Cheaper than the pickaxe...but same damage and an added on effect.

I realize the pickaxe is used to build onto other items but that Brutalizer for the cost is just a great weapon for Sion early in the game.

Cooldown to cast your shield and stun more often. Armor Pen works great with the extra damage.

What do you guys think of this as a farming and early ganking item? Good? or just not worth it when trying to build other stuff?

I think its worth it and can make up the money lost by selling it later for a pickaxe (if thats the route you are going) but im looking for opinions on it.

I tend to play a Hybrid Sion with Medium damage..good crit and AP for the extra shield and magic damage.

My current build i go for

Mercury Treads
Sheen
Guinsoo's Blade
Bloodthirster

Then some sort of defense item depending on the game
Warmogs, banshee veil, thornmail...

Im thinking of tossing the Brutalizer in there right after the Sheen.

Also need more movement speed and ive been using Zeal..but the attack speed is mostly wasted on Sion so i been taking my defense item as Force of nature instead.

Just looking for overall ideas and what people think of the Brutalizer on Hybrid Sion.

Brutalizer to me is more like an early game item. It's like Sheen. Once you understand how armor works (and armor penetration as well) you'll see that the higher the level your targets become, the more armor they get. Meaning you benefit less from the passive of the Brutalizer, however... If you get armor reducing items like Stark's Fervor and Black Cleaver, the more effective Brutalizer will be (your auto attacks). So unless you get those items, it's not really worth investing in a Brutalizer.

EDIT: I just read that you're also interested in the cooldown part. That depends on your overall build (runes, masteries), if you have Cooldown reduction runes/masteries, then yes, you'll see a significant difference, esp. when you gank early game, you'd be able to pop 2 carress, 2 gazes in that short period of time.

Ya all my blues are cooldown. Not for the damage on my stun but for the extra stun sooner. The shield is fairly effective for farming but since i dont go all out AP, its protection for me isnt all that big.

Thanks tons for the advice about the armor stuff though, i may have to change my build a tad more now too =)

If you don't mind me asking, why do you get the Rageblade? Are you able to build, maintain, and utilize the stacks effectively? Or do you use it for the combination of Damage and AP, because then wouldn't it be more economical to get higher tier items from either Dmg or AP? Sorry if my questions are a little ignorant of the situation, as I've never played Sion before. I just know that Rageblade is an item that is best on those with a combination of attack speed, need for autoattacking, and good AP scaling abilities, and I am unsure as to whether Sion fits the bill. If there's more heroes out there that have synergy with Rageblade, I am certainly happier for it.

~Sadness Assassin

Physical DPS in this game is lacking right now.... Yi... Tryndamere... everyone... Sion is no exception imo, yes it's possible to do good with sion via right click... I feel that AP just offers much more atm. Sion has one of the best AP ratios in the game... he hits extremely hard with magic pen/ability power... if you use guerilla style hit and run tactics people were cower before you lol...

Seriously though, he can like insta gib people... flash + exhaust for flash +stun combos with shield up... anybody at 50-60% will die instantly in a gank mid game. Should try practicing AP sion more imo, much stronger.

Fixed

Wait since when is 975 (Pickaxe) > 1337 (Brutalizer)?

Think he means the 415+415 for longswords.

...

Pickaxe really needs more love, IMO. Compared to BFS and Longsword it's just...meh.

Yeah, the Pickaxe kind of blows. It'd be nice if 2x Longsword + Gold -> Pickaxe and 2x Pickaxe -> BF Sword just to make building stuff a bit less cumbersome.

You are totally right. The passive on it is mostly worthless on Sion..ive stopped using it since this post.

Again..i am totally wrong..no idea how i got to thinking brutalizer was 900 or whatever i thought it was.

Still looking for ideas for a hyrbrid sion build.

These days i go for my boots first...then sheen..then either brutalizer (still a great item at level 5-8 or so) or my mercury boots (either way i get these 2 next) Then depending how im doing i either get zeal or bloodthirster, or i may upgrade my sheen to a lich bane.

After that i go with the sunfire cape since my team always expects me to tank or initiate combat, so i need a little survivability before i can hit someone and let my ulti get to work.