Hey everyone and welcome to my guide--
as a forewarning this guide is more geared to those of us who have the capability to skill shot

to those among you who Brand with AoE early game, ride off into the sunset, with your empty mana pool!

anyways

most of us have either seen a brand in game, or played him ourselves. His burst potential never wavers from early game, and his passive is not to be underestimated. His biggest flaw from my playing experience is his lack of mana early game. This guide focuses on how to build and play as a Brand in various situations. Enjoy!

p.s.
ill update this when im not experimenting or busy with upcoming finals in college

thanks

For masteries i use the normal 9/0/21

nuff said.. moving on---

Brand's only escape mechanic is a well placed stun, and while possible, ghost is more efficient for escaping/finishing, and flash for a combo on the run and escaping

if you get clarity with this build, your spamming your AoE far too much, and missing with Sear even more

Due to Brands easily depleted mana, i focus on mana regen and my overall mana pool
i tend to go
9
9 Greater Seal of Replenishment also substitutable Greater Seal of Knowledge
9
2 Greater Quintessence of Knowledge
1

my reasoning on splitting the the quints is simple
the single boosts your regen just enough to keep combos active in your lane, as long as you have at least 1 or more Mana Potion..
your never too good for pots!

boots are your friend to start
why?
because as you will read later, Sear is an amazing poke skill shot based action, and positioning is still necessary to place.
boots also keep you from being autoattacked by most champions, and gives you the ability to direct minion wave movement without being hit

pots
your never too good for em, you never will be
since you don't quuite have the mana or regen to support multiple combos and poking (dorans wouldn't give you this either) its best to stack 2 pots for mana, and a single hp, just in case you get hit a bit

rush a tear (you should get this before 6 without a kill no problem)
then follow with a Rabadon's Deathcap
or if there stacking some MR already
Void Staff
you should finish your Archangel's Staff AFTER rabadon's, since your mana pool will be more then large enough to support continuous poking and combos at this point.

from here on out, items are more situational

you having trouble catching the runners or just can't hit that sear when you need to?
grab Rylai's Crystal Scepter

you want to smash some face just a little bit quicker and sit on the tanks?
Deathfire Grasp is for you!

anyways
if you've played a nuker, or a basic ap caster/carry
you know how items roll from here on out
if you don't--> play some more, i can't tell you what you should ALWAYS buy, but i have a good idea on the starting inventory

before i list my reasons for the skill chart let's go over the usage and purpose of each skill

im only running over the basics here, as some skills have seperate sequences that are situational, and some are purely meant for farming

Sear
This ability works like most skill shots, first object receives the dmg and effects of the skill
however, Sear travels at a slightly higher rate then most champion's skill shots (ex.. Morgana's Dark Binding and Lux's Light Binding)

this ability like the previous two is also a great bush checker for two reasons
A-- sound of impact
B-- builds into multiple combos in case of impact

one of the more overlooked benefits of Sear
it's mana cost
yup it's amazing.. 50 mana to cast, and this amount never rises, it's damage though tends to float at around 100-180 (pending on opposing MR in lane) prior to mid phase

taking this into account, you can cast sear roughly every 9 seconds, and never go oom

this is why it's the first skill to be maximized

Pillar of Flame
your best assistant to Sear
pillar of flame's secondary effect is as follows
"when target is ablaze PoF deals 25% damage"
this comes in handy with your awesome Sear poking abilities

most people tend to obviously run towards you as brand and cast Pillar of Flame
thus making the skill easily dodgeable
the key?
launching Sear while also placing Pillar of Flame behind targeted champion, thus dodging equates into not dodging as most people run parallel to the lane (up and down not side to side while dodging)

danger!
most people focus this skill and end up going oom before they hit level 6, even with clarity
this is a huge nono!!
brand's effectiveness lies in combo's, not a single skill



Conflagration
ahh the combo key!
before anything else is said, a level of PoF can be substituted with Conflagration for earlier combos and slighty less poking

anyways...

while Conflagration is a wonderful companion to Pillar of Flame
it works even better with Sear and Pyroclasm

as i've stated, Sear's mana cost is something that shouldn't be taken for granted, but it's secondary ability while a target is ablaze is amazing
stuns!
who doesn't love stuns??
the ideal combo early lane is as follows
---> --->
the result?
your opponent takes the initial conflagration dmg (70 without MR) gets stunned and hit for more dmg (100-180) then hit by PoF with it's bonus dmg (anywhere between 90-150)
this combo costs roughly 200 mana, so placement is key!

your total (with base MR or slightly more)
240-340

Pyroclasm

WARNING!!
pyroclasm can hit minions
pyroclasm can be stopped by a single BV
pyroclasm can be stopped by a single flash, or blink like ability

that is why i use it in the following manner

pyroclasm is best used as either a
A-- starting move in a combo
or
B-- finishing move in a combo

why?

in a group fight, you have the capability to deal dmg across the board and across the field
your best initiation tactic is a move that sets everyone possible ablaze so as to proc secondary effects

I find hitting Pyroclasm on a lone squishy to be a large waste, as it's cd is somewhat lengthy and it's better used elsewhere


my ideal combo in a group fight is the following
---> ---> ---> ---> --->

after this combo, you'll have any runners set ablaze and the capability to stun them with Sear for a finish with either Conflagration or PoF

For now this guide is somewhat brief and small in scope, but will increase in time as i have finals and such to attend to

hope you got something out of this guide!

thanks--

Sovrastare-- (Italian for destroy)