Late Starts on Howling Abyss: Worth it?

With the immense passive gold generation that the Howling Abyss provides, it's no wonder that some players choose to stay in base for a few moments longer to purchase a few extra items, be it gold generating items, the ol' 1:46 chalice and tear, or even a few more Aegis pieces. But when is it worth it and when are you just being a prick towards your teammates? Check it out below:

AP Mages
Personally if I'm playing a spammable AP carry like Janna, Zyra, Heimerdinger, or Nidalee, I'll always pick up the chalice + tear combo before the game starts. With their skill ranges, they hardly ever die, so you can easily rack up enough gold to shop before you suicide.

The fun don't stop with tear chalice!

Some people get a little annoyed since the first 2 minutes is a 4v5, especially if they're the "fight-in-the-bush-at-level-1" types. Don't get me wrong, fighting in the bush is fun! However throwing spears non-stop for 20 minutes straight is pretty fun too...

AD Mages
On the other hand, for AD based mages I find that a simple brutalizer is the best you can get for a while, and staying in base longer doesn't actually help you out much (like Jayce or Varus)

Enough.

Gold Generating Items
In terms of Gold generating items, I'm not really a fan. The passive gold gain is 56 gold per 10 seconds on Howling Abyss, and each gold item gives 5, 4, or 3 additional gold every 10 seconds (depending on which one you get).

Personally I don't think it's worth it since as my math shows (click here to show math, make sure you say "ooo fancy") the Gold items don't give you much of an advantage in terms of raw gold, especially when you factor in the cost of the item. Meanwhile, since it's ARAM most people tend to end up with full items at the end anyway. This means that unless you're planning on finishing with an item that builds out of a gold item (which I rarely do) then it's not efficient.

Rushing Aegis Items:
I love it when someone useless early game grabs an Aegis. It shows that they're a teamplayer and know how to play ARAM properly. On the other hand, sitting at the base waiting for an Aegis isn't very helpful...since the meaty early game champions tend to die pretty fast anyway, you might as well head to lane and soak some damage.

Are you talking about me again?!

Conclusion:

If you're playing a spammable AP caster, then staying in base is worth it in my eyes if you're getting a chalice and a tear. Anything else and I'm a little apprehensive...

What do you guys think? Do you stay by the fountain to grab extra items at the start? Do you hate people that do? What kind of items do you usually get? Like Math? 

Comment below!