Health items are what makes Volibear so Epic:
Frenzy - Base Physical Damage: 90 / 140 / 190 / 240 / 290 (+20% of bonus health)
More Health = More Damage.

Remember, Volibear is a tank FIRST, and a dps second! Worry about your ability to properly tank as all the health bonuses synergize with Frenzy. Getting Warmog's Armor is #1 priority as you want to stack the health bonuses of Warmog's as early as possible. The proper health/armor items on Voli means FRENZY DEALS MORE DAMAGE! It also means you're that much harder to kill as a tank.

Volibear lanes best with support/healing heroes. Duo Laning with an Alistar is crazy fun as these two can out tank, out heal, out push, and out cc any other two heroes in the game.

Pros:
Outstanding Tank and Initiator.
Can Duo or Solo Lane, outstanding jungle with right build.
Can DPS hard with right items.
Can Lock Down enemy carries with ease.
Did you like the movie The Golden Compass? Well Volibear will bring back some of that nostalgia!
Makes Nunu and Tibbers look like kitty cats while Thunder Claws is active.

Cons:
Rolling Thunder can be easily cc'd.
Vulnerable in jungle for first few levels.
A bit on the slow side.

If you're in love with ganking at early levels or going for First Blood, I might recommend putting your first skill point into Frenzy. Popping Frenzy with Surge is great damage output for level 1.

Below is the order in which I use my abilities when initiating:

Ability Sequence:
1. Rolling Thunder on your target.
2. Once Rolling Thunder hits, immediately Majestic Roar. Now you've tossed them back and slowed them while fearing any minions.
3. Pop Surge and Thunder Claws.
4. As soon as Frenzy is stacked... USE IT!!
5. Rinse and repeat Majestic Roar and Frenzy until target is dead.
6. Be sure to type gg at end of game and observe the Summoner Code to the T! :)

We're obviously stacking health runes with attack speed, but the magic resist and movement speed bonuses are crucial for early game survivability/ganking as well.

You can also go for attack speed quintessences if you feel like you don't need the health/speed boost for early game. But if you do this then I recommend swapping out one of your summoner spells for Teleport as Rolling Thunder isn't all that viable for going from the fountain to the front line of your lane.

9/21/0 = lots of health, bonuses for armor pen, attack speed, armor, and magic resist.

Jungle Volibear is one of the most under-rated characters in the game.

For the second build I did for this guide, I feel I have perfected his early game jungle weakness with the items and sequence in which they are to be obtained.

The first 5 minutes of jungling is the most crucial. Follow my advice and you will be ready to gank'n'tank to your heart's desire:

Step 1: Buy long sword and a health pot.
Step 2: Head to Blue and stand guard making sure the team doesn't try to invade. At 1:25 run back to the wolves (spawns @ 1:40) with your mid. It is imperative that mid helps you with damaging wolves, and leashing/damaging blue.

These two steps are the most crucial for early game success. If you can kill blue without your innate popping, even better.

Step 3: Head to Wraiths, then Golems, then Red.
Step 4: You are now quite low on health but should have enough to kill the wraiths one last time. After doing so you should be around 600 gold, immediately port back and get your Madred's Razors.
Step 5: Grats, now you can kill anything in the jungle without taking too much damage. Be sure to get your boots asap and start building towards Warmog's, and don't neglect purchasing wards whenever possible.

For early ganks, managing the use of flash is important as voli is slow early on. Rolling Thunder with Flash is sure to catch anyone, however don't go running in for a gank if it means having to potentially dive into a tower for the kill. Remember, unless it's first blood, a kill for a death is never worth it.

Early Core = Warmog's Armor and Mercury Treads.

Early game is the only time you will need to worry about having enough mana. You don't need boots right away as the skill masteries and rune will be boosting your movement speed, but definitely work on getting your Mercury Treads after Warmog's. Also be sure to load up on some health pots early on as you don't have Ghost or Teleport to get you to and from the shop.


Mid Core = Frozen Mallet, Sunfire Cape/Atma's Impaler

Frozen Mallet gives everything Volibear needs; damage, health, and slow proc for taking down the enemy carries. You will not need to purchase anymore DPS items from here on out!

defensive build:
Sunfire Cape stacks nicely with even more health and armor making Voli that much more invincible.

offensive build:
Atma's Impaler provides additional damage and that will stack with your health items. This is a great item to generate additional damage with Voli's abilities.


End Game Core = Warmog's Armor, Mercury Treads, Frozen Mallet, Sunfire Cape/Atma's Impaler, and Randuin's Omen / Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and Wit's End.

defensive build:
Randuin's is an obvious addition to this lineup as Voli will now have a great amount, of health and armor. The Randuin's slow passive bonuses synergize with all your items, and its active ability is great for team fights. Once you have the above core items and its getting late in the game, you can pickup any of the items listed below depending on the situation.

offensive build:
Rylai's Crystal Scepter adds 500 health, magic damage and additional slow for ripping through carries. The slow proc also synergizes with your ult, slowing everyone in the vicinity.

Wit's end is great for attack speed and magic resistance which aids your sustainability.

Conclusion:
Volibear is an outstanding ganker and initiator as well as a duo laner. He has amazing survivability and with the right items will deal loads of damage while tanking. Combined with his Innate Regen (Chosen of the Storm) when his health goes to 30% & Summoner Heal ability, Voli makes for one extremely difficult kill.

Volibear also provides a valuable alternative for Irelia players in that he is not so squishy early game, and can still dish out the damage late game. Because of Chosen of the Storm, Volibear is much harder to take down early on.

Beware of crowd control effects! Rolling Thunder is an excellent initiating ability but can be easily negated!

Good Luck and I hope this build has helped!

The below items are a list of Mid/Late game items that can also be beneficial for Volibear. Apologies for making this section so long as this is my first guide and still learning how to use this builder :)

* = highly recommended

Aegis of the Legion - +270 Health +18 Armor +24 Magic Resist UNIQUE Aura: Nearby allied champions gain 12 Armor, 15 Magic Resist, and 8 Attack Damage.
Not an end game item, but the added health, armor, and MR goes a long ways with Volibear. The aura for your teammates is also a nice touch.

* Atma's Impaler - +45 Armor +18% Critical Strike Chance UNIQUE Passive: Gain Attack Damage equal to 2% of your maximum Health.
Stacks nicely with your health items for greater damage output.

* Banshee's Veil - +375 Health +375 Mana +50 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Gain a spell shield that blocks the next incoming enemy ability (45 second cooldown).
This is the item I would most recommend after you have completed your late game core and are looking to replace philosopher's stone.

Frozen Heart - +99 Armor +500 Mana UNIQUE Passive: +20% Cooldown Reduction UNIQUE Aura: Reduces the Attack Speed of nearby enemies by 20%.
Lots of armor and the slow aura for enemy attack speed is very useful and combines well with Randuin's Omen's proc. THe 20% CDR is also very nice, but if you're getting this for the CDR then I would probably also swap out Mercury Treads for CDR boots (Ionian Boots of Lucidity).

Guardian Angel - +68 Armor +38 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Revives your champion upon death, restoring 750 Health and 375 Mana (5 minute cooldown).
Also a good item if you're the main tank for you team. Waiting until you die to use Heal upon Revive will shock your opponents when they see Volibear back on his feet with half his health.

Hexdrinker - +35 Attack Damage +30 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: If you would take magic damage that would leave you at less than 30% Health, you first gain a shield that absorbs 300 magic damage for 4 seconds (60 second cooldown).
Outstanding item that seems like it was designed for Volibear's Innate Regen (Chosen of the Storm).

Last Whisper - +40 Attack Damage UNIQUE Passive: +40% Armor Penetration.
Great item to further increase DPS and frenzy damage.

Madred's Bloodrazor - +30 Attack Damage +40% Attack Speed +25 Armor UNIQUE Passive: Your basic attacks deal bonus magic damage equal to 4% of the target's maximum Health. The bonuses this item gives are just too good. If you don't need Randuin's Omen or Banshee Veil by the end of the game, go for this.

* Rylai's Crystal Scepter - +500 Health +80 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: Dealing spell damage slows the target's Movement Speed by 35% for 1.5 seconds (15% for multi-target and damage-over-time spells).
Even more health, the AP will increase damage of Majestic Roar & Thunder Claws while the slow proc combined with Frozen Mallet and Randuin's Omen will make them feel like they've been hit by Exhaust after Exhaust!

Shurelya's Reverie - +330 Health +30 Health Regen per 5 seconds +15 Mana Regen per 5 seconds UNIQUE Passive: +15% Cooldown Reduction UNIQUE Active: Nearby allied champions gain 40% Movement Speed for 3 seconds (60 second cooldown).
Again, really nice stats for health and CDR, but CDR should not be a main focus for Volibear!

Spirit Visage - +30 Magic Resist +250 Health UNIQUE Passive: +10% Cooldown Reduction UNIQUE Passive: Increases your healing and regeneration effects on yourself by 15%.
This is a great mid game item that synergizes well with Volibear's Innate Regen (Chosen of the Storm).

Sword of the Divine - +60% Attack Speed UNIQUE Passive: Every fourth basic attack deals 100 bonus magic damage. UNIQUE Active: Your basic attacks cannot be dodged and you gain 30 Armor Penetration for 8 seconds (40 second cooldown).
Very useful item when going after the high% dodging carries! The attack speed is amazing for Volibear and the passive is an excellent damage bonus.

The Black Cleaver - +55 Attack Damage +30% Attack Speed UNIQUE Passive: Your basic attacks reduce your target's Armor by 15 for 5 seconds (effect stacks up to 3 times).
If you don't think you'll be needing any life leech, pick this up!

Thorn Mail - +100 Armor UNIQUE Passive: On being hit by basic attacks, returns 30% of damage taken as magic damage.
Obviously the armor is nice but if you're the main tank for your team and you're facing some harsh melee damage, Thorn Mail is definitely the right item for Volibear. Recommend swapping this out for Sunfire Cape.

Wit's End - +40% Attack Speed +30 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Your basic attacks deal 42 bonus magic damage. UNIQUE Passive: Your basic attacks increase your Magic Resist by 5 for 5 seconds (effect stacks up to 4 times).
Great item for taking down the caster squishies.