MALPHITE,THE SHARD OF THE MONOLITH

INTRODUCTION

First,I would like to start by saying that I have about 600 games played with Malphite (Ranked and Normals).I have built him everything from AD to AP to full PD/Zeal builds (Surprisingly fun).I am not saying that this is the best way to build Malphite.He can build him Tanky AP,Tanky AD,AD,and Tank.This is just one of the ways I build him.However,it is my favorite way of building him,just for the feeling of pure invulnerability.


Moving on,this will be a very Tanky build ,with some damage thrown in every once in a while.I would like to stress that Malphite is meant to be played as a counter pick,but can generally be played against most teams without any problems.However,if you pick him against a team of 4-5 mages,you are doing something terribly wrong,and should buy Galio.

Runes

For runes,I use Flat Armor Seals,MR/lvl Glyphs,Magic Penetration Marks,and Magic Penetration Quintessences.

Now,I bet some of you have already scrolled down to the bottom to scream in an angry comment "YOU ALWAYS USE FLAT MR AND SCALING ARMOR,NOOOOOOOOB".Well,I will tell you why I use these.I use Scaling MR because Malph will generally have very little MR late game (Compared to some other tanks).However,his passive provides him with enough Health early game to not die to mages,since you can just use your Slow/Speed up (And ultimate if **** really hits the fan),to get away,as most mages have very little consistent CC early game.So you can afford to not have a lot of MR early game.

Now why do I use flat Armor? For the exact oposite reason. Malphite will generally have absolute tons of armor late game.But early game,hes not in such a good position when engaging the popular carries (Vayne,Ashe,Corki),as they can generally keep up with him and hurt like hell(Corki and Vayned true damage,especially).Ashe doesn't hurt that much,but the fact that she can permaslow you for more than your Q gives puts you in a bad position.

MASTERIES

For Masteries,I use:


Pretty standard (For me) 0/22/8.

SUMMONER SPELLS

For Summoner Spells,I useFlash (SURPRISE!!!!) and Teleport.


Now I am sure that most of you can guess why I use Flash,seeing as everybody,their mother,their cats,and their cats mother uses it.


But some of you will probably wonder why I use Teleport,instead of Exhaust,Ignite,Ghost,and so on.

Its for ganking.Malphite can gank extremely well,but generally has to take the enemy by surprise.So you can pill back from a lane,then immediately teleport to another lane and gank.Also,Malphite doesn't need to go back that often,so it almost always be up when you need to go back.

SKILL DESCRIPTION

Granite Shield:(Innate): Malphite innately produces a shield of rock which absorbs damage up to 10% of his maximum health. The shield will recharge if Malphite has not received damage in the last 10 seconds.

This is a highly underated ability.I have seen it bashed for not providing enough shielding,recharging too slow,ect.The reality of it is that its more of a damage reduction than a shield.If you get hit with a harrass for 200 damage,and have 1000 health,more than 100 of that harrass will go to the ****ter.Its also a stat multiplier.Every time you get a health item,you will get 10% more Health.


Seismic Shard:(Active): Malphite sends a shard of the earth through the ground at his target, dealing magic damage upon impact and stealing their movement speed for 4 seconds.

This is Malphite's main ability.It is a medium ranged Harrass with some godly CC on it.See,the main thing about this ability is that it doesn't just slow someone,it also speeds you up.Now,it slows for 26%.Thats not a particularly good slow.Shaco's Knife slows for 30.MF Make it rain slows for 40%.But the thing is that Malphite's slow is practically doubled,because it also speeds him up for 26%.So its practically a 52% slow.Which is actually extremely good.It doesn't have a particularly good Ratio,but its decent.You never want to use this ability before level 3 to harrass (Fights are fine though)

Brutal Strikes:(Passive): Malphite's autoattacks splash, dealing a percentage of his attack damage to nearby enemies.

Splash Damage: 30 / 38 / 46 / 54 / 62 %

(Active): Increases Malphite's armor and attack damage by a percentage for 6 seconds.

20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 %

Now,heres a simple gem.Lets start with the Passive.Splash Damage on your attacks.This is one of the reasons why you never want to get this ability till level 13.You will naturally push the lane,which is baaaaaad.The other thing is that while this may sound useless,its actually rather useful.Usually your E will stop just short of one shotting minions.The splash damage helps picks them up fast.Its not the best passive,but since the Active is godly,it doesn't have to be.Lets go to the Active,which is simply one of the best tanking skills in the game.This gives you a large percentage more Armor and AD for bit.This is HUGE.40% more armor is just awesome for any tank.If you have 300 Armor,you will get 120 Armor from activating it.Which is about a Thornmail and a Cloth armor.The AD part is not very useful for this particular build,because I don't build any AD.

Ground Slam:(Active): Malphite slams the ground, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies and reducing their attack speed for 4 seconds.

This is a very underrated ability.Lets start with one of the most important things.It scales with ARMOR,instead of AP.This means that not only does it synergize with your W,but it scales the tougher you become.Lets go to the other aspect,which turns this ability from a standard AoE to one of the most powerfull debuffs in the game.If anybody gets hit by this they get a huge Attack Speed decrease for 4 seconds.50% at max rank.50.%.To compare,Nasus Wither takes off 60% at max rank (to one target).So a AoE 50%- to speed is just insanely good.


Unstoppable Force:(Active): Malphite charges to the target location, dealing magic damage to all enemies in the area, knocking them into the air and stunning them for 1.5 seconds. Malphite cannot be interrupted during his charge.

This is THE best initiation skill in the entire game.It has a range of 1000 (In comparison,his Q has a range of 625),so you can get to all the delicious squishies in the back.It has a knockup of 1.5-Wait a minute,only 1.5?

Well,yes,but this is comparable to a stun of 2.3 seconds,because Tenacity doesn't help against knockups (Once you get to about 1350+,pretty much everybody will get some form of Tenacity).So this is actually a very powerful Crowd Control.

SKILL SEQUENCE

I always max my Q first.It has the most upright flat damage and utility out of Malphite's 3 normal skills.Its a pretty good harrass after level 3.I max my E second,for pure damage and because I usually have some armor by the time its maxed out.I max my W last.Remember to get the R whenever possible.

ITEMS

Now for the big part,what makes a build a build,the items!

I start out with a Regrowth Pendant and a Mana potion.The Pendant for the Health Regen and my Passive keeping me in lane till at least level 5.Also,I can build it into a Philo stone.The Mana potion because Malphite at early levels tends to run out of Mana rather quickly

The first real items I get is a Philo stone,which allows me to sustain like crazy,and gives free gold.Then I get boots,I usually get Sorcerer's Shoes for the extra early game burst.After that I start building toward a Frozen Heart,starting with the Chain Mail,then the Mana Crytal,then the 2 Cloth Armor.After the Frozen heart,it really depends.If they are reasonably AP Heavy,I get a Abysmal Scepter.If they are reasonably AD Heavy,I get a Sunfire Cloak.If they are balanced,I get a Sunfire.After that,I get a Raduins,then a Thornmail.I then upgrade my Philo to an Elysia Miracle.


Lets recap:Regrowth Pendant+Mana Potion.Philosopher's Stone.Frozen Heart.Abysmal Scepter/Sunfire.Raduins.Thornmail.Elysia Miracle.

Lets elaborate a bit here.

We get the Frozen heart for the Armor,Mana and Passive.It practically solves your early game Mana problems,while giving you some heavy armor,and slowing down the enemies attack speed further.

We get the Abysmal Scepter for the Magic Resist and Magic Pen/Ap.

We get the Sunfire for the Armor and Health.THe passive is generally useless,but it gets you Assists on anybody,even if you don't hit them.

We get the Raduins for the Active,mostly,but hte stats are ok.

Thornmail for the pure armor and Active.

Elysia's Miracle because we didn't get Merc Treads.


EFFECTIVE USE OF SKILLS/STRATEGY

First,you pretty much always want a due lane.Solo top is ok if you have to (And also mid),but due to your large amount of utility,you excel in a due lane.

Lets start from the very begining.You won't be using any kills till level 3 (Your spells are too mana inefficient),unless you are in a level 1 fight,then you just spam all your abilities anyways.

Once you get to level 3,you want to use your Q to harrass,but don't use it too much (IE Don't use it whenever its up) because you run out of mana pretty fast.Just aim to keep the oponent below a certain health (60-70% works).

Once you get to level 5,feel free to use your Q all you want,but try to keep about 300 mana in reserve for when you hit 6.

When you hit 6,you want to ulti as soon as possible.If you use it,then quickly E and Q your target,thats about 35% of his health gone,and he is unable to attack or run for a bit.Try to get as many oponents in your ultimate.

After that,its pretty hard to give instructions.Just keep spamming your Q and use your R combo whenever its up and you feel like you can kill someone.

In teamfights,you wanna be aiming for the back.Hit the carry/assassins with your R combo,and your team can pick them up easy. As a general rule,the fight wants to start with you ulting.If the enemy starts the fight,make a beeline for the carries.

Also,if **** hits the fan and you need to run,remember than you can use your R as a long range flash.

SUMMARY,MISC,FAQ

Q: When should I pick Malphite?

A: When the enemy team has 2 or more AD,and 2 or less AP.When you need a tank that can initiate like God.If you are missing out on CC.


Q: When should I not pick Malphite?

A: When the enemy team has 3 or more AP.When you already have a tank.When you already have large amounts of CC.


Q: Malphite seems low on every tier list i have seen,does that mean he is bad?

A: No.For 2 reasons.

1:Tier list are meant for top ELO organized teams.Very few tier lists can represent any ELO below 1800 properly,due to the massively varying amounts of skill levels (I can play Lux and Malphite great,but I can't play Amumu or Orianna or Brand for ****)

2:A lower tier doesn't necessarily mean BAD.It cam also mean a very situational hero,or a very skill relliant hero (IE,Lee Sin was bad tier for quite a while.Then people learned how to play him,and the cries of OP rang out across the lands).Malphite tends to be a situational hero that just isn't right for a lot of situations.


Q: Why is Malphite bad vs mages?

A: Hes not.He can hold his own,but the problem is,there are other,better picks against mages.Getting MR on Malphite is a waste,because he doesn't get any benefits from it.Rammus or Galio or Alistar or Amumu are all better picks against mages.

Its not really that hes bad against them,its just that hes outclassed.


Q: Is Malphite hard to play?

A: On a scale of one to 10,3 to play,6.5 to play effectively.


Q: Is Malphite in direct danger of getting nerfed,or getting buffed?

A: At the moment,no,hes not.He is mostly considered a situation hero right above borderline Underpowered.


Q: What skin should I get with him?

A: Obsidian or Coral Reef.Coral reef has nice new particles and a new look.Obsidian really doesn't,but it looks like a much better version of his original skin.

Personally I would pick Obsidian.





Thanks for reading,please leave a rating and comment below,it helps me :).

And gives me a warm,fuzzy feeling.