The top lane role is full of AD picks, mostly bruisers and tanks.
These are self-sufficient champions that excel in 1v1 duels and are equipped with all the right tools for the job – from dashes and shields all the way to pure damage.
Unlike the AD mid lane picks, the AD top laners don’t really build lethality.
Instead, they go for items that simultaneously increase their damage and defensiveness. And because of that, they’re usually stronger and more durable.
In this sense, they’re similar to the AD jungle picks. Both are great when it comes to self-healing and staying alive in an extended fight.
The great thing about the AD top laners is that they’re often stronger than the AP top laners, with a few exceptions, of course.
This is because AD fighters have access to items like Maw of Malmortius which grants more damage but also bonus magic resist.
So the best way to describe these AD top laners is that they’re champions that you can 1v9 games with because they do lots of damage while being tanky enough to endure in extended fights.
In this post, I’ll give you 7 such picks so you can start dominating your solo queue matches!
7. Riven
Riven is probably the champion with the highest skill cap on this list. She’s difficult to learn and perform on, but when truly mastered, Riven is more rewarding than most champions in the game.
Riven’s early game can be quite explosive, especially in matchups where she’s allowed to use all 3 charges of her Q.
She gains bonus AD each time she casts Broken Wings, so if you do Q + AA + Q + AA + Q + AA on level 1, you’re guaranteed to win the trade.
As the game goes on, Riven’s damage rises with each level and item.
This is an all-AD champion that only does physical damage and goes exclusively for fighter items such as Ravenous Hydra and Death’s Dance, so she’s a fantastic duelist overall.
Riven’s kit is well-designed to give her optimal chances when fighting. She can stun multiple champions with her W and can dash away with E while also receiving a shield.
Her ultimate increase her AD stat even more, so she lacks damage.
Riven can do well in both 1v1 duels and 5v5 teamfights. Her damage is mostly AoE and she isn’t restricted from using her abilities on all enemies around her.
And most importantly, she can execute multiple enemy champions from range with her ult when they’re on low health.
I’d definitely recommend you play Riven top if you like a challenge. It’s not always easy to carry games with her because you have to perform well with her mechanics on a consistent basis in order to do so.
But, she’s definitely worth it.
6. Camille
Camille is a relatively easier champion to play than Riven but she’s by no means an easy champion.
Yes, there aren’t complicated mechanics apart from her E, but in my opinion, her playstyle is intrinsically unique.
Camille’s damage is notoriously high, especially in the late game. It mainly comes from her Q, Precision Protocol which empowers her next basic attack.
But Precision Protocol can be reactivated again after a short time to deal insanely high true damage as well.
Both Camille’s W and E are also physical damage spells and scale with her AD. The first one is a large AoE swipe that deals damage in front of Camille.
And her E is a dash that she can cast two times and bounce off of walls. It deals damage when she collides with an enemy champion.
Even though Camille does incredibly well in 1v1 duels in the top lane, the best way to utilize her kit is in teamfights.
When you group with your team, you can use Camille’s E to gap-close a large distance and get near the enemy carry. Then, you can cast Camille’s R and trap them.
Nothing can escape Camille’s Hextech ultimatum, not even Flash, so it’s the perfect spell for isolating carries.
Camille is a fierce top laner and can definitely help you stack win after a win if you learn how to play her properly!
5. Tryndamere
I can say with 100% certainty that Tryndamere is the easiest AD top lane champion on this list. He’s perfect for beginners in the top lane and players that don’t like mechanically-complex champions.
But no one doubts Tryndamere’s strength. This is a champion that can fill his fury bar with a couple of auto-attacks and have proc critical strikes in a duel on level 1. So you never want to fight Tryndamere when his fury bar is full.
On the other hand, Tryndamare has a great ability kit for surviving in the top lane. His Q, Bloodlust, consumes his fury to heal him.
The W, Mocking Shout, allows him to slow down fleeing enemies. And his E is a short-cooldown dash that lets him escape ganks.
But Tryndamere’s R is the vital point in his champion design. When activated, it allows him to keep his health on 1 HP regardless of what happens to him. In other words, Tryndamere can’t die when he has his Undying Rage activated.
Most of Trynda’s damage comes from his auto-attacks. He uses his E to get in range and his W to slow his target while right-clicking them.
Tryndamere favors items that increase his AD, grant bonus attack speed, and provide him with self-healing.
As a result, it’s easy for Tryndamere to beat all champions in League of Legends in a 1v1 duel simply because it’s hard for him to ever make a mistake.
One of the best strategies to win with Tryndamere is split push. You can learn more about split pushing here so you get easy wins in solo queue with this champion.
4. Gangplank
Gangplank is the only ranged top laner on this list, an AD champion with lots of flexibility when it comes to itemization.
The first thing you need to understand about GP is how his E and Q interact since this is the primary way of dealing physical damage with him.
Gangplank’s Q is a point-click ability that has a decent range and it can critically strike. GP’s E allows him to set powder kegs on the ground which he can detonate either with Q or an auto-attack.
However, if GP uses Q to do this, its damage transfers to the exploding powder kegs. And if enemy champions are caught in the explosion, they receive lots of damage that even ignores some of their armor.
So, this is your bread and butter with Gangplank – lay down powder kegs and explode them in your enemies’ faces. There are lots of ways to do this but you need to practice and get used to the combos.
You’ll mostly want to build Gangplank with lethality items so that his powder kegs can AoE one-shot multiple enemies. You can also get a few crit items to make his Q more lethal and you’ll definitely carry games with ease.
A fed Gangplank is one of the scariest things to face in the late game, so I also recommend you playing him.
Read Also: How to Carry as a Top Laner in League of Legends?
3. K’Sante
You might be surprised at seeing K’Sante among the top 3 AD top laners in LoL. And I know, he’s primarily a tank.
But K’Sante can switch from being an unkillable tank into a lethal assassin with one single button – R.
Many players don’t understand how K’Sante works and how they can use him for solo carrying games. But believe me, he’s better than most pure-AD top lane champions you can think of!
First of all, K’Sante has the luxury of not having to build AD items. Instead, he can relax and focus on tank items that make him more defensive and give him lots of extra health, magic resist, and armor.
The reason for this is that when K’Sante activates his ultimate and transforms into an assassin, his AD gets increased based on how much bonus armor and magic resist.
So the tankier he is, the more AD damage he has when he’s going All Out.
During this time, K’Sante can actually dish out a lot of damage. The playstyle shifts heavily and you suddenly get so powerful that you can assassinate anyone in the game.
The only thing to be aware of here is that K’Sante also gets super squishy when he’s All Out. So only keep this form when you’re trying to finish off a target.
And when other enemy champions appear, make sure to turn it off and go back to being a tank.
I’d recommend you to play K’Sante with Grasp of the Undying since it will increase your damage even when you aren’t All Out.
2. Darius
Darius is easily the most brutal champion in the top lane. And he’s the strongest pick on level 1, regardless of who you’re up against.
Darius is an all-AD character, a champion with 5 damaging spells that all are physical (except his ultimate which is true damage) and scale with attack damage items.
The trick with Darius is to fully utilize his passive, Hemorrhage. Each time Darius auto-attacks or casts an ability on an enemy champion, he applies a stack of Hemorrhage which is essentially a bleed/damage-over-time effect.
At 5 stacks, the bleed damage is really high. But Darius also gets increased AD when this happens and his ultimate, Noxian Guillotine, does lots of extra damage too.
Combined with his Q, which can heal Darius while also dealing damage in an AoE circle, and his W and E which are essentially utility tools for him, Darius’ physical damage is higher than most champions in the game.
Because of this, you definitely want to win early on. Don’t be afraid to play aggressively and punish the enemy top laner for every CS. The chance is, they won’t be able to match your damage and sustain.
However, also be careful of the enemy jungler because Darius is an easy champion to gank. He doesn’t have any mobility tools so Flash and Ghost are a must for him.
1. Fiora
If you’re looking for a champion that allows you to consistently solo carry games in League of Legends, no matter whether you’re up against tanks, mages, or fighters, Fiora is that champion.
When it comes to dealing pure AD damage, Fiora is a master of it. Her playstyle includes both abilities and auto-attacks and Fiora often combines the two to achieve a greater effect.
For example, Fiora’s E is a spell that empowers her next two basic attacks to slow her target and deal extra damage. And with her Q, Fiora can dash to an enemy champion and instantly auto-attack them.
These two spells can be used in combination.
But Fiora’s passive and ultimate are the two abilities that make her the greatest duelist in LoL.
With them, Fiora can expose vital points on her targets. And damaging these vital points triggers lots of extra true damage, so Fiora is a fantastic top laner against tanks.
Fiora isn’t the strongest pick in the early game but she can hold her ground against most top laners. Her W, which blocks abilities, is an effective counter to many champions, including Darius.
In the late game, Fiora becomes one of the scariest hyper-carries in League of Legends and there’s rarely a champion strong enough to stop her. She can duel enemies 1v1, she can split push, and she can teamfight.
So, Fiora is simply amazing!
Read Also: 7 Most Aggressive Top Laners
Conclusion
Keep in mind that the power level of these 7 champions changes almost from patch to patch.
You don’t have to disregard Riven completely, for example, and only play Fiora and Darius. It’s a good strategy to try them all and see which champion is the best for you when you play them.
All of these top laners deal lots of physical damage and have more than decent AD ratios.
So if AP champions aren’t your cup of team, you don’t have to play them. Instead, focus on these 7 as aa top laner.
