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Rammus Build Guide by Demonsedge90

Jungle 14.8 Ok...Yeah...Alright

Jungle 14.8 Ok...Yeah...Alright

Updated on April 17, 2024
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Demonsedge90 Build Guide By Demonsedge90 43 15 259,441 Views 2 Comments
43 15 259,441 Views 2 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Demonsedge90 Rammus Build Guide By Demonsedge90 Updated on April 17, 2024
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Runes: Standard

1 2
Resolve
Aftershock
Font of Life
Conditioning
Unflinching

Precision
Triumph
Legend: Alacrity
Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+2% Movement Speed
+10% Tenacity/Slow Resist

Spells:

1 2 3 4
Standard
LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Mosstomper Smite

Mosstomper Smite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None
Introduction
Hi, my name is Demonsedge, and I've been enjoying my time at League of Legends. I can't say enough about this game.

I am not your typical jungle main, but Rammus is a strong jungler, and I enjoy playing him when jungling.

Having played him in numerous games, I can speak to how he feels and works. Concerning team setup and itemization, I will look more in-depth at Rammus's options below as you read through the guide.

Please enjoy this guide and be able to understand my suggestions and recommendations for Rammus.

So let's kick things off in style with my guide on Rammus - The Armadillo.


Rammus - The Armadillo
Vanguard, Jungle
Specialties: Durability, Engage, Lockdown
Why choose Rammus?:
- Simple champion to understand and fun to play in the jungle .
- Has strong tanking potential and can take large amounts of damage when building lots of armor; also good at dealing with turrets / dragons & baron nashor .
- Has great potential to make plays, frontline for his team and be a good team fight asset.

I always enjoy taking him on the rift when playing league matches, and I hope you will too.

Pros & Cons
Pros
+ Powerful ganking potential
+ Strong crowd control
+ Good self peel
+ Very mobile
+ High damage potential for a tank
+ Strong frontline
Cons
- Weak early game
- Struggles if behind
- Vulnerable to crowd control
- No sustain
- Weak jungle clear
- Predictable play style

Ability Rundown


Spiked Shell


All you need to do is build armor, and Rammus will deal more damage to enemies as magic damage with his auto attacks.


Powerball
| Effect Radius: 250 | Collision Radius: 75 | Cooldown: 16 / 13.5 / 11 / 8.5 / 6 | Cost: 60 Mana |

Rammus can roll around in a ball form, gradually increasing his movement speed until he hits an enemy or enemies. When he collides with an enemy, he deals magic damage and slows them down.

This ability is excellent for initiating attacks and setting up ambushes against the enemy.


Defensive Ball Curl
| Cast time: - | Cooldown: 6 | Cost: 40 Mana |

Assume a defensive position to gain armor and magic resistance. Additionally, any auto attack damage dealt to Rammus deals magic damage to the attacker(s) hitting you.

While performing the Defensive Ball Curl maneuver, basic attacks will extend the duration of this effect.


Frenzying Taunt
| Target Range: 325 || Cast Time: 0.25 | Cost: 50 Mana | Cooldown: 12 |

Rammus taunt a nearby enemy and forces them to attack him, and while taunted, Rammus gains extra attack speed.

The attack speed bonus Rammus gains will refresh during the use of his other abilities.


Soaring Slam
| Target Range: 800 or 15% Movement Speed | Effect Radius: 400 / Inner Radius - 200 / Tremor Radius - 400 | Cast Time: 0.25 | Cooldown: 90 | Cost: 100 Mana |

Using Soaring Slam, you can jump to a specific spot without being affected by crowd control. Upon landing, generate tremors that cause magic damage to all enemies within the impact area.

If you use this move while performing Powerball, it will add the damage of Powerball to the damage caused by Soaring Slam, which will harm all nearby foes.

Important to note that equipping items that increase his movement speed will allow you to reach targets from a greater distance with Soaring Slam.


Combos:

In this section, I will provide some easy-to-understand and effective combinations for playing Rammus in Summoner's Rift (both draft and ranked games).

- - -

- Auto - - -


Tips & Tricks:

Playing As Rammus:
- Use Powerball to escape dangerous situations quickly.
- Luring an opponent champion near your turret , so that the turret can inflict damage upon them.


Playing Against Rammus:
- Keep an eye on when his Defensive Ball Curl is on cooldown, as Rammus is weaker when he's not in this stance.
- Rammus typically has high armor but can be vulnerable to magic damage when he's not using Defensive Ball Curl.

Jungle Monsters & Pathing

This section will only apply to some jungle champions since they each have different routes that suit their play styles.

So for this guide, I will outline the pathing routes that apply to Rammus in hopes of understanding how to make the best impact on the rift.


Jungle Camps

Each camp listed above is vital for Rammus to gain levels, earn gold and maintain resources (health & mana), all of which help you stay relevant in each game as the jungle .



Always look to secure epic monster spawns as Rammus since each buff provided will benefit you and your team in fights and skirmishes. Also, be sure to acquire mountain dragons as Rammus since they offer a big spike of damage to you (they combine with your passive nicely).

The Baron Nashor will be available to target after the 20:00 mark, and the Elder Dragon will spawn once you or the enemy jungle has acquired the listed dragon soul. So always fight for these objectives when you can.


Standard Clear Routes:

Starting Red
> > >

Starting Blue
> > >

With this standard clear path for Rammus, you should aim to hit the rift scuttler at 3:30 since grabbing early scuttle vision can inform your teammates about who is in the river and be aware of any upcoming ambushes. This clear is also very effective at getting a level 3 dive against an overextended enemy.


Full Clear Routes:

Starting Red
> > > > > >

Starting Blue
> > > > > >

With the full clear path as Rammus, you can grab the rift scuttler at 3:30 or decide to maximize your experience gain by clearing the remainder of your camps instead and swing by the rift scuttler afterwards.

Rammus is a ganking jungler compared to being a farm jungler, so in most games, we only contemplate doing a full clear if you can't attack a lane after farming your camps.

Securing the early scuttle vision is optional with this clear route since time spent taking the rift scuttler is time wasted on taking all your remaining camps.

If you can acquire at least one rift scuttler after your full clear, that's a bonus for your team on either end of the map.

Summoner Spells



A strong summoner spell for Rammus that you can use most of the time for your games. It's important because if you get caught or stuck in a rough situation, you can escape from combat safely while also dodging a crucial ability.

Grants extra % movement speed that synergizes with Rammus's Powerball when chasing down targets not within striking distance or when looking to engage with the enemy.

With the ability to avoid colliding with friendly minions, you can dodge a scary situation if you use Ghost to escape combat.
(Note: you can't walk through enemy minions with the active effect from Ghost).

Necessary for best success in the jungle . Smite is a unit-targeted summoner spell, dealing true damage damage to the following targets: medium/large monsters , lane minions , dragons , rift herald , baron nashor , rift scuttlers or pets.

Multiple upgrade options are available to choose from: Gustwalker Smite, Mosstomper Smite, Scorchclaw Smite.

Always be sure to have a Smite charge ready for any upcoming neutral objective ( dragons , rift herald & baron nashor ), as it will be much easier to acquire them successfully.

Wards & Trinkets



You can store up to two Control Wards in your inventory and place them anywhere on the map, but you can only have one active at a time. When set, they reveal and turn off enemy wards within a 900-unit radius. Control Wards function similarly to the Oracle Lens trinket, showing stealth champions like Twitch, Rengar, Evelynn, and Kha'Zix.

When playing jungle , choose the Oracle Lens as your primary trinket after placing your first Stealth Ward on the map. This trinket can help you deny vision and is especially useful when dealing with stealth champions like Teemo, Shaco, and Nidalee, who often plant traps. Additionally, it can be beneficial against champions like Twitch, Pyke, Wukong, and Shaco, who use stealth to engage or disengage.

Stealth Ward is your base trinket in all games as Rammus, revealing units within a target location. You get two charges that refresh every 240-120 seconds (based on champion level). The maximum amount of allowable Stealth Wards to place is three. Great when side laning/placing deep wards in enemy territory or getting vision on objectives ( baron nashor & dragons ).

Since you're mostly roaming jungle and ganking lanes, Oracle Lens will serve you better. It will help when looking to ambush the enemy or secure important objectives, making sure they are vision-free, and it also helps when looking to take the enemy jungle camps while in the fog of war.

Stats To Consider
- Armor/Magic Resistance: The most efficient stats for Rammus building as a tank for your team, thus improving your survivability and durability. It also scales nicely with Defensive Ball Curl when looking to reflect more damage in combat.

- Attack Damage: We won't pick this up as Rammus since it offers no substantial value when pairing our runes or building our items.

- Health: This stat is essential in the grand scheme and something you can focus on when playing as Rammus.

- Attack Speed: Good stat in theory and efficient on Rammus, when looking to keep your Defensive Ball Curl active. Though it's not mandatory to acquire.

- Life Steal: Not a stat we consider on Rammus. We must do more auto-attack damage to make the stat worthwhile when fighting.

- Omni Vamp: This is something we don't even consider on Rammus because we are mainly out to tank for our team & omni vamp won't be as helpful with our durability as any of the other stats listed.

- Ability Haste: Useful stat, but not overly needed. One of the least prioritized stats when itemizing Rammus for combat.

- Movement Speed: Mobility is great for kiting and escaping fights but less prioritized than the above stats.

Which Boots & Why?
Boots of Swiftness > Slow Reduction
Great for Rammus when roaming between jungle camps and lanes or dealing with slow effects like Ashe's Frost Shot/ Volley/ Serylda's Grudge/ Rylai's Crystal Scepter, or movement reducing effects that would leave you vulnerable when trying to escape.


Mercury's Treads > Magic Resistance & Tenacity
A decent option for Rammus, reducing the effects of crowd control from enemy champions while offering a small amount of magic resistance. Standard choice into teams with strong magic damage threats.

Mercury's Treads are also great when combined with runes ( Legend: Tenacity, tenacity shard), items ( Iceborn Gauntlet), or chemtech dragon 's that improve tenacity for even more resistance to crowd control effects.


Plated Steelcaps > Basic Attack Damage Reduction
In most games with Rammus, this is your default pair of Boots to select. Additionally, the armor provided in tandem with an auto attack damage reduction passive makes it easier to soak up physical damage from the enemy. Also great when combatting auto attack-centric champions or to help increase the damage of your passive.

Items
Starter Items

Each jungle pet mentioned below grants early health regeneration while farming our camps and provides the following upgrades when fully evolved:
If we choose Gustwalker Hatchling, grants increased movement speed when exiting brushes or killing a monster for the next 2 seconds. Increasing travel speed from camp to camp gives you more freedom to set up a ganking play afterwards. It is very effective for Rammus.
If we choose Mosstomper Seedling, gain increased shielding after killing a monster camp or waiting 10 seconds out of combat for this effect to refresh.
If we choose Scorchclaw Pup, we build ember stacks and then release them as % max health damage to the enemy, along with slowing them.

As your pet grows (gaining treats from killing jungle monsters ), it will increase the damage value of your Smite charges.

The best way to know which jungle pet is more efficient depends on how you plan to build for each game, ensuring better outcomes in fights and skirmishes.


Core Items
With Jak'Sho, The Protean Rammus increases his frontline potential, his durability/survivability along with improving the effectiveness of Defensive Ball Curl during combat with the enemy—a solid rush option as Rammus to consider in every game.
Effective against melee champions such as Yasuo, Yone, Rengar or opponents who love to get up close and personal. The burn damage it provides is also very efficient for early jungle camp clearing and early skirmishing.
An essential core item for Rammus that applies grievous wounds when struck by on-hit basic attacks. Very helpful against auto-attack heavy teams and healing from champions ( Nami, Sona, Red Kayn) or items ( Immortal Shieldbow, Bloodthirster) that pose a threat.


Situational Items
Abyssal Mask grants a debuffing aura that reduces their magic resistance and increases yours by the same amount for each cursed enemy. It's potent when you want to amplify the damage of your team's magic sources on the enemy.
With Anathema's Chains, you gain health & ability haste and a nemesis passive that grants you damage reduction from a specific target and removes their resistance to crowd control while you're nearby. It is beneficial when playing against champions you know can annihilate you very quickly or when looking to reduce their effectiveness in combat.
It gives Rammus mobility to chase down targets or when escaping dangerous situations. While moving, charge up bonus on-hit damage as physical damage. They are slowed upon impact when colliding with a target at maximum momentum stacks. This item helps when roaming or when travelling to objectives/team fights. Dead Man's Plate combined with Powerball gives you insane chase-down potential.
Very efficient when dealing with manyimmobilizing effects or against teams with magic damage based abilities. This item will allow you to sustain burst damage champions like Brand/ Morgana or Teemo with heavy-dot damage play styles.
Using Heartsteel increases our durability in team fights, while converting our health pool into a damaging tool against the enemy. It is an excellent buy when stacking high armor and magic resistance items, thus making us harder to kill. Synergizes with other health items such as: Abyssal Mask, Hollow Radiance or Sunfire Aegis.
Both Sunfire Aegis and Hollow Radiance are equally effective when it comes to providing a burn damage aura for efficient jungle camp clearing and early skirmishing. However, Hollow Radiance offers an additional benefit of granting an area of effect burst when killing minions or jungle monsters , which further increases your clear speed and sustain. It is beneficial when duelling against mages such as LeBlanc, Fizz, or Evelynn.
Iceborn Gauntlet is an effective option for slowing down your opponents. It gives you plenty of time to apply Frenzying Taunt to your target while also making it hard for them to escape combat (unless they Flash away). health items, such as Heartsteel or Warmog's Armor, amplify the strength of the icy terrain created. Viable selection against immobile champions.
Randuin's Omen provides damage reduction from basic attacks, along with reducing the damage you take from critical strike damage. On top of this, the active effect slows enemy movement. Very useful when dealing with champions who build these items ( Yasuo, Yone, or Master Yi).
A great alternative item for Rammus when needing sustain/durability in team fights and skirmishes. The passive effect regenerates max health out of combat once you have acquired enough health (through keystones, runes, items or levels) to trigger it. The regeneration effect will only apply after taking no damage from minions or champions.

Runes
The following keystone & rune choices are great for Rammus and will complement him in combat. Always pay attention to the enemy team comp, plus your item builds when selecting your runes to get the most value in each game.


Keystone Runes:

- After hitting any of yourimmobilizing abilities on targets triggers Aftershock, gaining bonus resistances and then dealing magic damage + a portion % of your bonus health to all nearby enemies in the shockwave—the standard option for Rammus when playing jungle .


Domination Runes:

- Cheap Shot is excellent for Rammus when paired with Frenzying Taunt, dealing bonus true damage upon damaging a target afflicted with crowd control effects, meaning the extra damage application isn't difficult and allows for a more efficient team fight.

- While damage isn't the first thing we consider on tanks , Eyeball Collection increases the potency of your autos and abilities, giving you more threat in team fights and skirmishes.

- Relentless Hunter provides a smoother ability setup when engaging/chasing down the enemy with its out-of-combat movement speed bonus. It helps Rammus get to the map faster and is very helpful when getting to team fights/reaching objectives on the map.


Precision Runes:

- Triumph restores health and grants additional gold upon getting a kill or assisting in fights with your team. Offers sustain for Rammus and help with faster item purchases to snowball sooner.

- Legend: Alacrity synergizes well with Rammus and his Defensive Ball Curl ability. It's important to note this because each basic attack will increase the duration of that ability meaning you'll increase the amount of damage the opponent will take in combat. So take this rune in games where you will only get impaired by a bit of crowd control.

- A must-have rune for Rammus while playing in the jungle . Legend: Tenacity gives you increased tenacity when dealing with champion effects ( Morgana, Lux, Leona) and monster ( Baron Nashor , Dragons ) based crowd control effects, reducing their effectiveness.


Resolve Runes:

- I see Demolish as a way to press lane faster because it will allow you to deal damage to turrets based on a % of your max health. It allows for quicker sieging of turrets and getting gold plating more quickly, thus giving you more freedom to roam sooner.

- Font of Life for Rammus helps to regenerate max health for your team whenever you impair the movement of the enemies you target. Stacking health through items or runes in conjunction with this rune helps improve the regeneration effect.

- Conditioning helps Rammus by increasing his armor and magic resist. It pairs nicely with Rammus's Defensive Ball Curl and can be helpful when you need extra survivability & late-game durability.

- Overgrowth for Rammus offers max health per monster / minion death, then gaining a % max health bonus once 120 minions are absorbed. Great selection if you want to have some extra health in conjunction with all the armor we are building.

- Unflinching is potent against heavy crowd control teams and great when paired with Conditioning increasing your overall durability in combat. An excellent scaling rune option for Rammus.


Sorcery Runes:

- Celerity helps increase base & bonus movement speed effects on Rammus, making jungle clears more efficient, thus being able to set up ambushes sooner.

- Waterwalking benefits Rammus while in the river, gaining bonus movement speed & additional damage based on your adaptive type. Great for quickly moving across the river sections of the map & helpful during river skirmishes or objective securing.

Rune Shards


When deciding on what rune shards (whether offensive or defensive) to pick for Syndra in each of your games, you have to factor in a few things in champion selection.

Offensive Shards
diamond

• Do I need attack speed on my champion? (Auto attacks on Rammus can feel very slow, making it a good option when looking to chain autos after your combos).

• Do I need additional diamondattack damage? (For Rammus, getting the adaptive damage shard isn't practical. He gains damage through defensive items, so it's best to skip and select another defensive shard option that will be more efficient).

• Do I require any ability haste? (We can choose this option, but it's not something we prioritize over other options).


Defensive Shards

• Do you need more movement speed? Scales nicely with Rammus's Powerball and Soaring Slam abilities. It provides faster roaming on the map and improves camp clear speed.

• Do you need tenacity & slow resist? A strong option for Rammus, improving his durability againstimmobilizing effects that hinder your movement.

• Do I require more health? Both the scaling health and flat health shards can benefit Rammus. It is a viable option in games where only one type of resistance is needed, along with being efficient in mixed damage team comps.


Always pay attention to the team compositions you are fighting when mixing and matching the rune shards listed above with your Boots and items. It's a sure way to improve your overall survivability in games.

Summary
There are many ways to build Rammus, but this guide hopefully made it easier to understand what abilities/items and runes work well together and how to make the most of his kit.

I hope you enjoyed this guide and will refer this to your friends and fellow gamers looking for tips and tricks.

For any questions or thoughts, please contact me in the discussion section. I'll be happy to discuss things with you and see how I can make sense of anything you need answers for to the best of my ability.

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