2/16/11 - Build created.

2/17/11 - Sat my butt down in front of the FAQ's and learned how to make the pretty pictures appear.

Hello! my Mobafire name is swpaeng00, but my Ingame name is IvanIsaacs.

My guide to an AP/Tanking Rammus.
Rammus' skills Powerball and Tremor has a 1:1 AP ratio, so giving Rammus AP seemed like a good idea. Usually, I play complete tank Rammus and end up getting like 8/3/30 every game. (Not saying all, cause I lose too.)

This guide is to let you dish out your own damage while being able to withstand some as well.

and REMEMBER!! I view ALL ITEM BUILDS FOR EVERY CHAMPIONS TO BE CIRCUMSTANCIAL!! get it in ANY order you think will benefit yourself AND your team the most.

Oh, and this is my first time making a guide so bear with me please.

puncturing taunt

Skill uses.


Powerball. It has so many uses and is absolutely perfect for a tank and for not-such-a-tank. Its most common uses are for running away, and ramming into enemies, as given by Rammus' name. Powerball can stack with other speed-boosting buffs and items and therefore Rammus can reach almost unparalleled movement speed.

What a lot of people do not know is that Rammus' Powerball can interrupt channels. Yes, that's right. You can cancel out that Crowstorm that the annoying Fiddlesticks is going to use in that bush. just pop up Powerball and rush toward the bush where you think Fiddlesticks will be charging his ultimate. Same goes for other channeling spells, such as Karthus's Requiem or Nunu & Willump's Absolute Zero. both do TREMENDOUS damage to you and your allies, so you will be depended on HEAVILY to interrupt the channels.


Defensive Ball Curl. (DBC) It will be your tanking skill. It will be your backdooring skill. and most importantly, a small dps skill combined with your puncturing taunt. You need to take down a turret with about 1/3 of its health left? no problem!! pop up Defensive Ball Curl and approach the tower with Soaring Slam on. Although DBC's return damage do not affect turrets, it will still protect you from the damage the tower gives, and grant you additional attack damage.

puncturing taunt
Puncturing taunt. (PT) Oh how fun you are. I've cause so many Master Yi's to rage because of this. They think they can just kill a teammate of mine and run away with his highlander soul. Well, I'd like to correct him. he can use it. he can run. BUT, he cannot escape. he runs towards you and sees you and thinks, "Oh! a slow armadillo with spikes protruding from his back. doesnt seem too dangerous. i think i'll just pass by him and wait for my allies." That is when you taunt him, pop up Defensive Ball Curl and use Soaring Slam. Yi's super fast attacks returns so much damage, added to you autoattacking him, PLUS the damage that tremor does. when taunt wears off, Yi will feel threatened enough to start to run away, his highlander soul still up. Now is the perfect time to chase him down with your Powerball. you catch him, and by that time, your puncturing taunt will be back up, as well as your Defensive Ball Curl. And there you go. one dead Wuju warrior, served to you on a shining silver platter.

Early game, you can use this skill near your turret to scare your enemies. A melee champion pushing your turret? taunt him, pop up your defensive curl ball, and autoattack him. because of him attacking you near your turret, the turret will focus fire on that melee. Melee champions who are smart enough will almost never do this when laning against a Rammus or a Shen.

Also, puncturing taunt can interrupt channels as well like how Powerball can. I'm not sure, but i'm sure that there's some that he can't cancel with puncturing taunt that he can with Powerball. Maybe Galio's Idol of Durand. I need confirmation on this.


Ahhh. tremor. your tool to your double, triple, quad, or even quint kills. (i've never achieved quad or quint. comment if you achieved a quad or quint kill with this build.) With 1:1 AP ratio, and with it hitting 8 times, it should do a ****LOAD, and I repeat, A ****LOAD of damage. Use Soaring Slam to also help you take down turrets and farm dragons, Baron, Blue Golems, and Lizard Elders. Dont be afraid to use this generously, because it has such a short cooldown (unless you can see a big team-fight coming. if it's on cooldown, tell your teams to play defensive until it's up. Soaring Slam is the single skill that can change a team fight.


Lastly, but certainly not the least, Spiked shell.
Your passive ability converts 25% (that's 1/4. divide current armor by 4) and that percentage will be converted into your Attack Damage WITHOUT AFFECTING YOUR ARMOR! When playing full-tank Rammus, I usually get around 350 armor. But in this build, you only get about 60 attack damage from your armor. BUT REMEMBER!! it is all worth it.

Note: at the end of this guide, if you followed the items, you should have about 250 AP.

Pros:
Lv. 5 Powerball should do about 500-600 damage to a champion with standard Magic Rez. (more damage with magic penetration from items and runes.)
Lv. 3 Tremor does a ****LOAD of damage.

Powerball makes a GREAT escape tool, and when it's in cooldown, use Defensive Ball Curl to wait until it's back up.

You are a freeking ARMORdillo. you have spikes on your back. use them.

Cons:
This isnt a mega-tank Rammus guide, so taunting isnt all that useful.

With this build, you HAVE TO, and I repeat, HAVE TO play safe early game and FARM LOTS OF GOLD!!!! even if you need to go into the jungle and leave your poor Master Yi alone.

You wont be killing much without some decent defense first.

Quints?

Greater Quintessence of Health
Flat HP. I will NOT change this for ANYTHING. it will help you survive a LOT more early game. and that's very important.

Marks and Glyphs.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Greater Glyph of Magic Penetration
Flat magic penetration. you will need it both early game and late game.

Seals.

Greater Seal of Scaling Magic Resist greater seal of regeneration
either go with Magic Rez / level
or go with HP/5 / level. you wont have much HP regen with this build, unless you include Force of Nature.

Summoner Spells. Rammus makes VERY good use of a lot of them.
Here's my reasons for getting the following spells:


Flash
A Rammus with this spell is like a certain doom for those pesky ranged champions hiding behind those pesky castor minions. You pop up PB and wait about 2 seconds. approach the castor minions and flash behind them and hit that sorry Ashe who was stupid enough to lane against you.

Escaping wise, It's also great. You're surrounded by all 5 of your foes and they wont let you leave. Pop up Flash in the direction of your nearest tower, use PB and zoom away.


Ghost
Have you seen a Rammus with Ghost + PB + Zilean's Time Warp + Nunu & Willump's Blood Boil + (and so on and on)? IT'S FREEKING HILARIOUS!!! you can achieve movement speed more than 4000, yea that's right. FREEKING 4 THOUSAND!! (I've seen ppl get 5 phantoms and ghostblade to go over 6000. :P)
Helps in both chasing and escaping.


Heal
Especially vital early game when you're not-so-tanky. they think you're gonna die and gank you. the moment they try, use Heal, use Flash/Ghost and PB away to safety.

In late game, you can always use it to help your poor Ryze or Veigar when they're low on health.


Teleport.
This is just gankerific. you see trouble brewing on bottom and you're on top? teleport there and help out your team.

you're at base and your team is invading theirs? teleport there.

My favorite use of teleport, however, is backdooring. You place a ward in the bushes near the top turret, teleport there, and use your DBC Tremor combo. with the amount of AP you have, you should do a LOT OF FREEKIN damage to that stone giant throwing those little glowsticks at you. You notice that the other team members are MIA? cancel DBC, pop up PB and dash away to safety and bluepill back.

Well, those are pretty much the only ones I use for Rammus.

Usual item build
--> catalyst the protector --> --> --> --> --> --> -->

Additional items that will be useful.


Items. VERY important.

Start off the game with a Ruby Crystal for that big boost in health. And REMEMBER! Play safe unless you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you can get a kill/assist WITHOUT DYING!! Until you are desperately low on health or have about 1400ish gold, go back to base and buy a Catalyst the Protector and Boots. Return to lane and start going for kills/ganks.

Remember. your main goal right now is to farm for gold and "tank up" as I like to say.

You want to rush Rod of Ages for its health, AP, and mana benefits. Then you want more armor/magic rez, depending on the situation. After RoA, get Sorcerer's Shoes.

Personally, after the boots, I like to make a Guardian Angel for its armor, magic rez, and its reviving ability.

if you are being bombarded by that stupid Kassadin or Heimerdinger's bombs, you might want to get and Abyssal Mask for its Magic rez, AP, and the passive it gives you. BUT, if there's a Master Yi with his 2 Bloodthirstiers, you might want a Frozen Heart first due to its Defense, Mana, its passive, and especially the Cooldown. With FH's CD, your tremor will be up after 45 seconds. isnt that just dandy?

afterwards, after you get both, the only thing left is Rylai's Crystal Scepter. It's awesome. It gives your Health, AP, and a passive to slow down enemies with your skills. Think. your PB slows them down, and with Rylai's added, your slow will be GREATER. same goes for Tremor. They will NEVER escape unless they have flash or ghost (or if it's Master Yi with his annoying ultimate.)

Additional items for Rammus. I'm not gonna waste my time explaining. But, I will tell you what to replace it with.

Force of Nature (replace with Guardian Angel)
Rabadon's Deathcap (replace with Abyssal Mask or Rylai's)
Randuin's Omen (replace with Guardian Angel)
Zhonya's Hourglass (replace with Frozen Heart)

OK. I will say something about the hourglass and its useful active in backdooring turrets. go up to a turret, activate tremor, activate hourglass skill, and when that runs out, use DBC. Less damage to you, more damage to the turret due to the additional 100 AP it gives you. It also helps in tanking a turret for your friends.

Remember. Item sequences are NOT important. Just compromise to the flow of the game. :)

This is my first guide, so bear with me when I acknowledge that this guide is kinda ****py. I will do my best and experiment with this build more and update whenever I can.

Please leave comments and leave suggestions to better my AP/Tank Rammus.

And remember. If you aren't doing so well, feel free to switch to Tanking Rammus anytime. In the middle of making RoA? doesnt matter. you'll need the HP and Mana anyways. saves you the trouble of getting Warmog's.

Oh, and One last thing. Give me good ratings so i'll be motivated to keep this updated. lol
you - "hmmm. this guide has a lot of potential. +9001."
Me - "yay"