Kog'Maw Build Guide

Kog'Maw Build

Table of Contents

Introduction

1

Abilities

2

Masteries and Runes

3

Items:

4

Skilling Order

5

Summoner Abilities

6

Summary:

7

Pros / Cons

8

Working in the team

9

Unique Skills

10

Farming

11

• Introduction

  Look at the highest armor item in the game: thornmail. it gives 100 armor, and a damage reflecting passive.now look at the best MR item in the game: Force of Nature: it gives 76 MR, and costs 610 more gold. Most people don't even buy FoN anyway, they buy Banshee's Veil, which won't protect them against the kind of magic damage that you'll be doing. Basically, you're going to turn your autoattack into an 11% of their max health blast per shot. with 2.5 autoattacks per second, you get a guaranteed kill every 5 seconds of attack. But wait! I can't wait for 5 seconds! I'll die by then! okay, you outrange them for the first 1.5 seconds. so the remaining 3.5 seconds are all you have to worry about.also, this isn't counting the Attack Damage damage that you're doing. you need only a few seconds, and that's without using any of your other abilities. In summary, this changes your opponents from stacking 100 Armor items to stop your to stacking 50 MR items to stop you. It's going to effectively halve your enemies' ability to defend against you. not to mention that 11% percent health per attack is just plain scary. NOTE: I apologize for any dysfunctional formatting that Leaguecraft may have inflicted on my guide; every time I try to fix something, it just makes something else worse.

• Abilities

  Icathian Surprise

  This is a fun passive that can turn every death into a 1-for-1, every 1-for-1 into a 1-for-2, etc. learn to chase people effectively (this is why we get boots of speed)

  Caustic Spittle

  Free AS, and and an MR-shredder. The main problem is its range, which doesn't work as well with your other abilities. use it once they get in range, but definitely let them come to you.

  Bio-Arcane Barrage

  Bread. and. butter. Dealing a percent of their max health per autoattack is fantastic. Extra range just makes you that much more obnoxious.

  Void Ooze

  It's a slow. this is NOT to be used to farm. it is to be used to slow your opponents down so that they can't get in range, or so that they can't leave your range.

  Living Artillery

  Long, LONG range. cheap, low cooldown spell, that allows you to scout bushes, safely attack turret-huggers, and cut off escape routes (or just nab kills on runners). Learn ALL the aspects of this ability if you want to use it well.

• Masteries and Runes

  Runes: I go Attackspeed Marks,Armor Seals,Magic Resist Glyphs,2 Health quints, and 1 movespeed quint (so I can outrun anyone who would normally be the same speed as me. also good for placing your passive)Masteries are 
  
  (I hope this tree works now...)

• Items:

  Okay, two different builds. Firstly, the Summoner's Rift/Twisted Treeline build:Start with a Dagger and a Health Potion. You have two "rush" items (besides boots.) First off, you have Malady. This is a fantastic AS, AP, and MR-shredder that is pretty much necessary for Kog'Maw. Secondly, you have [Item=Madred's Bloodrazor] This is the core item for this build. You want to get this item ASAP. Unfortunately, it costs 3800 gold (EXPENSIVE!)So, which do you get first? If you get really fed early on (AKA can afford the Recurve Bow when you base), go for Madred's first, and turn the dagger into Berserker's Greaves. If you're only getting a bit of gold on each base, get the Malady first. Note: an acceptable alternative to Berserker's Greaves is Boots of Swiftness. These boots give you the extra movespeed to make your passive close to inescapable. Also, makes kiting a breeze (pun intended). If you do grab boots of swiftness, then just turn your dagger into the malady later.After you have these three items, get Frozen Mallet. This will slow them down while they try to get in range of you, and will give you the survivability necessary to live long enough to kill them. And 20 Attack Damage! (rolls eyes)After this, grab a Nashor's Tooth. It gives attack speed, ability power, and cooldown reduction, as well as just enough mana regen to keep yourself going.But wait, why Nashor's?

  okay, we need attack speed for the obvious reason: more attacks per second=more damage. Cooldown reduction can keep your Bio-Arcane Barrage up more often. Ability power...this build is specifically crafted to get you close to exactly 100 AP, which will give your W an extra 1% of their max health per attack. I like getting only that much AP; just enough, using items that already give you other stats.
  This is my usual build.[builder=Kog'Maw/5ecfbcfb57fa0a330560001eafda7248]Situational items: NOTE: JUST BECAUSE THESE ARE SITUATIONAL DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD LEAVE THEM UNTIL THE END. EARLY DEFENSES ARE HELPFUL.If you're having problems with AP carries:
  Wit's End is a fun AS-increasing item that also has a great MR stat. Banshee's Veil Is a good item too...probably one of the most powerful defensive items in the game. Hexdrinker is a cheap, quick fix. however, Wit's End is still probably better. Abyssal Scepter also helps to further reduce enemy's MR while keeping your own high. It also gives you some extra ability power.
  If you're having problems with AD carries:
  Thornmail is the obvious counter, but other interesting counters are  Frozen Heart, which gives more mana that you could ever need, but also gives you a total of 40% cooldown reduction. this item basically negates any need for a blue buff.  Zhonya's Hourglass 50 Armor is nice to have, and 100 AP is an extra 1% of their max health. The active is interesting on Kog'maw, although, unless you're in a teamfight, it probably won't save your life, and you can't really output damage while stasised like other champions can. However, other players have a tendency to get as close as possible to zhonya's and guardian's angel users, so after you die, it should be easy to chase at least 1 person, and hopefully 2 or 3 with your passive. Additionally, if someone dashes in to take you down, pop the active, and let your team focus them down while they just look stupid.
  I can't hit anyone with my passive/I'm having trouble kiting!
  Phantom Dancer gives you a great speed boost, along with an Attack speed boost, and a critical chance boost.[Item=Force of Nature] ohhhhh.....so tempting if they have great AP carries (plural). the health regen stats aren't that useful on you, but the speed can help you kite, and the MR will practically negate any threat that AP carries pose to you (if you play well).also, make sure you got the boots of swiftness, and not the berserker's greaves.
  They're building too much MR! I can't deal damage!
  this is a much bigger problem than them stacking armor. hopefully, your team's AD carry should be wrecking face at this point. you can get a Void Staff, which should go through your opponents' MR pretty effectively. The other option is to switch things up and go for an AD item, like the Infinity Edge or a The Bloodthirster. The Black Cleaver is a potent buy as well.
  I have a weak early game![Spoiler]Pick up an [Item=Ionic Spark]. This will give you early survivability, as well as attack speed. It will also make farming much easier. Plus, lightning bolts just look cool. :D