A Challenger Warwick main on the NA server and easily consider myself the Best Warwick NA. I have over 4000 games on reworked Warwick and have peaked at rank 42 on the ladder (21 if you count early season!). People know me for my offensive Warwick build, which involves Warrior over Cinderhulk, but I will go over each of the main builds in this guide. You can ask any question you like or discuss anything related to this guide or Warwick in general. Any feedback or criticism is appreciated. If you want to find more of me you can find me on Twitch or Youtube. Here is my 'current' Main Account.

• Eternal Hunger (Passive):
  is really good for the jungle. This gives you infinite sustain in the jungle and allows you to constantly farm, solo dragons, tank baron, skirmish/duel, and fight with lower health than normal. Overall a solid passive but nothing flashy.

• Jaws of the Beast (Q):
  is your bread and butter spell. Not only is this your main damage spell, but it is also your main survivability tool as you heal a lot from this, allowing you to duel EVERY champion in the game unless they are fed and survive teamfights and skirmishes. In addition, this ability is your main way of closing the gap, following dashes/blinks, and ignoring some forms of CC. Mastering Q usage is the first step to getting good at Warwick.

• Blood Hunt (W):
  defines Warwick for what he is, a hunter. This ability is very unique and versatile in allowing you to fight enemies, clear camps, scout, and gank. This ability can be used to scout enemies in the fog of war, making it easier to invade, avoid getting caught, or countergank, in addition to many other ways. Its very strong in allowing you to gank and chase people down. Almost no one can outrun a Warwick, especially if they are below 25% health. Lastly, I gives you an insane attack speed buff on marked targets that allows you to duel, clear, and fight enemies. Note: Currently buggy (sometimes doesnt work when it should) although this usually isn't a big deal, Long cooldown that reduces twice as fast if no one is being hunted, and only provides out of combat movement speed so avoiding damage is crucial to chase. Max Blood Hunt first for the movement speed for ganks, along with a lower cooldown and stronger 1v1ing potential.

• Primal Howl (E):
  is Warwick's main defensive tool, as opposed to his inherent life steal, but can also be used aggressively. The main usages for this skill are to CC multiple enemies, tank damage, engage, along with many other ways. Using this in conjunction with Q will allow you to fear a target backwards and make it harder for an enemy to escape. This is a one point wonder and is powerful throughout the game. You can, however, start putting points into it once 5v5 teamfights are starting to occur. If teamfights are happening early on, you may opt to max this over Q. Note: Never use this in the jungle, you lifesteal so much you will never die against monsters, and this doesn't speed up your clear at all. Also, if used before R lands, you automatically fear everyone around you making it a situationally great engage tool.

• Infinite Duress (R):
  Warwick's main lockdown tool has a fairly low cooldown going into the late game and is extremely powerful if landed. Not only is it a strong surpression for locking down carries and making picks, but it also does respectable damage and heals Warwick for all of the damage dealt, meaning you can easily heal for up to 600-800 health over the duration and become harder to kill. Note: Don't be afraid to use this as an escape. It's low cooldown allows you to play more aggressively than other champions and go way deeper than people would expect. Also, it's range increases based on how much movement speed Warwick has, so if an enemy is below 25% health, you can jump in that direction from a disgustingly long range.

Flash: Flash is standard for most champions, especially someone such as Warwick who needs it to make up for his lack of mobility. With Flash you can combo with your fear, to get off good engages in addition to having more chase and escape potential. I've seen some people try to opt for Ghost but it really is redundant with Warwick's high movement speed from his W.

Smite: Smite is standard for a jungler, as it allows you to get bonus XP from monsters and secure objectives such as dragon or baron. In addition, you will purchase Skirmisher's Sabre early on in the game which will allow you to Smite enemy champions to increase your damage against them in addition to reducing the damage you receive from them for a few seconds.

• Press the Attack is by far the best keystone for Warwick. It is easy to proc, gives him great dueling potential, and exposes enemies to ALL damage so you will have more utility later into the game. It also procs from just your ultimate, making it really easy to make picks with your team.

• Triumph is very good for getting extra health back in skirmishes, tower dives, and team fights. It's just extra health in your pocket and makes some plays less risky. The other runes in this row are also useless for Warwick.

• Legend: Alacrity This entire row is really good for almost everyone that uses the precision tree. For Warwick, you dont care about the life steal rune as most of your healing is onhit and not % attack damage based. It really comes down to Attack Speed or Tenacity which comes down to comp and what role you are going to be playing into. In general if you feel like you can carry the game and not get stunlocked, attack speed is good.
  Legend: Tenacity is ideal if you fear that you will get stunned or snared too much in a teamfight. If you are against multiple forms of hard CC, opt for this over Legend: Alacrity.

• Last Stand synergizes great with Warwick, since most of your healing and survivability doesn't kick in until you are low on health, it allows for a relatively consistent damage boost as you are below half health more often than most champions.

• Magical Footwear The best option in the inspiration tree since you need to go Future's Market this patch. This isn't even that much of a filler rune and is probably one of the best utility runes that you could want on Warwick. Not only do you get Boots for free, allowing you to focus on rushing your jungle item, it also grants you an extra +10 movespeed throughout the game along with giving you the Boots outside of base, an underrated aspect of this rune. You could be in the middle of running away from an enemy and then suddenly you get Magical Boots and not die as a result. Nothing bad about this rune other than it being somewhat slow, but Warwick's early game isn't good at the moment so it works out.

• Future's Market Since Tiamat got its price increased from 1200 to 1325 in the beginning of season 9, Future's Market has become a staple for Warwick. Warwick needs to finish Tiamat on first recall in this meta or else he will fall behind and the extra gold from Future's Market allows you to do so. On top of that, it allows you to hit your powerspikes faster with other items such as Warrior or Cinderhulk along with big items like Deadman's or Iceborn.

• Transcendence is a great option for Warwick and is what I run since Celerity got nerfed in 8.12. CDR is a great stat for Warwick as the most he can use his abilities, the more damage, survivability, and mobility he has (basically everything). While he can get plenty of CDR from items, this rune makes it so either you can not force yourself to buy a CDR item as you will have plenty already, or will allow you to buy multiple CDR items without worrying about overcapping on CDR (since it converts to damage). It is very versatile and great all around.

• Waterwalking is a fantastic rune for junglers in general that don't have a lot of mobility. Waterwalking helps secure scuttle crabs and aids you with taking neutral objectives like dragon or rift herald, in addition to allowing you to move to the enemy jungle faster to counterjungle or gank through river faster.

• Ghost Poro has become an optimal choice since the changed made to it in 8.14. It is essentially a free Ward that can constantly be replaced and doesn't go away until an enemy runs into the bush. On top of that, it gives you bonus AD for being in the enemy jungle or placing the Ghost Poro in enemy territory. Warwick loves to invade and pressure the enemy jungle so you will get to use this bonus a lot as long as you aren't behind. It also really helps out early game as you can place it in the small river bush before minions spawn so that you have vision on a scuttle crab without using your ward. This is super helpful if you are going against a stronger level 2 jungler like Graves of Trundle.

• Relentless Hunter grants out of combat movement speed after collecting unique kills. The out of combat movespeed is great as it allows you to move quickly around the map even when you don't have a Blood Trail. On top of that, it increases the range of your Ultimate so you can engage or make picks from further away.

• Conditioning Resolve secondary gives you the best combat effectiveness for the mid to late game compared to the other secondary runes which are more focused on utility. If you think you can safely get past the early game and want to be a bit tankier later on, then this rune set is ideal. Conditioning is fantastic as you get free armor and magic resist that scales with your bonus resistances. Obviously it is great if you are building full tank, but the extra tankiness is welcome in any build and can make you hard to kill in fights. The downside to this rune is that it takes 10 minutes to kick in, but if you don't have problems you won't regret it.

• Revitalize is probably the best rune in this row of the Resolve tree. Overgrowth gives you less health than you would heal, and Unflinching is redundant if you are running Legend: Tenacity (although you could run it if you are against a ton of stuns). The extra healing is like a mini Spirit Visage and synergizes with your heals to make you more durable in fights. I would recommend going this if you are planning on building 40% or heavy damage to make use of the healing and also meet the conditions stated under Conditioning.

Build Path: (Tiamat, Warrior, Boots, Deadman's Plate, TankItem, TankItem, Titanic Hydra)

This is the build for early-mid game dominance. Most effective in higher elos (Diamond+) but solid everywhere if you are an earlygame-centric jungler. The idea of Enchantment: Warrior early is to give you a huge powerspike once Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior is completed and you can often 100-0 squishies without them being able to react. Warwick has great ratios on his Jaws of the Beast and Infinite Duress, in addition to massive attack speed with his Blood Hunt, making early AD really good. You are the strongest member on the map once you get this, but you are squishy and don't scale as well. You build tanky most of the time after Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior because you will die too quick otherwise. Dead Man's Plate is one of my favorite items after Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior. This is the most difficult build to pull off because you are squishy early on and need to be proactive early on. Also, since you are squishier you need to be able to utilize your Jaws of the Beast mechanics to stick onto carries in order to kill them.



Build Path: (Tiamat, Cinderhulk, Boots, TankItem, TankItem, TankItem, Titanic Hydra)

This is the bread and butter standard Warwick build. You are a tanky frontliner that is hard to kill but still effective when you get in everyone's face. You scale fairly well but don't spike at any point in particular. Just soak up damage and be a beast in teamfights. I recommend this build is you are new to Warwick, as being tanky means you are less likely to die if you overextend and you are less likely to get punished if you aren't good at Jaws of the Beast mechanics. I will occasionally build this route if I am hardcountered early on, if there is a lot of hard CC on the other team, or if my teammates are ahead and I can frontline and let them carry.



Build Path: (Tiamat, Cinderhulk, Boots, Trinity Force, [Steraks Gage/Guardian Angel/Essence Reaver], Titanic Hydra, TankItem)

This is the next step for players who have started to gain experience with Warwick. You are comfortable with the champion and want to scale and carry the game. Maybe you are getting fed and struggling to convert your leads to wins. This build is the most expensive build, but if you get the gold and snowball hard, it has the most value. You aren't as tanky as you would be with the Tankwick build, however you have massive dueling and skirmish potential and great burst. This build also gives you the option to split push and take towers. Once you have Trinity Force, Sterak's Gage(or Guardian Angel/ Essence Reaver), and Titanic Hydra your damage is insane. While this isn't the most ideal build in higher elo due to the high gold cost of the build and games generally ending earlier, it is great if you are expecting the game to go on 35+ minutes as it gives you the most damage and most gold value out of Warwick if you are ahead and capable of carrying the game.

Build Path: (Tiamat, Warrior, Boots, Death's Dance, [Guardian Angel/Spirit Visage], [Guardian Angel/Spirit Visage/TankItem], Ravenous Hydra)

Death's Dance Warwick is a new build that gives you insane damage and sustain. It is a very situation build but works very well against teams with low CC and kiting potential (ex. teams like Irelia, Zed, Ezreal, Nami). The goal of this build is to go for 1v1s and small skirmishes as opposed to teamfights. I recommend going this build mostly when ahead although it can still work from behind if you are against a lot of squishy enemies. Your burst damage is insane with this build (Think AP Warwick levels) and your healing is nuts. The obvious counter is grevious wounds but even if you have reduced healing you still often heal too much for the enemies. I also recommend this build in elos where there is less coordination and organized teamfighting since the strength of this build is in skirmishes and 1v1s. Making sure you don't build this if you can easily get kited or else you are just a squishy Warwick that can't lifesteal.

You want to start the same items every game. Hunter's Machete allows you to clear the jungle quickly and Rejuvenation Bead allows you to rush Tiamat faster. I've seen some players, like Pants Are Dragon, build Refillable Potion over the Rejuvenation Bead in favor of more HP during a gank. I don't think it is worth it since you just barely get your Tiamat after your first clear and a Refillable Potion means you have to wait longer for your power spike. In addition, the extra health doesn't matter in the jungle since you have infinite sustain, and while the extra HP could help in a gank or a duel it is rare that it will be needed since your early sustain in fights is already so good.


Tiamat is essential to Warwick. It allows you to clear camps fast in addition to push out lanes. The extra AD it grants is excellent since you have such high attack speed and you have great ratios on your Jaws of the Beast and Infinite Duress. One underrated aspect about Tiamat on Warwick is it gives you extra burst damage as you can use Jaws of the Beast + Tiamat to cancel its animation. Skirmisher's Sabre is also crucial for Warwick because you gain extra mana regeneration in the jungle and gives you a ridiculous overpowered Summoner Spell on a low cooldown. Seriously, Stalker's Blade is okay but it is nowhere near as strong as Skirmisher's Sabre is as the damage reduction and bonus damage has unlimited uses for you and lets you 1v1 most junglers in the game.


You want to get either of the tanky boot options. Generally I default to Ninja Tabi since there are a lot of auto-attackers and lethality champions (like Kha'Zix) in the meta right now, however if you are worried about stuns (ex. Twisted Fate or Sejuani then grab Mercury's Treads in ADDITION to the Legend: Tenacity rune to hit 51% tenacity. Mobility Boots is another option if you are snowballing and don't need tenacity or attack reduction. These boots will help you move around faster and have longer Ult range, similar to the rune Relentless Hunter. The last boot option is Sorcerer's Shoes which similar to Mobility Boots as you don't want to buy it if you need tenacity or the attack reduction from the defensive boots. However, if you don't then it can be a good choice if you want to amplify your damage. Remember, Warwick does mostly magic damage so mage boots are great with Warwick. I generally buy these if I am against squishy champions that I want to burst harder. It works best with damage heavy builds, such as the Death's Dance Build or the Bruiserwick build. Magic penetration if most effective against enemies that haven't built any Magic Resistance so keep that in mind when making your decision.

• Adaptive Helm is ridiculously strong against mages that deal repetitive magic damage with the same abilities

• Only buy Spirit Visage if you are able to use the heal. You don't get bonus healing if you are being kited in a teamfight and might prefer Adaptive Helm to avoid dying faster instead.

• Abyssal Mask is the best offensive option of the 3 for when you are fed or if you want to amplify your team's magic damage

Typically Warwick will only opt for only 1 magic resist item, unless against a team comp with 3 or more AP champions. Spirit Visage is an obviously great choice for Warwick since it synergizes with his healing, but I feel Adaptive Helm is severely underrated and overshadowed as an item. Since Morellonomicon has been turned into a niche item rather been a core for mages, it has become easier for Warwick to avoid the healing reduction it applies making Spirit Visage more attractive, but both items have their strengths and I would say the situation for building each is a 50/50 split.


For Spirit Visage, you get this as your default Magic Resist item if there is nothing worth building Adaptive Helm for. If you are against burst mages like Veigar or assassins like Katarina you will prefer this item as it allows you to heal back to burst damage they do. In addition, Spirit Visage is useful for amplifying the healing you receive from your team, such as if you have a Janna or Soraka.


If you are against DPS mages such as Taliyah or Rumble where building Adaptive Helm is viable, you can still opt for Spirit Visage if they aren't massively fed and are able to actually UTILIZE Warwick's lifesteal in a fight. Adaptive Helm helps you not die before you get in someone's face, which is usually the struggle for Warwick that he wants to fix through tank stats.


If you are looking for more damage in your build while still desiring magic resist, Abyssal Mask is another great option. All of the stats it gives are excellent for Warwick and it amplifies all of your magic damage (most people don't know Warwick does ~70% Magic Damage). It can also be a solid purchase if you are front-lining and have a super fed AP carry on your team or are running a AP heavy comp.

• Randuin's Omen is great against champions with a lot of crit, such as Yasuo or Tryndamere

• If you don't have issues sticking onto enemies, Frozen Heart or Iceborn Gauntlet are great for CDR.

• Dead Man's Plate grants mobility that is equivalent to Mobility Boots but persists through combat. This is super strong for roaming in the midgame.

• Thornmail is best against teams with a lot of on-hit healing or high attack speed.

Deciding between which armor item can be tough, especially when they are all so good for Warwick. Normally I buy 2 of these in a game but it of course depends on the situation of the game and who I am against.


For starters, I buy Dead Man's Plate in most of my games after my Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior. Why? well, Dead Man's Plate is super strong for snowballing the midgame as Warwick. Assuming I am even or ahead, and the organized teamfighting phase of the game hasn't come into play, or they don't have a magic damage heavy team, I will buy Dead Man's Plate. The movement speed you get from it on top of boots is literally better than Mobility Boots with the added bonus that you don't lose this movement speed until you attack someone unless like Mobility Boots and your Blood Hunt. The stats are really nice too, but the midgame power it gives to someone like Warwick, who is so strong at this point of the game, makes this an almost core item in most games.

Later on in the game, or at least once teamfights break out you can decide for another armor item. Thornmail is obviously useful against ADCs with a lot of lifesteal and/or on-hit such as Kog'Maw or and champions with a lot of on-hit healing like Fiora. Usually, you just settle for Bramble Vest and sit on it while you build up health through other items, but a late game Thornmail is really good against healing and onhit in teamfights.


Randuin's Omen is probably my favorite armor item for Warwick since crit build ADCs are popular and this gives the best defense against that. 20% crit reduction is really good and helps you survive late game teamfights with ease. On top of that, you are gifted with a huge slow active with gives you a lot of utility in teamfights and allows you to stick onto targets. Remember, the biggest issue late game for Warwick is trying to not die before you get on someone, and this helps with that the best.


Iceborn Gauntlet and Frozen Heart are great armor options for Warwick if you are looking for CDR. The situations where I want CDR are usually against teamcomps that aren't able to kite or lock me down so that I am free to spam my abilities off cooldown. Iceborn Gauntlet is generally my favorite of the two because the Sheen passive gives you more damage and more healing on your Jaws of the Beast, and the slow field helps you stick onto targets. I don't build Frozen Heart as much, but if you are behind, or are against a heavy AD teamcomp you can get this so that you have more armor.

I normally build Titanic Hydra 5th or 6th rather than 2nd after the jungle item. Sometimes I build it sooner, but I almost never build it 2nd. Why? I think Titanic Hydra is too squishy of an item to build early on for Warwick. Yes, it grants health, but I don't think it grants enough health or damage to warrant skipping another item which could provide more resistances or more damage early on. Titanic Hydra's value is AoE damage, which is something that Warwick doesn't need until teamfights start breaking out. I believe Titanic Hydra should be saved for scaling.




Since the last few patches of season 7 I have been running Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior on Warwick as opposed to Skirmisher's Sabre - Cinderhulk. The reasoning is that I feel Skirmisher's Sabre - Cinderhulk was nerfed to the point it is just a decent scaling health item which I dont think is what Warwick is aiming for. Warwick wants to snowball the midgame and end the game relatively fast. While Warwick does do fairly well in teamfights depending on comps, it isn't why you pick him.


Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior on the other hand is a massive powerspike for Warwick once completed. With it, he can 100-0 squishies with one combo and makes him very deadly if an enemy finds him while they are alone. In addition, it makes clears faster, more-so than Skirmisher's Sabre - Cinderhulk, and also gives him enough damage that he doesn't need to build more damage for awhile. Simple as that, it is cheap damage. Oh, it also gives 10% CDR which is a stat Warwick always craves. People might wonder why I would choose Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior over Skirmisher's Sabre - Bloodrazor for damage? Well while Skirmisher's Sabre - Bloodrazor looks good on paper, it isn't too practical. Skirmisher's Sabre - Bloodrazor scales better into the late game and allows Warwick to claw out tanks, however your role as Warwick is to assassinate the enemy squishies and carries, not hit the tanks. Of course, you will have to hit tanks a lot as a jungler, but Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior is so much better at snowballing the early to mid game with how much you burst down carries and junglers you find wandering around. Another important note is that the attack speed stat is actually redundant on Warwick, considering he gets enough from Runes and his Blood Hunt. Warwick doesn't just auto people to death, he moves around and maneuvers in short bursts and combos in general practicality, which makes Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior hold more value.



If you are against heavy healing on the enemy team and need an item to stop it you have a choice between these two items. At first, you might think Bramble Vest is best all-around for a tank like Warwick, however this isn't always the case. More often than not I build Executioner's Calling especially in the Warriorwick build because of the on-demand healing it provides. With Bramble Vest, while the stats are more efficient and it gives you a better finished item with Thornmail, enemies have to hit you for the antihealing to apply. So if you are building offensively and want to kill the carries, they will still get healed up if they are running away and not attacking. The on-demand antihealing makes it much easier to kill single targets with more guarantee. I don't recommend building into Mortal Reminder though, since Warwick hardly benefits from Armor Penetration. If you need better antihealing than Thornmail late game, ask your team to build something.



I am not trolling when I say this, but new Essence Reaver is actually pretty solid on Warwick. It is a situational damage buy that you get when you are snowballing the game or are going against a team with low amounts of lockdown for you in fights. It has a great build path so even though it is expensive, it doesn't feel that bad in the process of building it. In addition, Warwick utilizes all of the stats very well (AD, CDR, Mana) and loves the passive. Some things to remember is that your Ult attacks 3 times, meaning you apply the CDR when you are using Infinite Duress on someone and can go into a fight by using all of your abilities, use Infinite Duress, use them immediately after. Another cool thing you can do is reliably engage fights with Primal Howl+ Infinite Duress (for the AoE fear) and have your Primal Howl up again almost instantly after your Infinite Duress finishes. Your Jaws of the Beast also applies the CDR on your Blood Hunt+ Primal Howl+ Jaws of the Beast so you don't waste the passive because of your ability animations taking too long. I have only tried this with the Warriorwick build, however I am sure there are situational cases where you could use it in the Tankwick build (might be too much damage for Bruiserwick build, but that's for you to decide). Overall, if you can utilize the ability spam in fights it is a good purchase since more Primal Howls means more fears and TANKINESS, in addition to more Jaws of the Beasts meaning more heals, damage, and stickiness for Warwick in a fight.



Guardian Angel is an excellent option if you are building damage heavy. I don't every recommend this in the Tankwick build, however if you are snowballing and find that you need the revive it is great for enabling a squishy Warwick to dive under the tower or commit for a kill in a teamfight. With the buffs in 8.11, it is even better and I will be building it more often when ahead.


Quicksilver Sash is the anti-CC item you might opt for in the midgame if you are against unavoidable or reliable hard CC such as Malzahar (with his ult), Sejuani (with her ult), Skarner, etc. I usually will only build this against a Malzahar, however if you feel like there is a stun or suppress that is keeping you from being effective in fights, this will help significantly.

Warwick is a bruiser jungler that has the option to be a tank or a carry depending on the situation of the game. The fundamentals of jungling early are always the same regardless of build, however later in the mid and late game the path you take starts to show.

When I discuss these matchups I am speaking solely about how Warwick is against the specific champion not the teamcomp that is built around him. Every game is different and you have to adapt based on circumstances, but these are general thoughts based on my experiences against these junglers. Also, while I do mention how to deal with the junglers in teamfights if they get ahead, I am usually diving the carries; I just wanted to mention how to deal with them if they become the main problem.

Note: You can take either scuttle crab in each route. Usually one is more favorable but if you want to avoid fighting level 2, avoid taking the scuttle crab that the enemy jungler is pathing towards if possible