Hi. Before starting, you need to know that this is a wall of text. It is also not like most guides on Mobafire. I will not go into details like go to that bush, ward there, wait 15 sec, when X spawns, hit Y 3 times, tell you respawn times of neutrals, explain Alistar's skills, etc. etc. etc. This is not a guide on how to play the game, this will only show you the way of the cow. I will give pointers however. Also examples will be included, and explanations. But I will not tell you how to play the game.


I've always appreciated this community, and read a lot of guides. This time i felt like I could contribute for once, and not only leach from other players. Do help me to improve my guide-writing, since this is my 1st guide.

About me: I'm what some call a low-ELO scrub. I play for fun with my friends, barely winning more than losing. So who am I to give advise to others?

Well, I'm what you might call a theoritician. I'm curious, I try to understand, I seek out knowledge, but I often fail in executing. This time though, I'm on to something so effective and easy to execute even I had some success.

This build is of ROAMING Alistar. The idea came from the Quadrakill finals, where I saw this in use the first time.

As a roamer, you will not have a lane, you will not jungle. You will spend most of your time in between lanes. You will bide your time and wait for a ganking possibility, or just run in and combo the mid carry just for nuisance. You will get wet feet from running around in the river 24/7. You will be an annoying mosquito - not be seen or heard before its too late. This is very much possible, despite being a fat un-milkable(?) cow!

Other roamers I've seen or tried are Taric and Janna. But Alistar headbutts Gaytaric and the Queen of ******* CC down from her throne so easily. The main reason for this is that Alistar reaches his full roaming potential already at level 2.


So lets start! Remember, all feedback is appreciated, preferably of the constructive kind!

Enjoy!

*30-03-2011* Published build. Recorded videos
*05-04-2011* Edited the item build. Exchanged sheen for Phantom dancer. Switched armor speed marks to armor penetration marks (what was i thinking lol)
*06-04-2011* Added Shurelya's Reverie and protips(?)
*13-04-2011* Edited the item build. Exchanged Phantom Dancer for Soul shroud. Added FoN / Banshees as item outside core build
*26.04.2011* Changed some items. Commented on the remake, added "ganking" section (like if it was needed?)
*05.05.2011* Changed to "Require comment to vote". Tired of downvoters not giving feedback

Future;
* Making the build easier to read (adding pictures etc)
* Adding match history with like 10 wins in a row.
* Add recorded video, perhaps with commentary
* Becoming the 1st recommended Alistar guide ^^

After what I've seen so far, its not good nor bad. Its bad for early game roaming and ganking, since the CDs has gone up on headbutt and pulverize. In late-game, the CDs are lower -> better teamfight presence. Teamfights decide games btw ^^

Tramble, the new passive, gives minimal damage unless you go AP Alistar. Besides, u cant use spells in lane without pushing your lane, which is so-so.

All in all, this wont affect the build a whole lot

-Pros-
* Basically 5 solo lanes, assuming your team has a jungler (which you should)
* Enemies either tower hug in fear / overextend and get ganked
* Underleveled and underfarmed enemies
* Insane map control
* Raped enemy morale

-Cons-
* Very team dependent. You need 1 or 2 players that can handle 1v2 laning.
* You will be underleveled and underfarmed (thank god Alistar doesn't need EXP or gold)
* Demands patience and map awareness from you
* You will not be tanky, you will not be able to deal damage

The reason why I go with standard caster 9/0/21 masteries is because it gives us exactly what Alistar lacks and what we need for the roaming Alistar:

CDR. 15 sec CD for pulverize? Say goodbye to teamfights
Movement speed. 300 is never enough to get into pulverize range
Mana regen. Spamming triumphant roar to heal your mates is mana-demanding
Greed. Gold/lvl gives us more gold for items. We will not get much gold from assists alone, and the goal with build is to have more assists than CS anyways!
Awareness. To compensate for the EXP were gonna miss out on by not being in lane

Runes also complements the lackluster parts of Alistar:
Movement speed Quints. 300 is never enough to get into pulverize range
Mana regen Seals. Spamming triumphant roar to heal your mates is mana-demanding
Magic resist/lvl Glyphs. To increase survivability
Armor penetration Marks. To improve pushing / overall damage output.

For Summoner Spells i run Flash and Ghost
*Flash for getting in position for a Headbutt
*Ghost for chasing down an enemy for Pulverize/Headbutt combo

Clairvoyance is my favourite summoner spell, but someone else should take it. If not, you should. Then run flash + clairvoyance. Without ghost you just have to position yourself better.

The important point here is to get 1 level in Pulverize and Headbutt ASAP. Following that, max out E, and take Your ultimate whenever you can.

The reason for this is to be more useful in the team. You are not gonna be a pentakill-machine as Alistar, So the focus here is to heal minions for pushes and to heal allies in between/during teamfights

Alistar is slow. You will not get much gold from assists alone. You will not be in lane for creep killing. You will have a limited mana supply. These are the main problems.

So how do we fix them? By using this core build.

Boots + 2 hp pots + 1 mana pot for start. Should give you enough movement speed (376) and regeneration to be able to do your job until you have enough gold (650) for boots of mobility, which is your 1st main item.

Philosopher's Stone should be your next item.
Aegis of The Legion and Shurelyas reviere are the last core items. Aegis is probably one of the most cost-effective items in the game. Yes, thats true btw - only 3 core items. Then what? see below!

After that, your primary concern is to counter the damage from the enemy team by buying defensive items. I recommend investing in a banshees veil / FoN. The banshees veil is one of the best items in this game, but if you prefer FoN, go ahead.

If you feel the need to get some armor, and lacking CDR, a Frozen Heart or Glacial Shroud should fit your needs.

Always use your own mind to determine what suits you best, in that specific game. Getting a trinity force if possible would be the only offensive item I can think of that would fit this build. Especially the movement speed, attack speed, the proc and some mana fits Alistar like a glove.

Probably you will not get this far into the game that you will afford much more than your core build, since if you did your job correctly, the enemy will surrender @ 20.

A roamer ganks. Thats it.

Ganking didn't fail if you didnt score a kill/assist. Just scaring the opponent, forcing him to recall or play defensively is almost as effective since he loses out on EXP and gold. Plus he might've used up some summoners, making the next attempt easier.

So how do you gank as Alistar?

Its easy.

You run/sneak (depending on preference) in from behind, hopefully when the enemies has pushed the lane, and CC them to death with headbutt and pulverize. Headbutt them towards your tower so its more difficult for them to escape. A good headbutt negates a flash. For a certain kill, gank together with your jungler.

As I earlier explained, your mission is to be a nuiciance for the other team. This is accomplished by the following;

* Ganking everywhere: top/mid/bot/jungle. Coordinate with your team!
* Constantly invading and Pulverize/Headbutt combo the enemy lanes if ganking isn't possible. Make them scared and insecure!
* Warding, counter-warding (includes oracles)
* Counter-jungling by stealing neutrals early / damaging the jungler / etc.

Protip; Most junglers starting at blue will give you the first blood and blue buff if you sneak around through the bush at the corner and knocks them up in the air right before they kills the golem. Even easier if they are noobs and doesn't save smite for the killing blow. I can't count on my fingers how many times I did this. Be careful though in mid-high ELO matches, since by then most ppl will understand to support their jungler. Wait until you see 4 ppl in lanes on the mini map.

What about teamfights? What is Alistar's job?

Alistar's main job in teamfights is to protect the friendly carry and to sort out and expose the enemy carry with a jucicy flash-headbutt-pulverize combo. Order of execution is important. Healing with E whenever possible is also part of the job description. Pop your ulti when you are being focused, CC'd heavily or just need to do some damage. Ghost should, if possible, be saved for chasing/escaping after the teamfight. I do encourage you to take the fall if it means saving your teammates (e.g. by staying behind for a pulverize before dying, allowing your slower, squishier carries to run away). Personally, I'm more than glad to initiate and die 1st in a teamfight if I manage to get the other team to blow their spells and perhaps even ultimates on me. Then I mostly sit back and cross my fingers.

Noobtip; Your ultimate removes all crowd control effects. I've seen to many people not reading this part of the description -_-

I hope this guide can help you in discovering the potential of my beloved cow. Please comment below and let me know of your experiences using this build.

I do apologize for the randomness of the build, being structurized was never my thing.


tl;dr

Disturb, protect, map awareness, coordinate with team. You CAN milk those