Blitzcrank Build Guide by BBerger

Introduction

Blitzcrank the Great Mana Golem

Greetings, I am BBerger, I designed this guide and build a long, long time ago. Over time, it developed into something far more descriptive and helpful than I could have imagine. I still deal with questions, tutoring and playing League of Legends weekly in an effort to see more Blitzcrank players enjoy not only this unique champions, but others as well, and making sure people work together as a team.

I worked with this build before version 1.106, the Patch in which the recommended item build for Blitzcrank was made exactly the same as this guide, so please, don't say I just copied it from Riot! Although since it is very similar to the recommended build, this guide will help you become better with Blitzcrank. This is not an advanced build, and most other builds for Blitzcrank ask for a very very high skill requirement, such as high CDR/AP or AP/AD Hybrid.

Recent Updates & Patchnotes

- Newest: Layout updates - more to come! Complete re haul planned. Bear with me as I undergo these changes, some things might look out-of-touch.

Criticism very much appreciated

- Minor updates and new optional item added
- Hey ho, hey ho, we've got 200 votes!
- Updated Layout
- Changed Masteries
- Added Elixir of Brilliance
- Changed Mana Blue runes to Cooldown Reduction Runes

Who is Blitzcrank?

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Pros + Very fun + + Supportive+ + Many Builds +

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Cons - Hard to master - - Needs decent team - - Reliant on items -

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Very Fun

It doesn't come as a surprise that an unique champion such as Blitzcrank] is fun to play. You can see that you have a direct input in how the game progresses, and he can be very beginners friendly with his both offensive and defensive skill set...

BUT

Hard to master

.. With a versatile skill set and a direct input at how the game progresses come expectations and requirements. He will be expected to initiate a teamfight, to protect carries, to contribute enough damage. Mastering Blitzcrank requires experience and training.

+ Able to support his team +

Blitzcrank can reel in easy targets, he can repeatedly stun dangerous targets, he can silence an entire team, he can chase down targets and pin them down. In other words, through the use of his abilities, he can makes things a lot easier for his team and supplement them with zone control that they might lack...

BUT

- Requires a decent team -

...League of Legends is a teamgame. You will always require a decent team, but with for example Shen, you can still save people regardless of what they decide to do with his global ultimate and taunt. Blitzcrank requires his team to cooperate; they need to be there when he rocket grabs an enemy into range, they need to be there when he charges in to tank, and they need to be there to do the damage that he cannot do.

+ Hybrid +

Though there are items that are totally out of the question, Blitzcrank can do well with nearly every build. Pure AD, pure tank, pure AP, AP/Tank, AD/Tank, AP/AD. Though not all will be optimal for your playstyle or experience, they are all viable builds for him. This build focuses on what is the easier for him to begin with: AD/Tank...

BUT

- Reliant on items -

... While Blitzcrank's skills will always affect the outcome of the game, he requires items to stay competent. He is dependent on mana items and regeneration, cooldown reduction, armor and magic resist. To be able to do the what you wish to do, you will always require certain items.

Runes

Blitzcrank's First Runepage

Runes
Greater Mark of Scaling Mana 9	Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration 9	Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction 9	Greater Quintessence of Health 3

Greater Mark of Knowledge increases your mana by quite a lot, and they're cheap and effective. While it offers the least amount of mana of all runes, complete beginners are going to need Greater Seal of Replenishment and Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction for ability usage. The extra health from Greater Quintessence of Health are a given, and should help early game: you'll have the highest total health of all champions with them.

How Do I Hold All This Mana?

Runes
Greater Quintessence of Scaling Mana 3	Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana 9	Greater Seal of Scaling Mana 9	Greater Mark of Scaling Mana 9

Only for the absolute madman who wants to minmax his stats. You're sacrificing some early game potential to create the ultimate mana powerhouse. This gives a total of 834(!) extra mana. That's an additional 417 health to your shield and an additional 17 Attack Damage. While individual rune sets can grant that health or attack damage, the combination of both will never result in the same amount of gain by going for straight mana. You can always add Strength of Spirit to this runeset for an additional 8HP/5. That's a lot of bonus stats from just mana!

Bruiser

Runes
Greater Mark of Armor Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Armor 9	Greater Glyph of Magic Resist 9	Greater Quintessence of Health 3

If your intention is to deal sustained melee damage and keeping in the heat of the battle, these are the runes for you. They work decently early game because of the added defenses. Feel free to swap Greater Mark of Desolation for a more defensive or caster orientated rune, or the Greater Glyph of Magic Resist for (some) Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction. These runes are the most flexible of all.

Supportive

Runes
Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Gold 9	Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction 9	Greater Quintessence of Gold 3

If you're having the most problem with earning gold, or just not having any problem with enemy laners that you can forget defensive runes, or if you simply wish to go for a purely supportive build without constricting your carry, this is the build for you. Feel free to swap to Greater Mark of Desolation or Greater Mark of Magic Penetration for your preferred playstyle.

Masteries

Blitzcrank's First Mastery Page

Masteries

3/4

1/4

4/4

1/1

3/3

3/4

4/3

2/1

1/2

1/1

3/3

3/3

1/3

This mastery page is designed for a balanced, defensive setup that'll achieve the least deaths while also keeping up a high CDR amount. Optional picks are Summoner's Wrath , Summoner's Resolve , Siege Commander or Weapon Expertise .

Offensive Enough For You?

Masteries

1/1

3/4

4/4

4/4

1/1

4/3

1/1

1/1

1/2

1/4

1/1

3/3

4/3

1/2

This mastery page centers around doing the most damage, while also maintaining a bit of defense. Some say offense is the best defense. Optional picks: Summoner's Wrath , Summoner's Resolve , Demolitionist .

Supportive

Masteries
4/4	4/4	1/1	1/1	3/3	4/1	3/3	4/2	2/3	3/4	1/1

While delving deep into the Supportive tree, pay focus to the several masteries that also present perfect synergy that can lead to defensive and offense stats: Strength of Spirit and Expanded Mind . Optional picks: Summoner's Wrath , Summoner's Resolve , Summoner's Insight , Sage , Runic Affinity .

Minmaxing

Masteries
1/1	3/4	4/4	1/1	3/3	3/4	4/3	1/2	3/3	1/1	3/3	3/3

You're sacrificing some of the higher tiered masteries for more direct, long term benefit that help both early and late game. You'll achieve the highest CDR, mana and mobility with this mastery page. Optional: Summoner's Wrath , Summoner's Resolve , Summoner's Insight

Items

The Core

Item Sequence
Sapphire Crystal 400	Tear of the Goddess 700	Sheen 1200	Boots of Speed 350

These are the absolute core items of Blitzcrank. No matter what direction you go, these are the items that are vital to your build, andshould always be present in your inventory. Not only do you start with a Sapphire Crystal, but you also purchase several more for Sheen, Tear of the Goddess, Glacial Shroud and Catalyst the Protector.

Boots

Item Sequence
Boots of Swiftness 1000	Boots of Mobility 1000	Mercury's Treads 1200	Ninja Tabi 1000

These are the viable boots for Blitzcrank, with the explanation as following.

Boots of Swiftness are for when the enemy team has a lot of escape mechanics and relatively low auto-attack damage and crowd control. That's usually against a team composition where you'd win either way, and going others boots would reduce the risk of losing even further. Some people oath by these boots however, and they're viable against a mobile team.

Boots of Mobility are effective if you're roaming a lot, and it's early enough in the game to not have to invest in other boots. While not looking like it, these are the most offensive boots possible for Blitzcrank; replace these late game however!

Mercury's Treads are my top recommended boots. You're a crowd control beast yourself, but you lack a serious escape mechanism besides your speed. This makes sure that a melee champion such as yourself stays mobile enough to be effective. You can't invest tenacity from any other source.

Ninja Tabi are viable boots if you're tanking the most and they have quite some auto-attackers. Lategame, you're going to find yourself dueling against some bruisers so they can't harass your carry, and these boots can often be the winning edge.

Advanced

Item Sequence
Manamune 2100	Frozen Heart 3000	Banshee's Veil 2610

These items shouldn't come as a surprise. They are the main source of mana in this game, and as an added bonus, they provide synergy one way or another.

Manamune provides you with offense out of the gained mana from itself and other mana items, which are plenty for you. It also grants effective health because it increases your shield should you get to low health. So, it grants: (Effective) Health, Attack Damage, Mana and Mana regeneration!

Frozen Heart grants even more mana, and a hefty dose of armor. The armor helps with it's own aura, which provides an attack speed slow to nearby champions; this makes you far more effective to duel against bruisers and works even if they're not targeting you. The mana converts into (effective) health and attack damage. So, it grants: (Effective) Health, Armor, AS slow, Attack Damage, Mana.

Banshee's Veil gives you an excellent shield, and mana and health to boot. It's mana works with Manamune and your passive, and it's actual health grants even more tankiness. So, it grants: Effective Health, Health, Mana, Magic Resistance, Magic Shield, Attack Damage.

Optionals

Item Sequence
Maw of Malmortius 3200	Trinity Force 3843	Youmuu's Ghostblade 2700	Aegis of the Legion 2150	Atma's Impaler 2300	Randuin's Omen 3100	Elixir of Brilliance 250

Maw of Malmortius is an effective item if you're up against a lot of magic damage and want to be more offensive. The gimmick is the effective health it gives you on low health. Not only do you get a large shield against magic damage, you also get even more shield from your Mana Barrier; you're deceptively stronger at low health than you are at full health!

Trinity Force is a natural upgrade from Sheen. Some might ask why it's under optional, however, and that's because it's possible you won't need the added benefits till late game, since rushing defensive items was more effective for your team and your own survival. While I personally think it's a must-have, there are (rare) games where you simply wish to trade Sheen for something far more offensive or defensive and are lacking item slots.

Youmuu's Ghostblade is a bit like Maw of Malmortius, only that it's more effective against other melee characters. The Active effect, increased armor penetration and cooldown reduction means you'll excel at defeating bruisers, as you'll stun more and harder, and are better at chasing them down.

Aegis of the Legion is an excellent supportive item that also grants you more tankiness. If you're up against a balanced team and you simply need your team to have all defensive stats and attack damage increased, this is the perfect item. It's also the only item to provide a magic resistance aura.

Atma's Impaler is a solid choice lategame after you've got so much health. Power Fist doesn't crit, but your sustained damage will do better while still adding defensive armor. Primarily used against bruisers and carries.

Randuin's Omen is in case the enemy carries and bruiser are out of control, and you simply need a teamwide slow to make sure your team survives or can chase. The usage of this item is a skill that is learned completely separate of a champion, and I'd advise you to learn it one way or another on whatever champion you think viable for it. It can make or break games.

Elixir of Brilliance is a solid choice throughout the entire game. The extra CDR means you'll be doing more pulls and more damage. This can be purchased on a full inventory as well, meaning it'll never lose it's effect and meaning you shouldn't worry about only having 30% CDR.

Summoner Spells

Flash is obviously made for characters who aren't mobile or have a good escape mechanism. But for Blitzcrank, it's even greater. You can do a Flash + Grab trick to pull people out of 5v5 team fights and into a 1v1 fight that you'll most certainly win. It's also a great way to counter flash as well.

Update ends here. Sorry for the inconvenience of not updating everything in one go, but bear with me!




Many people take Ghost, and for a reason. It's versatile; you can use it both to chase and to flee, and combined with Overdrive you'll see some serious ****.

Ignite is mainly for those moments where you think "I won't need Flash against this team". It isn't a great finisher however. If you have issues with enemy champions running away with the use of flash or similar abilities or having your rocket pull just on a low cooldown, read the tactics further below on good Rocket Pull timing and usage. The same goes for Exhaust, it has use while you're fighting, not once they run.

Utility spells that your team lacks. Sometimes, it's better for the team if you get Garrison, Clairvoyance, Heal, Clarity or Promote. Judge it by individual basis though, and don't think that one summoner spell is always king.

Champion Abilities

Rocket Grab
Your fame and glory. For once you can say with dignity and pride that your right hand is your best friend, for as Blitzcrank, it is your number one killing tool. No no, don't stack Abilty Power or Cooldown Reduction for it!
It's power lies in it's mechanic. When you hit something, it gets pulled to you. As easy at it sounds, it plays on one of the most important factors of League of Legends: zone control.
People take safety in dodging potential ranged attacks through the use of brush and hide behind creeps to avoid potential skillshots. This is the largest, most invasive skillshot that is godlike in terms of zone control.
Some people will towerhug just because they suspect you went into the brush, and even then they will tend to hang around with creeps! There will be an entire chapter devoted to discussing this skill.

Overdrive
A straightforward ability. It makes you go vroom. By a lot. It boosts movement speed as well as attack speed, and coupled with the autoattacker-refresher Power Fist, it removes any need for pure attack speed items.

Power Fist
At first, this looks as a plain ability. Hit harder next attack, right? Right. Except that it refreshes the auto-attack and knocks up an enemy target. When I say "refreshes the auto-attack", I mean that it ignores your attack speed and instantly attacks with Power Fist.
Therefor it's beneficial to use Power First right after an auto-attack. And when I say it knocks up an enemy target, I mean that it stuns shortly, but it is not diminished by Mercury Threads.
Don't convince yourself that just because it doubles your attack damage, you have to get as much attack damage as possible; value it for its CC potential.

Static Field
As far as ultimates go, I've seen more unique. Perhaps Riot copied it from the Lightning Revenant from DotA where it was seen as an excellent farming/chasing passive.
In some ways, it retained the same effect. With it's Activate effect, you can farm pretty well.
It's very sudden, instant AoE silence is golden in team fights and and does quite a bit of damage to boot. If you're fighting a 1v1, you're better off letting the passive tick a couple of times before unleashing it, preferably when they're channeling something or are about to run.

Mana Barrier
People won't mention it in the same way they'll mention Rocket Grab, but it's still his signature characteristic. With this build, you will have a massive lifesaving shield once you hit 20%.
People generally blow everything they have the closer you get to low health. People also tend to forget this ability from time to time, and do not time their abilities accordingly.
So you can often Overdrive/Ghost away safely as they try to chase you with no mana or abilities readily available.

Early Game

Early game is rough for Blitzcrank. He does posses one trait though, his Rocket Grab has the exact same strength as it does over 45 minutes, and so does Power Fist as a CC tool. If you are truly skilled with Blitzcrank have experience with having solo lanes, you are a good candidate, for it is much easier to 'lose' the push and lets the enemy champion progress towards your tower than it is in a duo-lane.

But we're going to assume you have a duo-lane, since if you are a rookie Blitzcrank, you will have to start with practice. This guide recommends a Sapphire Crystal as your first item, but if you wish to learn how to Rocket Grab and you do not have access to mana regen runes, take a Meki Pendant instead.

Best Early Game scenario is that your lane partner is fed on hero and minion kills, and he's a carry, while you have a decent enough minion kill count and money from assists to quickly afford your core items. The sooner you have Tear of the Goddess and Sheen, the better, for it finally adds wanted burst damage in your arsenal, and gives you a reason to keep harassing the enemy laners.

If things aren't going as great, you make a great tower hugger. The tides turn if you manage to just land -one- rocket grab while you are at your tower, and your foe eats a couple of tower bullets. Either he dies and it's a cash reward, or he lives and learns not to be too cocky around Blitzcrank, giving an easier time laning afterwards.

Midgame

How you start your midgame is dependant on how your early game has progressed:

You didn't get your core items before the 15:00 marker.
No biggie. Chances are you just had a rough time in your lane, it happens. But recover from it! You need your core! Chances are there's ganking going around, stick around to your lane and last hit as much as you can. Lay low and try your best not to push or catch the attention of others; you're vulnerable without your core items and teammates.

You got your core items
Good job. It doesn't take much to get your cheap core items, and you're a great last farmer with Static Field, but having Manamune & Sheen provide all the physical damage you need for the game. It's dependent on how the game has gone so far to decide what you will do now.
Your team is pushing a lot
Chances are there's one lane where t he first tower already fell before the 15:00 marker. If the enemy team is focusing on defending that particular lane, you can decide to either push your own lane and get another tower down, or team up with your teammates as well and put your skills to use (your teammates will love you for reeling in a squishie away from it's tank!)
Your team is ganking a lot
Again, you can opt to push in your lane if the ganking champion vanquished your enemies for you. You can also decide to join them, for most gank heroes lack the crowd control you carry with Rocket Grab and Power Fist.
Your team is being pushed
Defend. Make sure no other towers fall and move as a team, for if they are doing fine pushing, they will resort to ganking as well. Farming a lane alone is not advised and should only be done after you're sure you will not be ganked. Better yet though, is to join your teammates and halt the pushes with Rocket Grab, punishing them for trying to come close to your tower..

Lategame

Whatever the case was in midgame, lategame always ends up the same. Item builds are getting completed, ganks are diminishing and it's time to work as a team. Fortunately, if you have taken the correct items, you are a pretty tanky robot. You are either packing a lot of armor or magic resist, or maybe through good farming even both.
Don't be afraid to take a couple of punches, for it's better that they waste as much of it on you than on a carry. Remember, you automatically get a lifesaver at 20%.. So you can always take the beating, wait until 20%, and then pop everything you have (Including Flash) to make a sprint for it. They won't have the resources to take down yet another 1.5k health.

However, that is all there is to it. Your Rocket Grab, Power Fist and Mana Barrier are still valuable and can open the path to victory; but you will not be able to do enough DPS to single-handily punch down the enemy team. Protect your carries, protect your support, protect your tank. You manipulate the battlefield with every ability you have.

Ranked & Professional Games

Blitzcrank is only viable in ranked games in certain team setups. Please do not attempt to play Ranked Blitzcrank without sufficient experience or a team that has a position for it. Blitzcrank is a filler champion for what other core-position champions lack. Think Shen, who is a tank but lacks a safe initiation ability and constant DPS; or Sona who lacks good CC and is always unsafe on the front lines. You supplement what your team is missing, you are NOT a substitute for a carry, tank or support.

Obviously you don't want to jump right into ranked games as a beginner. If you want to play ranked or even professionally as Blitzcrank, the first thing to remember what a good score and a good match contains. Contrary to what you would think, top notch players don't have many kills and no deaths. Ranked games are about getting the Nexus down, and that isn't achieved by kills alone.
Do not play Ranked Blitzcrank with the intention with impatient towerdiving, rushing Trinity Force for damage or constantly farming creeps instead of your carry. You are there to make ranked games easier. Towers are easier to defend, towers are easier to attack, lanes are easier and safer to push; these are what makes Blitzcrank viable in ranked games.

Blitzcrank can be viable with the right team in Ranked because his skills are both so very versatile in both offense and defense and provides a superior, constant crowd-control with his Power First and Rocket Grab.

PS: Ranked Blitzcrank is NOT for beginners! You have to be experienced in kiting, saving your teammates with your abilities and being very precise with timing and accurate on Rocket Grab[/b]!

Getting Minion Kills

What I see that aspiring Blitzcrank players are lacking, is the ability to farm up a decent item build before there is a significant gap. The idea of infinite ability spamming and running around at high speed between lanes is entertaining, and many Blitzcrank's will try to gank as much as they can. This however, means they will get a very low minion kill count.
Set up a timetable for yourself.
When you get what item is dependent on every game, but for example, when the enemy carry is walking around with a B.F. Sword, it's a good time to walk around with a
Chainmail or Glacial Shroud. Your dependency on your items is relative to what items the enemy team has.

Tip: Power First is great for last hitting, it refreshes your auto-attack, so you can time it yourself! Or you can use Elixir of Brilliance and Static Field to almost guarantee ranged minion kills!

Rocket Grab

This ability deserves an entire chapter. If not a video, could I make one; so bear with me and try to visualize when I give examples!

First of, Rocket Grabbing is what defines Blitzcrank. If you can't work with Rocket Grab, you can't work with Blitzcrank. You will become better and better in it in time, learning through examples, and knowing when to time, so I can't help with the process of learning. What I can help with however, is giving the situations to which Rocket Grabbing is best utilized, and therefor the best moments to practice with.

If you are completely new to Blitzcrank.
While it might be possible with Ashe to just go on Mobafire and copy an item build to attain a normal score, such is not the case with Blitzcrank. Seriously, try out a Practice game with bots before you take on a Normal or Ranked game. You will miss a lot of Rocket Grabs on your first day. Maybe even if your second. Hell, sometimes I ponder to myself "How could I have missed that pull?". It's visual is a tad misleading, for while it is actually a perfectly straight line ahead, it is fired from his hand, and therefor it may look as if it has a slight angle. Just remember that the line shown to you while you press Q once is the most accurate.

Early Game Spots
Brush & Tower. Plain 'n simple like that. Standing in the brush makes it harder for an enemy to know the exact location from where Rocket Grab can come from; and while they can always hide behind minions, there is almost always a small gap available to which they are vulnerable.
Sometimes it pays off to emerge behind them with Power First on and hit them with it. They'll likely retreat to their tower in a neat, straight line; meaning you can Rocket Grab them more easily and Power First them again.
Also note that bottom lane should be favored. Perhaps by graphical or map-creating flaw, it is not possible to Rocket Grab someone FROM the edge of the brush inside of the towers range in top lane.
Speaking of towers, they're great. Rocket Grab gives you means of pulling someone inside of its range without it wasting it's time on minions.
Your enemies (likely) know of Rocket Grab, and are cautious around you when you are towerhugging. Know your tower's range.. It can be the difference between a kill or a death.

Tip: If you are a skilled last hitter, you know how fast minions die. It's possible to aim a Rocket Grab at a minion that's just about to die, to hit the Champion behind it. This requires both timing and practice, but it is one of the best ways to counter 'hiding behind the minions'.

Midgame till Lategame
Since there is going to be more attention as working as a team and the first row of towers is down, focusing on the early game tactics will normally lead to more deaths than kills.
It's time to put your skills in Rocket Grab to use in teampushes. One notable difference is numbers. Minions will die faster and therefor, there will be less to eat your Rocket Grabs, and there will be more Champions to (accidentally) hit.
Sometimes trial and error works, and since you have a good amount of cooldown reduction and mana regeneration, you can pretty much keep shooting blanks until you finally reel one in. While people might call you 'bad' for missing three Rocket Grab in a row, it's the one squishie that you pulled on the fourth that counts, so don't be discouraged just because you seem to miss a lot.

Jungle
Your Rocket Grab goes through walls, the mighty iron fist that it is. It can nib away people doing the Golem or Lizard, it even used to steal the Dragon away from your enemy team! (Though sadly, not anymore).
Wards are worth the money if you want to practice using Rocket Grab in the jungle, for it's impact is greatly increased.
Many times, the enemy team will have to walk a great distance to save their teammate, or just give up right away because they know they won't reach it in time.

Conclussion

I still feel there is a lot to discuss about Blitzcrank, and if anything I wish I could make tutorial videos to help out new Blitzcrank's. But alas, I lack the tools. You are free to ask questions on this page however, and it would be great if you could cast your vote!

Also: Here is a complimentry video that might get you in the mood to play Rocket Grab (or Amumu, Poppy or Irelia, since the #1 Blitzcrank player Doublelift also plays those characters)
I do not own this video nor am I related to its production in any way