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Vi Build Guide by MasianC

AD Offtank Vi Jungle Guide: Punching your way to the Nexus! [5.17]

AD Offtank Vi Jungle Guide: Punching your way to the Nexus! [5.17]

Updated on September 4, 2015
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League of Legends Build Guide Author MasianC Build Guide By MasianC 35,133 Views 11 Comments
35,133 Views 11 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author MasianC Vi Build Guide By MasianC Updated on September 4, 2015
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Smite

Smite

Terminology



I'll just list some terminologies that I've used in this guide, in case you don't know some of them :)
  • AoE = Area of Effect
  • Buff = A positive effect applied to a champion
  • Blue buff = crest of the ancient golem buff, from the ancient golem
  • CC = Crowd Control (e.g. stuns, slows, taunts, fears, knockbacks, etc)
  • CD = Cooldown
  • Counter-Ganking = To ambush an enemy gank to either prevent what could've been a successful enemy gank, or to gain advantage of their initial engage and turn the fight around.
  • Counter-Jungling = To kill the monsters on the enemy's side of the jungle. Delaying them of gold, time, experience and buffs.
  • CS = Creep Score
  • Gap Closer = A spell or ability which reduces the distance between the champion and enemy
  • Gank = To ambush 1 or more unsuspecting enemies
  • MR = Magic Resist
  • Objectives = A task, when taken/destroyed, goes towards the team/champion who secured them. This includes the Dragon, Baron, Blue buff, Red buff, Turrets and Inhibitors.
  • Proc = The activation of an effect
  • Red buff = Blessing of the lizard elder buff, from the lizard elder
  • Roaming = Moving around the map to gank, support or jungle
  • Snowballing = Just like a snowball, the more it rolls, the bigger it gets. So if a champion like Riven (who's a big snowballing champion) gets even just a couple of kills, she will exponentially get stronger.
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Introduction



Hi,
This is my first champion build guide. I know this guide doesn't look amazing compared to many others, but I'll update it whenever I can to make it look better :)
Please comment and rate this guide, and also any advice to improve this guide are more than welcome! :)

Just to clear something up:
This isn't a guaranteed "perfect" build for all players. I've spent my time writing this guide to simply Help players who play or want to play Vi. Everyone has their own style, and this is mine because it works for Me.
Many Vi players stack damage items first, then tank items. Others build tank first, then damage later. It's really up to you how you want to play Vi, as long as you make your decision that benefits you And your team.
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Vi play this champion?

Vi is a strong and versatile champion, especially in the jungle since she has a fairly fast jungle clear time and has amazing ganking abilities. Her unstoppable ultimate Cease and Desist and her combos make her an extremely annoying jungler to deal with.
She's able to deal quite a lot of damage, even without damage items.



With all that said, she's definitely one of my favourite junglers!
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Pros / Cons

Pros
+ Fairly high mobility
+ Armour shred + max %HP damage
+ Hard CC
+ Great ganks, especially at lvl 6+
+ Quick clear time
+ Good damage early game
+ Passive makes her hard to kill
+ Not too hard to learn
+ Decent damage even without much damage items
+ Unstoppable ultimate


Cons
- No sustain
- Easy to miss Q skillshot since it is very predictable
- Weak laning phase against ranged champions
- Can be easily kited
- Falls off late game
- Needs to be in a sustained fight to deal decent damage
- Mana hungry
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Summoner Spells


- I don't think I have to say much about this. Instant flash as a gap closer or escape.

- A must for junglers. Secures buffs, dragon and baron kills.
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Runes


Runes

Sorcery
Phase Rush

x6 Greater Mark of Attack Damage
After testing AS runes and AD runes in different combinations in many games, I find that AD runes gives you better and faster clears, and gives you more burst damage for those early ganks.

x9 Greater Seal of Armor
Standard seals for any jungler. You'll need these to reduce damage taken from camps and auto-attacks when you gank.

x9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
It's really up to you what you need. Greater Glyph of Magic Resist if you think you'll be ganking against AP laners a lot. I usually just run Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist because it won't be too often you'll be damaged by magic at early levels.
If you want a mix of both, you can have something like x4 Greater Glyph of Magic Resist and x5 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist.


x3 Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage
Just to add a little bit more damage to clear the jungle faster, and also add some damage when you gank early on. You could also run Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed to help with roaming and ganking, but I don't think they'll be necessary with her kit.
With the cost of a slightly slower early jungle clear, you could have x3 Greater Quintessence of Armor Penetration to deal more damage to enemy champions.
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Masteries



  • Tough Skin + Bladed Armor - Good for early sustain in the jungle and faster clearing times.
  • Block - Take a little less damage from auto-attacks from early ganks.
  • Veteran Scars + Juggernaut - Extra 36 HP and +3% max HP, which helps in the early jungle phase and late game where the +3% HP gives you a nice little boost of tankiness.

21/9/0 gives Vi a LOT of damage, in early to late game. You will have lots of burst damage and auto-attack resets from your Relentless Force strikes, along with an attack speed boost and armour penetration from Denting Blows, two hard CCs from Vault Breaker + Cease and Desist and Stalker's Blade - Warrior's smite's slow to stick to whoever you want. I used to run 9/21/0 on Vi when I was less experienced with her, but it isn't bad on her. A tanky Vi can be frustration to deal with, plus she still has lots of damage even without 21 points into the Offensive tree.
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Items




I'm mentioning these 2 items first because they're Very important.
So many players simply Do Not buy wards. Wards saves lives!.
I'm saying this for ALL players, Buy AT LEAST 1 ward every time you back, unless you're the adc in laning phase, the support should do that for you and the team. Players think they're a waste of gold, but then they get to their lanes, eventually getting ganked and dying because they don't have any vision. 75g/100g to save you and your team players, doesn't sound that bad to me, does it?

As a jungler, you want to ward the Dragon and Baron since you should be securing these objectives. If your blue/red buff is about to come up in a minute or so, ward it to make sure their jungler isn't going to counter-jungle by taking it from you while you're somewhere else. Ward for other lanes, etc.
Buy Vision Wards to get vision in the river if they have a shaco/khaz/evelynn/other annoying champs who can stealth. Help and save your laners!



This item is awesome on Vi. You already have a hard CC from Vault Breaker and your unstoppable Cease and Desist, so a smite that steal 20% movement speed from an enemy champion makes it very difficult to get away from Vi.
The Warrior enchantment works very well with her, giving her AD, more armour penetration and cooldown reduction.


You should get the Cinderhulk enchantment instead if you aren't doing so good.



These boots are a standard pick for me if they don't have much CC and are great against a heavy AD team. You'll also take less damage from jungle camps with the armour and 10% less damage from basic attacks from both champions and monsters. I get this in most of my games if I know I don't need Mobility Boots or Mercury's Treads.

These boots are a Must-have if you're against a team composition with lots of CC. Since Vi needs to be in melee range to deal damage, she needs the extra tenacity to do so. For example, if I see a decent Veigar who rarely fails his Event Horizon on me, then I immediately get Mercury's Treads to deal with him and other CCs that can potentially catch me out quickly.


I usually only get this if I know the laning phase is going to last longer than usual. If you're planning to get these, save up enough gold to get Quill Coat and Mobility Boots on your first back. This item lets you gank more often for your team, makes ganks easier, roam faster and it's cheaper than the other boots.

I didn't mention this item in the beginning because I haven't yet found where I would have to buy these over the other 3 boots. Sure, +15 extra movement speed and tenacity against slows is alright, but I find the others more useful. Again, it's all dependent of what you're up against in-game, so get these if you know you'll benefit from them.



The Black Cleaver is a perfect damage item on Vi. It gives you % armour penetration which works very well with your Denting Blows, some health to make you a little tanky whilst giving you lots of damage, and a massive 20% cool down reduction.
If you think you will need to be tankier, buy tank items right after Phage, then finish it off later. In MOST cases,I would advise you do this because you want to be able to peel for your ADC without being taken out too easily. Phage gives you enough damage and sticking ability.



I really like this MR item as its passive gives your team +20 MR each, an activated shield which can save you and your team, 400 HP and 10% CD. Although it's not the strongest of MR items, I get this one if I don't need Banshee's Veil. It's very good for competitive play, and it helps your team out a lot.



Most of the time, you'll be buying this item against AD champions. It's a really solid armour item, giving you lots of HP and armour, as well as its attack speed reduction passive and its active which slows all enemies around you. This is a great way to peel off the enemy ADC since it gives you sticking power, along with your Vault Breaker and Cease and Desist. Sunfire Aegis is also an alternative if you wish to buy a cheaper armour item which gives you a little bit more damage with its AoE passive.



This is a really nice item on Vi. This gives you attack damage which increases with how much % HP you're missing, decent amount of MR, and its passive spell shield when you get really low on health can really save you while you're being focused.
Buy Hexdrinker as your first damage item instead of Phage if they have a lot of AP, or they have a snowballing AP champion who's a pain in the *ss.



This item lets you stick to your enemies, gives you TONS OF DAMAGE, a generous amount of HP and mana, movement speed, attack speed, some critical chance, and bonus damage from its passive.
Yes, it's expensive to get early on, but it's well worth it if you're fed (like 4-0). You'll be building tanky after Trinity Force anyways.
When building Trinity Force, get Phage first, then Sheen, then Zeal. Phage gives you damage and HP, while letting you stick to your enemies. Sheen's passive ability makes Relentless Force hit like a wrecking ball. Zeal gives you movement speed, attack speed for more Denting Blows procs more often, and some critical chance.
You must keep in mind that buying Trinity Force will delay your mid-game tankiness, so you'll have to be careful when engaging in a duel or team fight.



Get this as your 6th item if they have a heavy AP composition, or you might buy this over Locket of the Iron Solari as your 4th item if you're doing very well. This allows you to deny poke and counter dive interruptions when you engage for a team fight.



Not a big fan of this item on Vi to be honest. Get this as your 6th item if their ADC is fed. I probably wouldn't get this as your first armour item, because it doesn't give you any HP, which you also need for your Blast Shield to be bigger for you to last a little longer in a fight.



I would only get this as my last item if you or your team are very behind. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?
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Skill Sequence


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


> > >
R > Q > W > E


Obviously, put a point in Cease and Desist whenever you can.

I max Vault Breaker first to reduce its long cooldown. I think this is important to max first because it allows Vi to close gaps or get away more often. In many situations, you'll be running away with 50 HP left and you need Vault Breaker up to get away, or you're chasing an enemy who will get away if Vault Breaker isn't up any time soon. Vault Breaker's cooldown is Very long at early levels, so leveling and maxing this first is crucial in my opinion.

Then I max Denting Blows second to beat down objectives faster. The % damage proc and attack speed buff both synergize with each other, so maxing this second would get those 3 hits much faster, especially when you use Relentless Force to reset your auto-attacks.
Some players max Relentless Force over Denting Blows, however, Denting Blows assassinates and takes down objectives a lot faster, since that's one of your main roles as a jungler. Relentless Force can be stored twice anyway, so you can always count on it again when you need it.

You can max Denting Blows first if you want a faster clearing speed in the jungle, with the cost of mobility. In my opinion, her clearing speed isn't that bad if you don't max Denting Blows first. I just like Vi with more mobility by maxing Vault Breaker first.
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Spells


Passive

Her passive gives her a shield equal to 10% of her max HP for 5 seconds. This passive makes Vi hard to kill and makes her jungling a whole lot easier. For example, a good use of it is if you're running away from an enemy and both have fairly low health and you see that your passive is up, you can use Vault Breaker back into the chasing enemy as a surprise to proc the shield. Use your passive to your advantage, since it's very likely that the enemy won't keep track of its cooldown, or they'll just simply forget about it.


Q

This is a great gap closing and escape ability. It can cancel movement skills of enemy champions too (like Lucian's/Grave's dash), so make sure you time this right. Keep in mind that the longer you hold Vault Breaker, the more damage it does.
However, use this ability wisely! It can be tempting to go straight in when you've got your Vault Breaker charged up, but that Doesn't mean you Have to go in!

TIPS:
  • Vault Breaker can hit a target a little further than the range it shows you.
  • You can flash whilst charging Vault Breaker at the same time.
  • Use it to get in range to use your Cease and Desist if you really have to.
  • If in melee ranged fights and you need a little more damage to kill your enemy, just tap Q to hit them, which also knocks them back, saving you from getting hit 1 more time.
  • For a couple of milliseconds, Yasuo can use Vi's Vault Breaker ability to active his Last Breath (also works with her Cease and Desist).


W

This ability gives Vi her damage. This is a great attack speed buff skill after every 3rd hit on the same target, dealing bonus damage equal to a % of their max HP and reduces their armour by a hefty 20%.
Note: This ability procs with Vault Breaker, so you'll only need 2 more hits to proc Denting Blows. Remember to use Relentless Force to reset your auto-attacks to proc it even quicker.


E

This is great for AoE damage in team fights, and acts as an auto-attack reset. When jungling and dueling, it's important to use Relentless Force right after an auto-attack, resetting your next auto attack to execute faster.
I've had a few times when the enemy champion is getting away with critical health, but then I hit a minion with Relentless Force to activate the AoE damage behind the minion to kill the enemy.


R

This amazing ultimate makes Vi Unstoppable, literally. She's immune to CC while it's locked on your victim. Using this in a team fight is crucial to focus down their adc/assassin.
However, this can also lead to your death. For example, if you ult their adc and they're smart, they could flash over a wall for you to be greeted by the 4 other enemy champions just waiting to punch you back.

Note: It can be, however, interrupted by:
- Fizz's Playful / Trickster
- Elise's Rappel
- Vladimir's Sanguine Pool
- Zhonya's Hourglass
- Thresh's Flay
(And probably a few others which I can't think of right now).

Remember, Do Not use Vault Breaker and Cease and Desist one right after the other in certain situations! Charge up Vault Breaker and make sure to hit the enemy, then use your Relentless Force to reset auto-attacks while you auto-attack to quickly proc Denting Blows. If the enemy is getting away and you don't have your Vault Breaker ready again, use Cease and Desist to close the gap one more time and finish off the kill. Most of the time, this combo should secure the kill, especially in ganks.
I've seen Vi players use their Q the enemy and then Ult straight after while they're still in melee range. The ult is completely wasted, because if they flash away or used an escape ability, you have no other gap closers.
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Your Role as a Jungler



Jungling itself isn't so difficult. However, being an efficient and cooperative jungler takes time and practice.
Your role as a jungler are as follows:
  • You must have map awareness at all times.
  • You must control and seize the objectives for you and your team. These are the Dragon, Baron, Blue and Red buffs.
  • Gank lanes to help your laners dominate their opponent.
  • Remember, you don't have to gank Every lane. If you see, for example, bot lane is doing very well with little/no problems, then you should prioritize to help top and mid lane. Bot lane will ping if they need help.
    Also, ganking Doesn't mean you Must kill their enemy laner when you gank. I mean yeah, it's ideal, but if you manage to get them to very low HP, they'll run back to their turret and recall, then your laner should push the minions to their turret to deny their CS. If the enemy used Flash or Ghost to get away from your gank, that's good because they will have to play safer whilst your laner can control and push the lane. Knowing they won't be able to use Flash or Ghost in the next 300/210 seconds, gank again so it'll be almost a guaranteed kill (if they have little/no other escape ability).
  • Ward the river to have vision of enemy ganks to be able to counter-gank. If you feel like you're ahead of their jungler, you can ward one of their buffs to steal them, but Only if you know they're on the opposite side of the map or recalled recently.
    Use Vision Wards to ward your side of the jungle, and use Stealth Wards to ward the enemy side of the jungle. Vision on the enemy jungle is crucial to stay ahead of the enemy.
  • At all times, ward the Dragon (at all stages of the game) and Baron (mid-late game) so you and your team will be able to act if they're engaging those objectives. You want full control of these two objectives because they can turn the game around.
    Don't commit to taking Dragon if you don't have vision of their jungler. If you see that their jungler is somewhere else away from the Dragon, and the enemy bot lane has recently recalled/died, then quickly take it.
  • You are the playmaker of your team. You must be smart about your plays and find a way to engage fights to your team's advantage. Don't just engage in a fight just because you can, because they can Easily turn the fight around if you didn't play it smart in the first place.
  • As soon as you hit Level 6, GANK. Vi's Level 6 ganks almost guarantee a kill due to her Cease and Desist, allowing you to snowball lanes.
  • Counter-jungle whenever you Know their jungler is on the opposite side of the map. However, don't take the whole camp. For example, if you're taking their Red buff, just kill the Lizard Elder, leaving the two smaller monsters. This is so their Red buff will not spawn until the WHOLE camp is cleared. U mad bro?
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Summary



Thanks very much for reading my guide! Obviously I still have some more updating to do in terms of content, pictures and coding, but I'll update this guide as often as I can.
Please drop a comment and rate if you liked my guide, but if you didn't, please tell me why and how I can improve it. I would greatly appreciate that :)
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League of Legends Build Guide Author MasianC
MasianC Vi Guide
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Vi Jungle Guide: Punching your way to the Nexus! [5.17]

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