Greetings, i'm GabrielJCD from Portugal and this is my personal build for my favourite champion and my main, Vladimir, and I am going to share is amazing strength.
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.
'That which runs through you will run you through.' -Vladimir
Vladimir is one of the strongest AP carries and very good at counter initiating.
Pros:
Strong throught mid and late game
Good escape/broken mechanic
Good in Teamfights
Crazy sustain with WOTA (Good for double WOTA if your top)
Tanky late game
Can be played mid or top with ease
Legendary skin
Not hard to get the hang of(but can be hard to play very well and know when you can dive)
No Mana
Cons:
Somewhat weak early depending on the matchup
Item reliant for passive
Some abilities cost health
Easy to get greedy with pool and die for it
Long CD Pool
No CC(besides slow)
Timeline7/26/2010
Transfusion: Vladimir drains the lifeforce of his target, dealing magic damage and healing himself for 25% of that amount. Sanguine Pool: Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood for 2.5 seconds, becoming untargetable and slowing enemies above him. Vladmir deals magic damage to targets above him and heals himself for 15% of that amount. Tides of Blood: Vladimir unleashes a torrent of blood, damaging surrounding enemies. Additionally, multiple Tides of Blood in a short period of time cause them to cost additional health and deal additional damage, and increases his healing and regeneration by 8%.
(Ultimate) Hemoplague: Vladimir infects the target area with a virulent plague that increases the damage they take for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, infected enemies take magic damage.
(Passive) Crimson Pact: Bonus health gives Vladimir bonus ability power, and every bonus ability power gives Vladimir bonus health (does not stack with itself).
Patch Notes 8/9/2010
Crimson Pact (passive) tooltip now displays stat bonuses Sanguine Pool cooldown increased to 26/23/20/17/14 from 25/22/19/16/13 Tides of Blood health cost reduced to 30/45/60/75/90 from 40/55/70/85/100 Tides of Blood is now blocked by spell shield.
Hemoplague debuff will now grant assists even if it does not deal damage to the target
Patch Notes 9/20/2010
Fixed a bug where Transfusion was not restoring enough health from Spell Vamp (not how much the spell heals normally)
Fixed a bug where Transfusion tooltip showed it restoring less health than it did Crimson Pact (passive) no longer heals Vladimir when his Ability Power increases
Patch Notes 10/4/2010
Blood Gorged (Passive)
Now grants 1.8 Health per 1 AP, from 2.0 per 1 AP. Sanguine Pool
Duration reduced to 2 seconds from 2.5
Slow duration increased to 1.5 seconds from 1 second
Damage per second changed to 20/33.75/47.5/61.25/75 retaining the same overall damage
Fixed a bug where Sanguine Pool wasn't dealing enough damage
Patch Notes 11/15/2010
Transfusion will now heal Vladimir even if the target is spell immune Hemoplague will no longer damage enemies if it is dispelled
Patch Notes 11/30/2010
Fixed a bug where Tides of Blood was not providing Vladimir with enough increased regeneration and healing
Fixed a bug where Tides of Blood did not deal full damage if you had 4 stacks before casting Hemoplague
Cooldown increased to 150/135/120 seconds from 120
Damage amplification effect changed to 14% at all ranks from 10/14/18%
Base damage reduced to 150/250/350 from 200/300/400
Ability power ratio reduced to 0.7 from 0.75
Patch Notes 01/31/2011
Sanguine Pool
Slow percentage reduced to 40% from 50%
Slow duration reduced to 1 second from 1.5 seconds Tides of Blood health cost reduced to 30/40/50/60/70 from 30/45/60/75/90
Fixed a bug where Vladimir would lose health when leveling in some instances
Patch Notes 2/15/2011
Crimson Pact Bonus ability power gained reduced to 1 ability power per 40 bonus health from 25 health Sanguine Pool no longer grants a speed bonus on use
Fixed a bug where Turrets would sometimes idle while Vladimir was pooled
Fixed a bug where Sanguine Pool would occasionally not properly draw aggro upon exiting his pool
Release Notes v1.0.0.118b – 5/23/2011
Transfusion heal reduced to 15/25/35/45/55 from 17.5/28.75/40/51.25/62.5
Patch Notes 6/21/2011
Transfusion
Cooldown adjusted to 12/10/8/6/4 from 12/10/8/6/3
Damage adjusted to 90/125/160/195/230 from 70/115/160/205/250
Patch Notes 09/13/2011
Transfusion now counts as a single target ability for items such as Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Patch Notes 11/15/2011
Fixed a bug where the display range for Tides of Blood was much shorter than the actual range
Patch Notes 01/17/2012
Transfusion cooldown reduced to 10/8.5/7/5.5/4 seconds from 12/10/8/6/4 Crimson Pact ability power to health conversion reduced to 1.4 from 1.8 Hemoplague no longer costs 15% of your current health and is now no cost to cast Tides of Blood health cost ramp up reduced to 25% from 50%
Patch Notes 02/13/2012
Crimson Pact will now correctly work with all sources of bonus Health (% health runes, Juggernaut mastery) Hemoplague damage amplification reduced to 12% from 14% Tides of Blood healing bonus adjusted to 4/5/6/7/8% per rank from 8% at all ranks
For Runes, I go with Greater Mark of Insight. More damage/healing and these are pretty much the best in slot.
For seals, I go with Greater Seal of Vitality because vlad is very strong in long sustain fights. You do not want to get bursted down. Your goal is to absorb as much damage and deal as much damage as possible without dying. With the health, you get ability power and become really tanky as well.
For Glyphs, I go with Greater Glyph of Force because makes vlad really strong and helps him deal very strong consistent damage.
I use Ghost and Ignite, the two best summoner spells, that are helpful in multiple ways and compliment Vladimir's style perfectly. Ghost can be used to Chasing, escaping, getting to a destination. Ignite can be used in conjunction with Hemoplague with the 12% damage amplification you deal a total of 468 damage. Helpful getting frist bloods.
Vladimir's Abilities
CRIMSON PACT:
(Innate): Every 40 points of bonus health grants Vladimir 1 ability power and every 1 point of ability power grants Vladimir 1.4 bonus health. These bonuses do not stack with themselves.
TRANSFUSION:
(Active): Vladimir drains the lifeforce of his target, dealing magic damage and healing himself.
No cost
Range: 600
Cooldown: 10 / 8.5 / 7 / 5.5 / 4 seconds
Magic Damage: 90 / 125 / 160 / 195 / 230 (+0.6 per ability power)
Health Regained: 15 / 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 (+0.25 per ability power)
This spell is what Vladimir is about. It harasses hard and it heals Vladimir. You should reduce your CD as much as you can in order to spam this spell as you can.
With Will of the Ancients you heal enormous amounts of life.
SANGUINE POOL:
(Active): Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood becoming untargetable for 2 seconds 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.
Cost: 20% of current health
Radius of AoE: 300
Cooldown: 26 / 23 / 20 / 17 / 14 seconds
Magic Damage Per Half-Second: 20 / 33.75 / 47.5 / 61.25 / 75 (+3.75% of bonus health)
Maximum Magic Damage: 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+15% of bonus health)
Sanguine Pool is used exclusively for team fights, finishing people off, slowing in KEY situations, and escapes. Sanguine Pool is one of Vladimir best moves, and not having to waste it for a slow is very usefull.
TIDES OF BLOOD:
(Active): Vladimir unleashes a torrent of blood dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies.
Each cast of Tides of Blood gives him an Empowered stack, which increases his healing and regeneration and causing his next Tides of Blood to deal 25% more base damage but cost 25% more health. This lasts for 10 seconds, and stacks up to four times.
Cooldown: 4.5 seconds
Radius of AoE: 620
Cost: 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 health
Additional Healing and Regeneration %: 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
Magic Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+0.45 per ability power)
Maximum Cost: 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 health
Maximum Magic Damage: 120 / 180 / 240 / 300 / 360 (+0.45 per ability power)
This is a spam-able skill and it's you best farming skill because it hits everyone around you. This ability is very good because it makes your Transfusion heal more HP. The combo Tides of Blood Hextech Revolver will heal even more large amounts of HP!
HEMOPLAGUE:
(Active): Vladimir infects all enemies in the target area with a virulent plague which increases the damage they take from all sources by 12% for 5 seconds. After these 5 seconds, infected enemies take magic damage.
No cost
Range to center of AoE: 700
Radius of AoE: 350
Cooldown: 150 / 135 / 120 seconds
Magic Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 (+0.7 per ability power)
This spell is devastating and can turn a team fight around. although it deals some heavy damage, its best purpose is the increased 18% damage from ALL sources of damage. This spell is kinda awesome but requires a lot of skill and practice to use at the right time. Just aim for 3-5 heroes in the team fight and then keep using your abilities to finish them off.
Champions to look out for
Facing your twin wont always be easy, but when you fight your twin, first thing is to check the things that seperate you two (items, health, AP,) The most important thing to give you the upper hand is to Transfusion him without him hitting you, and also if you two are going to Transfusion each other, theres a trick i use, right when you hit Transfusion right click him then run away, you will get an auto attack in plus your Transfusion meaning you would be the one doing the most damage. Honestly it comes down to who has more magic pen,ap, and health and who can play smarter and respond faster.
In the early levels, just make sure to dodge her Flash Frost. After level 6, she will start nuking you with Glacial Storm and Frostbite. If you are low, use Sanguine Pool to dodge Frostbite. Like with every other matchup, after transfusion's CD is low enough, you can start putting a dent in her. Watch out when towerdiving, since Rebirth may mean your demise.
Don't get hit by Dark Binding. Lethal bindings can be dodged with Sanguine Pool. Don't harras her while her Black Shield is up, since it makes her immune (you will recieve healing tho). After she obtains level 6-7, she will start pushing your wave pretty hard with Tormented Soil. It's alright. You keep hitting her with Transfusion.
As usual, just make sure to hit him while his shield is down. Stay away from your creeps so he has to decide between using Siphon of Destruction on the creeps or on you. If he is level 6 and you are low, go heal. Chances are, he will use his Children of the Grave plus Ignite combo, and Sanguine Pool won't save you from that. As soon as you reach level 9 you will start making him think twice about hitting you. Never, absolutely never, go toe-to-toe with this guy.
Same as . Don't ever leave your minions - if he tries to harras you with his Pillar of Flame he will push the lane. If he goes for you with his Conflagration you can Transfusion him, and he cannot throw his stunning Sear if you have minions in front of you. Avoid getting hit by his combo until your Transfusion is at a low cooldown.
Not much to say here, other than he will completely destroy you if you go toe-to-toe with him. Pre level 6 his burst is incredible unless you Sanguine Pool to dodge nevermove. And if you do, his DoT effects will still hurt you. Past lvl 6 he heals up faster than you do with his Ravenous Flock form. To be sure, just last hit until lvl 9.
Don't get hit by poison. If you do, you will lose half of your life.
just try to keep some distance because he can harass you with Urchin Strike and he can avoid to Playful / Trickster so keep it in mind if you try do harass him. After level 6, he will try Chum the Waters and when Vladimir uses his Sanguine Pool to avoide the Shark damage + knock up... he still gets knocked up/damaged.
requires you to be attentive, and to always be alert. You need to bait him to try and use Lay Waste and in the process of you doing this you need to dodge 90% of them, when hes out of mana you can successfully deny him. You dont need any magic resist against Karthus cause his ultimate is what really hurts and honestly you just need Sanguine Pool to get out of that.
Items
Starting: and 3X
Core: is the best possible early game item on vlad because of his super strong lane sustainability. You almost always want to go this item.
are very good on vlad giving 20 more of magic penetration or giving +15% Cooldown Reduction.
are funniest and the best way to be feed, it unlock you a new gameplay that allow you to harass hard : Q + a safe back vs no cc = gg
Another Core Item: is absolutely the best ap carry item.
: If you're lacking Health, and you want to be more tanky and do sustain damage. You want to go this item. I usually go this item after however if you're dying and feel like you need the survive, i would go this after the and before the .
Focused down by a heavy magic team:
If you're confident that you can avoid focus:
How To Play
This is a video i've done to show you how to play Vladimir the entire game.
Farming/ Early Game
is a mid or solo top champion so he need too farm alot and make sure that happens, you want to be superior all the time against the champion in front of you so be patient. Use normal atacks to kill minions and sometimes Transfusion to keep full health. If you want to harass your opponent, try to only trade 1 attack for 1 and heal up with Transfusion. Do not trade multiple attacks with your opponent, otherwise they'll be able to zone you from experience and farm.
Mid Game
As soon as you reach level 9 or 10 with and or , you can begin denying your opponent and harassing them. If you kill the enemy champion or he retreats go help your team mates or press the lane to destroy the tower.
Make sure to or your lane properly and then you'll be able to completely dominate at level 9 until laning phase is over.
Late Game
You probably have zhonyas and deathcap by now, just ult as many people as possible go in pool spam all the keys on your keyboard. Don't bait your team, you are the damage amplifier with the zhonyas. If you survive until your ult ends you gain back atleast 200 hp or so, this is really important because every HP counters on vlad. You can clean up well, the longer you are in the fight and the higher the CDR the more damage you will do and be a huge problem to the enemy team.
Twisted Treeline Strategy
If you didn't already know this, Twisted Treeline is a fast paced map where teamwork is extremely vital, especially early game. The main role you have on most teams is going to be that of the initator and damage dealer.
General Twisted Treeline Strategy:
This map is all about jungling and map control so always be aware of where the enemy heroes are. If you notice that one of the enemy heroes has been gone for awhile then be cautious of the bushes around you and always try and have creeps between you and whatever heroes are around you. Also, put Sight Ward everywhere. Seriously, no excuse. Vladimir may not be Warwick or Shaco when it comes to jungling, but his life leeching abilities make him pretty damn effective and you should be getting as many buffs as you can.
Before Creeps:
Usually there will be a team battle before the creeps even spawn and for the most part you're going to want to hang back at this point because Transfusion is on such a long cool down and you have no escape ability yet. Use Ignite if you have the chance to kill someone and just spam Transfusion when it's up.
Team Fights:
If you have the entire team next to each other than you'll want to pretty much always start your fights with this skill order (assuming you're initating) Hemoplague > Tides of Blood > Sanguine Pool > Ignite while in Sanguine Pool. Before your Sanguine Pool is over try and move behind one of your beefier teammates and then just chase while spamming Transfusion.
Assuming your team isn't terrible and you all target the highest priority hero first you should at least get one kill. Also, if you're chasing a hero back to his base do NOT be afraid to tower dive. Seriously, this guy is a tower dive master because of Sanguine Pool. There have been numerous times where I was chasing someone with less than half health in to their tower only for them to turn around thinking they could kill me within their tower. They weren't too happy when I used Transfusion then instantly used Sanguine Pool and slowed/hurt them while their tower didn't help them and ended up killing them.
Twisted Treeline Build
I like alot to play twisted treeline with Vladimir and this is how i play it
Sight Ward Seriously, unless you've got a Teemo spamming mushrooms on your team or something, you should almost ALWAYS have Dragon and Lizard buffs warded. It's only 75 gold. When you go back to get your next item, GET IT!
First Core Item:
I always start off with Spirit Visage because it increases your healing & regeneration, reduces your CDs and gives you some nifty magic resist to help you live.
Which Boots to get?
This is pretty much going to depend on what type of team you're playing against. I will say that 90% of the time I go with Boots of Swiftness because you're going to want to be near the action in a team fight to slow using your Sanguine Pool and hit as many heroes as possible with Tides of Blood.
If you're going up against a heavy stun/fear team then you'll probably want to get Mercury's Treads to reduce the time spent mashing your keyboard waiting for the stun/fear to go away. I also play with Sorcere's Shoes .
Mid Game:
Rylai's Crystal Scepter is an awesome item on pretty much every AP hero and Vlad is really no different, especially with 3 AOE spells and a single unit nuke on a 2 second CD.This gives you both health & ability power.
I hope whoever reads this can learn a thing or two about Vladimir, and if I cause any player to try him out I'll consider this guide a success. If you have any comments or criticisms regarding either my Vladimir playstyle or guide-forging powers, please let me know in the comments below!
Build Guide
Discussion (8)
Vladimir, and I am going to share is amazing strength.
Patch Notes 8/9/2010
Patch Notes 8/23/2010
Patch Notes 9/7/2010
Patch Notes 9/20/2010
Patch Notes 10/4/2010
Patch Notes 11/15/2010
Patch Notes 11/30/2010
Patch Notes 01/31/2011
Patch Notes 2/15/2011
Patch Notes 6/21/2011
Patch Notes 09/13/2011
Patch Notes 11/15/2011
Patch Notes 01/17/2012
Patch Notes 02/13/2012
Patch Notes 04/16/2012
Greater Mark of Insight. More damage/healing and these are pretty much the best in slot.
Greater Seal of Vitality because vlad is very strong in long sustain fights. You do not want to get bursted down. Your goal is to absorb as much damage and deal as much damage as possible without dying. With the health, you get ability power and become really tanky as well.
Greater Glyph of Force because makes vlad really strong and helps him deal very strong consistent damage.
Greater Quintessence of Potency The 15 AP and thus 21 HP as well
Will of the Ancients you heal enormous amounts of life.
Hextech Revolver will heal even more large amounts of HP!
In the early levels, just make sure to dodge her 
Flash Frost. After level 6, she will start nuking you with 
Glacial Storm and 
Frostbite. If you are low, use 
Rebirth may mean your demise.
is a huge pain in the ***, just try not to get stunned. After level 6, she will try 
Summon: Tibbers followed by 
Disintegrate and 
Incinerate, possibly 
Don't get hit by 
Dark Binding. Lethal bindings can be dodged with 
Black Shield is up, since it makes her immune (you will recieve healing tho). After she obtains level 6-7, she will start pushing your wave pretty hard with 
Tormented Soil. It's alright. You keep hitting her with 
As usual, just make sure to hit him while his shield is down. Stay away from your creeps so he has to decide between using 
Siphon of Destruction on the creeps or on you. If he is level 6 and you are low, go heal. Chances are, he will use his 
Children of the Grave plus 
Same as
. Don't ever leave your minions - if he tries to harras you with his 
Pillar of Flame he will push the lane. If he goes for you with his 
Conflagration you can 
Sear if you have minions in front of you. Avoid getting hit by his combo until your 
Ravenous Flock form. To be sure, just last hit until lvl 9.
Don't get hit by poison. If you do, you will lose half of your life.
Skilled Malzahars will silence you with their 
Call of the Void everytime you try to get close, so try to juke it. His 
Malefic Visions is way more powerful than your 
Null Zone - 
Nether Grasp - 
Flash READY AT ALL TIMES.
Urchin Strike and he can avoid to 
Playful / Trickster so keep it in mind if you try do harass him. After level 6, he will try 
Chum the Waters and when 
Is one of the most strong ap mid champs i've ever seen so be carefull. To play against her try to move alot to avoid 
Orb of Deception and 
Charm (hate charm) and try to stay behind the minions to avoid 
Fox-Fire. At level 6 she will most likely go for the kill with her 
Spirit Rush - 
can be a pain if he is full AP against you mid, his range on 
Null Sphere Is 700 and silences for 1-3 seconds depending on the level, 
Kassadin is he can 
Riftwalk on top of you and get his 
requires you to be attentive, and to always be alert. You need to bait him to try and use 
Lay Waste and in the process of you doing this you need to dodge 90% of them, when hes out of mana you can successfully deny him. You dont need any magic resist against 
Karthus cause his ultimate is what really hurts and honestly you just need 
and 3X
are very good on vlad giving 20 more of magic penetration or
giving +15% Cooldown Reduction.
are funniest and the best way to be feed, it unlock you a new gameplay that allow you to harass hard : Q + a safe back vs no cc = gg
is absolutely the best ap carry item.
: If you're lacking Health, and you want to be more tanky and do sustain damage. You want to go this item. I usually go this item after
or
your lane properly and then you'll be able to completely dominate at level 9 until laning phase is over.
Warwick or 
Shaco when it comes to jungling, but his life leeching abilities make him pretty damn effective and you should be getting as many buffs as you can.
Greater Glyph of Focus 
Greater Quintessence of Fortitude
Doran's Shield & 1 
Spirit Visage because it increases your healing & regeneration, reduces your CDs and gives you some nifty magic resist to help you live.
Mercury's Treads to reduce the time spent mashing your keyboard waiting for the stun/fear to go away. I also play with Sorcere's Shoes .
Mejai's Soulstealer This is an awesome item if you can get stacks.
Haunting Guise Give more life and ap yes sir. works well with vlad passive.
