Note: This is my first guide.
Vladimir is a mage who uses health for casting his abilities.
Vladimir: Crimson Killer is a guide for the champion Vladimir, who is, in this guide, a tank mage with high ability power, cool down reduction and lifesteal making him an extremely fun character to play. This build will end you up with up to 4k health and 430 ability power.

Before coming to me and whining about how you didn't get any kills, this is my first guide and your success to Vladimir/every character is how you play him.

"Vladimir moves with purpose, his long hair and robes flowing dramatically behind him as his deliberate strides carry him swiftly towards his goal. The heels of his polished boots ring out against the marble halls of the Institute of War, an unwelcome clamor in the otherwise oppressive silence. He spies his destination ahead, a great stone doorway."
- The League Judgement

The summoner spells I have recommended are at the top, with exhaust and ghost being my choices.

Recommended Spells:

Exhaust - Reduces a target's Attack Damage by 70%, Ability/Item damage by 35% and slows its Movement Speed by 40% for 3 seconds. Great for chasing enemies/running away from them.

Ghost - Your Champion ignores unit collision and moves 27% faster for 10 seconds. Helps when you need to escape/get somewhere fast.

Replacement Spells:

Heal - Restores 140 + (lvl x 20) Health to your Champion and 50% of that to nearby allies. All targets healed will have a 50% reduction in heal amount from other summoner heal spells for 20 secs. AoE range: 600. Great early game, and also because Vladimir is a tank caster, yet gets useless late game due to transfusion.

Teleport - After 4 seconds, teleports your champion to target friendly minion or turret. 3 minute cooldown if cancelled. Useful to go assist friends/a faster replacement of recall.

Cleanse - Removes all control debuffs, silences and blinds from your champion and reduces the duration of subsequent stuns, slows, taunts, fears, snares, sleeps, and immobilizes by 65% for the next 3 seconds. No character is immune to CC.

Ignite - Targets a single champion dealing 50 + (lvl x 20) true damage over 5 seconds. Also reduces the target’s healing and regeneration by 50%. Great for whittling down enemy health. Use with hemoplague for extreme damage.

Useless Spells:

Revive - Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, increasing your movement speed by 225%, diminishing to normal over 12 seconds. 9 minute cooldown. Easier to wait for it, rather than wasting a slot.

Smite - Deals 420 + (lvl x 25) true damage to target enemy minion or pet. Vladimir isn't the best jungler.

Fortify - Grants invulnerability to all Allied Turrets and causes them to attack 100% faster for 6 seconds. While Fortify is ready to cast, you deal 9 bonus damage to minions. Let someone else waster their spell on it.

Clarity - Restores 160 + (lvl x 30) Mana to your champion and 50% of that to nearby allies. Useless - you have no mana!

Rally - Summons a beacon with 200 + (lvl x 25) Health for 15 seconds which increases allied Attack Damage by 10-35. Tell me, why does no one else use it?

Flash - Teleports your Champion to target nearby location under your mouse cursor. Vladimir has sanguine pool for escaping.

Clairvoyance - Reveals an area of the map for 6 seconds. You'll end up wasting it trying to find the right place to cast it.

The Skills and how to use them:

Crimson Pact - Every 40 points of bonus health gives Vladimir 1 ability power and every 1 point of ability power gives Vladimir 1.8 bonus health. This bonuses do not stack with themselves.

Transfusion - Vladimir drains the lifeforce of his target, dealing magic damage and healing himself. This is your main spell; coupled with ability power, cooldown reduction and lifesteal, you'll have a big healing, high damage, constant no-cost harassment at your hands. The damage is instant, making for a good finishing move.

Sanguine Pool - Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood for 2 seconds, becoming untargetable and slowing enemies above him by 40% for 1 second. Additionally, he deals magic damage every half second to them and heals himself for 12.5% of the damage done. Great for cleaning out minion waves, and whittling down champion health. Also great for running away/dodging attacks - in this form you cannot be hit by new abilities. Note that this spell takes up one-fifth of your health.

Tides of Blood - Vladimir unleashes a torrent of blood dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies. Each cast gives him an Empowered stack which increases his healing and regeneration by 8% per stack for 10 seconds. This stacks up to four times. Additionally, his next tides of Blood deals 25% more damage and costs 50% more health per stack. Great for attacking mass waves of enemies in all directions. Low cooldown, making for a constant attack.

Hemoplague - Vladimir infects all enemies in the target area with a virulent plague which increases the damage they take from all sources by 14% for 5 seconds. After these 5 seconds, infected enemies take magic damage. Vladimir's ultimate. Use in cluttered areas, with all your abilities ready. Use hemoplague, then cast tides of blood, then transfusion, and sanguine pool for max effect. Also useful for last hitting enemies on low health.

The lines that Vladimir says in-game:
"The rivers will run red."
"A draining exercise."
"A harvest moon, so aptly named."
"A vital decision."
"Care to make a donation?"
"Deliciously vein."
"I'm absolutely livid."
"I'm a universal recipient."
"Let's pool our efforts."
"My cup is half empty."
"Please, let it all out."
"Something is leaking..."
"The clot thickens."
"Trickling progress."
"Wonderful."
"You look like someone who's got a lot going on beneath the surface."
"Go ahead, be negative. You'll be just my type."

Vladimir's Story:

There is a temple hidden in the mountains between Noxus and the Tempest Flats, where the secrets of an ancient and terrifying sorcery are kept. The area surrounding the temple is littered with the exsanguinated corpses of those who have mistakenly wandered too close. These served only to pique the curiosity of Vladimir, when – in his youth – he trekked through these mountains during his flight from Noxus. A day earlier, the teenaged Vladimir had brutally murdered two boys his age, for no better reason than to enjoy the intoxicating scarlet bloom that surged forth. He realized immediately that he would never be able to suppress his murderous desires, and if he remained in Noxus, his foul deeds were sure to catch up with him. Without hesitation, he abandoned the city-state, and journeyed south.
The trail of bodies led him to a crumbling stone temple. Inside he found an aging monk who appraised him with eyes of pure crimson. Vladimir surprised the monk by returning the wicked gaze with zeal. Recognizing the boy’s sinister craving, the monk taught Vladimir how to manipulate and control the fluid of life, often practicing on passing travelers. When it came time for Vladimir to learn the final lesson, the monk warned that failure would result in death. Vladimir did not fail, but success bore a grisly surprise. During the ritual, every drop of the monk’s blood was drawn from his body and fused with Vladimir’s, imbuing him with his master's magical essence, and that of every hemomancer before him. Left alone and suddenly without purpose, Vladimir resolved to return to Noxus, demanding enrollment in the League to prove the supremacy of his craft. When the Noxian High Command observed the gruesome fates which befell the palace guards, they elected to avail themselves of Vladimir's unsavory talents.