Hello Mobafire community, welcome to my Solo top guide for Gangplank. Most of you have probably played him before in different ways, in the jungle or in another lane, but this guide is for soloing top ONLY, while having your jungler ganking and giving you the solo-lane exp as in the current meta.



Gangplank can be built both as an offtank and as a carry, and i have adjusted the build and guide to adapt depending on what team-composition you have and what you prefer. Therefore there are several builds included in the cheat-sheet.

• A detailed guide regarding how to play Gangplank in Solo top
• A build that can be both turned into a scary Offtank and a deadly Carry
• Explanations and comparisons between the builds and other positions
  
  

  What you won't get from this guide

  
  
  • A guide about how to jungle, mid or bot lane with Gangplank
  • A guide that fits everyone (Everyone builds differently)
  • A Critplank or Tankplank build
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    Time for some Keelhaulin' then!

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So your going to solo top and don't know how you should build? Well no problem, i'll explain it here.

Some people might say that Gangplank is best in the jungle or in another position, but i say nay to that. He's not bad in any other lane, actually he's a great jungler. But when i go top with him, i usually win the lane and farm well so it's almost a free win. Especially farming is a reason for going top.


When taking the sololane, you should keep in mind that your team needs you to perform well, so don't waste it. Hopefully you have a jungler that intend to gank often and smooth, so you can pick up some early kills.

With your choice of runes, masteries and starting items you are quite bulky and in excellent shape for the top lane. That's whats this build is focused on, to help you perform well up there.

• Good harassment and sustain
• Quite bulky with defensive runes
• Deals good damage and has passive slow
• Top lane usually results in lots of farm
• Can resist a lot of ganks by eating oranges
• Gangplank simply is a good choice for top

• greater mark of Desolation: You only deal physical damage with GP. That's why you always want to get these as your marks, they boosts your damage the most through the game. Simple.
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• Greater Seal of Armor: Early on, the biggest source of damage is always physical through auto-attacks. It is vital to get these if your going top, and many solo top picks are physical. Always get these if your planning an offtank build.
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• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: When soloing top, almost all champs have some source of magic damage ex. Maokai or Irelia. This will help you stay alive and to survive in teamfights later in the game. A great pick.
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• Greater Quintessence of Health: As you are a offtank and going top these are straight forward survivability. You'll be really beefy with this, allowing you to take harassment like a boss.

• greater mark of desolation: Same as before, for maximum damage.
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• Greater Seal of Armor: These might not improve your offensive capabilities but i feel these are necessary to go top as explained before.It is very viable to switch these for Greater Seal of Attack Speed if you need damage.
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• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Mainly i take a lot of magic damage as a carry, and these glyphs helps me a lot. You could swap these for AS or mana-reg, but i really recommend these.
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• greater quintessence of desolation: For the same reason as the marks, this boosts your damage and your damage is the most important as a carry. Simply put. But if you are willing to swap damage for survivability, go for Greater Quintessence of Health as they help your squishy early game.

The core is how your build should look like independent on how the game goes. This items is what makes you so good for top. Wriggle's Lantern giving us farming capabilities and sustain as well as a free ward, boots for mobility and to keep up, and our lovely Trinity Force coming in handy giving us ***loads of offensive capabilities as well as some defensive. Building like this let's you win the lane easier, deal more damage and still being able to become what kind of Pirate you want.




Boots are built differently. As an Offtank, you'd want to pick either Mercyry's or Ninja Tabi depending on their source of damage. Do they have 3 magical or physical dealers? On the other hand, if you are building into a carry, get the CDR boots. You will be able to Parrrley more and it will increase your DPS as well as having your ultimate more often.



The balance between damage and survivability. Helloo Atmog's, you fit right in my build. Massive damage, massive tankyness, crit, armor, WHY THE HELL NOT! The reasons are simple and clear and the balance is great. In competitive games, having an offtank like this is a great asset for the team. You can 1 v 1 most AD and AP carries and tanks, and you should be a really tough opponent for their offtank as well.
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The 5th item is mostly always the same, but the 6th is very optional. A Force of Nature is really great for you, but you wont always need it because they maybe doesn't have that much magic damage or they just don't use it against you. Maybe they just have a Vlad who never give a **** about you and always target your carries. But the 6th item is more optional, if you take serious physical damage at this point, consider Randuin's. But mostly, an Infinity Edge is a purchase that is very worthwhile. Your endgame Parrrley's will be even more dangerous while you still manage to be very beefy.

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First of all you wan't to get a Cloth Armor and some pots. You get a nice armor boost that is really helpful early on top, since almost all early game damage is from auto-attacks. I also choose this items since it speeds up building our Wriggle's which is an important item to get. The pots are just great too.

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After a little while you will probably gotten some cash either from farm or maybe you picked up a kill. Anyway, when you have enough for the Wriggle's and a Boots, teleport back. This item is the best item for Gangplank if you are soloing. Sustain, damage, farm and ward, what more can you ask for? When you get this, get ready for farming. Last hitting just become a breeze with this. Remember to use the ward as i show later in the guide.

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If your doing it right, you should be having your Wriggle's and be farming like a boss and zoning your opponent. The well-earned cash is always well spent in the Trinity Force. This item is all around awesome. It enhances every aspect of your offensive capabilities (except for lifesteal) and is the perfect item to become a real threat. Obviously you should get a Sheen first. Why? Oh, you maybe didn't know that Parrrley's on-hit function works well with the proc from the Sheen? Well it does, you almost double up the damage, and now the enemy will think twice before coming in range of your gun. After Sheen you get Zeal. Zeal also complements you well with AS, Crit and Movespeed. Then turn this batboy into a whole and you get Trinity Force. Now we're talking, you get massive proc damage, an extra slow, movement speed, attack damage, crit chance and everything you need! From this point, you can build however you want, but i daresay that this is the best all around item for Gangplank at this point.

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Around this time, everyone get their pair of boots. This includes you. Mercury's Boots is the best choice of your building Offtank. But wait, Tenacity? I have my oranges? Well yes, even though Gangplank can clear CC doesn't make you immune to it. Tenacity is what makes you much harder to put down with slows and such. You maybe need to clear off Morgana's Dark Binding just to find out she's gonna use Soul Shackles? Well with these boots you will be up and running sooner, which is very good. The MR is also just great, helping you against casters and all sources of magical things.

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And now, the item that characterizes offtanks, the Warmog's. The reason why i get this? Because it provides OP survivability. You can easily farm the passive up and be 3000+ hp very fast. While having your Triforce doing damage and slowing you now is a real pain in the *** to kill too! And it's just about to get better.

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Okay, so now you got survivability and some damage, but it's getting later and your damage is quite falling behind if you don't fix it... So let's do it. Get the Atma's. The old combo of Warmog's and Impaler works well on Gangplank. In fact, very well. You get heavy damage along with crit and more armor. You just got yourself a real balance now, the items you have gotten so far really synchronizes perfectly. It's not a cheap deal, but a brilliant one. From this point, we might lack a bit mobility and magic resist, so let's fix that too.

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A Force of Nature is the item for Gangplank at this point. Heavy MR helps against very much, as Madred's Bloodrazor and all AP Casters and mages that could target you. The mobility is just great too. But it also has a passive health regen, that syncs well with your Warmog's and make you even more sustainable.

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If you get this far in the game, you want to sell your Wriggle's Lantern and buy yourself a better deal. This slot of item i think is quite optional, and you should build depending on the following factor: Do you need more damage or more survivability? Offtanking is all about balancing those two aspects, and mostly you want an Infintiy Edge for the great damage it provides. But if you just keep on dying because they have so many fully builded carries, a Randuin's Omen will seal the deal. You might not be the biggest late-game damage dealer, but you aren't supposed to be either, let your carry handle that.

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If we're gonna go carry the game, we need damage. What does provide better damage than an Infinity Edge? Only a bloodthirsty, but this item is much more consistent. You'll be ripping everything apart with the crits from this badboy. I tend to get the B.F Sword first for the damage, but a cloak is also nice. Unfortunately many champs will run away from you when you get this item, so we need some movement speed. And we also got pretty slow AS and we ain't crating that often, so let's fix it?

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huehuehue. Time to get an upgrade, this item is a great investment. Your all earlier problems will be solved and now you can start tear apart mostly everything. Just try not get too focused and so on, cause your damage peak is really freak-*** high.

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With so much physical damage taken, your opponents will almost always buy some armor. Then it's vital to get a Last Whisper. You want to remain a threat and a threat you will remain. With this you can break down them even though they got their damn Thornmail, but really it's just a waste for them now.

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The game is still going? And you wanna win? A Bloodthirster is perfect. Sell your Wriggle's and get the real lifesteal. Now you can more easily carry and get health back, it's just a must-have. I don't like the fact that you lose your damn stacks if you die, these stacking items always tend to get you more and more targeted since your opponents ain't idiots. Although, if you don't need more damage and have other problems, grab a Thornmail if you have problems with armor, a Banshee's Veil if you have problems with magic or an all around Guardian Angel if you get focused by everything.

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Teleport: This summoner spell is just perfect for the top lane, it let's you be present at all times and go back and buy your items without having someone pushing your turret. In competitive games, you need atleast one having this spell to prevent backdooring and pushing, and it usually falls to the top lane to pick this.

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Exhaust: The perfect summoner spell for Gangplank. A great slow and damage reduce, i usually take this because it's so great for 1 vs 1 situations at top, while still being useful for escaping/chasing and shutting down gamechanging ultimates like Crowstorm or Death Lotus.

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Ghost: Ghost is also a great summoner spell for Gangplank, making it very easy to chase and escape. I don't pick this in the first place because Teleport is more viable for solo-top and Exhaust serves more purposes and benefits you better.

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Flash: The most OP summoner spell in the game, you might think i'm crazy for not picking this, but it isn't as vital for Gangplank as it is for others. It is great in many purposes, but i think that Exhaust works better for you since it really helps you kill that top champ in 1 vs 1. He will most likely have Flash, but if your smart you make him waste it early. Remember that you have your ultimate to finish off someone that is hugging at the tower with low health, so i don't think this is really that necessary.

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At the beginning of the game, play quite aggressive. Not many champs can stand the constant Parrrley you are dishing out. It's essential to last hit and to don't push to long, or you could get ganked. Zone your opponent, try punishing him with Parrrley's and auto-attacks if he tries to farm, and you will get the most farm.

When you get your oranges in stock, remember to eat them to clear CC's, i can't count the numerous times i've been ultied by Warwick's, eaten some oranges and it's been k. If you get in true 1 vs 1 situations, be sure to use Exhaust at the right moment, which is when you think your opponent will deal the most damage ex. when they use a channeled ultimate or similar.

By the time you get your ultimate, be sure to keep an eye on the map. Are the other lane champs very close on the minimap? They might be fighting and you can help em', just signal your ship and they'll thank you later. Remember that you also can clear people pushing turrets if you already used your Teleport.

By this time at the game, junglers usually ganks if they haven't done it already, so mind getting a ward in the bush below:



If they don't have a jungler or other potential gankers, you should instead place the ward at dragons. With Wriggle's you are so close to soloing dragon, i've both done it and failed depending on how many procs you get. Asking for aid from bot is therefore a lot safer.


Here's a summary of how to perform in the laning phase:

• Harass the hell out of your opponent with Parrrley
• Eat oranges when CC'ed and ganged
• Ward with Wriggle's Lantern
• Exhaust if you stand toe-to-toe with your opponent
• Zone your opponent and farm well.

I couldn't make this guide without help from other people. Big thanks to:

• All my friends and teammates in my ranked team WMO. Wouldn't write this guide if we never had started playing LoL together :)
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• JhoiJhoi for her amazing guide on how to make guides. It helped me very much on how to create and edit guides, and i've used parts of her layout and build ideas. Here's a link to her guide: Guide on how to make Guides.
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• Other guides that have inspired me, personally i love these two great guides: Spin to Crit by Palthios & Ferrovial's Teemo Guide

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To do:

• Add scores and videos
• Add more optonial items
• Perfect the build out of constructive criticism
• Add a banner to the guide
• Add FAQ Section if needed