Sword of the Divine was removed from the game since patch v4.20, so this build and guide is now obsolete.

However, you can still try to replace Sword of the Divine with a Youmuu's Ghostblade. It provides a nice burst of damage for the duration of your Puncturing Taunt, though not as effective and far less overpowered

Hello guys, I'm a casual player and I've never written a guide before, but this way of playing Rammus is awesome, and as I haven't seen any AD assassin Rammus guide here on Mobafire, I told myself f*** it let's do this !

This is a raw guide for the moment with only a few editing. I'll improve it little by little.

First of all, why AD Rammus ?

Well, this build is based on one ability and one item: Puncturing Taunt, and Sword of the Divine.

With Puncturing Taunt, you can reduce an enemy's Armor by 30 and force them to attack you for 2.25 seconds. That's right, during this 2.25s window your opponent is weakened to the state of a punching ball!

You'd like to maximise your damage during this period, and that's where the Sword of the Divine comes in. You gain 100% attack speed and your next 3 auto-attacks critically hit!

The combination of armor reduction and critical strikes is devastating, and let you 3 shots the carries.

Pros

+ Amazing burst that can lock down and tri-shot carries
+ Able to duel almost anyone
+ Also effective against heavy armor tanks
+ Can quickly destroy towers
+ Great mobility for ganks and chasing

Cons

- Squishy, needs a jungler or support that can fulfill the tank role
- Needs a good jungler to back him up during laning phase
- Doesn't have a real jump compared to usual assassins

The usual runes and masteries for an assassin. This will make you weaker during the laning phase, but it will make ganks much more effective.

A fighter type rune page and masteries isn't recommended, because you'll then lack burst and your combo won't be able to finish off enemies, which is the point of this build.

Flash

The must-have Summoner Spell. If you are using your Powerball to chase an enemy, but there is an obstacle between you, like a tank or a minion wave, you can Flash right through them without having to interrupt your Powerball.

OR

Ghost

Go even faster with Ghost and your Powerball! I prefer Flash over Ghost personally.

+

Teleport

This is a great Summoner Spell for ganking, especially with Rammus as he can Powerball (and Ninja Tabi - Homeguard) to another lane.

OR

Ignite

Add even more burst to your combo with Ignite. I prefer Teleport because it makes my laning phase and ganks easier.

OR

Smite

If you jungle

Passive - Spiked Shell

You can add this to the reasons why AD Rammus is viable. Even if you build tanky, you actually get more AD! That means Defensive Ball Curl will give you +30 AD, and Thornmail +25 AD!

Q - Powerball

This is a great ability for an assassin, it enables you to chase any enemy (or get away from a nasty gank). With the Ninja Tabi - Homeguard added to this, none will be able to escape from you.

W - Defensive Ball Curl

This gives bonus armor and magic resist, but above all thanks to Rammus' passive it's actually an AD steroid, with up to +30 AD! The magic damage returned to the enemy combined with the Thornmail will make enemies regret attacking you.

Puncturing Taunt E - Puncturing Taunt

Now that's the core of AD Rammus. For up to 2.5 seconds, the enemy get 30 armor reducting, and cannot get away from you. Added to this, you can get even more armor reduction with your runes, masteries and the Black Cleaver! Just add a Sword of the Divine and any champion will get melted, even tanks. Keep in mind that Banshee's Veil can negate your taunt, so pop the shield first with Powerball or Soaring Slam for example.

R - Tremors

You may not have AP, but this ulti is great for clearing minion waves and destroying towers. It only has 60 seconds cooldown, so don't hesitate to use it in your combo on your enemies.

Combo

Powerball to get to the enemy > Soaring Slam > Defensive Ball Curl > Puncturing Taunt > Sword of the Divine > Free kill

The first spell you want to level up is your Powerball, to escape any early ganks.

Next, up your Puncturing Taunt at level 2 and your Defensive Ball Curl at level 3.

Afterwards, max your Puncturing Taunt first for maximum armor reduction and taunt.

Max Defensive Ball Curl as your second spell because it gives you lots of armor (which means, thanks to your passive, a good AD steroid, up to +30 damage bonus AD).

Level up Powerball last to make sure none of the enemies will escape from you.

Level up your ultimate Soaring Slam whenever possible.

Sword of the Divine

With Puncturing Taunt, the enemy gets 30 armor reduction for 2.5 seconds. So for this short amount of time, you want to maximise your damage. That's why Sword of the Divine is perfect for this situation. In 2.5 seconds you'll be able to land the 3 critical strikes the items gives you, and tri-shot your victim.

Be careful, while on cooldown this items doesn't give any bonus attack speed! However, the cooldown is reduced by 50% when you kill an enemy Champion. That's why similarly to Master Yi or Katarina, it's better to secure the kill from your allies if you know you'll gonna enter a teamfight again shortly after.

Be sure to wait until the Sword of the Divine is off cooldown before you engage to benefit from the bonus attack speed and the active !

Against tanks, it is better to wait till the enemy is half-life before activating the item, this way you will kill him before being affected by the loss of attack speed.

If you are against an enemy Champion with a blind such as Teemo or Quinn, taunt him before he can blind you or wait the end of the blind before activating your combo.

Thornmail

A defensive item you say? AD Rammus laughs at you! With his passive Spiked Shell, Thornmail actually gives Rammus a bonus of 25 AD in addition to the 100 armor. What is more, its passive synergizes well with Defensive Ball Curl.

Black Cleaver

30 armor reduction from Puncturing Taunt isn't enough for you? Then get the Black Cleaver for maximum armor reduction and penetration! With Sword of the Divine's active, you'll build Black Cleaver's stacks in no time. If you don't need additional armor reduction, you can turn your The Brutalizer into a Youmuu's Ghostblade.

Infinity Edge

How to go from tri-shot to two-shot the enemy? With an Infinity Edge of course!

Guardian Angel

The must-have item for assassins! It lets you go in the teamfight, kill the carry and get out of the teamfight while the rest of your team finishes the job.

Ninja Tabi

Nice boots that gives you a bonus of 6 AD thanks to Rammus' passive!

Alternative items

Blade of the Ruined King

If you're facing tanks with lots of HP (AD Rammus doesn't care about tanks with armor). The armor reduction from Puncturing Taunt is applied to Blade of the Ruined King's passive !

Youmuu's Ghostblade

If you don't need the extra armor reduction of the Black Cleaver you can build your The Brutalizer into this. The attack speed bonus from the active can compensate the loss of attack speed from the Sword of the Divine.

Ravenous Hydra

If you're short on CS and have problem farming

Last Whisper

Take this is a last item if you don't need the Guardian Angel

Randuin's Omen / Frozen Heart / Sunfire Cape

If the team needs you to be tanky, get a Randuin's Omen, Frozen Heart or Sunfire Aegis. I don't really like the first two items: it decreases opponent's attack speed, but you actually want them to attack you more often to proc more often Thornmail and Defensive Ball Curl !

Feral Flare

Feral Flare is a good item for auto-attacker jungler, which AD Rammus is. However, the bonus damage from the passive won't benefit from Puncturing Taunt's armor reduction as it deal magic damage with each basic attack.

If you're going top lane, start with either a Doran's Shield or some Boots, and get some Health Potions. Personally I prefer the shield as it gives me more sustainability.
If you jungle, start with a Hunter's Machete and four Health Potions. You can build it into a Wriggle's Lantern afterwards.

Get the Boots and rush the Sword of the Divine as fast as you can. Once you have this item, the party's on, it tips the scale on your favor. If you jungle, get the Wriggle's Lantern first to clear the jungle more easily.

Next finish your Ninja Tabi boots, get the The Brutalizer for additional armor penetration. From that point you can either buy a Thornmail for extra armor (and AD!) or finish the Black Cleaver.

Afterwards, buy an Infinity Edge you you're in a killing spree and don't know what dying means, else buy a Guardian Angel to be able to kill squishies and get out of a teamfight unscathed (remember, you're not a tank so don't recklessly go Rambo).

If the enemy team has destroyed inhibitors and are in your base, get the Ninja Tabi - Homeguard to be more mobile and defend your base more efficiently.

Top lane

Early game

Top laning phase with AD Rammus isn't easy. You don't really have sustain, no long range harass, and unlike other assassins you don't have a dash to get close to the enemy. Play safe to get the minion kills under your tower, and seek the help of your jungler if necessary. If the enemy top overextends, try to taunt him to make the tower attack him, then Powerball him towards the tower to keep him under turret range. Your Teleport Summoner Spell help you back to the base and get back in the lane quickly.
If you are not familiar playing him top, you can watch a few videos on Youtube to see how other players do.

Mid game

If you manage through the laning phase, the rest will be a piece of cake starting from mid game (or the moment you get the Sword of the Divine). Gank other lanes as much as you can, especially single squishy targets. With your Powerball and Teleport, you are one of the most mobile gankers. This is the fun part of playing AD Rammus : you'll be surprised how fast your combo can tri-shot the enemies. Use the bushes to your advantage: an enemy facechecking an AD Rammus is a dead enemy.

Late game

This is where teamfight becomes the center of the game. You aren't tank Rammus, so don't dive into the enemy team recklessly. If possible let a fighter or a tank initiate the teamfight, and focus on killing the carry first. Guardian Angel can help you survive through the teamfight.

Jungle

Jungling with AD Rammus is easier than going top, but you will be a real assassin only starting from mid game, as you'll have to buy your Wriggle's Lantern / Feral Flare first before getting the Sword of the Divine. However, as Rammus was built to be a jungler, you will make great ganks and will have excellent mobility across the map.

Other Summoners

RandomMoped

Fright Attendant

Here are some videos of players who show how awesome Sword of the Divine is on an AD Rammus. These were posted before my guide was published, so they don't follow my build : they are purely here to illustrate the use of Sword of the Divine.

AD Assassin Rammus is a super fun and effective way to play Rammus.

This build has been fully tried and tested for normal games at least.

However, I don't play Ranked games so I don't know if it works as well as normal games. If you tried it on Ranked games, let me know what you think !

If you have success with this build, you can also send me screenshots so that I can include them in the build.

I'd be delighted if you can give me a feedback (either positive or constructive negative feedbacks) on the presentation of this guide or the build itself !