Malphite Build Guide by PsiGuard

I build him a little different.But youre guide helped me for the key items.So I got either Ninja Tabi or Berserker's Greaves ( these boots for a bigger fun factor) , Sunfire Cape ( probably my most favorite item) , Frozen Heart , Warmogs , Frozen Mallet and Randuin's Omen , of course this way it lacks MR but usually I end the game earlier and cant finish the build :P .I saw you have an Alistar so I have to check out the build ( Just got him free).Anyway thanks for the guide and cheers ^^ .

M4ss4cr4: Thanks, it's nice to see there are some dedicated Malphite players out there.

g0tep: Thank you, feel free to adapt it as you see fit.

Jpikachu1999: Nice score, I'll add it right now.

Frozen Mallet is nice, but the real highlight of the build is the Phage. As a jungler, I'm trying to fill a slightly different role than a top lane Malphite. Instead of focusing on achieving the maximum possible survivability for late game (with expensive tank items like FH and warmogs), I go for more damage and utility while still rounding off my survivability nicely. Getting Phage early will let you stick to your target after your ult is blown and your Q wears off. Malphite actually has a fairly weak amount of CC for a jungler, especially without his ult.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter isn't bad, but it isn't a 40% slow either, plus it gives 200 less health. As a source of CC, it isn't nearly as strong. Your initiation CC is usually R-E-Q, so the disable strength will be a bit higher, but the slows will wear off normally. Malphite's cooldowns are too long to let him stick to a target with just his spells. You also have to complete the whole item to get the extra slow, while with Frozen Mallet you can build Phage very quickly and get extra CC earlier. Rylai's is a decent AP option for more offense though, I'll be sure to add it to the Situational Items.

(*Does math*) At level 9, by the time you finish Atma's Impaler, you should have ~2200 health. That's 33 bonus AD from the passive, plus 45 armor which scales with Ground Slam, plus 18% crit chance. You may think that crit is silly and useless on Malph, but it's not. You will have a total of 120 AD from just your base stats and Atma's. Now here's the kicker. Brutal Strikes at level 1 will deal splash damage equal to 20% of your AD passively (which is nice for clearing jungle camps). Upon activation, your AD and armor are increased by 20%, increasing Atma's armor bonus by 9 and increasing your AD to a total of 144. Suddenly you're getting 150 damage on hit, 30 damage to all nearby targets and 18% crit which can spike your damage to 300, all for building an ARMOR item. These values only increase as the game goes on and your health pool increases while Brutal Strikes starts being leveled up. Your very next item is Giant's Belt, which is another big boost to your health pool, fueling atma's passive.

Obviously you don't have to build Atma's, but even in its nerfed state it's still a fantastic item on Malphite. I get it right after Shurelya's so I can have a strong health pool, an on-hit slow, an AoE haste and a great amount of DPS. That's a really nice combination for mid game ganking. Atma's will also help you clear camps and objectives mid game, which is when Malph's clear starts slowing down since you aren't buying much damage. AP is an option for damage, but I've never liked AP on Malph too much because it puts all of the focus on his ultimate, which is already one of his weaknesses. AD allows you to deal damage once your cooldowns are blown, and it has occasionally let me take on enemy ADs and offtanks alone. AP increases your burst when you initiate, but that's it. If I wasn't going to build Atma's, I'd get Randuin's Omen in its place and get a different item late game.

I've always preferred Randuin's Omen on initiators for the AoE slow after you ult in. It also builds out of a Heart of Gold, which makes it a more realistic item path on a jungler. Warmog's Armor and Frozen Heart can both be built in the jungle (in fact you could use the solo top build for jungling and it would work just fine), but considering the lower amount of gold available in the jungle, it's not as easy to accomplish. I wouldn't bother building FH in the jungle unless the situation demands it, which would make it situational.

It's pretty safe to assume that any of the items in the Situational Items or either of the core builds is fair play to build on Malph in either top lane or jungle. I'm obviously not going to make a whole new Situational Items section for jungling because it would be pretty much the same. You can mix and match items from both builds if you like, just make sure they work together and you don't end up with too much of one stat (keep an eye on your CDR too).

I hope that answers your questions.

rastamenjte: Thanks, that's great to hear! :)

RinYoga: Just make sure you buy MR if it's necessary. I've seen many Malphite players who build over 300 armor and end up getting shredded by the enemy AP carry, even if it's just splash damage from AoE spells.

Another one, hope you aren't annoyed:



This time, it was top lane, against an Ashe. I don't remember too much, but I remember our Fiddle jungle camped our top lane and we had some pretty sweet ganks. On my EUW account again >.>

Now, I'll respond to your responses, but first, I'm gonna say this. It's probably I just have a different style, but I like to build full tank and rely on my burst for most of my damage.

I suppose Malphite doesn't have that much CC, but it's not that bad. By the time I'm there, I'm doing a bunch of burst damage anyways to help my lane. My lane is either going to have CC or a lot of damage, and Malphite can cover for both. His initial CC will allow high damage lanes to get their damage off, and his burst damage (+ Ground Slam after initial burst) can do quite a bit of damage over time if my lane has CC.

I was just saying that as an alternative, I probably wouldn't buy Rylai's Crystal Scepter either. I'd probably buy Warmog's Armor fulfilling a tankier role and strengthening my shield.

Atma's Impaler isn't needed for clearing quickly however, and isn't the best considering you don't max Brutal Strikes second. You clear super quickly with Ground Slam and you still aren't doing that much extra damage with Atma's Impaler for ganks, as you are using mostly your spells for damage and CC. I would rather finish Randuin's Omen or buy a Negatron Cloak + Chain Vest for that money.

I like to move in between attacks, as I use Ground Slam for most of my damage.

Last thing, you stated, "with expensive tank items like FH and warmogs". Warmog's Armor is cheaper than Frozen Mallet, and Frozen Heart is technically cheaper than Randuin's Omen :3

Thanks for answering my questions. This guide has helped me play Malphite so much.

Tried out the build. Had to adapt it a bit for my situation (AA... AA everywhere), but it worked out really well. Ended up going 5-2-18. This guide is great IMHO and I'm glad you put out such quality work.

I just had an amazing 3v3 game, I'll post it if you don't mind. I'd rather get permission first though, I feel like I'm spamming this guide D:

Probably right. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with using the solo top build if you prefer that.

Have you ever tried to play Alistar without any CDR? It's not very easy. After your W-Q, there isn't much you can do until your abilities come off cooldown. That basically encompasses malphite's post-6 ganks. You ult in and ground slam for some nice burst damage, and then nothing. Your Q can slow one target for a couple seconds, which isn't too bad, but you aren't going to be handing out any more CC beyond that. That can be enough, but if you buy frozen mallet, you will ALWAYS have more CC available. It's like turning an Alistar gank into a Nautilus gank. You choose between a short burst of CC and some tankiness or perma-CC with a little less health (assuming we're talking mallet vs warmogs here). As a jungler, I generally prefer the extra CC. As a solo top, you aren't going to be ganking squat, so you don't need CC until teamfights start, which is when you need to be at your strongest. Your jungler is RARELY the strongest champion on your team, so even as a tank role, you shouldn't take 90% of the damage in a fight anyways.

Atma's isn't needed for clearing, no. However, the only way to speed up your clear on Malphite is to either get more armor/CDR or get damage. Atma's lets does both at once, offering every possible clear-increasing stat except attack speed. You won't max Brutal Strikes (unless you don't care about your Q), but you should still be using it at every camp. It costs barely anything and boosts your armor and AD by a lot, even at lvl 1.

And maybe you don't deal much damage with your autoattacks in a gank, but look how you've geared yourself. Your build is designed to keep you alive as long as possible, relying on your burst combo to deal all your damage. Mine sacrifices some defense and lets me stick to my target with a 40% slow and a huge boost in my autoattack damage. That's the whole point of the mallet+atma's combo. You CAN deal a lot more damage after you R-E-Q if you just gear for it. I think that's worth the loss of the warmog's health.

Good point about the prices. I forgot mallet costs more than warmog's, though if I had to buy giant's belt first I probably wouldn't even bother with the mallet. Half the point is the fast phage, which is a more efficient way to spend your money since it's an intermediate item offering more than just base stats. The FH vs RO situation is a bit more complicated because RO builds out of HoG. To build FH instead of RO you'd either have to skip HoG or sell it, both of which are going to end up costing you the difference anyway.

And like I said before, I'm not saying it's my way or the highway. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're doing, it's just different. I'm trying to argue that the core build I listed is strong in its own respects for different, but no less important reasons. My build has better single-target CC and a lot more DPS, yours jumps straight into a heavy tank role like my solo top build. Most of the time, I'd rather have the former, even on Malph.

As a final note: The jungle build was created before the atma's nerf, which perhaps is why you're questioning it. It's obviously less "optimal" than it used to be, but I think it still does what it's supposed to. I'm not closed to the possibility of replacing it with RO and getting a different item later. I'll have to give it some thought.

I might add a short note at the start of the jungle section explaining why the build is different than the solo top build (and that using the top build is perfectly fine as well). Would you be more accepting of my current build if I had that disclaimer there?

EDIT: Yech, wall of text. :S

EDIT2: You can post another screenshot if you like. Just try to keep it under 10. :P

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MyRepublic: Thanks for trying the build, I'm glad you liked it. Hopefully I'll be adding a new section on lane matchups as soon as I'm finished with my Alistar guide update. I'll try to make sure it's the same "quality work" that you expect. :P

Great guide. I've tried a few different builds and your solo top I am in love with. Last game 9/2/13 laning vs Darius and Teemo. Some champs counter better but solid overall and as in depth as I'd like it to be. Thank you.

Ok, that was a long post. Here we go ...

I don't play Alistar at all really :3 I'd love to learn him, but I just can't get the hang of his W - Q combo and such, no matter how many times I read great guides.

I either rush Randuin's Omen or Warmog's Armor depending on how the game is going, and so far (I'm saying so far, I haven't played him extensively yet) it's been enough to suffice for ganks no matter which way I go. If I get Randuin's Omen I can R - Q - Pop RO - Q with Ground Slams in there for damage of course, and thats like 9~ seconds of CC. Warmog's Armor gives me a ton of health and strengthens my shield, so I take almost no damage from camps and I become a towerdiving king.

I'm guessing that getting Frozen Mallet isn't a bad idea, I just don't like it on Malphite.



In the game that I will post at the bottom, I do use Atma's Impaler. I just don't understand getting it that early. Also, I've been playing Malphite on my EUW account, and I generally use 1 - 2 Ground Slams per camp (more for buffs), so using Brutal Strikes at every camp does in fact make me go oom extremely quickly.



Yeah, I don't build to deal auto attack damage in a gank. I'm thinking of using Atmog's, but I'm not sure yet.



See, I just have this problem. I don't see the point of getting Phage or Frozen Mallet except on high damage junglers (assuming we are talking junglers at this point). I also don't understand getting them and not getting a Wit's End to complement it.



I think the reason why I'm leaning towards a tankier build, is because I've been playing Malphite almost exclusively on EUW. I don't have any masteries or runes, so I rely on the extra bulk from my build to help clear my jungle and to tank damage for my team.



I figured it was before the Atma's nerf.

I am totally accepting of your current build, I just like to do some theorycrafting with people and get to know the details behind all of their decisions. I think that lower level people (aka, me/people without runes/masteries) will have a little bit of trouble playing a tank/initiator role in teamfights. I'll try out the build, but it was difficult enough for me to clear my jungle with good health until I got myself a Giant's Belt.



Yessir.

I'll post in the other way of screenshots if you wanted me to, but I thought this was a pretty nice Malphite game.

Ryze fed early on, going 0/6 against Garen. Graves and Ryze did a lane switch, and Graves did decent. Mid game, their Malphite was 1/1/6, so he had more items than me, and their Garen was like 8/1/1. Graves, being somewhat stupid, rushed a Phantom Dancer. Ryze didn't even get a Glacial Shroud by that point. I was the only one who was positive, and they were crushing us. I rushed a bunch of armor, as I figured I needed to not die to Garen, and it was 9 us/20 them by 20 minutes in.

I was starting to get pretty tanky, but I still kept getting destroyed by their mix of damage now. Annie was starting to catch up in items, and I wasn't living long. Ryze still died in 2 seconds, and Graves barely lasted longer, mainly cause they didn't go on him first.

Graves didn't get past 110 AD until 36 minutes in, when he bought a B. F. Sword. I had my Force of Nature and Randuin's Omen by now, so I was pretty difficult to kill. I did decent damage over time, but my main problem was not having enough mana. So I got Shurelya's Reverie and my team decided that it would be a smart idea to focus Garen (took them long enough ...). Graves finally finished his Infinity Edge and was doing damage, but still died in 2 seconds. Ryze finished his Frozen Heart and was finally doing damage and living longer.

So, skipping to 50 minutes into the game. Graves decides to buy Madred's Bloodrazor for some stupid reason. I bought an Atma's Impaler as I was doing no damage and was even losing to the other Malphite. I bursted Annie down every teamfight to avoid AoE stuns. Garen started dying, not quickly, but still dying. We finally aced them twice and won. A long hard match that looked like a loss. Only took me over an hour to carry my team until they could carry me >.>

This seems like a pretty good guide overall, but it seems to me from trying it, it gets really clogged after the Negatron Cloak (unless I'm missing something here). Philos + Tabi + HoG + Glacial + Negatron eats up 5 slots and can slow down the building a lot from there if the timing on the recalls doesn't work out just right. I think I'd rather either skip the Negatron or build the FoN early if I need the MR. I guess I'm not a big fan of sitting on partial items, preferring to build them up to their final (gold items the exception, of course).

I'll be playing him some more and maybe I'll get this to work, but it just seems like a slow build order to me.

You can finish Frozen Heart or Force of Nature early using that build path. It's not 100% set in stone, and it gives good defenses to cover most situations. Getting a Warmog's Armor only increases your effective health.