Build Guide by Deitic
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Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Introduction
This is a build/guide to help you achieve amazing Brand play in ranked matches.
Brand is an amazing champion, sure you have already heard people saying Brand is OP! However if you consider the fact that people playing Ryze or Annie can do similar things and as much initial burst as brand, you'll soon come to understand that a true good Brand player takes a lot more finesse than meets the griefer's eye. So if you're interested in becoming an amazing Brand player read on! Because this image below is something you'll be able to achieve with the right type of play style!
To destroy stereotypes!
Okay so, if you have played brand before, or played against a brand you'll know several things. First he obviously has high damage output, he has a stun, he has lots of AoE, and his ultimate either works or doesn't.
So! what does that say about brand? Well damn.....just another OP AP carry!
WRONG!
Sure you can play him at his minimum skill cap, and think you're good once you get fed. however a true Brand player can turn around ANY situation as long as he has the correct core build, and a fair amount creep kills!
Now i'm going to skip ahead and give a tip/trick that I'm sure many other mediocre brand players might dismiss.
1. Speeding up Brand's Ultimate is a Necessity. Now you might be saying no Deitic you're absolutely wrong.....well no sir/miss/mrs/cougar you're the wrong one. Making sure your ultimate bounces as many times as possible(5) within the smallest amount of space and time, is what will win team fights, 2v1 lanes, ganks, etc.
Brand has so much micro/macro potential its unbelievable, however like i said you can play brand at his bare minimum and still do decently in a match however I'm here to show/tell you how to bring out his max potential!
Roles
This is a no-brainer.
Brand has 3 roles all game long:
1. Farm and get gold.
2. Deal AoE damage.
3. Stun the right people during a retreat/chase/kite.
Sounds simple right?....Well this time if you nodded your head or said yes with a smirk on your face, you were right! However within these roles, learning how to utilize your skills effectively is what will split you apart from other Brand players.
Your Skills and What they do.
-> A straight line skill shot, that does initial damage on hit and applies your on-hit passive proc . However if you use it while the target is already under the blze effect it will be stunned for 2 seconds at all ranks.
-> An circle AoE spell that can be placed anywhere within it's spell Range, anything within the area will be burned and will also have the effect applied to it/them. If the target/s are already under the blze effect Pillar of flame will deal 25% additional damage at all ranks.
This spell is the bread and butter of brand, it can be used to initiate or finish a fight. Knowing when to use this spell, and with what combination is what will make you the deadliest pyromaniac around!
This spell can be used to create multiple zones within a lane, and can be used to suddenly ambush an enemy with a follow-up of for the stun! This will be explained in detail within the next chapter!
-> This is your farming tool, using this spell after your pillar of flame to demolish a minion lane, is what makes brand such a powerful farmer. Further detail as to how to use this spell effectively will be given in the next chapter.
-> Brand's signature move, it has many uses and tricks to it, the most basic obvious fact is that it bounces 5 times, and deals damage to each target. If it hits a target that has been blazed, the speed at which it travels to bounce increases.
First step, How to effectively lane as a brand. (Zoning)
Brand's Zone in which he can attack is pretty large, not to mention that he can use his basic attacks to deal damage as well. The fact that Brand's primary AoE spell is a skill shot and can placed anywhere within it's range is what makes brand super dangerous and effective pressure in a lane.
Brand's Pillar of flame actually creates a second zone of offense for you when you use it on a group of minions. This is an extremely useful tool once you hit level 3, you'll notice that players will hide behind minion waves mostly because they need the last hits for creep kills(gold) and experience. You can use this necessity as a brutal advantage to your harass game. If any opposing champion enters that 2nd zone of offense you can simply use conflagration on whichever of those 3 caster minions is closer to him/her. This will bounce your conflag on to the opposing enemy champion and deal extra damage AND afflict that person with Blaze!
Now you will have noticed that every 2 minion waves, a tougher tank type creep spawns with the oncoming wave of opposing minions, you can use this minion to your advantage. Now look at this picture below:
You can see that if you activate pillar of flame to include the guardian minion you can bounce conflagration to the melee minions in front of the lane! Getting the hang of this will make you an extremely efficient pusher, of course you can do this without the special creep but without it, can be disrupted by creeps moving in random directions, having that special creep between the melee and caster minions guarantees getting conflag on everything!
Timing and Combinations!
So the most basic and important combination for farming is:
====>
If you happen to be on baron or dragon you're going to want to use this combination:
===> ===>
When killing blue golem & minions for blue buff:
===> This is to destroy the 2 additional minions quickly, than after-wards you can use the dragon/baron combination above.
Combinations for a 1v1 situation:
Now the way you fight in a 1v1 is different depending on whether there are minions around your opponent or not.
Method 1: Clearing the minions and dealing damage.
===> make sure you hit you opponent with your conflag to set up your...===> for the stun.
By this time your pillar of flame should be up. Now of course this combination is incredibly dependent on you hitting that for the stun. So if you at this point have successfully stunned your target this is when you use your to deal extra damage.
Now if your opponent has flash he/she will flash at this point chase him/her in make sure you activate ignite, and throw in your ultimate . Now if you initiated on a minion wave more than likely what will happen is when your opponent is retreating the moment he gets to his tower, a minion wave will be coming from his/her base, and since your pyroclasm has a slow travel time until that first hit, it'll actually hit the champion just as the minion wave reaches him/her and it'll bounce at least twice back towards your primary target!
BIG TIP!!!
This timing and combination is a must for Brand players!
Here you see me using a simple combination:
+ However it's a little bit more than pressing 2 buttons. This simple combination is what makes brand so deadly at initiating, when you use your pillar of flame first, since there's a delay on the actual activation when you use it right before your sear it'll actually become an instant skill-shot stun!
For those of you that play Anivia this is the same thing as her 
+
combo, except brand stuns with his!
This Combo i useful for blind shot stuns, brush initiations, and team fight initiations.
The combination for Team fights is quite simple:
===> ===> ===> Use your sear to stun a single target such as an opposing cc heavy champ / ad carry / AP carry!.
This is your basic burst combination, after this initial burst you should be retreating behind your team and waiting until your cooldowns refresh then go back in and finish off whichever champions are left!
Make sure you try and fight where there are no minions or in enclosed areas like the jugnle for maximum damage with your ult!
Now if you want the maximum damage combination in a team fight it would be:
===> on the seared target with blaze ===> ===> ===> This should finish off any stragglers!
This combo is fairly more difficult to pull off than the latter however if you want maximum damage this is the best combination for it.
You might be thinking wow these combo's would be hard to pull off on moving targets however one of your core items
makes landing these shots way easier!
Summoner spells.
=> These two spells are amazing with brand. Flash is a necessity and should never be replaced, however ignite is more of a luxury that has great synergy with brand. I'll list some spells you can replace ignite with below.
Viable spells:
=> Another escape spell that can be used on brand, the reasons should be obvious.
=> If you're team lacks an exhaust and you're up against a right click heavy team than this is a good choice.
=> If you are not used to mana management with Brand than Clarity is an ok choice of a spell, however as you get used to Brand you should give up clarity for something more useful end game.
=> If the opposite team is CC heavy than this is a perfectly good choice.
Items and Why.
Start Items:
-> Must have starter items, some people might use dorans however the extra 200 mana and 400 hp from the 2 hp pots are far more beneficial than a dorans item which doesn't build into anything. Dorans also takes up an inventory slot later on and can potentially take up a Ward slot, and it'll hinder the development of your items, forcing you to horde up money to buy a complete item instead of buy vital pieces first.
If you make an argument such as: Hey i need to spam my skills to harass! You're already playing brand wrong. Especially in a higher elo ranked game, you won't have too many chances to get a combo off an enemy once they get hit the first time, therefore you should spend most of your time last hitting, and just denying your opponent. Against a wary opponent just a suggestion that you're stepping in to output damage is just as effective as wasting your mana on a move that won't hit.
Early game items:
Catalyst the protector -> Great item for brand's early-> mid game provides hp+mp allowing him to stay in a lane super long with its passive effect.
Sorcerer's Boots -> a must for Brand this combined with your runes and masteries should provide enough magic pen to nullify any champions base Magic resist making your spells do, well basically true damage to those without magic resist!
Tear's of the Goddess -> Self explanatory item, this will increase your mana pool for every cast and in the end game when you build an
that mana you build up will be turned into AP at a set ratio!
Core Items: Mid-game items
-> You'll want to get this ASAP. This will give an immense boost to your damage and it'll allow you to snowball through mid game.
-> This is your next must have item, it's pretty self explanatory why you should get the death cap not only does it provide a lot of base AP but the unique passive a bawss!
-> Brand is usually a focus target mid-game so having a bit more hp never hurts! especially because this item builds into the next item!
-> This is THE BIGGEST item for brand, this item alone will allow you to hit all your skill shots, and turn yourself into one of the best kiting champion in game! It is almost impossible to catch a Brand with Rylai's, not only does he have a 2 second stun but all of his moves will now apply a slow! Allowing you to nuke down your enemy while running a the same time!
-> acquiring this item mid game will greatly enhance your end game. It will give you a boost of of survivability with the spell vamp and some more AP!
Late/End game items:
-> Always a good choice for any AP carry prone to being focused, combined with flash this will allow you to escape almost any deadly situation.
-> Now not only do you have 25% spell vamp but you also benefit your team around you with more AP and spell vamp!
-> Built from your early game tear this will give a huge boost to your AP!
Other items that work in synergy with Brand.
-> Now RoA isn't a necessity with Brand, sure it gives survivability but grabbing Rylai's for hp is much more effective with brand especially with the synergy between the passive slow and his skills!
-> If you find yourself being focused and unable to escape often, feel free to substitute the hourglass for will of the ancients!
-> if the enemy team starts stacking MR you will want to grab void staff asap, hopefully one of your teammates can buy an
these 2 combined with sorc boots is all you need for Magic pen!
-> Great item if you manage to score some early kills, and you think you can snowball. Than definitely grab mejai's as it can earn you a quick victory. However the likely-hood of this happening in higher elo matches are not that high. IF you happen to be stuck at a lower elo than building mejai's every game could earn you a few hundred rating quickly.
Summary.
If you combine everything i teach you in this guide you'll be able to play a super efficient brand that can decimate 5 people at the same time and continue to deal damage after-wards due to high survivability and enough mana to last throughout team fights!
Hope you enjoyed the guide and good luck!
Change Log.
6/9/2011 1:54 PM EST: Fixed picture thanks trophycase
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