VLADIMIR (SOMETHING DARKER)

Introduction

Hello there, This is DarkkYouth here to represent a great build for . Many people think that he is underpowered but this may be because they probably do not understand how to play him correctly or they are maybe missing an important item in his build or use something that might be lacking the potential he has. I was inspired by Nigg's who is also a Vladimir user and want to also put vladimir to full potential. Vladimir can use his abilities for different stategies of playing such as turret diving, escaping a bad situation or catching an escaping enemy.

Pros and Cons

PROS

Best spell vamp champion in LoL.
Amazing burst damage in early - mid game.
Dodge projectiles for 2 seconds with Sanguine Pool for great escaping or chasing an enemy.
Tides of Blood damages stealthed champions.
Cooldowns reduce as you level up.
Gains health from ability power and ability power from health.
Tides of Blood makes farming very easy mid - late game.

CONS

2/4 of his abilities cost health to cast.
Long cooldowns early game.
May be countered early game.
Inproper usuage of abilities can be consequentual.
Usually is strongly focused.
Short ranged.
Countered easily by stunning, silencing, dazzing, or suppressing.

Runes (The Glyphs and Quints of Insight are absent)

For runes I definately get Mark of Insight, in Seals I get Seal of Force, or Seal of Resilience could also be good defensive but I perfer Force so you are constantly building ability power. In Glyph's I focus on magic penetration by taking Glyph of Insight and Glyph of Force works too, you won't get as much damage but you will return more health (I recommend more damage), and for Quintessence I get Quintessence of Insight or Quintessence of Force (Again I perfer more damage). If you get Mark of Insight, Seal of Force, Glyph of Insight, and Quintessence of Insight you will have 41 magic penetration including and Arcane Knowledge (Offensive Mastery). With a high amount of magic penetration (Without even including yet) you will have a large amount of burst damage in the early - middle phase of the game.

Masteries

In the two builds I perfer 21/0/9 in masteries. Many people say that 21/0/9 in masteries works well but I personally think that Vladimir should have max magic penetration to be at his full potential. Lacking magic penetration could cost you kills or give you deaths. This can dramatically change your survivability and damage output.

Items

I believe this is probably the best build possible on Vladimir after the last nerf. For starting items I take Ampifying Tome and a or two because it will give you an advantage over damage output and durability. Avoid harassment and focus on farming early game but of course if they start to harass you should deal some damage to them also so if they attempt to kill you, you can have a chance to kill them. By the way with Transmutation runes and masteries Vladimir starts the game with 9% spell vamp which is very useful and around 400 - 600 ability power depending on your build and the amount of Elixers you have bought (If you go by my build instead you will have close to 700+ ability power and won't have to worry about your health so much since you will be doing a lot of damage and won't have to rely on you spell vamp too much). I Usually get Quick Silver Sash or in most games that the other teams champions have a lot of cc (crowd control) and rush it early game if you think you need to for escaping death from slows for ganks and any other disables such as the ultimate Nether Grasp, Terrify, etc. If you are not a player that is used to clicking on items then I recommend you get but i perfer Quick Silver Sash to choose when to use it instead of it being used on the first ability casted. If the enemy team does not have a stun or silence. is a good item on Vladimir but its not the best escape mechanism and the 20 magic penetration, 70 ap, and 37 Magic Resist (I recommend it only if the enemy team has heavy ability power champs if not go for ). When you have an extra 300 gold and have to wait to build a you might as well get an Elixer of Brilliance to give you some ability power to help you through the long wait especially if you feel you might need it. Also stacking Elixer of Brilliance and Elixer of Fortitude is great after you have a complete build to continue to multiply your health and ability power.

Skill Sequence

Okay some people may disagree but I think that after maxing then you should max and I know that when you level up and it reduces their cooldowns but lets think about this. with a low cooldown would be very nice to save you often but in fights you will usually use it one time, and are basically your primary abilities so I think you should max those first. Besides If you have good map awareness and wards when your enemy team has a jungler you should be fine with this skill sequence.

Summoner Spells

Summoner spells that I think are great on Vladimir are and , or if you may perfer and that may be fine as well for catching up with an enemy or for a better escape strategy but I'm more of an offensive player with Vladimir. I always get and because I personally believe it is more effective. When you do your usual combo ,, , , and then use and when you return to normal form your enemy should practically be dead especially if the stacks on your are maxed and if you harassed them with to around atleast a quarter or more of their hp.

Ability's

is great for farming, harrassing your enemies, and healing yourself.

is used for your offense or your defense. You can use this to chase down your enemies and slow them except since there was a nerf on vladimir removing his speed boost in this ability you should use Ghost or Flash before you cast this so you can be in range to slow your target. can also dodge many incoming abilities if it is timed well such as Requiem, Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Cryptic Gaze, Ace in the Hole, Finales Funkeln, Dark Binding, Ice Blast, Grand Skyfall, Nevermove. Do not use when you are about to die from damage over time abilities or summoner spells unless its your only chance of survival for example, , Drain, Children of the Grave, Torment or Decrepify.

is great for farming mid and late game, theres also a chance that you might hit a stealthed champ such as Twitch, Teemo or Evelynn, in fights always use this after or before Transfusion to keep their cooldowns at about the same rate and do more damage. I suggest to not use this when low on hp unless its all you have left and you are about to get killed and can kill the enemy first, but just keep rushing some minions from a distance and using Transfusion until you heal for some decent health or completely.

should be casted over the most enemy units to return the most health so save it for killing champs. This ability is awesome in team fights giving your team the upper hand in damage by increasing damage from all sources by 14% to all infected units. Cast this when in team fights and the enemy team is close together to infect as much of them as you can to be the most effective. Some players on your team might not understand what this ability can do so if you have to inform them that when this is casted on enemies do as much damage to them as you can to the ones infected.

Team Work

I usually become fed quickly with Vladimir from ganking and helping out a teammate when in a fight nearby or if they are trying to get away. Late game no matter how fed you are always stay with you team to help them in a fight on the instant and to avoid death from ganks which refers to any champ especially when you are in your enemies jungle preparing to take down a turret, stealing jungle monsters, or maybe gank their jungler.

Farming

Farming is vital with Vladimir, don't try to harass your enemy until atleast around lvl 3 or 4. If they harass you just use on them to return the damage and return a little health. If your team does not have a jungler and your laning opponent is turret hugging or staying next to their turret at all times then go kill the Wraiths or Wolves for some extra gold and if you do not see your laning opponent anymore then call mia. Do not farm with unless you are by your turret or until late game when it has a low second cooldown and use it in large groups of minions or if an enemy team tries to focus you and you will gain health in exchange. Around level 5 start to harass your enemy with or anytime they harrass you (Don't spam your , just do enough damage to make your opponent back off so you can farm) until you are level 6 then push to the turret. If you feel confident that you may do this successfully then push to your enemies turret let your minions start attacking it and make sure that you have around atleast 4 to 5 minions, check your map for any possible ganks, your opponent's health is low, and your health is sustainable. Run past the turret to the other side or to the side of it and then use your , , , and then under them to avoid anymore damage from them or their turret and slow them and if they are not dead yet you should have your up by then and finish them off, then use or out of there. This must be done very quickly and I do not recommend doing this if your laning partner is or any other champ that can silence, stun, fear or taunt. I have turret dived a and even after knocking me towards the wall I would still manage to kill her and escape with but it is very risky I suggest you practice this a few times in bots if you do not do this often.

Results

This was a recent game with Vladimir on ranked laning mid against Heimerdinger.

Epilogue

Thank you for reading my guide and I hope this has helped out Vladimir players that were maybe lacking his full potential. Good Luck and may the Blood Lord have his ways.