Varus Build Guide by Brandemonium21

Introduction

Hello everyone. This is my first guide on Mobafire and I am making it simply to show an alternative play style to Varus, the arrow of retribution. Varus is the newest AD carry in LOL, but I have found out through some experimenting that he does not need to be played as only an AD carry, but can also make a very threatening hybrid carry. Before you comment and say that Varus cannot be a hybrid take a look at this guide and even give it a shot. Then tell me what you think and if you still don't think he can be played as a hybrid then maybe you are right.

Leave a comment on what you think of the guide and any suggestions you may have!

Pros and Cons

SPACESPACESPACE

Pros +Ranged +High Damage Output +Extremely Fun +Many Viable Builds +Great at Farming +Great at Harassing +Great CC

SPACESPACE

SPACESPACESPACE

Cons -Squishy -Requires Farm -Can't Escape Easily -Can be difficult to Play

Masteries

For masteries I like to use purely offensive masteries. I know that this can make varus even squishier early game, which is the reason for the runes I choose and the reason I like to start with Doran's Blade

Since this guide is how to build Varus as a hybrid I feel like 30 points in offense split between AD and AP provides the best collection of masteries from a damage output.

Runes

• Greater Mark of Desolation Armor Pen is very important on Varus. He deals enough damage early game that the AD marks don't do to much but the armor pen is very important mid to late game.
• Greater Seal of Attack Speed I personally like to do Attack Speed seals because they give a reasonable amount of attack speed at the start of the game and this makes it much easier to outfarm you counter-laner
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist As I mentioned several times, Varus is squishy, and extremely so against mages. I like to go with the MR so that going mid is a perfectly viable option, and so that if you are bot and get ganked by mid you have a higher chance of survival.
• Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage I do like to get AD quints just for that little bit of extra damage again for early game farming and harras.

Summoner Spells

Flash is great for escaping or catching up to an opponent to finish them off. I highly recommend this on any champ.



Ignite in my opinion is required for AD carries. I know a lot of people say AD carries should use heal but I find the true damage of ignite and the 50% of healing to be too powerful to replace. It is great to finish people off or stop the healing on players such as that blasted AP Master Yi



Heal is used on almost every AD carry right now and for obvious reasons. It helps combat their squishyness in fights and can be used to trick your enemy into engaging when you still have a pocket heal



Exhuast is great for shutting down the other AD carry greatly reducing their movement speed and damage output. It can also make it easier to catch up to a running champ for the finishing blow.



Ghost is great escaping the fight or catching up to an escaping enemy to finish them off.



Surge would actually be a great spell for this hybrid varus, but I have never actually tried it. The increased attack speed and ability power would make him even more threatening in a team fight and this could be a very dangerous spell.


Cleanse and Clairvoyanceare not recommended because they are more used on support champs. Smite is only really useful on junglers. Revive in my opinion is useless and has to long of a cool down. promte simply makes your lane push harder, and makes you easier to gank. Clarity is more for casters and you won't be using your mana that much. Teleport is the only one I could see as being someone useful for backdoors and to prevent backdoors.

Abilities

Living Vengeance
This passive makes it so easy to farm as your attack speed increases as you farm. Works great with Guinsoo's Rageblade.



Piercing Arrow
This move is great for harassing. It does not take to much mana and has the largest range in the game I believe. The damage increases the longer you hold the spell as well as the range increasing. It scales off your AD and the most important part of this ability is that it activates your blight and can do massive damage.


Blighted Quiver
This ability is the main reason why I suggest a hybrid Varus. Blughted Quiver stacks off your ability power and is a huge source of damage output. Basically this ability applies a stack of blight on your target. This stack will be detonated if the enemy is hit by any of your other abilities and deals 5% of their maximum health per stack. It stacks up to a maximum of 3 times on each target so it is possible to explode 15% of your targets maximum health plus whatever damage the ability used to detonate blight does. This is huge damage. If you go with this build I have provided you can get up too 3% extra damage when you have all of the Guinsoo's Rageblade stacks. This means that when you detonate blight you can deal up to 24% of a targets maximum health in one shot. I like to max this first


Hail of Arrows
This ability is probably the least useful or Varus's, but is still decent. The slowing provided by it can save you when running away or help you to chase someone down. The area that the attack covers also makes it easy to detonate blight on several opponents at once.


Chain of Corruption
This ult is an absolute fight changer. It will stun the enemy for two seconds rendering them completely useless and then it spreads to nearby champs. But the key here is that it stacks off ability power by 100%. This is where the Hybrid build really comes into play. Your ability power from this build will be near 250 when you have all of the Guinsoo's Rageblade stacks meaning that this well deal an additional 250 damage to every unit that this immobilizes. Imagine using this to detonate 3 stacks of blight and you are doing 24% of the targets maximum health, the 475 damage the ult provides, and immobilizing them for 2 seconds allowing you to completely shred them.

Core Items

: These are the best boots for Varus as they increase your movement speed and attack speed.

: This item is great for a hybrid Varus. It gives you 70 ability power, 40 AD, 15% lifesteal, and 20% spell vamp. Not only this but its active works like a third summoner spell as it is similar to exhaust. I like to build Bilgewater Cutlass first and then finish the rest of the blade after I get Guinsoo's ragebalde.

: This Item is AMAZING for hybrid Varus. It gives a base of 45 ability power and 35 attack damage, but the important part here is the stacks that happen for every basic attack. On each basic attack you gain 6 ability power and 4% attack speed. The item can stack 8 times giving you an excess 48 ability power and 32% attack speed. The attack speed increased mixed with Varus's passive works extremely well. The added ability power along with Hextech Gunblade gives you enough AP to add 2% to Blighted Quiver and the attack damage, lifesteal, and spell vamp from this and Hextech Gunblade provide you with good damage and sustainability.

Other Suggested Items

After getting those core items there are several ways to go.

One thing I recommend is that from here on out you build mostly AD and I would suggest either a The Bloodthirster or and Infinity Edge. here are some options for the rest of your build

You could get a combination of Phantom Dancer, The Bloodthirster, and Infinity Edge for more attack speed, crit strike, attack damage, and lifesteal. I would recommend this if you are very fed or if you are not having a problem staying alive in team fights.

You could also continue the hybrid build with Trinity Force instead of Phantom Dancer. The passive effects on this item work well on Varus and this adds movement speed as well.

If you are getting torn apart in team fight you could get a Frozen Mallet which will not only provide some health but also slow the opponents.

Any of these options would work and to be honest I don't get to try them to often because the other team often surrenders before I can get this far into the build.

Gameplay

As the carry your most important job is to farm. This is extremely easy with Varus through the combination of his passive and Guinsoo's Rageblade. At the start of the game simply last hit minions and while you are waiting for them to get to low health try to harass the enemy AD carry and not allow them to farm.



I would not suggest engaging a lane fight until at least lvl 4 when you have all of your abilities unlocked and that second level in Blighted Quiver. Once you engage I would suggest getting your stacks on their ad carry and detonating it with Hail of Arrows. At this point they will take large amounts of damage and if they try to run not only will they be slowed but the range of Piercing Arrow and either your ignite or flash should help you get your first kill easy.

From there continue to farm while their carry is down and try to get some damage on that turret. Always always always be farming though.

Team Fights

In team fights your job is simple. Stay alive and kill their AD carry or their most fed squishy. If all went well in your lane this should not be the AD carry as you should have set him back all game long. In that case target their AP carry or other casters and take them down from the back. When you feel it is a good time to immobilize them use your Chain of Corruption. A good time would be during one of your other team mates ults if they have an AOE ult like Ryze and other champs.

Just remember if you die but take out one of their carries then you did your job in the fight and try to realize that you will be targeted, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Summary

So this is my guide and I hope you all read it and enjoyed it. If you give it a shot in a game leave me comment and let me know how it went. I am open to suggestions so just let me know. Hope you all have good luck with it!

Brandemonium

Credit

The format from this guide came from jhoijhoi and her guide can be found here.