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Vi Build Guide by NiceTryVi

Jungle The Vi-olator - Vi jungle guide

Jungle The Vi-olator - Vi jungle guide

Updated on November 24, 2020
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League of Legends Build Guide Author NiceTryVi Build Guide By NiceTryVi 17 5 267,240 Views 12 Comments
17 5 267,240 Views 12 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author NiceTryVi Vi Build Guide By NiceTryVi Updated on November 24, 2020
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Runes:

Precision
Press the Attack
Triumph
Legend: Alacrity
Coup de Grace

Resolve
Font of Life
Overgrowth
Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Smite

Smite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction



Hey, NiceTryVi here. Whether you are a veteran player looking for tips and advice to improve your gameplay, or you wanted to pick up Vi as another jungler and need to get started, this guide is for you.

About me: I am a gold player, peaking in Season 6 at Gold II. I am a diehard Vi main with over twelve hundred games on her. I vastly prefer tanky champions over squishies, as I also play Nautilus, Maokai or Braum. I started playing Vi in ranked in June of season 5 in Bronze III while trying to find my role, and have since played Vi almost exclusively. From S5 to S8 combined, I have played about 800 ranked games as Vi, with over a 55% total winrate on her.
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Pros and Cons

Pros
Cons
> Excellent as both a Tankbuster and even assassin
> Excellent catch/pick potential
> Q and Ult are great gapclosers for surprise ganks or followups
> Very scary and effective ganks
> Excellent innate damage and tankiness
> Incredibly weak to invades before lvl 3
> Low mobility makes it impossible to escape if you can't use Q
> Roots make it impossible to do anything as it disables Q and prevents casting Ult
> Invade champions make it difficult to gank, so you will have to farm what you can carefully to get levels back
> Her strength in making picks has the downside of if you enange and the pick doesn't work or there isn't an opportunity for one, you're toast if your team isn't right on your heels.
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Runes

I would recommend this build in general, as it is a good all around build that covers all the bases well.

* Press the Attack is taken simply because the added damage is huge, and makes your ganks much scarier, as well as increasing your backline's threat to the enemy in a teamfight. A carry taking 12% extra damage is quickly dispatched.
* I take Triumph because the free healing on takedown is huge in fights and helpful in ganks as it allows you to stay out longer. Also, who doesn't like a bit of extra gold?
*Legend: Alacrity is a must have on Vi as a huge AS increase, necessary for quick procs of her W.
* I take Coup de Grace because its bonus damage is really nice, plus Cut Down requires you to be too squishy, and Last Stand is too dangerous.

For secondaries, I take the resolve tree.

* Font of Life Is great for both ganking and teamfights, as anyone you hit with your Q or Ult, both AoE knockbacks, will get marked for your teammates to heal off of. If you prefer to be tankier, conditioning is also a choice.
* I take overgrowth because even though a jungler isn't going to be around a ton of lane minions, you are going to have many jungle minions, and the little krugs each count for this as well as the bigger ones they come from. In addition, you will have minions dying during your ganks, and afterwards if you stick around to push the tower.
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Summoner Spells

Flash: Standard summoner spell, necessary in 100% of games to get out of a sticky spot or to extend the range of your q.

Smite: The other required summoner spell. Can't jungle without it.
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Abilities



Blast Sheild: When Vi damages an enemy with an ability, she shields herself for 10% of her maximum health for up to 3 seconds. While the 18 second cooldown seems quite poor at level 1, it scales down to 8 seconds at level 18. It also serves as a very important damage soak for each camp, as you will probably get it to proc in several of the camps for your first clear.


Vault Breaker: This is Vi's main damage and gapcloser ability until lategame, and as such, you max it first. When ganking, it is best to use this instead of your ult as an initial gapcloser to either force the flash or ensure you get the fully charged-up damage. The charging lasts for 1.25 seconds, and will remain fully charged for a further 2.75, before going on cooldown if not used by then. If you fail to cast it, you will not be refunded mana. (However, if it is canceled by hard CC, it goes on a 3 second cooldown and half the mana is refunded.) Therefore, you should start charging it as you are walking into lane, and since it reduces your movespeed by 15%, you must know how far away you need to start charging. Done right, you will do a ton of damage and knock up your opponent for .7 seconds, but done wrong you could not only completely miss your target, but end up in range of something far nastier, like a tower or the undamaged enemy ADC with no way out except flash. It also applies a stack of Vi's W.

Tips and Tricks
  • Her Vault Breaker is quite a versatile ability, as it can be used as an engage and escape, go over walls, and an allied Yasuo can even ult off of it.
  • A downside is the above mentioned charge-up time for range and damage, as well as its champion collision mechanic, which can mess up escapes.
  • A flash->Q can be the difference between a kill or a waste of your time and effort during a gank, as most retreating enemies will not expect it or have time to dodge it, or they will think they have successfully escaped you once out of the range of your Q.
  • As long as you don't override it, Vi will automatically attack after the initial hit. Waiting a split second after contact is made before using your E will instantly proc W, so be sure not to jump the gun on that.

Denting Blows: Q and E makes Vi scary to squishies, but this what makes her scary to tanks. The fact that is is a passive that combines %AS increase, armor shred, and %HP damage lets Vi ruin any tank's day.


Excessive Force: Vi's next basic attack gains bonus range and deals extra physical damage, which also hits all enemies in a cone behind the target. Also an AA reset, this ability is what gives Vi her massive burst. Practice with her will allow you to make perfect resets, making your burst faster and shorter for all that squishy-melting goodness.

Tips and Tricks
  • Vi's AA animation can take quite a while to complete in the early game. Be aware of this so you are not too fast hitting E as you will cancel the AA and start the E animation, wasting time and damage.
  • The cone does the same bonus damage as the AA, so if an enemy is bodyblocking for someone low on hp or there are minions between you and them, go ahead and E the blocker, as the cone may still kill your target.
  • Vi's E cannot be canceled, by her or the enemy.


Assault and Battery: This is it, probably why most people like playing Vi. Used mainly to single out a carry and take them out of the fight for 1.25 seconds and deal some good damage along the way, it also deals 75% of her damage to everyone she comes in contact with. As a bonus, you are completely immune to any and all CC until it ends, so you will only be affected if the CC lasts longer than your run does. There are only 4 ways to not get hit by Vi's ult once she targets an enemy: Complete TP/Recall, go untargetable, kill her before she gets there, or die before she gets there. You can also use it to catch out enemies attempting to escape, or as an (almost) undodgeable lockdown. Very fun and satisfying to use, especially as your enemy will likely waste flash in vain while trying to get away from Vi's nigh-unstoppable advance.

Tips and Tricks
  • Use Cease and Desist to catch people out if your Q wont do it our you need time for your allies to catch up.
  • Enemies will almost always try to flash away from you when ulting. Be careful, as their flash may drag you under tower or closer to a damage dealer that will turn the fight around on you.
  • Beware using this on champions that can go untargetable( Fizz, anyone with a Zhonya's Hourglass) or in a game with a Bard, as you will lose lock and stop moving, and Cease and Desist will go on cooldown.
  • Be very careful about using this against a Sivir or Morgana, as their spell shields will not only nullify its damage and CC, but you will still go into the animation, which you cannot cancel. Also, beware of enemies with Edge of Night as well.
  • You do 75% of the damage to every unit you pass through, so you can use it to kill a low health enemy between you and another target as well.
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Levelling Order

> > >

Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18


Always take Denting Blows level one. Relentless Force is best to take level 2 due to the AS and damage, and Vault Breaker level 3 to have all abilities. Always upgrade Cease and Desist at levels 6, 11, and 16, cause it's your ult.

Since buff starts are best in my opinion, taking W is better because there is only one target, so your AoE damage would be wasted. Also, once you level your E you get both charges instantly, allowing you to make shorter work of the second camp.
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Items

Starting Items



Only items I would recommend buying on Vi to start the game. Hailblade is a batter choice than Emberknife in my opinion because the slow can make more of a difference than the burn when it comes to people trying to escape from you. A Refillable Potion may be worth getting, as full clears are fairly healthy so you don't need as much healing, and can refill it on backs, but you generally do not need this with all the healing available. However, you can make do with two Health Potion, which saves you some gold and while you won't be full hp, you can take the scuttle and gank from there, or just back if there are no opportune ganks. You should buy a Control Ward when you have 75g and an item slot left over, and cover the side of the river that the midlaner isn't. If they are covering neither side it is best to place it on the bottom side early for help with dragon control, or top side late for baron control.


Core Items

[icon= Hailblade size=65] Hailblade: This should always be your first item every game. It gives everything a jungler needs, and the slowing Blue Smite.

Trinity Force: This is such an amazing item on Vi and you will take over the game once you finish this. It provides a large AD boost, health, AS, a Sheen proc, movespeed, and mana, and is a perfectly rounded item for Vi.


Boots

Mercury's Treads: I would recommend getting these 90% of the time. Magic res is great to have, and the tenacity doesn't hurt either. Try to get the base boots between the time you finish your first and second item, and finish them once you are done with the second.

Ninja Tabi: I get these the remaining 10% of the time. Only buy these if you are facing an all or majority AD team, as the tenacity from Merc Treads will be always more valuable than these boots otherwise.


Situational Items

Spirit Visage: Buy this item if you have already bought an Abyssal Mask or Adaptive Helm and are still getting destroyed by mages, but are having no problems from AD champions, unless you have a healer on your team. Then you should get it before, assuming their passives arent more valuable to you.

Randuin's Omen: Buy this item against AD and crit-heavy champions like Yasuo and Vayne, Caitlyn and more. It's resistances are quite good and the health from it is nice as well, but the main thing you're looking at is the crit damage reduction and attack speed slow.

Guardian Angel: Buy this item If you are diving a lot and need that little extra safety net if you can't get out in time, or just want to stick around and do more damage. Also serves as a good distraction in order to win a game-deciding teamfight, especially if the enemy doesn't pay attention to you rezzing in the middle of their backline.

Sterak's Gage: A good end-game item if you don't need more resistances, but do want some extra HP and damage.

Youmuu's Ghostblade: Not as great of an item on Vi as we don't go too heavily for lethality, but its stats are still good and it's still useful for running people down. Also only recommended if you are ahead.

Maw of Malmortius: If you don't need the health from Spirit Visage, Maw gives excellent damage as well as the lifesaving passive shields, lifesteal, and spellvamp. 10% CDR doesn't hurt either. This is one of my favorite items, and build it most games.

Farsight Alteration: You can also consider switching from Stealth Ward to Farsight Alteration, unless you already have 2 of them on the team. As a jungler, you should be very focused on objectives and it's really important to be able to use Farsight Alteration to try to keep track of the enemy, check objectives, or ward key locations. And since they never expire naturally, you can completely ward your entire side of the map permanently with this upgrade as well.
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Early Game

Starting the game out, always go to your bot side. Vi does fine starting both red and blue side, so it does not matter there. Go straight from the buffs to Krug / Gromp , then to Murk Wolf / Raptor . From here you can consider a gank on the midlane if your ally is already being pushed, but otherwise, go across and get the remaining 3 camps. Now here is another choice. If your top laner is having trouble, you can take scuttle for some health back and then gank, or you can back and get your upgraded jungle item. I usually don't gank first clear, as most lanes are still pretty even by then, but there is the occasion where I can get an early first blood on an overzealous enemy.

After my first clear I can start on my Trinity Force, getting a sheen first and a Hearthbound Axe depending on how long I stayed out, if I made a successful gank, and/or killed some Rift Scuttler s or a camp that respawned. Either way, I will generally stay in the jungle and farm until I hit 6, unless a gank is waiting to happen. While getting your Trinity Force is not a necessity to gank, it definitely helps, but Long Sword(s) or Sheen works, especially on squishy midlaners. Once you get your Trinity Force though, ganking should be quite easy and you should try to get a gank in every time a laner is set up for one. If there are no ganks available, just keep clearing and farm up. Keep in mind that just because a gank is not ready for you does not mean that there are no ganks available. A pushing ally is a prime target for an enemy jungler, so make sure you have vision of the river as much as possible, and be ready for a countergank on a pushing lane.

Finally, after I get my boots and Trinity Force along with another legendary such as a Dead Man's Plate or Maw of Malmortius, I am usually around level 12 and it's around 20 minutes. From here, you need to assess the game in terms of how well you and your allies are doing, and which enemies are strong in order to buy the correct situational items.

*Something to look out for after you gank is if your laner is healthy enough to stay. If so, help them clear the lane and get some damage on the enemy turret before leaving. If they are not healthy, clear a wave or so, so that it doesn't crash into your tower before your ally returns.
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Teamfighting

Vi is a not the best teamfighter, but is also no slouch. Due to her versatility she can be useful in many different types of fights, and your style of play should change depending on your allies as well as the enemy. If you have a fed hyper carry and you aren’t particularly far ahead, use your Vault Breaker and ult to peel for them. If peel is covered by a good Braum or Alistar, for example, you can use your Cease and Desist to aim for an enemy carry and knock them out of the fight.

One part of Vi’s kit that really make or breaks the player is their ability to use her engage abilities in fights. A bad Vault Breaker can really screw over you and your team, because you will be dead or out of the fight until you heal up at best. If you ult the carry and your team stays at the frontline, do your best to keep the carries busy. A Vi can melt a carry if that carry has no peel. If a few low health enemies escape and you still have your ult up, you can chase them down with a Q+R to clean up.

Vi is pretty bad against any champion with any form of forced movement or disruption, such as roots or knock-asides, as they will put a charged Vault Breaker on CD and prevent her from using her Q or R, so it’s best to stay behind your front line until you are 100% ready to engage. Once big ultimates and cooldowns are used from the enemy, she can deal massive damage while keeping herself and her team alive and protected. When fighting on Dragon and Baron objectives when your team is defending, use Vault Breaker on these objectives sparingly so you can still fight the enemy when they engage or escape after you take it.
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Solo Queue vs. Team play

Solo
Team
> Gank often, as the enemy will communicate less
> Focus on your own play and play slightly more selfishly
> Use Q and ult to catch out enemies
> Do not be afraid to tax lanes in order to keep your gold and xp up
> Go for quality over quantity, and communicate with your laners to coordinate stronger ganks together. A bad gank in team play gives the enemy jungler power too, not just their laner.
> Play for the team and channel farm into the carry. The carry might be you, depending on the situation.
> Maintain objective control and siege scenarios
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My thoughts on Vi

Vi can easily fit into any team comp, and can do a lot of damage while still retaining tankiness. I believe Vi to be the quintessential bruiser, and one of the best duelists in the game in the hands of someone who knows her well. With her CC, tank stats, and damage, Vi can fill almost any jungle role a team could ask for and still do well. She can be blind picked in complete safety, and in my opinions is a great pick for when you don't want to worry about comp or being countered.
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Thanks and Credits

I would like to thank the folowing people and groups:
*Pluckin Penguin for being a great jungle mentor and for formatting help
*ShadowVisions for his encouragement, inspiring me to make this guide and introducing me to NCSU Prime
*The whole NCSU Prime team who took me in and were willing to work with me and make me a better jungler and player.
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