Welcome Fellow summoners for my first guide for a league of legends champion build. I wanted to create this guide purely because i love to play as Gangplank. There is so much versatility with Gangplank that you can play him in any number of ways including "Critplank", AD carry, tank, off tank, just to name a few. In this guide i'll be going through one of my favourite versions, being AD.

I have another GP build on the way that will cover Critplank.

Though this may not be the most appealing of guides, please bear in mind that this is my first guide and i'm still getting used to the system, and as such will be making occasional updates to the guide

Because of this i haven't got any videos or images up, but i will endeavor to try and get some into this guide before the end of the decade. Please remember to give to me any feedback you may have or to rate the guide as it will always help to further develop this guide. I'm always interested in helping fellow players as much as i can so any advice, positive or negative will be taken note of.

Big changes i've made to guide:

- Removed Shotgun GP
- Separated this from critplank build guide
- Changed overall build
- Added in Additonal situational items you can purchase
- Added in laning guides when playing top or support bottom lane
- 3/16/2013 Overhaul of graphics, added in masteries, runes tables
- 3/16/2013 Added in Pros/Cons Section

First up are the pros and cons of gangplank

..- Pros: space - Easy to learn space - Great Damage if built pure AD space - Additional gold through Q space - Versatile with different builds space - Can be played in any lane space - Global Ult space - Heal that removes CC space - Good 1v1 fighter space - Easy Farmer etc..

- Cons - No team fight impact unless critplank - Squishy unless build tank - Vulnerable when 's on CD - Unreliable Ultimate - Aggressive GP is mana hungry

Depending on your personal preference for how you play your AD's will ultimately decide how you go about choosing your runes. My AD GP takes my standard bruise page:

- Flat AD marks for early game damage when laning (particularly bot).

- Flat armor seals for that little extra durability early on. or hp/lvl seals or flat health seals for extra laning survivability (again your choice).

- Magic resist glyphs, preferably scaling, in case you come up against an early gank or your laning opponent is ap. If jungle or top isn't AP or their mid ap isn't primarily burst, swap out according to what works best for you

- i take flat AD, initially it does wonders to your AD, you should have about 75 at level 1. However, if you wanted to get ad/lvl quints there is an advantage. Scaling surpasses flat AD at level 9, which is great for late game, if you want early game aggression, stick with the flat AD. Can be swapped out for HP Quints instead

For any damage focus build of Gangplank, i make sure that i take masteries of 21/9/0 making sure that i take as much damage dealing as possible in offense, whilst focusing on defense and health in the defense tree. As the damage dealer, you're likely to be focused early on if you give your enemy the chance. To prevent this you have that little extra amount of damage and the extra health and defense to ensure you have the ability to lane for a little longer.

is a pretty easy skill sequence.

- This is your main source of damage, its got great scaling (1 to 1 AD), its a ranged ability, if you're smart with it you can last hit with this, gaining the additional gold it grants as well as refunding about 1/2 the mana. Take at level 1 and max it by level 9.

- Take at level 2 and max it second. Gives you the passive AD and movement speed buffs that you can increase through the active, granting half that buff to nearby team-mates, awesome for team fights.

- Your W = Remove Scurvy. It heals and removes any CC debuffs you currently have. Take at level 3 and max it last to allow for maximum damage output in the early game, however if you find yourself taking a little too much damage early on as GP,(mainly 'critplank') then i'd suggest getting a second point in this early or maxing this second.

- As always take your ultimate at the recommended levels unless you're doing some serious damage as critplank and you are able to get an early infinity edge or something like that. In this case i'd recommend getting a point in your R once you've maxed your Q. This is a little unreliable at times, but it adds to the charm, especially in chasing, capturing a kill or protecting a tower in another lane.

AD Gangplank needs early damage, and the extra health and life steal that the offers is an extra. This item gives you a nice start instead of (not necessesary as starting item since all champs start with a movement speed 25 higher than it was), to help you get a leg up on your opposition. Of course if you're a little more aggressive or passive, you can always go for a for the extra defense and the extra early game health. OR if you're wanting to get early crit chance, you can always start off with brawler's knuckles and upgrade to a avarice blade which will give extra gold also.

Note: The gold trickle is now 16 gold per 10 seconds, 3 higher than it was, while the avarice blade only gives 2 per 10, you now get 2 extra per kill which means you'll be getting 18 per 10 plus 2 per kill added to that using where at level 5 you can be getting an additional 8. Therefore, if you're good at preserving mana and last hitting, particularly with Parrrley, then you can be getting 114 gold per minute plus 10 per minion with parrrley. Whereas it used to be flat 108 gold per minute and 8 per minion.

From there I'd take Beserker's Greaves, as an AD carry, you're going to need attack speed, and like any ADC, the AD Gangplank build relies little on this until later in the game. And of course the bonus movement procs with your ability allowing you to move even faster so this early game attack speed is fundamental to you getting that extra hit on an enemy early. Of course, if you desire you can take Swiftness Boots for extra mobility.

After your 2 basic items, You need to get yourself a sheen for the proc. Early game i'd suggest getting the revamped for the life steal and small AD boost it gives to allow more aggressive play, in particular 1v1, before moving on to finishing the item.

Upon completing these items, you need to build your , i'd suggest getting the and parts first before completing the item.

With the IE purchased, move onto the for everything it offers. The main reason for getting these two items first, is that the IE increases AD, crit chance but also crit damage and the Triforce gives you the slow chance, the sheen proc etc.

Furthermore, as any AD Carry you need lifesteal, so you should buy a Bloodthirster as it gives you 100 AD and 18% lifesteal with full stacks. Lifesteal and AD are vital for success with any AD Carry and this Gangplank build is no exception.

This is where you can go for some variety, as the essentials items are out of the way, its up to you with how you complete your build. Of course it entirely depends on the state of the game. In this case i'm going to list best-cast scenario build and leave an additional section open for additional items and reasons for purchasing each of them.

From here, i'd suggest a for the attack damage and the obvious armor penetration. The fantastic thing about this item is that it also gives you a little bit of cooldown to help with those parrrleys and you can lower an enemy's armor by 25%!! This can be a potential game changer, especially if the enemy team has a lot of bruisers/tanks.

For my final item i like to go with a as it gives you great attack speed and crit. Although the movement speed buff has been reduced it now gives you something that is invaluable. The Unique passive of ignoring unit collision means that you can chase and escape so much more easily than you otherwise would be able to. In my opinion the build needs a bit of attack speed as without it you've only got an attack speed of roughly 1.4. It also brings your critical hit chance up to 65% which will always help you dish out a bit more damage.

This makes for a high damage, fast moving champion. Quite simply your burst damage is astounding, and with the low cool down on means that this burst damage can be repeated a couple of times when in team fights.

Though your armor and magic resist are reasonably low, you're role isn't to hang around for long, you're there to assassinate any potential threats, or to deal as much damage as possible, the more enemies the better. Furthermore, you should be able to 1v1 almost any champion, so long as a couple of minions are nearby, if not then its slightly more difficult, but you may find that you can take down an enemy ad carry with 3 maybe 4 hits with your end build.

This is where you can pick a different item. While i have my own idealistic build, sometimes the game doesn't go the way i want it to. Frustrating but it does happen. I now have at least half a dozen items that i can go to if things aren't going my or the team's way.

Reason for my favoured build:

It gives you a lot of attack damage, gives you plenty of armor penetration meaning you can deal more damage than you otherwise would. You're a fast moving champ as well as having the ability to attack very quickly, with the slow in you passive and then the trinity force you can quickly engage an enemy without them realising you're actually doing so. The idea of this build is that you're able to stay at a distance using your Ult and E abilities in between Q to do some damage before charging in. Realistically its you playing the game on your own terms and can dictate to the enemy what is happening, it does rely on you dominating however and receiving little focus.

First of all the items that you can go for instead of my "Best case scenario" build.

Ravenous Hydra

The has awesome splash damage added to your basic attacks and Parrrley. Builds from (where i've made a straight forward change over to considering it's now a Unique Passive), i'd suggest if you were the main damage dealer and were being focussed quite a bit in team fights to get this as it deals a nice spread of damage to surrounding champs. Replace Black Cleaver if you're still wanting attack speed, OTHERWISE you can remove the phantom dancer as the splash damage also applies a stack from the black cleaver.

Mercurial Scimitar

If you're after a bit of Magic Resist as well as AD. Mainly if the enemy team have some stuns/snares or slows as you can use the passive granted from the as it removes all debuffs from you which works extremely well with your heal . Replace Black cleaver with this item.

Maw of Malmortius

Much the same as the You want to be getting this item for the MR it offers. However, the massive attraction of this item is the fact that for every 2.5% of health you're missing, you have an additional point of AD, it isn't a huge amount, but if you're on about half health you'll get an additional 20 which is extremely beneficial in different circumstances. It also gives you that temporary shield for when you drop below 30% HP. Replace Black Cleaver.

Zephyr

Many will be wondering why this is worth having a look at. In actual fact, this item gives quite a good variety of buffs. The has a nice attack speed buff which needs. It also offers additional movement speed and cooldown which you can always use more of as GP. But the biggest kickers in this, is that while, costs 50 gold more than a and doesn't have the crit, it gives 20 AD but the passive is awesome. If you're playing in the top lane, a lane that very much suits GP, then you're most likely going to be coming up against opponents with CC and stuns. The Tenacity that the Zephyr gives you means that if you are forced into using your heal early on in a fight for whatever reasons, then any debuff duration is going to be reduced. It may sound a little strange but i do suggest giving this item a go. Works brilliantly if you're going to replace with and your as you can remove debuffs twice in a matter of seconds as well as if required a third time, then they won't last as long. Replace the with this.

Iceborn Gauntlet

If you're a little slow out of the blocks as the ADC, you're struggling a little against a bruiser in top lane, or your enemy is a gap closer eg. , , or . Then you can keep them at bay while continuing to harass and have a little more durability in the process. works off the sheen proc. In this case the proc is slightly different. It acts as a slow, a guaranteed slow in fact. When used in addition to then you have an instant slow. If used in a particular way, this will prevent an enemy from being able to get close enough to be able to jump to you. The added mana means you can constantly use parrrley, the 40 AP means your heal and Ult will do a bit more. And of course you'll get some cooldown reduction, meaning those parrrleys will be even more frequent. This not only aids you in the laning phase of the game, but in team fights when an enemy is attempting to initiate, like for example who needs a to engage before pulling the ult. Or if you're wanting to keep someone out of the fight then it is also a fantastic tool for that. Instead of getting a i'd suggest getting this, HOWEVER you need to make the decision fairly early on if you're to get this item as both components are quite expensive.

Last Whisper

If you're not wanting flat Armor penetration and want the percentage instead without having require stacks on something like then i'd suggest a . I wouldn't normally get this item, if i were to, it would be my last item as it doesn't have any benefits over the black cleaver unless you were to build it AS WELL AS the black cleaver, in which case i'd suggest getting this and the black cleaver and not get a . This is a gamble as you would have no life steal and less AD than you would otherwise have.

Atma's Impala

If you're wanting to build slightly tankier. It gives a little bit of crit as well as some armor. Something that it does offer is that it gives you somewhere to go with the that i suggest getting early on as well as it gives you additional AD equal to 1.5% of your max health. The only disadvantage of this item if you're wanting AD is that GP only gets to about 2100 hp at level 18. Therefore, you're going to need to build another HP item to the before you can really benefit from it. Replace Black Cleaver with this and you should consider getting the full trio of Impala, Mallet and Warmog's.

Frozen Mallet -

If you're wanting this item, then i'd also suggest getting an Atma's Impala. However, because of the fact that it will slow enemies with basic attacks, you don't really require a sheen built item. So and are out of the build. It gives some fantastic health, the slow is very beneficial when chasing or escaping, and though the AD isn't overly high, when used in tandem with Atma's Impala the loss is made up for it with the passive. I'd get this as another part of the trio.

Warmog's Armor -

while having changed slightly so the item itself doesn't have stacks to compensate for the loss of the Force of Nature, it now gives you plenty of HP regen. the bonus 1000 hp and the passive of regenerating 1.5% of your max hp, it means that you're becoming very tanky. Having this with the rest of the trio means that instead of having 2000 HP at level 18 and possibly 380 AD. You've now got 3700 HP and 280 AD. Though it is a large compromise to make, it means that you've got a designated tank who can also deal some damage which is always beneficial. I'd replace , and with these items.

The Black Cleaver

I tend to go with a because of what it offers. The CDR means i don't need to get . The Flat armour pen means i don't need a (though stacking them works nicely), but the small health increase, the 55 attack damage AND the passive on it are brilliant. 4 stacks of lowering the enemy's armour by 6.25% means you can lower an enemy's armour by a total of 25% and then there is the flat armour pen. This can be significant, particularly when trying to take down a beefy team or someone who is building tanky, eg who can be very difficult to take down.

Phantom Dancer

What the gives, is "phant"astic. The bonus attack speed that any AD can take advantage of, the extra critical hit chance can be the difference between taking out the enemy ADC in 3 or 7 hits. (Seriously, it can matter this much). And it means that people are less likely to take you on since your can crit as well so you can be doing 1000 damage pretty early. Another thing that it offers is a slight increase in Move. speed. Not a huge amount, but it does make it a little more attractive, but the one thing that tips the scale more often than not (if i'm ADC), is the passive. The ability to ignore unit collision means that although a might be considered a better item, you can still get caught running through a minion wave, when you were almost in range for a , despite the fact it gives you a large speed buff. This is what tips the scale for me most of the time, and although they're both great items in different situations, the is still the one, though the is what i'm going for more often when i'm in the top lane.

Early game farming is essential to make any AD champion work GP work. You need to make sure that you have you're well on your way to completing your first item by by 12-15 minutes to allow you to get to the stage of having the 3 essentials, , and after 30.

If you're playing in the bottom lane, do your best to be paired up with someone you know can be a little harassing in your lane, or one that can heal/defend you. This can include a , whose is frustrating as hell and the prevents you from being hit by basic attacks. is also a great option as she has an ability to give you mana as well as landing a silence and damage from afar.

Inform your partner that you want early game cs or if you're in top lane, try and get as many as you can. Push as well as you can if you're at top (or defend fiercely if you're in a 2v1 top) or if you're in the bottom lane, try not to push the lane you want to prevent your enemy from suspecting an attack. Once you've bought your basics: , and , you need to do get a kill or 2, focussing on the enemy AD carry, hit them and annoy them particularly with your Q, don't worry too much about being hit, if you drop a little too low (approx. 40%) you can always back off and regen it. After their tower is gone and you have a couple of kills ensure you're working on a B.F Sword built item. Once you have that its time to roam. Run anywhere you feel you can benefit the team with a gank or find a lane to push (CS is always a good thing). If you've got a jungler then it's even better for you, as you can overwhelm the top solo lane for an easy kill or push bottom lane for the tower and get dragon.

Once you've got your 3 essentials: , and , you need to stay with your team or push the lanes. You can now do heaps of damage, going on 250 damage with a basic attack. At this stage if you're winning the game just push for the win as best you can. If its an arm wrestle but no team fights are going on, find an empty lane and really push hard, continuously push to the tower then back off and either recall and buy an item, or regroup with the team. There is always something for you to do as the ADC/Bruiser. If you can't push a lane, go through jungle and get the buffs on offer there. This should get you quickly along to your final 2 items and should help out the team.

REASONS FOR PUSHING LANES:

My main intention of pushing a lane, particularly if you're a bruiser, is that you should have at least 2 other substantial damage dealers, meaning that if they do happen to get caught out, they should do enough damage to get themselves out of trouble. Pushing lanes will give you some great gold for your next items, and it keeps the pressure up on the opposition as they constantly have to be on look out to see what you're up to, taking their focus off the action and they have to send up reinforcements to push you back which means that the rest of your team can counter attack in a different lane, or give you a hand if you are wanting a team fight.

Remember to with someone As mentioned above, you want to be roaming as much as you can after the laning phase, by which point you should have 2 of the essential items. Dragon is awesome as it gives you 190 gold and some great XP. Keep pushing to the end of the game if you can, or if all else fails you can jump in for a last hoorah with the rest of your team to catch them off guard.

As a melee type AD carry you need to pick your fights. Mainly you should be trying to get a 1v1 situation, however if you find there is a team fight then there a couple of things that you can do.

1. Jump in and deal as much damage as you can:

You obviously don't want to be doing this hap hazardously, you need to know what you can do and know who to go for to start off with. This is the main reason why its so important in having your essentials: , and so early on. In case of a team fight you want to be able to do damage to everyone. I'd suggest initiating with your ultimate , which works well as a slow and to help you and the team engage the enemy. Then find their damage dealer, ideally this will be the enemy ad carry so make sure you them, to take them down fast.

Follow this up with and basic attacks as the should have proc'd and you can do even more damage added to the bleeding effect from your passive, .

Just like any other team-fight, you want to be going for their damage dealers, particularly if they're squishy, so after the ADC i'd go the AP and then the support (if they have one). Once you've gone through a couple of them, if you drop too low then pull back a bit to regen some health, if not then move onto the next enemy, by this stage they remaining champs should be low and you can clean them up. This is a risky plan as you can easily go down with a slow/stun in the initiation, but if you manage to get in there with a and avoid that, you should be able to wreak havoc on them.

2. Pick them off one by one/support the team.

This is a little more passive than you should be if you have the 3 essential items. But if you find that they're dealing heavy damage it is the safer option. Try to keep your distance and if you've got your and in particular, make sure you've used your E and parrrley anyone you can.

The burst damage you and the rest of your team have, should do a fair job of dropping everyone's health. Raise morale again if the fight goes for that long, and continue to parrrley, if you sense that they're about to pull back you have the new option of letting them go, if your team is low, or to take them out.

If you're up against someone tanky that can also deal plenty of damage and are therefore able to be quite aggressive against you, eg. or then i tend to build tanky very early on.

In the case of or any other physical damage bruiser champion, my advice would be to get a before turning it into a and getting some health regen through the . Main reason is that it will give you plenty of hp, a little extra attack damage but a huge slow, it means that you can keep your enemy or the jungler at a distance when they attempt to gank you, or when they attempt to take you on 1v1. This gives you a little more durability in a fight, You may not have the early damage that you want, but it should mean that your laning opponent will continue to hit you without realising he's putting a dent in you. Be smart when to get those few hits in and try to farm as well as you can.

For then i'd suggest MR very early on, purely because of his Q ability, which can deal a lot of damage if you're not on your toes. I'd suggest getting a as it gives you the MR, AD and the shield for when you take magic damage. After the i'd suggest moving onto getting a for the hp and regen before completing a .

In essence, what i'm suggesting is that if you're up against a tanky enemy, then you need to get an item that will negate them, anyone who can deal a lot of physical damage, armor and hp. If they're dealing magic damage, get mr. It may seem obvious, but i've seen plenty of solo top players get items they seriously don't need, i'm talking things like buying a when i'm dealing magic damage. So think about your situation, think about what you can purchase to reduce incoming damage and get it, the new shop (while very clunky) makes it a lot easier to find specific items quickly.

Finally, for squishy enemies, like . You really need to either dominate him early on, or seriously harass. Because as someone who can mid as the little yordle, it is so easy to get cs it isn't funny. If he starts off with 40 odd AP and gets his passive, then he can usually 3 or 4 hit minions at level 1. Once he gets to level 6, he will plant his EVERYWHERE, making ganking nigh-on impossible and he will be able to rip you to shreds (if he's smart and builds AP). SO once again, don't let him hang back and farm, don't push your lane too much, and really harass him with when you have the chance.

Now a lot of people will look at this and think "WTF, SUPPORT PLANK IS STUPID". And coincidentally, you'd be correct.

I don't play GP in the same sort of "support" role that people have come to expect. My version relies on a couple of things. First of all, no one takes gp for top lane (its a given but hey, you can't use him if someone else has him), and secondly if the teams actually understands what i'm going for. With the current community, and all the new-comers from Christmas and the tournaments. I tend to play in a pre-made team, or at least with 1 other friend, simply because it means i can lane with someone i know, trust and can communicate easily with (when i'm solo queuing i usually mid or solo top). So now on to "Support Plank": Its actually quite simple, work out with your adc who's going to purchase the boots, 1 pot and ward and who's going for a doran's/boots+ 3 pots. I tend to get a Doran's Shield for 2 reasons:

1. I'm the early game support, i need to have plenty of durability to be able to harass the enemies as well as remain in lane when the adc has recalled. (use when low)
2. As the support i need to take some hits from my adc and will tend to initiate so we can get the kills (or he can, i actually tend to get the kills otherwise i'll end up being 0/2/30, its seriously happened before)

Like any support, I let my team-mate get the cs early on, i take as many of the hits as possible and i harass like mana doesn't exist. This does mean that i need to be quite aggressive and so does my laning partner, but this is why we have wards, warding in a good spot along the edge of the dragon pit means that you'll be able to see any potential gank coming you way, as you'll tend to have the lane pushed. Any chance your lane can get a kill, let your partner know and take them down. Gankplank is a master at initiating, high mobility, good damage, can raise friendly's AD and move. speed so you shouldn't have a problem doing so.

The key i've found is to NOT let your opponent push early, buy your starting item/s and rush to the bottom brush and wait for someone to poke their head in. Getting first blood as a combo will help immensely to your success in the lane, it'll keep the remaining enemy back early giving you a bigger lead, and they'll go on the defensive to avoid falling further behind.

Push your lane really early on, give your adc plenty of kills and cs, roam the **** out of the map, help your other team-mates and win.

There is a little more going on than this but these are the basics. In reality i build in a very similar way to solo top GP. i get , and . This leads to insane move. speed, increased gp5 and you can slow enemies to allow for more kills. I still build the usual , , and . But by the time you've gotten these 4 items and boots, you are some seriously beefy "support".

Most people will look at this and think "ok Sachmo i understand why you're doing this, but you're crazy". My reply to this is that i don't care, support GP is super fun to play, in particular in a pre-made team. Yes you may not get the kills that you need, but you're doing a huge favour to the rest of your team by building tanky with some damage.

My most recent attempt at "support GP" i've had the game score of:
Along with this i've had:
3/1/11
4/3/21
2/6/26 (my first and only attempt at support GP in a ranked game)

So the bottom line is, yes it works, while it is difficult and you do need a good laning partner, if you get the chance to get going in the lane, in a team fight you can almost single handily take the entire enemy team. If you have another tank and bruiser eg for solo top and for jungle, you almost can't lose.

Gangplank is an adaptable champion and many summoner spells work well on him. This is all suited to your preference, though and are the ones i'd usually use. The use of ignite stacked with gangplank's passive allows for some great finishing on a low enemy, or to finish off an enemy when in danger yourself. Flash is fantastic to use as an escape tactic as Gangplank doesn't have an escape ability or a stun. so mobility is your best defense. Of course is a great spell to take also. As mentioned, Gangplank has no stun, therefore taking exhaust is also a viable spell to take, if you're wanting to catch out a lot of people or often find yourself in some trouble.

Overall GP is an awesome champion to play as, once you get used to the subtleties of his playstyle, you should be able to do a lot of damage with almost any build simply because you can get on a role very early on which allows for a lot of opportunities to roam and gank other lanes to continue the snowball effect.

Like any AD build. AD GP is expensive considering you need to buy components for the trinity force and Infinity Edge, however once you've obtained your essentials, the damage that you deal and the 1v1 capabilities that this offers is remarkable and you should be able to get the gold you need for these very quickly, particular with a few early kills or a lot of CS. To put it simply, though you've spent 12k on your build at this point, you should be able to take out a wave of minions in 3 or 4 seconds, giving you another 200-300 gold as well as take down an enemy carry in 4 or so hits (if taking advantage of and using your abilities). The process from your components of items to the last of your essentials will take some time, but remember what you are able to do, once you've gotten them.

And please remember that this is simply a guide that i've put together to advise anyone out there to get an idea on how to play GP, you don't need to follow this as it is only there to help you out.

To conclude, i'd like to thank you guys for taking the time to read this guide, i've put in a bit of effort, in the game and out, in order to put this together with the build and the costs and stats etc. Feel free to give me some feedback through the guide or make amendments of your own when playing, this is a guide after all, and you can always send me an image to me of your games with this or any other of my builds and as always GL HF, and i'll see you on the battlefield.