This guide is designed to be minimalistic as possible, and will leave out large amount of details, assuming that the reader is already aware of them, or are capable of filling in the gaps as they follow along.

The purpose of this guide is to explain how the build works, and how to make use of it successfully. While the methods described and used in this guide may work in other contexts, this guide is not meant to be an introduction to the champion itself.

This is not a guide for beginners; such readers are encouraged to seek other guides, such as this guide by RikudouDovahkiin, also found on Mobafire.*

Readers are encouraged to ask questions and add critique through the comments, which I will attempt to promptly answer and may also add to the guide should I find it important enough.

^{* Note that this is a mere example. I do not vouch for the quality of this guide or any other.}

This guide assumes a full AP build for Vladimir- specifically, a modification of the "Korean" build, also known as the "4 pool" build.

This section will cover what it does, and why it may be preferrable to other builds.

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Traditional Vladimir builds suffer from 4 general problems:

1: Low early-game pressure 2: The need to scale 3: Insufficient tanking ability 4: Inability to splitpush.

And as a top laner, the champion also suffers from horrible synergy with Teleport, due to the lack of gapclosers as well as lacklustre CC.

This build attempts to solve these problems through:

1: Maximising the champion's early-game damage through the use of Ignite and high starting AP. 2: Sacrificing his durability to maximise burst and overall damage.

Through these changes, the build attempts to reverse Vladimir's traditional reputation of a safe, but weak laning phase and turn him into a lane bully with high kill pressure instead, negating his need to scale, and allowing him to snowball through leads gained in lane.

In return however, Vladimir becomes no longer able to perform the role of a tank. This is considered a worthwhile trade-off however, as Vladimir's potential as a tank is mediocre at best. A large portion of the champion's survivability comes from his ability to avoid damage instead of outright tanking it. Not only that, due to his awkward build of combining both damage and durability, he is vulnerable to enemy focus and burst, needing to heal incoming damage over time. All problematic qualities for an actual tank.

Instead, Vladimir performs the role of a burst-oriented carry, making good use of his high damage, as well as his relatively low priority as a backline target due the additional durability granted by his passive. Problems with the composition due to the lack of a tank are instead relegated to his team, whether it be through another member who can take his place, or through CC and kiting as Vladimir attempts to protect them by bursting down whomever is the biggest threat at the time.

The increased damage also improves Vladimir's ability to catch kills in a 1v1 situation as well as his dueling power overall, and attempts to deal with enemy splitpushing by discouraging enemy champions from a 1v1 situation, as well as the increased movement speed granted by Luden's Tempest.

Due to the fragile nature of the build, Vladimir may also become more vulnerable in lane when behind. At the same time, he will still perform better compared to a similarly underfed Vladimir of a different build due to higher damage output, while still being too squishy for the relative difference in durability to have much of an effect.

Start:

Full:

+ or or

The main difference here between "traditional" Korean builds and this is the trade-off of magic penetration and durability in return for pure ability power and utility. This results in a slightly weaker damage output mid-game, but overall increased utility makes it much easier for the player to actually make use of his leads instead of sitting on them, as well as rebound from setbacks.

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Additional Details

Spells:

Runes:

+7.8 Magic Penetration+27 Armor at level 18+25.6 Ability Power

Masteries:

Ferocity Resolve

While most Korean builds go for flat defensive seals to cement early superiority, I prefer scaling seals as I believe it to be unnecessary. Armor is preferred over health due to the lack of resistances in this build.

The traditional setups are still viable and may still be considered applicable for the purposes of this guide.

General:

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Vladimir tends to be strong against tanks, while weak against combinations of CC, burst, and high mobility. Due to starting with 40 AP at level 1, Vladimir will be able to dominate most matchups early on, but may struggle to do so without further leads as time passes.

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Vladimir greatly depends on minions during the laning phase. Friendly minions provide supporting damage, while also being a shield against enemy abilities and are also crucial to kiting due to how they impede enemy movement. Keep a close eye on the wave at all times, and beware if the enemy laner is capable of forcing you off of it.

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Waves at level 1 should be pulled in, then slow pushed back into the enemy's turret, during which the player would would ideally achieve a kill. Gauge the enemy's reactions during this time to determine whether the focus should be on kills or cs during the laning phase. Note that it is often too difficult to freeze the wave this early on.

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As a laner without Teleport, the player should attempt to remove the enemy laner's teleport from play as much as possible during the laning phase, whether it be by forcing it to be used to return to lane, or exerting enough pressure so that the enemy laner is unable to leave.

Dominant:

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It is possible to achieve level 2 kills through the use of - keep an eye open. Beware that it may not be worth the resources committed.

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Pushing the lane when having an advantage allows the player to harass the enemy laner under turret, who can then be dove under turret once low enough. Vladimir's dives are obvious, but still equally effective as long as the enemy laner refuses to abandon the turret.

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If the enemy laner cannot be easily killed, freezing the wave to deny the enemy laner cs is also a valid tactic. The player should attempt to freeze the wave near the mid-point instead of closer to one's turret to provide easier control over the river and vision over the enemy laner.

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Vladimir's ability to escape ganks is relatively poor for the top lane, but his ability to fight a 1v2 is not. It may sometimes be more advantageous to attempt to fight off enemy ganks instead of simply running away from them.

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Matchup Overview

Easier:

Normal:

Harder:

In teamfights, Vladimir will need to fulfill 4 roles and balance them accordingly:

1. Bursting down enemy carries
   • Best done with Flash, but is still possible by flanking the enemy carries by walking past their frontline using the player's high MS.
2. Dealing AoE damage to the enemy frontline
3. Supporting own backline in dealing with enemy divers
   • Vladimir may be lacking in hard CC, but the slow on Tides of Blood as well as his high damage allow his team to quickly defeat enemy divers. The fact that the player will generally not be the primary target in these situations also frees him to use Sanguine Pool as a slow instead of an escape.
4. Soaking up limited amounts of damage when possible

No one role can be considered definitively more important than the other save for the last, and the player will need to react accordingly for each fight.

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Positioning

As always, remember that positioning is never a fixed matter and constantly needs to change based on context. Vladimir in particular will have both an easier time constantly repositioning himself due to presence of Sanguine Pool and the additional movement speed from Luden's Tempest, as well as a greater need to, due to the multiple number of roles he fulfills.

The ideal positioning for Vladimir in a teamfight is one of three things:

Key: X=enemy, O=ally, P=player

Case 1:

XX P XXX OO

The player is either able to burst an enemy backliner then fade back into the team, or zone/kite them while dealing damage to whichever side is most opportune. Mainly used for Flash attempts, or when the player is able to pass through the enemy's frontline. Often too risky to attempt to enter the fight in this position.

Case 2:

XXX OO P OO

The player is dealing damage to the enemy frontline without exposing himself to become focused by the enemy team, and can support his backline against any divers. Standard teamfight positioning. Vladimir's high damage output offers the player's team an advantage in a battle of attrition. Works best if team is also kiting back at the same time.

Case 3:

XXX OOOOP

The player is dealing damage to the enemy frontline while kiting with his team backwards. Mainly used when the player's team is lacking in tanks. Is dependent on the team to provide sufficient CC, but works surprisingly well as long as no one member is bursted down in the process.

Positions to avoid:

Case 1:

XXX P OOOO

The player is acting as the main tank for the team, and will likely be quickly killed without being able to contribute much to the teamfight. Vladimir does not have the durability to play the role of a tank. Avoiding both enemy focus and crowd control are critical to his survival. Fall back to the rest of the team and kite it out. May still be used when initiating a fight, however.

Case 2:

XXXXX OOOOP

The player is separated from the team with another enemy champion, and is liable to being kited until the opposing champion finds an opportunity to rejoin the fight, which the player is incapable of preventing. The player loses out on large amounts of potential damage while the player's team find themselves more susceptible to enemy divers. Vladimir's lack of mobility severely disadvantages him in these sorts of situations. Unless the player's counterpart is a particularly high priority champion, it is best to stay in formation and with the team.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Recent Changes

17/08/03: Laning section expanded