Brand Build Guide by qqslayer

Introduction

Hey, this is my guide for Brand. Brand is one of the best ap carries out there because of heavy aoe nuking. Not many squishies, like ashe, can survive a full combo from brand unless they have like a Banshee. His early game is incredibly strong and he's tons of fun.

Pros:

Great Early Game
2 second stun
AOE damage
decent DoT passive
Great ganker to side lane
Can come out of a gank with a kill or two

Cons:

Really squishy until Rod of Ages
Falls off late game
Item dependent

Ability Explanation

Passive: Blaze

- This passive is really useful in all aspects. This is the extra damage that can kill a champion when they're running away. 2% is a huge amount when damage is calculated.

Q spell: Sear
This is your main and only cc. This is a skill shot so it takes practice to aim but 2 second stun is crazy and it gives you plenty of time to use your other spells if you can land the stun.

W spell Pillar of Flame
This is the main source of damage for Brand. If the target is ablaze, it deals an additional 25% more damage. That's even better than the 2% DoT on his passive. Plus it has a long range that can outpoke almost every champ if it lands.

E spell Conflagration
This is the spell we max after pillar of flame and this spell is grabbed first. This is a single target spell that has reliable damage. And if the target is ablazed, it deals AOE damage. This spell is one of the core spells for brand's combo.

R ultimate spell Pyroclasm
This spell is the nuke spell. After brand lands all of his spells, this spell can wreck teams. It has crazy damage and squishies will be burned to a crisp with this spell.

Information taken from: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Brand_the_Burning_Vengeance

Spell Sequence/ Runes

I get the conflagration spell first because I don't want to start harassing with pillar of flame. Pillar of flame will just push the lane and the e spell is a more reliable spell for damage. Besides, the Dot passive makes conflagration do more that you think. However, I do max pillar of flame first because of the pure damage. I max conflagration second because it's the most reliable spell that can do AOE if the enemy is ablaze. I max sear last because although it's damage is decent, sear is used mostly for the stun and the stun is 2 seconds in all ranks.

My runes are the usual things you would find on a regular spellcaster mid. I get flat mana regen seals because if I choose to start with boots+3 health pots instead of doran's ring, I need the mana regen. Don't spam the spells.

Masteries

My masteries are typical for an all-out damage caster. the 21 points in offense try to maximize the AP while the 9 points in utility bring a little more movement speed (which is really important all game) and especially the neutral buff duration.

Item Build

I always start with Doran's ring because of its great stats. However, due to the current meta, boots and 3 health pots are the best. This is just my preference. However, I always get the Rod of Ages as my first major item. RoTA is the best item on Brand because this is what's gonna sustain you all game long. I really like the hp+mana sustain and it makes me a bit tankier in team fights so I can survive long enough for two rounds of spells.

Rabadon's is obvious. Zhonya's hourglass is just preference too. 2 seconds of invulnerability is invaluable for an ap caster, plus it gives more ap. void staff is obvious. My last item is usually lich bane. Lich bane is a pretty good item for all ap casters but i get it because it gives me that extra damage for nuking someone. After my full combo of spells, I'm usually just sitting there or trying to run away. Lich bane gives a bit more damage. Also, it gives extra movement speed, really good late game.

Early Game (Laning Phase)

Your priority is farming. Last hitting with auto attacks will be the biggest problem for Brand early on. You have to get use to his low base damage when last hitting the minions. You shouldn't use your spells for farming early on because that will just push the lane really far. Pushing lane=getting ganked

You may want boots + 3 health pots depending on the other champ. If it's a karthus or cassiopeia you're versing, boots are a must to dodge the skill shots. If it's someone more manageable, doran's ring is a good option. Always ask your jungler for blue buff. Even with the mana runes and doran's ring, heck even with catalyst, blue buff is a necessity for Brand. He needs the cooldown reduction and even the mana regen is needed once you get into the mid game. Early game, blue buff provides non-stop harassing and it makes it so much easier to deny and perhaps kill the other champ.

Second priority is harassing. Harassing is the hard part because you have two skill shots for harassing. Using Pillar of Flame w spell is kinda hard to land and it could potentially push the lane if u hit the minions. I usually harass with my e spell conflagration and follow up with pillar of flame if I know I can land it. However, it becomes really easy to harass if they don't have boots so take that into consideration when going for the kill.

Farming after the laning phase is really easy. Wait for pillar of flame to land and use conflagration. with enough ability power, that should be enough to wipe out the caster minions. This same combo could be used later on.

Mid Game + Late Game

Brand does really well in the mid game after his rabadon's. His AOE spells can devastate a team if he can get the full combo off. My usual combo is w->e->q->r. I can usually get the e conflagration spell off before the w pillar of flame spell can finish casting. This usually grants me the extra 25% but if I don't do it fast enough, it's okay because I'll just be doing more AOE damage instead of the full nuke. I put the q spell sear on smart cast for a faster combo/stun for the team. After that, I just use my ult and watch their health go really low. If the enemy team is still alive and active, try running back and wait for cooldowns. ap casters are useless when spells are on cooldown so stay alive until they come back

Same thing for late game except you have to be careful because the other team champs prob have most of their items. Champs like Irelia are a big threat because they're a tanky DPS that can dive a team and come out alive with a kill. Wait till the tank and tanky dps initiates and wait for the enemy team to blow their cooldowns before you nuke their carry.

Conclusion

Brand is a great champion with huge AOE nuking capability. He's really fun and I enjoy playing him. Building RoTA is really crucial early game and brings alot of sustain all game. It's better than stacking 5 doran rings... Thanks for reading, hope this helped your gameplay for brand.