Scout’s Slingshot

Scout’s Slingshot is the cheap Attack Speed component for marksmen in League of Legends: 20% Attack Speed for 600 gold in patch 26.22, plus Bullseye, a passive that deals bonus magic damage the first time you damage a champion and comes back faster the more you attack. It is two Daggers with a 100 gold combine fee, and it builds into six crit and on-hit items, including Rapid Firecannon, Statikk Shiv, Runaan’s Hurricane and Stormrazor.

What does Scout’s Slingshot do?

20% Attack Speed, which is exactly the two Daggers inside it, plus a small proc. Bullseye adds a burst of magic damage when you damage a champion, then goes on cooldown, and every attack you land takes 1 second off that cooldown so a marksman who keeps shooting gets it back quickly.

Riot’s data text does not state the damage, only the mechanic, and the shop tooltip shows a flat amount that is modest at any stage of the game. Thing is, modest is fine for a 600 gold item, because the proc is there to make an early trade in bot lane slightly better rather than to win fights, and it does that: a Caitlyn who opens a trade with Bullseye up is doing one more auto’s worth of damage than the enemy expects (and exactly that kind of margin decides bot lane trades). Does the passive change which item you should buy? No, honestly; you buy the Slingshot because your second item needs it, and the proc is a bonus you get for free on the way.

Is it gold efficient?

Not on stats: 83%. 20% Attack Speed is worth 500 gold at 25 gold per percent, so the 100 gold combine fee is the price of Bullseye and the slot.

A hundred gold for a damage proc and one free inventory space is as close to free as the shop gets, and that is the point of the item: it exists so that marksmen have something to do with 600 gold on a recall that would otherwise go to two loose Daggers (nobody likes two Daggers taking two slots). Cheap and tidy. The sell price is 420 gold. Put simply, there is never a reason to hold two Daggers instead of a Slingshot once you have the hundred gold to merge them.

What does it build into?

Six items, all for champions who attack a lot:

• Crit items: Rapid Firecannon, Runaan’s Hurricane, Yun Tal Wildarrows and Fiendhunter Bolts.
• Energised and on-hit: Statikk Shiv and Stormrazor.

So the Slingshot is a marksman component through and through, and the choice among the six is really the choice of second item: Firecannon for range, Hurricane for spread, Shiv for wave clear, Stormrazor or Wildarrows for damage. For what it’s worth, most carries hold the Slingshot for a full recall while that decision settles, since its stats are the same whichever way it goes. Prices for the six upgrades are in the LoL items database, kept current with each patch.

Who buys it?

Marksmen, almost exclusively: Jinx, Caitlyn, Ashe, Tristana, Kai'Sa, Xayah, Sivir, Zeri and the rest of bot lane, usually as the first piece of their second item or as a cheap addition to the first recall when the gold is awkward. Attack speed fighters like Yasuo and Yone take it on the way to Statikk Shiv in some builds. Who skips it? Everyone who does not auto attack for a living, and Lethality marksmen like Jhin, whose builds do not touch any of the six upgrades.

How has Scout’s Slingshot changed over the patches?

The shop entry is older than the name. Until patch 14.10 it was Bilgewater Cutlass, a lifesteal item with an active slow, and the history shows Riot replacing that item piece by piece:

• Patches 3.6 to 9.8: Bilgewater Cutlass moved between 1400 and 1925 gold, with Attack Damage and Life Steal adjusted along the way.
• Patch 14.10: Renamed to Scout’s Slingshot; cost 1600 → 900 gold, Attack Damage and Life Steal removed, 20% Attack Speed added, Bullseye replaced the old active.
• Patch 14.12: Cost 900 → 800 gold.
• Patch 14.19: Cost 800 → 600 gold.
• Patch 14.21: Effect text changed.

Funny enough, the Slingshot has lost 300 gold of price in the year since it appeared, two cuts in four patches, which says Riot priced the first version like the Cutlass it replaced rather than like the Dagger pair it actually is. At 600 gold it has finally settled.

When should you buy it?

On the recall after your first finished item, as the opening piece of the second, or earlier if you have 600 gold left over after a Doran’s Blade and potions on the first back. A single Dagger is the fallback when you cannot afford the pair. Still deciding which of the six upgrades your champion wants? The guide to LoL roles explains how bot lane carries structure their builds (second item first, boots when the lane allows), and Scout’s Slingshot is the cheapest purchase in nearly every one of them.

FAQ

How much does Scout’s Slingshot cost?

600 gold in patch 26.22; the two Daggers account for 500 of that and the combine fee is 100 gold. It sells for 420 gold.

What stats does it give?

20% Attack Speed, plus the Bullseye passive.

How does Bullseye work?

Damaging a champion deals bonus magic damage, then the effect goes on cooldown. Each attack you land shortens that cooldown by 1 second.

What does it build into?

Rapid Firecannon, Runaan’s Hurricane, Statikk Shiv, Stormrazor, Yun Tal Wildarrows and Fiendhunter Bolts.

Was it always called Scout’s Slingshot?

No. Until patch 14.10 the shop entry was Bilgewater Cutlass, a lifesteal item with an active slow.

Scout’s Slingshot or Zeal?

Slingshot is the cheaper half of most of Zeal’s upgrades and leads to Shiv and Stormrazor; Zeal adds crit and Move Speed and leads to Phantom Dancer. Many builds buy both.