Gangplank Build Guide by Hitsugaya

Introduction

Gangplank has been through a lot of changes recently. I developed this build after his first change that changed the cooldown of Parrrley, decreased its mana cost, and removed the deny feature of Raise Morale. The further change to his passive did not change the build, just the aggressiveness of gameplay.

Parrrley procs critical hits, thereby making Gangplank a Critical Strike/Critical Damage champion. Most of the damage (and intimidation) comes from this ability. It, combined with his other abilities, are what make Gangplank a unique and fun champion to play.

Pros / Cons

Pros-

• Built in heal and cleanse
• Very good harass
• Lots of mana-regen
• Global Ultimate
• Slow MACHINE

Cons-

• Fairly squishy
• Quickly becomes the focus of the enemy team
• Needs a good lane partner if not mid

Runes

9x Greater mark of desolation- Armor pen is useful on all AD carries and because the build (and GP's usefulness) depends greatly on early game harass, these are a very worthwhile choice.

9x Greater seal of replenishment- Gangplank is very mana dependent, especially early game. This combined with the 2 faiere charms allows for non stop harass of the enemy, and the occasional heal for yourself.

9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction- Every ability of Gangplank's is greatly benefited by some extra CDR. Spamming Parrrley and Cannon Barrage will get you kills, while spamming Remove Scurvy and Raise Morale will help you survive.

3x greater quintessence of desolation- More armor penetration for the reasons stated above.

Other Choices

9x Greater Mark of Critical Damage- Critical strike is nice but can be itemized. Adding significant damage to those critical strikes with simple runes? Solid Choice.

3x Greater Quintessence of Critical Damage- Same as the marks

Masteries

21-0-9

AD Carry setup.

In offense grab Archaic Knowledge to help Cannon Barrage's damage, don't forget to grab Deadliness and Lethality .

In utility, get as much mana regen as possible. Do not get Expanded Mind ; you are not playing Ryze.

Summoner Spells

Flash

Though I mostly use Flash for the offensive aspects such as early kills, this spell can get you out of nasty situations.

Use this to:

• Surprise your enemy
• Catch up to the enemy
• Escape a s#!+ situation
• Jump walls to get away from Enemies

Ignite

I personally like Ignite for the extra damage at the beginning that helps secure first blood. It also comes in very handy against Soraka, Sona, Dr. Mundo, Tryndamere, (etc).

Other Choices

Exhaust, Ghost.

Abilities

Grog Soaked Blade

This is an interesting passive that was until recently considered OP. Basically GP's abilities and auto attacks apply a stacking Damage Over Time and slow. This wont help keep you alive, but it will help you secure extra kills.

Parrrley

Parrrley is much more effective if Smartcasted. Set "Smartcast Spell 1" to "q" in the options menu in game under "keybindings".

Tips:

• Use this to harass often. Half-health enemies are much easier to deal with than full-health.
• Use this to Farm. Parrrley gives extra gold with each kill of minion/monster/champion.
• Before the initiation of a teamfight, use this to take pot-shots at the enemy team.
• Never stop using this ability. Ever.

Remove Scurvy

Cleanse and a heal- I ate some oranges and I'm k. Although sometimes you wont be.

Use this to heal yourself if necessary. I use this in lane early if I don't want to teleport back after my potions. I will also use it later in game in order to stay in the field longer. However, if a teamfight is about to break out you want to make sure its not on CD in order to have the cleanse for the incoming CC.

Raise Morale

I max this skill last but it is a very important skill, especially for teamfights late game. Use this skill to give yourself an added boost in every fight, the added damage and movement speed are critical to ensuring yourself kills.

Cannon Barrage

Cannon Barrage takes some skill to master. Ill point out a few things about it:

• Use this to clear a tower of a minion wave if all 5 of your team is fighting someplace else.
• Throw this on top of a teamfight to turn the tide of battle.
• Use it in the jungle to cut off an escaping enemy or ensure your escape.
• Help your teammates out in a fight while you push another lane.

Skill Sequence

The sequence I use in order of priority:

1. Cannon Barrage
2. Parrrley
3. Remove Scurvy
4. Raise Morale

Pick up a point in Raise Morale by level 4, but after that follow this order.

Items

BUY THE ITEMS AS NECESSARY. Every game is different, be willing to switch it up.

Your final build will be similar to:

OR




The build:

In order to fulfill Gangplanks insatiable need for mana, I start with 2 Faerie Charms. This is instead of the bigger mana regen item Meki Pendant because they build into the Philosopher's stone. I sell the second Faerie Charm to make way for a Sheen later.

Use up the 3 health potions completely before you waste mana on Remove Scurvy.



The Philosopher's Stone seems to be made for Gangplank. A slight boost in mana regen, and very nice health regen for sustainability early. The rest of Gangplank's item build is traditionally very expensive, so the gold/5 is needed to get there quickly.

Once you have this item, you should not have an issue with mana for the rest of the game, so farm and harass away!



The buy order of these two items doesn't matter. Buy whichever you can if you get sent back, but try to buy them both if you can.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity to help with the farming/harass, Avarice Blade for the crit% and gold/5.



Once you have your boots and the engine of the build (the gold/5 items), it is time to beef up the critical chance. Fill the other two open slots with cloaks of agility, to be later built into Infinity Edge and Phantom Dancer.



Sell your second Faerie Charm for a Sheen, as you don't need it anymore. The Sheen's passive is applied to Parrrley and with the added mana and ability power, this is a perfect item for Gangplank. Adding crit strike to the sheen passive creates scary amounts of damage.


The Infinity Edge is really the point where your critical strikes will become a serious threat to the enemy team. Adding 50% more damage to a hit really gets the point across. Without this item, late-game Gangplank is nothing.



Everything this item provides helps a Gangplank build. Critical strike chance, attack speed, and movement speed are all essential to a great late-game.



Again, every part of this item is something GP needs. This item is built on top of the Sheen, and you will really notice the difference Trinity Force makes upon buying it.



I personally like to upgrade my philosopher's stone to a Shurelya's Reverie for the health and CDR, especially when I'm saving gold for the final items. Generally the game is over at this point anyway, and you will be on your way to victory.

I do not upgrade the Avarice Blade into the Youmuu's Ghostblade because at that point, having the survivability of the Frozen Mallet is much more important. You will be the focus of the enemy team, and with good reason.

More Items/Alternate Items

Regrowth Pendant

This is a reasonable starting item in place of the two Faerie Charms. It does provide a good amount of health regen to keep you in lane. Personally though, I prefer the extra mana in order to constantly harass and farm.

Cloak and Dagger

I have found Cloak and Dagger to be a very cost effective item mid game if I need a boost while farming my Infinity Edge. Sell this item for one of the late game items later.

You don't have to upgrade either of the gold/5 items if you don't feel it necessary. Instead of building into them, a good idea is also to build directly into a Frozen Heart or Frozen Mallet.

Also consider turning the other one into an Atma's Impaler, and finish off by trading in your Ionian Boots of Lucidity for a Force of Nature.

The final build should look something like:

With these items, you have the movement speed of a pair of boots without the boots. They also allow you to keep putting pressure throughout the remainder of any game you play.

Strategy Overview

WARDS-use them.

Harass constantly with Parrrley, use Raise Morale at will, get good at using Remove Scurvy, and practice with Cannon Barrage and you will be ok.

Buy Elixir of Agility often. Its 250g for 8% crit strike and ~10 attack speed for 4 min. This makes you significantly stronger than your items alone would suggest.

Again- WARDS. USE THEM.

Tips for Solo-Mid

Your two main priorities when taking solo-mid are farming and staying alive.

Last hit as much as possible with Parrrley for the extra gold, melee last hit if you have to. You need to be outpacing your opponent on the farm to be able to kick their *** at about lvl 9.

Use your Health Potions before wasting mana on Remove Scurvy. Remove Scurvy is 1.5 the mana cost of Parrrley, so every time you use it you hurt your farm slightly.

When you port back (if all has been going well) your opponent may have pushed their way to the tower in your absence. Don't be worried about using your ultimate to push them off of the tower. You will have many other chances to pick off that bastard Teemo with 2 HP from across the map.

The best way to kill your opponent, unless they make a serious mistake, is to whittle their health away with Parrrley. Eventually somebody will come in for a gank or you will feel comfortable Flashing to them, auto-attacking, Parrrleying, and Ignite(ing) them.

You can try to gank lanes, his new passive makes it viable. Throw Cannon Barrage, flash in, and do your best to keep hitting the enemy with everything you've got.

Summary

I will continue to add to/improve this guide, but for now let me know what you think.