Hello all, just thought I'd post an Amumu guide here, as I do pretty well with him, and my build differs from the jungle build that's on the top of the list at the moment.

Please rate and comment!

This is a guide to Amumu that allows you to soak up a lot of damage, yet deal an insane amount back.

This isn't as long a guide as others, but I'm not going to dumb everything down. A good player will use the guide for what it is -- a guide. As always, build according to the situation and you will be fine.

Take the time to read through this and you'll be fine. Don't downvote if you jump into a game trying this build without reading!

This build isn't for non-aggressive players!

This is the standard leveling sequence for a jungling Amumu, taking Despair 1st to take out the Blue Buff camp, and maxing Tantrum for it's passive damage reduction. You take a point in Bandage Toss at 4 to help with ganks. (I believe the leveling order above is valid.)

Priority:
1. Curse of the Sad Mummy
2. Tantrum
3. Despair
4. Bandage Toss

Why Ghost and not Flash? Because I use my ult after I run in and make them focus me, not as a surprise maneuver. Amumu's ult is soooo much better (in my opinion) after you Bandage Toss into their team, beat up their squishy a little and then ult. Gives your team (if not premade) a little more time to react, and overall has a better effect. Ghost also helps with chasing stragglers, or getting to teamfights that you did not initiate.

Smite- Because a jungler NEEDS to take smite, I have stolen dragons, buffs and Barons, all because of smite. Plus amumu is a blue buff dependent jungler so this helps.

OMG WTF? TANK HAS AP RUNES???

If you play Amumu correctly, you will not need the standard tank runes (apart from the defense ones for jungling ease). The AP from the Greater Quintessence of Ability Power and the Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power make your Q (1.0 AP ratio) and your E(.50 AP ratio) do a noticeable amount more damage. Your W does scale, however it is an extra 1% per 100 AP.

BUT I WANT TO BE A REAL TANK SIR! I DON'T LIKE CHANGE! RAWR RAWR WHINE

Ok, fine. Swap the Greater Quintessence of Ability Power for your favorite of Greater Quintessence of Armor (Helps with jungling) , Greater Quintessence of Magic Resist (Great against casters), Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed(for that extra bit of speed... not that you need it), or Greater Quintessence of Health (78 total extra health, meh).

Swap the Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power for Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist.

I really don't think Amumu needs these, however they do have their uses.

These masteries help Amumu by giving him some extra Armor, Magic Resist, Health, Mana Regen, etc. etc.

Why Good Hands?!?
It's late game, close game, and the rest of your team are idiots and don't play well. This mastery helps you come back and kill stragglers that decide to push after a team fight.

Why I build the way I do:

I build this way because an Amumu with plenty of gold is murder to an opposing team. 2 gold per/5 items help a lot, and both have what I feel are good stats. With the recent nerf to Heart of Gold, it isn't as good as it was, so I sometimes decide to pick up my Giant's Belt after my Philosopher's Stone and then build another Philosopher's Stone. The mana regen from two Philosopher's Stones really helps if you can't keep blue buff/have a mana hungry carry. (See later for more explanation.)

- Because chasing people with Despair is so much fun and does a lot of damage!

- This makes your area damage INSANE and gives you Health and Armor

- Great amount of Magic Resist, and Awesome Health regen.

- For those times when you start getting focused, you run in, do your stuff, do A LOT of damage, and guess what? While they were focusing you, your team was raping them. Come back and pick off any stragglers.

- GREAT item for team fights, helps your carries not have to buy defense items so they can focus on their damage.

What next?
What should you build after your core build?

Build to counter the opposing team.

Sell your Philosopher's Stone or Heart of Gold when you run out of space and if:

No one is building Bloodrazor?
Grab
= Basically Unkillable
Nukey team with Anivia, Annie, Ryze, or the likes?
Grab
-Totally screw up their combos
Have a Xin Zhao, Ashe, Tryndamere, etc. on the opposing team?
Probably gonna wanna grab:

Totally Raping everything that moves?

- And you thought they were afraid before?
Want more damage and want to mitigate more damage?
-For AD heavy teams, AP and Armor
OR
-For AP heavy teams, AP and Magic Resist, PLUS helps you and your casters do more damage with it's -20 magic resist aura.

I'm not going to list out all the combinations, as there are so many, but just

build smart

and to counter the opposing team (Armor for AD heavy teams, Magic Resist for AP heavy teams).

FINALLY THE HOW TO JUNGLE PART!

Amumu is a very mana dependent jungler, however he is a very quick jungle. There have been times when I have beat the solo lane to 6, and I usually can always beat the duo lane to 6.
Grab Cloth armor and 5 health pots
Start at blue if you have the Armor runes. Put a point in Despair.
(If no armor runes, it is possible to take blue, but you need someone to take the first few hits for you, else check out the alternate jungle route listed here: Alternate jungle )

Right click the blue golem and turn on your Despair immediately. Pop a health pot after the golem hits you the first time. Smite the big golem when he is just a little below half health (you want to last hit him with Smite, it takes a little practice to know exactly when to. ) Auto attack the little golems, and shut off Despair right away. Pop another health pot and go on to the Wolves after also taking a point in Tantrum. Focus big dog, using Despair and Tantrum to finish them all off, then shut off Despair, pop another pot, and go on to wraiths. Right click the big wraith, turn on Despair and spam Tantrum until they're dead. Pop a pot, put a point in Tantrum and head on to the two small golems. Do I need to tell you what to do here?

The Red Buff
Unless you have your jungling down to an art, with these runes it is hard to get Red buff without recalling first. Because you took AP runes, you get to a little lower health than if you choice armor quints for example, but you can get Red golem without recalling if you know how to. This is a learned job, not an explained one.

After Red buff you will be level 4, put a point in Bandage Toss, heal if you need to, grab a Regrowth Pendant and maybe a ward and head out for a gank if any enemies are overextended.

After level 4 it is your job to gank, and protect a lane if a teammate needs to recall.
YOU SHOULD NEVER BE IN A LANE IF NOT GANKING, HOLDING, OR PUSHING AFTER A SUCCESSFUL GANK KILL/FORCED ENEMY RECALL.
If you have blue buff, farm the lane if you're protecting one, using Despair and Tantrum. Always grab your jungle--and even theirs if they don't have a jungler--between ganks. Once you have your ult you should be able to successfully get 2 kills/assists in a duo lane gank as long as your teammates are worth their weight. Keep blue buff as much as possible, because a farmed Amumu is GG.

Teamfights:
If you are at full health and you have your sunfire cape, you can usually run into the middle of their team with depair on (assuming you have blue buff for unlimited tears!), Tantrum twice, and then ulti. At this point they should have been turning to all attack you, and your team all jumped on them in the process. Bandage toss any squishies trying to escape, and help out any of your teammates that are low on health. Focus the enemy's main damage sources and you'll win the team fight. Don't be afraid to kill any one low on health by spamming your Tantrum. Some teammates rage and claim "KS!" but you are Amumu and you are their tank, so they just better shut up! :P

I have gotten quadra kills and even penta with Amumu, because his area damage is so crazy.

Learn to use your bandage toss well!

You can't hit every bandage toss, but the difference between a good Amumu and a bad one is the ability to lead and land this ability well. A pull, plus despair and tantrum combo will kill anyone running from you.

Don't be afraid to be aggressive after you build your core build!

If you are the main source of damage on your team, (which happens) then don't be afraid to always keep your blue buff and stealing the enemy's. Unlimited Despair makes your damage incredible, and you want to keep them on for the whole duration of the team fight!

You can solo dragon after your giant's belt, and can tank it with an AD teammate's help at level 6.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO FARM/CLEAR LANES!

Amumu in my opinion is OP, especially when played well. I will post some screenshots of recent games when I actually remember to Screencap them. I have had games where I was both the carry and the tank, so don't be surprised if this happens with practice!

This is my first guide, so any constructive criticism would be appreciated! Don't downvote without a reason!