LW is amazing. plus its attack speed should be enough for most melee dps champs

it's only really worth it if you need to counter high armor. Because of the way armor pen now works, with flat coming first, and with the nerf to whispers damage, it's a fair amount less effective.

Right now you can easily start with 24 armor pen from runes and masteries. A lot of characters get a youmu's on top of that, because it's one of the best dps items for the cost. That's now 44 total armor pen. Most champs without buying armor items are gonna end with around 80ish armor at lvl 18. That means whisper is only giving you another 15ish armor pen, and that's only late game. Before level 18 with that build it does even less.

Pay a little more and get starks instead, and you get the same attack speed, 20% lifesteal, 20 armor reduction, and you'll give your team some lifesteal and attack speed, and they'll benefit from the armor reduction.

If opponents are actually getting armor, it's definitely better. If they're just getting one armor item, starks is still probably better overall for it's team utility, but if they're stacking armor, yeah last whisper is fine. But in the case of stacking armor, it's probably better to just get a madred's instead. Yeah, it costs a lot more, but it's a solid item on most dps, and mixes your damage type, which is more difficult to counter with mitigation, and the nature of the proc makes it anti-health stacking as well.

Last whisper armor penetration does not apply to towers iirc.

ya its only effective depending on your other items, who you are, and what the enemy is stacking. it is a great DPS item in general with damage/speed/armor pen but as said if you already have 50 or so armor pen from runes/masteries other items and the enemy only has 80 or so armor, then it isn't worth it.

i don't even bother with it in the least with olaf because he has such high armor pen on his own its INSANE. without last whisper you can get 150+ pure armor pen. for somebody like tryndamere tho its amazing because you won't usually stack armor pen items since you need damage/crit more, and the attack speed boost is extremely necessary

OK, is BC Bilgewater cutlass? I thought we were discussing effective armor pen items?

BC is being used for Black Cleaver.

ya BC black cleaver. its an amazing item 75 damage and up to 60 armor pen. among champs that already have fast attack speed or attack speed boosts, like xin, udyr, teemo, twitch, jax, olaf, sion...its amazing. not to mention it lowers armor for everybody else too pound on them too

Last Whisper is only good for classes with high attack speed like tristana. It's 40% armor pen doesnt apply to skills so you need to auto attack fast to make it useful.