I'm guessing you've been looking to wreak a little havoc up in top lane as the tanky DPS meta has overtaken League of Legends, huh? Well, look no further than Rumble, the Mechanical Menace. This little furball isn't alone in battle, because he's got a giant kickass mech with him to torch, smash, and obliterate his foes. A hulking steel titan with incredible sustainability, high damage output, and no mana costs is the perfect recipe for a solo top bruiser. If you want to bully top lane into submission, this is the champion for you.

Welcome to my second guide ever in the history of ever for League of Legends. My first guide (at the time of typing this) is the number 1 Jarvan IV guide here on MOBAfire. You can find it here. I'm going to take my experience with that guide and apply what worked to this guide. I don't do change logs because I make minor adjustments lots of times and it's a pain to keep track of. Check back often it you'd like to see changes, because it will mostly evolve over time. If Rumble gets changed in a patch, expect to see this guide reflect those changes within two or three days.

You can expect this guide to have good formatting, proper spelling, small amounts of wit and charm, research and thought, personal game experiences, and criticism-enhanced updates. By all of that I mean that I put a lot of work into my guides, be that checking out other guides, watching streams, playing in different team compositions, and also responding to comments and suggestions on the guide itself. Yes, I take criticism very seriously. If I am offered something smart that I hadn't thought of, it may find its way into my guide. It's a healthy practice to accept criticism, rather than reject it.

I snagged my guide format from Searz, changing it up a bit to fit my own style. It was a great stepping stone for me to produce my own guide with. You can find it here. It's very helpful, so he deserves some credit.

I'm not going to coddle you, if you need to know exactly what an item or ability does, scroll over it, you lazy bastard.

Legend

(for any abbreviations your brain cannot process on its own)

• Arguably one of the strongest solo top champions in the game, even post nerf.
• Hard to counter if played right.
• One of biggest lane bullies around.
• With proper use of Flamespitter he can farm very well.
• Very hard to gank.
• Very good gank/teamfight potential with The Equalizer.
• Can build very, very tanky and still put out good DPS.
• No mana costs!
• He has some of the coolest animations in the game. His champion model is always doing something interesting.

Rumble is a champion with no mana costs, so it's not very profitable to go into the utility tree, even though that's usually my preference for solo top champions. The same is true for going deep into the offensive tree. It's simply not that beneficial, so going all 21 points into the defensive tree is the best, and widely accepted, method.

After the recent mastery changes I thought I'd have to switch Rumble up a bit, but actually I was wrong. 09/21/00 is still how I feel he should run. If anything, the changes only made this setup even more viable.

I usually level in the order given in the table on the top of the guide.

You take Flamespitter first, and I usually spam it to keep my Junkyard Titan heat level above 50 in case a level 1 teamfight breaks out near blue buff. I then take Electro-Harpoon followed by Scrap Shield and 2 more levels in Flamespitter. The damage from your flamethrower and that fact that is acts as a passive when on allow you to last hit minions and probably hit the opposing laner at the same time.

Of course, take The Equalizer at levels 6, 11, and 16. Take 1 level in Scrap Shield at level 7, then max out Flamespitter. Alternate between Electro-Harpoon and Scrap Shield until they're both maxed out and you're fully leveled.

This sequence allows you maximize your lane bullying with Flamespitter, then follow up by both scaling your shield defense and your offensive slowing at a level relative to your opponent.

The first build is my standard Rumble build. It's also fairly common, as tanky Rumble seems to be the most widely accepted way to play him. Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a must, turning your Flamespitter into a slowing flamethrower. It also makes your Electro-Harpoon even more impossible to escape from. Hextech Revolver is picked up early for extra lane sustainability and lane bullying. From there it's tanky offensive items to enable you to stick around and torch as many enemies as possible. Once you've gotten your sustainability, you're free to pick up luxury items and upgrade your Hextech Revolver into something.

The second build is a tank approach to playing Rumble. If you really need to be beefy, this is the route to go. It offers high sustainability, but enough damage potential to remain a threat. A tank that is not a threat is a worthless tank, so always keep that in mind when playing the tank role. Like other builds, Rylai's Crystal Scepter remains a core item, but it's followed by top tier tank items like Force of Nature and Sunfire Cape. This build makes Rumble truly impossible to bring down in skilled hands.

The first alternative build is an AP carry approach to playing Rumble. If you don't need to be the beefiest member of your team, this route might prove useful. It offers insanely high AoE damage, as well as making your Scrap Shield an impenetrable wall of magical debris.

The second alternative build is less than typical, but should be viable if played right. It focuses on making great use of Junkyard Titan's melee damage output. It's somewhere along the lines of experimental builds, but it has great potential.

So, you should always be solo top with Rumble, at least almost always. There are occasions where you'd go mid to shut someone down, much like when Mordekaiser goes mid, but that's not what this build is about. Take your starting item(s) and head to blue buff if you're on the blue side, or just to top if you're on purple side. Unless, of course, your team is going to level one fight or expects great threat from the opposing team invading your jungle, then you should help out.

Regardless, you should spam Flamespitter to get it just dipping into the 50 heat range. It's a skill you'll have to learn, because there are times when you do and don't want to overheat with Junkyard Titan. Knowing when each is useful takes skill. It's also good to note you can return to lane faster if you can keep your heat above 50 and spam Scrap Shield, as you move even faster when in the Danger Zone.

Farm the front creeps while torching the back rows with Flamespitter, last hitting when possible. This should allow you to farm and force your opponent to either back off or take damage for last hitting. Whenever possible, jump out with Flamespitter and Scrap Shield running to deny your opponent some CS and harass him whenever possible. As Rumble, it is your job to bully your lane as much as possible. Yes, you will almost always push, but it shouldn't be too hard to split time between harass and farming, so your lane should still stay roughly in the middle. Snag a Vision Ward or two when possible so you can watch for ganks, since you'll often be extended.

If you keep a good balance between harassment and farming, you should be able to be above your opponent's CS, even if you lose some of your own last hits from denying his. Rumble is one of the best solo tops, so, with some occasional help from a jungler and smart play, you can win any 1v1 lane, and many 1v2 lanes (if they decide to pit a duo against a champion with AoE spells).

In teamfights it's important to leap onto their carry and wear him/her down with your damage over time, sticking onto them with your slowing spells and sheer bulk. You can initiate with The Equalizer on as many of your opponents as possible, right smack in the middle of the fight. You should be charging in with Flamespitter and Scrap Shield running, using Electro-Harpoon on any champ that's trying to run from you.

As a tanky initiator, most fights won't truly break out until you run in. Landing your AoE spells on as many of them will be truly beneficial to your team for them to set up their ultimates, as everyone should be slowed by Flamespitter and The Equalizer proccing Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

I hope my guide is well-received and useful to those of you who wish to try your hand at solo top Rumble. He's incredibly fun to play, being both a spammy AND a tanky champion, two things that are always fun. Being a bully in lane is also always a treat. ;D

Please vote, comment, and share with your friends. I will try and respond to everyone who comments on my guide to provide guidance on any questions or comments about the build.

Good luck and thanks for reading!

You can contact me at cole.wohler@gamezombie.tv or in-game on my account, Sinjustice.