Gragas Build Guide by Beleren

Introduction

So.. This is my first build ever so don't hate on it much. I made this build because.... well just for the hell of it. Most Gragas players i see play AP Gragas while I play AD/Tank Gragas a lot and it seems to work fairly well for me, from bottom to solo top, mostly because most people don't know how to react when seeing one so I figured I'd post my build and see what you guys think of it. Please comment and tell me what you guys think of it and any ways it can improve. not just the build but also the information in it as well. I am constantly editing to make it as efficient as possible.
I will eventually add a Ad jungle build on this as well seeing how well this build is received.THESE BUILDS ARE NOT MEANT FOR LANEING WITH OTHER PEOPLE ONLY USE WHEN SOLO TOP OR JUNGLE

[/color] *Update* JUNGLE BUILD FINALLY HERE

Items

This is a really important item for Gragas. Not only do you need the health but the chance to slow makes it easier to chase and w/ [Body Slam] It can be very effective.


With and why not? it gives you extra armor and a big boost in your damage with these two items. Edit:Atma's is still a decent item even though the passive was lowered by 25%. Still a good item for the other effects. So some of the numbers might be wrong now i did fix Warmog's Armor and Banshee's Veili don't know if i put number values on any other items


This is for your CDR. With this you can have Drunken Rage on nonstop plus it gives a nice speed boost as well as health and mana regen.


Since you will most likely end up engaging its a good idea to have merc treads.


This is a good item for its magic resist and the giant hp regen. with your passive you gain a lot of health back over time especially with the amount of health you have.


This goes well with your giving you a nice amount of health and a boost of 19-20 damage when maxed.

Other items
If your looking for more damage then you can get this of instead but should have Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction or Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction for the CDR. Now this does not stack with Frozen Mallet but they still are nice together.

This is another replacement for . with its increased moment speed and attack speed its a nice item to have with your already high attack damage for those that want to deal more damage.

If your being shredded by to much ad what better item to get then this? with your and high armor, they will deal more damage to themselves then they do to you.

This is an alternate to Force of Nature. If they have to much AD or their AP doesn't do much damage this is a better item to get and as a plus you get 5-6 extra damage.

Once again if they have an unbalanced team or have a lot of auto attackers its a good idea to get these instead of [Mercury's Treads] for the damage reduction

Skills

]Lets start w/ the passive
Happy Hour is a great passive for a tanky hero. It isn't good for instant regeneration in fights like Volibear with his Chosen of the Storm or Dr. Mundo with his Sadism. but its still good for those long fights where everyone just seems to harass but noone wants to engage. Having so much life you gain around 80 health endgame each time you use a spell which in those long fights every 4-5 spell ends up being equivilent to being once by a spell or afew times from the ad carry.

Barrel Roll Does Massive early game damage. I know it is the last spell leveled but if you need the early game harass ability in either a 2v1 top or expecially when you bot lane, I encourage to get 2-3 levels of it before maxing out Drunken Rage. It also helps when fighting AD/AS such as because of the attack speed slow it gives if they get hit which is why it is not only a good harass bottom lane but a good way to increase your chances of winning in a fight.

Drunken Rage This is your Main Skill. Not only does it cost 0 to use but it gives you back mana, increases your Damage, and Reduces your Damage taken. This is where you get a major part of your damage and why he is so effecient as a tank. Once you have this maxed out you gain 70 damage and a 18% reduced damage. bot to mention with your passive Happy Hour you gain an extra 2% health back which is a nice plus.

Body Slam is your way of getting in and our of fights. with such a low cdr it is good to use it when you initiate. The damage is spread among whats hit so try to not hit any creeps while using it. Its also a great escape mechanism where you can go over trees and cliffs which has helped me escape many many times.
It will not go over destroyed towers if used it many times trying to chase or escape where i hit the rubble of the tower.

Explosive Cask This ulti is an amazing ulti. Its good for engaging, chasing, escaping. It does take a second for it to land like most spells so make sure you time it properly to get the results you are looking for. It is also a great Counter Baren skill. Because all the champions are piled up in one area and sometimes even having their back to the cliff it works well to seperate them or immobilize the ones in the back when hit to the wall. In any case it is a great spell when used properly

Skill Sequence

The reason why icon=Drunken Rage is leveled up first because it helps a lot. Not only will you never run out of mana but you have increased Damage (also increases Body Slam damage) and Reduced Damage taken making you a harder hitter and a tank(hence AD/TANK)
Now body slam is your damage dealer as long as you use it correctly. It works well in a 1v1 fight but make sure you hit only the enemy champion. Its also a great escape mechanism when you go over trees and walls.
Barrel Roll I don't use to often endgame. it doesn't do much dmg because you're not AP but it's still good to slow enemy attacks. early game however like i mentioned earlier if you need that extra harassing ability and early game damage it is ok to level it up 2-3 times before maxing out the other skills.
Finally Explosive Cask is great because it can bring them to you or away if your chasing or running away.

Runes

Greater Quintessence of Health is for the early health and so you regen more from your passive helping you stay in lane longer.
Greater Mark of Desolation for the damage output so you deal more damage that or you can get Greater Greater Mark of Strength for extra early damage
Greater Seal of Armor: Armor what else is there to explain
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Magic Resist once again what else is there to explain

Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction or Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction: (look at items [Trinity Force]). This is another way of getting your CDR instead on relying on Shurelya's Reverie and having an extra item slot of another item

Masteries

The reason why the mastery is 9-21-0 instead of 21-9-0 is because you are primarily the tank or off-tank and Juggernaut is a mastery you can't ignore. 21-9 does work but better when you are the jungler but i will post eventually (look at intro)

Summoner Spells

I use Ghost and Teleport so i can easily get back into lane and also have a spell for escape and chasing but you can always use and to have the extra range for when you ultimate. Another summoner spell that will work is because it gives you extra attack speed which always goes great with your high damage output especially early game. but personally Ghost and Teleport works the best because like i said it makes sure your in your lane as long as you can and able to get back in lane or anywhere quickly

Early game

Solo lane: Assuming they also have a jungler You start of with making sure Drunken Rage is on at all times. when engaging try to minimize the amount of units that are hit by Body Slam to deal the most damage to the enemy champion. around level 3 or 4 if you hit only the enemy hero and 3-5 auto attacks should kill them with on. with drunken rage on its easier to last hit because your dealing more damage and enemy champions will do less damage to you. Make sure to constantly use not as a way to harass but you have the mana especially with on plus with your passive you gain some health while your at it.

If its a 2v1 lane or bottom lane. start of with Barrel Roll and level it up to level 2 before maxing out Drunken Rage. The reason for this as someone mentioned and is now in my guide is that it is a great early game damage dealer and is good for harassing to keep your lane from being pushed to hard.

Mid game

Drunken Rage should be maxed and always being used. By now you should have your Frozen Mallet and hopefully Atma's Impaler. This is where you start becoming the tank or off-tank instead of the a pure damage dealer because of damage reduction. In any team fight make sure you use Explosive Cask wisely either to initiate pulling 1 closer to your team or if the fight has already started to separate them.

End game

Just like mid game you are the initiator. Make sure before you go in Drunken Rage cant not stress more on how important the spell is especially being the initiator. Look at the situation to see when to use Explosive Cask. Just like mid game use it to separate 1 from the rest or use it to bring them back as they retreat.
Things to note when using the ulti look at who you are planning on separating. Bringing Vayne alone to kill is much different then separating Rammus. For one, like most tanks, Rammus should be ignored to go straight for the carry's. Second it just takes so much longer to kill rammus then someone like Ashe or Annie which gives the team to recuperate and retaliate rather then killing their carry which also demoralizes the enemy team from engaging any further.

Pros / Cons

Pros:
Massive amount of health
good balanced damage
not mama dependent
Great ultimate
Good for early and late game


Cons:
No good aoe for killing creeps
Obviously better AD damage champions

Jungling Items

This is a crucial items for all ad junglers. with its life steal, damage, armor and its great unique why would you not get it.

This is situational, if your going to go more of a damage dealer go ahead and get these but if your team needs a tank or a sub-tank make sure to get the other to options of or .

Like i said earlier make sure to get this for the nice amount of health and also for the slow. with only your Body Slam to slow its a good item to have to make sure its hard for them to run away. If you are wanting to go more damage go ahead and get Trinity Force instead but you will have a less survival chance with the less health.

With the huge attack speed boost and movement speed its a great item to have with your high damage output with the plus of criting more.

Once again you have the health its a nice item for tanky heros with the armor and crit chance.

For your last item there are multiple choices
If you need the extra health its a nice item to get expecially with Atma's Impaler as an item.

For the MR if needed and a 7 damage boost form its health.

If you really dont need to go to tanky and want to damage instead. You have a high crit chance with it and should attack at a decent speed with Phantom Dancer

Creeping / Jungling

Ok... So this has worked so far for me with really nice results (Usually..)
First start at Red. Why? Because you don't really need Blue early game. Unlike AP Gragas, AD Gragas doesn't use much mana and most of it you will get back from Drunken Rage. After getting red try to find a suitable lane to gank. With your slow and your high damage and the help of your teammates it you should be able to gank a lane that is half way in. If not just continue to jungle.

Early game: Even before level 6 you should be able to successfully gank lanes. In fact you should be able to gank at level 2 aka getting red. majority of my early game ganks are successful because of the extra boost of damage as well as the slow. Make sure you have Drunken Rage on before you go in for the gank and to start off with Body Slam but make sure to only hit the target to do maximum damage to it. with the low cdr you should be able to land a 2nd slam if they haven't died yet.
Once you have reached level 6 ganking becomes much easier. Start of with having on as usual and either in and immediately after or the other way around.

Mid game With phage you should be able to solo dragon with the help of 2-3 pots. as Body Slam can move through walls use it to your advantage to make the shortest route to your destination. Mid game as Gragas starts to get a bit tough. You don't have the right health yet to tank and not enough damage to be of a big threat. Try to finish your Frozen Mallet asap for that's going to help big time on ganking because of the slow

End game By now you should be an efficient sub-tank and a nice damage dealer. Make sure to engage if needed because you can still take quite a few hits without worrying to much. other then auto attacking, having on and as much as possible there's nothing else you do. Your Ulti is situational. should you start off and separate them, should you hold it till mid fight to distract their focus, or if you haven't used it yet to hit them back to your team as they run away. All of these work well however you play Gragas.

Pros/Cons of Jungling

Pros

Good damage output
Easy ganker (with ulti)
Sustainable

Average in everything