Blitzcrank Build Guide by Lennorz

Introduction

Hey everyone and welcome to my first guide I ever released :)

I want to say sorry in advance, for my relatively bad english.
This Guide will cover some of aspects on my main character Blitzcrank, so i hope you can learn something about him :)

Blitzcrank can be played in many different way (Pure AD ,Pure AP ,Pure Tank, AD/AP Hybrid, AD/Tank Hybrid etc.)

In this guide i will be covering three ways of playing Blitzcrank :

AD-Fighter
AP-Fighter
Pure Tank

Change Log

Pros / Cons

Pros of Blitzcrank :

- Tanky
- Even if built fulltank, still good damage output
- Hybrid
- Good Pusher
- Great ammount of CC with Rocket Grab and Power Fist
- In lategame you basically grab free kills for your team :)
- Has the awesome Mana Barrier that most players forget
- AMAZING burst damage on AP
- 1:1 AP Ratio on Static Field
- Is a motherf*cking robot!

Cons of Blitzcrank :

- Out of Mana pretty fast early- and midgame
-> Mana*****!
- Low escape mechanism (Overdrive only)
-> Vulnerable to CC
- Relies on Rocketgrab pretty much
- I can't really think of any more cons for Blitzcrank

Runes

Before you start reading this I wanna tell you, that Runes are a choice of personal preference, so just choose the Runes that fit to your playstyle :)


Marks

Greater Mark of Desolation My favorite runes on AD-Blitzcrank, if you are going to play him as a AD-Fighter you probably want to choose them.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration This are the runes most AP-Blitzcrank players use, and so do I.

Greater Mark of Vitality Also runes that work well on Blitzcrank, this is your choice if you want to have some more endgame-survivability. This are the ones I use when i play Tankcrank.

Greater Mark of Health These runes can be used in every playstyle, but are really not the best choice, it provides some early game Health, but you won't even recognize them lategame.


Seals

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration This are the Seals I always use on Blitzcrank. They provide a little manaregenaration in early game, and essential regeneration in mid- and lategame.

Greater Seal of Replenishment If you want to have some more earlygame manaregeneration, you will be fine using them]]

Greater Seal of Evasion Great Runes overall, you won't believe me how often they saved my life, even though i don't use them on Blitzcrank.

Greater Seal of Armor For some earlygame survivability.

Greater Seal of Defense For some more lategame tankyness.


Glyphs

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction Cooldownreduction is just great on Blitzcrank, I sweared on building Blitz to the 40% cap for some time, but now i am fine with about 25%. In other words these Runes are simply great on Blitzcrank.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction If you want to focus more on lategame cooldownrecution go ahead.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist For some earlygame survivability.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist For more mid- and lategame survivability.

Greater Glyph of Mana If you want to have some earlygame mana.

Greater Glyph of Knowledge If you want to have more lategame mana (and some more damage, due to Manamune and Archangel's Staff)

Greater Glyph of Ability Power Only choose them if you play AP-Blitzcrank.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power Again, only for AP-Blitzcrank.


Quintessences

For the Quintessences i gotta say, you can pretty much use all the Runes I mentioned before, but i highly recommend Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed or Greater Quintessence of Health. Both Runes work great on any champion, but this are the ones who really shine on Blitzcrank.

Masteries

Again like the Runes you should pick Masterys depending on your playstyle.

With Season 2 the Masteries got a complete rework. Some characters get nerfed in some way, while others get buffed with this. And I gotta say Blitzcrank definetly got buffed :)

While i went 0/9/21 in Season 1, i now go with 0/21/9. You may be asking now why i changed. First of all I LOVE Juggernaut (the last in the Defense-Tree). It gives you 3% more HP and 10(!) Tenacity. Combined with Mercury's Treads it gives you 45 Tenacity, meaning the duration of every kind of CC (beside Surpress) will be almost halfed, making you extremly tanky. Also it offers other great Masterys in the Defense-Tree now. Initiator is great IMO for Blitzcrank, since you really ARE an initiator and Movementspeed is always welcome on Blitzcrank. Beside that the Defense-Tree now offers CDR per Level (:D) giving you 8,1% CDR at level 18, which is 2,1% more then i had in Season 1 with 0/9/21. Another great change in the Utility-Tree is, that movement speed is now in the second row, meaning you will get it after only spending 4 points in it AND there is a new mastery which gives you Mana per Level, and as we all know Blitzcrank loves mana.

How i skilled exactly can be seen above and highly recommend going this way now. But i don't want to say that other skillways are bad, please don't play with these masteries if they don't fit your playstyle.

Summoner Spells

The Great Ones

Clairvoyance This spell is just overall great, and every team should at least have one. It's great for scouting their jungle, checking dragon/baron etc. It is amazingly useful when chasing an enemys into the jungle, and he gets lost in the Fog of War early, meaning you don't know which way he takes. This will give you his position, allowing you to land a Rocket Grab. Got nerfed a bit with Season 2, but i still take it.

Flash Like most players i love this spell, but i especially love it on Blitzcrank. If someone is out of range to Rocketgrab, you can simply flash and drag them to your team. Also it's a great initiator/escape mechanism. This is the other Spell getting nerfed with Season 2, but like Clairvoyance i still take it, because the nerf was not too hard.

Teleport Teleport is a spell i used very often back then, because Blitzcrank is a extremly good pusher with Static Field and can bring towers down fast with Overdrive and Powerfist. This spell grants you amazing map control.

Ghost Ghost works very well on Blitzcrank, since he already has his Overdrive. Also as mentioned before Blitzcrank highly benefits of movement speed.


The OK-Ones

Surge A completely new spell got implented with season 2, and it's pretty great. It gives you alot Attackspeed/AP for 12 seconds. Since Blitzcrank can be played almost any way possible, this spell is pretty good for him. Take it if you want more damage output.

Exhaust To chase down single enemys.

Ignite If you want to have more damage, this spell wont be a bad choice.

Clarity If you think you are too fast Out of Mana early- /midgame.

Heal It now moved from the bad spell, to the OK-Spells. It got buffed pretty much with Season 2, having a much better Healing power lategame. A good choice if you are new to Blitzcrank.

Cleanse Pretty nice Spell on Blitz, since he vulnerable to CC. May safe your life once or twice.

Promote This is one of the two new spells with Season 2 (actually it's the same like promote in Dominion). I gotta it is not the worst choice on Blitzcrank, since Blitzcrank can ALWAYS push towers pretty quickly, even if built full AP. This will help you a bit with pushing, but i won't really recommend it.



The Bad Ones

Smite You are not jungling so you are not picking Smite.

Revive The spell itself isn't that bad at all, but it's cooldown is extremly high, so no.

Rally Got removed with Season 2, which is good IMO, since it was useless. But i really hoped they made a mobile version of Rally instead of Surge.

Skill Sequence

The Skilling Sequence really depends on how you play Blitzcrank, since his skills will have different uses, in his different roles. But you should always get Rocket Grab at Level 1, Power Fist at Level 2 and Overdrive at Level 3. Rocket Grab is amazing for first blood, and to gank their jungle (with Clairvoyance), Power Fist is your main harassing tool, and combined with Rocket Grab you can keep an enemy at one place for some seconds. Overdrive at Level 3 simply for the movementspeed. From here on it really depends on how you play/build him, but obviously always level Static Field at Level 6, 11 and 16.

AD-Blitzcrank :

Here I suggest maxxing Power Fist first, because it's cooldown get extremy low at maximum level + this is where your main damage output comes from. Overdrive is next for more movement- and attackspeed. Rocket Grab is last, because you will mainly use it as an initiator move, you simply don't need it that much in a fight.


AP-Blitzcrank

When playing AP-Blitzcrank I always max Rocket Grab first, because is where a big part of you damage comes from and the cooldown gets lowered. Power Fist is maxxed second for the lowered cooldown + it still does some nice damage (especially with Lich's Bane). Overdrive] is maxxed last because you dont need the attackspeed, and the movementspeed is not that important. Try to get as much CDR as you can, since you only have 2 very strong attack spells, before you get Lich's Bane.


Tank-Blitzcrank

As Tankcrank I max Power Fist first, because of it's amazing ability to disable an enemy very often. Rocket Grab Next to use it more often and save your teammates. Overdrive is maxxed last, because as Tankcrank you really want to have CC, before movementspeed.

Items

Ah, items. There are sooooo many items that fit well for Blitzcrank and i will show you the core for every build, and some other nice and situational items.


The Core :

There are two items you ALWAYS want to buy with Blitzcrank : Tear of the Goddess and Banshee's Veil. The first item you always need to get is Tear of Goddess since you need the mana for your Mana Barrier and your spells alot. Banshee's Veil is just perfect for him : you really lack Magic Resist it gives health, mana for your Mana Barrier and an awesome spellblocking shield. You don't have to get it early, but make sure as the game continues to buy this awesome item.


Boot's choices :

Mercury's Treads After Season 2 got released, i changed my long loved Ionian Boots of Lucidity to these. With Juggernaut these boots will add to a total of 45 Tenacity, making you extremely more use- and powerful. Definetly the best choice atm.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity Still very good on Blitzcrank, CDR is one of the things Blitzcrank is based off. Take these boots if you want to have even more CDR.

Boots of Swiftness Also good shoes on Blitzcrank and the one Riot recommends. Use them if you feel safe with Blitzcrank and if you can get cooldownreduction otherwise.

All the other Boot's work too in some way, but these are the only one I really recommend.


AD-Blitzcrank

The Build I use:

Manamune This item is toally core for AD-Blitz. It gives a lot of needed mana and a great ammount of damage lategame, especially combined with other mana items.

Mercury's Treads Now definetly got my favorite boots with Season 2, why is mentioned in the Mastery and Boot's choice chapter.

Trinity Force This item is also core if you play on AD. It gives the Sheen effect which is like your Power Fist, making it extremly powerful, and other stats that will push your overall damage.

Frozen Heart Since i don't use Ionian Boots of Lucidity anymore, i need to get some CDR otherwise, so i changed my Sunfire Cape for this nice item. Some people even say this item is core for Blitzcrank, because of the high CDR, much armor, and 500 Mana.

Banshee's Veil Like I mentioned above, I just think this item is toally core for any Blitzcrank. Get a early Vampiric Scepter if you want to have some lifesteal even earlier.

Infinity Edge High Attack Damage, a solid crit chance and crits will hit higher. Combined with Trinity Force this item gives you a 40% crit Change with 250% Crit Damage.


Other Great items on AD-Blitzcrank:

Sunfire Cape Still pretty nice, because it gives a lot of health, some armor and an passive damage effect that adds nice with the passive of Static Field.

The Bloodthirster Fully stacked it is the best Damage/Lifesteal item in the game. However if you are not able to farm well don't buy it.

Youmuu's Ghostblade This item is also great on AD-Blitz. Cooldownreduction, armor penetration, damage and an active which is like Overdrive.


AP-Blitzcrank

The Build I use:

Archangel's Staff Totally core for AP Blitz. Like Manamune for AD-Blitzcrank it provides you with the much needed Mana + some massive AP lategame. But only rush the Tear of the Goddess and upgrade it later in the game.

Mercury's Treads Even thought CDR is even more important on AP-Blitz then on AD-Blitz i also changed my boots here.

Rabadon's Deathcap Core item for almost every AP-Caster, and so it is for AP-Blitz.

Lich Bane You can't believe how core this item is. It will make you hit much harder when using basid attacks + it also stacks with Power Fist. But the best part of it that it deals physical damage, this means you still do some serious physical damage. Also it gives movement speed which is great as Blitzcrank.

Frozen Heart This build really lacks some essential armor and CDR, making Frozen Heart even here the best choice for me. Try to get a early Glacial Shroud to replace the CDR from the Ionian Boots of Lucidity.

Banshee's Veil Also for AP-Blitzcrank i consider this item as core.

Other Great items on AP-Blitzcrank :

Rod of Ages Extremly Powerful item as AP-Blitz: A bunch of Health, Mana and AP. Since you profit mroe of Mana then other casters you may be fine buying this.

Will of the Ancients This item will turn your Static Field into a massive healing spell, if used near a minion wave.

Deathfire Grasp Cooldown reduction, manaregenration, a bunch of AP, and an powerful active.

Morello's Evil Tome Like Deathfire Grasp Cooldown reduction and AP (even more), but missing the active.

Zhonya's Hoursglass A nice item if their team is AD-Heavy + this provides an awesome active effect that should not be unterestimated.


Tank-Blitzcrank: (Side Note: You always want to get as much CDR as possible, this build will almost reach the cap with around 38%)


The build I use:

Tear of the Goddess Again this item is core and can later be buildt into an Archangel's Staff or a Manamune when you have all the other items.

Mercury's Treads I think they are pretty core on Tankcrank, because you have to be protecting all the time. Only if they are heavily AD choose Ninja Tabi instead.

Frozen Heart The third core item. This item is just perfect if you are going to tank. A lot of cooldownreduction, massive armor and mana.

Banshee's Veil Core like in every build.

Force of Nature Gives an amazing ammount of Magic Resist and some Movement speed which is always nice for Blitzcrank. Also you will regenrate health like a boss.

Randuin's Omen Extremly nice on Blitzcrank. It gives you some health, a great passive effect, which combined with frozen heart makes you extremly resistant against AD-Dealing champions, CDR and an active effect for even more CC.


Other Great Items for Tank-Blitzcrank:

Shurelya's Reverie A great item for supporting your team with it's active even more + cooldown reduction.

Soul Shroud Also good for getting more CDR, supporting your team and having some more health.

Spirit Visage If you have someone who can heal in your team (like Soraka and Taric) this item might be interesting to buy.


Situational Item's :

The Black Cleaver and Last Whisper if you have problems with their armor as AD-Blitzcrank.

Hexdrinker a nice item against a AP-Heavy team as AD-Blitzcrank.

Wit's End Also nice against a AP-Heavy team as AD-Blitzcrank.

Void Staff If they start to Stack Magic Resist as AP-Blitzcrank.

Abyssal Mask If their Casters burst you down as AP-Blitzcrank, or if you need more Magic Penetration.

Thornmail Great as any Blitzcrank if they have a lot of AD.

Quicksilver Sash If you get permanently CC'ed this might be a lifesaver.

Guardian Angel If you have problems getting focussed an overall great item for any
champion.

Warmog's Armor If they are very balanced you might want to buy this since it delivers an extreme ammount of health and healthregeneration.

Some Tips on using your Skills

Rocket Grab

The perfect Initiationspell. If you are using Rocket Grab you have to be sure that you hit the enemy. A missed Rocket Grab mostly means a missed kill. In a team fight you wanna try to pull out their Carry and Caster first. Also use this skill to maybhttp://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/edit-build?edit=148481#e save a team mate from dying to a melee champ.


Overdrive

This is your only spell, which gives you some escape-mechanism.
You can simply spam this skill lategame, there is nothing you really need to know about this. Just make sure you don't use it earlygame unless you are going for a kill, since it consumes a lot of Mana.


Power Fist

Always look if you can knock up a channeling champion, because this will interrupt their channel and prevent damage for your team. Like with Rocket Grab try to focus their Carry/Caster.


Static Field

If you chase down a single enemy never use the active, unless it will kill it. Otherwise you just loose too much damage, that could have been done. In a team fight, try to use on many enemys as possible. Don't be afraid to use it for farming/pushing a minion wave. The cooldown is extremely low.


Mana Barrier NEVER forget this skill. There are many people out there, who simply forget his shield, which will often kill them. This skill will grant you many kills aswell as saving your butt often enough.

Summary

After all i gotta say Blitzcrank is an amazing champion, which is pretty unique and has many different playstyles. He fits into almost every team composition and supports his team quiet well due to Rocket Grab. Also he is hella fun to play, so you may give him a try now after you read my guide ;) Also he got buffed with the new Season 2 Mastery's IMO.

Thanks for reading this guide and I hope you enjoyed it (at least a little bit).