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PROS Great harass damage His ult is a transferring snare HUGE range for his Q Has a stackable bomb which detonates with his abilities Can easily pull in doubles, triples, quad kills Hail of Arrows Healing reduction + Slow

CONS Mana Hungry (Don't abuse his Piercing Arrow) Very slow movement speed (Only 310) Weak early game AA damage Focused early on by enemy jungler due to chunking down enemy hp in lane No escape! Focused in teamfights

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Now why did I choose these runes? Well here is some simple explanations behind my choices, now keep in mind you don't have to have these runes and everyone has their own ideas of what would be good to use. These are just what I have used and gotten pretty decent results.

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MARKS

Greater Mark of Desolation - Allows your AA's and your physical damage abilities to penetrate the enemy champions armor. These are a must have for any AD carry really. Allows more true damage to be dealt.

Greater Mark of Attack Damage - This is a good substitute to the other possible marks as this will give you much wanted early game damage to get that kill.

Greater Mark of Attack Speed - If your hell bent on wanting more attack speed then you can choose these but I wouldn't recommend them since there are better choices for Varus out there.

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SEALS

Greater Seal of Armor - More Armor mean more survive-ability in your lane against enemy harass as well as resistance to those OP minions early game who like to shoot you when your at 50 Health left.

Greater Seal of Health - More health allows you to live longer in your lane or keep up with that enemy harass.

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GLYPHS

Greater Glyph of Attack Speed - "Why the hell would you pick attack speed glyphs?!" These are purely for that early game attack speed to secure an early kill when the enemy face checks the bush your sitting in. Early game kills are essential for Varus to have a good mid-late game.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Mana regen per level helps you during long fights when your low on mana and just wish that you had just 10 more to use your piercing arrow to finish off a runner, or when your low while farming minions since it will keep you up enough in case a quick fight occurs.

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction - Cooldown reduction. The only reason I mentioned these are because Varus's skill have not the best of cooldown times. Sometimes you find yourself cursing at your screen because you just lost a 1v1 or teamfight because your skills were on CD.

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QUINTESSENCE

Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed For the same reasons as above, you get that early attack speed to really harass easily to your hearts content with your AA's.

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage - As I mentioned in the MARKS section, more AD = Better early game damage. These however fall out mid to late game.



Now if you have problems with these runes don't downvote me simply for them, think about it and maybe even try it before you criticize.

Beg ::

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Pro-ish ::

• If you consider yourself pro-ish then that means you have no problem controlling your mana, you don't overextend your lane, and you know how to creep farm. If your good at these then you'll find that you don't need the extra 3 mr / 3 ar. Personally I use the pro-ish masteries as I feel it helps me out a little more in terms of keeping my mana controlled as well as keep the buffs that I gain from killing their jungler when they attempt a gank.

Living Vengeance
// Passive - On champion kill or assist, Varus gains 40% attack speed for 6 seconds. On minion kill, Varus gains 20% attack speed for 3 seconds.
// This right here is what sets Varus apart from other AD carries. This allows him to excel in teamfights because each time one of the enemy champions dies that Varus helped kill or did kill he gets a massive attack speed boost! That means he can help deal even more damage to other enemies nearby who thought that "He's not doing so much damage, ignore him!" It's then that they realize "Oh wait! Why is my hea-!" AN ENEMY HAS BEEN SLAIN! DOUBLE KILL! TRIPLE KILL! QUAD KILL! PENTA KILL!
Piercing Arrow
// Q - Varus readies and then fires a powerful shot that gains extra range and damage the longer he spends preparing to fire.
// This is Varus' Bread n' Butter skill. One hell of a harass, it has an incredible range not to mention that it scales greatly with AD. +1.0 per attack damage (Not charged) and +1.6 attack damage if fully charged! That is a huge nuke! Pop this puppy off after you place three stacks of blight onto the enemy champion and watch their health just fall off like a knife through butter.
Blighted Quiver
// W - Varus' basic attacks deal bonus magic damage and apply Blight. Varus' other abilities detonate Blight, dealing magic damage based on the target's maximum health.
// This is what makes Varus hit so hard. Extra magic damage per AA, as well as causing blight to stack (Stacks up to 3). Each stack does 5% of the opponents MAX health in magic damage. This is comparable to Vayne's Silver Bolts. However the problem with this skill is that is is dealt in magic damage meaning... MR Counters this! However using a Sorcerer's Shoes also amplifies this.
Hail of Arrows
// E - Varus fires a hail of arrows that deal physical damage and desecrate the ground. Desecrated ground slows enemies' Movement Speed and reduces their healing and regeneration.
// Is that mean enemy Carry harassing you? Is his little support healing him allowing him to get cocky? Then this right here is what will be his downfall. It may not do the best of damage, it gives a nice counter to heals as well as slows anyone who walks over the ground where the skill was cast. It reduces healing effects by 50%! Their AD carry overextends, your jungler comes running in dealing damage with their ult, you cast Hail of Arrows on the fight, the support tries to heal but realizes it hardly healed at all and you come in with the snipe from your Q. "An Enemy Has Been Slain!"
Chain of Corruption
// R - Varus flings out a tendril of corruption that deals magic damage and immobilizes the first enemy champion hit for 2 seconds. The corruption then spreads towards nearby uninfected enemy champions, applying the same damage and immobilize if it reaches them. The corruption will continue to spread until there are no further unaffected targets in range.
// Now this is a pretty decent ult. It may lack in damage since it doesn't benefit from AD but it does however root the first enemy champion it hits, it then travels to any nearby enemy champs causing them equal magic damage and rooting them as well. It's a great CC Ult for teamfights and to secure a runaway champ who your trying to kill but don't expect it to be like Warwick's ult which snares AND deals awesome damage, it's more comparable to Ashe Ult. Keep in mind that any enemy hit by your ultimate can still attack you! Also it may take some time getting used to using as it is a skill shot.

Early game for Varus is extremely important. This will decide how you will do late game. I can't seem to stress this enough to all the Varus players I see in ranked play but... YOU HAVE TO CREEP FARM! I know Varus is a new champ but the same rules apply to any AD carry, that you need the CS to get your items and ensure you have a better chance to win in your lane and not be out farmed by your counter part on the other team. With that said here's how I would start out my early game.

Personally I start with a Doran's Blade, however Boots and x3 Health Potion works just as well. Get to your lane (most likely bot) and if your support partner is there with you then try to jump into the bushes and be ready for the enemy to run into your bush so you can start off with the first hits and maybe even grab first-blood. If not then proceed to last hit the minions. (Last hit ONLY. You don't want to overextend and get ganked.) Once you have 1,000g for Berserker's Greaves and x2 Mana Potion then recall and grab them. By now you should be atleast level 5. Return to your lane and grab enough creeps for level 6 (last hitting or not). Reason being is usually at level 6 you start seeing ganks from junglers and Varus's Ult can help nullify those and allow him to escape.

If they don't gank you then you can start harassing a bit through placing 3 stacks of blight on the champs then detonating them with Piercing Arrow. Don't forget to continue last hitting minions as well so you can grab a Pickaxe which will eventually turn into your Last Whisper. I rush Last Whisper only because by then their tank will be building armor and small teamfights will start happening, and last whisper helps make a tank's armor just seem like they hardly have any. (Helps even the fight against them)

By now your item set-up should be looking like Doran's Blade - Berserker's Greaves - Last Whisper - B.F.Sword. That is if you were having a good game and weren't being harassed too badly and not being out-zoned. Team fights are also happening a little more regularly now. Be sure to use your ult to either initiate or to stop them from fleeing the fights. Also stay out of melee range of those like Master Yi. Nuke them with your Q and keep them from running or healing with your E.

Mid game for Varus can really go either way as you need to depend on your tank to initiate, your support to keep you alive and hope to god that they don't focus you first. After a few fights you should have enough to start making your Bloodthirster and grabbing a Recurve Bow for the later Madred's Bloodrazor which keep in mind does what your Blighted Quiver but for each AA that doesn't need to be detonated by skill. You should also be helping your jungler take dragon if they need help since if gives gold to everyone on your team.

Hopefully by now you've taken your opponents tower in your lane and or helped one of your other lanes do the same. Try to break mid lane tower ASAP as mid is the 'holding lane' meaning if you lose mid early, you've pretty much lost (Not in all cases however). You should have your Madred's built now and working on your last item, the Frozen Mallet. It'll give you that last bit of survive-ability as well as slow down those runners who fear your arrows! You should be focusing on taking taking jungle buffs every time you see them up as well as Dragon and Baron.

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Some of you may be asking, "Who cares about warding? Why would it matter for a carry like me, I thought only supports did that sorta thing!"

First off it's not only for supports to do this, everyone should ward at least one spot near them for the sole purpose of exposing ganks (Please encourage your support though to ward for you). Can wards do other things besides save your behind from getting destroyed from a gank? OF COURSE! Ever had problems with an annoying Twitch or Evelynn? Drop a vision ward near you or buy an Oracle's Elixir and then see how much success they have in sneaking up on you now!

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Warding these spots may just save your life so why not try doing so?

Notice #1 :: Most range over Dragon.
Notice #2 :: Most range over Baron Nashor.
Notice both #3 :: Helps reveal a hidden gank to both top and bottom lanes.
Notice #4 - #8 :: Dominance over jungle.

5/12/2012
11:08 PM

• Added in other runes as substitutes as suggested by Haseo10

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5/11/2012
5:43 PM

• Added a new test build, refer to the NEW TEST BUILD chapter for more info.

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5/11/2012
6:14 AM

• Published the guide.

I hope you all enjoyed what I have written. Now keep in mind that I didn't make this guide very long for a reason! I have enough writing already that I don't want to overcrowd my guide with useless information and long rants. There is not too much to explain about Varus as most of his information comes from other carries already if you play that sort of champion. This guide is here to explain the unique functions of Varus such as his unique ability to chase and snipe that runaway enemy champ.

Again thanks to jhoijhoi and all those mentioned in his guide.

PS:: If you have any suggestions on what to add or if I've left some crucial out please let me know! Thank you :)

Hey there guys. I have started a test build build which revolves around On-hit items such as Wit's End, Madred's Bloodrazor, and Ionic Spark. With this build I have found that you may not have early game damage output but you will have godly attack speed which should make up for it with the extra magic damage you will deal. With this you will be able to shred a tank health like crazy as well as destroy any AP carry the other team has. I would like to ask that someone test this build out besides me and send me their input and or a screen shot of their match history with any of the builds so I could post them here and show other just how good you guys are!

Pros

• Great hybrid damage with your AA's
• 40% Life steal from 2 full farmed Bloodthirsters
• Great attack speed
• Hard for some champs to kill you
• Only takes seconds to kill other players
• Awesome tank/AP carry killing ability

Cons

• May struggle early game due to lack of damage early
• You won't deal nukes per hit like if you built all AD