Vi Build Guide by maybeirrelevant

Introduction

Hello my name is MaybeIrrelevant and this is my Vi guide! I would first like to say that a good portion of this guide is OPTIONAL. This guide is here to give you some ideas on how you want to build Vi. This is not the be-all end-all build for her, it's just the way I play her. If you feel Vi would do much better with Clarity and Heal then try it out. I would also like to say that this is my first guide on mobafire! Any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Pros & Cons

Pros + Insane Gap-Closer. + Passive shield that scales with health. + Crushes champs 1v1 + Great Jungler.

Cons - Mana-Based. - Shut down by CC. - Has 'meh' CC. - Cooldowns can be rough early game.

Runes

M A R K S

Greater Mark of Attack Damage: AD runes to put the hurt down on anyone you fight. Vi's moves scale off of AD so this will also buff up all of your moves.

greater mark of armor penetration : ArPen for, you know, armor. Anyone that builds armor will still be susceptible to your attacks. I suggest mixing a few of these with AD Marks.

M A R K S

S E A L S

Greater Seal of Armor: You usually run into AD champions when going top lane, this will help you negate some of the damage they throw out.

Greater Seal of Scaling Armor: If you find yourself having a hard time dealing with AD champions later in the game you may want to throw some of these on your runepage.

S E A L S

G L Y P H S

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Basic magic resist runes. These will help if an AP champ happens to walk into your lane or bump into while jungling.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: If you happen to have more trouble with AP later in the game you might want to pick up a few of these runes.

G L Y P H S

Q U I N T S

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: A great AD buff. These will give you an even greater boost of AD to tear apart those enemies.

greater quintessence of armor penetration: Makes your kit even stronger. Shread through armor like nobody's business.

Q U I N T S

Masteries

• Summoner's Resolve : Ten bonus gold for every time you use Smite. The more gold the better.
  
• Durability : Health per level. Giving you a stronger shield early on. It is also needed for Veteran's Scars later down the line.
  
• Tough Skin : You take less damage from the jungle creep, which allows you to jungle easier.
  
• Hardiness : More armor to help when ganking or jungling.
  
• Resistance : A little magic resist for when your ganking AP champs early on.
  
• Bladed Armor : Gives you the ability to turn some of the damage jungle creep will do back to em.
  
• Unyielding : Less damage from champions whenever you gank or fight in general.
  
• Veteran's Scars : Extra health for a stronger shield and an easier time jungling.
  
• Block : Less damage from enemies auto attacks. Which helps when ganking.
  
• Juggernaut : The more health the better. This will help with ganks and in jungle.
  
• Legendary Armor : Gives you resistance from all characters so long as they don't buy armorpen or magicpen.
  
• Honor Guard : Everything does less damage from you!
  

• Fury : Since we will be grabing Denting Blows first this will help it proc just a bit faster.
  
• Deadliness : Extra AD per level. It is also needed for Weapon Expertise later down the line.
  
• Weapon Expertise : ArPen to help tear down any enemies that decide to buy armor.
  

Summoner Spells

Smite

Ghost

Smite: If you are jungling any character you should always run Smite. You may say Vi can jungle without Smite just fine. This is true, but Smite can help you clear jungle so much faster and allows you to secure any buff you see fit.

Ghost: Because Vi is not a very mobile champ this is a great spell for her. It will help you gank faster or escape from enemies if things turn south.

Flash: Another great option for any jungler. This can help you close the gap or surprise any unsuspecting enemy you jump in behind. Only reason I do not like using this is because of its long cooldowns. If you use Ghost to gank an enemy you can use it again 90 seconds sooner then you would Flash. It is all personal preference really, so if you like Flash over Ghost then by all means use it.

Any other spells I have not covered I feel should not be used on Vi at all.

Abilities

Blast Shield: This little passive is activated every time you hit an enemy with an ability. Dart to an enemy, get a free shield. Blast the enemies with a Excessive Force, get a free shield. Dunk the enemy into the ground... you guessed it, get a free shield! Now it does have a cooldown so you wont be seeing it every time you hit with an ability but the cooldown is relatively short. Try to start off every fight with a shield to take some hits for you.

Vault Breaker: This amazing move allows Vi to get up close and personal with anyone she sees fit. Deals a solid amount of damage to anyone in her way. This will not collide with minions yet it will still deal damage to them, so feel free to charge any champ using those poor minions as meat shields. This combined with Excessive Force can help you clear waves extremely fast. This also applies a mark of Denting Blows on all enemies you hit.

Denting Blows:An amazing passive to have! On your third hit to a single target this will deal damage based on max life, reduce their armor by 20%, and increase your attack speed! All of that, in a passive is just beastly.

Excessive Force:Gives your next basic attack a burst of power! This will cause your next basic attack to deal damage to who you punch and to those around them, hitting enemies in a cone behind them. Another reason why those minions will not be your enemies meat shield, but your enemies downfall!

Assault and Battery: This is Vi's beastly ultimate. Allows you to barrel through enemy champs and minions to get to that annoying little Teemo standing at the back of his team shooting you with those sissy darts. When you knock those champs out of the way you will also deal 75% damage to them as well! Use this when you see a low health champ trying to run from the mighty Vi, or use this at the start of a teamfight. Nothing messes with a team more then a dead carry and a suckerpunch to the face! Another note, say as you fly through the air at that Teemo, his sappy grin on his face turns to a look of shear horror as you zoom to him. Suddenly you are hit in the face with a Dark Binding. Have no fear! You are immune to any CC as you dunk that Teemo into the ground!

Denting Blows: If you don't think you will be getting a leash then grab this. It will allow you to kill off blue fairly quickly without using any mana.

Excessive Force: If you will be getting a good leash then grab this. It will help you clear out camps very quickly.

Denting Blows: If you didn't grab this for your first ability then grab this. It works beautifully with your Excessive Force.

Excessive Force: If you grabbed Denting Blows first then go for this next. It will help clear out camps very quickly.

Vault Breaker: If you plan on ganking very early then your gonna need this. Other then that I wouldn't grab this.

Vault Breaker: If you have yet to grab this and plan on ganking then grab this. As your main gap-closer your going to need it.

Excessive Force: If you plan on staying in your jungle longer then put a second point into this.

From here on you are going to want to max out your Assault and Battery first. No exceptions.
I tend to max out my Vault Breaker first to reduce its cooldown and increase its damage. Next I max out Excessive Force for its damage capability. Finally I max out Denting Blows. I tend to pick Denting Blows last because you tend to see more armor and health later in the game.



Blast Shield:

• Like many of your other abilities Blast Shield can be seen by your enemies. Once off cooldown a light on your back will start to glow, showing that it is ready.

Vault Breaker:

• Your Vault Breaker allows you to pass through most walls. A good indicator that the wall can be passed through is if the arrow passes completely through the wall.
  
  Here are a few examples.
  
  

  Success

  
  

  Success

  
  

  Fail

• Using this on a minions tends to cause them to line up, making it extremely easy to pick them off with a Excessive Force.
  
• Vault Breaker's knockback can hit multiple enemies so long as they are close enough to each other.

Excessive Force:

• Enemies can see once you have activated Excessive Force, it is best to use this just before hitting any enemy.
  
• If you cannot catch your enemy yet he is fairly close to minions you can use Excessive Force to hit your enemies from a distance.

Items

Boots of Speed 3x Health Potion: If you plan on ganking early on then I suggest you grab this. The movement speed will help you keep up with whichever enemy you decide to gank.

Hunter's Machete 5x Health Potion: Very common jungler items. This will help you clear creep faster and easier. It builds into Spirit of the Ancient Golem and Spirit of the Elder Lizard.

Spirit Stone: If you plan on building Spirit of the Ancient Golem or Spirit of the Elder Lizard then grab this first.

Madred's Razors: If you don't go for Spirit Stone this is another great option. Gives you armor and its passive can help greatly in the jungle.

Phage: A great early game item. Health, damage, and a slow this can help you stick to enemies when ganking.

The Brutalizer: CDR and armor pen work great with Vi. This will also build into The Black Cleaver which we will want down the line.

You are gonna want to buy your upgraded boots fairly early on, you have many choices so take some time in deciding.

Boots of Swiftness: My main choice for boots. Despite her Vault Breaker Vi isn't very mobile. This will help you keep up with most champions and can help you get through jungle faster. A good choice in boots.

Mercury's Treads: If you find your enemy is running heavy AP or CC you might want to buy these boots. Tenacity is a great passive for Vi but if you plan on building another item with tenacity I would suggest choosing different boots.

Ninja Tabi: If you are getting shutdown by AD this is a great item. Armor and 10% chance to dodge enemies basic attacks can help out greatly when you decide to gank.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity: Boots with amazing CDR. Vi and CDR go great together. if you find yourself lacking the CDR you may want to pick up these boots. If you feel you can keep up with enemies and don't have to worry about their damage then these are a great pick.

Frozen Mallet: Upgraded version of Phage. More damage and health to keep you going and a better passive. You won't have to worry about speed once you have this in hand.

The Black Cleaver: The perfect item for Vi! This is an obvious next step from The Brutalizer. With this and Denting Blows you will be tearing through armor!

Spirit of the Ancient Golem: A great item for Vi. It provides armor, health, and regen along with the previous passive. You also get tenacity with this item. Which is great if you didn't buy Mercury's Treads.

Spirit of the Elder Lizard: Provides AD, cooldown, regen, and the previous buffs along with the burn from red buff. A constant red buff allows you to give your ADC red fairly early on.

Enchantment: Alacrity: This is my goto enchantment. It provides flat movement speed, which is great for any situation.

Enchantment: Furor: This is a fairly decent enchantment. I tend not to run this because it only helps when fighting enemies. If you need the little boost of movement speed to get out of a sticky situation you will have to hit somebody to get it.

Enchantment: Homeguard: This is a great enchantment. Once returning you get all of your health and mana back. Plus you are granted an insane boost to movement speed to get you back into the battle as fast as possible. I tend to grab this when there is alot of fighting going on closer to the nexus.

Offensive Items

• The Bloodthirster: A great item for any AD champ. Once fully stacked it provides you with 100 AD and 12% life steal. This can help you tear down enemy carries and still be able to do some damage.
  
• Ravenous Hydra: Another great offensive item, provides AD, health regen, and lifesteal. Its passive allows you to do AoE damage on your basic attacks. Its active is a more effective AoE with a cooldown of 10 seconds.
  
  
• Zephyr: It provides AD, attack speed, CRD, and movement speed. Along with its passive tenacity. If you do not intend to pick up any of the other tenacity items I strongly suggest purchasing this.
  
• Iceborn Gauntlet: This is both an offensive and defensive item. It provides AP, armor, CDR, mana, and a spellblade passive. This item works really well on Vi. Giving her a AoE slow and adding a boost of damage to her Excessive Force.

If your enemies are mainly AD:

• Frozen Heart: Great option for Vi. Gives her Mana, second highest armor in the game, and CDR. The passive is pretty awesome as well. If any AD champs are giving you a hard time defiantly consider this.
  
• Randuin's Omen: Pretty awesome item. Gives you armor and health. Its active is great in teamfights if the enemy tries to run. The more armor and magic resistance the better the slow.
  
• Guardian Angel: Gives you both armor and magic resist, which helps if the enemy team has both AD and AP. Plus the passive is amazing if used correctly. The passive can be a complete waste if you find yourself alone with a few enemies standing nearby.

If your enemies are mainly AP:

• Maw of Malmortius: Gives AD and Magic Resist. Its passives are amazing, giving you an extra boost against low health enemies. Its second passive can save your *** from any AP caster that tries to pick you off. And if your feeling the hurt early from AP champs pick up a Hexdrinker, its the same thing with just less awesomeness.
  
• Mercurial Scimitar: Another great anti-ap item. Gives you awesome AD and magic resist. Its active is amazing. It allows you to rid yourself of any debuffs and gives you +50% movement speed for 1 second. Great for getting out of sticky situations.
  
• Wit's End: Another good buy for magic resistance. It gives you +40 AS and 20 magic resist. With its passive it can give you up to 40 magic resist and boosts all your attacks with bonus magic damage. Only downfall is you have to keep in combat to keep the bonus magic resist. With Denting Blows you shouldn't have a problem keeping it up in a teamfight.
  
• Banshee's Veil: Mana, health, magic resist, and its lovely passive makes it an awesome buy. Its passive blocks one spell and refreshes every 25 seconds (if you have not been in combat with enemy champs). Because of this you may get screwed over if your enemy hits you with a spell as Karthus is channeling his Requiem. That being said this can be a lifesaver when up.

Jungle Routes

Early on Vi can be a mana hog. Which is why I strongly suggest you grab blue buff before anything else. It will help keep you in jungle longer and allow you to use more moves during a gank.

Early Gank Blue Route

Items: Start off with Boots of Speed 3x Health Potions. Aim for an early Phage with Boots of Swiftness.

• 1. Start off at Blue Buff, start off with a potion and get it low enough for a Smite.
  
• 2. Head over to wolves and Vault Breaker through the wall. If aimed correctly this should apply a Denting Blows on most if not all of the wolves.
  
• 3. Check your lanes. If a teammate has been asking for a gank run over to their lane. If not, look to see which lanes can be ganked. Inform your teammates that you are inbound. This not only lets your teammates to set up for the gank but gives them time to let you know if the river has been warded. If everything looks good jump into lane and give your enemy hell.
  
• At this point you should head back. Grab an item and some potions. Head back into your jungle.
  
• 4. Wolves should be up at this point. Head over and clear them out
  
• 5. Run over to wraiths. Use Vault Breaker through the wall and clear out the camp.
  
• 6. Head over to Red buff and get it low enough to Smite.
  
• 7. Check your lanes, if one has been asking for a gank and or looks like it needs a gank warn your teammate again and head on over.

From here you should be able to clear out any jungle pretty efficiently. Gank when asked or if needed.

Blue Route

Items: Start off with Hunter's Machete or Cloth Armor and 5x Health Potions. On your first return grab Boots of Speed and start building a Phage.

• 1. Start off at Blue Buff, start off with a potion and get it low enough for a Smite.
  
• 2. Head over to wolves and Vault Breaker through the wall. If aimed correctly this should apply a Denting Blows on most if not all of the wolves.
  
• 3. Run over to wraiths. Use Vault Breaker through the wall and clear out the camp.
  
• 4. Head over to double golems and clear them out. I would suggest using Vault Breaker through the wall again. Aim for the larger of the two golems.
  
• 5. Smite should be up by now, so head over to red buff and clear it out.
  
• 6. You have a few options here. You can gank a lane if they are requesting it or if its needed. You can head back to base and grab Boots of Speed then gank a lane. Or you can head back and grab a few items and jump back into jungle. It depends on what is currently going on in the lanes.

From here you should be able to clear out any jungle pretty efficiently. Gank when asked or if needed.

These routes are fairly the same but one is more aggressive and the other more passive. Look at the enemy team and yours as well. If they shouldn't have much trouble in lane play more passive.

Conclusion

With that I end my guide. I will be updating this regularly as I experiment with new item combos and jungle routes. If you have any questions or see something out of place please inform me and I will get to it as soon as possible.

I would like to thank jhoijhoi for this guide building guide and for the colored guide breaks. It helped me immensely.

I would also like to thank you for reading this guide! I would love to hear your feedback, just leave a comment or send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Most of all have fun playing Vi!

Change log

12/25/12 (Christmas!)- Released Guide.
12/26/12- Minor revision to Tips & Tricks + Minor revision to Blast Shield.
12/30/12- Added pictures to jungle routes. Added Examples for using Vault Breaker to pass through walls. Updated Iceborn Gauntlet and Anti-AP items. Fixed some minor errors.
1/23/13- Removed Top section, Rework of Jungle Section. Edited Runes, Masteries, and Items.