Warwick Build Guide by JoyousFox

Introduction

Welcome to my first MOBAFIRE Build Guide. This guide is all about fun. I do not pretend to be a professional. I merely am a man who enjoys AP Warwick. Warwick was a champion that I never gave a second glance at when I first started playing League of Legends. I thought "Melee Lifesteal Jungler, yawn." I then fell in love with Fiddlesticks and my obsession with AP Jungling was born. By the time i had even figured out that AP Warwick could be viable enough for me to enjoy, and niche enough for me to enjoy, it became old news. I do not care, though, so here is my Spellvampwick Build.

Summoner Spells

This one is OBVIOUS. Junglers in most cases need Smite. However just an additional note about Smite with this build. Smite will proc your spellvamp. So if you are on the run with 14 HP remaining, smite that minion!


This is my personal preference on AP Warwick. Due to the fact that Hunters Call is much less useful with this build, i prefer to max Blood Scent second, giving you a very fast, Ghost-like effect early on. I really enjoy the split second distance that a Flash+ Infinite Duress combo can achieve, and flash tends to be more reliable in escaping a teamfight IMHO.


Honorable Mention: Ghost

Items

This build is all about Spellvamp, as you may have noticed. With a focus on building Spellvamp early, working midgame on AP, and rounding out teamfight survivability towards the end, you should be in good shape to start consuming the blood of your victims in no time!

Hextech Gunblade Is the most important item in this build for a few reasons. It gives you Spellvamp, AP to scale your Hungering Strike a useful and underrated active that not only has improved range over the Bilgewater Cutlass but scales with your AP and procs the spellvamp it gives you. With lifesteal and AD to improve the efficiency of your ultimate, this item should be a no brainer on any warwick build. Be sure to build this first.




This item is the niche item that allows Spellvamp Warwick to really shine. This combined with the Hextech Gunblade and the Vampirism mastery will give you 43% Spellvamp, turning your Hungering Strike into a stellar heal, and a dangerous 1v1 tool. The cooldown reduction and mana regen is a godsend as well, allowing for more frequent, affordable "Q-ing." Build this one second.



This item shouldn't surprise anyone on an AP Build. This will make your Hungering Strike hurt. A lot. more damage means more health returned in a 1v1, and this build is all about finding champions alone, and tearing them to bits with your large, imposing claws.



This was one of the harder items for me to decide to include in this build, but the more I think on it the more i like it. As AP Warwick, your ult isn't particularly useful for damage, while it shines on pinning down squishy carries, and since attack speed factors much less into the effectiveness of this build, you find yourself basically with only your Q to fight with most of the match. Lich Bane really imroves your damage output after every Hungering Strike, creating better trades for you. This is where that Rabadon's Deathcap really comes in handy, not to mention the lifesteal from Hextech Gunblade.



I've selected Rylai's as the survivability item for this build for a couple of reasons. The AP is good for your damage output, the health keeps you alive, and the slow will be activated by Infinite Duress, Hungering Strike and will proc and stack with the active ability from Hextech Gunblade. However, there are situations where a few other items might be of more use, those being Zeke's herald, Spirit Visage or Zhonya's Hourglass. If your spellvamp and lifesteal is enough to sustain you, or you are just a fan of glass cannon builds in general you can always build Deathfire Grasp for more AP, Cooldown Reduction, and another active ability to proc more spellvamp.



Take these boots to ensure your AP Damage hurts for as much as possible. If you want more speed and are spending a long portion of the game lurking around the jungle for potential targets, Boots of Mobility wouldn't be a bad choice either.

Early Game

Take your Hunter's Machete, 4 Health Potions, a Mana Potion, and head for your blue buff. Have your teammates protect against an invade. Take wolves, get a leash for blue, and head for wraiths as soon as possible. After finishing them, start on red buff and your Smite should come up in time to finish him. Take another point into your q and look for a possible lvl 3 gank, Top or Mid for purple team, Mid or Bottom for blue team. If your team's lanes are pushed, just continue jungling. Your best ganks are achieveable once you get Infinite Duress, so try to jungle as long as possible, ganking only when the enemies are pushed enough to effectively do so.


When you hit level 6, look for a target. Grabbing a sight ward for the enemy red/blue buff is a nice way to catch enemy junglers off guard, or you can find a pushed lane to gank. Turn off your Blood Scent so that enemies are unaware of you. This is very important. You can blow a lot of good ganks this way. Wait for the right opportunity, come in, turn on Blood Scent, pop your ult on your target, and then use your Hungering Strike and Hunters Call simultaneously. If you have your Hextech Gunblade or at least your Bilgewater Cutlass use the active as you chase down your prey for a kill.


As a side note, while ganking if you notice an enemies Flash is up, try to use your Infinite Duress as they flash or right after. If you are lucky you can bring yourself with them through the flash, pinning them where they land, allowing your adc to pull off a stellar kill, Trueshot Barrage perhaps?


In any case, continue to hunt down squishies fleeing fights, or unsuspecting players traversing the jungle until laning phase ends.

Teamfights/Lategame

While AP Warwick suffers slightly in direct confrontations, he is stellar at cleaning up teamfights. Let your tank initiate, while your other carries begin to target squishies. When the enemy team disengages, set your sights on the farthest viable target you can; often your teammates CC will be enough to corral some of the closer ones. You have the capability to get to those most likely to get away, so use it.


However, if it looks like your team is losing and wants to disengage, try to sneak around the fight and assassinate a carry in the backline, if one is low. You are very weak in the front lines of a fight, and if you ult someone head on, you are sure to get focused and killed. By taking your time, using the stealth of the jungle, and finding a squishy that has strayed to far you can often turn the tides of a game.


Always stay mobile. None of your skills are helpful for escaping, (unless you get lucky with Blood Scent) but Hungering Strike can help you sustain as you are being chased by the enemy.


This build excels at offense, like shutting down that nasty Lux who has been emulsifying your poor Karthus , or pinning down that cocky Xin Zhao who has been ruining your teamfights, but has strayed to far into your jungle. Keep away from situations where you do not have a clear advantage. Look for opportunities and take them. Dont wait on the enemy or you will find yourself on the defense, which is a clear weakness of yours without the safety of a tower.


The other major strength of late game with this build is split pushing. Between Spellsword and Lich Bane your AP will do massive damage to towers. The attack speed from Hunters Call allows you to take them out with ease. Try to do so whenever you have good vision and the enemy seems distracted. This is can be a really useful tactic when losing games. The enemy is so bigheaded at trying to pry past your inhibitor tower that they wont notice you until its too late. And even if they do, you alleviate the pressure on your base, allowing your team to regroup.


To conclude, your late game responsibilities include split pushing towers, cleaning up teamfights, thwarting risky carries in the jungle, taking dragon for your team, warding key areas of the jungle for future advantage, and just in general being a scary werewolf. With all of that and a little bit of luck, you should be fine.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read my first guide. I had a fun day and a half writing it, and I hope you have fun playing it. Thanks to MOBAFIRE for its useful website and resources, and to RIOT for making the game in the first place. I hope to be back at it with another guide in no time. My AP Tristana or maybe a guide for Elise, Ziggs or Cassiopeia? Stay tuned! Lates!

JoyousFox