Warwick Build Guide by GrayF0x

Introduction

Hello, My name is GrayF0x. I have been playing League Of Legends since the game came out (off and on) and also played D.O.T.A previously from about patch 5.84. I am the type of player who hates to sit back and farm all day, just so I can stand in the back trying not to die.

Warwick

Warwick

Pros / Cons

All Champions have Pros / Cons. Your job is to minimize the weakness's and capitalize on the strengths.

SPACE + Great Lane sustain + Fast, Very fast + Hard to stop once ahead in lane + A great Ganker (especially to mid) + Core build can adapt to any enemy team

SPACE

SPACE - Susceptible to Crowd Control - Can run into Mana problems - Weak Gold Farmer - Early game is low in armor - He has a unquenchable thirst for blood (Pro or Con?)

Runes

I have played hundreds of Warwick games. I have been trying to perfect my rune selections to maximize lane Sustainment, and Magic Penetration. The longer you can stay in your lane, the more exp you will have up on other players.
Runes should be focused on early game. The more advantage you have in the early game, will put your enemies behind. They will not be able to farm as much, which will make your team stronger in the long run.

Runes
Greater Quintessence of Precision 2	Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed 1	Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration 5	Greater Seal of Scaling Health 4	Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction 9

Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration

Greater Quintessence of Precision

Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

The increased HP per lvl helps keep you alive, while waiting for the CD on Hungering Strike.

Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction

Cool downs are where it is at for Hungering Strike and Infinite Duress

***If you find you are having problems with mana early, I would suggest replacing 3 Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction for 3 greater glyph of celerity.

Skillz

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

Eternal Thirst

Hungering Strike

Warwick's bread and butter.

So the more Magic Penetration you have, the damage increases as well as the amount healed.

Please don't use for last hitting a creep that only has 20 hp left.

Hunters Call

Warwick

Blood Scent

Who likes chasing down???

Just because you can chase down, it does not mean it is always a good option... Don't leave your squishy carry and team behind.

ULTIMATE

Infinite Duress - A lunge about the ranged of a Flash in which suppresses the target for 1.8 seconds. Warwick damages the target 5 times (in .33 second intervals). During this duration there is a 30% Life Steal bonus.

Infinite Duress is a suppression. Which means that the target is unable to cast, move, attack, or use summoner spells. Cleanse will not remove this effect, however Quicksilver Sash does.

Spell Vamp

I have not found a citation that affirmatively agrees on the effects of Spell Vamp on this skill. My own personal opinions on the matter go as follows.

Spell Vamp does not effect on hit effects such as Wit's End or Sunfire Cape. Spell Vamp only effects castable skills.

So the on hit effects of your Wit's End that effects your Ultimate do not give you life back. However the base damage that scale off of your attack damage do.

Here is an example of the damage being dealt:

5 strikes for 50 damage + a 0.4 per bonus attack damage (ultimate level scalable) as Magic Damage

Spell Vamp effects

5 strikes of the Wit's End dealing 40 Magic Damage per hit.

No Spell Vamp

5 strikes Basic Attacks - Based of your Attack Damage

Life Steal effects

Masteries: Utility vs Offense

Utility Tree SPACE + 10% CD redux = more harras'ing + Ignite CD - 153 sec + Flash CD - 213 sec + Increased Exp - Zero Armor Penetration - Less damage late game

SPACE

Offense Tree SPACE - Only 4% CD Redux - Ignite CD - 180 sec - Flash CD - 250 sec + Hybrid penetration - AD & Magic + 3% Life Steal + 4% Attack Speed

Masteries
1/5	1/5	2/1	4/5	1/1	1/5	3/1	2/1	3/5

The Blue pill: 9-0-21 The Road Less Traveled

You have chosen Wisely my friend.

The 9-0-21 Mastery build can be a WTF build to the naked eye. This is my preferred mastery build. I can not stress enough how much Mastermind , Intelligence , and Awareness makes a huge difference. Your Cool downs are awesome lvl 1. When you kill a player or he has to buy your experience will greatly be higher than his. It puts you above the lane enemy. Try it out, before you knock it.



But come follow me, and see how far the rabbit hole goes.

This build focuses on dominating early. The increased cool down reduction is epic. It will allow you to spam your Hungering Strike like there is no tomorrow. Your Ignite will be off cool down before the opponent in your lane, and your Ultimate Infinite Duress will be available a lot sooner.

Timing is everything. Players who have faced a Lanewick before have a general sense (if they realize it or not) of how much you can Harrass \ Heal. Throwing that timing off can catch your enemy off guard; leaving him saying WTF?

Masteries

1/5

1/5

2/1

4/5

1/1

1/5

3/1

2/1

3/5

3/1

1/1

4/5

3/1

1/

Summoner's Wrath

Butcher

Sorcery

Arcane Knowledge

Summoner's Insight

15% Cooldown reduction on your Flash. You will be ganked, and expect to use this ability to quickly return to your tower. Also having your Flash up, works great with Infinite Duress.

Meditation

To help in Mana issues due to the increased use of Hungering Strike

Transmutation

Hungering Strike was nerfed from 100% down to 80%. Time to help it back up. Also while the on hit effect's of Infinite Duress do not add to your health with Spell Vamp, the base Magic Damage does.... further aiding in your overall Health Regen.

Awareness

Intelligence

Mastermind

Allows you to use your Ignite and Flash more often. The decreased cool down is a huge advantage in a 1v1 lane situation.

The Red pill: 17-0-13 Hybrid Penetration Domination

So my friend, you have chosen the Red pill.

The 17-0-13 Mastery page is a great option for those who like to be top wolf late game. Enemies who are stacking Magic Resist will not fully counter your build. You will also be imposing your will via Atk Damage as well.

Your ability to stay up during a fight will be talked about through the ages. As long as you are still attacking, it will be hard to take you down.

Masteries

1/5

1/5

2/1

4/1

4/5

1/1

1/1

3/1

1/5

3/1

2/1

3/5

3/1

1/1

Summoner's Wrath

Butcher

Sorcery

Arcane Knowledge

Alacrity

Weapon Expertise

Vampirism

Summoner's Insight

15% Cooldown reduction on your Flash. You will be ganked, and expect to use this ability to quickly return to your tower. Also having your Flash up, works great with Infinite Duress.

Meditation

To help in Mana spamming Hungering Strike

Transmutation

Hungering Strike was nerfed from 100% down to 80%. Time to help it back up. Also while the on hit effect's of Infinite Duress do not add to your health with Spell Vamp, the base Magic Damage does.... further aiding in your overall Health Regen.

Item Selection

Item Sequence
					Sorcerer's Shoes 1100	Wit's End 2500

Cloth Armor

Chain Vest

Doran's Ring

Always buy as your first item. You need more Mana Regen and you are very squishy for the first 3 levels. Plus your Hungering Strike deals 15 more damage = more life for you.

Sorcerer's Shoes

Your Hungering Strike , Infinite Duress ,and Wit's End all deal magic damage.

Wit's End

In combination with Infinite Duress it will obtain all 4 stacks. Once you Ult on an enemy Carry, be sure as **** that they will try and nuke you down. This item gives great damage, attack speed, and the more you hit, the more Magic Resist you have.

Spirit Visage

An overall great item on Warwick. It not only gives you more health and magic resist, but also gives you 10% more cooldown redux, and increased healing\regeneration effects on you. This last passive improves your mana\health regen, and LIFE STEAL & SPELL VAMP!!!! Your Infinite Duress gives a 30% Lifesteal to you. With this Item it buffs to 34.5%. Also if you decide to get more lifesteal and spell vamp it makes it more effective.

***Special note on Spell Vamp****

Spell Vamp also works on Summoner Spells such as: Ignite and Smite{/indent]

Banshee's Veil -

Expect to be disabled when you use Infinite Duress. This counter acts someone from stunning you. An enemy team normally doesn't have more than 2-3 CC's, if they use 1-2 on you trying to stop your ULT.... then your carries are in good shape!

Frozen Heart -

Pesky AD auto attacking fool's bothering you and your team? This item is great for that.... it also has a bonus of 20% CD redux!

Malady -

Inconjuction with Infinite Duress it stacks 4x reducing enemy magic resistance by 24. It also will damage 5x for a total of 20x5= 100 damage. You get more attack speed, and a 25 AP boost!

philosopher's stone -

Helps with Mana Regen & Health Regen as well giving you a 5 gold per 10 seconds. It is a great passive which is nice to have early game.

shurelya's reverie -

Don't want to sell your philosopher's stone??? You can make this item and also increase your Cooldown Redux by 15%, and be able to chase down mofo's or help your teammates escape in dire situations.

Eleisa's Miracle -

Also another viable upgrade to philosopher's stone. It gives you a unique passive of 35 Tenacity, which helps counter enemy slow and stun duration.

Hextech Gunblade -

More damage, Life Steal, and Spell Vamp all help you sustain yourself in team fights.... works well in conjuction with Infinite Duress. Also gives you an activatable exhaust like slow (without the debuff) that does 300 damage.... oh what type of damage??? Magic damage..... which is also Spell Vamp'd and works great Spell Pen.

Phantom Dancer -

More move speed.... Check, More Attack Speed.... Check, Crit Strike??? Check.... But really you do not get the full benifit's unless you have built a Attack Damage item like the Hextech Gunblade.

Wriggle's Lantern -

I build this item from time to time after my Wit's End, It helps when I have not been doing so well because the items are cheap to piece together.... It aid's in armor problems, gives 12% Life Steal, and free wards! The passive proc to seal 425 damage to minions help you farm faster, and thus getting back into a good spot. Just because your Jungler has one, it doesn't mean you can not help ward as well.

Not so great items

Madred's Bloodrazor -

Now I know it is a normal item on Warwick but, it really doesn't get the best effects unless the enemy has a ton of HP.... which deals 4% of it as Magic Damage. My question to you is.... why would you be focusing on tanks??? It is expensive and IMO your gold can be spent elsewhere.

Sunfire Cape -

It does give armor and HP. It does do 35 magic damage per second to units with in a 400 range.... which isn't that far. This means you need to be pretty darn close to be doing this damage. To give you an idea how far 400 range is... Hungering Strike has a 400 range.

Berserker's Greaves -

You are not playing an auto attack Warwick early game. Your attack's and harassment will be from Hungering Strike which benefits from Sorcerer's Shoes and possibly 1 auto attack (which in that case you don't need the second hit to be refreshed fast, because u will be out of the way)

Lane Game Play: Blue pill Utility

Your cool downs are awesome right out the gate. I would suggest Spamming Hungering Strike on your enemy at level 3.

A trick I like to use is with the decreased Cooldown on Infinite Duress. I may Ultimate on a player and instantly hit him with Hungering Strike when it is over. This will leave them very low health. At this point you can stand in front of the enemy creep waves and force him out of experience range. At the bare minimum he will not be able to farm.

This will give him three options:
1. Go back and heal, which further aids in you out leveling him

2. He stays losing valuable exp and Farm
If he stays, use Hungering Strike every chance you get. Even when under a tower, because you will get the life back from a successful strike (watch out for a stun though). Repeat until he is low, and ignite. If need be, you can always flash out.... wait for your CD on Hungering Strike on a creep.... and proceed to out level and out farm your enemy.

3. He calls for a gank---
He is already low health. Many times the Gank will come when your Infinite Duress is back up. Wait for the stun to hit you (if any), then Ult on the Lowest HP enemy. While Infinite Duress is going, you can throw Ignite on him. Then Q for the kill if needed. Then it is a 1v1. Fight if need be or run back to the tower. Even if you die, the lane enemy died too. Which leaves you at the same point you were (which is still above in level).

Awareness

Lane Game Play: Red pill Hybrid Penetration

Now the same strategies apply as above, but your Ignite, Flash, Infinite Duress, and Hungering Strike will not be available as fast. It is a big difference having that experience advantage once you kill your enemy.

However, if your opponent is melee. You can stand and brawl. Attack until you feel you are too low, then run in and out of the brush while he chases you. Then once Hungering Strike is back..... BAM he loses more health.... and your back whooping that fool.
This is very easy to do because, of Blood Scent. You should be one fast pain in his neck.