Brand is a AP champion and often played mid, because hes ablities require some skills and they can be blocked by a minion for example. He needs to carefully plan hes attacks and comboes, which I will explain later on. He has amazing AoE Damage and he is often focused first, because of the massive damage he does. Really useful champion team wise, but unfortunately getting kills can be hard sometimes, but dem assists :D



Hey guys, it's my 6th build and this time about Brand as you already noticed. This guide is meant to be for beginners and for advanced use. I will try to explain hopefully in-depth enough and from all aspects. Hopefullyu you will read it trough and leave a vote / constructive criticsm. So let's get started, shall we.

Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.

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Pros + Really good burst + High Damage + AoE abilities + Really fun to play

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Cons - High mana cost - CC destroys - Quite hard to master - Skillshots require right combo

• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Really often picked and basic Quint for AP based champions. This will give you nice 15 AP, just like Doran's Ring does.
  
• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: This mark is more useful later on when people actually build magic resistance, but it's always really nice to have some early-game also. Consider those 0.95 as extra damage.
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: Late-game based glyph and it's at it's best when you hit level 18, because the difference grows after leveling up.
  
• Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration: I thought long time which I would take here, but I think the mana regeneration is the best Seal you can pick for Brand.
  
  
  Situational Runes
  
  
  Well basically there are so many situational runes, but the only differences are flat & growing bonuses. If you prefer early game bonuses, go for flat bonus. If you prefer late game bonuses, go for bonus per level runes. I guess it's also worth of mentionaing, that if you decide to go for more defensive, get Greater Seal of Armor and Greater Glyph of Magic Resist. Other than that pick runes that give mana/mana rgn/AP.

Flash: Is really good for Brand, because he doesn't have any escape abilities, so this will save your life several times. Flash can be used over walls and small obstacles, but remember that it will only teleport you to your cursor location or towards it, if you're out of range. It can also be used for killing purposes of course.

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Ignite: Is just like your 4th ability dealing extra 80 damage. Really useful for mid lane where every single damage is important, because of the importance of the turrets. Ignite works really well as a last hitter on champions as well as good counter against champions who are dependant on health regeneration or abilities costing health.

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Heal: I don't prefer this over those two mentioned up there, but it's a nice alternative. It works as a baiting tool as well as live saver. If you are going 1v1 deathmatch battle in the mid lane, just use your heal and you are back up ready for fight. It can also save you from DOT abilities. Meaning abilities like Ignite dealing damage over time. Also if enemy mid laner dives in your tower in hope of kill, just use Heal and you're ready to right.

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Blaze: This passive is really awesome! I like it very much and you would be surprised how often you get kills, because of this. Each time you use an ability, it procs and deals 2% of their hp as magic damage. Really cool passive, one of the best for ap champions in my opinion.

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Sear: This is a skillshot and the most important skillshot in your combo, if you have decided to grab a kill or two. Always use this when enemies are on Blaze. Never use it just to harass or trying to get kill, unless you are 100% sure of course. The stun is really good and gives you plenty of time to harass and do tons of damage. Practice timing this, because it's not moving really fast so you have to predirict enemies next move.

You're going to want to max out Sear as your last ability.

• Use Sear when enemy is blazed, so they get stunned.
• You can proc spell vamp with Sear and get full lifesteal from it.
• Scout bushes with this

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Pillar of Flame: Really nice AoE ability and your main damaging ability. It will deal huge amount of damage and is the most effective at mid game I'd say. Late game it is really huge source of damage and it can hit multiple enemies and so it procs Blaze also to all enemies. This ability is easy to predirict, so my tip is this: Cast this ability when it's not expected. Try to cast it without having to move towards the enemy too much. If you nail it to the middle of the enemy, I doubt anyone is able to dodge it without abilities or other escaping methods.

You're going to want to max out Pillar of Flame First.

• Use it for 25% extra damage when enemies are on Blaze.
• You can use this to proc Blaze on several targets.
• Use this to get minions

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Conflagration: Nice minion farming tool as well as harasser. This ability is the first one you will use in the combo to stun the enemies. It's also nice source of AoE, if enemies are on Blaze. It can spread up to three enemies! Tough in team fights you are pretty much forced to use this first to get stun and then continue with the combo, which is explained below in chapter; Combo's.

You're going to want to max out Conflagration second, right after Pillar of Flame.

• Use this after Sear to minions for nice farming.
• Try to proc this in team fights.
• Use before Sear for stun.

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Pyroclasm: Really nice ultimate, especially in team fights. It doesn't do much with 1 hit, but imagine it hitting 2-3 times!
Blaze is quite useless for it, but I guess the speed is good for faster damage. This ultimate is really dangerouse if used right and I will explain below in tips and tricks how you should use it. It's like a kill guranteerer.

You're going to want to level up Pyroclasm always when you can as for every champion.

• Avoid using it between tons of minions. It does not priotirize champions,
• For maximum damage, use it when 2 enemies are close to each other.
• Don't use it first when you enter team fight. Save it for the last.

I will briefly explain some few combo's by using icons. First icon = First ability to use, Second = Second to use. Common sense I guess, from left to right.

• : Doran's Ring is a must for early mana regeneration, health and ability power. It will give you some sustain and you won't be having mana problems unless you spam the abilities like a maniac. I prefer taking two and taking one as first item, but you can go for boots and health potions also.
  
• : Boots are always core item and so are Sorcerer's Shoes. Nice movement speed and the magic penetration bonus is awesome. You will penetrate quite a lot magic damage already. You cna buy level 1 boots as starting item, if you have to dodge skillshots alot.
  
• : Core item for every single AP carry I think. It's ability power boost is just amazing. It gives massive 140 ability power + 40% ability power. That's the best source of ability power right there. After this item, especially if you get it early is just powerful. You will deal tons of damage after this one.
  
• Rylai's Ryal Scepter: This item gives you the most sustain out from core items. It's also really nice source of movement speed reduction against enemies, but the health it gives is really good for Brand, because he's squishiness. It also provides quite nice amount of ability power. It's like a cherry on top of a cake.
  
• : Core item late-game. It's the only source of any kind of health you will get. It also buffs your allies with spellvamp and few ability power. Your Sear is now the main ability to get health from, followed by Pillar of Flame. You will gain lot's of health after using your ability comboes.

• : Very useful and nice alternative. It gives nice amount of cooldown reduction along with good amount of ability power and great active. Take it against a team, which you know that will stack lot's of health like Dr. Mundo and Volibear.
  
• : Great counter-tank item mid-late game. It's not that useful as first 1-2 items, because the enemy team doesn't have much magic resist so early. Consider this item, if enemy team is having lot's of magic resistance.
  
• : Really nice item, if you are getting focused a lot. It's active can save you bunch of times and it gives your team extra time to nuke the enemies. It's ability power is also awesome.
  
• : Get this item early, if you feel like going into more sustainable build. You would like to get this early, because of it's passive which regenerates your health and mana each time you level up.

center]Early-game can be hard for Brand, depending alot of the enemy he is facing. Focus on last hits, that's the best thing you can do while harassing your enemy with Pillar of Flame and you can try to get a stun with Sear followed by few basic attacks. Beware of Ganks! Always keep few wards, because you canno't escape without Flash. Once you get to level up your Pillar of Flame after level 3 and you are closing up to lvl 6. Once you have got your Pyroclasm, the fun starts. Try to hit the combo Conflagration > Sear > Pillar of Flame and Pyroclasm should be enough to get a kill.[/center]


[enter]Mid-game[/center]

You are often focused in team fights, becasue of your huge AoE damage, so don't go first or second, not even third in team fight. Try to find a spot where you cant be easily killed such as in a bush or behind your whole team or behind a obstacle. Your role is to target squishiest targets behind enemies tanks. With Pillar of Flame you are able to deal tons of damage, then try to stun at least someone with Sear then use Conflagration for AoE damage and finally Pyroclasm, which should deal a lot of damage, especially if there are no minions at all nearby. It's also nice to throw it when enemies are possibly taking baron. Once you have used all abilities and you still are alive, do not stay at your loctaion. You will be found and focused if you stay at your position. Go in a new location, wait for cooldowns to waer off and same thing again, except you can't use ultimate.

Coming Soon!

Please give it a try and I hope you will vote & leave constructive comments.
I wish not to see votes without something in return, for example: How to improve this guide. Also I hope you will not judge by 1 item choice you're not happy about, because it's quite original build after all, read situational items for the items, which may fit for you the best, but really It's just up to you :)

Have fun gaming ^^