Vayne Build Guide by Mooninites

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Mooninites' House of Vayne. Today I will be forcing you to accept my playstyle for Vayne. Everything from runes to item selection, you must follow this guide exactly. So without further adieu lets get into it.

About My Vayne Build

So let's talk a little bit about my Vayne build. I build Vayne focusing on consistent dps and damage output not only late game but for the laning phase. I've seen builds which like to focus on Condemn but I find that Condmen is too bursty and is not consistent damage. This is why I focus on Tumble and Silver Bolts while using Condemn for a knockback or stun.

Pros:
Consistent Damage Output
Stronger Laning Presence

Cons:
Lack of Strong Burst
Lower Kill Potential

Masteries

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This is a pretty standard Offensive Tree for an AD carry, I take the point Butcher over Summoner's Wrath because I want to run Heal or Cleanse over Ignite or Exhaust

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I chose to run 9 points in the Defensive Tree because of Vayne's fairly weak laning phase. The extra armor and health helps quite a bit early on. Summoner's Resolve is a pretty standard pick up because we're running Heal or Cleanse

The Utility Tree is an option if you're looking to dart in and out of combat. I would take points Summoner's Insight for Flash and Expanded Mind because I frankly don't plan on dying which eliminates Good Hands and Improved Recall is garbage. In tier 2 I would take 4 points in Swiftness because it's the best option, then an obvious point in Runic Affinity tier 3 because it's the best option, this is more useful after the laning phase, but often I find if I can make it through the laning phase relatively unharmed it's much better than 9 minor points in Utility.

Summoner Spells

- a must have. Vayne is a playmaker and so is Flash they're made for each other, there really isn't anything else to say.



- a very good summoner. Relatively tied with Cleanse in terms of summoner's. Really second to nothing except Flash, I would run Heal or Cleanse



- another great summoner. Second only to Flash, I choose to take this over Heal because I find it more useful outside the laning phase. Sometimes it can be useful in the laning phase as well. It's great against champions like Leona, Taric, Ashe, etc. It's useful for Ignite and Exhaust as well. I prefer this to Heal unless the enemy team has no CC on their AD, Support, or Jungler aside from their summoner's of course.



- Decent choice, it's probably better left for the support. It's necessary in bot lane, but your support should pick it up



- not a very good choice unless your gunning for first blood, which you shouldn't be as Vayne. I think this is a pretty poor choice of a summoner on her, if you want one in lane let the support take it, either way you shouldn't need it bot lane as you're focused on farming rather than kills. Ignite is becoming a more popular choice on AD carries and it's now seen as better than heal. However because of Vayne's weak laning phase I would still advise running Cleanse and Heal over Ignite



- I really don't think this is a great option unless you're going top, but we're focusing on botlane in this guide so just skip over this.

Runes

I use the same rune page regardless of lane, there really isn't much variation to my rune page and it's pretty standard for most Ad carries with Marks being interchangable between Greater Mark of Attack Damage and Greater Mark of Desolation.

I prefer theArPen Marks because that's what I'm used to on her, and I do notice a difference with Flat Ad Marks. However, I like the Flat AD Quints to supplement my early game. As I've said the Marks are interchangable


To me Scaling MR Glyphs are a better option than Flat MR Glyphs because there aren't any real supports I'm worried about except maybe Sona. Unless the enemy is running a heavy AP jungler like Maokai scaling MR should be fine.

Skills and Sequence

- Vayne's passive is pretty nice, it allows you to close in on enemy quicker than they anticipate. It only works when moving towards an enemy but it's a pretty good passive, it's nice for chasing down an enemy in lane and trying to get that 3rd proc on Silver Bolts



- The bread and butter of Vayne's damage. For this particular guide this will be by far you largest source of damage, even in the Condemn Vayne build Tumble is often the largest or at least most consistent source of damage. As a result we'll max this first, it just provides so much mobility, extra damage on a low cooldown and low mana cost, in my opinion, too good to pass up.



- A decent passive, this can chunk enemies, and specifically tanks. Contrary to popular belief, this is probably the lowest source of Vayne's damage. However, in this guide it will be the third most, behind Tumble and auto-attacks of course. Poking with this can be deadly for an enemy. Getting 2 stacks with a Tumble + 3rd proc Silver Bolts will chunk the enemy for a good 25% of their health or more. This is what makes the build so potent. There aren't many AD carries that can trade against that burst. The Tumble + Silver Bolts combo is what makes the damage output so consistent and ultimately makes Vayne's laning stronger.



- to me, Vayne's most overrated spell. Don't get me wrong the burst is strong and it's a nice knockback or stun, but maxing this first says "I'm relying on burst to take down an enemy and landing the stun" and if you don't then your damage is pretty poor. That's why I find this weak in lane and outside of lane. You can't rely on the stun proc and aside from that the mana cost is outrageous. You can't afford to condemn an enemy every time you need to trade, you'll be out of mana, for me it just isn't consistent enough. In this build we use it really only as a knock back or stun.



- A great ult, fantastic steroid, lasts up to 12 seconds and on a fairly short cooldown, really one of the best ultimates out there. You can use this to finish the job or to escape. This makes for a really good dueling ult because the invisibility can really screw with an opponent. The cooldown is low enough so don't be afraid to pop it.



So now that we've got the skills out of the way there are two main skill paths, in this particular guide we focus on the first but I'll also talk about the Condemn path a little bit.

Unless you're invading, Tumble is always the starting spell in each sequence because of the amount of utility it brings and how reliable it is.

So let's talk about the pro's and cons of each build.

Pro's of Tumble Consistent damage output stronger laning stronger presence outside of lane

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Con's of Tumble Low burst sometimes difficulty against sustain lanes

As you can see the Tumble path still has cons. It can struggle against heavy sustain such as Soraka or Sona but since your tumble is on a shorter cooldown and lower mana cost it won't always present problems.

Pro's of Condemn High burst Lower cooldown/ potentially save from ganks

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Con's of Condemn High mana costs reliant on landing Condemn stun inconsistent damage in and out of lane

As you can see, the burst potential in the Condemn path is quite appealing for many people, however, I find this incredibly mana hungry and inconsistent. You essentially have to wait till you can land up a stun to reach maximum damage potential.

This is the main reason I find the Tumble path to be a better option for Vayne than Condemn. I find Tumble to help her laning phase come on par with other AD carries. That's not to say her laning phase isn't fairly weak, but this tries to aid her laning phase to make it more consistent and allowing you to trade if you have to or want to.

Itemization

So there are a few item paths I follow so I'll post them and then explain my reasoning behind them.

This particular build focuses on lane domination. You can also build this if you don't have any sustain in your lane, such as a Leona or Nunu. I would build this if I feel like the laning phase might run a little longer than normal, it can set you behind though, if your opponent rushes Infinity Edge instead of The Bloodthirster. This gives relative tankiness in lane and basically makes it impossible for opponent's to trade with you, but it can be an issue if your opponent has IE and you have BT.







I used to follow this build path quite frequently, but with the recent nerfs to Wriggle's Lanturn I find it to be a weaker option than most paths. However, this build path still has a lot of potential and can help you deal with tough lane opponents like Graves or Miss Fortune. Additionally, The Black Cleaver makes your 3rd proc Silver Bolts + 3rd proc armor shred hit incredibly hard. I'd say this build path is still viable, but not an ideal go to build path for every situation. I'd probably only consider it against really strong junglers and tough lane opponents.







This is a pretty standard item path for most AD carries. It works well for Vayne too. This build is more dominant outside of lane because it focuses on your role as an AD carry and maximizing damage. It can be a little rough if your opponent goes for a The Bloodthirster so if you need to pick up a Vampiric Scepter along the way. I consider this if I'm really dominating lane already and feel that my opponent doesn't have a chance to come back any time soon. This allows my to bypass items that I'm looking for as a crutch to compete in lane and go straight to late game where Vayne shines. With that said, you won't always be able to go this path. Against tough opponents you may have to go Wriggle's Lanturn or The Bloodthirster to be competitive.

These are my item paths I evaluate which I am going to go based on my first trip back. I can evaluate based on how much gold I have, how I'm doing in lane, how my opponent is doing lane, and how the game is going. If your team is losing horribly but you're doing pretty well in lane perhaps you try to shortcut to Infinity Edge to get to late game as quickly as possible. If your team is doing well and you're doing poorly consider The Bloodthirster to help you in lane. It ultimately comes down to how laning goes and what you have gold to buy on your first trip back.




The following items are all good on Vayne some I consider core some not, a lot of people will probably only look at the items at the top of the page and make a judgement from that, they won't truly understand the process in which I choose which items to pick up and which to drop.


- A must have on any AD carry, Vayne is no exception. You should pick this up at somepoint, preferably sooner rather than later, regardless of which build path you choose. This is absolutely a core item and should go without saying.



- This is a pretty good item on Vayne. I find a Bloodthirster rush to be very effective on Tumble Vayne. It makes her absolutely dominant in lane, but outside of lane it's not quite as strong. The sustain is good 1v1 but it can't always save you.



- A great item on Vayne. I find this to be more effective on Vayne because you're pretty much strictly an auto-attacker, and you can reset your auto-attack every 2 seconds with Tumble. Additionally, Last Whisper is a good item for AD casters, but the only thing that won't be affected by The Black Cleaver is Condemn.




- pretty much a core item on AD carries. Even running cleanse you need to run this item, it's too good to pass up and it can shed suppresses while your Cleanse cannot. A nice amount of MR to but the big kicker is it's only 1440 gold, which is pretty much nothing for such an amazing item.



- Another core item on Vayne. The movement speed, the attack speed, the crit, everything about it is fantastic. It's also extremely cost efficient. It helps build up and burst stacks of Silver Bolts, just too good to pass up.




- I don't think this is as good as The Black Cleaver but it's certainly not bad. You need to run an ArPen item and Last Whisper and TBC are the two best options. Some people just can't trust TBC so Last Whisper is a decent item.



- Sometimes, despite having an Alistar and/or a Shen people don't know how to peel for you. It's really mind boggling how people don't know their roles and sometimes you'll be abandoned and have to protect yourself. Politely remind your team that you need protection and if they can't you'll have to build this even if it isn't the best option.

Matchups and Lane partners

There are few lane partners that are ideal for Vayne we'll discuss those first before moving onto Supports and AD that can give Vayne a little trouble and then finally characters in general that can give Vayne some problems.

- An obvious partner for Vayne he enables a lot of favorable engagements for Vayne or disables an enemy jungler or carry. Additionally he's pretty damn tanky and has AoE sustain for himself and you.



- She's a monster for a kill lane support. She can single handidly burst people with her combo, in addition to your already incredible bonus damage, and her passive, you'll be crushing lanes with authority. Only problem is she provides no sustain.



- Similar to Leona his stun is incredibly strong, her has an armor shred, and his level 6 burst is great. He's not quite as strong as Leona outside of lane and he doesn't have the insane burst potential that she has but he has sustain and an armor buff in addition to his aura when he activates his ult.



- Awww yeah, this guy is a hell of a laning partner. The movement speed and attack speed buff is incredible; it helps you dart in and out of combat without a whole lot of risk. Opponents who try to trade with you will have their attack speed reduced through Ice Blast, as if it wasn't hard enough to deal with Blood Boil. Nunu turns Vayne into a hypercarry even without items.





- trading with him is incredibly difficult because of his burst and his extreme tankiness. Unfortunately for you his Buckshot is just as long as your auto-attack range so be prepared to be harassed frequently. Smoke Bomb is annoying and his Quickdraw ain't half bad.



- Sometimes you can have a lot of success against Caitlyn and sometimes you can get beat real bad. Just be prepared for either. She's a fairly passive laner which Vayne excels against, but the problem is her range. A good Caitlyn player will continually harass you with her significant range advantage on you. However, you do have bush control over caitlyn due to your Condemn so that can be one upside.



- Like Caitlyn, you can have a lot of success or find yourself in a world of hurt when playing against a Kog'Maw. He scales just as well into late game as you, but he gains range on you. He doesn't have any major skillshots to dodge other than Living Artillery. His Bio-Arcane Barrage can be a hassle, but getting up close and personal should do the trick.



- She can sometimes zone you with her powerchord and Q but you can also take advantage of her at times. She's incredibly squishy if she maxes Q first, so punish her.



- Soraka's consistent sustain is hard to deal with on this build. It's certainly not impossible, but you'll be forced to harass in large bursts more often. She can chunk you with Infuse and Starcall can be annoying. Her auto-attack is a thing of beauty but hard to lane against, you'll be forced to engage in-between her heals, luckily for you it's on an 18-20 second cooldown.





- Between his ultimate, his invis, and his dash, he has all the tools to dispose of you fairly quickly. He's incredibly difficult for you and your team to deal with despite your ability to reposition and knock him back. Try and get a little help from your team on this guy.



- he can dash to you, fear you, and block your knockback pretty easily. He's similar to Wukong in that he can get to you easily and create a lot of confusion for your team.



- she seems less popular than ever, but this champion was designed to slaughter AD carries. There's really nothing that can stop her from getting to you or your AP carry due to her passive in addition to her Bladesurge. She can deal the damage with Hiten Style while being incredibly tanky.



So with all this said who is Vayne good against? Vayne excels against champions with fairly low laning presence or who are fairly non-threatening. She also excels against champions reliant on skillshots or bot lanes with no sustain. A few examples would be Ashe, Sivir, Varus, Ezreal, support Lux and others. As you can see all the champions either have fairly poor laning phase and/or are fairly skillshot reliant to support competently or reach maximum damage potential. Vayne also does fairly well against support who like to use the bush to jump in and out of lane to harass or for protection, such as Sona or Janna.

Thanks!

Thanks for reading I hope you learned something about Vayne. As always feel free to ask question in the comments or in game @Mooninites on the NA servers. You can also find me in the mobafire chat room fairly often.

Special thanks to the following

• Jhoijhoi for letting me use her dividers and her BBC coding expertise
• Friends on mobafire, shout out to Taco Limeyjr and Pwnzor1130 and the mobafire chatroom (NA side)
• All my friends in-game and IRL who keep me going
• and finally you the reader

FAQ

I'll answer any questions presented in game or in the guide discussion here.

Changelog

5/20/2012 - guide released
7/28/2012 - updated Summoner's Spell section with more information about Ignite