Udyr Build Guide by JekeTeMata

Introduction

Hello everyone, this is my second guide, if you have read my Riven's Guide then you would know that I'm a casual LoL player who enjoys playing normal games just for fun. So as my previous guide this isn't a guide for high level ranked play, tho i'm sure it would work :)

I've been thinking in not releasing this build for Udyr cause I find it absolutely OverPowered but I will take the risk of causing a nerf to Udyr :D

Ok maybe I was exagerating a bit, but you all should read and try ingame the build to figurate out. This build offers a new playstyle for Udyr, I will explain it in the next chapter.

I think is obvious to say that this build is made to be played in the solotop lane according to the actual meta, it does work for jungling, but I will just explain the modifications you should do without going in depth simply cause I don't have enough experience on jungle.

To finish the intro I'd like to add that this isn't a guide for begginers on Udyr, here you won't learn much about the champion, this is just a special build I minded up for Udyr, if you are new to Udyr I recommend you to read another guide before this one. For example this guide helped me a lot when I was starting to jungle with my build.

Changelog

• 20/05/2012: Changed the information in the item section, concretely boots and final item parts.
• 22/05/2012: Tiny changes on intro and credits. Changed the ability sequence. Added Ability-Combo and Jungle sections.
• 27/05/2012: Changed the item purchase order, rushing Manamune can leave Udyr a bit weak in midgame, usually will be better to buy at least the Glacial Shroud first. Added elixirs for when build is finished. Added Warmog's Armor and Frozen Mallet to the list of possible final items.
• 16/07/2012: Replaced ArPen Marks by Flat Damage ones, they will give better early stage of the match and ArPen aren't that much good since Udyr does both types of damage. Added sample alternative build for the "excess of mana" haters :)
• 17/07/2012: Updated the info on Runes section after previous change.

Who is SpamUdyr?

I think that to all Udyr players happened sometime that he was out of mana (OOM from now) so you couldn't pop that Turtle Stance wich would have saved your life, or for triggering that Bear Stance that would allow you to dodge that Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab that brought you to the middle of the enemy team, or even to pop that Tiger Stance that would have been the final hit with it's damage over time to your lane enemy. Well all those things NEVER happens to SpamUdyr.

If you are an Udyr player then you should know that Udyr has a low mana pool (starts with 220 and gets up to 760 base mana), most will think that Udyr doesn't need so much mana cause his abilities have low mana cost, well that's true but is also true that Udyr has really low cooldowns (just 6 seconds each) so he can spend that mana fast, here most will think that Udyr doesn't need to use his abilities all the time cause all his abilities come with a persistent effect wich last until they use a different ability.

Again true, but please lets take a look at the different Persistent/Activation effects of the different Udyr abilities:

Monkey's Agility: This passive grants Udyr 10% attack speed each time he uses an ability and stacks up to 30%. Good reason to SPAM isn't it?

Q Tiger Stance: Activation: Udyr's next attack deals normal damage + 150%AD + X extra damage over 2 seconds aswell as Y attack speed for 5 seconds. Persistent: Attack Speed increased by X. I don't think i need to say that activation is absolutely much better than persistent, so why not SPAM it?.

W Turtle Stance: Activation: Udyr gets a shield that absorbs X damage. Persistent: Udyr's attacks restore X life and Y mana. Well here you can say that persistent effect could be better than activation for recovering life after a fight. Ok so don't change the stance but keep SPAMMING W and you will lose no life while you lifesteal.

E Bear Stance: Activation: Grants Udyr X movement speed for Y seconds. Persistent: Udyr's attacks stun his target for 1 second. Again a great persistent effect, but as before you can always keep SPAMMING E until you catch your target, and even some W between to avoid some damage.

R Phoenix Stance: Activation: Udyr deals X magic damage to nearby enemies for 5 seconds and in addition his ability power is increased by Y and his atack damage by Y/2. Persistent: Every 3rd attack Udyr deals X magic damage to the enemies in front of him. Again both are good but i think activation is sightly better. i didn't remember about that ability power and damage increase, maybe is worthy to max this and leave Turtle Stance at 3 or both at 4?. Anyway SPAM it!!

So to resume, if you think that running around the map at ridiculos high speed spamming E all the way, fight constantly changing from one stance to another, dealing crazy damage each Q, protecting yourself each W, stunning your enemy each E (if you control well the times ofc) and getting extra damage each R could be fun, yes you are right, is crazy fun, so you should try SpamUdyr.

Pros / Cons

Pros:

• You can spam your abilities like a Manaless champ
• Crazy damage output while quite tanky late game
• 1v1's good early/mid and after getting tanky is nearly unbeatable in 1v1
• Good damage early game
• Has a ranged slow with damage (after you get Bilgewater Cutlass/ Hextech Gunblade)

Cons

• Very vulnerable to slows, stuns and snares
• Unlike normal Udyr, silences hurt SpamUdyr
• Expensive Build

I'm bad at this kind of lists so thats all i can figurate out for now.

Runes

For runes I use a standard set of them:

For Marks I get Greater Mark of Attack Damage for having more damage in early game, since Udyr does both magic and physical damage Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration might be a good choice too, and if you don't have this last one, I'd recommend the ArPen marks cause usually Udyr deals more physical damage than magic one.

For Seals I use Greater Seal of Armor for the extra armor, if you feel that you can use different ones better feel free to do it.

For Glyphs I go with the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist again standard magic resist per level.

The Quints I use the Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed for the extra speed.

Again feel free to personalize this section and tell me how it performed, i dont have enough runes to test different combinations.

Masteries

I go with 21/8/1 masteries, cause i feel it better than 8/21/1 but probably 9/21/0 can work too, 15 seconds less cooldown on Flash maybe dont make that much difference.

I won't go indepth with masteries because none is key to build SpamUdyr, feel free to choose the ones wich you think will perform the best.

Items

STARTING

I start with the standard Boots of Speed + 3 Health Potion, always works well for me, probably Doran's Blade could work too or also a Doran's Shield, feel free to use your best start set.

CORE ITEMS

• Manamune: This is what gives Udyr the power to become SPAMUDYR, seriously may sound weird a Manamune for Udyr but is the best item he can get belive me. Usually I rush Tear of the Goddess after boots, then I get the level 2 boots and right after the Manamune, sometimes rushing Manamune can leave Udyr a bit weak, in most cases will be better to buy at least Glacial Shroud before completing Manamune.
  
• Frozen Heart: The truth is that SpamUdyr only needs Manamune to start to spam, but this item is just so great, it makes him quite tanky, gives him extra mana (maybe unnecessary but it will bring also 10AD thanks to Manamune) and the most important CDR, wich will get us the possibility to have always 3 stacks of Monkey's Agility cause it will let us spam the same ability in time to not loose the stacks. Usually i get Glacial Shroud after Manamune and then upgrade it after the Main Damage Item.
  
• Hextech Gunblade: I know, again a weird item for Udyr, but take a carefull look at it, the most important in my opinion is that Gunblade provides an active wich gives the only thing Udyr heavily lacks, a ranged slow wich damages.
  Apart of this nice active it brings a bit more damage for Tiger Stance, ability power wich comes handy for Turtle Stance and Phoenix Stance and the second most important thing sustain, bigger sustain than a The Bloodthirster because as SpamUdyr we will be constantly spaming Q and R in while fighting and both work with spell vamp, also gives lifesteal for our autoattacks wich are quite a few, combined with Turtle Stance this item gives SpamUdyr all the sustain he needs.
  I get Bilgewater Cutlass after the first parts of the defensive items and i upgrade it to Gunblade right after upgrading the defensive items.

That's all, the best of SpamUdyr is that he just need one item (but better this three) to become SpamUdyr so you can build your own, but remember to credit me if you are going to create a guide :P

SITUATIONAL GOOD ITEMS

For Magic Resistance:

• Banshee's Veil: This item gives good magic resist, health and yes even more mana, it is by default in my build just because it's passive is so good for Udyr since he is so vulnerable to slows and stuns. Usually i get Catalyst the Protector after Glacial Shroud or Negatron Cloak depending how the match is going and i upgrade it right after getting Frozen Heart.
  
• Wit's End: This item is comon for Udyr and really good, feel free to take it instead Banshee's Veil if you think it will be better for you, but in my opinion Banshee's Veil is superior.
  
• Force of Nature: Great item for magic resist, i would take it instead Banshee's as main antimagic damage item if the enemy team has strong APs, but i still like more Banshee's Veil to avoid slows or stuns.
  
• Quicksilver Sash:This item is a must if you are facing a team wich lots of CC, is important to take this along with Banshee's Veil not replace it, is very weird to get to make the final Trinity Force so use this item until you have money for Trinity.

As Armor Item:
I strongly recommend to get Frozen Heart as armor item, i already explained why, but in certain situations you may get one of the follow instead.

• Randuin's Omen: Great item overall, get it instead Frozen Heart if you feel like the slow active can help your team more than the attack speed reduction from frozen heart. Frozen Heart still gives more armor and more CDR, Randuin's good points are the extra HP and the HP per 5 it gives, feel free to choose.
  
• Atma's Impaler: Also great armor item, still prefer Frozen Heart cause gives much more armor, but if you will choose Infinity Edge as main damage item this is the perfect partner for it.

As Main Damage Item:
I already explained why you should be getting Hextech Gunblade as Main Damage Item, but if you still find it too weird you can change it for one of these:

• The Bloodthirster: Great damage item, and good sustain, Higher damage than Hextech Gunblade but less sustain, also needs to be charged and doesnt have that nice ranged active wich complements Udyr that well, but still a viable and good item for SpamUdyr.
  
• Infinity Edge: Probably the best damage item in game, go for this if you want high damage and you think that Turtle Stance sustain is enough. Again viable item if you want to hit like a truck with your Q.
  
• Frozen Mallet: Great item with less damage than the others but with a nice on-hit slow to keep our targets near us, also is a valid choice for SpamUdyr main attack item.
  

As Final Item
For the 6th slot i would choose between:

• Trinity Force: The best possible item for Udyr, it gives crazy damage passive a whole bunch of great stats all usefull for him and a probability to slow, for sure is a must on any Udyr i get this as final item if i feel like i need more damage to help my team.
  
• Guardian Angel: Great item for getting more resitances, get this as final item if you feel like you need a bit more tankiness and its great passive. It is in my standard build item list cause i feel like with Manamune and Hextech Gunblade SpamUdyr hits hard enough, so this item is a good balancer and also is quite cheap compared with the rest possible final items.
  
• Randuin's Omen: You can also get this as final item, or even before Magic Resist final item and AD final item, if you want extra health, armor and a great active. If you have this and Frozen Heart toghether the enemy AD carry will do tickles to you :)
  
• Warmog's Armor: What can I say? tons of health is never a bad choice for a tank.
  
• Frozen Mallet: A bit of damage, good amount of health and the most important, slow on hit from its passive, it doesn't look like the best final item for me but can work well if you think you need more CC.

Boots
For level 2 boots I always get the Mercury's Treads Tenacity is very important for Udyr, if the enemy team is heavy on AD you can get Ninja Tabi instead. If you feel like nobody in the enemy team can be a threat you can get Boots of Swiftness but i wouldn't recommend those since spamming E all the way you are enough fast and the proposed boots bring more utility.

I know what you are thinking, Manamune + Frozen Heart + Banshee's Veil + Trinity Force that's a ton of mana and feels a waste on Udyr, he isn't the old Ryze. Well that's the key to SpamUdyr, that tons of mana with the low mana costs and low cooldowns that Udyr has makes of him a SPAM machine and feels like Manaless cause belive me with this build is almost impossible to run oom :)

Skill Sequence

I realized that my previous Skill Sequence wasn't the optimal by far, since we are able to spam our abilities all the time as SpamUdyr maxing the E, Bear Stance second was a nonsense, more speed bonus isn't that much usefull if we can spam E until we reach our target. In my opinion would be much more optimal either maxing W Turtle Stance or R Phoenix Stance second.

So the final skill sequence would be something like this: First point in Q Tiger Stance then second point on either W Turtle Stance if you are suffering harass or E Bear Stance if you are dominating your lane enemy, third point I usually get it on Q again to max damage and fourth in W or E the one in wich I didn't put the second point.

After lvl 4 i got straight to max Q Tiger Stance for maximun damage, and after maxing Q I get the first point in R Phoenix Stance to help farming.

Then we have two possibilities for choosing the ability we want to max second, if you feel like you and your team are dominating the game i'd level up R Phoenix Stance until level 4 the next, to max the farming/damaging capabilities. If the match is looking bad for you and your team i'd level up W Turtle Stance until level 4 first, to get more sustain/survivability.

As third ablity to max I take the choice left by second ability maxed. And to finish I max E Bear Stance at the end to get the max speed.

Probably other Skill Sequences would work well so feel free to try and propose your own.

Summoner Spells

Sacred

• Flash: Udyr has nothing ranged and no gap closer, so this summoner spell is a must for him, pity of the ridiculously long cooldown.

Best Choice

• Ignite: Great spell, ignite is a great finisher in case that last Q wasn't enough.
• Exhaust: Also great spell, Exhaust has a lot of utility and usually i prefer it over ignite, great choice too.

Situational

• Cleanse: Udyr is very vulnerable to CC if the enemy has a lot of crowd control this is a good choice.
• Teleport: Great spell for solotops, allows to go back fast to lane, join dragon fights, backdoor turrets etc.. usefull spell.

I dont consider the rest spells usefull with this build, as much Heal maybe. Ghost can be usefull because of the collision avoid but we will be fast enough spamming E all the way.

Jungle

Yes, as regular Udyr SpamUdyr can jungle and quite well too, still on trial process but this info can help you if you want to try.

Summoner Spells:

Smite and Flash: Smite is sacred for junglers (secure/steal Buffs, Dragon and Baron) and Flash is sacred for Udyr, since Flash has such a long cooldown and Smite is obligated I would see acceptable picking Exhaust or Ignite instead of Flash but i wouldn't recommend it.

Masteries:

For jungling you should go with 9/21/0:
Taking one point in Summoner's Resolve is a must for you Smite (extra free gold never hurts), I take one point also in Resistance another in Hardiness and another one in Tough Skin , to have more or less balanced resistances. Then I take 4 points in Durability , 3 points in Vigor and one point in Veteran's Scars to get max hp and hp regen. After I get 3 points in Initiator for extra speed and 2 points on enlightment for the extra CDR. To finish i get 3 points in Honor Guard and one point in Juggernaut .

On the offensive tree I get 3 points on Brute Force and one in Summoner's Wrath (only in case I go with Exhaust or Ignite) or in Butcher if roll with Flash then 4 points in Alacrity and the final point in Weapon Expertise .

Runes:

I use the same runes as in the original build and they work just fine for me.

Skill Sequence:

Skill sequence is similar, just change the Q Tiger Stance for the R Phoenix Stance as skill to max first, with the exception that I still level up R and W just until level 4 both.

Considerations:

I can't go indepth with jungle section cause I'm still not enough experienced as jungler, so if you want to know jungle routes and detailed info about how to jungle with Udyr I suggest you to read Phill Collin's Udyr guide is a great guide with lot of usefull information, his jungle section helped me a lot in my first steps with SpamUdyr jungler...

Team Work

This is a tanky build but still deals a lot of damage, imo our job as SpamUdyr should be to shut down the enemy carries as fast as we can, SpamUdyr takes down targets quite fast so you should be focusing on the most squishies always to finish the tanks last with the team superiority.

Remember you won't become SpamUdyr until Manamune is finished, after Tear of the Goddess you can spam a bit but with one eye on your mana pool cause you can still go oom. After building Manamune you should be spamming your abilities all the time no matter of what.

Also very important, once you buy Bilgewater Cutlass you will already have the ranged slow, in order to remember to use it i initiate most of the times with it as if it was the Ulti Udyr doesnt have. Same for Hextech Gunblade.

Skill Combo

As SpamUdyr we should be 90% of the time spaming any skill, but there is a concrete skill combo that offers better results than others in fights.

Initiating Combo: Bilgewater Cutlass/ Hextech Gunblade -> R Phoenix Stance -> Q Tiger Stance -> W Turtle Stance -> Regular Combo

Regular Combo: E Bear Stance -> R Phoenix Stance -> Q Tiger Stance -> W Turtle Stance

These combos are more effective than random spam because R provides extra damage to Q and extra shield for W cause R gives bonus AP and AD for 5 seconds, I tested it and R right after R doesn't stack the bonuses.

In both combos Q and W can switch places if you feel like you need the shield before the extra damage, 5 seconds is time enough to spam both without loosing R boost.

Summary

So that was my guide of SpamUdyr, hope you liked it and hope more you have fun spamming and owning with SpamUdyr. Remember to not abuse the build, we don't want SpamUdyr nerfed :D

Feel free to comment and suggest, any improvement contribution will be recognized in a final Credits chapter.

Credits

Thanks to all the Mobafire community for the support and also for the lot of great guides they post, lot of them have help me a lot.

Thanks to Phill Collins cause his Udyr guide helped me a lot when I was new to Udyr and after when I tried to start jungling with SpamUdyr. I also want to thank him for upvoting, means a lot comming from the producer of one of the best Udyr guides around.