Hey y'all, this is Jaimelejambon. Volibear is one of my favorite characters to play in LoL. He is an amazing tank with some special properties that will blow your mind. There are 3 builds (Armor, Dominion, and Magic Resistance) that will have the enemies running in terror.

I play Volibear as an Tank. Even though there are no damage items till the end, he deals extreme amounts of damage and can make or break your team fights. I do not believe in a jungle Volibear because he does so much better in lane.

Pros:
1. He is overpowered
2. His passive is amazing for 1v1's and team fights.
3. Frenzy is amazing at last hitting champions.
4. He is an armored bear :D


Cons:
1. doesn’t really have a runaway spell except his slow (e).
2. People get mad at you for being so over powered.
3. He doesn't scale off of AD.
4. Weak early game :/

My Personal Favorites

GHOST: OK, here is the deal. Ever since they nerfed Flash, it does not seem to work as well as Ghost. Ghost is a great spell for Volibear because if used with Rolling Thunder, you will catch everyone. Plus, it is great for those pesky situations where you are caught in the middle of 3 champions.

IGNITE: I love ignite! I used this spell to harass those squishy carries and get the last bit of damage for the kill.

Exceptional Choices

FLASH: Once again, I state that flash isn't as good as Ghost. But sometimes, this spell can help get away from ganks and even jump small walls

EXHAUST: Hey, you can claw him to death while he flails like a little girl. xD

HEAL: This is an OK spell now that they buffed it. Works well with passive and is good on toast.

OK Choices

SURGE: This spell works pretty well with Volibear's ultimate, but has no other use than for offense

TELEPORT: Helps you get back to lane quicker and can be used to go to sight wards.

Note: Try not to use any of the other spells seeing as they don't work as much with Volibear

CHOSEN OF THE STORM (Passive): This is an epic passive. After you below 30% of your maximum health, you gain a 30 percent of your maximum health back in a few seconds. This saves my butt so many times when fighting champions and running for my dear life. It also can give you the edge on those champions that do well in a 1v1.

WARNING: It has a pretty long cool down, so watch to see when you have it. It may determine whether you live or die.

ROLLING THUNDER (Q): Funny spell to watch because of the reaction from the enemy. This ability gives you a speed buff when chasing enemy champions. If you attack while spell is active, you next attack will deal bonus damage and fling enemy towards you. It helps pull champions back into team fights and chase them is they are low on health.

WARNING: When an enemy champion is chasing your ally, do not fling the enemy towards your ally. This only aids them in killing your teammate. Maneuver around to their back and toss behind you. You may laugh when you run away and they are mad because they did not get the kill.

FRENZY (W): This is the spell that gives Volibear his awesomeness. First off, it gives you a stacking attack speed buff when you auto attack which may help in farming. Second, after full stacks (which is 3), you can activate to bite the enemy dealing damage off your bonus health (which is all the health you get from items and runes) and 1% more damage for every 1% health the target is missing. It is amazing for farming those pesky siege and super minions, as well as for getting buffs. USE THIS TO GET THE EDGE ON CHAMPIONS IN 1V1'S!!!! I cannot stress this enough. Use to finish them off, (remember, 1% for 1% missing!) and to drastically decrease their health. After Warmog's armor and Sunfire cape and leveled to 5, can possible deal over 700 damage.

WARNING: 20 second cool down. Make sure you use when you know you can kill them. (My range is between 2 and 3 bars of health)

MAJESTIC ROAR (E): This is an AoE spell that slows enemies, deals damage, and fears minions. Great to use after Rolling Thunder so it makes it even harder to get away. I use this to farm because the fear makes things much easier. Once at level 5, becomes a spam-able spell. Use it to harass and to farm.

WARNING: Keep handy early game, you may need to use it to run away. Once late game and boots, use as much as you want.

THUNDER CLAWS (R): Volibear's Ultimate is perfect for those team fights or if you want to finish an enemy faster. When activated, a lightning bolt srikes his claw, empowering it with lightning and dealing an extra amount of magic damage per hit. It also has a chain effect that can up to 4 targets. In a team fight, activate this spell to look awesome and to drive fear into their hearts. Also, it will hit 1-4 champions at once, changing the entire outcome of the fight. Because of its small cool down, use often when fighting 1 or more champions. It will give that extra push to win the battle.

WARNING: Try to use this in team fights. Don't wait till the last second to activate. Use when your team is attacking their team for one big fight.

MY SKILL SEQUENCE IN BATTLE:
I open with a Rolling Thunder to grab a champion. As the enemy is flying though the air, activate Majestic Roar to slow. Hopefully, your team will help you take down the enemy. Once you have 3 stacks in Frenzy, use to either lower the health of the enemy or to kill them while they still have 3 bars of health. If needed, activate Thunder Claws after Majestic Roar for the extra damage.

Don't be afraid to try a new skill sequence. I am open for new ideas for my build. Just post at bottom and I will see to it that the suggestion is recognized.

Classic (Armor)

I usually build the normal build when playing a Classic game. By starting with Doran's Shield, you get the health, armor, and health regain. After, you finish with either Boots of Swiftness or Ionian Boots of Lucidity. (I prefer Boots of Swiftness because of the little bit of extra speed) Once boots are finished, you start with the Health items.

Start off with a Glacial Shroud for the cool down reduction. You can then build towards a Warmog's or you can finish Frozen Heart. After these two items are acquired, you have a good amount of health, mana, and armor. Next, I buy a Sunfire Cape for even more health and armor along with a killer passive. Once all of your healthy tank items are bought, you get to the damage section.

I love to build Frozen Mallet and Rylai's Crystal Scepter for the slows. Pairing them both together creates a double slow passive. (double slow passives + Majestic Roar = you are not getting very far) Plus, each item gives a small amount of AD and AP for the rest of your abilities.

Classic (Magic Resistance)

Sometimes, the threat on the enemy's team is they have a lot of ability power, here is a build that has magic resistance items. This guide works just as well as the other one.

I usually start with a Null-Magic Mantle and a Health Potion. This gives me 24 extra magic resistance and can still tank for the teammates. Next, I buy Mercury's Treads to use my Null-Magic Mantle. After that, I buy the catalyst for the extra health and mana, and finish with Banshee's Veil.

Next, I buy the ever-so-popular Warmog's Armor, and also buy Guardian Angel. The Guardian Angel gives armor and magic resistance plus a passive revive. After these are in our inventory, start on a Abyssal Scepter. This will give you AP and Magic Resistance AND lower theirs. I then finish with Frozen Mallet to slow enemies and give a kick of health and damage.

Dominion

In Dominion, you have the constant money pool coming in, so items will come fast. I always start with a Heart of Gold for the health and more money, (Hey, who said money was a bad thing?) along with Boots to travel to top lanes. The Boots of Mobility allow you to move across the map very quickly, so these are my boots of choice.

After aquireing these 2 items, I buy a Glacial Shroud for later and buy Sunfire Cape because the passive can stop captures. After Sunfire, I like the Healthy AP items, like Rod of Ages and Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This gives the health benifit for Frenzy and survivability.

Lastly, Finish Frozen Heart and if more health is needed, buy a Frozen Mallet. If health isn't needed as much, buy Atma's Impaler, giving extra AD for all the health you have.

NOTE: This is not the build you should do every game. Each game consists of different team compositions. The team may have all AP characters, so armor would be useless. Switch the armor to magic resistance as needed. If you have any ideas on items for Volibear, please post comment and I will try to incorporate the suggestion in my guide.

I know what your thinking, "But Thornmail is better, it deals damage back!", but the truth is, Frozen Heart is the one you should buy.

Thornmail gives you 100 armor and deals 30% of all attack damage back at the damage dealer.

Frozen heart, on the other hand, gives you 99 armor (one less than Thronmail) 500 mana (Half the amount of Mana you get from Archangel's Staff) 20% cool down reduction, (Hey, you can spam abilities more! :D) and reduces nearby enemy champions attack speed by 20%. (Xin's got nothing on Frozen Heart)

Even though the damage return from Thornmail is good, Frozen Heart has more benifits and gives you more for your money.

Classic

My Masteries for Classic are 5/24/1, Getting the reduced Recall spell in Utility and Ability Power in Offense. I get all the Armor, Magic Resistance, and Health in the Defense tree as well as some cool down reduction.

Juggernaut is the best mastery for Volibear. It is the last mastery skill in the Defense Tree. It increases all health bonuses by 3% and reduces CC by 10%. So that means you get even more health from you health items, (i.e. Warmog's, Sunfire Cape, Frozen Mallet, etc.) and you get a little bit of tenacity.

Dominion

In Dominion, my Masteries are 28/0/2 because you want that bear to hurt, by getting the AP, Magic Pen. and Attack Speed. I also get the reduced recall and time spent dead (BTW, with the reduced recall in Dominion, it’s like 3 seconds!)

You may also want to go with the first mastery page for dominion. You may have to tank and the extra health and tenacity may come in handy. Once again, i'm open for suggestions. :D

Volibear is a great tank and can deal a lot of damage. He is an bear with sick looking armor and claws that control lightning. This is my first build and I hope it helps you when you play Volibear! Good luck on the fields, my fellow summoners!