensive relics in order to survive so they cannot get Frenzy even though they are the ones benefit the most from the relic. This leaves the other three roles to pick up Frenzy. Solo laners are almost guaranteed to get Teleport in their build so they need to justify the risk and reward of building Frenzy since they also need a defensive relic if they are to be a frontliner. So that leaves building Frenzy up to either the Support or Jungler who have the most leeway in their Relic choice and even then most Junglers have been going Purification or Wrath early so it's a similar scenario to Solo Laners to justify building Frenzy. That leaves only Supports as the most viable role to build Frenzy if they wish to be aggressive and forego the defensive relics. Good luck carrying with Frenzy and Happy Hunting!

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