Should You Buy Boots in LoL ARAM?

Should You Buy Boots in LoL ARAM?
Author: Wrekah

When playing League of Legends’ ARAM (All Random All Mid) mode, many players automatically buy boots without considering whether they’re actually necessary for the champion/build and versus the very enemy team they are playing against.

However, in ARAM, the map itself and unique gameplay mechanics make the decision more nuanced. In this guide, we’ll explore when you should skip boots and when they’re essential for maximizing your effectiveness on the Howling Abyss.

ARAM-Specific Mechanics

It’s crucial to recognize that the Howling Abyss differs significantly from Summoner’s Rift, impacting the value of boots in your build.

Limited Map Movement

Unlike Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss in ARAM features a single lane where everyone plays together and fights in the same lane. Because of this:

  • Single Lane: Everyone plays together and fights in the same lane, so the speed advantage from boots is less critical.
  • No Roaming Needed: The lack of multiple lanes means there’s no need for extensive map movement.
  • Focused Combat: Engagements are more frequent and concentrated, reducing the need for movement speed to rotate between objectives.

ARAM Mobility Tools

ARAM provides unique tools that can substitute for boots:

  • Mark (Snowball) Summoner Spell: Most champions in ARAM choose the Mark (Snowball) summoner spell, which grants tons of mobility. This spell allows you to close the gap quickly for a kill or engage, often making the speed boost from boots redundant.
  • +70 summoner spell haste: You can use summoner spells like Flash or Ghost even more often, allowing you to use it for mobility in certain situations.
  • Frost Portals, Enable fast returns to the battlefield, reducing the reliance on boots for movement speed.

Examples

Having said that, let us explore real life cases.

When to NOT BUY boots

  1. You are playing champion that can engage on his own and then use Mark/Flash/abilities to **stick to their targets **.
  2. You are playing champion that goes in with Mark and can stick to their targets.
  3. You are playing champion that can safely stay in the back, use abilities and still be useful.
  4. You are playing champion that has tons of mobility (even further enhanced by summoner spells/items).

When to BUY boots

  1. You are playing champion that needs movement speed to poke.
    • If the enemy team is immobile, then the need diminishes.
    • If the enemy team is very mobile, you need to have appropriate movement speed to poke.
  2. You are playing champion that needs movement speed to position properly to deal damage.
  3. You are playing champion that needs movement speed for kiting.
  4. You are playing champion that runs around
  5. Enemy team is full of pokers, and you need movement speed to dodge skill shots.
  6. Enemy team is full of kiters, and you need movement speed to catch them.

Selling Boots for a Sixth Item

In the late game, sometimes it might make sense to sell your boots to make room for a sixth item that provides more damage, a damage spike, or a situational benefit. Given that ARAM fights are highly focused and concentrated in one area, the need for boots diminishes. And for last fight, you can offset mobility with summoner spell or item.

Examples:

  • You can sell boots to buy another AD/AP item for even more damage, like Rabadon's Deathcap for mages, Infinity Edge or Bloodthirster for champions building AD.
  • You can sell boots to buy Zhonya's Hourglass to survive the next fight, when you expect heavy focus on you. This works on non-AP champions and even may surprise enemies.
  • You can sell boots to buy Quicksilver Sash or Mercurial Scimitar to counter some heavy CC from enemies and for that sweet movement speed buff.
  • You can sell boots to buy some tanky item for survivability.
  • You can sell boots to buy Spell Shield items like Edge of Night or Banshee's Veil.

You can offset the loss of movement speed by

  1. Using mobility-enhancing spells like Ghost, Flash, or Mark.
  2. Using items with active movement speed buffs like Youmuu's Ghostblade, Shurelia's Battlesong or Mercurial Scimitar.
  3. Using items with passive movement speed buffs like Dead Man's Plate

This strategic choice can give you the extra spike needed to turn the tide in a close fight.

Zephyr as Sixth Item

  1. When you play champion that builds Berserker's Greaves (most of ADC, some AD builds, some off-meta Crit builds) it might make more sense to buy Zephyr as sixth item instead.
  2. It gives tons of much-needed mobility, on top of giving Attack Speed.
  3. The key is to identify the situation in the game whether to buy Zephyr or to go for other sixth item.
    • Go Zephyr, if you need mobility, attack speed, and you cannot really offset it by items or summoner spells.
    • Go another item, like a situational one or straight up go for more damage, if you are okay mobility-wise and can offset it by items or summoner spells.

Conclusion

Buying boots in ARAM should be a thoughtful decision. For many champions, the unique mobility tools in ARAM, like the Mark (Snowball) summoner spell, Frost Portals, reduced cooldowns of Ghost or Flash can provide enough mobility.

However, if your champion relies heavily on movement speed for kiting, chasing, or poking, buying boots is must have. Also, there might be scenarios when you need to buy boots simply to dodge enemy tons of skillshots.

Consider your champion's needs and the game’s specific circumstances to make the best decision, whether you need boots, you don't, or whether to sell for sixth item.