Hello and Welcome to my first guide. I've been playing Gragas for a long time and feel like I have a pretty good understanding of him, and that most guides only show one of the builds Gragas can go. The truth is, Gragas is a Jack of All Trades, and I try to show that in this guide. I know this is a wall of text, but you can skip around to whatever build you want to know about or just general tips about Gragas.


BUILDS:

Build One

AP or AP tank

This build focuses on damage, utilizing Barrel Roll, Body Slam and Explosive Cask to do as much magic damage as possible.

Build Two

Support Tank

Support utilizes Explosive Cask to counter-initiate and/or displace the enemy team's positioning, while still doing damage due to Drunken Rage.

Build Three

Tanky DPS

Takes full advantage of Drunken Rage's AD buff to do as much Physical Damage as possible, while still doing some magical damage with Body Slam.

Build Four

Jungle Gragas

Jungle Gragas? What? Yes, Gragas can jungle, and pretty darn effectively too; using Body Slam and Drunken Rage.

This is the first, and probably most common Gragas build - AP or AP tank. Gragas has three spells that scale with AP: , , and . These all support an AP Gragas, while your going to want the durability so you can into a fight without dying.

RUNES & MASTERIES

I go very standard caster runes and masteries. For masteries, 9/0/21 is generally the best, however you can splash some points into defence for a little more durability.

As far as runes go, you definitely want . However, you can swap out your for greater seal of replenishment or , and for glyphs other good choices are and . As far as quintessences go, you can basically take whatever you have (NOTE: crit, AD, ARpen etc. are NOT good choices) that supports your caster role. I just love HP quintessences because they give your early game a huge boost.

ITEMS

This is a great item reference:(start at the bottom)
Quick explanations:
boosts your health, early damage and mana sustain.
gives us more damage, plus, with our runes, makes us doing just about true damage against the 30 base MR of most champions.
and makes up our core build, greatly increasing our HP and MP pool, plus giving us about 300 ability power.
After, and balance our damage and resists.

Other Good Items

5/5 Lets you chase much better and makes your ult a powerhouse of CC, you can replace your Zhonyas or Abyssal Scepter with this, and occasionally I do, but mostly the resists come more in handy than just flat HP.

5/5 Great if they have a lot of MR and your core build is finished.

3/5 An interesing item. Lets you take more advantage of the AD gain from your Drunken Rage, but I would only get it as a luxury item.

2/5 Personally I hate snowballing but if your really confident this item can give you a lot of free AP.

3/5 Gives some good HP and MPen, but falls off late game.

4/5 Gives you a lot of extra damage and a little MR. If you like this item or think it would be good, go for it.

4/5 Lots of CDR allows us to be drunk 24/7, while the mana regen and AP are just helpful stats.

4/5 Better for support or DPS, but still just an amazing item on Gragas.

philosopher's stone kage's lucky pick 4/5 If you can't get a lot of farm, these help you get back in the game.

SKILL ORDER AND SUMMONER SPELLS

I like to use and on any carry. However, if you think you don't need 2 escapes, feel free to grab , , , , or .

As far as skills go, I choose to max first. However, I've seen some people max first for the extra mana and damage reduction. This works well, however, you won't be doing much damage until around mid game. Another way you can level up your skills is by balancing points between and so that you can increase the mana gain as well as the mana cost on . Mostly, you're just going to want to leave for last. It's a great spell, but you need the other two more.

PROS
- Does a lot of damage with q and ultimate
- Can take quite a bit of punishment
- Can farm really well

CONS
- Doesn't make use of the AD bonus from W
- Isn't as durable as full tank and does less damage than full AP
- Is very reliant on his core build

You can do a lot of damage, but not when your dead. Which means for the first part of a fight, your going to want to play it safe, especially earlier in your build. Lets say a team fight has started and both teams are sitting in mid. What you're going to want to do is poke and farm with . Yes, even now farming is important, while you can get a lot of free damage off against unsuspecting enemies. Try to stay drunk all of the time, because it's buffs are invaluable.

You can initiate a fight, but you shouldn't go in first. What do I mean by this? Your initiating skill has RANGE, meaning you should be throwing it, letting your tank run in, and then starting to fight. Now lets say the team fight has started, what do you do? You have a choice. You can focus on doing as much AOE damage to their team as possible, or to their carry and start pounding away with your spells, often killing them with just Q E and R. Either one works, though method 2 probably will mean more kills.

This is a great build that will basically make you invulnerable while still putting out some decent damage. It isn't as powerful because of no longer existing, but you can still pull it off relatively effectively.

RUNES AND MASTERIES

For my masteries I like to go 1-9-20. I get improved Exhaust and Ghost, Strength of Spirit, and all the good things the Utility tree gives you. You can spec more into Defence or even Offence, though I recommend you get Strength of Spirit and improved Ghost and Exhaust no matter what.

You can swap these out for Magic or even armor pen, but I like the extra durability armor gives you. For glyphs, I take . Once again, mana or even health regen works for seals, but health makes you more durable, plus makes your passive heal for more. Cooldown reduction is just amazing, though you can swap these out for if you wish. You can take move speed, armor, magic resist, really most quints will work, I just love health quints.

ITEMS

This is a great item reference:(go from the bottom up)
Quick Explanations:
gives an insane amount of CDR for a very cheap price, while is another cheap item allowing us to skip and giving us tons of sustainability in lane. After, was an item made for Gragas, boosting his passive heal by a ton.
After, aegis of the legian is probably the best item in the game because it is extremely cost effitcient. Last, synergizes AMAZINGLY with and the damage reduction on .

Other Good items:

4/5 Is a good tank item, but I feel like Randuin's would be a better choice.

3/5 Good item if you need mana regen or don't have CDR runes.

SKILL ORDER AND SUMMONER SPELLS

lets us escape while is an easy way to lock down a carry for a fight. Other good choices are , , , , and even if nobody else is taking it. As far as skills go, should definitely be maxed first. You can max second if you really want to, but I feel like it just does pretty bad damage with no AP, plus takes advantage of the AD bonus from .

PROS
-Never needs to leave a fight with his passive and health Regen
-Is pretty much invincible when you finish your build
-Has better damage than other supports using the same build (Soraka, Taric, etc.)

CONS
-Is not as good after removal of innervating locket
-Outdone by full supports(Zilean, Soraka, etc.)
-Outdone by full tanks(Amumu, Shen, etc.)

You're super tanky and have max CDR. This means during a teamfight your just going to want to spam away your spells. Generally you're not going to go for kills, but more AOE damage. Make sure to stay drunk all the time, as it makes up for a lot of your damage output. While your casting spells you're regaining tons of hp, basically making you like Mundo.

You're going to want to use To mess them up, initiate, pick someone off, counter initiate, or even last hit a champion (however, it's not recommended, as it would be better off in the middle of their team then just on that one ) Remember, you're supposed to be a support, so it's much better to save someone than to get a kill.

Well, more of a Tanky DPS. I feel like Gragas needs to build some tank items no matter what to be most effective. The first time I tried this build just straight DPS, I was so squishy I got steamrolled every fight. After building some tanky items, I started doing much better.

RUNES AND MASTERIES

Standard DPS masteries. Can put more into Defence or Utility. I take Magic Pen because the attack speed is pretty useless, while it gives you a little more damage on your , and .

greater mark of desolation Boosts my damage, while gives much needed Health early on. boosts our MR which will help all game.greater quintessence of desolation will help your damage stay strong most of the game. You can swap these out for Health, Armor, or AD.

ITEMS

This is a great item reference:(start at the bottom)
Quick Explanations:
gives some nice attack speed, while is amazing on Gragas. Not a single stat is wasted on him. After, is one of the best items in the game, while gives us more damage and durability. Finally, balances damages and resists for us.

Other Good Items

gives nice HP for our Atma's, while the aura is nice in all situations.

If you find yourself getting focused, this is the item to buy.

good replacement for Trinity Force, though they don't stack so I don't recommend getting both.

another nice aura, however, this item gives no defensive stats. Only get it if you feel like you're dominating enough for a full damage item.

Skill Order and Summoner Spells

Once again I take and , while other good choices are , heal size 20 and . For skills you can max or ;Both are excellent spells for AD Gragas. If you want, you can split points between the two. Once again, is pretty useless without AP.

PROS
-Takes full advantage of every Drunken Rage stat
-Body Slam Hits pretty hard
-Can unleash some good PHYSICAL damage in a fight without dying

CONS
-Barrel Roll is basically a wasted spell
-Requires a lot of farm to be very effective
-Squishy for the first part of the build

You're a bruiser, punching people in the face and tanking whatever they punch back with. You definitely need to be drunk 24/7 because the AD bonus is just phonomenal. Once again, your ult isn't for damage but initiation. When the fight starts, you should try to spam for damage and healing. Mostly though, you should be auto attacking. Be careful when using because you don't have much of a mana pool and it does pitiful damage. Really just be being there punching people and having a sunfire is your contribution.

It's possible. This is an excellent guide by Stonewall008(plus an awesome song!): Play Video
For my jungle route, I start at Wraiths, smiting the big one and killing off the little ones with . Then, go to wolves, Golems, Blue, and Red. The skill order is pretty set in stone, while for your build is the only necessity. However, I don't recommend jungling as Gragas if your going AP, because is just a lot of mana for not enough damage in the jungle. As far as ganking and such goes, the video above is a pretty accurate summary of it all.

Picture of my jungle route:

-In the lane, Gragas should focus on farm, farm, and farm. No matter what build your going, you are very item dependent.

- has a slight delay before it hits the ground, meaning even if you think your led your target they may go flying away from you.

- is an amazing escape tool, since it can go through thin walls. Try to use this to your advantage.

- reduces attack speed, and while it's not a huge amount, it means you should always try to hit the squishy or .

- is amazing for picking people off, initiating, counter-initating, or in some cases, just for damage.

Gragas is great in 5v5 because he is so versatile. He can be any role on a team. (except for a ranged champion, obviously) He can take solo lane or duo lane or even jungle. He can hold his own without farm or devastate with it. He has high mobility because he can go through walls with . Gragas is great with the blue buff because he can be drunk 24/7 with it, but a DPS Gragas also does really well with red buff, making you basically unescapable. And of course, Baron and Dragon also are really good for any champion. In summoners rift, Gragas can just run around wherever he wants helping his team out, which sort of gives him a support role in every build he goes. Gragas is great at poking with and can do very well once a fight starts with and .

Gragas is also very viable in 3v3 because of his high mobility with and potential with . As far as items go , generally on this map Support Tank is best due to it's cheap core build. However, all builds are still good. I suggest you do get at least one gold per 5 item though (philosopher's stone or kage's lucky pick) because you usually won't have as many chances to farm with only two lanes. Every buff is great on Gragas in 3v3, as move speed, cooldown reduction, attack speed and a slow on each auto attack are just good stats in general because Gragas is so versatile. In 3v3, Gragas acts as more of a ganker, being able to run around with while escaping being ganked himself. In a teamfight, you're going to want to be a meat shield for your squishier allies. Don't be afraid to die if it wins you a fight.

Screenshot of walls you can go through:

Thanks for reading my Gragas build(s). Please comment, rate, favorite and most importantly ENJOY!

If you downvote, please tell me why in the comments so I can make this guide better.

~~~Thanks to Zesty for helping me edit this guide~~~