Rammus

He can jungle, and he can lane, but I prefer to jungle with him. He is generally weak early game, and because he has no ranged spells, he gets choked off in lane. That is unless he is paired with someone who can help keep the other team zoned enough to allow him to sneak a minion kill here or there.

Rammus is a "tank" and as such, he has no specific build. He must counter the other team to survive, and do his job properly.

I've used this build in mostly normal and normal draft games. I've also used it in Ranked games, but not as much.

I go with:

Greater Mark of Desolation (for getting through the jungle faster)
Greater Seal of Armor (Armor helps him survive and gives him more attack damage)
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist (I also will do CDR)
Greater Quintessence of Health (He is a tank, and jungling without these is harder)

Jungling Rammus takes certain masteries to be effective at it.

First, you need the extra armor from Hardiness and health from Veteran's Scars . If you don't have the runes, you need the masteries or vice versa. You have to one or the other, and it will still be hard, but without either... it's practically impossible.

Therefore, to jungle Rammus, you need to be at least level 20, for the above reason. That's about the level to get enough masteries and runes to make this work. When dealing with masteries, you need one above all else: Awareness

Without it, you don't level fast enough, and without the right levels at the right time, it really makes Rammus a much less effective jungler.

When you are level 30, and have all the runes, the time it takes and the ease with which you can go through the jungle is huge! Not only that, but you have more health left for earlier ganks.

I take the Greed mastery because as Rammus, you won't have a big amount of gold to mess with, especially if you are warding like a jungler should. If you want Summoner's Resolve instead, go for it, but think about this:

Summoner's Resolve : 10 extra gold for smite, cooldown over 50 seconds.

Greed : 2 extra gold every 10 seconds.

If you were to use smite the second it's cooldown was done, it would be about the same as Greed, but that's not going to happen if you are helping with ganks. Greed = more gold over all.

For jungling:

W, Defensive Ball Curl 1st
Q, Powerball 2nd
E, puncturing taunt 3rd
E, puncturing taunt
W, Defensive Ball Curl
R, Soaring Slam 6th

Max out puncturing taunt first, and then Defensive Ball Curl

But make sure get level 2 of curl before level 6. Curl and Taunt should be used together as much as possible. They are what makes Rammus such a pain. You taunt them and then curl so they impale themselves on you while your team tears them to shreds.

You aren't suppose to get the kill. Your team's carries are. Rammus should play a selfless role on the team. If you can save a carry at the expensive of your life, you do it. They have stacks, you don't. They deal damage to win the game. You absorb damage to win the game.

Start with Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion.

I'll state what I buy, and if you want to read why, you can.

Mercury's Treads Thornmail Aegis of the Legion Glacial Shroud

Go for Mercury immediately. Why not Boots of Swiftness? You have Powerball, you should be the fast champion already. Trust me. The extra MR early, and CC reduction later, will benefit more than extra Movement Speed (MS) for chasing or escaping.

After Mercury, I get Thorn's and Aegis... but which one first? Depends...

I almost always get a Thornmail, but if the other team has an AP champ that is being feed, then Aegis of the Legion with that extra MR is probably the way to go. Plus, it gives your team more MR and Armor.

More than anything, be patient. Don't try to get a lot of early kills, you'll just rack up the deaths. Play defensive and wait for the other team to make a mistake. Rammus isn't a money pit, and until he has Mercury's Treads, Thornmail and Aegis of the Legion... he dies pretty easily. SO don't Rambo until you are equipped properly. As the game goes on, Rammus should become a nightmare.

Why Thornmail? One, Rammus gets more damage the more armor. (his passive) Spiked Shell. Two, Thornmail syncs with Defensive Ball Curl adding to the damage returned... pluse it gives Curl 10 more damage!!!

The damage champions and minions take from attacking you when you are Curled is fantastic. There is nothing better than watching an AD carry think they are going to take you out 1 on 1 till you curl, tremor, and taunt. Their health, no matter what kind of life-steal and crit, drops like a hammer.

Next, I usually grab a Glacial Shroud for the armor and cool down reduction.

Usually, that is the last item I buy unless I am really racking in the kills/assists (you shouldn't be killing, let your Carries do that) or the game is taking forever.

If I had the money, I go for a Sunfire Aegis. Buy the Giant's Belt first.

Remember to buy sight wards!!!!

But there are other options if you have extra gold:
Anti-AD:
1. Complete Frozen Heart (more CDR, armor [more damage] and slows other team's attacks)
2. Sunfire Aegis (more health, armor [more damage] and some extra AOE damage)
3. Randuin's Omen (health, armor [more damage], CDR, plus activate to reduce other team's MS)
Anti-AP:
1. Force of Nature (huge MR, huge HP Regen, plus extra Movement Speed)
2. Abyssal Mask (MR and AP, Soaring Slam and Powerball both use AP as a multiplier)
3. Banshee's Veil (MR, Mana and HP, plus it blocks one CC)
Both:
1. Guardian Angel (MR and Armor, the revive is ehh sometimes you just revive to die again)

Why no big Health items for the core? Rammus is more effective with Armor and MR than Health. His passive Spiked Shell is one reason, but also his Defensive Ball Curl does 10% of Rammus Armor for extra damage. Are you getting the idea that stacking armor on Rammus is like feeding spinach to Popeye. Tremors and Curl are your main sources of damage. Besides, when the other team sees a champion in the front lines without a lot of health, they think easy kill, and you want them to attack you. You curl, you survive, and your team wipes the floor with them.

First and foremost, practice jungling in AI-bot games. The jungle is still the same, and you won't have people raging because you died in the jungle, or worry about people ganking you while jungling. It's a great place to get comfortable with jungling!

Okay, got your Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion? Good!

I usually start at the double golems camp. (You can start at the Blue Golem if someone will leash it for you, but I wouldn't try this until you have most of the runes and masteries.)

Always start with Defensive Ball Curl as your first skill. (I've heard of people using Powerball, but I just don't see it working as well. Curl reduces damage taken, increases damage given, which is also increased by your Cloth Armor)

When Double golems spawn, Smite one and just before it hits you Defensive Ball Curl. Pop one of your Health Potion too. The first should die just after you come out of Curl. Then just duke it out with the second golem until Curl comes off cool down. Curl and keep at him. Keep curling and hitting until he finally dies. Pop your second Health Potion.

You should gain a level. Crucial to have level 2 for Powerball for wraiths. If you don't level up, you need to go to WOLVES instead! (with the 4 points in Awareness, and nobody stealing exp, you will level up.)

Put a point in Powerball, but don't powerball until you are at the Wraiths. Before you see the Wraiths, click in the middle of the Wraiths. That will put you right in the middle of all of them. (Powerballing from the double golems won't always hit the big blue wraith, which slows you down and costs you health) Powerball and curl immediately while hitting the big blue wraith. Pop a Health Potion. Once he dies the rest are practically dead anyways.

On to the Wolves. You can powerball once you reach mid lane. You don't want to run out of powerball before you hit the wolves. Aim for the big wolf. Hit him and curl. DON'T USE SMITE! Just attack and Curl until they are all dead, but don't blue pill back yet. Should be level 3 too now. Put a point into puncturing Taunt. (If not lvl 3, you will be soon)

You probably don't have over 350 gold yet. You are probably close... but not quite. Walk over to the Blue Golem. Smite one of the little dragons and curl while attacking the other dragon until it dies. That should give you just over 350 gold. Run from the Blue Golem, and then telport back to heal and get boots. Buy a sight ward if you have the money, otherwise a Health Potion.

Check lanes. Are any of your teammates struggling and need some help? Are any of the enemy champions pushing over halfway? Here are the things to check before ganking in order:

1. Friendly Champions health
(Don't try to pull off a gank with teammate that is almost dead, bad things happen. Just cover the lane so they can heal. FREE EXP!!)

2. Positioning
(Teammate getting zoned? [no minion kills or exp], you need to help, or if the other team is pushing a lane too far and you can get behind them. Do it, but ping or chat or both.)

3. Enemy Champions health
(If an enemy champion is hanging on by a thread, go put them out of their misery)


If everything looks fine, and no "ganks" seem likely, go back to Blue and start over.

Wait! There is some champion way too far across their lane? Alright, powerball while you still get your mana refilled. Then, head that direction. As you are walking along, your powerball should come up just before you hit any of the turrets, but make sure to go through the jungle and come up on the lane in the bushes. Ping who you want to gank. Wait till they are over halfway across the lane. Start your powerball, let it run a second. Then come tearing out of the brush and aim behind the targeted champion.

**If you want to get fancy, don't hit them immediately. Champions will try to evade you or flash past you. By powerballing back and forth, a lot of champions will waste time running sideways or flash too early. Meanwhile your lane mates are catching up or hammering them. Just don't run out of powerball!!!**

Remember powerball has a small bump-stun and slows. So bump them toward your teammates if possible. Then attack, once they start to get away, taunt them and curl. (Taunt immediately if they have flash and haven't used it yet.)

A success doesn't always mean a kill. Sometimes it's just making them use Summoner skills and losing health so they have to play defensive or teleport back losing money from minion kills and exp.

After a gank, pop a health potion and head back to the jungle for Blue Golem. Once you have that, you can sweep through the rest of the jungle spamming powerball, curl and taunt. Save Smite for Red. Once you've cleared everything, either gank again if you have the health or Teleport back to heal and buy. GET WARDS!!!! Two at least for mid way points between top and middle, and middle and bot.

Skill use order:

E-W-R that is your bread and butter. You puncturing taunt, you Defensive Ball Curl, you Soaring Slam.

E-W-R...Q use this for max CC, you taunt, curl, tremor, and then as taunt is about to wear off, you Powerball for the slight stun and then subsequent slow.

E-W-R...Q-W there will be times when your still in the middle of a battle when your curl ends. Uh-oh...

If you don't have a way to escape by zipping away, try this. Without curl, your health will drop 3 or 4 times faster. Powerball into 'em! It has a small "stun" that bumps everyone around you. It can buy another second and with some luck, you can curl before you're dead. Late game, with some CDR, you should only need a few seconds before you can curl again.

Powerball:
When setting up to initiate or gank, hide and hit Q, let it run a second or two to pick up speed while sitting still. The faster you come out of hiding the less time your target has to react.

Soaring Slam:
Farm with this! Don't be afraid to take out a wave of minions with Tremors. It has a 60 sec cool down without CDR. Get in the middle of them and hit R. This is your main way of farming. With a Thorns, Curl and Tremors, you wipe out a minion wave in a few seconds. It's so much fun to watch gold just spring up all around you.

Tremors also does damage to turrets, but be careful, if an enemy champion is hit by your Tremors, that tower will be all over you. Same thing about a Sunfire Aegis. You may not want to attack the champion, but your AOE does regardless.

Defensive Ball Curl:
Tank a tower for a few extra hits with curl. Is your team ready to tower dive that champion. Go in first, do damage, get the tower to hit you, then curl. Now the tower is hitting you, who can take more shots than your teammates. Just don't stay around till your curl is over... then you are toast.

Puncturing Taunt:
This is your most valuable skill, always max it first! If any Carry or squishy on the other team doesn't have tenacity, they are goners with Taunt. Taunt works best with other teammates. You hold them in place, or pull them (more on this) and your team wipes them out. Their armor is reduced and the only person they can attack is you with Hundreds of Armor and MR while Curled, and also being hit with Tremors.

Pulling with Taunt. As you level up Taunt, you get up to 3 seconds. With 3 seconds you can taunt, curl and move towards your teammates, and then powerball into the taunted champion so they are slowed when trying to get away.

Anti-Tower diving with Taunt. If anyone on the other team is stupid enough to try and take out a tower behind a wave of minions with Rammus defending.. it's your lucky day. Or if they are trying to tower dive a squishy with low health. You taunt, curl, tremor let them hit you once so the tower targets them, and then you walk them right up beside the tower so they can't just flash out of tower range, and then before 3 seconds is up, you powerball them so they are slowed. Goodbye!

Taunt is what makes Rammus a threat. Without it, Rammus is ehhh... with Taunt, you are a nightmare. Catch a champion out of position, powerball into them, taunt, curl, tremor and your team should be there to mop up.

Taunt to save a teammates life, taunt to take a death and let your teammate(s) live. Taunt to take the damage from the other team's feed hero so your Carries can do away with them. Trading Rammus for say an Miss Fortune or Brand is a good trade in a team fight. Wear out your E key.