Blitzcrank Build Guide by iggi

Intro

Hello, my name is Iggi and Blitzcrank is my absolutely favorite champion in League of Legends. He was the reason I started playing ][_, ([]) ][_, in the first place.
So I saved my first 6300 Ip back then and I must admit it was the best investment in Ip I ever made. I've played so many games with Blitz, that I can safely say I have mastered this champion.

I have tried all these 4 ways of playing Blitzcrank and had fun with all of them. The current meta favors Support Blitzcrank, but if you just wanna have fun playing normals, there is nothing stopping you to try AD and AP Blitzcrank solo top (viable in low elo ranked games too), or even Jungling.

I must point out that, when I started writing this guide, I was going to write only about Bruiser AD Blitzcrank to demonstrate my build and give some tips. But then I said to myself, support role is popular now and it's what I play more often too. So, without further thought, I added it to my guide. Then I thought of all the fun I had playing AP Blitz and the remarkable comments I had for my Jungling Blitzcrank (in normal games), so I decided to include them to my guide.

For the record, my favorite build is Ad bruiser, although, when playing ranked, I nearly always choose to support with him.

---

And here we are at Season 3! Much have changed since this guide was first written! I don't play LoL as much as I used to, but due to the fact that many people have been asking for me to update the guide for S3, I decided to give it a go. So here it is!

There will be many changes following and I would really appreciate your comments on the current state of the guide and my builds. I haven't tested all the new items properly, but the possibilities and the alternative item choices, especially for the popular support role, are endless and circumstantial to each game.

The item choice explanation section will be under construction until I find some time to update it.

Lore

The city of Zaun is a place where both magic and science have gone awry. The unchecked nature of experimentation has taken its toll on the city. However, Zaun's lenient restrictions allow their researchers and inventors the leeway to push the bounds of science at an accelerated rate, for better or worse. It was under these conditions that a team of doctoral students from Zaun's College of Techmaturgy made a breakthrough in the field of intelligent steam automation. Their creation, the steam golem Blitzcrank, was developed to exercise judgment on-the-fly in order to assist with Zaun's hazardous waste reclamation process, since so often the conditions did not allow for human supervision. However, he soon began exhibiting unforeseen behaviors.

Over time, the scientists were able to identify a demonstrated learning process, and Blitzcrank fast became a celebrity. As is sadly often the case though, credit for the golem's creation was scooped up by another - Professor Stanwick Pididly - though most now know the truth. In the wake of the ensuing legal maelstrom, it became evident that neither party truly had the steam golem's best interests at heart, and Blitzcrank humbly petitioned for personal autonomy. Backed by overwhelming support from the public, it took the liberal Council of Zaun only a few weeks to declare Blitzcrank a fully-independent, sentient entity. A unique being, the golem left Zaun, distressed by the controversy and feeling there was no place he could fit in. His travels led him to the one location in Valoran where unique beings have a place - the League of Legends. Fortunately, he was easily able to adapt his design to suit the rigors he would face on the Fields of Justice.

Though Blitzcrank may batter anything that stands in his way, he really has a heart of gold... encased in a framework of iron... in a carapace of steel.

Pros / Cons

I will present separately:

Pros: One of the most fun to play LoL champions Game changing initiation with Rocket Grab Insane cc Has 3 ways of disrupting enemy channeling spells Power Fist's knock up isn't affected by tenacity Has a nice burst combo and low CD on his CC Can farm easily especially after 6 with Static Field He has a built in movement speed steroid Overdrive He has an amazing passive Mana Barrier, that makes him naturally tanky He can babysit well too His legendary skin is awesome !!!

SPACE

Cons: His is hard to master so as to impact a game severely Relies on his skill-shot Rocket Grab to be most effective Mana dependent at least early Experienced players usually avoid getting caught by Rocket Grab Needs a lot of patience and understanding

---

Support

Pros

• Scary baby sitter
• Can zone hard a bad enemy composition
• Has enough CC to keep his carry alive or punish a bad gank
• Amazing mid-late game team fight initiation (game-changing)
• Capped CD reduction
• Can deal a fair amount of damage and serve an easy kill
• Has enough speed to play the warding game

Cons

• Has no heal
• Wards in brush shut him down early
• Needs a strong laning partner
• Often relies on skillshot

---

AD

Pros

• Nice damage output from early on with Sheen
• Can clear a wave fast enough with Static Field
• Extremely tanky while dealing reliable damage
• His speed conmbined with low CD on Power Fist gives him insane control on his target

Cons

• No sustain in lane
• Not that good vs certain solo top champions
• Needs a lot of farm
• Solo top keeps him away from early game team objectives

---

AP

Pros

• Insane combo burst with Deathfire Grasp, Lich Bane and his skills
• Obliterates creep waves with Static Field
• Still tanky enough
• Low cd on skills with 34% cd reduction

Cons

• Relies on Rocket Grab
• Once he uses his combo he can only use Power Fist with the Lich Bane proc for damage
• Item dependent
• Can be bullied in top lane by stronger laners because he has no sustain or damage early

---

Jungle

Pros

• Amazing ganks
• Good damage, same as AD
• Tanky enough
• Nice mobility(Useful when roaming)

Cons

• Ganks usually rely on skill shot
• Not a fast jungler
• Mana needs to be conserved for a gank
• Needs blue
• Can be set back from counter-jungling

Masteries

Support

My mastery selection for support Blitz is 0-9-21, grabbing all those useful utility masteries down to Nimble and the charming cooldown reduction of Intelligence . Then I spent the remaining 9 points in defense for some health and resists.

AD

In Ad build I focus my mastery selection in offense (21-9-0), choosing all Ad-related masteries along with Sorcery maximazing my damage output as much as I can for early game. I also grab health and resists from the defense tree.

AP

In Ap build I also focus in offense, using 21 points in ability power related masteries, but I also pick some armor pen and flat ad( Brute Force and Sunder ). Then I take 9 points in defense grabbing some armor and health.

Jungle

Last, in jungle build, I use 6 points in offense, 23 points in defense to help me jungle faster and safer ( Tough Skin and Bladed Armor ). The last point, I assign in utility, Rocket Grabbing some mana regen with Meditation and neutral buff duration. ( Runic Affinity )

Runes

Support

In support build I use 9 Greater Mark of Attack Damage to increase my early burst, 9 Greater Seal of Armor and 9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist for my defense. Then I choose 3 Greater Quintessence of Gold to increase my passive income from early on combined with Greed from masteries!

AD

In Ad build I use 9 Greater Mark of Armor Penetration for a bit of armor piercing, 9 Greater Seal of Armor and 9 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist for my early defense and 3 Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage to inflict more damage with auto attacks and Power Fist.

AP

In Ap build I use 9 Greater Mark of Magic Penetration as standart Ap, 9 Greater Seal of Armor because I solo top vs (usually) an Ad opponent. I also use 6 Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power and 3 Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration for my glyphs. For quintessences I prefer Greater Quintessence of Ability Power.

Jungle

For Jungle I use 6 Greater Mark of Armor Penetration, 3 Greater Mark of Attack Speed and 3 Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed to speed things up, cause Blitz-jungling is a bit slow. Rest is flat armor and magic resist which help me be tanky enough for jungling and bolder in early game ganks.

Abilities and Their Sequence

Mana Barrier: This passive makes Blitzcrank tanky by stacking items that provide mana pool.
Rocket Grab(Q): This is Blitzcrank's signature spell and what makes him so special. One of the most funny to use abilities that also helps distinguish good players. It is a skillshot that grabs the first enemy hit within 1000 range and drags him to Blitzcrank.
Overdrive(W): This spell is Blitzcrank's build in steroid that significantly boosts his speed and attack speed.
Power Fist(E): This spell is a knock-up CC with a low cooldown, giving Blitzcrank a lot of single target control.
Static Field(R): This is his ultimate, which has both a passive feature and an active one! This, along with Q and E abilities, is the 3rd way Blitzcrank can interrupt a channeling spell (like Nunu's Absolute Zero), because it silences the enemies in 600 range AOE for 0,5 sec!

---

As far as skill sequense is concerned, I have a different route for every role.

Support


When supporting I max out Rocket Grab first, mainly, because every rank reduces its cooldown, so I can use it more often to opt for a kill and it does 300 damage by level 9 that helps a lot. In addition, it has come to my attention that I nearly never have the chance to Power Fist twice due to the small duration of the 2v2 fights, when, either the opponent caught manages to escape, with Flash and the help of his support, or he dies to the combined damage output of Blitz and his Ad carry. Second I max Power Fist for cooldown and last Overdrive. I take Static Field immediately when available.

AD


When I am top as Ad, I prefer to max out Power Fist first, because I really need that CC on low cd to farm, harass and bully my opponent. Top laners, being tanky, tend to engage in longer lasting battles, where Power Fist can be used twice or more. Then I max Overdrive for movement speed and attack speed and I leave Rocket Grab for last as its range is equal at all levels. Static Field is picked always at levels 6, 11 and 16!


AP


In Ap build I max out Rocket Grab first again, due to the fact that it is my main source of damage paired with Static Field. Then I focus on Power Fist for the reduction of its cooldown per rank and I leave Overdrive for last. Static Field ranked when available as always.



Jungle


With Blitz in da jungle I use Power Fist at level 1,then Overdrive at level 2 and Rocket Grab at level 3, so I can gank. Then I take 1 more point in Overdrive for the movement speed and attack speed to help me jungle faster and gank more often. Between Power Fist and Rocket Grab, I then focus on Power Fist for the reduction in cooldown per rank. Static Field at levels 6, 11 and 16 again and always :P

Summoner Spells

In all 4 builds I use Flash, even though it's nerfed, because I fancy the Flash-then- Rocket Grab technique to catch a fleeing opponent or Flash- Power Fist to initiate. Also Blitzcrank can escape easily if he uses that meager 400 range Flash and Overdrive away like crazy.

So, together with Flash, I use:

• Exhaust or Ignite as support(or sometimes Clairvoyance)
• Ignite or Exhaust as an AD bruiser
• Ignite for the extra damage as AP
• and Smite as all Junglers should.

Other summoner spells:

• Teleport: I maybe use this as AD when solo-ing top. It gives you the advantage of a quick dragon, a quick gank, teleporting to save an ally or simply getting back to your lane faster.
• Ghost: I really don't like this on Blitz, mainly because he has a movement speed buff of his own and Flash helps him so much more.(wall jump etc.)
• Heal: A good spell, nowadays, that can be used instead of Flash or Clairvoyance when supporting. It's useful to other roles as well. I just don't use it often.
• Clarity: It used to be a choice for some reason, but I never used it or appreciated it. Mana regen and mana pool is sufficient and other summoner spells are just more useful.
• Cleanse: Good spell overall, but I would choose it for a carry that needs to be free from hard CC in order to deal more damage or simply live. If you get focused by CC then it is probably a good thing cause every CC on Blitz is -1 CC for your Carries! You are tanky enough to endure even a Chain-CC-combo.
• Surge: I don't know much about this spell, haven't even tested it, so I will just say that I never use it and I can't find a reason why I should. I don't need attack speed or ablity power and/or other choices offer a far better advantage.
• Promote, Revive: Bla Bla Bla... I build tanky so I don't usually or easily die and pushing with a "super catapult" is not that useful in any lane that doesn't want to get ganked.

Items sequence and explanation

Under major Construction

Under Construction

Under Construction

Support

Well dat "meta", sooner or later, will make you support too, if you love Blitzcrank!

When supporting, I usually choosed typical support items.
So first, I build Philosopher's Stone, then I buy boots and a second gp10 item: Heart of Gold. Then follows an Aegis of the Legion. After that I build towards cooldown reduction, to maximize my CC capability in a teamfight, thus keeping my Carries safe. So I buy Shurelya's Reverie and Frozen Heart. Some magic resist then comes handy to become a bit more tanky with Banshee's Veil.
Always remember to keep a slot free for wards. Warding is more important when playing a support and usually helps your team win the game.
With this build, I believe I fulfill my support role successfully. Usually, warding or having an oracle on, takes a big deal of my Gold, so I don't go deep into my build. Many games end, with me only having 2 gp10 items + tier 2 boots and Aegis of the Legion. However, having bought a whole bunch of wards, my contribution is always vital.

Alternative item choices are:

• Zeke's Herald which is a very useful team item
• Mercury's Treads in some games they are essential
• Abyssal Scepter

---

AD

You made it to my favorite build of all!The AD one!

When I play AD bruiser Blitzcrank solo top, I start with Boots of Speed and a 3 Health Potions. I immediately build a Sheen for the extra burst every time I Power Fist. Tear of the Goddess and cooldown reduction come next with Glacial Shroud. Then I upgrade to tier 2 boots and Frozen Heart. Next I finish Manamune and Trinity Force, followed with a Banshee's Veil and an Atma's Impaler. Atma's provides 45 bonus AD, 45 armor and 18 critical strike chance at a low price. So it is viable and gold efficient if you are sitting on top of 3000 hp or more. With this build you have a very strong bruiser with high resist and a big health pool in addition to a huge shield.


Alternative item choices are:

• Boots of Mobility if the enemy team doesn't have much CC
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity if you want to cap your CD reduction (personal favorite)
• Infinity Edge if you are owning hard or need that extra damage(dat crit hurts)
• Force of Nature if your opponents do more magic damage than you can handle
• Guardian Angel for who knows why, maybe immortality
• Maw of Malmortius shields, shields everywhere

---

AP

So here you are at Blitzcrank's most underplayed side, which is a lot of fun btw.

When playing AP and solo top, I (again) start with Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potions. I build first a Catalyst the Protector followed by a Sheen which is good for early Power Fist damage and will build into a Lich Bane later on. I finish Rod of Ages, buy tier 2 boots and then build a Deathfire Grasp.
After the Lich Bane, I build defensively and buy a Guardian Angel. Last, I choose Rabadon's Deathcap for the extra ap.

With this build I can pretty much one-shot the AP carry, the Ad carry or the (poor) support, or even cripple severely the (assuming)tanky solo top or Jungler. This means that, with the help of my team, anyone that gets Rocket Grabbed is instantly-killed even if Deathfire Grasp is on cd.

Minion waves are obliterated with Static Field so you can push very very fast. Generally if you can survive the laning phase and be a little farmed, then you are a true asset to your team. The only problem is focus fire. In a teamfight, once you blow your ultimate Static Field and use Rocket Grab, your only source of damage is Lich Bane proc and Power Fist attack. You should always try to catch an opponent off-guard to gain an advantage (preferrably a Carry).A well-aimed Rocket Grab wins games.

Alternative item choices:

• Abyssal Scepter for magic resist and the 20 magic resist debuff.
• Void Staff if your opponents decided to stack some magic resist
• Will of the Ancients or Hextech Gunblade for spell vamp and stuff
• Rylai's Crystal Scepter for a bit of extra health, ap and the nice slow effect added on top
• Banshee's Veil if you need it

---

Jungle

Hell, you made it to the jungle!(or you just came straight here, didn't you?)

My jungle build included a Wriggle's Lantern, but now I am junlging with a Philosopher's Stone, so as to buy mobility and damage faster. So after tier 2 Boots of Mobility, I buy Sheen and then I build some cooldown reduction to maximize what Blitz can do best: CC. So Zeke's Herald and Frozen Heart help with that. Next comes Banshee's Veil for a bit of magic resist and more health. Last, I finish Trinity Force and buy an Atma's Impaler.
With this build Blitz is fast, very tanky and he can also punish opponents with his fists!

Special Offensive Support section

Blitzcrank in bot lane is a common sight. So in this section I will show you a more offensive support build for more experienced players focusing in normal games, where people have fun and don't care so much about the warding game, oracles and other gold demanding support obligations. This build can be used in ranked play too, but only if you know what you are doing!

Runes

6 Greater Mark of Armor Penetration
3 Greater Mark of Attack Damage
9 Greater Seal of Armor
9 Greater Glyph of Armor
3 Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage

---

Masteries

Basically the masteries are the same as in the AD build. 21 points in offense, 9 in defense and 0 in utility.

---

As far as skill sequence is concerned I reccomend maxing out Rocket Grab, because of the 300 damage burst! You will only need to Power Fist once, so I prefer the burst damage of the higher rank in (Q).

Now, as you can see this build has no Gold per 10 runes or masteries, so you must build a Philosopher's Stone as fast as you can and then rush a Sheen. At this stage you can follow either the support build, or the AD build. Since you won't be taking any CS as a loyal support, it is extremely difficult to gather money if you can't land a Rocket Grab and convert it into a kill. Don't use this way of playing Blitzcrank if you are new to this champion. It relies in the successful cooperation of Blitzcrank and his allied bot laner. I recommend Flash and Ignite or Exhaust if your AD carry has allready picked Ignite. You will also need an AD Carry with a decent burst capability or some kind of helpful mobility. Such is Graves, Corki, Ezreal, Miss Fortune(high early game damage), Varus and Tristana(maybe a good Vayne too). But they must be aware that they are part of a kill-lane and they must be ready, so that, when you Rocket Grab, they nuke and burst and blood all over the place...

][_, ([]) ][_,

Jungle

Under Construction

Under Construction

Under Construction

Although Blitzcrank is not the best of junglers, he can perform well, especially now that jungle has been made so easy. In the new jungle, successful ganking is vital and Blitz has one or two tricks to pull off a good gank.
My starting items were Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions, but now I run Regrowth Pendant into a Philosopher's Stone. Choose whichever suits you best. By the time you reach level 3 you can start ganking or even at 2 if the circumstances favor it.

I propose this jungle route:

• Blue with the leash of a teammate where I use smite. (Help is appreciated but not necessary)
• Wolves
• Wraiths
• Double Golems (smite)
• Gank
• Teleport Base
• Ancient Golem (red buff)
• Gank (mid or bot)
• Continue ganking and farming and follow the build

Alternatively, you can level up Rocket Grab at level 2 for a gank after wolves, and then continue to wraiths and so on. In order to make that choice look at the lanes. Your opponents. Your allies and their skills. Then make your decision. For example: Your ally mid is Annie, so she can prepare a stun and even use Ignite (usually). She sounds dangerous... So it is a good choice to go for an early gank and try to "burn" the defensive summoner spell of the opponent ( Flash, Ghost, Heal!

I don't claim that everybody can be successful with Blitzcrank jungling, but if you try a bit, you can pull some pretty sick stuff with the Big Golem. If you find yourself being constantly counter-jungled and losing xp, focus more on ganking (stealing some xp from lanes in the process) and ward vital spots of your jungle with a Sight Ward, so as to catch and maybe kill the invader.
Always ask your team's help if you are getting invaded and counter-jungled by a stronger Jungler. Warding dragon and baron should be a priority for you and be sure to save Smite when their time comes.

Closing, always remember, AFK jungling is not in your favor, because ganking is where Blitz excels, not jungle farming. If you are new to jungle or just need more information about jungling, please visit a more detail general jungle guide. It will help you a lot to understand what is what.
Generally if you are not mad about playing Blitzcrank like me, then you won't be needing a jungling guide about him. But that doesn't mean you should not try it, cause LoL is about having fun after all!

Gameplay and general tips

SPACE

Always remember to warn your allies in time for your gank, so as to coordinate and be more successful. You can Rocket Grab blue buff at the side of the wall on its back and kill it there without it resetting.(useful for enemy blue steal) While advancing towards an opponent who is aware of your presence and tries to avoid your Rocket Grab, delay it and/or try to Power Fist him instead, especially if his "avoiding" path prevents him from running straight the hell out. Try to be patient and use Rocket Grab at the proper moment when you "feel" you can predict your opponent's movement.

• Use your Static Field after you have executed a successful Rocket Grab and Power Fist and don't just save it for the end to take the kill. Generally avoid "kill-stealing", it's bad for team spirit.
• If you know a certain enemy champion doesn't have a summoner spell ready like Flash, don't hesitate to Flash in for a Power Fist. Flash can be used offensively, especially if you know you can secure a kill.(easy with Blitz + allies)
• If you are jungling, always remember to put more pressure to a lane where your allies are losing or doing bad. Even if it's warded and the opponents can see you, you do good by showing your presence at your allies side, holding back their advance and make them lose some cs.
• If a Sight Ward stops you from ganking a certain lane continuously, try to find a different route to that lane. For example, use the side brass when your team has pushed a bit on top or bot. If you feel safe enough, go through the enemy jungle, above baron or dragon, to get to a lane unseen from river wards.
• If you feel confident enough, buy an Oracle's Elixir early on.

All these apply not only to Jungling Blitzcrank, but to all roles, because Blitzcrank is generally good at ganking. Even if you Support, you can pretend you go ward the river and make a quick gank mid. Same applies for top as AD or AP.

(And now a video of poor quality, because it's my first time and I don't have the right programs yet. I'll try to improve soon. This is for fun and not so educating.)

Fixed that!

The video is composed by one game only and sadly my team's AD carry was a leaver. So I started out as support, but ended up building AD.

Enjoy :P

And now my second video, composed from recent games, featuring Support, AD and AP Rocket Grab highlights!

Change Log

21-12-2011:

• Changed Guide's Layout to a bit more pleasing!
• Added separate Jungle section.

22-12-2011:

• Included Manamune to Jungle build to solve early game mana issues.
• Included Runic Affinity to Jungle masteries.

25-1-2012:

• Added a bad quality video. (for the moment)

26-1-2012:

• Added a second video of Good quality.

27-1-2012:

• Replaced the bad quality video with a new HD one!

4-2-2012:

• Changed Support build, because of the recent patch.
• Changed the AD build a bit for the same reason.(runes and masteries not affected)

10-2-2012:

• Changed Jungle build, masteries and item sequence.
• Change support item sequence buying Zeke's Herald faster.
• Slightly changed AD build, making it a bit more DPS-oriented.

27-3-2012:

• Changed AD build a bit, adding Manamune as a core item and health regen quintessences for a more viable solo top laning phase.

14-4-2012:

• Changed jungle runes for faster clear times.(AS marks)

19-5-2012:

• Changed Support build to a more offensive playstyle.
• Changed AP runes and masteries a bit.
• Replaced Archangel's Staff with Rod of Ages in AP build.

27-6-2012:

• Changed AD masteries a bit.
• Added a special support section for advanced players and more offensive playstyle.
• Changed support build a bit.

8-1-2013: Partially updated for Season 3!

• Updated all 4 builds using the new item arsenal!
• Modified masteries, runes and skill sequence.
• Summoner spells and gameplay tips are still unaffected.

Summary

To sum things up, this is a multi-guide for Blitz, covering most of his potentials (well not hybrid for the lulz). Blitzcrank is a very fun-to-play champion, relatively easy if you don't take into account Rocket Grab's skill-shot nature and difficulty. Current metagame favors his Support role and even there he is not top tier.
My personal favorite way of playing Blitz lately is also Support, although I end up depending on the quality of my allied AD carry. If he's good, magic happens!

Don't forget that, even if you aren't having a good game, a well-aimed Rocket Grab can turn the tide of the battle and even mean game for your team.

I want to thank jhoijhoi for her epic guide that really helped me improve!

I will continue adding stuff, some screenshots and maybe a video if I find time.
Let me know what else you would like to see in this build, what feels wrong or what I missed.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you vote, I really appreciate feedback!
Have fun and thank you for reading!