Doran's Ring

I've always gotten a Doran's Ring first on Gragas. It's stats are amazing, especially for this guide. If you are going to be aggressive, then you need this health especially, but the Ability Power and Mana Regen are great additions. Finally, while Body Slam was the main escape tool to make this possible, since the Season 3 movement speed changes you can just walk away in most cases.


Boots of Speed/Sorcerer's Shoes

Shoes, are of course, another global piece. However, when to buy is a tricky matter. You want to spend your money the most efficiently. This means buying shoes IF it is convenient for you. I'll explain when to get shoes in the next sections.

So lets continue this discussion with the 3 Builds Breakup Breakdown

If you aren't doing so well Doran's Ring Doran stacking is the way of the weak, however if you gave up first blood, took an early gank, are just getting destroyed, or even mutual back early and don't have enough for anything else, you may need to. You will have a bit more Ability Power and Mana Regen to farm safely and more health to escape next time. If you are following this path, get shoes after the 2nd ring.

If you are doing alright Catalyst The Protector Catalyst The Protector A catalyst will help you survive the laning phase and farm. By midgame it will build into the magnificent Rod of Ages. If you are doing about even with the enemy then you must play to your strengths. Your strength comes from a belly full of grog and skin tough as nails. Prepare for the midgame, where Rod of Ages and your already astounding tankiness will carry you through the fire of the enemy spells so you can deal even more damage. If your opponent is very skillshot reliant and you are having trouble dodging, then get Sorcerer's Shoes before this item. Otherwise, Ruby Crystal and Boots might be your best choice for survivability. If you think you can manage, get Catalyst the protector alone.

If you are doing fantastic Needlessly Large Rod If you are dominating, maybe with a kill and all the CS, then by all means rush your Rabadon's Deathcap. You will be able to farm incredibly easily, and have time to grab your Wraiths, grab their Wraiths, gank, and ward up. If you are going for this, be careful. You can do big damage, but even with Body Slam no shoes at this point of the game is risky. If you have money for this buy this no matter what for easy farming and buy shoes whenever you can after. Free farm with 1 Barrel Roll will get you a lot more money very easily.

These next 2 items are equal and opposite for Health and Ability Power

Now these left 2 match up Rod of Ages Grab this as soon as possible to get the timer started immediately. This will cover your health needs for the game and give you a good amount of Ability Power. Rabadon's Deathcap This is the next item. To deal the necessary burst damage for your role, you will need Rabadon's Deathcap. Every other item you get will boost your Ability Power, and this item's passive will skyrocket that Ability Power to meet your needs.

But there is deviation on the right one Rabadon's Deathcap When you dominate, you rush this first. On top of being the highest Ability Power item in the game, Rabadon's Deathcap will give huge amounts of Ability Power with its passive. Your Ability Power will be set with this. Rylai's Crystal Scepter Unlike the other 2 builds, you do not have the time to let Rod of Ages build up. So skip the waiting with Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This will cover your health needs instead, and it will give an added slow bonus.

And now, we come back together

Zhonya's Hourglass

You still need Armor and Magic Resist to full out your tankiness. You can get either one first depending on the game. I prefer to get Zhonya's Hourglass first since you get more Ability Power out of it and the active effect will protect you from all forms of damage. With this, you have all the armor you will need.



Abyssal Scepter

With Armor covered, all that is left is Magic Resist. Abysmal Scepter is my Magic Resist of choice. By this point, you already have Health and Armor so by covering yourself on all aspects you are ready to charge in.

Gragas benefits very well from Abyssal Scepter's aura, but only if you are tanky enough to get in close...oh wait a minute! With their Magic resist lowered, you are ready to blast them close and unleash everything, use Zhonya's Hourglass to keep them targeting your glorious golden ***, and use Body Slam to finish off the stragglers or get away with ease.



Lich Bane

Most games don't reach this point, but if you need another item to replace your first Doran's Ring, then Lich Bane is a great way to round out the build. By this point, you should have 500+ Ability Power, giving you a huge hit after you Explosive Cask them into you or as you slowly and endlessly chase them away, auto refreshing it with Body Slam.

Other Options

I had something here, but I decided to axe it. There is no point telling you what else to buy if you don't get it yourself. If you need more armor, get more armor. If you need more health, get more health. If you need more ability power, then get more ability power. If you can't tell, then no point trying to break the build since it covers all bases by default.

INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

Sight Ward

Sight Ward

Vision Ward

Ward Up People!! It is not just a job for supports. Everyone scales well with wards. With good mid ward placement, you can know where their jungler is at all times and your entire team can play accordingly. Ward placement will be explained later.