Amumu Build Guide by killlerkirsche

Introduction

Well, it is another guide for jungling Amumu. Be aware, that this is my first guide and I am totally open for any criticism. I am also trying to write and code this guide constantly and make it better. Also it will be permanently updated and I will put also new stuff in it.

So, why should you choose Amumu as a jungler? To be honest, it is pretty difficult to play him as a solo top. Once I have tried this and managed it pretty well, but I have fought against an enemy Malphite, that explains everything.

If you really want to play Amumu as a solo top, then you should go somewhere else, because I am focusing how to play Amumu as a Jungler.

Patch Notes

Just a placeholder for upcoming patches. This is the section where you can read fast, if I have changed something or not.

09/27/2012 : Added Kage's Lucky Pick to the Alternative Items section.
09/01/2012 : Added Ciderhelms Don't Feed Amumu to the Abilities section
08/30/2012 : Abyssal Scepter range has been reduced from 1000 to 600, but that doesn't hurt.
07/23/2012 : Philosopher's Stone has been implented in the items section.
07/07/2012 : Athene's Unholy Grail has been a bit buffed, making it a more viable choice.
07/06/2012 : Added Athene's Unholy Grail to the Alternative Items section.
07/04/2012 : Added Eleisa's Miracle to the Alternative Items section.

Pros / Cons

Just like every other champion in League of Legends, Amumu has strength and weaknesses. I will list the most important infomations here

Runes

There has been recent quite some nerfs at the runes, but I will explain, why I have choosen these runes and also propose other viable options, which I have considered.

Lets start with the Marks. We have here the Greater Mark of Magic Penetration. In my humble opinion, there is no other choice, because you need that Magic Penetration to deal damage with your Despair. Also, there is no other viable option to replace it.

Now we go to the Seals. Pretty common are these Greater Seal of Armor, because mainly you are the tank and should stay in the mid of the fight and initiate it. Again, there are no other runes, with which you can replace them.

Last but not least, lets head to the Glyphs. Here we have the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist, these give you magic resist per level. An other viable option are the Greater Glyph of Magic Resist, these are the flat magic resist runes.

Finally, lets take a look at the Quintessences. I recommend here Greater Quintessence of Health. These give you nice survivability in the early jungle. But there is also a second option, which I have considered is very viable. These are the Greater Quintessence of Armor. This two runes fits amumu perfect and it is just a personal choice, but if you are having trouble in the early jungle, I would suggest you the flat armor Quintessences.

Masteries

The Masteries are pretty standard masteries. You head for a 0/21/9 masteries, where you have the following setup in the defensive tree:

Resistance : Extra magic resistance, is there anymore to say?
Hardiness : Just like Resistance , only that you will get armor.
Tough Skin : Fantastic for your jungling, because you will take less damage except heroes.
Durability : 6 health per level, a must have for jungling Amumu.
Veteran's Scars : 30 health more, which increases your survival early game.
Bladed Armor : Returns 6 damage to minions and monster attacks. It is not a must have, but a little bit useful for clearing the jungle faster.
Enlightenment : Gives you 8% cooldown reduction at level 18. You need that for your ulti.
Honor Guard : Reduces damage taken by 1.5%. Pretty useful, because you are the tank.
Juggernaut : Nothing else to say, the 3% of your maximum health are a must have!


Utility:


Summoner's Insight : Reduces the cooldown of your flash by 15 seconds.
Expanded Mind : Gives you more mana, pretty useful because you are mana dependant early game.
Swiftness : We only take one point, but it is still helpful.
Meditation : 3 mana regeneration every 5 seconds as a starving mana Amumu? Take it!
Runic Affinity : Nothing else to say, they increase your blue buff and red buff by 20%.

Summoner Spells

There are only two viable options if you are jungling with Amumu. These two are:

These two are the ones, I use in every single game with Amumu. You can not jungle without Smite and Flash is a advantage, if you are chasing an opponent and missing a little bit of distance and need to close the gap. Also Flash can save your life, because it can be used over walls.



Alwas remember, the following two summoner spells only replace Flash. Never, I repeat never you should even thinking replacing Smite!



Ghost is a viable choice. In fact, I used it before I have switched to Flash. It will ignores unit collision, which makes it easier for chasing enemies and aiming that Bandage Toss.



Exhaust is also a viable choice. In my humble opinion, you should only take this, if no one else of your team has it. In a team fight it is very useful for shutting down that enemy ad carry.

Abilities

If you really don't like reading through this chapter, feel free to watch the following video of Ciderhelm.

This passive is great for our ap carry and us. At Level 18, it will reduces the magic resistance by 35 for 4 seconds. But remember, you have to basic attack, to get this passive! Therefore also do not forget to attack, even though Amumu basic attack damage hurts not very much.



Our essential for ganking pre level 6. If you hit the target it will stun him for one second. Enough for your friendly ally at the lane to come to your aid and finish that enemy Lee Sin off. If you miss it, then it will be pretty hard, but it is not impossible. This spell is also great for escaping. Just as a example, if you are in the jungle and get counter jungled, you can pull yourself to the neutral monster and gain some distance.



My alltime favorite spell. This is the spell, which makes Amumu viable in the jungle. It deals flat damage and damage of the maximum health of an enemy. It will even hurt Dr. Mundo or Cho'Gath! Always keep it active during a fight, because it deals huge damage.



A nice spell, but it has a pretty short range. Nevertheless, it is very useful, since when you get hit by a basic attack, it reduces the cooldown by half an second. Keep in mind, that this is the spell, which makes you mana hungry. Therefore you should not use it every time in the jungle.



Trust me, you will love his ultimate. It will stun everyone in the area, has a high range and fear all enemies. Although, it has a very high cooldown, so you have to be sure, that you hit most of the enemy team. If you miss it, it can be crucial, but if you are successful, the win is yours.

Skill Sequence

Despair as your first spell you have to choose. Without it, you can not jungle effectively and therefore you can not gank. It deals wonderful DoT.

Tantrum is a nice and small AoE, therefore I maximize it at second. It also gives you reduced damage from physical attacks, which is very useful.

Bandage Toss will be taken at Level 4. It is perfect for a gank, if you land it correctly. It scales well with ability power, but you maximize it at last, because you do not see it as a main source of damage, it is a ganking tool.

So, why do I prefer Despair more than Tantrum? Despair deals magic damage plus a decent amount of the maximum health of the enemy. In my opinion, this is the reason, why I prefer Despair as my first maximized spell and Tantrum as second.

Items

Well, there are many beneficial items for building an Amumu, and I will try to list them all here. You can play Amumu as a full tank, which I have often played, or you can play him as an Ap-Offtank, which I am considering now. Nevertheless, my choice maybe is not always the best.

I want to say clearly, that I am not a fan of gold per second items. I know, they do work good with Amumu, but if you are also not a fan of gold per second items, you can skip the part with the Philosopher's Stone. I have tried this very frequently, even in some ranked games and it worked. But since I am aware how mana hungry Amumu is and noticed that I run out of mana and having at the same time full health, I have implented a Philosopher's Stone.

Just one notice : If you can´t afford the runes for that guide, do not buy Boots of Speed and three Health Potion! Instead of that, buy Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion!

There are three items, which my guide is based of. These items are:

Why did I choose these three items?
Lets start with Sunfire Cape. It gives you armor, health and also deals magic damage! It fits perfect, because you will initiate the fight and stay in the middle of it.
Now why Rylai's Crystal Scepter? It gives you a nice amount of 500 health and also 80 ability power. But it is the passive, which make it so magnificent. It will slow the targets movement speed by 35%, every time you use a spell. Because Despair is always active during the fight, they can not flee!
Last but not least, there is the Abyssal Scepter. This item gives you ability power, magic resistance but the passive is the best. It will reduces the magic resist of nearby enemies by 20%! During the fight, every spell you and your ap carry uses, deals more damage.



In my opinion, there are only two viable options, which boots you choose.

Mercury's Treads: They have tenacity in the boots, that is a huge advantage. Also, they provide you a decent amount of magic resist. On the other side, that magic resist is not the highest and they are expensive, if you compare them to other boots.

Boots of Swiftness: I strongly advise you, to buy these shoes. I know, they do not give any resistance, but therefore you have your items. These boots will guarantee, that you can chase a fleeing opponnent and aim your Bandage Toss right. That is the reason, why I almost always take these boots.




You do not want to miss this item in your build. It provides a huge amount of armor and mana, but the passive is comparable to Abyssal Scepter, but instead of reducing the magic resist of enemies, it reduces the attack speed. Very useful, if you are in the teamfight and their carry can not deal any damage. The other passive, which works very well with Amumu, is the reduced cooldown. Now you can use your Curse of the Sad Mummy more frequently and trust me, you want that.


As your last item, you need some magic resist, to round up your build. Therefore I have choosen Force of Nature It provides great magic resist, along with some other just like movement speed and 40 healt regeneration. The movement speed allows you to keep the pace if an opponent wants to flee. Just when he thinks he is ouf of range, you aim your Bandage Toss and he is dead. Therefore I recommend that item.

Alternative Items

In this section, I will show you, which items can be replaced by other ones. But notice, that the situation, where you have to choose them, can diversify.

What to replace : Sunfire Cape

Well, normally Aegis of the Legion is an item, which should the support buy. But if you start with Cloth Armor and five Health Potion, this is the only useful item, which you can build your Cloth Armor. The matter is then, that you are lacking without your Sunfire Cape magical damage. On the other side, it provides you and your allies with a nice bunch of armor and magic resist.



What to replace : Sunfire Cape

Eleisa's Miracle is a good choice, if you are facing heavy mana problems. Built from a Philosopher's Stone, it gives you a nice amount of health and mana regeneration, and also provides you with tenacity. It is a pretty decent viable choice, because Amumu is very mana dependant. It also helps you to stay in lane a long time and clearing the jungle.



What to replace : Force of Nature

To be honest, the choice between Force of Nature and Banshee's Veil is a pretty tough one. Force of Nature gives you more magic resist, but Banshee's Veil is very useful for initiating. If the enemy team prevent you from casting your Curse of the Sad Mummy, then you should better buy Banshee's Veil.




What to replace : Philosopher's Stone

Actually a very good item, but you can only buy it instead of the Philosopher's Stone, if youre AP Carry mid is a manaless champion just like Kennen. If that is the case, take it immediately. It will help you to clear the jungle a little bit faster and also make your spells more powerful.



What to replace : Sunfire Cape

When should you switch these two items? If you are facing a heavy attack damage team. Thornmail provides you with the highest amount of buyable armor and gives you an amazing passive. When you are hit by standard attacks, it returns 30% of the damage as magical damage! If the enemy Tryndamere is fed, then you should buy these item and see, how he kills himself practically.



What to replace : Abyssal Scepter

This item works great with your friendly ap caster. Both of you will get more ability power and spell vamp. Every time you use Despair, you are gaining healt. Every time you are using any spell, you are regenerating healt. And do not forget : If you hit your Curse of the Sad Mummy right and hit all 5 of the enemy team, you could say, that you have restored your complete health bar. A very viable option in my opinion.



What to replace : Abyssal Scepter

A pretty good choice, if you are lacking some mana regeneration, because it increases your regeneration of it by 1% per 1% mana you are missing! Also it gives you more ability power than the Abyssal Scepter, but less magic resist. Regardless of that, Athene's Unholy Grail does not have the great passive from the Abyssal Scepter, but it will restore 12% of your maximum mana every time you kill someone or get an assist. Also it gives you 15% cooldown reduction, which is very useful for your Curse of the Sad Mummy.

Jungling

Now we are coming to the main section, the jungling. Amumu is not a common jungler like Lee Sin or other ones, but if you learn him, you will have great fun. Now we have two options for starting.

Option 1 is pretty fast explained. If you have no runes for Amumu, it would be the best to start with a Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion.

Option 2 is my way of jungling, starting with Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potion.

Both options lead the same way to the jungle, but there is the difference, that you can gank faster with the Boots of Swiftness. First of all, you start at Blue Buff and call out for a leash from your middle lane. Activate your first Health Potion once you received damage. After that, you should be Level 2 and skill Tantrum

Then you head towards the wolf camp and activate Despair and Tantrum. Use your second Health Potion and kill them. Now you are proceeding to the Wraith Camp, where you focuse the Blue Wraith first. Do not use your third Health Potion!

After that, in my games Smite is always at CD at 10 seconds. Now keep in mind, that you need Smite for killing the Red Buff. Therefore you have to wait, until your Smite is ready. If it is ready, attack the Red Buff. Use your last Health Potion and also Smite.

Now you probably want to go to the Double Golems. Well, we are skipping them and go straight for a gank. Now at your current position, you can choose if you want to gank mid or bottom.

After some ganks, which hopefully were successful, go back to your base and buy some potions and the recommended items from my build and clear the jungle. Do not forget to constantly gank the lanes.

For better explanation, there is an image :

Team Work

There are a few notes, which you have to keep in mind.

Number 1: Always tell your teammates, if your Curse of the Sad Mummy is on cooldown or not! It always turns the tide of the battle to your advantage, therefore your team have to know, if you can initiate or not.

Number 2: Remember to talk to your allies, if you are ganking their lanes. Therefore they can prepare and won´t be surprised, that you appeared. Maybe the enemy team, but not yours!

Number 3: If you can afford, always buy one or two wards. It is not only the task of the support to do that, it is the task of the whole team. Also it provides you great vision on the map and ganks.

Summary

Well, that is it. Amumu is a great champion, who can turn the tide of the battle instantly and whom the enemy team fear. If anything is missing, feel free to comment at the guide discussion.

If there is anything missing, let me know it and I will work on it. Maybe you also have noticed, that I put a little bit effort in this guide.

Also I would like to thank some various other Amumu guides I have seen in the internet, which lead me to my own way building my mummy.