Alistar Build Guide by Crisis

Builds

Build One

Normal AP BUILD

Build Two

Tanky/Support AP

Build Three

ONLY use this if you're going Middle

DECENT ALISTAR GUIDE.

Hello there, welcome to my Alistar Guide. I presume you clicked on this guide because you want to play a jungler who is a superb ganker and can do insane amounts of damage when played correctly. He is probaly the only jungler that can reposition the enemy in a gank, that Headbutt & Pulverize knocks them back into lane and makes them stay there, allowing your laner to just stand there and dish out massive amounts of damage.


There are many ways to play Alistar e.g. Support, Tank and AP. I choose to play AP when I jungle due to the fact that Alistar ganks are deadly. They usually result in a kill for your team or the enemy wastes summoner spells. Playing AP deals more damage resulting in kills for your laners giving them an advantage in their lane making it easier for them to win.

Pros +Great CC +One of the best Gankers +Can sustain with Triumphant Roar + Unbreakable Will Reduces damage by 70% while you deal massive amounts of damage +Can easily save team mates / Keep people off carries.

SPACE

Cons -Slow clear time -Easily counter jungled -Needs a lot of pots early game -Mana hungry -Easily kited

Abbreviations

CDR: Cooldown Reduction
AP: Ability Power
MP: Magic Penetration
MS: Movement Speed
AD: Attack Damage

Runes & Masteries Explanation.

21/0/9
This is my main Masteries for Jungle Cow. Why you ask? Simply because it works. You benefit from each an every stat. Arcane Knowledge gives you 10% MP. Havoc gives you a 1.5% damage increase which doesn't seem like much, but trust me that is quite a bit. Archmage increases your AP by 5% which is very handy.

I take Summoners Insight for the CDR on flash. Swiftness gives you 2% movement speed which might not seem like much but it makes your ganks that much better. And finnaly Runic Affinity for the extended buff durations.

0/21/9
I go with this Mastery Page if I know their team can deal a lot of damage. Firstly I put two points into Tough Skin so I can get a mini Thornmail effect from Bladed Armor . Durability & Veteran Scars give you a high amount of health early game which should help if you were to get invaded or simply get a bad leash. I also like to add a point into Summoners Resolve for the extra 10 gold per smite use, who wouldn't fancy some extra free gold?

Initiator & Swiftness synergies well which will give you up to a 5% movement speed bonus. Once again I put a point in Summoners Insight for the CDR on Flash. And last but not least a point in Runic Affinity for the extended buff durations.

21/9/0
You might think this sounds crazy but sometimes I do like to go middle lane with Alistar.
I put a point into Summoners Wrath for the Ignite buff also grabbing Arcane Knowledge for the 10% MP. While putting three points into Havoc for the 1.5% damage increase. It would also be smart to put points into Archmage for the 5% increase in AP.

I put three points into Resistance for the 6 MR because we are probably against another AP caster. Since AP casters are all about bursting you never know when that small amount of health will just help you live which is why I take Durability and Veteran Scars.

With

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power you have more damage in your abilities helping you clear camps faster and making your ganks that much more deadly.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration With these and your masteries you penetrate most of the camps magic resistance.

Greater Seal of Armor This will help you take less damage in the jungle and later on in team fights against physical damage.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power As a jungler you don't get much gold. As you level you gain AP instead of having to waste gold on it all the time.




Same reasons as above. Only changes to Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist if their team has a high amount of AP damage e.g. LeBlanc



Almost the same as my first rune page, only minor changes.
I only use this page if I'm in middle.

I switch out the Greater Seal of Armor because we're probably up against AP.

Instead I use Greater Seal of Replenishment because Alistar is mana hungry.

I take out Greater Glyph of Magic Resist and put in Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power for some extra damage.

Abilities & Summoner Spells.

Trample is Alistar's Passive, each time he casts a spell he gains the ability to pass through minions and creeps while dealing damage. A bit like Sunfire Cape.
When you're jungling you usually want to use one spell first then wait for trample to finish to get all the damage out of it then cast another one.

Pulverize is Alistar's Q ability. When activated he slams the ground doing damage and knocking enemies for 1 second. When they reach the ground they are briefly stunned for 1.5 seconds.
Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana
Cooldown: 17 / 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 seconds
Magic Damage: 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+0.5 per ability power)

Headbutt is Alistar's W, can be used on both creeps and champions. Upon activation dashes into the enemy knock them in the direction Alistar is facing. This is why he is a brutal ganker. The Headbutt & Pulverize combo can make anyone from full to dead cause of the amount of cc he has. The opponent is unable to move / react and is vulnerable.
Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana
Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds
Magic Damage: 85 / 130 / 175 / 220 / 265 (+0.7 per ability power)

Triumphant Roar is Alistar's E ability. It acts like a Heal spell but is a very minor version. Upon activation it heals himself for the full amount and his team mates around him for half of that amount. It is very effective in the jungle and lane due to the fact that everytime a enemy creep of minion dies its cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds.
Cooldown: 12 seconds FLAT.(no cdr)
Cost: 28 / 41 / 54 / 67 / 80 mana
Self Heal: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+0.2 per ability power)


Unbreakable Will is Alistar's Ultimate or R ability. Upon activation he gains attack damage and damage taken is reduced by 50% at level one increasing by 10% per level. If Alistar is cc'ed and he activates his ultimate it is automatically removed. This is almost like a Cleanse just that it doesn't remove Ignite.
One of the main reasons I play AP Alistar, In team fights you can deal massive amounts of damage and yet they can't do much back to you due to Unbreakable Will. Just pop your ultimate and start killing people. ALWAYS go for the squishies / low hp champions because you are AP you can quickly burst them down.
Cost: 100 mana
Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 seconds
Bonus Attack Damage: 60 / 75 / 90
Damage Reduction: 50 / 60 / 70%

Smite:When you jungle you always have to take smite. No questions asked.

SPACE

Flash:Since Alistar has no form of escape I always take Flash no matter what. I also use it to get in range for a Pulverize & Headbutt Combo.

SPACE

Ignite That one enemy always getting away with 20hp, never fear, Ignite is here just place ignite on them and they're certain to die

Viable.
+ Ghost
+ Exhaust
+ Heal

STAY AWAY FROM.
- Cleanse
- Clairvoyance
- Promote
- Teleport
- Clarity
- Surge

How to Jungle / Gank & Routes

In the video below it will show you the normal jungle route for Alistar. I get my Pulverize first and start at wolves. Ask your team mates to help you kill them to speed up the process. After that blue should just be spawning and either your Mid Lane or Bottom Lane will leash. After you kill it rank up Headbutt and go straight to ganking.



In this video I tell Lulu to pick a fight with Annie. Annie decides to stay and fight, I just come out of the river from behind her and she has no escape shes dead. I Headbutt her further into the lane to make sure she cannot flash to turret saftey, after that I just run up to her and simply Pulverize and she could do nothing about it.






In the second video Lulu makes a risky move fighting Annie because she is extremely low and Annie can burst her down. Never fear, Alistar is here. I just come out of river and Headbutt and immediately Pulverize to make sure she is cc'ed during the entire gank and she can't burst down my Lulu. While I have her cc'ed Lulu just starts spamming freely. That is the power of Alistar ganks, you make the opponent just sit there and take hits.

Wards.

Firstly there are 2 Types of Wards. Sight Ward & Vision Ward
The green ward is your standard ward giving you vision in an area around it.
Wriggles Lantern has an in-built ward in it, you can use it every 3 minutes.
You use these to protect you from ganks and give you vision on their team.
e.g. If you're bottom lane and a ward from top spots their jungle, your lane is automatically able to play super aggresive because their jungler is top and he cannot get to bottom quick enough to help.


A Vision Ward is the exact same as a Sight Ward only that it reveals invisible objects and champions. e.g If they have a Twitch roaming around, it would be smart to Vision Ward your lane. (a.k.a pink ward) The pink ward can also reveal the green wards and other pink ones. The most common areas Vision Ward's are used are Baron and Dragon


Below are some images of the most important areas you should ward if you are on Blue Side









Now time for Purple Side

Core Items.

This item is Godlike, after casting a spell your next auto attack will deal your base attack damage + the amount of AP you have. Example, if you have 142 attack damage and you have 652 AP your next hit after casting a spell will deal roughly about 796 damage.(keep in mind this is not calculating armor/magic resist)
+80 AP
+30 Magic Resist
+7% Movement Speed






This item is a Must Have on all AP CASTERS! It is one of the best, if not the best AP item in the game. It stats are so beneficial to any AP Caster, be it one with mana or one without mana. (applies to all AP except for Ryze)
+140 AP
+Increases your current AP by 30%






These boots give insane amounts of speed, which means they are the best boots to get for Alistar. His base movement speed isn't too high which is why we need the masteries and items to improve it. If Alistar has enough movement speed no one can escape his cc heaven.
+Movement Speed + 2
+Out of Combat for 5 seconds, Movement Speed + 5
When it says out of combat it means not hitting anything and not getting hit. You can still use your spells just make sure it doesn't hit anything. Not too sure about healing yourself will have to try it one day.







These are the THREE items I always get on Alistar no matter what I believe they are essential if you want to dominate. His ganks are superb without these items, but having this items enhances the ganks even further, your Lich Bane attack will do massive amounts of damage. When you run into lane with your Boots of Mobility & Lich Bane movement speed combined you're almost running as fast as Master Yi with Highlander. This scares the living s**t out of people

Tips & Tricks.

I'll be telling you the tips and tricks I've learnt while play the Cow.

The first major thing you should learn how to do is the " Headbutt+ Pulverize" Combo.
This is a deadly combo, you use your Headbutt to get straight to the enemy and immediately Pulverize. Achieving this saves you the time of having to walk up to the enemy and using Pulverize. In the second video of this guide is an example of it. It comes with consequences though. If you miss your Pulverize due to bad timing or not hitting your Headbutt it will cost you to either waste mana or Headbutt the enemy away resulting in you losing a kill.


Another small tip, just when minions are about to die. Try to use your Triumphant Roar to heal if you are missing health. By the time the minions die your Triumphant Roar will be off cooldown again availible for almost 2 consecutive uses if you time it right.


Another thing to keep in mind is that if the enemy is close to a wall but you're not in range for a Pulverize just Headbutt them into the wall this will keep them stunned there for a bit and you will dash to where they where. Which is near the wall meaning you can walk a few steps while they are pinned to the wall and then Pulverize.


When you are fighting and you seem to be losing the fights Pulverize & Headbutt the enemy away, run into bushes and wait for cooldowns. Just don't give up so many times I have out juked my opponents long enough for the second round of my burst to come up and finish them off when they could have just easily hit me once or twice for the kill.


You're Headbutt allows you to ram enemy minions / creeps if you just came out of a tower dive and you're the one tanking try using Headbutt on an enemy minion to get out instead of wasting flash.

Conclusion

Well, this brings us to an end of the guide. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I appreciate the time you spared to read this. I'm really thankful :). If you can leave any criticism, be it positive or negative I would be delighted, I'm keen on improving my guides and I think I just did. Thanks again for looking at this guide.

Credits

Thanks to JhoiJhoi for the awesome Guide on Guides.
Thanks to Fraps allowing me to Record those Videos.
Thanks to Photobucket letting me upload those photos
Thanks to Sony Vegas for Editing those Videos


And if you could, let me know what you think about my signature :)

Made in Photoshop

Updates

16/6/12 : Fixed a few typos, added Credits section
16/6/12 : Added Tips & Tricks for players new to Alistar
17/6/12 : Added Abbreviations section
17/6/12 : Added Warding Section