Hi there fellow players! Bought Volibear recently, played a few games and analyzed him. This is what I came up with. First of I would like to say that Volibear is nothing more than a combination of Dr. Mundo's ulti, Jax passive ulti, Singed fling, Blitzcrank ulti+fear and built-in splash damage. Quite an awesome mix-up.

This guide includes two item builds. The first is more Tanky while the other goes just pure HP.

(I use to play the pure HP one)

If you like (or hate) this build, please leave a comment :) Please also give constructive comments and suggestions. Would also appreciate a vote ;)


This is an off-tank build for those who are still wondering.
(still being updated)

Just to make sure you get the right feeling while playing Volibear:
Play Video

Title: Taking more of an AD approach.
Date: 2011-12-1
Huge remake of item build and changed masteries.
--Removed Spirit Visage & Guinsoo's rageblade completely as well as Frozen heart.
---->Went completely away from any AP and went more balanced with Magic Resist vs. Armor while getting more Health for fenzy.
--Changed Health build to include instead of Guinsoo's rageblade.

--Changes masteries from 3 points in lifesteal to 3 points in .
--Changed from focusing Magic Resist to focus Armor in Defense tree (due to items).

---

>Considering to change to 15/15/0 for the CDR in Defense tree.

What will this changes mean in practice? You will get more overall HP, a bit lower total magic resist & armor but instead some more AD.
Consequences: Lower Cooldown reduction! :/ Put points in if you would like to improve CDR.

PROS:
Can use "Singed's fling" /
If used at the right time will do, as phreak likes to say it: "TONS of damage!"
Has two CC abilities (slow and fling)
Passive gives good sustainability

CONS:
squishy early game!! (his damage makes up for it though, don't worry)
Kind of slow movement speed...

TANKY BUILD:
Pros:
Provides armor and magic resist.
Provides Tenacity!! CC's can be a pain in the ***.
Relativly cheap items

Cons:
A little lower damage output I suppose

HEALTH BUILD:
Pros:
Early cooldown reduction + movement speed (due to Ionian boots of lucidity)
Higher end-game damage output with (due to TWO Warmog's armor)
Your passive will regenerate a LOT of health

Cons:
Might not be able to take as much damage due to low armor and magic resist.
No tenacity! :S This could be your achilless heel!
All items are expensive ones...

So what can you expect from these build? Health Build is not an DPS build, but an burst build using a lot.
Tanky build is a more stable build and more of an DPS build using all of Volibear's skills.

Usefull notation:

: does not collide like but instead throws the target you choose, basicly like Singed's fling.

OVERALL:

Engage at enemies that get slightly out of position with and let your team have an easy kill. I don't recommend you go in as a "tank" until you have end game items tough.

I recommend to play quite defensive in early game until you get some health, I reconned that he easily takes quite some damage.
Around mid game you can start playing aggressive, your passive will save you from getting killed :P
If everything went according to plan in the end you can start playing HEAVILY aggressive, lol.

LANING:
Use your passive to it's fullest capabilities to sustain health in lane. If you're quite low, make the minions hurt you a bit and then go away and regenerate health from your passive.

HARASS:
Fling enemies and use to harass while last hitting minions. (Frenzy will reset quite quickly so be sure to use it when you can :P)

ATTACKING:
Keep in mind when you're attacking someone in lane to use and fear minions (to reduce unecessary damage).


GOOD PARTNERS:

Any good damage dealer will work as a lane partner, really. You fling the enemies, slow them then you and your partner should be able to take them down easily. If your partner has a CC, even better!

Regarding range AD carries: watch out so you don't throw an melee AD carry at them... (range ADs like & tend to be quite squishy).

GENERAL:

- Health to scale with your , Health regeneration and armor to increase sustainability, 'nuf said.

- I choose these shoes mainly because of the magic resist (needed one more magic resist item to get armor and magic resist more balanced). The tenacity is also crucial ofcourse, it's not fun to be stopped in your way to victory!

- You need Cooldown reduction!! And since it's also a health item it's a good choice.

- This item will give you magic resist making you more durable and attack speed. (Passive bonus damage is also good)

- You will want it for , 'nuf said. (Ofcourse it's also good for sustainability)

- You will want the health points and slow from this item.

- With so many Health items Atma's passive would give some nice Attack damage.

- Health, Cooldown reduction, movement speed active. Also provides mana regeneration and philosopher's stone will give you provide some gold for all these expensive items.

CORE ITEMS:

AGAINST AP HEAVY TEAM:

- This item is probably best item against AP team since it will provide health points
and mana points aswell. You might skip and use this instead at that point.

AGAINST AD HEAVY TEAM:

- a bit of cooldown reduction , Health a SLOW! This is probably best second armor item.

- Provides a lot of armor and the cooldown reduction we need.

ALTERNATIVE (untested) ITEMS (use at own risk):

- Another Warmogs is very VERY tempting. will do crazy damage... will heal like never before... Just try it. (This warmog's is included in the SECOND build

- Seriously, if it's a good game and you have the opportunity to stack health. Screw the (get one later tough) and get this **** instead! (It's so cheap!! o:)

- I recently got interested in this item. Will give magic resist, some more damage for your basic attacks and it's passive is VERY interesting. I wonder how it will add up with Volibears passive!

DOUBTFUL ITEMS (use at own risk):

- I think the splash damage would go nicely with "splash" damage. Could work.

- No worries about going Out of mana, the philosopher's stone will also bring in some extra cash. If you go with this item, use as boots instead of .

- This will make up for Volibears movement speed. Wouldn't recommend it tough since he needs tenacity or cooldown reduction much more. But ofcourse, if you prefer to roam around a lot this would be advantageous. (In truth he is not THAT slow, but this is also just an ALTERNATIVE item.)

- This skill will "mostly" be used just to fling enemies, not to deal damage. You just need one point in it (get it early tough)!

- This skill will be your main skill. You get so much attack speed and if you use it when enemy is low on HP the damage you do is crazy...

- Max this skill second. To be able to slow enemies is essential in ganking or plainly killing. It will also do some damage and keep minions away from you :P

- umh.... eeh... I use this skill for farming ._.'' Just activate it in team fights, lol...

Sequence:

---> ---> Hit them till they are low/use ulti ---> If you can, use / to slow them down ---> When they are "low"

You might think I stole this rune setup from phreak, but honestly, I always use attack speed runes (mixed up with some armor pen). Considering that gives SOOOOO much attack speed it would be a shame not to increase it some more ;)

I choose mana regeneration runes for glyphs since I often run out of mana... And if you want to play aggressive you certainly will. BUT if you do not see any mana problem use Cooldown reduction glyphs since the cooldown on all skills are CRAZY high early game.
Note: Added philosopher's stone to the build, there should be no mana problems now.

I don't give a **** that volibear scales with AP!!! If he uses attack speed he will have masteries that will utilise his attack damage! This is what you will use most of the time anyway... (We put masteris in Health Points aswell to improve early game damage with )

Since I see Volibear mainly as a DPS I recommend as a summoner spell.
I choose as second spell since it's good for initiating fights and provides an escape capability.

Alternative summoner spells:

- This will do nicely with , but honestly, rolling thunder is fast as it is. Don't think you should bother with it.

- Early game kills? Sure. But + + is better in my opinion for locking enemies.

- Phreak uses this summoner spell to improve the use of Volibear's passive. (Used directly after going below 30% of HP and you will heal to almost full HP). But I just don't see the use of it in end-game, sorry.
Note: If you like to **** around anyhow, buy and put mastery in and you will heal like crazy.