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Spells:
Teleport
Ghost
Ability Order
Sap Magic (PASSIVE)
Maokai Passive Ability
Introduction
















Per level runes: I don't really like per level runes, especially for defense. I build it off of this logic:
A flat armor seal, tier 3, will get you 1.41 armor from level 1 to level 18. Now, compare this to per level armor seals. One per level seal will give you .15 armor per level. This equates to an equivalent armor value (1.5) at level 18. Which means that in the early game, when the metagame is going to play the biggest role, you're significantly weaker and later in the game you are just as strong. So, in the end, it's just better to take the flat seals so that you get the biggest bonus when you need it most.





Some Other Acceptable Spells:


















Catalyst the Protector- This gives you some extra health and mana during the laning phase and extends your lane survivability by healing you every time you level up. This is a very important item because it not only keeps you in lane longer, but it allows you to branch out into either an off-tank/roamer build by getting a


Boots- This is your first situational item. There are 3 questions to ask: 1) Is the enemy team mostly AD, or AP; and 2) Is the scariest person on their team an AD or an AP based character and 3) How much CC do they have? Depending on the answer to these questions, you will buy either




Your next item- This is where it gets slightly complicated. By now, you should be relatively beefed up against one type of damage, or moderately defended against both types. So, the best thing to do is to remember the first few things. 1)Is there anyone getting fed, 2) Who is doing the most damage, 3) Is there anything I can do to help my team? This opens up several branches for purchases. If you decide that you still need to beef up against AD, buy




Note* For a more off-tank/roamer build, getting items that benefit both offense and defense is a great idea. For instance, against AD, I would suggest







But there's more to skills than just knowing what order to build them. Knowing the most optimum way to use them is also important. So, here's a few ways that I use each skill.
Using this to knock out waves of minions is very effective. By launching a

Another important feature to Arcane Smash is the knock-back. This is often either overlooked, or overused. A knock-back is an interrupt. So, using it at its most effective moment would be to use it on champions that are channeling for an ability, like





Which brings me to that key part of this skill. The slow is very useful for its saving mechanism. Learning angles to intercept enemies slow the incoming enemy; resulting in your teammate getting away.

A very important thing to remember though, is that it ONLY ROOTS, this means that this skill won't interrupt anything; it will however, keep them from moving, which is sometimes just as effective.
This is also a great saving tool, use it well.
However, there is a drawback; the Sapling AI is awful. So, while the range on it is simply too good to not abuse, it costs mana and is not strong enough to single hit minion waves at early levels. So, make sure that when you do use it, it hits the target that you were intending to hit.
The last thing to really note about this skill, is that it has the potential to deal damage twice (once upon impact and once upon exploding). This is a great way to maximize damage potential as well as heavily pick apart enemy squishies from a ways away if you're accurate.
Once again, WATCH YOUR MANA!



That being said, the damage reduction is very useful and I personally use it most often in 1v1 or 2v1 scenarios to help balance the fight and maybe make them back off for long enough so I can get away, because who wants to fight inside a ring of death that just grows stronger the more they hurt me?
It's also an alright finisher. Not very often, there will be that one guy who manages to get away with half a bar of health and your

I also ask that you post any comments (positive or negative) below. I'll keep trying stuff out and keep an eye out for anything new and improved that happens.
In the meantime, please don't downvote the guide because you don't agree with one part of it.
Imo, Mobafire isn't about posting and saying, 'My guide is better than yours', it's about showing other people how to play and exchanging strategy with other players in order to get better.
So, if you do elect to downvote, please comment on the reason why you did so. That way I, and anyone else who looks at this guide, can see your point of view and we can all grow as players.
That being said, I wish you luck on the Rift and I sincerely hope that Gandalf comes out of nowhere and waves his staff, killing everything in front of it, and you end up winning even though no one else was shown to be slain. In other words, GLHF!
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