No you don't but more E ranks do not change that. More E ranks barely get you a bit more damage (in huge time frames of course), and the charging time of Q is exactly the same on every rank.

The whole hypothesis is based on the assumption that not using Q increases the damage most dramatically and thats simply wrong. I explained the rest.

More ranks of Q gives you additional mobility for fleeing enemies as well.

How did you do the mathcrafting on the q vs e stuff? Did you account for auto attacks? Since you can't attack when you're charging up... you're losing that dmg while you charge up q... right? Also you'd have at least 1 in your w by that lvl so you're gonna lose out on the 3rd hit everytime too... am i missing something here?

No you can't because the cooldown is higher even with Rank 5.

keep in mind that u can use ur E 3 times in 5 seconds
example... u pushed ur lane and u waiting in brush enemy pushed back u use ur E and soon you starting to charge Q u hit enemy then u hit again with aa and another E and u got another stack... this is how u trade with Vi...

It is very easy because katarina isn't a top lane champion, she gets smashed by anybody decent...

well I use Q just for extra w stack or escape, I rarely use it on engage unless I go for a kill

In your logic, we shouldn't use Q at all?^^

Thanks for the feedback guys! Appreciate it, really.

Why E over Q?
Lets not forget one thing in calculations:
1. While charging Q you dont AA means you deal less dmg
2. Not doing AA means you dont proc your W so often
Now about lane phase:
1. E lets you harass way much safer than Q, for example you use Q and damn a wild jungler has appeared, you have no escapes, flash or die
2. You dont rly need to trade with enemy while you just E them, with Q you will get dmg back almost all the time.
3. The backfire of this is that with E you will probably push lane harder than with Q. Still E is better.
Great guide, tho, but I will never max Q over E, just my opinion

Very well done guide. I like the mathcrafting you've done on Q vs E, though after trying both skills out I find that I prefer having E maxed out by 10 or 11 or so for skirmishes. Have you considered putting 2-3 points in Q early on, and then switching to E after 6? I think I'm going to try QWQEQR and then R > E > Q > W to see how it works. I should also put out there that I tend to build phage, brutalizer, and a vamp sceptor and then move into sheen and trinity force, which works amazingly with E maxed out.

Anyways good work on the guide. I like that you aren't blindly following the crowd, and aren't blindly opposing them either. Your math and reasoning show quite well that this is a viable method. Keep doing your thing.

So you can just scare enemies off and keep them from farming every 7s, without even endangering yourself or being opened up to ganks. Where is your disadvantage exactly? If people are scared of your damage they could be in a weaker spot than if you would win trades with them.