Looking at Rumble I was a little perplexed. He had a unique-cost-system, like Renekton, one of my first champs. But he was also a melee mage, like my main, Nunu. Could it be? A combination of two of my favorite champs?

Then I promptly stopped caring. I had just bought Pantheon and wanted to learn him.

A couple weeks later I started showing a friend how to play the game. I decided to play a new champ. I figured that way I wouldn't be over-powered in the game and maybe have some fun out of my element. And Rumble was free that week.

HOLY ****, he's amazing.

A mage with no need for mana or mana regen, has very short cooldowns, can convert AP to autoattack damage, and has decent bulk behind him? Nunu meets Renekton? Greatness incarnate?

And he's voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz, voice of Raz (Psychonauts), Zim (Invader Zim), and Billy (Billy and Mandy)?

This is my take on Rumble. He's a lot of fun, but he takes a lot of getting used to due to his innate ability. People are complaining a lot that he's overpowered... and frankly he can be. He cuts out the need for a couple different stats and spreads his AP to both abilities and attacks. I find that making him a hybrid of AP and AS gets the most out of his skills, so I put this build together in hopes to see what people think.

And much like my Renekton build (shameless plug), this build's name is a reference to Fawful from Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. This one comes from his final fight.

Let me make one thing clear: I don't put any DPS only items on Rumble. I'm not advocating splitting your efforts between AP and AD. Other than your boots, every item on Rumble gives AP. The thing is, AP doesn't just power up Rumble's abilities. Junkyard Titan gives you extra damage on hit while you overheat, but being magic damage, there isn't much reason to stack AD or armor pen items. So you're left with a strange mix of typical mage tendencies and reasons to go into melee.
Overheating gives you six seconds of bonus magic damage that scales with your AP. To take full advantage of this, you need three things: 1. ridiculous amounts of AP, 2. magic penetration to get through any resist your targets build up, and (the hybrid part) 3. attack speed to get more hits in.
Consider the following stats (just made up for simplicity). You have attack speed of 1.00 and 400 AP. Before you consider magic resist (or consider having enough magic pen to get all the bonus damage), you get 6 hits for 250 bonus damage (at level 18) each. That's 1500 damage in Overheat.
Now consider doubling that attack speed (say, by using AP/AS items like Malady and Nashor's Tooth) at the cost of 100 AP (attack speed 2.00, 300 AP). Under the same circumstances, you just added over 1000 damage.
This build's core gives +136% attack speed and 554 AP by level 18 with masteries, runes, full items, max stacks on Rageblade, and Burning Embers active. You can make these numbers even better with Elixirs endgame.
Furthermore, just look at Rumble's abilities. Not only is Junkyard Titan made specifically to make autoattacks benefit from AP, but the rest actually lend to it as well. Flamespitter doesn't stop you from attacking or even using other abilities. Scrap Shield makes you move faster and take less damage, but again does not stop you from doing other things. The Equalizer takes half a second to use, but while it lasts, you're free to attack and use other abilities, so you're not occupied while it's active. This all makes Rumble very, very effective at both harassing enemy champions with autoattacks and killing them off with massive spell damage.

So that's why Hybrid Rumble makes sense. It's a slightly different form of hybrid than other champions, but it's no less effective. You just have to play off his synergies.

Junkyard Titan
Rumble's innate ability is what makes him so unique. The 'Heat' system he uses instead of mana or energy is all about flow. Each ability (other than his ultimate) generates 20 heat. Above 50 (in the 'Danger Zone'), these abilities get more powerful. At 100 (the 'Overheat'), he silences himself for 6 seconds and deals extra magic damage with autoattacks based on his AP. Heat will gradually decrease when you don't use abilities.
This means you have to pay special attention to how much of his abilities you can use. If you spam abilities, then you'll leave yourself open for ganking. If you don't use them at all, you don't take advantage of the Danger Zone or Overheat. Learn how the cooldowns of each ability relate to heat's cooldown.
Overheating is also what makes Rumble a viable hybrid champ; while the bonus damage is magic damage, it's dealt on each autoattack. This makes attack speed and magic penetration extremely valuable to Rumble.

Flamespitter
This is the ability everyone complains about being overpowered. It has a very short cooldown and a very respectable damage output. On top of that, you get to keep moving and attacking as it spreads. This should be the first ability to max out. Spam it when you're low on heat to constantly deal area damage to creep waves and get yourself up to the Danger Zone.

Scrap Shield
This is Rumble's only non-damaging ability. The 2 second damage shield won't do much until mid or late game, but the speed boost makes just enough difference in your chases and escapes to end in your favor. When you do get enough AP built up, you'll be able to soak up multiple turret shots without taking any damage yourself. Max this second for sure. If you're running a tankier build, max it first (though take a point of Flamespitter first), focus on armor, magic resist, and cooldown reduction so you can pop the shield every 4 seconds.

Electro-Harpoon
Rumble's harpoon is a short range slowing skill-shot. If I'm at a good amount of health when I hit 2, I typically grab this so I can last hit minions and deal more damage to enemy champs, but if I'm low on health and can't afford to recall, I'll take the shield first. There's not much reason to max it out early; the damage scaling is underwhelming, the slow scaling is less useful since you can stack both shots' slows, and both get a healthy boost in the Danger Zone. This by no means makes it a bad ability; it can often get you kills your other abilities would fail to snag. The power behind Flamespitter and the survivability in Scrap Shield is just too important to delay.

The Equalizer
Oh man, this ability. Heavy damage, damage over time, slow, and crazy range and area of effect. It stands apart from the other abilities in that it doesn't produce heat when you use it. It also gets shorter cooldowns as you level it.
It works like a skill shot with a ranged starting point which can go outside the initial range. You can use this to damage and slow someone who escapes a team-fight or essentially block off an escape route. If you're left alone to defend a turret, properly lining up the shot will clear out all the minions and keep the pushers in range of turret fire a little longer. By the time you get Rylai's Crystal Scepter, the slow becomes even more devastating. When you enter a team-fight, be sure to gauge where most of the other team is and how they might escape.

Exhaust with Cripple is a staple for nearly every build I play. Lowering your target's damage and speed and dropping their armor and magic resist leads to much easier kills. Think of every time you see someone escape with just a sliver of health; Exhaust would have gotten you that kill.

Ignite is a great early game spell but loses power late game. Early on, the damage is decent, and stopping heals is great. The damage becomes null by mid game, but the heal reduction is nice. With Burning Embers you get bonus AP, which is what gives Ignite an edge over Flash, Teleport, or Ghost. If you don't like the spell, take one of those three instead for mobility. I recommend Teleport the most to be able to get back to your lane or catch an escaping enemy with The Equalizer. Ghost is probably the least helpful since you have your Scrap Shield for a little speed boost.

Marks of Insight are some of the best marks in the game. Given how powerful Rumble's abilities are, magic pen means you'll deal as much damage as possible in both your abilities and Overheat autoattacks.

After much resisting, I have to give up my Seals of Evasion for Seals of Resilience. The dodge just doesn't help all that much, I find, and extra armor early game is vital. Flats outdo per levels on armor until level 10, and at that point it isn't as important. Seals of Evasion work decently well if you have masteries in dodge (and Nimbleness). The first few levels are the weakest for Rumble, though, so taking less damage consistently is better than an occasional missed hit.

Glyphs of Force scale AP, which is obviously the core of a good Rumble. By level 6 they give more AP than flat AP runes, and by level 18 you'll have about 36 AP (with Rabadon's boost). You could go with Warding for magic resist, but the power from AP is probably better.

Quintessence of Insight give even more magic penetration, again helping you deal close to true damage. You could switch these out for Quintessence of Potency for flat AP, starting you out with a nice extra 15AP for an early game boost.


In summary: Insight Quints, Insight Marks, Resilience Seals, and Force Glyphs. Back ups are Potency Quints, Evasion Seals, and Warding Glyphs. Never give up those Insight Marks.

I highly recommend reading this article to see what you want in your runes pages.

Masteries are a straight forward 21/9/0.

Archmage's Savvy, Sorcery, and Archaic Knowledge are typical AP choices. Deadliness, Alacrity, and Sunder are typical DPS choices, with Brute Force being a good alternative to Deadliness. Cripple and Burning Embers boost your spells. All of them funnel into making Junkyard Titan better. Havoc is, of course, the only thing you should pick for your 21st mastery in the Offense tree.

In Defense, grab full Hardiness because you'll be dealing with more physical damage early game when it's most needed. A point of Resistance lets you take Evasion and Nimbleness for a bit more survivability.

If you want to be sturdier, put full points into Defense how you like and use your remaining 9 for Cripple, Archmage's Savvy, Sorcery, and Archaic Knowledge. I don't recommend this for a hybrid. Off-tanky-Rumble is interesting and fun, but this build is meant to be very offensive.

Rumble is an interesting mix. Most important is AP, but magic pen should not be underestimated. Attack damage isn't nearly as important as attack speed to Rumble, since you only have 6 seconds of Overheat to use your bonus damage.

Amplifying Tome starts off with a slight boost to AP and will build into a very useful item. It also allows you to start with a Health Potion if you want.

Grabbing Sorcerer's Shoes as soon as possible is critical. 20 magic pen and better mobility allow you to pick off champions more easily. It also allows Junkyard Titan to deal more damage.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is the most important item to get early game. It lets you simply dominate in laning and team-fights. Rumble needs to be close up to be effective, so proper kiting can cripple him. Rylai's makes Flamespitter into AoE (slight) slow, letting you stall waves of minions or running opponents. Electro-Harpoon becomes significantly more annoying. Most of all, The Equalizer becomes even more of a team-fight beatstick. Damage over time and keeping the other team nearby for finishing moves? Kind of awesome. I'm not clear on the mechanics enough to determine if the magic damage from Junkyard Titan triggers this as well (if you know, please comment below). If it does, it just makes the whole set up even more ridiculous.

Now that you have some AP and a handy slow from Rylai's, Guinsoo's Rageblade starts filling out your potential as a hybrid. As cheap as it is, you get great AP (93 after 8 triggers), decent AD, and healthy AS (32% after 8 triggers). Since it triggers on both abilities and autoattacks, you still get the benefit while silenced from Junkyard Titan, making it very powerful for the hybrid build we're going after.

I've tested both Malady and Abyssal Mask for items that lower enemies' magic resist. While I absolutely love Abyssal and think it's one of the best items in the game, for a hybrid champ that uses AP and autoattacks, Malady provides great AS and is quite a bit cheaper. The magic damage it deals may seem negligible, but realize it takes about 60 AP to convert into that much damage with Junkyard Titan, and this is with ALL autoattacks, not just those epic 6 seconds. In the end, it's really the AS boost and cheap cost that makes Malady viable. Shredding magic resist isn't quite as good as Abyssal's aura, but it's close, and for a hybrid build it is fantastic.

Nashor's Tooth also suits both sides of Rumble. AP fuels, well, everything. It gives another 50% attack speed, making you much more effective in melee. The CDR doesn't do too much for Rumble other than let you spam his ultimate more often, but that definitely helps in the long run. With all three hybrid items, you're up to 132% bonus attack speed, and along with Rylai's you're up to 253 AP. If I spend a very long time out and manage to save up a large amount of gold, I'll buy this before Malady.

Rabadon's Deathcap makes Rumble an absolute beast as with most mages. Flamespitter clears out minions, your shield protects you for much more, and most importantly, overheating pounds out ludicrous amounts of damage. If you want to focus on AP more before going hybrid, grab your Deathcap before moving on to the Rageblade, but realize that this will stall the rest of your build quite a bit.


Other items-
Hextech Gunblade: Gunblade works really well, especially if you put some more tanky items in your build. Since you have to be in the midst of fighting most of the time, healing as you deal damage (of both types) lets you be much more effective. Grabbing Hextech Revolver early on is best, grabbing the rest of the item only after a bit more AS and AP.

Abyssal Mask: While less effective for Junkyard Titan and overall hybrid synergy than Malady, if you want to focus more on Rumble's abilities, Abyssal is the way to go. This is seriously one of the most useful items in the game if you use magic damage as your main combat method, and it will still help get Junkyard's bonus damage through, just not as well.

Madred's Bloodrazor: Similar to Malady, Madred's gives you attack speed and bonus damage on hit along with a little AD and armor. While it doesn't shred MR and is quite a bit more expensive, it does deal more damage against enemy tanky types that stack HP. If you find yourself going up against a farmed Sion, a fed Cho, or a Mundo that's going where he pleases, Bloodrazor is a good option to keep in mind.

Lich Bane: AP and AD on the same champion often leads one to Lich Bane. The reason I don't recommend this in the core build is simple; Junkyard Titan silences you. To get the full benefit of Lich Bane, you need to be able to spam abilities in every couple seconds, but doing so on Rumble silences you. Furthermore, since we're focusing on getting the most effective overheat attacks, Lich Bane doesn't help very much since you can't get the bonus damage if you can't use abilities. It can be useful for making your non-overheat attacks powerful in addition to overheating, but overall I think it breaks up your focus and loses too much power since Rumble silences himself.

Thornmail: If you find yourself up against heavy DPS champs, an early game Thornmail can stunt their leveling quite a bit and keep you in the fray. It's surprisingly cheap for what it does, so it won't disrupt your build by much.

Randuin's Omen: On the other hand, if you're finding yourself in need of armor mid or late game in the team-fight phase, Randuin's might be a better option. The slow effect is particularly handy, and it gives nice health regen and even a little CDR.

Force of Nature: If you need to go up against heavy magic damage from Ryze, Nunu, Annie, etc., nothing helps as much as FoN. The best magic resist in the game, great health regen, and for some reason movement speed all in one item gives Rumble a great amount of survivability.

Quicksilver Sash: If the opposing team chains stuns, slows, and other crowd control and you don't want to spend a spell on Cleanse, QSS essentially does the same thing with a bit less MR than FoN.

Moonflair Spellblade: If you have some trouble with crowd control but still want to power up your abilities, there's a great option through the new tenacity ability in Moonflair. Respectable AP and essentially Mercury Treads built in, Moonflair Spellblade fits the build well if you are dealing with too many snares / stuns / silences but not enough to warrant QSS.

Deathfire Grasp: With so much AP in the build, Deathfire's ability can deal tons of damage. If you're a fan of item abilities, build Kage's Lucky Pick after Boots (or even before) to get full advantage of the gold production. Finish off Deathfire sometime after Rageblade, probably even after Nashor's or Rabadon's to be sure you AP to use it with.

Mejai's Soulstealer: Stacking items and I have a very simple relationship. I have fun and kick ***, and they can suck all they like far away from me. Seriously, I hate these things. Fine, if you get 10 kills (or 2 assists per) then you get a ton of AP and CDR for a cheap item, but here's the thing: to get the full effect of a stacking item, you need to 1. kill a bunch of champs and 2. not die. While we all hope that we can accomplish these things, if we can do so consistently... we probably don't need a stacking item to do so. Grab this if you want to smurf or play against bots, but I don't normally recommend stack items against people of your level. If you like stacking items, grab this early on and best of luck.


This suggested item build only takes 15k in gold, meaning you can finish up and start buying elixirs each trip back to base.

Rumble is amazing. I think I've had more fun with him than nearly any other champion. He's a little tricky to figure out, but he's well worth it. Give him a chance next time he's free.