Well, Vladimir got hit pretty bad: if many people haven't noticed, it's quite rare to see an exceptionally good Vladimir(Solo Queues). This guide is my way of playing Vladimir; just because he isn't 'OP' and Hextech is Unique doesn't mean he is no longer viable. The build (if you didn't notice) is going to get you 'farm-fed', not 'kills-fed': you can rake them in later.
Anybody with an ELO, this would probably be natural, this is just a way to dominate Solo Queue, and to effectively carry a team. I have been taking part in farming competitions with a friend: Mordekaiser, who is pretty good at farming; we've had four so far, and this build has won them all.

NOTE: Generally I am a terrible farmer with AP Carries and hate slow projectile speeds( Vladimir & Anivia) but I have been able to reach around 60-80 minion kills by 10 minutes, 120-160 by 20 minutes before going into the 200's by late game.

Here are some games that I have played using this build, (the 'Defeat' being the first time I tried it out):
25-35 minutes


25-35 minutes


25-35 minutes


20-30 minutes

AA - Auto-Attack
Armor - The resistance of physical damage
AP - Ability Power, key stat for casters
AoE - attack capable of damaging many enemies at the same time
AS (-AS) - The rate/frequency or duration between attacks
CC - Crowd Control
-> Stun - attack and leaves the target open for a short period of time.
-> Immobilizes/Snare - Immobilizes movement
-> Fear - (None) Unpredictable, Immobolizes control and and forces the champion to move in a random direction
-> Slow - Lowers movement, there are two types of slows; the Chill Slow and Tread Slow also to stack slow
DPS -
Physical -> Damage Per Second of a type of champion such as Master Yi and Xin Zhao
Magical -> Damage Per Second of a type of champion such as Annie and Ryze
CD - The duration before a spell can be used again
CDR - The reduction of the duration before a spell can be used again
ExP - An Experience Point
Kiting - The act of retreat however turning around occasionally to attack chasers
Juking - The act of tricking a person on the direction of movement
MS - Movement Speed the speed of which the champion travels
MR - Magic Resist The resistance of the magic damage
MP5 - Mana regen per second, high amounts are a necessity for early game or trigger-happy people
HP - Health Points the survivability without the resistances
MP - Mana Points
Pen -
Ar -> The reduction of armor to lessen the amount of damage reduced from physical attacks or even push armor to negative levels increasing the amount inflicted
Mr ->The reduction of magic resist to lessen the amount of damage reduced from magic attacks or even push magic resist to negative levels increasing the amount inflicted
Proc - Activate

Pros

Solid late game
High damage mid game
Impossible to taken out of the lane after level 9

Cons

Low HP for the majority of the laning phase
Low damage during early game
Susceptible to harassment early game

Marks

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

Honestly believe there is nothing more useful in this section (pertaining to primary runes)

Seals

Greater Seal of Vitality
Greater Seal of Health
Greater Seal of Armor

All viable, personally wouldn't take Greater Seal of Armor, only against a DPS mid carry; take Greater Seal of Vitality, Greater Seal of Health

Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction
Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist

Shorten the time between Transfusion & Tides of Blood, Sanguine Pool & Zhonya's Hourglass

Quintessences

Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration
Greater Quintessence of Health
Greater Quintessence of Vitality

Take your pick.

The Ol' 9/0/21, classic for Casters, grabbing MR Penetration in offensive, going down the utility, focused on CDR. Questionable, going down the Utility tree because of the large number of masteries involving Mana, but going down the Defence tree will help Vladimir less, leave it to the tanks. Extra HP, Resistances, DMG Reduction, Minor AP? So What? Vladimir is a caster, not a tank: don't forget that; the HP is a side-effect of AP, not really survivability, Madreds Bloodrazors will shred you just as fast.

(SKIP IF YOU DON'T LIKE NUMBERS)
Early game items revolve around Spell Penetration; forget AP for the time being. However, by level 9, assuming you have around 6000 gold, AP will become more effective than Spell Penetration.

Generally by level 9 of AP rush:
Hextech Revolver
Sorcerer's Shoes
Rabadon's Deathcap

Stats:
HP: 1598.84
AP: 251
Spell Penetration: 29 + 15% (Runes + Masteries)
Average MR: 30 (With runes: 43, with Mercury Treads: 78)

Level 5 Transfusion Damage: 230 + 151
(Reductions) 1MR/14 MR => 12 MR/49 MR => 42 MR
Actual Damage: 1 MR = 100/(100 + 1) = 377.19 damage
12 MR = 100/(100 + 12) = 339 damage
42 MR = 100/(100 + 42) = 266.7 damage
(calculation is roughly these numbers)
Cost: 5900/6000

Generally by level 9 of Spell Penetration:
Hextech Revolver
Sorcerer's Shoes
Haunting Guise
Needlessly Large Rod
Amplifying Tome

HP: 1671
AP: 183
Spell Penetration: 49 + 15%
Average MR: 30 (With runes: 43, with Mercury Treads: 78)

Level 5 Transfusion Damage: 230 + 109
(Reductions) 0 MR/ 0 MR / 24 MR
Actual Damage: 0 MR = 339 damage
0 MR = 339 damage
29 MR = 100/(100 + 29) = 261.03 damage
Cost: 5820/6000

So why bother getting Haunting Guise? Assuming you're a capable farmer, the price should be nothing and it will bridge your farming time between Hextech Revolver and Rabadon's Deathcap. My games using the Haunting Guise have been more effective than simply rushing Rabadon's Deathcap; try it out and omit it if you want.

CORE ITEMS:


These items are pretty self-explanatory: core for Casters &/or Vladimir, Hextech Revolver provides the sustainable laning phase, Sorcerer's Shoes and Haunting Guise provide the necessary Spell Penetration, (+ base stats: HP & AP), and Rabadon's Deathcap gives enough AP for mid-game.

SITUATIONAL ITEMS


These items are all up to situation or preference. Hextech Gunblade is a 'preference' item, wasted DPS stats, slightly worse caster stats then the Will of the Ancients however the Active is quite useful; even still, I would recommend the Will of the Ancients over the Hextech Gunblade. This is the same for Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Zhonya's Hourglass, but again it is situational and preference based. Void Staff and Abyssal Mask, Penetration items, late game, these replace Haunting Guise. I have though about abusing Vladimir's large HP pool with Force of Nature: it gives Vladimir decent survivability, but with Sanguine Pool and Zhonya's Hourglass, there isn't any need for survivability, being untargetable.

This Guide isn't Finished