I'm trying to figure out whats the difference between a mage and someone who does AP damage like an AP Katarina. Is there a good answer for this question?

The way I explain it to myself is its HOW the damage is delt not just the type of damage. But i'm not even sure if thats correct. Then what about characters like Talon and Urgot. They may not be listed as mages but they're very skill dependent with burst.

So what makes a mage a mage and not just someone who does AP damage?

And for that matter how is an AP assassin different from a mage?

the diff is a mage is BASED on AP so the bonus damage from building it was greater by % where as an AP char is someone who can either go both ways or mainly goes melee but has one or 2 skills that bonus from AP a little and they focus on it as a fun unusual way of playing to mix things up a little...

example: MageWick (nick-name)
WarWick usually goes in slashes up people kills them and leaves, but early game some people boost his AP so that his Q move will steal alot of health from them and give it to him, late game they change it because the effect changes but the concept is the same

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1438952

I typed that out yesterday, and it seems like it could help a bit here.

If you don't feel like picking through that thread, I'll summarise the difference here:

Mages are obviously champs that scale purely off AP. However, they're all designed for different things. Some have a lot of aoe damage, some have sustained single target damage, and some have high single target burst. The former two are carries, the latter is an assassin. Owing to Kat's ultimate she fills the role of AP carry. Timing her ult properly will win teamfights.

Any champ filling the role of high single target burst (someone like Leblanc or Kassadin) fills the role of assassin. They might do magic damage, but their skillset is designed more to take out one enemy for sure, rather than soften everyone up for the rest of their team to finish off.

That still seems kind of vauge.

Now that is a nice way to explain it. So it does go back to my original comment its HOW the damage is delt. Katarina though seems to be the one exception.

What makes her not a mage if she is indeed an AP carry. Whats the dfiference between mage and AP carry? Item dependency? Thats what i always figured an AD carry was someone who can carry the team but needs the farm and needs higher end items earlier to be effective like Caitlyn or Ashe.

Kind of a weird question.

What's the difference between a carry and someone that does AD damage?

AD and AP are two of the three types of damage in this game. The term "mage" is just another way to say a champion deals magic damage, no more really.

I consider the term 'mage' to mean 'anyone that uses ability power items and does magic damage'.

Within the category of 'mage' there are several roles to play though. You're either sustained dps (Ryze and Cass), AoE burst (Brand, Annie, etc), or an assassin. A few don't fall into any of these categories since they have weaker overall teamfight damage, but more utility in form of buffs, or poking ability etc. This I would class as supportive DPS (like Nidalee, Zilean, or AP Janna).

And yes, I am aware that Katarina can be built for AD if the user so chooses, as her Q and ult both scale with AD as well. However, AP Kat is the more common route.

AP carries carry the team by bursting the enemy team for a significant chunk of health. AD carries carry the team by dealing consistent high damage damage. In an ideal world this means the AP carry blows their combo once the teamfight breaks out, and the AD carry mops up.

What i always figured a Carry was defined as was item dependency for higher top damage.

Cait needs farm for items to be effective. And when she gets them she'll be MORE effective then a non-carry in dealing damage.

A regular AD character can deal damage consistantly without the need for items but will have a lower scaling with items.

For example Jarvan can pound your face in consistantly through the entire game. fed or not he's always consistantly a pain in the ass. Caitlyn on the other hand scales better with AD items then Jarvan does dispite BOTH using AD but without the items she's complete garbage. With the exact same full AD build Cait should be doing MORE damage then Jarvan. But without items Jarvan should always be doing more damage then caitlyn. Thats my definition of Carry vs Anyone else with AD.

There is no "regular" ad or ap characters. AD and AP are damage types. Jarvan is a Brawler, and Caitlyn is an AD Carry. Akali is an Assassin and Brand is a "Mage" or AP Carry

Don't think of the word regular then. Think of the word Dependency.

All other types of AD characters arn't as relient on items as carrys are BUT the Carrys scale better with those items.