Let me start by saying this is not the most efficient way to play Malphite! This is the build I used to get me to gold at first a few seasons ago, and it is still hella fun. This build makes him more powerful in the mid game, but not so good late game. I love playing Malphite top like this. Try it out, it is much more fun than just tank Malphite. Enjoy!

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**Updated Video Coming Soon**I made a video guide for this build, if you want to check it out, it is about 10 minutes and outlines this guide. It is for those of you who hate reading. I really hope that you enjoy it and thank you guys for the 2 million views on this guide.
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Sorcery Tree

Arcane Comet is so strong on Malphite, especially for a build that has AP in it. This build already focuses around poking with your Q (maxing it first also) and commit compliments it perfectly. The slow from Seismic Shard makes it very difficult for the enemy to dodge the comet. Manaflow Band gives you much needed sustain in the early game. Malphite is mana hungry, and having a rune that helps to squash that problem is essential. Transcendence is great because it helps to reduce Unstoppable Force cooldown so that you can have it up more option. Once you get this rune active, and finish your Iceborn Gauntlet you will have 30% cdr. Scorch works well with your Q, adds some extra umphh to your poke.

Resolve Tree

Bone Plating is super strong because it immediately reduces the amount of damage you would have taken from the enemy's combo. I get this quite often. Shield Bash is great because it really rewards you for taking advantage of your passive. Since you have bonus stats while you have a shield, whenever it gets popped, just back off and wait for it to come back. It also adds a little bit of damage to your combo if you can utilize that part of it as well.

Personally I would go with this as Malphite every time. The potential for initiating with Flash + Unstoppable Force is ridiculous. You can dive their back lines very easy with flash, and you can very likely blow up their carries with a combo. Also having flash with low mobility champions is essential.

This is what I take most times as Malphite Having the extra kill potential in lane lets you be able to snowball easily. This in combination with your combo can leave them crawling away to die.

This is also a good option to take in lane. This will let you be able to not miss out on farm early game, and be able to have crazy early game ganks/counter ganks with Teleport + Unstoppable Force

> > >

This is your ultimate, always rank this up whenever you can. This is pretty standard for basically every champion. With Malphite as an offtank your ult is really important. It is a ton of damage, and can position you to follow up with your full combo. Always upgrade this when you can!

I max this first because it is a very easy way to poke your opponent in lane. Your Q scales the best out of your three basic abilities with AP and also does the most damage. Upgrading it first makes the most sense because early on you don't really want to be up in other champs faces because you are squishy, and maxing your Q gives you harass and helps you to keep them away from you with the speed it gives you and the slow on them.

Next I would max your E (and in special occasions max this first). This is the next best ability to focus on because it does pretty decent amounts of damage and adds a lot to your combo. Your E is really helpful especially against auto attack melee champions because it slows their attack speed, and is a really close range ability. On some occasions it would be better to max E before Q, like if you are against a Tryndamere or Jax, and you need the attack speed debuff on them.

This one is probably the least useful of your abilities as an AP offtank, but it still has its place. In combination with Iceborn Gauntlet you are able to deal a decent amount of damage with your auto attacks. Usually you will kill the carries in one combo, but if you need to do just a little more damage your W will help. This is also really helpful for farming at times because a little more [damage can be very helpful. Lastly, whenever I get hopped by someone I use this ability because it reduces their damage and makes it so I can trade easier.

Possible Starts

Corrupting Potion

This start is a very sustain heavy start and has been my preferred start for awhile now. If you need to poke a lot, use your abilities to farm, or if you are going to be harassed in lane this would be the way to go. I use this start often and you can bully out most lane opponents and heal their harass at the same time. This should also keep you in lane long enough to get Catalyst of Aeons and possible more. Also the sustain of having Corrupting Potion with Catalyst of Aeons is fricken amazing especially for a champ with no natural sustain.

Doran's Start

+ + Not my favorite start, but it does give you really good early game stats. I have actually accidentally picked this up to start and it went pretty well. The extra AP really helps with harass, extra health is always good, and the mana regen/regen on creep kill is great. Not a bad choice if you want to have some more damage.

Dark Seal Start

+ With this start, you want a little bit of early game damage, but know that you are going back early. You will expend all of your mana, poke them, and scrap early, and then Teleport back into lane with a corrupting potion finished. This gives you a minor advantage, and let's you actual utilize teleport early in the game.

First Back

This item is a MUST for this build. Rod of Ages has the perfect stats for offtank Malphite, and the sustain offered from Catalyst of Aeons is too good to not take advantage of. As Malphite you are very reliant on your abilities and therefore mana, but being a melee champion you are easily harassed. That is why getting Catalyst makes laning so much better. I get this as early as possible because you will be able to stay in lane and out poke and trade most champs. Take advantage of the health and mana you get back when you are brawling. Try to trade when your shield is up because it allows you to get mana back without having to lose any health.

Early Items

Get This Bad Boy

Get Rod of Ages almost all of the time, it works so well with your power spikes, and the stats that it offers for the offtank build are too good to pass up. The sustain, the way it scales with you throughout the game, and it has everything you would want. Get's you tanky, but makes you a tank with a canon, not just shielding.

Get 2nd if VS AD

After Rod of Ages I will pick up this or Liandry's Torment This is completely situational. I build Iceborn Gauntlet against champs like Fiora and Jax This item lets you be able to trade better when they hop you, and kite them more efficiently. I would also build this second if you are against a champion who is building early AD items. This item is extremely strong on Malphite and I get it every game.

Get 2nd if VS tank or AP

or I will build this item second in two different scenarios. The first is if the enemy champion is building magic resist and has healing in their kit like Swain Darius Trundle Nasus etc... The effects from Morellonomicon makes it very effective at dealing with their healing, as well as helping to negate their magic resist. The second scenario is if I am against another AP champ and I want my Seismic Shard to be able to poke them down even more. You could build Liandry's Torment instead in some scenarios, if you are against other tanks with no built in healing Sion Jarvan IV Shen. This item is also a must, it helps your Seismic Shard really hurt the enemy with its passive, but does lack the grievous wounds and magic penetration that Morellonomicon has.

Another Good Early Item

This item is great if you want some more damage, and you went the path of Rod of Ages It adds more damage to your combo with its active, and is relatively cheap. It doesn't offer the penetration that Liandry's Torment does, but it does have more burst and can be a good buy if they don't have much resistances. Please note that the hextech items go on cooldown when one of them is used, so don't build both Hextech Rocketbelt and Everfrost because it will be very inefficient. Also, the passive from Hextech Revolver causes these to go on cooldown as well.

3 good Choices

--> or or Each of these are good choices for offtank Malphite and should be all chosen based on who you are laning against and who is on their team. If they have a team with a lot of hard CC like Sejuani Braum Lissandra Ashe (basically anyone from the freljord) build Mercury's Treads for the tenacity. Also build Mercury's Treads if you are laning against an AP champion with some CC like Kayle or Lulu I like to build Sorcerer's Shoes against champs that are going tanky and building magic resist because the magic pen is very helpful. This is good against champs like Dr. Mundo If I am against a champion that is building early AD it is good to get Ninja Tabi especially if they are an auto attack reliant champion like Jax or Fiora I would recommend two different enchantments, either the furor enchantment so that you can really stick with someone with your Seismic Shard because of the combined speed boosts, or the distortion (especially if you get teleport) because cooldown on your Flash is really helpful for engages, and Teleport really helps you to contribute to team fights.

Rest of your items

lots of AP?

This is a really good item to get if they have multiple AP champions or if they have a fed AP carry. This item is very helpful because you Unstoppable Force into the middle of everyone, and then it lowers their magic resist. Plus getting more tanky stats is great for this build is really good as there are a lot of sources of damage already built into it.

Lots of AD?

This item is strong to get against an ad heavy team. The passive from it helps because you basically just sit in the middle of everyone after you Unstoppable Force in and slap Ground Slam The health and armor give you good tanky stats and this item is pretty cheap.

AD and Need to Chase?

I would recommend getting this if they have a bit of AD, if you need to chase, and want to be tankier. The item overall is great for this build. Since you are already utilizing Auto Attacks with Iceborn Gauntlet having Dead Man's Plate adds a little bit more burst, and a slow if stacked (do note that the slows do not stack). On top of this, it works really well with your Seismic Shard when you are trying to chase or escape because of the bonus speed it gives you over time. Overall a very strong item on Malphite.

Lots of AP and/or poke?

I would get this if they are AP heavy, have lots of poke, or random cc. The passive spell shield helps to keep you from getting caught out (like by Blitzcrank or Thresh, it gives you some tanky stats with the magic resist, and passive shield, while also bringing some damage to the table as well.

Lots of AD and AA reliant?

or These items give a ridiculous amount of armor, and slows down attackers attack speed, and gives you cool down reduction. This item is one you should choose against auto attack reliant champs like Master Yi Tryndamere Jax or basically any adc.

Want to blow up carries and dive back line?

I don't get this item often, but if your team is already pretty tanky, it can be a really fun option. When you have it you can just Unstoppable Force into stupid situations and Zhonya's Hourglass to save yourself. Getting Seeker's Armguard early on when laning against an ad champ is very helpful. Not the best item to get but can be effective.

High AD? Ult in slow everyone

This is almost always a good pick. Unstoppable Force in then use the active on Randuin's Omen and a Seismic Shard and you can slow down their whole team and keep them from retreating. Everything about this item helps you out and helps you to get into the middle of the fight and not die.

AP Heavy? Protect the team (and yourself)!

This item is very helpful if the enemy team has a lot of AP on it. This let's you be able to shield your team (which I like to do just as I hard engage with Unstoppable Force). This aura is very helpful when playing against a lot of AP, and I would recommend this. There is a bit of MR some Armor and also has the handy shield to help the team.

Great in Specific Games/Matchups

Using this is great when you are against a magic enemy that deals a lot of consistent damage from the same spells. Like Kayle Cassiopeia Syndra etc. This will give you good resistances and help you to withstand their barrage of damage. The magic resist is good, but the passive is great to counter them. This will greatly reduce their damage to you and make you much tankier against them. However, only buy it in very specific circumstances where you will heavily benefit from it.

Lots of HP and Diving in

This items is great because you can use it after you ult Unstoppable Force into their whole team and have to wait for your cooldowns because you won't be able to do very much damage anyways.

Early Game

• Poke once you have 2 points in your Seismic Shard
• Stay behind creep wave
• Use Brutal Strikes for easier last hitting
• Try not to let wave reach tower (hard to cs under tower as Malphite)
• Have shield up when you go to farm (against a ranged champ) and poke back with Seismic Shard whenever they try to trade
• Get Catalyst asap, it makes laning much easier with the sustain

Mid Game (post six)

• Complete Rod of Ages
• Poke down with your Seismic Shard and use Ground Slam when they step up to the wave
• Start building either Morellonomicon Liandry's Torment or Iceborn Gauntlet
• Play passive until you have poked them enough to all in
• All in: Unstoppable Force, Ground Slam, Seismic Shard, Brutal Strikes + aa, Ignite if needed
• Roam mid when Unstoppable Force is up and pick up an easy kill/assist

Late Game

• Blow up their carries
• Complete your tanky items
• Initiate teamfights
• When teams are grouped waiting for someone to start the fight, Unstoppable Force their back line, and blow up their squishies
• Peel for your teams carries

Using Unstoppable Force after she throws her Command: Protect on you lets you be able to bring her ball straight into the middle of everyone so she can Command: Shockwave the carries. This combo will delete any squishy champions and will give your team an insane engage.

He can use his Shield of Durand to taunt champions, and then you can just Unstoppable Force them when it runs out. Galio will pull them all in close together so you can get off a good combo. Once again, this is very good chain CC and can delete squishy champions.

Another good combo is combining using Unstoppable Force with her Wild Growth. Right after your ult knocks the enemies up, hers will do the same. It is a crazy strong engage and a lot of CC. Plus it makes you a freakin giant in the middle of their team.

Since Last Breath can only be used on champions that are knocked up it makes Yasuo + Malphite and extremely strong combination. A good Unstoppable Force + Last Breath on a team will destroy their carries and bring melt the teams health. A very strong combination if you ever get the chance.

Playing on a team with her is great for picking off the champions sitting in the back line. Since you already do so much damage with your combo, if you follow up on Vi using her Cease and Desist with your Unstoppable Force you will be able to dive their back line super well.

This combo can work really well because of her ability to cc everyone with Frozen Tomb and Ring of Frost all she has to do is Glacial Path into the middle of the team, use Ring of Frost then Frozen Tomb on herself and you just Unstoppable Force + Ground Slam everyone and you basically melt/cc their team to death.

Basically you just Unstoppable Force their team, and have her Glacial Prison them. They will be stuck in place for so long. If you have Lissandra with this combo it basically keeps the whole team from moving while you slay them all.

What makes you two so good together is that he can dive in and keep some enemies in a small area with his Cataclysm then you can Unstoppable Force them as they are trapped. Having you both target out a couple people and blow them up will let you be able to smash a team very easily. Using Jarvan IV + Malphite + Orianna is an extremely good and strong combo. Try it if you ever get the chance.

This is a great combination because your ultimate sets Vel'Koz up to land his entire combo. Part of the difficulty of playing Vel'Koz is being able to land your E Tectonic Disruption to be able to set up the rest of your abilities. After Malphite uses his Unstoppable Force Vel'Koz can easily knock them back up with his E and Ult Life Form Disintegration Ray across the enemies.

The Good

• Passive Granite Shield makes trading easy
• Has great engage with Unstoppable Force
• Can kite well with Seismic Shard
• Can blow up squishy targets with combo
• Peels well for carries
• High base damages

The Bad

• Slow auto attack animation
• Easily bullied early game
• Mana hungry early game
• Reliant on Unstoppable Force to be really useful in teamfights
• Hard to comeback when you get behind
• Reliant on cooldowns