Volibear Build Guide

Volibear Build

Table of Contents

Introduction

1

Abilities

2

Patch Notes which affect Volibear

3

Quick Reference

4

Level 18 Breakdown

5

Masteries + Runes

6

Summoner Abilities

7

Skilling Order

8

Items

9

The super easy, yet super effective, Volibear combo

10

Laning Phase

11

Tanking Team Fights

12

The "Play like an Assassin" Build

13

• Introduction

  This is my first guide, so feel free to leave me feedback, and please vote for this guide if you like it.
  
  I play Volibear (voh-luh-bare, sounds like Polar Bear) as a laning tank. He does have a nice nuke which is more effective on weak enemies, and therefore he has a nice assassin-style feel to him, but he is still a tank. I do build him with some attack speed to enhance the effectiveness of Frenzy and therefore your ult, Thunder Claws. A tank who isn't a threat to the enemy whatsoever can't possibly do their job because the enemy will simply ignore them the entire time until the end.
  

• Abilities

  Chosen of the Storm

  An amazing passive. You won't notice it mid-late game, but it will probably end up saving your life every 120 seconds. With a huge health pool, the amount healed mid-fight is tide-turning.

  Rolling Thunder

  Awesome for positioning an enemy closer to your carries and out of the sometimes confusing enemy champion cluster. It is an easy way to single out that carry for your carries to attack. While the enemy is still confused on who to focus, you have it all figured out since they just got thrown to the wolves. Also great for stopping that fleeing champion who just saw his entire team die in front of him. *Note* With CD reduction you can toss that champ every 4.8 seconds instead of 8.

  Frenzy

  Tooltip is wrong. It's 8%/11%/14%/17%/20% Attack Speed per stack of Frenzy. So a full stack of rank 5 Frenzy will give you +60% Attack Speed. Scales great with a little more attack speed from Nashor's Tooth. This is also your main nuke. When you have 2,000 bonus HP, this baby rocks that champion that you just threw over your shoulder. *Note* With the CD reduction in this build you will be able to use this every 11 seconds instead of 18.

  Majestic Roar

  Despite the tooltip, the slow does scale with each point put into Majestic Roar 30%/35%/40%/45%/50% for 3 seconds. Your main CC, and great for getting minions off your back early game. 50% slow is great for keeping that champion you just threw over your shoulder in range of your carries. *Note* With CD reduction you will be able to use this every 6.6 seconds instead of 11.

  Thunder Claws

  When used with a full stack of Frenzy this will melt the enemy team in team fights and get rid of pesky minions who are against your cause. 12 seconds of the other team thinking, "I need to get away," which is hard to do when you're throwing them backwards with Rolling Thunder and slowing them 50% for 3 seconds with Majestic Roar. If the enemy team is worried about you melting everyone's health away, they will be more likely to try to focus you down during team fights. You don't need a taunt if the enemy team fears getting close to you while you're alive. Always use this during team fights. *Note* With the CD reduction you can ult every 48 seconds instead of 80. That means you can have this active 25% of the time.

• Patch Notes which affect Volibear

  League of Legends v1.0.0.130
  
  Volibear
  Frenzy base damage reduced to 80/125/170/215/260 from 90/140/190/240/290
  Frenzy bonus health scaling reduced to 18% from 20%
  
  Warmog's Armor
  Passive health gain cap reduced to 350 from 450
  Passive health regeneration per 5 reduced to 10 from 15
  Health gain per kill or assist reduced to 35 from 45, minion kill reduced to 3.5 from 4.5
  Health regeneration per 5 gain per kill or assist reduced to 1 from 1.5, minion kill reduced to .1 from .15

• Quick Reference

  Link to my Complete Build minus the last situational item.
  
  Masteries: 0/21/9
  
  Runes: Cost 12,300 IP
  Greater Mark of Alacrity x9
  Greater Seal of Vitality x9
  Greater Glyph of Shielding x9
  Greater Quintessence of Alacrity x3
  
  Items: & / / /
  
  Skilling:
  
  
  

• Level 18 Breakdown

  Here are Volibear's stats with Aegis of the Legion build (balanced tank):
  
  HP - 4255
  MP - 760
  Att. Spd. - 1.405
  AD - 206
  AP - 55
  Crit - 18%
  Armor - 158
  M. Res. - 171
  CD Red. - 40%
  Move - 406
  
  Passives:
  Aura: Nearby allied champions gain 12 Armor, 15 Magic Resist, and 8 Attack Damage.
  Increases your healing and regeneration effects on yourself by 15%.
  

• Masteries + Runes

  0/21/9
  
  Runes: Cost - 12,300 IP
  Greater Mark of Alacrity x9
  Greater Seal of Vitality x9
  Greater Glyph of Shielding x9
  Greater Quintessence of Alacrity x3
  

• Summoner Abilities

  I always go with Heal and Exhaust. I once had a GP mock me for using heal in a team fight because he was the one who last hit me, but their entire team was wiped out in that fight and I was the only one who died on my team. That is the true essence of tanking. The other four members of my team proceeded to take down two towers while the entire enemy team was KO'd with me and I picked up 4 assists and a kill from that encounter.
  
  Other viable secondary options would be Cleanse, Teleport (only on Summoner's Rift), or Ghost instead of Exhaust.
  

• Skilling Order

  I skill Volibear a little differently than I've seen on Champion Spotlight and in other online guides. I prefer maxing Majestic Roar second as opposed to Rolling Thunder second after Frenzy. My logic in this is the utility of each ability. Each point in Rolling Thunder increases its damage by 25, but it has no effect on run speed. Each point in Majestic Roar increases the damage and also the amount slowed. The tooltips aren't correct on here yet. I've played as Voli many times and noticed that the slow does increase, and the attack speed per stack in Frenzy increases as well with each point spent.
  
  
  

• Items

  Almost every item I build on Volibear has health, as it is vital to tanking, and to increasing the power of his nuke, Frenzy. The total cost of the build is between 13,390 and 14,180, depending on how you finish off, and that's including the cost of Doran's Shield.
  
  I like to start with Doran's Shield. It gives nice durability, and a bit more punch to Frenzy.
  
  Next I pick up Boots of Speed and start working on Spirit Visage. It is a must for Volibear, as it is for any champion who has an ability which heals themselves. The CD reduction also plays a part in using your ult every 45 seconds.
  
  Warmog's Armor is my next grab from the shop. A huge chunk of HP only adds to Volibear's ferocity.
  
  I then finish up Mercury's Treads. You can't afford to be stunned or slowed for too long as a tank. You need to be able to respond to that enemy champ who's picking on your laning partner or teammate by pulling them off with Rolling Thunder.
  
  Nashor's Tooth is the only just damage item I pick up, and it's still cheap for an item used by a carry. It leads to a 2.248 swings per second with a full stack of rank 5 Frenzy. That's 26 swings with Thunder Claws, which is an added 4,030 damage to everything in the vicinity over 12 seconds. Without Nashor's, it is only 3,100. Let's say you're hitting 3 champions with just your damage from Thunder Claws, you would do a total of 12,090 damage instead of 9,300 without Nashor's. And that's not factoring in the AP from this item as well.
  
  Next up is more durability and damage with Atma's Impaler. The armor is nice, and the 80 AD from just your health, is very nice with stacks of Frenzy. Plus, now you crit. It's like an Infinity Edge for tanks, but 1,500 less cost.
  
  Now sell Doran's Shield and it is up to enemy team composition whether to finish your build with Banshee's Veil, Sunfire Cape, Thornmail or Aegis of the Legion. If you just want a larger health pool for Atma's Impaler and Frenzy, then I don't see an issue with another Warmog's Armor.
  

• The super easy, yet super effective, Volibear combo

  To start, initiate with Rolling Thunder. Once you've tossed the champ you're chasing behind you, and they start to run away again, slow them with Majestic Roar. At rank 5, they will be moving at 50% speed, which gives you a nice advantage. By this time you should be able to get off an easy Frenzy, but be patient young padowan, nobody likes a premature Frenzyer. You know that Frenzy becomes more powerful the lower the enemy's HP is, so you will wisely bite their face off when they're at about 35% health. If they are still limping away, just Rolling Thunder into another Majestic Roar.
  
  The basic combo is: ----> ---->
  With the CD red. from this build, you should be able to prevent any champion from ever escaping unless they're able to get over a wall.
  
  Remember: If it's a team fight, use your Thunder Claws. This extra damage can also help out a lot if you're 1v1 against a tanky dps.
  

• Laning Phase

  I play pretty counter-aggressive right off the bat. You have essentially an extra 30% health hidden in your back pocket that the enemy probably isn't thinking about (unless they're reading this now). If the enemy laning team likes to push you away, wait til level 2, ping the squishy carry who likes to knock you away, and rush in with Rolling Thunder when they close the gap again thinking they can have lane dominance. They'll be separated from their laning partner and if you're lucky, have to run around your creep wave to escape destruction. With Exhaust ready you should be able to finish them off and move onto their partner who has probably run back to turret sit. Now is when you focus on only last hitting. You don't want the creep wave to move close enough for the frightened champion who is turret sitting to get any experience. By the time the other champion has returned to lane they will play much more passively as you have just taken lane dominance from their frail fingers. If they start last-hitting minions again, drop into the grass and watch as they run away, fearing another Rolling Thunder pull. By this time you won't need Exhaust to slow them after you casually toss them behind you, just let out a Majestic Roar, and let your lane partner finish them off.
  

• Tanking Team Fights

  Team fights can be tricky if you aren't the one to initiate. Volibear is an amazing initiator, so use that to your advantage. Soon you will have the enemy team backing off when they see you at the head of your team.
  
  Initiating: Always find a squishy carry to pull into the fray with Rolling Thunder. When they turn tail and run toward their team, stop them with a Majestic Roar, and when they're a little over half health use your Frenzy to bring them to within an inch of their lives...which isn't much since one of your carries should pick up those last bit of health quickly. If you've noticed that another carry has focused on someone other than yourself, start attacking them and Rolling Thunder again. Basically rinse and repeat. Always Rolling Thunder any enemies who are attacking teammates. IF you have too much time before Rolling Thunder is off CD, then Exhaust the enemy to reduce the damage received by your teammate.
  
  Not Initiated: It's pretty much the same as the second phase of a fight that you initiate, except that you are at the disadvantage of possibly having the rest of the team on one of your carries at the start, and you don't have any way to pull them all off at one time. Just Rolling Thunder one and Exhaust another at the same time to minimize casualties.
  

• The "Play like an Assassin" Build

  This build is pricey, but then again, any high damage output builds are. You have more health for Frenzy, but less resistances, so less "effective" health for tanking.
  
  To view the stats from this completed build, click here.
  
  Items:
  
  
  Masteries:
  21/9/0
  
  Runes:
  Greater Mark of Alacrity x9
  Greater Seal of Vitality x9
  Greater Glyph of Shielding x9
  Greater Quintessence of Alacrity x3
  
  Summoner Abilities:
  Go with what you're used to when playing like an assassin, but I recommend Exhaust and Ignite if you're going out there just to take down enemy champs as efficiently as possible.
  
  *Note* Skilling is the same order as earlier in the guide.