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Gangplank Build Guide by

I Won't Rest Till I See Ye Hangin' From The Yardarm!

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50 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Sevinho

Gangplank Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (50) More Gangplank Guides

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Items

Name

Ability Order

Gangplank Passive Ability

Introduction

Hello everyone! This is my first guide so don't massacre me right away! I haven't been playing League of Legends for very long at all actually but from the moment that I started I knew I wanted to better myself in the game and I think that I've done that well in the past month or so. I've watched countless videos and read text after text in various Gangplank guides and I finally built something I am comfortable with using and is effective for my playing style. In this guide I will not tell you how to play Gangplank, but rather suggest an alternative playing style. A lot of people seem to think that Gangplank is a weak champion when taking a glance at his stats. Well, I'm here to tell you that those stats hardly mean anything. He's one of the most powerful champions in the game, and if played correctly, your opponents will rage all game long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this guide and more importantly enjoy playing with Gangplank!

The Saltwater Scourge

Gangplank was born the son of the dread pirate captain Vincent the Shadow - one of the most wealthy and feared pirates in all of Blue Flame Island. One might think this would have spoiled the boy with a cushioned life of privilege, but the truth is quite the opposite. Growing up in the city of Bilgewater isn't easy; pirates are not known for their compassion, and that most certainly extends to their families. Vincent wanted his son to grow up tough and strong, so he was extremely hard on the young Gangplank. Even as a child, Gangplank was as mean as a snake and is said to have slept with his eyes open. As he grew, the young man rapidly became the most ruthless and feared pirate in all of Bilgewater, and his daddy was never more proud than on the day of his son's eighteenth birthday - when Gangplank stabbed his old man in the back and claimed the famed pirate ship, the Dead Pool, for his own.

The continent of Valoran, however, is a dangerous place for pirates; Gangplank could read the writing on the wall. The den of pirates known as Bilgewater would soon be pulled down by the undertow of Valoranian politics and the Institute of War. It was time for Bilgewater to have their own champion to represent them in the League of Legends, and who better than the fiercest pirate of them all? It is said that Gangplank has enough power and favor to claim the title of the Pirate King back home, but that he is simply biding his time and building his reputation as a champion before he returns to a life of piracy.

Yo ho, blow the man down. Or at least shoot him when his back is turned and steal all his booty.

Pro's & Con's

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Pro's

+ High Damage Output
+ Great Harasser
+ Great Farmer
+ AoE Global Ultimate
+ Natural Crowd Control Remover
+ Natural Temporary Stat Boost
+ Natural DOT Passive

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Con's

- No Natural Escape
- Squishy Early Game
- Low Mana Pool
- High Mana Cost
- Usually Focused
- Farm Dependent
- Expensive Build

Skill Sequences & Ability Overview

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

> > >

Gangplank's basic attacks apply a poison debuff for 3 seconds that can stack up to 3 times. Each stack deals 3 + (1 × level) magic damage per second and slows the target by 7%. This includes Parrrley.

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a surprise kill due to this amazing passive. All you have to do is land a few slashes of your basic or Parrrley, and if your target runs toward their nearest turret with a low amount of health, you can count on them dying.

Gangplank shoots a target enemy with his pistol, dealing physical damage. If it kills it, he gains extra gold. This ability can critically strike and applies on-hit effects, including his passive.

Doesn't need much of an explanation. Use this to last hit early game for that extra gold but don't abuse it because you don't have a large mana pool. This also does insane amounts of damage early, mid and late game. Max this skill first.

Gangplank instantly removes all crowd control effects on him, as well as healing himself.

Another great skill. Only use when needed. I've escaped so many 1vTeam's because of the CC remover and it can even give you a nice bit of health too. If used incorrectly or at the wrong time you can easily be killed. This is maxed last because I feel like only 1 point will suffice.

Passive: Gangplank's attack damage and movement speed are increased permanently.

Active: Gangplank fires into the air, disabling his passive boost but inspiring himself to gain additional attack damage and movement speed, with nearby allied champions receiving half that amount, for 7 seconds.

Good for all sorts of things. Taking down Baron, destroying a turret, team fights, 1v1's and Jungling. This is maxed second.

Gangplank signals his ship to fire cannonballs upon target area for 7 seconds. 25 cannonballs will drop over the duration and each will deal magic damage to all enemies hit. Enemies in the area of this ability are slowed by 25% for 1.25 seconds, with the duration refreshing if one stays in the area.

Can turn a team fight into an ace within seconds. It's great for sustaining your lane too if you're elsewhere and your turret is being taken. Just drop it on the turret and watch them flee. It's global so you can put it anywhere, but time it right and it will wreak havoc. This should be leveled at every opportunity given.

Summoner Spells

I know it could be difficult choosing the right spells before a match if you're new to the Champion and there really is no wrong combination of spells, technically. But there are smart ones.

Suggested

Flash: A must have spell. This should be your primary. Can help you offensively and defensively.
Exhaust: Great way to slow down opponents and get the kill. Gives them a nice de-buff too.
Ignite: This is a very powerful spell because it deals DoT that can get you easy kills in the laning phase. It also dishes out loads of damage at level 18.
Teleport: A good way to get back into your lane quickly and prevent your turret from being destroyed or even help another lane out if needed.
Smite: As you know, this should only be used to jungle.

Don't Bother

Others suggest this, I don't. GP is fast enough.
No. Never.
I've seen people suggest this too, but I feel like it's a waste.
I can see how it can be useful, but it's not viable.
A huge waste of a spell.
Scurvy. Remove it.
Again, I can see the usefulness but I don't think it's viable.
No. Just no.
Wards and Wriggle's.

Mastery Trees

Now there are many ways you can set your Mastery Trees up. I personally only use the one on the cheat sheet but you can always make your own depending on play style.

My Preferred Setup

Offense

Summoner's Wrath beefs up your Exhaust and reduces the target's MR and Armor by 10.
Brute Force gives you an additional 3 Attack Damage.
Alacrity boosts your Attack speed by 4%.
Deadliness increases your Attack Damage per level by .05.
Weapon Expertise adds 10% Armor Penetration.
Lethality adds 10% Critical damage.
Vampirism gives 3% Life Steal
Sunder gives you an extra +6 Armor Penetration
Executioner increases the damage you deal by 6% to targets below 40% Health.

Defense

Resistance gives you 2 extra MR.
Hardiness gives you 6 extra Armor.
Durability gives you 6 extra Health per level. (+108 Health at level 18)
Veteran's Scars gives you an additional 30 Health.

Alternative Routes

Alternatively, you can put 2 in and another 2 in and fill in the usual to optimize more Magic Resistance. It's personal preference.

Another route you can go is the set-up. Like above, do everything normally but this time stick 1 in , 3 in and your last point in . This is ideal for Q spam and lane control.

Rune Selection

Runes

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Greater Mark of Desolation I prefer Armor Penetration because I like to ignore early game armor. They're more useful than AD Reds later game.
Greater Mark of Attack Damage Viable, but I feel like Armor Penetration is more important especially for late game dominance. But these are great for last hitting.

Runes

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Greater Seal of Armor I love these Runes because you can control a lane and have more survivability from the start.
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration Viable. Great for spamming .
Greater Seal of Replenishment Same as above.

Runes

Sorcery

Phase Rush

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist Since the recent nerf in the flat MR Glyphs, these are probably the best set of Glyphs you can use.
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction I've personally used these for a couple games and you can't notice a huge difference unless you build CDR items in-game.

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage Extra AD, great for last hitting.
Greater Quintessence of Desolation For even more true damage early game. I feel like these are the best choice for late game control.
Greater Quintessence of Armor Early Game beefiness.
Greater Quintessence of Health Laning phase survivability.

Item Purchasing & Building

Starting Items

Cloth Armor & HP5

Start with these if your lane is going to be tough. It gives great sustain from the get-go. Works well when laning against other bruisers.

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Boots of Speed & HP4

Start with these if your up against a fairly easy lane. Gives you enough mobility to chase, escape and dodge. Remember to wait near the fountain for the 4th potion.

Boots

Mercury's Treads

Great boots for that boost in MR if you're against multiple casters. Also gives +35 Tenacity which reduces the time you're effected by CC.

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Ninja Tabi

You can pick these up if you need the early sustainability and bonus late game armor. They also give 10% reduced damage by non-turret basic attacks.

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Ionian Boots of Lucidity

I don't really recommend these unless the opposition doesn't have much CC although they are very viable and have great CDR.

Core Items

Double Doran's Blades

This is a great way to spend your coins on the first back. These are perfect for snowballing your lane and getting that extra AD, Health and Life Steal. I don't recommend buying this and Wriggle's, just one or the other.

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Wriggle's Lantern

As I mentioned earlier, just buy this or the double Doran's. You can keep this item all game to make it part of your full build and still shred. It has major sustain and control. It's also got a free ward.

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Warmog's Armor

This will almost instantly remove any squishiness you yield. Gives you great survivability and makes you a pain to kill. Passive combined, you gain a whopping 1,270 health. Again, I recommend either this or Frozen Mallet, not both.

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Frozen Mallet

Like Warmog's, this will de-label you as a squishy. Instead of flat health and health regeneration, it gives you 700 Health and 20 Attack Damage. As if that wasn't enough you even get a built in slow. This is a great alternative to Warmog's, but like Wriggle's, only buy one of the other.

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Atma's Impaler

Combined with your Warmog's or Frozen Mallet, it is an absolutely deadly combination. Although they nerfed it via the Hecarim Patch it's still viable and worth the coins. Critical chance, armor and AD? Pretty powerful. At 3,000 Health you get 45 AD and at 3,500 you get 52 AD.

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Infinity Edge

Gangplank's best friend. His Q procs, so combined with an IE he is a killing machine. Not much to explain here, you just know that once he gets it they're screwed.

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Trinity Force

Gangplank's second best friend. Every single stat boost on this items applies to GP. He greatly benefits from buying a TriForce. But do not buy both IE and TF, just one. Again, not much to explain here.

Final Item

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Phantom Dancer

This is a perfect item to finish up the game with. Movement Speed, Attack Speed and Critical Chance. Makes you even more lethal than before.

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Situational Items

Banshee's Veil

This is an amazing item if you're playing against an AP heavy team. You can shut down those pesky Casters and AP Carry's instantly.

Hexdrinker

Good early game item to counter casters and get bonus AD. If you take magic damage leaving you 30% health or lower you absorb 250 magic damage for 5 seconds.

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The Bloodthirster

Massive amounts of AD. Can be picked up mid game if you think you don't need as much sustain.

Last Whisper

Awesome ArP bonus with extra AD. Be cautious though, these will render your runes useless if you take ArP Reds & ArP Quints. I only suggest this if you're stacking AD runes.

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Philosopher's Stone
Philosopher's Stone

Good early game item as well if you feel like you're mana deprived. As a bonus you get 5 Gold every 10 seconds.

Heart of Gold

Pick it up early for extra sustain. This also has 5 Gold every 10 seconds.

Top Lane Match-ups

There are more match-ups but these are the most common. If you think I should add another champion please let me know.

STRONG = HARD
WEAK = EASY
NEUTRAL = MEDIUM

STRONG

He's a bit powerful and can poke you with his Q. His passive will block your Parrrley so you can't harass him too much. Just make sure to hit him before his shield is up and shut down his farm if possible. When laning against him just be careful and don't let him close the gap on you with his W.

STRONG

Damn near unkillable and one of the hardest match-ups. He will almost always beat you from the get-go so farm as much as you can against him to shut him down. Play safe until one of your teammates gank him. But even then he'll be hard to kill if he's built Wriggle's. Push him back to his tower and dive him with a couple of your mates as you ult him.

WEAK

Often you win early but his W can be deadly if you let him farm his Q too much. Like most champions, shut him down early before he's able to spam his W on you. Easy to kill for the most part.

STRONG

She's pretty hard to kill almost all game so build tanky early on so you're harder to kill as well. Dodge as much as you can and set up a gank early to shut down her farm and make her useless later. The longer she's out of lane the better.

WEAK

It almost takes no effort to kill him because he's that easy to counter. Start out with Cloth Armor to take him out or else he'll push you too far. Build a Wriggle's and this lane should be super simple. Just be careful if you 1v1 him when he has his ult because if you're low and he pops his R he's invincible for 5 seconds.

NEUTRAL

You can beat him early but pay attention to what spells he's using. If he has Ignite then he's planning on owning your life when he gets his ult. Keep him down and deny his farm if you can. Sustain as much as possible.

WEAK

Pretty easy to beat. Buy Tabi's and Wriggle's and Q him until he's ripe enough to kill. That's it.

WEAK

Another easy champion to dominate early. Just be careful of his ult and don't ever Q his clone. The clone gets annoying but it's easy to tell which is which. Early shut down.

WEAK

Not many WW's lane, they jungle. But if you do come across a laning one then you're in luck. He's easy to kill even when he has his ult up. You can W his ult and Q him to death.

STRONG

Easy to kill until he gets to level 4. Build MR against him and dodge his E if you can because it does loads of damage. Try to kill him when his abilities are on CD or if your jungler helps you gank. Don't Q when he has his W up, it'll be a waste.

WEAK

She's pretty easy to lane against. As usual try and shut down farm and harass here if you can. I find her W and E to be quite annoying so shut her down early.

NEUTRAL

You beat him early but do not let him farm or get fed because he will be a pain in the neck to the entire team. Shut down early.

STRONG

She tends to outpush you often and her spear shreds all your health. Dodge it as much as possible. Your ult is useless on her because hers counters yours and she will almost always beat you 1v1. Sustain a lot.

NEUTRAL

He's pretty powerful but can be countered. A well played Renekton will out-lane you no matter what. He falls of later in the game but survive as much as you can early on and kill him when given the chance. Shutting down is the key to most hard champions. His ult also shreds.

Camouflage
STRONG

I hate this champion with a passion. Don't let his size fool you. His passive makes him stealth and he'll just wait for a gank when you've pushed too far and own you easy. Buy wards to counter that. Either AP or AD his stupid poison does so much DoT that it's almost unfair. Kill this noob early and laugh later.

NEUTRAL

He's annoying but you can just AFK farm him easily and make it a sustain lane. Ward bushes and be weary. He's not that strong.

NEUTRAL

He's not hard either just don't underestimate him too much. his kncok-ups can and will be your fate. Other than that he can be killed no problem. CHYAFLABYAGYAFYAh!

NEUTRAL

He's a mix of easy and hard. Dodge his Q and watch out for his E because it deals true damage. He builds loads of ArP so be weary of him. Take him out early for a simple shut down.

Proof of Purchase

I know how much people like to see builds actually being used, so here are a few games I played with this build. Ranked matches coming soon.

Terminology

Ace: When the entire enemy team is dead.
AoE: Area of Effect
AP: Ability Power
AD: Attack Damage
AFK: Away From Keyboard
ArP: Armor Penetration
AS: Attack Speed
Atmog's: Atma's Impaler and Warmog's Armor Combo
B: Back or Recalling
Baron: The strongest neural monster in Summoner's Rift. Red Skull on the map. Gives a powerful buff to the whole team when killed.
BD / Backdoor: Pushing up without creeps.
BG: Bad Game
Bush: Large grassy areas which keeps you hidden.
Buff: Temporary increase to stats. (Golem, Lizard and Baron)
Care: To be careful of your surroundings.
Carry: A player who wins late game fights and leads the team to victory.
CC: Crowd Control
CD: Cooldown
CDR: Cooldown Reduction
Creeps: Minions
CS: Creep Score
DC: Disconnected
DOT: Damage Over Time
DPS: Damage Per Second
Drag / Dragon: The second most powerful neural monster. Does not give a buff but it rewards the team with hefty XP and Gold.
Farm / Farming: To kill a lot of creeps.
Feed / Feeding: When one player continuously gets killed by enemy champions.
Focus: To concentrate on one enemy champion during team fights.
Fratma's: Frozen Mallet and Atma's Impaler Combo
Gank: To flank a lane and discretely kill an enemy.
GG: Good Game
GJ: Good Job
GLHF: Good Luck, Have Fun
Harass: To burst the enemy with non-lethal damage forcing them to heal.
Jungle: The mass of trees and paths that exist between the lanes.
Jungling: To attack neutral creeps, allowing for 2 solo lanes and better ganking.
Kite: To draw a hero away from a comfort zone and set up an ambush.
KS: Kill Steal
Lane: The road that contains towers and leads to and from the bases.
Last Hit: To get the killing blow.
MIA: Missing In Action
MPen: Magic Penetration
MR: Magic Resist
MS: Movement Speed
NJ: Nice Job
OOM: Out of Mana
OP: Overpowered
River / Riv: The river which cuts across the playing field
Snowball / Snowballing: Using an item that can potentially feed you.
Stun: A debuff which prevents any action by a champion.
Top / Mid / Bot: Top, Middle and Bottom. Lanes in LoL.
Ult: In reference to your Ultimate ability, your 'R' key.

Closing

Well that's all! I really hope that you've enjoyed reading it and that you are successful if you choose to follow the guide. As I said in the introduction, this is my first so please go easy on me :) I will update this guide as I continue to learn and come across things that maybe I've missed. I will gladly answer any questions you have and I will also take constructive criticism. A vote and a comment would greatly be appreciated. Thank you so much! Enjoy your visit to the depths of the sea, landlubber!

Gangplank's Unofficial Theme Song