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Hello guys,

this is Customtm with my third guide here on Mobafire: "Kog'War - Ulties from Hell".

What made me making this guide?

Long time ago a player called Customtm tried his new champion Jarvan IV in a custom game. He decided to troll and build only Bloodthirsters to kill the KI with one Dragon Strike and Cataclysm. It worked pretty well but I got killed several times because I was melee

Some days later I read a guide about AP Kog'Maw, tried it and enjoyed it very much to stay back and melt their health. Just one thing was bad: The AP ratio is 0.3 which is pretty much a joke if you plan stacking AP. His other abilities were too short ranged, spellvamp was horrible to play with and the mana problems in lane where immense due to the farming with Void Ooze

Ok, now what has this to do with this build?

Kog'Maw got one of the strongest ulties in the whole game and the range is just to incredible to describe. However it scales not only with AP but also with AD! So if we mix the Jarvan IV troll build with the AP Kog'Maw technique we get a long range, AD-caster glasscanon with infinite sustain. Sounds good? Let's go for this!

I list not only his skills but their main use with AD, AP and ThisBuild Kog'Maw




Icathian Surprise


Upon dying, Kog'Maw starts a chain reaction in his body which causes him to move faster and detonate after 4 seconds; dealing 100 + (25 x lvl) true damage to surrounding enemies.

Pretty good in your early game as it kills the little bar of health that is left after Fizz towerdived you or to last hit some minions.




Caustic Spittle


Passive: Increases attack speed by 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 %

Active: Kog'Maw launches a corrosive projectile which deals 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+70% of ability power) magic damage and reduces the target's armor and magic resist by 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 for 4 seconds.


AD: Reduce some armor and get an auto attack reset + AS

AP: Single target nuke but the range is so bad that you should be dead if they are that close

TB: Same as for AD but as we aren't auto attacking, it's maxed last





Bio-Arcane Barrage


Kog'Maw's attacks gain 130 / 150 / 170 / 190 / 210 range and deal an additional 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 % (+1% per 100 ability power) of the target's maximum Health as Magic Damage (Max: 100 Damage vs Monsters). Lasts 8 seconds.


AD: OP range and tank melter

AP: Same here but massive percentage damage but not the attack speed nor the range to be good

TB: Easy last hitting and harass without taking damage? We max this first for a good lane





Void Ooze


Kog'Maw launches ooze which deals 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to enemies it passes through.

Additionally, it leaves a trail which slows enemies by 20 / 28 / 36 / 44 / 52 % for 4 seconds.


AD: Good CC and your only escaping tool

AP: Good amount of AOE damage

TB: Only a tool for CC





Living Artillery


Kog'Maw fires artillery from a great distance. After a 0.6 second delay, the artillery falls dealing 80 / 120 / 160 (+30% of ability power) (+0.5 per bonus attack damage) magic damage and reveals targets for 4 seconds. It deals 125% bonus damage (225% total damage) to Champions. Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds costs 40 additional mana (Max 200).


AD: Scouting, finisher and early DPS but barely spammable because of the high mana costs

AP: Your main damage source, fired from safe distance, scales poorly

TB: Also main damage source, scales better

The long list (Pro)

• Very high damage output on incredible long range
• Good sustain due to massive lifesteal
• AAs hurt still thanks to AS from Caustic Spittle and extra damage from Bio-Arcane Barrage
• Void Ooze free to be used as CC and not as damage output
• Even though naturally slow a good amount of movementspeed
• Hybrid damage! Hard to get countered completely
• Manaproblems solved
• No defensive stuff needed, thanks to range and summoner spells
• AP still has a use
• With correct positioning all hos contras can be negated!

The short list (Contra)

• Squishy as hell
• Missing AS for shortrange DPS (which is NOT your job)
• Bloodthirster stacks getting lost (you don't die)
• People won't understand AP Kog'Maw, how would they react when they see this?

Greater Mark of Scaling Attack Damage First of all we want AD. But we don't want to improve our very early game but at the point where we got our ulti and start poking seriously. And that's exactly the point when these runes outscale their flat partners and go even better into late game.

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration Our mana hunger is immense. Can't have enough mana at any point of the game. Just like our marks we will need them most around level 6, so there is no reason to get the flat ones.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power Let's face it: Glyphs with AD suck. To improve our damage still we take these baddies as they scale very good but to be fair you can choose what you like to.

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed Fire ulti -> run -> fire ulti... You need to catch up with your enemies to get as much damage as you can. Also you are slow as **** and ganks will shut you down early

Don't get me wrong: I like the common 21 x x stuff but this is not a common build either:

Offense Tree:

Summoner's Wrath : More speed from Ghost
Brute Force : Moar AD and some easy last hitting
Butcher : Easy last hitting
Sorcery: Cooldown for our Void Ooze but more for the reason to get
Arcane Knowledge : Magic penetration for our R, sweet
Deadliness : AD per level? We want it

Utility Tree:

Summoner's Insight : Less cooldown on flash
Expanded Mind : Mana per level = AD per level and moar ults
Swiftness : See the runes section above
Meditation : Moar mana regeneration = moar ults
Runic Affinity : Longer lasting buffs? We want it
Awareness : You need levels. Full stop. Not only for the reason to hit 6 faster but also because your ulti's range increases drastically with higher levels

So what do we get after all?

• More AD for our ulti
• More magic penetration
• More movementspeed
• More XP
• More mana/regeneration
• Longer blue buffs
• Less cooldowns
  
  That's all we are asking for, as we don't need AS, AP, Crit or any defense!

Ghost



There is one big rule when playing AP or this Kog'Maw: Don't die

This is very simple: You got the range to stay out of every fight, so you should be able to do it quite easly. But: At some point people will try to gank or chase you. And that's when you need Ghost. Highly underrated but annoying as hell when you were new to LoL or smurf. Use this to get away from sticky situations or chase down fleeing targets.

While it is on cooldown we got Swiftness , Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed and Boots of Swiftness to make up for that issue but stay more defensive

Flash



In some very rare situations Ghost will not safe you. This happens when constant CC locks you down or you have to dodge incoming skillshots. With this spell you can jump walls or evade deadly skillshots.

Starting Items:




Together with our masteries and runes a good amount of mana regeneration for our W and E in lane





For early game sustain





Early bought to get rid of all mana problems we would face and to get full stacks as fast as possible





Better last hitting and better harass with W. Sold later when we leave the lane





For netting early game kills. Sold later when we leave the lane





Our endgame boots. There are no better boots for us and those are great to chase and flee





Provides us about 70 AD on level 18 at full stacks. Helps a lot with last hitting and is cheap





Best AD item in the entire game with a good amount of lifesteal. At this point your sustain is endless in lane and your damage output explodes. As said it's the best and we stack as much of them as we can. Exception: Enemies stack MR





Cheap and efficient: We get 50% magic penetration for our ults and melt even tanks. The AP doesn't hurt us either, will add a good amount of damage to our ultis from the AP side.





As stated above we don't die. That's why we need this item to keep our position hidden and destroy the enemies vision. Also helps dealing with assasins that all got some kind of invis abilities such as Twitch, Evelynn, Shaco, Talon, etc. Get this as soon as possible but not before your first bloodthirster

All the other elixirs should be consumed whenever you got too much money and your going to teamfight or got not enough money for additional items



Sight Ward

Never underestimate the power of these things. Always have two of them with you to ward mid lane or the area you will be fighting in. Vision is even more important for high range attacks

Level 1 - 6:

Where is Kog'Maw? AFK

This is your worst phase in the entire game. You are slow and weak but you got a good amount of AD and this helps you with your only job: Farm, farm, farm. ONLY harass the enemy when no minions are low on health nearby AND you are not above the middle. If you pass the middle you are going to die or blow your Ghost and/or Flash. Play superdefensive and dodge every kind of harass to stay in lane until you got gold for boots and your tear.


Level 6 - X

You got your ultimate and your runes kick in. Now you are faster than your opposition, you got two wards covering your *** and you got a range on autoattacks and your ulti that no one in the game (except maybe Xerath) can match. Still farm but annoy the enemy as much as you can while this gives you stacks on your Tear of the Goddess. If you reached Bloodthirster you can even take their harass in exchange for minions. DO NOT LEAVE THE LANE! This stuff only works in your own safety area that you created. As soon as you leave to gank or do dragon you will get stomped, I promise. If you are at drake, poke it from behind but don't show yourself open on the map. Everybody is waiting to kick your butt (most your lane partner). Don't get baited by your own greediness. X is when your lane partner leaves the lane and everybody is grouping for teamfights


Level X - 18

Now your team is either winning or loosing and you group as five. Now you got plenty of mana, one or more Bloodthirster and your Oracle's Elixir. Follow your teammates as last man and keep hidden till the very last moment. If a fight breaks out you spamm Living Artillery on their AD or AP carry. If you get attention or you are fighting in narrow places use the time of 6 seconds while your ulti resets to place your Void Ooze to block chasing enemies or keep yourself safe. Always stay near a wall where you can flash over or open areas where you can outrun them with Ghost. Keep warding open flanks and scout brushes with Living Artillery.

About close combat: If it happens that a enemy comes into close range you do following things:

1. Slow the enemy with Void Ooze
   
2. Activate Bio-Arcane Barrage and auto attack
   
3. Shoot Living Artillery and autoattack in turn to make up for your missing AS
   
4. If they come into close range use Caustic Spittle for armor reduction
   
5. Enemy alive and still going? Pop Ghost and either run or repeat when E is up
   

If you manage to play AP Kog'Maw correctly you will feel no diffrence between this build and the usual way. Except that you can heal up real quick, are really fast and get effective much earlier due to no Rabadon's Deathcap rush or other expensive items.

However if you never played AP Kog'Maw you will get problems that you go into situations you cannot handle. It takes a lot of experience when to fight and when to run and where to be in teamfights.

However if you manage to get the farm you are gonna stomp their team and your lane. I was even vs Fizz having a good time in lane and denied him tons of farm with the Living Artillery, even he could have killed me with one hit. But he never reached me at any point and so this potential is worth nothing. Galio in your lane? Screw him, use autoattacks for lane win. Even if he's thinking your AD Kog'Maw and buys a Thornmail: It doesn't matter, as 3 Bloodthirster can handle this easly.

It was fun to make this guide and I hope you guys enjoyed it :)

If you like this guide you may also check out my

Renekton guide

and

AP/AS Skarner guide