UPDATES

2/11/2011
-Added more to the Burning Agony description, forgot to include crowd control effects.
-Added more insight under the early game section.
-Removed some icons to make the text look more fluid.
-Switched the order of a few chapters as to follow a more linear path, instead of a jumbled mess.
-Additional information added regarding Exhaust, forgot to mention ability power ability reduction.
-More grammatical corrections, they're endless.
-More updates to come, running short on time =(

2/10/2011
-Added a chapter on Healing Reduction abilities and items.
-Added a few lines to the introduction
-Tweaked a few more grammatical errors.
-Corrected some lines to make it appear more aesthetically pleasing.

2/5/2011
-Updated the mastery talents to reflect a more defensive play.
-Added Greater Glyph of Focus as a primary rune over Greater Glyph of Alacrity.
-Added an additional option for starting items at the beginning of the game.
-Fixed some grammatical errors.
-Added a Tank Vs DPS thread.

There is a lot of potential for playing Mundo Offensively, over tank. On an average game, I normally out damage other heroes, or at least I am towards the top. It's also not uncommon to have a game with few kills, but tons of assists. To a degree, Mundo is a strong support physical dps hero.

First off, I want to say that I am by no means a ranked player, nor do I consider myself to be the best. I built this guide because I was unhappy with the other offensive Mundo builds. This guide may not appeal to some, but this is more of a personal play style choice, and there are definitely things to tweak, which make writing guides difficult. Note, this guide is very extensive, but the information is valuable to players who wish to know the ins and outs of playing Dr. Mundo.

I have friends who utilize this website, find a guide they like, and copy it word for word, this is not my soul intention with this guide. I am not telling you this guide is bullet proof, and to copy it could be a hindrance to your own play style. I am simply writing a template, along with my personal play style. I want YOU, the reader to question my item build, runes, or masteries, and decide whether it is the right fit for you or not. After having said all of this, try the build first, see how you like it, and comment as well as tweak the build to your liking.

It is difficult to deal with enemy heroes who have an ignite effect as Mundo. As you can see with the ability above, your ultimate ability is effected by items, spells, and abilities which reducing healing affects. Too some extent, these abilities also reduce the effectiveness of your regeneration abilities as well, specifically your Adrenaline Rush. Below I have complied a list of known items, spells, and abilities with healing reduction effects. It is important to know which items and heroes have this ability, because it can directly shut you down at any stage in the game. Finally note, all healing reduction effects listed below reduce the amount of healing done by 50 percent.

Items

This was the only item which I could find which reduced healing effectiveness. There are a few things to note about this weapon. First off, I have yet to see anyone pick this item up just to shut me down. It has some critical strike chance, a little bit of life steal, a lackluster passive, and the on use. Chances of running into a player who is willing to drop the money as well as the inventory slot on this item is low, however it could still be utilized early game. Also, note the item has a 20 second cool down, and the effect lasts 8 seconds, which lasts long enough to shut down Sadism for most of its duration.

Champions

I won't dive too deeply into each individual hero, but I will discuss their abilities, and possible ways of avoiding their damage. The most important aspect to take out of this is knowing which enemy hero has the healing reduction effect built in.



The main ability to watch out for is Katarina's bouncing blade in conjunction with her killer instincts. As you can see, when activated, and when Katarina uses her bouncing blade ability, it applies a healing reduction effect. When in a lane against Katatina, try to stay back somewhat, and just poke with your cleaver. A good Katarina will likely use bouncing blade to harass you, and it is difficult to avoid. If you do plan on a team fight, or a gank, or need to heal while in the lane, try to time Sadism for after she uses her bouncing blade ability.



Gankplank's passive ability is a healing reduction ability which also applies a damage over time(DOT) effect. If you're in a lane against Gangplank chances are he will be denying creeps with his Raise Moral ability. Most likely, your lane will push up to his tower, and he wont really have a chance to auto attack you to apply the debuff. However, note that this ability can only be triggered if he auto attacks you, and Gangplank's auto attack is melee. There isn't an easy way to avoid Gangplank from meleeing you if you're chasing him down. The only suggestion I can make is use Sadism after the duration of Grog Soaked Blade, or near the end of it.



This is one of the more threatening abilities mainly due to the hero using it, and the added effects. When activated, Miss Fortune's attack speed is increased as well as gives her auto attacks the ability to apply a healing reduction effect. I believe the debuff lasts for 6 seconds, so it doesn't shut your Sadism down too much, however a skilled, and decently farmed Miss Fortune could be difficult to deal with. From personal experience, chasing down Miss Fortune is the best way to deal with her. Separate her from the team fight and just punisher her with cleavers, and such. As for this ability, the best thing you can do is try to time Sadism after the effect wears off, but if you need it before then, use it.



This is another on use ability with a healing reduction effect which can reduce the effectiveness of Sadism. Tristana only has to cast it on you to apply the effect, and with each rank of the ability, the duration and damage is increased. However, the ability has a decently long cooldown (16 seconds) and a well timed Sadism can make the ability somewhat worthless. Much like the above abilities, try to time Sadism until after the hero uses the ability. Tristana is a little more difficult to hunt down, due to Rocket Jump and Buster Shot, but just be mindful of Explosive Shot and time Sadism appropriately.

Ignite


There isn't much to say about this spell which isn't already known. When I see two or more of them on the enemy team, I die a little inside. This spell single handedly shuts Sadism down, and 9 times out of 10, a good team will focus their ignites on you. On the plus side, the cooldown is long, and mid to late game the damage isn't as threatening, but still deals 500 damage at level 18. There really isn't a way to counter ignite as Mundo, in fact ignite was given the healing reduction effect to specifically counter Mundo, along with other heroes who can heal. Don't be surprised to have one or more ignites placed on you the second you use Sadism.

Summary

To summarize this section, it is crucial to know the abilities, items, spells, and heroes which have the healing reduction effects. Play smart, and time your Sadism well, and these abilities can be lessened to an extent. Try not to get caught with ignite-like effects placed on you for the majority duration of Sadism, or else you could suffer.

We have all seen the tank builds for Mundo, but in the description of the character, hes not a tank! He is listed as a physical/bruiser. A high health pool, and an ultimate which makes you unkillable for a period of time is great, but there are tank like heroes more suited for the tanking role. However, don't misunderstand me, built correctly Mundo has the ability to soak up a lot of hits during a team fight as well as initiate. These are great qualities in a tank, but if you build like this, you're damage is low, and the enemy team will just ignore you while they kill off your team.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mundo played as a DPS hero can feel very threatening, and even hinder your opponents psychologically. You're still able to initiate in team fights due to your Sadism (Watch out for ignites, as they will shut you down, along with other heroes such as miss fortune who as a passive healing reduction ability). An offensive Mundo can chase off enemy heroes from the team fight, possibly giving your team an advantage while you score a skill. There is also the option of showing up during, or after a team fight and cleaning up the enemy, while they sit at low health.

To Summarize this, a tank built Mundo is great, but there are ways to shut him down, added to the fact his damage is weak. However, a DPS built Mundo can strike fear into your opponents, dish out high damage, initiate, pick off, and chase down enemy heroes with ease. The pros heavily out weigh any cons, and a DPS built Mundo is the only way for me to play.

Max this ability first, it is your strongest poking tool, slows your opponent, and deals % based damage of your opponents maximum health. Because the cleaver deals % based damage, it deals insane damage to dragon and baron.


I love this ability, however you really only need one rank in it at the beginning. Each rank of this skill gives a mediocre increase in damage, five percent reduction in crowd control effects per level, as well as increases the health cost per second. This is a wonderful ability for when you're trying to kill an enemy hero, or push a lane, but this should be your last skill to max.


This is a wonderful ability for when you need extra pressure. The best part of this ability is that you gain additional damage for each percent of health missing, making you more threatening the lower hp you are, to an extent. I choose to max this ability secondly because of the flat damage increase, as well as it helps when pushing towers.


Like ANY other hero in this game, get this ability over any other choice at the appropriate level. There is no debate or argument to be said here, when considering Mundo.

Runes are the ultimate customizable option for players. When I chose the rune selection for Mundo, I kept in mind that I wanted to have survivability, but damage at the same time.

Quintessence:


Even after the recent nerf, these quintessences prove to be very strong early to mid game. Having the extra health on your opponents could be the difference between a kill for your team, or theirs. The quintessence also helps out later on for the item build.

Mark:
Greater Mark of Desolation

When it comes to offensive runes, I prefer those which have a 100% uptime, that is to say I don't like any runes related to critical strike chance or damage. I like the armor pen mark because it helps when fighting against armor heavy teams. In total, its just a great rune selection for Mundo.


Glyph:


After testing this glyph compared to Greater Glyph of Alacrity, I see more useful applications with cool down reduction, rather than attack speed. Having nearly 6% CDR on your skills allows for more cleaver harass, and having a shorter CD on Sadism. This could impact the game greatly. NOTE: At the beginning of the lane phase, constant harass with cleavers can be taxing on your health, and actually force you out of the lane, rather harassing your opponent.




This rune seems to be a no brainer to me. The faster I hit, the more attacks I get, the higher my dps is on a target. These runes also increase the effectiveness of Mundo's masochism ability. However, attack speed generally isn't the best stat. Rune wise, there are better options out there to promote better synergy within your team, and higher damage/survivability output.

Seal:
Greater Seal of Vitality

Much like the quintessence rune pick, I value hit points during the early game. The defensive and offensive capabilities which this rune provides, makes Mundo stand out in the lane.

Masteries, much like runes are a personal choice, and there are many ways to customize them for what fits you best.

http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/mastery-tree-planner#&tree1=3-1-0-0-4-4-0-1-3-0-3-1-0-1&tree2=0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&tree3=0-1-3-0-4-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

For me I prefer 21/0/9 build for Mundo. There isn't much for me to say on this, the mastery picks seem fairly cookie cutter to me. However, I don't see a reason why not to go 21/9/0 in your build. The added defensive masteries with the offensive one further add to the rune and item selections.

In the case of defensive masteries, I would choose this as my build:

http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/mastery-tree-planner#&tree1=3-1-0-0-4-4-0-1-3-0-3-1-0-1&tree2=0-3-0-1-0-4-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0&tree3=0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Personally, when it comes to Mundo, I can only see two possible combinations of summoner spells. These include Flash & Exhaust or Cleanse & Exhaust.


By far the best summoner spell in the game. We all know the felling when your opponent flashes through a wall and you cannot follow for the kill.


This ability single handedly shuts down any physical dependent hero for its duration, along with reducing damage from ability power abilities by 35 percent. Not only does it do that, but it snares/slows the targets movement speed as well. Amazing spell for when you cannot get your cleaver off, or are limiting damage from opponents during team fights.


I have mixed feelings about Cleanse. On one hand it gets you out of stuns, snares, etc. which is great. However, I see Flash and Exhaust being much more effective during any part of the game. It could be quite helpful in situations when you know a stun prevents you form getting a kill.

WHAT NOT TO DO!!


This is a ghost on a much shorter cool down. Simply, there is no need to waste the summoner skill slot for the same ability, on a longer cool down.


Until this spell receives a buff, it is worthless. Even after a buff, it may still pale in comparison to Flash and Exhaust.


I have a hard time taking anyone seriously when they choose this as a summoner spell. I can understand its usefulness, but much like clarity, it gets worse the later the game goes on. For Mundo I would avoid this spell personally, however, I can see its usefulness early game.


The only reason why I would avoid getting Ignite is because of Exhaust. I would recommend having one or two ignites on your team total, and if possible, avoid getting it as Mundo. The wonderful thing about Mundo is that he is a great ganker. He has high damage and survivability, but getting the slow on the target can be difficult when your opponent weaves in and out through creeps. I suppose the argument for Exhaust & Ignite could be made, however I value Flash too highly to just toss it aside for ignite.

In my opinion, the item selection is the most important part of any guide. Sure, being told how to play a character is great, and you can add your own influence to find the way you like to play a hero, but in many cases, there is always one item selection which is better than another.

With the recent changes to doran items, it is impossible to pick up a dorans blade, shield, or ring, as well as a health potion at the start of the game. Even with the slight buff to these items, I feel the new trend will be to pick an item which you can build into something better. Note this is nothing new, however more players will be drawn toward this line of thinking, because it will allow you to get health potions.



I love starting with boots of speed and a few health potions, I believe you can get a max of three with this choice. First off, the value of boots is unquestionable. You move faster, you can avoid damage, and ganks. The offensive advantages, specifically for Mundo, are that you can poke with your cleaver more effectively, and efficiently. Run in, toss your cleaver, run out, and take minimal damage.

If you find yourself having difficulty staying in the lane early on due to having no health regeneration, there are two options which I would suggest.

or

Due to your abilities costing health, and possible harass from the enemy, it could easily force you out of the lane. I would suggest buying the rejuvenation bead because it builds into and you're able to buy a few health potions and a ward if you choose to. On the other hand, if you still feel as if you're having difficulty, regrowth pendent offers more health regeneration, however if you're following the item build, this item doesn't build into anything useful, other than



By far one of the best items for Mundo, for obvious reasons. 20% more healing done to you, and health regeneration which affects your , as well gives you some defensive stats. This item should always be your first built item.



Against heavy AP heros, or a team with many "lock down" or crowd control abilities, I can't see a better fit. With these boots, along with Burning Agony, it is difficult to shut Mundo down. I really don't see any better boots to get other then possibly boots of swiftness, however I recommend the Mercury's Treads for more survivability and the above reason.



Overall, a great item for Mundo. Attack speed, life steal, health regeneration, and it gives aura abilities to your allies as well as debuffs your opponents armor. This item provides damage, defensive stats in the form of health regeneration and life steal, as well as support for your team.



I remember reading a guide saying this item is worthless because of Burning Agony. After playing around with this item, I see its value. First off, this item gives a decent amount of health and armor. With max ranks of burning agony and this item, you deal around 140 damage per second to anyone near you. Overall, this item provides great defensive and offensive capabilities, which I love.



Following suite, this item offers armor, critical strike chance, and damage based on your maximum health. If you follow the guide, at level 18 this adds roughly 62 damage. The HP runes along about 250 health, which adds up to be a little over 5 damage. In the end, those runes have a useful affect later in the game due to this item.



At this point in the game, you have enough defensive stats to afford going for a pure offensive item. High damage, more critical strike chance, and more critical strike damage is unbeatable for Mundo.

Against a team with many AP users, I choose to buy over purchasing Atma's Impaler. This helps with magic resist, especially since you also have and . I choose to replace Atma's Impaler in this situation because it offers the least damage and defense stat reductions.

WARNING!!!

If you plan on playing an offensive Mundo, STAY AWAY FROM THIS ITEM!!! Sure this item offers survivability, but that is all it offers. If you choose to build this item, your damage will be pathetic, and the enemy will just ignore you while they kill your team and you stand there helpless. If you get this item, it means you're going tank Mundo, and if that is the case, this guide is not for you.

In the lane phase, poking with your cleaver and overall just being annoying to other heroes is what you're strong at. Personally I love being in a 2 vs. 1 lane, assuming the other team has a jungler. Having a level advantage with Mundo allows for easy early game kills. However, if the other team doesn't have a jungler, try to play aggressive, and poke where you can. Between cleavers, and exhaust, it is easy to get a kill on casters who over extend. The best thing to do is to hide in the bushes and force the enemy heroes to play defensive. If they charge for the bushes, cleaver them, and run away. Having dominance over the bushes can force your opponents to play out of their comfort zone.

Addionally, be careful when tossing your cleavers. Make sure when you toss your cleaver that you make contact with either then enemy hero, or a creep. You return a large portion of the health cost back to Mundo. As stated in the items section, if you're having difficulty staying in the lane due to harass on yourself, or missing cleavers, try buying an item with health regeneration(See Items Section for additional information).

Depending on the direction of the game, there are two options, farm creep kills, or roam and help set up ganks.

Mid game, between cleaver, masochism, and burning agony, getting last hits is easy. Its not uncommon for me to have 200+ creep kills in a single game. Mundo can also push lanes quickly and take out towers. Also, don't be afraid to use as a means to stay in the lane and continue farming.

As stated before, cleavers and exhaust helps with setting up kills. With a good mix of defensive and offensive stats and abilities, Mundo stands out as a great roaming ganker. Just be careful you don't lose out on too much experience and get behind on levels.

At this point in the game, team fights should be more frequent, and this is Mundo's chance to deal some major damage. During these team fights, target the squishiest heros you can and hunt them down. If exhaust is off cool down, toss it on a threatening physical hero, and chase down a the squishy hero with your cleavers. There is also the option of running after whoever you can get close to, and just deal AoE damage. In case of a retreat, you can use your cleavers to help you, and your teammates run away safely.

Dragon can also be killed rather quickly, so keep an eye on that if you're passing by.

I hope this guide proves to be useful for those who want to play Mundo a little differently. The main purpose is to show that Mundo is a solid mix of defensive and offensive abilities, and has the potential to feel threatening towards the enemy team.

Finally, I am open to any comments, criticism, and other positive ideas to help improve this guide. Thank you for reading.

I would like to thank the following people with testing builds, providing input, and editing my grammar mistakes:
-Falie aka Aytherine
-Cornhash
-Wedros