Im still working on this guide and am not sure yet how to make this as fancy as some of the other just yet, Please be patient and check back later :) Feel free to comment!

Welcome to my first build guide! I understand that there are a number of guide already out there although they never seem to build the same as me so I thought I would show you what I have found to be OP in games :) Please don't rate this guide untill you try, Keep in mind this is my first build guide :)

Pros

Great Farmer.
Brand is among the best of farmers. If you use the combo of Pillar of Flame along with Conflagration works a treat. Although Conflagration is not usually an AOE, when the target(s) are on fire this ability then bounces off onto other targets that are ablaze. Using thin on minions usually takes out minions with this 2 hit combo.

Awesome Ulti.
Brands Ulti doesn't hit as hard as some of the other ulti's although with Pyroclasm, This can bounce up to 5 times. So with this build I have above at lvl 18, Brand will hit 350+(256). If you have two champions running side by side you will end up hitting the first champion x3 and the second champion x2. So if you add that up brand ends up hitting a total of 1818 damage on the targeted champion and 1212 damage to the second champion not to mention brands passive ability. (have a look below for more info on his passive)

Low Cool Downs.
One amazing thing with brand is that if you work his cool downs well you don't have too long in between attacks before you can cast another spell. Although this is true, the cool downs of brand can also be put into cons because if you are going all out at another champion, as soon as all of your spells are on cool down you are pretty much useless. So just keep in mind that if you stick with a tank or your not someone to rampage into the jungle by yourself then you should be fine.

Helpful Passive Ability.
For anyone who has played brand before you will all know this but for those who havent played him before just a little heads up. Brands passive is very helpful and amazingly useful when your needing that last little edge over the enemy champion. Brands passive: (Brands spells light his target ablaze, Dealing 2% of their maximum health in magic damage per second for 4 seconds) the amount of times I have killed a champion after he has run off past his turret or into his base is crazy. It really helps give that little extra edge for your champion.

Being on fire.
(So to clarify I have put this in as something funny and just a little something extra) Although this isn't really a pro or a con. Brands abilities can be pretty good at scarring off enemy champions. Even though the abilities like Pillar of Flame wont kill them, Enemy champions usually run around or away from this. If there is fire bursting out of the ground, im pretty sure anyone would thing twice about running through it. :p

Cons

Squishy and Targeted first.
Usually brand is targeted first because he is pretty squishy and can pump put some pretty good damage so everyone always takes out the easy targets. Also with the build that I have here, Brand doesn't have any armor or anything that will give him any extra HP so I know it goes without saying but it is always good to go along side a tank or to at least hang back as opposed to running in guns blazing.

Run Speed.
Brand is usually slower than others I have found. Well with other characters having abilities which help them boost towards you or being able to grab you it can make it a little harder. E.g. Amumu with Bandage Toss, Blitzcrank with Rocket Grab and Renekton with Slice and Dice. When your up against one champion who has an ability like this its always good to try and hide behind your minions or depending on who your against, make sure your keeping a good distance from them.

For a while I was initially selecting Doran's Ring which gave (+100 Health +5 Mana Regen per 5 sec +15 Ability Power) Although this is helpful I found that it is a waste because you cant build this into anything useful and you end up selling this later on.

I now initially start by buying Sapphire Crystal which gives (+200 Mana) and builds into "Tear of the Goddess"Tear of the Goddess. Early on brand hardly has any manna compared to how much manna his abilities cost. Being able to stay around in your lane early game can be the difference between having the first kill or being behind in levels and being that guy on the team who looks like he is intentionally feeding.. -_-

Bottom line, Having the extra manna means you are able to stay in your lane longer and get the experience to level up as opposed to having to port back and then run all the way back down your lane and being behind in levels. You could always stay in the lane if you want but we all know that brand cant do much when his abilities are on cool down let alone having no manna to use his abilities. By buying the Sapphire Crystal you have already started at your build! :)

I have chosen to build brand this way firstly because I have tried to make this build as logical as possible and with reasoning which you will hopefully also understand.

Firstly, I could have chosen to show which items to buy by showing the final item above but I know that when I first started playing I was switching between Legends and my internet explorer :p So hopefully this way will help show what to buy when and hopefully the break down makes this a little easier?

Secondly my issue with brand is the amount of manna he burns through early and mid game. By working towards the Archangel's Staff.

Lastly, the final item for brands build I am still unsure what I should work towards. Sure I can get Morello's Evil Tome but in all honesty, with the 20% cool down reduction (or any cool down reduction as opposed to ability power) this really doesn't give you much as shown below:

Sear - From 6 seconds - 4.8 seconds. (1.2 seconds less)
Pillar of Flame - From 10 seconds - 8 seconds. (2 seconds less)
Conflagration - From 8 seconds - 6.4 seconds. (1.6 seconds less)
Pyroclasm - From 75 seconds - 60 seconds. (15 seconds less)

As you can see you really only, on average, Are being able to hit 1.6 seconds faster with less AP under your belt. The only thing that will come in helpful would be the cool down on brands ulti but when you are at the stage of being able to use this every minute is usually towards middle/end game where if the enemy is smart they would have gotten magic resist.. As a result you are needing more AP to hit them with.

(Please keep in mind this is all based on brands ability to stun the target and kill using brands combo before they are able to turn around and take you on with success / use a stun on you or to use abilities like Blitzcrank where he would pull you back behind their minions and put you between him, his tower and Blitz himself for an example.)

My question to you is would you prefer to burn through your manna quicker use your abilities faster (by only seconds) or being able to hit slightly less and be able to hit your target hard in that small window of time when they are stunned using brands combo? This may be the difference between a kill or being killed / Scaring off the enemy or being hit.

Thoughts??

I have taken off the last item - Rabadon's Deathcap to avoid any arguments :) because im still working on this build guide I haven't had enough time to explain why my build is set this way but ultimately the last item could be a number of different items depending on who you are up against..

- A second Rabadon's Deathcap - $3600
(If you actuially make it this far and have enough money. And your just out for a bit of fun)

- A second Void Staff - $2295
(If the other team has built up their magic resist)

- Banshee's Veil - $2715
(If you are up against AP champions like Annie / Veigar / LeBlanc etc..)

- Hextech Gunblade - $3190
(Another expensive item to try and buy before the end of game but with the stats this offers as well as its "Active" ability this would work a treat for brand)

[Once again, keeping in mind that with the build above with out the last item you would need to have gained $12,500 before being able to get anything further. At this point I would usually have liked to have finished the game but for those longer games, please refer to the items above]

As I have said before, brand is squishy and you really don't want to be caught by a stun or hit by a tank so being able to run away makes the difference :P

I like having the magic penetration to clearly help out with brands build being AP. Not much more to say with that :)

Not that brand has any issue with ability power but having that little extra may be the difference between killing a champion or not.

Brands lack of health and armor are an issue for brand so having all the extra health will help.

All in all I think brand is a pretty OP champion. Although he does have his set backs, he is a great champion and quite fun to play to. Hopefully I have helped explain brand a bit more and if anyone hads some thoughts or questions towards why I choose to build this way, feel free to ask / criticise :)

- T0ZA

In reply to ur comment "jasonosaj"
I usually don't get around to getting another Rabadon's Deathcap as the game is usuially finished by then ;)

I know how brand works seeing as though I bought him and have used him pretty much all the way to level 20 so far. I have explained once again (although yes people know how brand works) above about the combo where Conflagration works as an AOE.

In regards to my skill order, I build this way so that I can use Pillar of Fire on minions and then also get sear to also stun champions if need be at low levels (lvl 1-6). I don't plan on trying to take on champions at low level with brand but at least my option is there, my build is built this way to help farm so that I can build towards brands overall build. At low levels its also so easy to level up so im not worried that it will take too long to level up and not be able to put another point in my skill tree.

Pretty much when I play I can either get a kill or two at lvl 1-3 depending on who im in a lane with. I am also able to lvl quickly because of how easy it is to farm and then in later game I can change lanes and push etc..

Hopefully this has help clarify :)