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Now, when you take your first look at this guide here for Udyr, you may be skeptical. The first build listed is running a 29/0/1 mastery page, and a 22 AD rune page. At a glance, I'm sure that seems like big time trolling, but here in this guide, with a little bit of math and a little bit of explanation, by the end I'm sure you'll see why it's actually not just a practical and powerful rune page for Udyr, but in my opinion it's one of the best ways to play him! We'll also explore excellent alternative pages like a 15 AD and 19 armor page as well, and when and why to use which one.

I've been using Udyr often recently, and he's been an instrumental part of my recent climb through the ranked ladders. Here in this guide, I'll let you in on my techniques, and also my builds used.

As per usual DuffTime style, it's time to go HAM son! Get ready for the absolute HAMMIEST guide to Udyr EVER WRITTEN! Nobody else would ever advise a player to build and rune Udyr the way I am going to right now! Does it work you ask? Udyr has by FAR my best win and loss ratio, 14 wins to 4 losses, and a ton of additional normal games of experience!

Are you ready for UDYRTIME!?

Let's DO it!

What does Udyr do well, and what are his drawbacks?

Well, let's evaluate what he does well first.

Udyr does AMAZING single target damage in Wilding Claw. This is the reason we're going to be looking at Udyr in this guide. Please keep in mind that Udyr's Wilding Claw has a mind blowing 150% TOTAL AD scaling. This value is comfortably in a league of it's own, there are almost no abilities in League of Legends that even break the 100% ratio range. In this particular guide, we're going to be building and generally leaning VERY heavily into this ratio, as it's the most visibly easy thing about Udyr to potentially be abused.

Udyr's sustain for both HP and Mana in lane is astounding with a few points in Iron Mantle.

Udyr has excellent CC in Blazing Stampede, being able to quickly stun every champion near him, this can be used as a peel to protect team mates, as an interrupt for high priority channeled skills that you want to stop, or as a simple quick CC in skirmishes, teamfights, or ganks.

The obvious drawback to Udyr, is that he is full melee, with no ranged snares snags or hooks, and no ranged damaging skills or gap closers other than Blazing Stampede. This is a real issue, meaning he can be kited and CC'd easily, champions such as Ashe and others give him a particularly hard time when your Flash is down.

All that really means to us, is that Udyr is one of the ULTIMATE counterpicks in draft style games!

If you know your opponent is a melee range champion who will be going near creeps to CS, then chances are that you can win lane with Udyr!

Very well ladies and Gentlemen. As per usual, I will attempt to explain exactly why I have once again chosen to deviate from the well traveled path, and do something that at a glance appears to be just a little bit crazy.

This is all going to keep coming back to that absurd 150% AD ratio that Udyr has on his Wilding Claw. Yes, you read it correctly. 150% total AD scaling. Not bonus AD scaling, not 50% scaling, but a full on 150% total AD scaling on Wilding Claw.

And get this, it deals Magic damage.

So what does that mean for us?

Well, I'll tell you what it means to me, and you can decide whether or not you agree with what I'm saying for yourself. It means that every point of AD we get on Udyr more than doubles when it goes through Wilding Claw's active effect. MORE THAN DOUBLES! And it SPLITS into part magic damage, part physical damage, meaning that early game, there is NOTHING that your opponent can build to save himself from this damage.

Let's do some quick and relatively easy math, shall we?

Udyr has a base AD value of 52.91, and gains 3.2 AD per level, starting at level 1. Meaning at level 1, Udyr starts with 56.11 (56) AD.

Now, 150% of 56 is 84. With the base value of 30 that Tiger stance has, with absolutely no modifiers to your AD, your base value is going to be 114. That's not bad considering it's higher than most level 1 spell damage AFTER modifiers, and considering you ALSO get your auto attack damage of 56 underneath that, meaning you have a total of 170 pre-resistance damage. THAT'S FOR FREE, NO RUNES.

Now, if you're running a standard 15 AD 13 armor 12 MR rune page, you're starting to look at some legitimate numbers here. Now your AD is going to be 71, and when you factor in that extra 3 AD from your masteries, you're looking at 74. 150% of 74 is 111, meaning with a standard runepage and mastery set up, Udyr will be looking at a Wilding Claw proc which will deal 141 magic damage. AT LEVEL ONE. WITH NO BONUS AD FROM ITEMS WHATSOEVER.

Now, hopefully you're starting to see how absurd each point of AD actually is for Udyr. This is the reason that the 7 extra AD in a full AD rune page actually makes a disturbingly large difference in your potential damage output.

Now, using the same equation for damage output, using a 22 AD rune page, we can get our level one AD up to 81. 150% of 81 is 121.5, which rounds up to 122, and when you add the flat base of 30, your Wilding Claw proc will be dealing 152 damage. 152 damage at level one, and you DO GET your auto attack value of 81 as well, meaning you're going to hit them once, and before resistances are factored they will take 233 damage, FROM ONE ATTACK.

WHAT... IS... THAT!? I don't even know how to properly describe the absurdity of dealing 233 damage in one attack at level 1. The amusing thing is that even after the proc, you have a persistent attack speed bonus of 20%, meaning that your opponent can't even decide to fight you AFTER they take the proc damage, because you have 81 AD base and you're running it faster due to Wilding Claw's attack speed buff. Their only option is to take the damage and run away or risk death at level one.

To offer a quick example of the kind of damage this is going to be dealing in lane against a variety of targets, I will list a number of Champions and their level 1 HP, and quickly calculate how much of that champions total life will be dealt in damage by a single attack with a Wilding Claw proc attack, when that attack deals a total of 233 damage.

Udyr has a level 1 HP of 526. That's 44% of max HP.

Renekton = 513 That's 45% of max HP.

Jax = 561 That's 41% of max HP.

Gangplank (Highest lvl 1 HP in game) = 576 That's 40% of max HP.

Riven = 500 That's 47% of max HP.

Twitch = 434 That's 54% of max HP. (A low HP target, simply here because a twitch could gank you as a top laner and if he positions poorly, he could be in a WORLD of hurt.)

So as you can see, even against the HIGHEST health champions at level 1, you're still doing 40% or more of their entire health pools with a single attack. There is undeniable merit to being able to quickly shred off huge chunks of health from a target, and substantial surprise kill factor there as well.


The masteries follow under a similar rule. When playing Udyr, because the magic damage from Wilding Claw is so unbelievably massive, in some lanes you may want to sacrifice defense and utility and instead take more offense, getting both forms of resistance pen in Weapon Expertise and Arcane Knowledge , and improved damage from Havoc . Don't underestimate what you're getting out of Havoc with Udyr, because 1.5% of 233 is 3.5. That means you'll hit for 236 or 237 now for free, just from those 3 mastery points. Later when your proc hits for 500, or even 600 or more, and your AD is north of 200, it will be an extra 10 damage or more for free. When every Wilding Claw proc in lane deals so much damage that even an entire health potion doesn't come close to healing it off, you can often times quickly take control of a lane simply from the threat of a single skill landing. Not many champions can say that the way Udyr can at level one, and proper runes and masteries just exaggerate his strength.

In summary, when using 22 AD and a 29/0/1, you're trying to take control of the lane and/or land a kill with every Wilding Claw proc you land. There is no trading. There is no respect for your opponent's skills or damage, you just walk up and Q, and keep hitting them until they figure out that they're going to die before you, or they actually do die. I promise you, there is no champion in the game who can eat two Wilding Claw procs, the auto attacks between them, and an Ignite at level 1 from Udyr and escape with his life, so be a brave Udyr when you pick your level 1 fights with this rune/mastery page.

When I'm picking Udyr, my original intention is to try to be able to use a 22 AD rune page with a 29/0/1 mastery page as well, but sometimes after I pick him I realize I'm not necessarily laning against who I thought I was laning against. I see another pick who could solo top, or the guy I picked to counter is actually going to be jungling. In those scenarios, sometimes the wisest choice is to make the switch to more flexible runes which encompass a wider range of potential scenarios.

Alternative choices to the 22 AD rune page include a 15 AD 19 armor page, which is another amazing option when going against your standard AD bruiser types which are so common in the solo top lane. As far as solo top rune pages go, the 22 AD and the 15 AD and 19 armor page are probably the most useful, and this is not only true for Udyr, but particularly true for him.

A great time to take a 15 AD and 19 armor rune page would be against champions like Renekton, Riven, Garen, Wukong, and other physical bruiser types.

While both pages are viable against these champions, the more defensive page may also be good when faced with an aggressive, ganky jungler who may look to camp your top lane. That may be a determining factor in your choice, but you're ALWAYS going to want to take a base value of at least 15 AD into your runes. The scaling on Wilding Claw is too excellent to forgo your AD reds and Quints, and you're going to need to abuse that to truly dominate your lane.

Other good options include 15 AD, 13 armor, 12 MR, and 18 AD with 4 flat MP5.

One of the absolute best rune pages a solo top laner with a mana pool can take is a 9/9/12. You get your % armor pen and some AD, you get some tanky stats and HP or some HP regen (There are two ways to split your 9 in defense), and you get move speed, mana, mana regen, and buff duration in utility. This is important, because as a frontline bruiser, you'll often end up either stealing enemy buffs or killing their junglers and taking them. It's amazing to be able to prolong the effect of those buffs. A red buff pick up in top lane can be the end of the lane. You also gain access to any combination of summoner spells you desire, and almost all of them are viable for a top laner (Aside from garbage summoners like Promote).

The greatest aspect of a 9/9/12 is that it gives just enough mana regen to make Wilding Claw a permanent threat. I really like the 9/9/12 in conjunction with a 22 AD page, but with a 15 AD / 19 armor or 15 AD / 13 armor / 12 MR page, you've got a fantastically sturdy bruiser with great tank stats early on.

A standard 21/9/0 is also great, and there are more options still that are entirely viable as well.

Well, use your judgement. As previously mentioned, these rune/mastery pages are designed for competitive play, meaning draft and ranked only.

That means you'll see your opponents, and be able to plan your rune and mastery pages before the game starts according to your opponent.

We're taking Udyr as a counter, might as well exaggerate the fact that you're counterpicking, by choosing an appropriate rune/mastery page!

Right!?

Right.

Well, the simple answer is just that the move speed is way too good, and your Q is soooo monstrous that you'll never have TIME to shift to Wingborne Storm

the longer answer would detail that Udyr's playstyle is very stick and move, and you don't have time to stay in one stance for the duration of three auto attacks. You'll want to be cycling Tiger and bear as often as possible, as they are your highest impact stances as an aggressive Udyr.

In fights, sneaking a Iron Mantle shield in is ALWAYS going to be better than sneaking in three auto attacks from Wingborne Storm.

The duration of the move speed is of course too good to pass up. Tiger/Turtle/Bear as a top laner all the way! Never look back!

Trading. Or, I should say, bullying. Play Udyr as a savage and brutal counterpick who smashes select lanes into oblivion.

After the trading is done, once you hit a level 3-4 Iron Mantle, you can not only trade and out damage your opponent, but you can also then proceed to heal by auto attacking minions and not only heal but gain your mana back! Iron Mantle in lane becomes phenomenally powerful! Do not underestimate what a little life steal in conjunction with the heal from Iron Mantle and the infinite mana pool will accomplish once you get points into this skill.

After you bully lane and the team fight stage comes around, your play style will be a little different here.

Udyr's MASSIVE damage output from Wilding Claw is always going to be heavy enough to hurt all targets, even tanks!

However, against the squishy champions, Udyr's Q will absolutely DEMOLISH them! If you don't believe me, try building 250 AD (375 magic damage bonus to Wilding Claw, meaning 230+375+=605, and then you still get the 250 from your auto attack, meaning 855 damage in ONE HIT!)

And if you like, you can double as a CC bot in big fights!

Masterful play of Udyr entails quickly tagging priority targets while in Blazing Stampede, without forgetting your primary goal; you want to murder the enemy AD carry!

Then, you can choose to flash stun the enemy carry if you like, and proceed to drop the atom bomb of tanky DPS damage that is Udyr on her head. Most of the time, that flash stun Wilding Claw damage is going to be too much for an AD carry to survive through.

Early game you're just a squishy damage dealer, but as you get points in your skills and you get items in your inventory, you'll become steadily tankier and more able to wade into the line of fire you get your damage down onto a squishy priority target. Your damage will always continue to scale very well, so well, that sometimes I even buy Bloodthirster!

YES. If you know why you're picking him and how to play him, that is.

Udyr has a truly magical trait that most champions in the game don't have. He has the ability to OUT DAMAGE full combos from other champions with a single auto attack using Wilding Claw, or at least go even. He ALSO gets that same trade power back quickly because of the low CD, usually meaning he's ready to trade again before his opponent.

This means that aggressive play is rewarded if you counter picked your opponent!

SO, just who does Udyr actually counter?

Well, to name a few champions that an aggressive Wilding Claw Udyr player can COMFORTABLY win lanes against:

Renekton

Riven

Irelia

Lee Sin

Darius

And a number of other dominant and frequently picked solo top laners!

YES! If they are essentially full melee champs, Udyr DOES beat them in a 1v1 scenario!

You'll need to beware your opponent's jungler, because if they know anything about anything, they will know that you are the DEFINITION of, "Goes in!" You are literally a full melee, no ranged attacks, no gap closer outside of a temporary move speed buff, NOTHING!

You will have to gauge the level of attention your enemy jungler is placing on your lane, and even consider this before picking Udyr if you can see what they have.

In terms of enemy junglers, something like Warwick is perfect. He probably won't even gank early, and if he does, it's probably not going to kill you. Sometimes if they come in with 60% HP, you can simply kill the ganker with your insane burst from Q, auto attacks and ignite, and flash away with your life! :P

Anything liable to power farm a lot, Nocturne is another decent one.

So when picking Udyr, do keep in mind how often you might get ganked and if you can survive it! You have no built in blinks or dashes!

If the stars align, and as you're staring at your enemy's team a little smirk spreads across your face, and your mouse hovers over Udyr, then you have finally arrived my friend!

There is a "Standard" build for the way I play Udyr, which is Boots of choice, 2x Doran's Blade, Wriggle's Lantern, Phage, and Hexdrinker.

However, even with that being a VERY standard build path for me, as it gives me both tankiness and damage, there are also a wealth of alternative items which are great and should not be forgotten. Here we'll touch on a lot of the good early game items.

Doran's Blade Lane phase damage, survivability, and even a touch of sustain.

Wriggle's Lantern What's the only thing worse than an Udyr with Wilding Claw and Iron Mantle? The same Udyr with Armor, Life steal, Damage, and free wards.

Hexdrinker At the time of completion of Hexdrinker and a Wriggle's Lantern, you're almost literally invincible early game when cycling through Iron Mantle's... It's quite horrifying actually. Your first teamfight will shock the enemy team substantially, and maybe even your own team as well.

Phage Fantastic item to round out your early game Udyr in combination with the above listed items. The utility is excellent as well, further endagering whatever squishy you decide to latch onto. Remember that Wilding Claw's attack speed buff is going to provide more frequent slow procs as well. In conjunction with Blazing Stampede, it makes the liklihood of surviving this attack very low for your opponents.

Warden's Mail #1 most under rated early game item in the game in my opinion. Early game, this item can literally get a ranged carry killed for attacking you, and that property transitions well into late via Randuin's Omen.

The HAMMIEST Udyr guide EVER WRITTEN!!!

I hope this guide has exposed one of the oldest and best kept secrets in League of Legends for you! Wilding Claw! There are still skills out there with absurd scaling like they used to have in the old days of League, and I'm going to continue to uncover these gems for you guys in the future!

I truly hope you enjoyed this guide, and I encourage you to browse through my other guides if you haven't already, which can be found here http://www.mobafire.com/profile/dufftime-19731

Thanks for reading!

Please find me on Facebook/Twitter if you have any questions and contact me there, as I will not be updating these guides any longer or checking in to answer questions!

Sorry for the inconveniance, look forward to seeing your questions on Facebook and Twitter! =]

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Duff here, signing out!