Hello and welcome to my guide "Varus - Savior of Ionia". In my opinion and experience, Varus is a high attack damage dealer with a % of health magic damage. The fact that Varus has both AD and AP makes him a very cruel and scary ADC. Now without further ado, I present you Varus, the Arrow of Retribution.

For his incomparable skill with the bow and his unquestioned sense of honor, Varus was chosen to be the warden of a sacred Ionian temple. The temple was built to contain an ancient pit of corruption so vile that Ionian Elders feared it could envelop the island in darkness. Varus prided himself on his position, as only the most exceptional Ionian warriors were selected for the role. He lived with his family in a nearby village and led a quiet life of disciplined routine until the day the forces of Noxus invaded Ionia. Their shock troops left nothing but death and desolation in their wake, and the temple lay in their path. Varus was forced to make a decision. He was bound by honor to stay and defend the temple, but without him the village's few inhabitants could offer little resistance against the oncoming war machine. Gravely, he chose to fulfill his duty as a warden. The corruption could not be allowed to escape.
His arrows sundered the troops who tried to wrest the temple from him that day. However, when he returned to his village, he found that it had been reduced to a smoldering graveyard. Remorse at the sight of his slain family gave way to overwhelming regret and then to seething hatred. He swore to slaughter every Noxian invader, but first he needed to become stronger. He turned to that which he had sacrificed everything to protect. The pit of corruption would consume him wholly, as a flame devours a wick, but its abominable power would burn within him until he was lost. This was a path from which there could be no return. With grim resolve, he condemned himself to the black flames, feeling malevolent energy bond to his skin... and with it, the promise of ruin. He left, seeking the blood of all Noxians involved with the invasion, a grisly task that eventually led him to the invasion's most infamous perpetrators in the League of Legends.

"The life of an arrow is fleeting, built of nothing but direction and intent."
―Varus

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Pros + // Strong harasser. + // Great farmer. + // Ult is multi-targeting. + // Deals both kind of damage.

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Cons - // Has no escape skills. - // Squishy. - // Needs farm to shine. - // Too less skins.

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Good for getaways from ganks or just purely chasing. Remember the tip of flashing over walls. (Unreplaceable)

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Cleanse is too op! I survived so many times with this summoner skill. It removes Exhaust and Ignite!

Other Viable Summoner Spells

Terrible Summoner Spells

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Gains attack speed from champion kills/assists(40% for 6 seconds) or minion kills, 20% for 3 seconds). Benefits from each attack damage. Which is a 1 by 1 ratio. Very strong. Follow the Blighted Quiver combo.

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Immobilizes the first champion it hits for 2 seconds, and any other champion after. Scales by per AP. Very good if you want to go for an AP Varus.

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Deals 26 magic damage per attack. Blight(adds 1 per attack) deals 5% per stack and can be activated my Q,E,R. More explained in the next panel. Slows enemies hit by 25/30/35/ 40/45% and reduces healing by 50%. Dealing 105/145/185/225 (plus 0.6 per bonus AD).

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Blighted Quiver, the skill that makes Varus different from other ADCs. Okay, let's explain this skill once more, deals 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+0.25 per ability power) magic damage and applies Blight for 6 seconds (1 stack per hit, stacks up to 3 times), also 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.

Let's go over how you can use Blight to it's full potential. Okay, let's say you're defending bot against another ADC. You pushed too hard and is vulnerable to ganks, all of a sudden, the enemy ADC decides to initiate without his jungler. Let's assume you're level 6, you would hit him 1-2 times then activate Chain of Corruption which deals 7% + 150 magic damage, hit him three more times then activate Piercing Arrow dealing 10.5%, finally hit him three more times and activate Hail of Arrows a little bit infront of him but still in range so it hits him. Why? It slows him for a longer time. After all that AA him to death!

Math Time!

10.5 + 10.5 + 7 = 28% health + 144 as magic damage (we all know most ADCs don't build MR early game)

That's a hell lot of damage! Now add in all the physical damage you deal to him, he's surely finished!

I really like starting with Boots because it allows me to move fast and dodge skillshots. But there's still the choice of Doran's Blade if you want more damage early game to get last hits faster. The choice is up to you, fellow summoner.


Like all other ADC champions, you need AD, and the best AD equipment is Bloodthirster, with its stacks. Then, I go for Phantom Dancer so I can max out my damage output and speed up my Blight stacking speed.


By late game, you should have your full set (unless people ks from you too much). Then you're good to go. Just remember Varus' ultimate Chain of Corruption is very much like Amumu's ultimate (truly the best teamfight initiating skill).


I personally like Frozen Mallet the best out of the 3, there's that constant slow like Ashe and it also adds health. BUT! If your enemy team has one or two of those really tanky people, get Last Whisper!

New paragraph just for Sword of the Occult, only build this item if you know you won't die much early game or you're having a really noob bot lane that feeds you too much. But remember this, each time you die you lose 1/3 of the stack and when your enemies see you building this, they'll focus you first, also, you're the ADC so they MUST focus you first, unless they're stupid or something.

• Try to activate the Blight combo as much as you can, you can do that when your opponent comes in for last-hits.
• Cast Chain of Corruption ASAP when you're in a team fight.
• Try to stay out of the tank's way, example, someone like Amumu and Malphite can change the team fight right from the beginning. In other words, know the distance of their ults when you're playing against them.
• Try to land your Hail of Arrows on your enemy when they are snared so they reduced heal reduction duration stays for a longer period of time.
• Landing a few Blights on your opponent can scare him out of your attack range. Use this to your advantage to zoning him good.

Empty for now, if you happen to try out my guide and have a match history of it, PM me the pic and I'll put in here.

Well, we're coming to an end to the build, first of all, I'd like to thank you for taking the time and reading my guide, second of all, I'd like to thank JhoiJhoi for her guide on making a guide which can be found here.

Not much to say anymore, so again, thank you for reading my guide, this is Linear and peace out!

Varus is a very underrated ADC champion but a very strong one, so let's not make Varus sad and make him happy by playing him!

Helped By

• Mathmos3 for telling me to do a in-depth section on Blighted Quiver
• GrandmasterD for telling me to edit out my item and spell sequence, plus, defense tree change

Empty for now until questions are asked.

Change Log:

Sept/28/2012 - Guide Published

Sept/28/2012 (9:52) - In-Depth Skill Explanation: "Blighted Quiver" added

Sept/29/2012 - Tips & Tricks section added

Oct/05/2012 - Summoner Spells section edited and Varus' Story added

Oct/28/2012 - Spell sequence and item sequence changed, new optional item quick silver sash added

Patch Log:

Late September - No change.