This is a guide for solo or duo side lane tanky ap . He is a strong early game and very powerful midgame asset as he is able to get himself into the middle of teamfights as a tank as well as execute cc and deal significant damage. If the game passes 30-40 minutes and the enemy team is building beefy and/or magic resist it is much more useful to transition into a more tanky build because you wont be dealing significant amounts of damage so you want to focus more on survivability.

I take Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power and Greater Seal of Scaling Ability Power mid game ap because can do amazing damage with his Seismic Shard and Unstoppable Force. I take Greater Mark of Magic Penetration for obvious reasons and Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed in combination with his Seismic Shard to chase people down.

My masteries are 1-25-4 because it makes me beefy early game and is better for transitioning into a late game (almost) full tank if needed. I take Improved Recall and Good Hands in utility for obvious reasons (returning quickly and reducing late game death time) In defense I take mostly resistances and health buffs as well as Siege Commander for pushing. Lastly I take Summoner's Wrath in offense because i usually take Ghost and Ignite.

I start off with a Doran's Ring for the ap and mana regen in the beginning because you need to use a your spells to harass in the laning phase. The extra 100 health also adds to the amount of Granite Shield Malphite generates. Go back when you have enough for a Philosopher's Stone and then try to stay in lane until you have a enough to build an Elesia's Miracle and Ninja Tabi.

Your next goal is to get a Rod of Ages getting a Health Crystal and then a Catalyst the Protector. This is because you should have good enough ap for the moment from your masteries and Doran's Ring and you want the extra health and mana, as well as its passive to restore you while your out on the battlefield.

After you have your RoA get either a Chain Vest or Negatron Cloak depending on the enemy's team composition. After you have one then buy the other (eg if you bought a Negatron Cloak first, chain mail should be your next item and vice versa.) Your next item should also be based off of the enemy team. If they are doing more magic damage build your Negatron Cloak into an Abyssal Mask. If they are doing more physical damage build the chain mail into a Zhonya's Hourglass.

You have a few options for your final item depending on how the game is going. If it is around 20 minutes or early 30 minutes and your team is winning by a lot and the enemy hasn't had a chance to get beefy enough to survive, you can build a rabbadon's deathcap or Rylai's Crystal Scepter. If it is past 30 minutes and there is no definite winner you want to get a more tanky item like warmog's or another resistance item depending on their team composition (this is assuming your team can do enough damage while your tanking.)

When deciding for my 6th item i prefer to get a Force of Nature for the movement speed and health regen (however if the enemy is dealing little magic damage you should not buy one obviously). If the game continues and the enemy team is getting beefy enough that you do too little damage to effectively harass or aid in fights or if you are dying to quickly, consider selling your RoA for a Warmog's Armor or other health item in order to increase your survivability because you ARE a tank after all. Lastly, don't forget to buy potions if you finished your build and maxed out your Warmog's Armor's additional health and regen.

You want to max your Seismic Shard first because it will be your primary source of harassment in the lane as well as mid game. It also steals movement speed so it is vital for chasing down targets or escaping from sticky situations.

Maxing your Ground Slam next allows you to farm effectively all throughout the game as well as dealing additional damage to your combo.

The reason I don't get Brutal Strikes until level 4 is because it isn't useful at the very beginning of the laning phase, however once you hit level 5 (meaning your Seismic Shard is level 3)you should be able to keep the enemies far enough away from you to where you can smack minions and deal enough aoe with your to the point where you can press E and get a lot of farm. Make it a habit of farming minions no matter where you are throughout the game.

The reason I max Brutal Strikes last is because I don't need the additional armor or damage for its active until mid to late game and maxing Ground Slam before it adds more damage to your combo.

It is a must to take Ghost and Ignite. Ghost, when combined with the movement speed steal from Malphite's Seismic Shard, can make you extremely quick and often results in many successful kills or escapes. Exhaust and flash are not really needed for playing Malphite this way (at least not for my play style)especially after their recent nerfs, so taking Ignite can help you deal extra damage or finish an enemy off for early kills.

Don't spam your Seismic Shard early on (meaning pre-level 3) and mana-starve yourself! Only use it when your at full (or almost full mana) to get a bit of harass off and ensure that your mana regen doesn't go to waste.)

Once you get your Seismic Shard to level 2 your it will do a bit more damage but you still want to stay above 3/4 of your mana. Once your Seismic Shard hits level 3 it is way more mana efficient and you can use it more sparingly for harassment; however you still want to stay around 1/3-1/2 of your mana per use.

Try to get a few combos off by using your Seismic Shard, pressing Brutal Strikes as you run up to the enemy, press Ground Slam and auto attack them once or twice. If you are efficiently and correctly harassing the enemy, they should be at low enough health (or near low enough) when you hit level 6 that you can use your ult and do another (Q W E) combo along with Ignite (if necessary) to kill them.

You should probably have your Philosopher's Stone around the time you attempt to pull this off. If you have farmed enough and don't think you can get the kill, get enough gold to get that before you go back. The increased mana and health regen allows you to be a lot more aggressive as well as supplying you with a bit of extra gold per 5.

If you are still in the laning phase when you get your Ninja Tabi and Eleisa's Miracle you will have enough regen to use your spells sparingly and take a bit more damage from harassment.

Don't be afraid to use your Unstoppable Force to get a kill (just be sure you can get it and that you aren't just going to waste your ulti.) You should also feel free to use it to save a teammate in danger or even save yourself by using it to basically Flash out of a situation you know you couldn't escape normally.

Since his Unstoppable Force has a longer range than Flash and you can actually see how far it will take you, it is much better for escaping and initiating and is the reason it is pointless to take Flash on Malphite. Note that using your ult to escape shouldn't be something you do very often. Don't get into bad situations thinking you can just burn your Unstoppable Force to escape. There are many better uses for it and it should only be used as an escape if absolutely necessary.