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Varus Build Guide by

Varus - In the Depths of Corruption (Unfinished)

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Varus Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (1) More Varus Guides

Spells:

Barrier

Flash

Items

Hail of Arrows (Hyper Carry)

Piercing Arrow (Poke)

Ability Order

Varus Passive Ability

Introduction

Introduction

Hello! My name is Jet and this is my guide. In this guide, I will be giving in-depth explanations for two different ways of playing Varus. The first, and my personal favorite, is Hyper Carry Varus. This utilizes early game harass with and focuses on kiting and late game damage output. The second, more popular, Varus playstyle would be Poke Varus. This utilizes the high scaling of for incredible poke damage and wave clear and focuses on making sure that you only go into battle with crippled enemies.

THIS GUIDE WILL REMAINED UNFINISHED AS I DO NOT PLAY ADC ANY LONGER.
I may make a Varus mid guide at some point, but probably not for a while.

Introduction to Varus

Introduction to Varus

is an AD Carry that brings a lot of utility to his team with and . He has slightly higher range than most ADCs at 575. (Average is 550.) Varus both dominates the early game (Out-trades with , Has a constant attack speed steroid while farming in , and his / packs a punch, even at early levels) and comes close to matching other late game hyper carries as long as you can pick someone off at the beginning of a fight.

Mastering can be tricky. His lack of escape ability means that he is reliant on . and are very potent skill shots, however, they both can be difficult to land. Knowing when to stack can also be hard. With practice, Varus can be one of, if not the best AD Carry.

Pros / Cons

Pros / Cons

Pros (Hyper Carry)

+ Higher range than most other ADCs
+ Passive attack speed steroid ()
+ Kites well ( + + )
+ Hard CC Ult ()
+ % Max Health Damage ()

Pros (Poke)

+ High range poke ()
+ Wave clears well ( + )
+ Good Disengage ( + + )
+ Decent at Sieging
+ Burst Potential

Cons (Hyper Carry)

- No gap creating abilities
- is less effective
- Needs an assist or kill to get attack speed steroid ()
- Lower Damage than other Late Game ADCs

Cons (Poke)

- Mana Hungry
- Damage reduction through units ()
- is easily avoided
- Low kiting ability
- No gap creating ability

Ability Explanation

Ability Explanation

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.

Explanation

supplies a lot of ' damage output. It goes unnoticed, naturally, since most passives do, but Living Vengeance grants Varus bonus attack speed equal to that of a . This means that as a fight gets rolling, picking up a kill or assist will essentially grant you an extra item for 6 seconds.

Piercing Arrow (Q): Varus starts drawing back his next shot, gradually increasing its range and damage, then he fires it, dealing minimum 10 / 47 / 83 / 120 / 157 (+1.0 per attack damage) to maximum 15 / 70 / 125 / 180 / 235 (+1.6 per attack damage) physical damage, reduced by 15% per enemy hit (minimum 33%).

While preparing to shoot, Varus cannot autoattack or use abilities, and his movement speed is slowed by 20%. After 4 seconds, Piercing Arrow fails but refunds half its mana cost.

Explanation

provides great poke, however, can be difficult to hit and renders you vulnerable. Unless the desired target is the first to get hit by the arrow, they will take reduced damage. While charging the arrow, you can not auto attack or use other abilities. On top of this, you apply a self slow, leaving you open to enemy skill shots and counter attack. This ability is actually a hindrance to while he is within auto attack range as basic attacks will out dps Piercing Arrow. (Barring the Poke Varus Build. As maxing Piercing Arrow first will allow it to out dps basic attacks until 30-40 minutes into the game.) Piercing Arrow should be charged and fired from a safe distance, preferably from the fog of war.

Blighted Quiver (W): Varus' basic attacks deal bonus 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+0.25 per ability power) magic damage and apply Blight for 6 seconds (stacks 3 times).
Varus' other abilities detonate Blight, dealing magic damage equal to 2 / 2.75 / 3.5 / 4.25 / 5% (+2% of ability power) of the target's maximum health per stack.

Explanation

has two different parts to it. Both are extremely useful and potent. The first part is the passive magic damage on every basic attack. This is similar to Miss Fortune's in the sense that, as long as you match your opponents damage, you will out-trade your enemy auto attack for auto attack.

This leads into the second part: the detonation damage. Even if your opponent does out-trade you like this (and even better if they don't), by hitting them with an ability when they carry blight stacks, they receive damage equal to a % of their max health. (It is important to note that the % of max health listed on the tooltip is per stack. Therefore a level 5 at 3 stacks will do 15% of their max health when triggered.) In lane, it is best to try and stack all 3, but don't end up losing a trade because you got too greedy for stacks. In teamfights, you will more than likely have to kite their tanks and bruisers. It is best to get all 3 stacks of blight on them for maximized damage.

Hail of Arrows (E): Varus fires a hail of arrows that deal 65 / 100 / 135 / 170 / 205 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and desecrate the ground. Desecrated ground slows enemies' Movement Speed by 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45% for .25 seconds and reduces their healing and regeneration by 50%. The slow duration is refreshed if enemies stay within the zone.

Explanation

is a slow field / desecrated ground that deals damage upon cast. As well as utility, it also brings more reliable poke than . This is the case because Hail of Arrows is much more difficult to dodge than Piercing Arrow. The slow can help with kiting, especially when paired with a . As long as you don't get locked up, this can be nearly as efficient as an escape ability. Desecrated ground can also help to quickly get rid of pesky regen-based front liners. (ex. Volibear's , Dr. Mundo's , Swain's .)

Chain of Corruption (R): Varus flings out a tendril of corruption that deals 150 / 250 / 350 (+1.0 per ability power) 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.

Explanation

is essentially an AoE snare, with the effective area expanding from the current snared person. This ability is cast as a skill shot and is notorious for being completely whiffed. A key to mastering Varus is to not miss this skill. Once you hit somebody with Chain of Corruption, the hard work is done. The Chain will then spread to nearby enemies (550 range) after the first enemy is free from the snare. This works similarly to Malzahar's , however, it doesn't need to kill to be passed on and the damage is done upfront. It can also spread to multiple targets at once. Aside from Ashe's , this is provides the most utility of all AD Carry ultimates.

Skilling Order

Hyper Carry Skilling Order

> > >

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

"Jet, why do you skill before . Piercing Arrow does a lot more damage."

REWQ and REQW are rather similar ways to skill . Some of it comes down to personal preference, some of it comes down to what you need in lane.