* This is a fun alternative way of playing Singed. He is probably most viable in a team, especially competitive as a regular tank. I play this is unranked solo Q . You can still tank some teams with this build, but it works best if you already have a dedicated tank *

Hey, welcome to my Singed guide!

I've been maining Singed for a while and I've always played him as a tank with the regular mix of 1-2 AP items, HP, armor, MR, etc.

There are already some pretty good guides out there if you want to play him as a full tank. Lately I've been playing him as a tanky AP DPS and it has been awesome. As you can see by the item builds, it's a pretty simple stack AP and HP, but it is effective.

I cannot vouch for the viability of this build in ranked play (maybe it's awesome, maybe it sucks) but for regular solo Q it's amazing. It pretty much allows you to carry your team to victory unless they are unspeakably terrible and completely unable to assist you even in the slightest.

*NOTE: the item build is pretty flexible, don't just look at the build and be like: Oh he's missing my favorite Singed item and leave. I will give alternatives in the item section.

I gave 3 examples of builds here but there are tons and many of the items are interchangeable.

Runes as with many chars is mostly personal pref. I take MP reds, armor yellow and CDR blues.

MP is pretty much standard for any AP champ, armor is nice early game for laning, And CDR is very nice on singed, more flings, for aoe slows and an amazing ult that is basicaly up every single time you need it.

You can take MP5, MR or ability power also.

Masteries are very flexible on Singed. I like 09/00/21 so my spells are up more, I get better CDR, speed which is awesome on Singed and some other good stuff. 09/21/00 is awesome too though, if you prefer to play it tankier, go for this.

So I'm going to explain my reasoning (generally) behind the items in the brief and I will list other useful items on Singed.

I generally like to start off with bootsand 3 health pots. This makes it easier to run in and last hit or fling an enemy into your lane partner.

Other options to start are Doran's shieldif you think you're going to have real trouble staying in lane or Faerie Charmto build into a Philosopher's Stone. This is a route you can take if you feel you won't be getting that much farm. If you're playing vs a heavy AD team too and you're planning on getting a Randuin'sthen you can go ahead and buy a Heart of Goldalso.

That will give you extra income so you can play a little bit safer and still generate some income.

But most of the time, I find it easy enough to farm on Singed and 90% of the time it is better to rush a Catalystand then a Rod of Agesthis will give you the HP, mana and AP you need to be a dps threat and very tanky early game.

Many guides tell you not to build a Rod of Ages in 5v5, but just to go Rylai'sand full tank items. Their rationale is: "you're a tank, Rod of Ages doesn't help your team, Rylai's does because you aoe slow everything." This is true, it is a good rationale but I find most games you can kill two birds with one stone. When I started playing Singed, I played with Rod of Ages + tank items, I then switched to Rylai's + tank items. Both builds work but overall, the Rod of Ages is better for mana and HP, it makes you tankier than Rylai's while still making you a threat. And either way, for these builds, I tend to use both.

The reason I like to stack Rods is that it gives you incredible HP and sustainability for a high AP item. You could literally stack 5 of them and boots and dominate with 400 AP and something stupid like 6k HP.

Build 1 obviously is full AP, this build is just fun if your team already has a tank or you are a tanky team, and sometimes even if you are the only tank (depending on how strong the other team is). But for most games I can just build this and run freely through the other team while dealing very considerable damage for a character that people are reluctant to target and people chasing you die very fast. In this build you can even switch out Warmog'sfor Rylai's or another Rod. for TONS of AP and still around 5k + HP. If you build this, your psn trail will be dealing almost 300 dmg per second with your ult up and your flings will be around 1000 dmg AND you're fast as hell and you have 5k HP, double or more of most AP carries.
Lichbane is a fun item I threw in there, you can easily replace it with a tanky item, or an AP item. If you're doing alot of chasing, Lichbane is nice when you're built mainly AP because every time you fling or MA you deal a pretty massive chunk of dmg. It also adds nice speed.

The other builds are slight examples of more tank oriented builds specific to AP or AD heavy teams while still providing enough AP to be a threat.

Depending on the flow of the game. You can build different things. Some games on Singed I have literally built boots, 3 Rod of Ages and 2 Warmog's armor. I would run in vs another team (none of which were amumu or had bloodthirster. I would poison them all for moderate steady damage and laugh as they tried to peel away at my 7k + HP. After about 2 minutes of them pounding on me, slowing me, trying to kill me, I would get away with 20% hp or so while the rest of my team took out most of their towers and inhibs.

Some games though vs tougher counter champs I have had to build full tank items with 0 AP. Some teams target you all the time, other avoid you. So build accordingly.

If your opponents are CC heavy and snare you to death, you're going to have to build mercury treadsand a Rylai's or and/or a Randuin's omen. If their AP carries are stunning you, slowing you and nuking you to death, it'll have to be a Banshee's Veiland Force of Nature. If it's a mix of both and you find yourself dying more often than you should, finish your build with a Guardian Angel
All this basically to say that Singed doesn't have 1 specific, generic build or even an item that is a MUST every game, he doesn't even really have a core build. If I were to name a core item, it would probably be Rod of Ages, or Rylai's. But again, this is personal pref. Sometimes you don't even need the slow from Rylai's. If you're running heavy AP, you sometimes want them to be able to stick with you so they die to your poison and often Mega Adhesive is enough to ensure that you live. But other times you will need that slow to survive or same your fleeing team members.

Despite not having a CORE build, I find that just stacking HP and AP is often enough and the most fun way to play Singed. You can still run through their team and laugh at their attempts to kill you. You can often run into 3 enemy champions, kill their squishy and get away alive. (Depending on how fed you are vs how fed they are and how much cc they have).

Now I will list stellar defense items that are good on Singed based on the enemy team:

Banshee's Veil: MR, HP, mana, spell block, very anti-caster. (But not necessarily essential to Singed as many other guides imply. When you have 5k + HP, casters become less of a threat and it's AD champs you need to worry about)

Force of Nature: MR, crazy HP regen, nice speed. I really like this item because of the speed and it synergizes perfectly with Singed. This + a warmog's often makes you survive the dealiest of enemy attacks, you're running while slowing your enemy and regening as much HP as their seldom attacks hit for.

Frozen Heart: also great on Singed. It's nice vs heavy AD teams because of the high armor but it also gives the mana (which is also HP) and the CDR actually contributes to your DPS, Fling and ult up more often. End game, fling can hit for 500-1000 depending on your build. And you can spam mega adhesive more which basically makes your enemies the slowest m-****ers ever.

Guardian Angel: nice armor and MR and awesome passive. I don't use this item much anymore because it doesn't contribute or dps or hp much and I don't die very often on Singed. But it some games when you can see that that revive would let you pull off miracles, by all means get it, it is a very good item. Especially vs those teams that have 2 AD carries and 2 AP carries, just stack HP and get a GA.

Randuin's Omen: Pretty much the best overall armor item in the game. Along with Force of Nature, this is always listed as a core item in a Tank Singed guide. HP, armor, CDR, aoe slow passive and active. It's just an awesome item. Heavy AD team is able to kill you? Get this item or frozen heart. If they still kill you, get both. I often do not get Rylai's if I get this, I find it a little waste of a slow. But you can get them both, it just means the other team will be perma-slowed.

Quicksilver slash: I've never used this on Singed because I usually don't find CC to be that much of a killer on him. For most teams, Mercury treads gets the job done. But if you're matched up against malphite morgana and xin and you just find you never get to move even with tenacity. You can buy one of these and it'll save your life.

Sunfire Cape: This item is nice and pretty cheap. pretty decent armor and HP and a nice aoe dps aura. The aura synergizes with your psn just dishing out more punishment to anybody near you. I get this item sometimes, it's just a good, overall cheap item that gives a lot to Singed.

Thornmail: This item is just Auto-attacker's nightmare. If the other team has a fed yi or something picking on you, get this and watch them kill themselves on you. If you're fighting heavy auto-attack teams you're going to want to build armor, hp and mobility, and this gives you a **** load of armor and punishment for attacking you. Be careful though, don't get this if the other team is just ignoring you and gunning right for your squishies. If that is the case you want to punish them with tons of AP and aoe slowing.

Warmog's Armor: I love this item and build it most of the time. It just gives you an ***load of HP and regen. Often just one of these makes any character tanky. 1300+ HP from 1 item? Ridiculous. You don't always need to get this item, you actually don't need it at all. if you're more comfortable with just having 4k ish HP and having armor or MR (or a bit of both) you can do that. I just find that vs teams that are balanced with both AD and AP champs, stacking HP allows you to be tankier vs both types rather than just stacking a bit of MR and a bit of armor. For example: you're fighting vs xin, garen, brand, morgana and malphite. You can either get about 150 MR, 150 armor, 80 AP, 3.5 - 4k hp and some passives or you can get 320 - 600 AP and 6k HP. The first build will probably make you tankier overall (unless they are all stacking pen) but you're basically there to AoE slow everybody and keep them off your carries which is fine because that is the role of the tank. But the build I'm providing you with allows you to do a bit of everything and is more fun for solo Q.

Zhonya's Hourglass: This can be a nice item, if you want to keep stacking that AP while gaining a bit of survivability vs AD teams, this item is nice and the active: "OH ****" button can save your life. But overall I feel other items are generally better suited to Singed.

Aura items can be good too if you want to support your team more.

***Note: Apart from Amumu and and warwick, fed auto-attackers will usually be your biggest weakness as they often lifesteal and deal massive, constant damage. If the other team has a fed Yi or tryndamere for example, you will HAVE to stack armor, HP and have slowing mechanisms. You shouldn't do the AP build unless your team has a reliable tank. In this situation, forgoe the AP for Armor and play the tough to kill, aoe slowing, interupting bastard that Singed is and you won't be 20/2/10 but you'll be 5/5/30 and coming out with a win.

Start with fling for early gank opportunity or to toss aggresive lane opponents into your tower for the first blood.

Then max psn trail. After that it is up to you. I suggest maxing psn adhesive because most of your dmg comes from psn trail and the massive slow helps for ganks and escapes, but you can put 1 point in it and max fling if you find the extra damage on it helps you or you can take turns putting points in each one.

If I don't mention a spell, it's because you should not even think about using it.

My favorite are Ghost + teleport (also fits nicely into the Util mastery tree). I think ghost is essential on Singed. Sprint + Ult means you can catch anybody and pretty much nobody can catch you unless they have ridculous amounts of stacking slows. I like teleport because early on it allows you to stay in lane and farm as much as possible and later it allows you to do everything, assist in a gank, protect a tower, save a team member, push a tower or farm a massive minion mob, etc.

Other viable spells:

Cleanse: I never use it on Singed but it can be handy and some people swear by it.

Flash: Flash is a fan favorite, useful for any character. On Singed I don't find it necessary though and I think you get more use out of ghost. Singed is more of a sustained damage character so there is no flash in gank, it's more of a: "I'm going to chase you all the way back to your base until you die" kind of gank. and running away is more like: "I'm gonna run away from you and you're going to breathe in my plague until you die" instead of "I'm gonna flash over this wall and recall to base". You can always get both if you want, but I prefer tele.

Ignite: If you're really going for straight damage over survivability this can be good, especially vs evil healers and lifestealers that can heal through your dmg!

Exhaust: Ok skill on Singed but I never take it. The others just work better I find. Like I said, Singed is more of a slow prolonged ganker, let your AD champs grab the exhaust for ganks. But if exhaust is your favorite skill and you must have it, it isn't terrible on Singed and has some uses.

Support spells:

Heal: Ok on Singed, if you feel you have a lot of trouble staying in lane and you could use an early game save, heal is good. It's also probably a good skill for new players using Singed. You can also use it as a sneaky thing. Singed is one of thoe characters that always seems to get away with 10% HP so people like to chase him, so they may stay in your trail long enough to nearly die to get that kill but OH ****, you just healed and they died of poison.

Fortify: I've never used it on Singed but it's a very good team spell, if nobody on your team has it, it can be good, you can also use it if you like to tower hug, toss people into towers and make the towers punish them even harder.

Clairvoyance: Your support should get this, but if they don't and you want it on the team, the tank can always sacrifice a spell for the team.

The playstyle, or the way I play anyways is pretty similar to a tank even when I'm playing almost full AP.

Early game, you're going to want to be careful, it's tough to come off a game when you were running through 2 towers at once and 3 of their carries just tossing people around and then going into the next game and starting very cautiously again but you have to do it! Singed starts off kinda squishy, you don't have a ranged poke, just fling. If you're solo lane, you basically stay back and get exp and tower hug. You can run in to last hit if they aren't extremely aggressive but if getting a last hit is going to cost you 30% of your HP or even risk a gank it isn't worth it.

Wait until you're level 4-5 and have farmed up a Catalyst. Once you have catalyst and boots, you can start to farm and farm very well. If the other team is aggressive, you still have to be careful but you have less mana issues and you can used you poison trail to usually get half the minion kills at least before the evil tower robs you.

If you're playing duo lane, depending on who you play with you need to either be careful or aggressive depending on who has more poke. It sounds complicated but its as simple as: if they other team can hurt you more with less risk, stay back, let them over extend then punish them for it. And if you and your partner can dish out more dmg, play aggressively and reduce how much they can farm. But don't over extend too early. Singed can tower dive to finish people off at level 6 but it's risky, around level 8-9 he can do it a bit better and at level 11 and up he can basically do it all he wants.

If things are going ok, and you have about the same K/D ratio as your laning opponent and the same or more farm. When you get Rod of Ages, you start to be more aggressive and push them back.

If you're dominating your lane, you have much more farm, a couple kills and assists, once you get road of ages + mercury treads or boots of swiftness, you can get very pushy. You push towers, farm farm farm (steal their jungle if your out of minions to kill in your lane).

You can go help gank or help push another lane if you want but staying in your lane especially if its a solo lane will be the best for early to mid. But if there are lots of team fights going on, go help.

What usually happens when you are solo pushing your lane the whole game is somebody will come try to gank you. Except most of the time they can't. I usually have 1-3 people come try to gank me at once when I'm pushing. Don't be afraid of this, if they come, you pop your ult and/or ghost (if you don't have these up be more cautious). You basically want to be slightly out of their range or close enough so they can hit you sometimes to give them hope and chase you and you want to use poinson adhesive to give yourself a bit of a gap. when you see them coming, toss a psn adhesive in front of you (on your way back) or at your feet if they're behind you. This will give you some range and give them the impression that you're actually afraid for your life.

Now I say 1-3 people, but this all depends on your items vs theirs and what champion they are. If they are more farmed than you, 1-2 champs can kill you by themselves sometimes. Some games I've kited a 5-man gank into my team with about 40% HP each for a 5-0 ace, other times I've been killed by a single champion. So get a feel for the how much you can do within a game. If the team counters you and you can't pull off epic escapes and triple kills, you're going to want to build more tanky and play more of a team game early on instead of the mad pusher who fears nothing.

Once you get towards late-game. Even if you're AP built, you want to play kinda tanky. Running in in team fights, slowing the whole team, soaking some damage and hopefully keeping them off your team-mates. Even though you're built to kill, flinging jax off your ashe is more important than flinging their ashe to get the last hit kill. Don't be selfish.

Better off being 4/8/35 with a win than 25/3/10 with a loss and yelling at your team for being baddies even though you could have carried the baddies to victory.

With this build however most of the time you'll be coming out victorious with many kills, not so many deaths and a lot of assists.

Singed does a lot of running away and baiting in general. Talk to your team make sure they know this and ping where you're running to. If your team meets you along the way, you can often drag half their team into an ambush and when they get there, their hp is so low that they don't stand a chance, even if you're outnumbered.

Well I hope this helps you play Singed in different ways depending on the game. He's a really fun character and completely unike from any other. A lot of the time, people don't even know what to do vs Singed. He's just always there and always a pain in the ***. If you master him, you will win most of your games because he just causes so much trouble for the enemy team. They can't really kill you efficiently, you're a threat to their carries and the whole team is pretty much perma slowed.

Just remember to put the team first and you should come off on top. Get a feel for his fleeing ability to see how aggressive you can be. Most bad Singed players I see are way too aggressive from the get go and for no reason. They die because they tower dive too early and when there's no chance of a kill and end up feeding their opponents to the point where they can never get tanky enough to play against them.

The most important thing early is to reduce the income of your laning opponents as much as possible. Rod of Ages scales so well on Singed that if you have the same level of income as your laning enemy by the time you have it. You usually get the upperhand in the lane because of the sustainability and harrass ability it gives you.

Anyways, Have fun! And give me your feedback both positive and negative and I will adress your concerns or fix something if I've missed it!

And plz upvote if you like it!!