Gangplank Build Guide by Darkurii

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my first guide on MobaFire! I've been playing Gangplank for quite a while now, and I'm very happy to say that I think I have finally figured out the perfect build for him. Whether you're new to Gangplank or are an experienced player looking for something to read, I invite you to sit back and enjoy my guide!


Need I say more?

Pros / Cons

Pros: INSANE Damage Easy to carry teams Farming is easy Great Utility 2k+ Parrrley Hits

SPACE

Cons: QQ Ahoy! Requires some mana conservation Need to be at least decent at last-hitting I predict a much needed nerf soon

Masteries

This 22/8/0 mastery build is the setup I preffer to use on Gangplank. I grab all the useful masterys in offense (I take Demolitionist over one point in some other mastery, because when paired with Raise Morale you can do some serious damage to towers in a short ammount of time) and taking some sustainability out of the Defensive tree. Another viable build would be 9/21/0, but that's more of a Tankplank setup, which I am not aiming for in this guide.

Runes

This is the rune page I preffer for Gangplank.

Marks
For Marks I preffer to use Greater Mark of Desolation or Greater Mark of Attack Damage. Both are viable, but using one of the two is mandatory.

Seals
For Seals I like to take Greater Seal of Armor. The sustainability it gives you over most Solo Tops in our meta-game is irreplacable, and I highly discourage the use of any other Seals.

Glyphs
For Glyphs I use Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction. You may not notice the CDR much early in the game, but going into the mid to late game they will really start to shine. You can also use Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist here for more MR after the laning phase, but Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction helps you out more in the long run.

Quints
Quints are a lot like Marks for Gangplank. Again, both Greater Quintessence of Desolation and Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage are both viable, and I suggest picking the same one that you picked for your Marks.

Skill Sequence

This is how Gangplank's skill order should look like, and in my opinion, there is very little possibilitys for variation. I get Parrrley whenever possible, because it is your main Farm/Harass/Slow/Reason for playing Gangplank/etc. After that I prioritize Cannon Barrage, and level up Remove Scurvy and Raise Morale evenly, because both are of about equal value to you.

Summoner Spells

The Good:

In our current metagame, the usual Summoner Spells are one offensive spell and one mobility spell, and it's like this because it's the overall best way to go. In my opinion Exhaust fills the offensive spell slot for Gangplank better than Ignite does, although both are viable. I like Exhaust more because it shuts down AD's while dueling them, it stops chasers from running, and can double over as a defensive spell, but if you're a big fan of Ignite then it is also a very good choice for Gangplank.

Ignite is a very good summoner spell for doing that extra bit of damage needed, stopping big healers such as Dr. Mundo or Swain, and for other reasons, but I preffer Exhaust for reasons stated above.

As I stated in my Exhaust explaination, the general best way to go for summoner spells is one offensive spell and one mobility spell. We already covered the two best offensive spells, so naturally the mobility slot is next. For Gangplank (And most champions) the debate for which spell to use for mobility is between Flash and Ghost. I usually settle this debate by looking at my champion's abilitys. I'm I'm using a champion like Graves or Gragas who has the ability to move through walls already, I usually take Ghost over Flash. However, Gangplank does not have one of these abilitys, so I preffer Flash over Ghost, because the utility of being able to move through a wall is just too amazing to pass down.

Ghost is one of the best mobility spells in the entire game. While it is a very good mobility spell, I preffer Flash over it for reasons stated above.

The Bad:

While Teleport is a great spell for backpushing and defending, it's completely useless in-combat, which makes it a bad pick.

Don't get me wrong, Cleanse is an amazing spell, but you already have Remove Scurvy to remove CC. And even if you wanted more than just that, getting a Quicksilver Sash would be a better choice.

Clarity would help you before you get Philosopher's Stone, but afer that it basically becomes completely worthless and a waste of a summoner spell.

Not only should you be leaving Clairvoyance to the support, but most high ranked supports aren't even taking Clairvoyance anymore. 'Nuff said.

The Ugly:

Same non-combat eligable problems as Teleport except it isn't good outside of combat either.

There are quite a few reasons why Revive is bad. 1~ You don't want to die anyway. 2~ insanely long CD. 3~ Whoopie, you saved 40 seconds and got 200-500 health.

While Garrison is actually a decent spell, the applications are very slim, and the CD is too long for it to be viable.

No.

Even if Heal wasn't on a very long CD for not much gain, you have enough healing from Remove Scurvy as it is.

The stat numbers, CD time, and active time all adds app to make Surge vastly insuperior to Exhaust or Ignite.

Early Game Items

is my usual start. Brawler's Gloves gives you that slight chance to get a lucky crit and start dominating your lane and builds into Avarice Blade, while the two Health Potion's give you some sustainability. I used to start Regrowth Pendant into a Philosopher's Stone, but the recent changes to the Deadliness mastery has forced me to change.

On my first time back I usually have enough gold to upgrade into an Avarice Blade, get my Boots of Speed, and either a Faerie Charm or Regrowth Pendant depending on how well you're doing. After that I can usually go back to my lane, farm up, pick up a kill or two, and come back again. At this point I usually have enough gold to upgrade into my Philosopher's Stone, finish my boots into either Berserker's Greaves or Mercury's Treads, and get a Sapphire Crystal to start the build into my Sheen.

Mid Game Items

By this point in the game you should be able to out-harass, out-farm, out-sustain, and out-duel your opponent. If not, concider tweaking the build to add in a bit more early defense, but otherwise stay loyal to the guide. After I go out and farm up even more, I can usually base and start transitioning into my mid game build. Your #1 priority at this point is to finish your Sheen to give your Parrrley some real umph, and building more based on your auto-attack damage from there. After my Sheen I like to get a Zeal. I get the Zeal mostly for the extra crit chance and attack speed, but the extra movement speed can make a big difference too. After my Zeal I like to get a B. F. Sword. Most people disagree with this and preffer to finish their Trinity Force first, but I think getting a B. F. Sword first is better, and here's why: 1~ At this point your Sheen isn't at it's full potential. A B. F. Sword will add 90 damage to EVERY Parrrley, giving it a good umph. 2~ It will make every auto-attack hit for 45 more damage. At this point that's about an extra 60-70 damage a second just on your auto-attacks. 3~ The AD on your Parrrley scales even better if it crits, giving it some INSANE damage.

Late Game Items

Congradulations, you've made it this far. Hopfully by this point you're wrecking the enemy team and cerrying your's to victory. Naturally, after I get my B. F. Sword, I finish off my Trinity Force (usually selling my Philosopher's Stone to get the Phage) and start building into the end game. There's a few items you need to concider for the late game:

The Bloodthirster is an overall great item for any AD carry. It gives a good ammount of AD, and a great ammount of Life Steal, the two stats you'll be wanting the most at this point

Phantom Dancer is an overall great item to have at this point. The attack speed will scale well with all the AD you have, the Crit will help ensure those devastating Parrrley's wreck people apart, and the movement speed will help you chase, run, and move accross the map.

At this point in the game you're probably feeling a bit squishy. Getting a Frozen Mallet will help with this, and also give you some AD and a good slow on top of your passive.

Again, you may be feeling very squishy at this point. While Warmog's Armor doesn't have the offensive aspect of a Frozen Mallet, it gives a lot more health, and is a good pick if you want to be able to take more hits.

If you find yourself being targeted too heavily by CC for Remove Scurvy to take care of alone, getting a Quicksilver Sash can be a good choice. (The MR will also help against casters.

Getting a The Black Cleaver can be a good choise if the enemy team has some armor, but not a whole lot of it.

Last Whisper is a good item to get if you're destroying the enemy team and they're starting to stack some serious armor.

Farming

Farming is where Gangplank really shines. If all you do in the early game is sit up top feasting on minions with Parrrley all day and not dying I can almost guarentee you'll go into the mid to late game with a strong advantage. I'm not going to write an entire guide about how to last hit, but it's really all you need to do to own as Gangplank. Fortunately, with Parrrley, Raise Morale, a good natural AD, and a DoT passive it's very easy to last hit and get fed as Gangplank.

Guide Results

Coming Soon (Send me your scores to end up here!)

Team Fights

Coming Soon

Warding

Coming Soon

Summary

Thank you for reading my guide! Overall Gangplank is a VERY fun champion to play, and I hope you have as much success with this build as I have. As always pelase feel free to leave and constuctive criticism you may have below! I will be updating this guide with more information as soon as I have the free time. Now go out there and eat some oranges!