This is my first guide here in mobafire. I hope I can learn more in this site as well as I can teach some new people how to play correctly, even if I'm not the best of the players out there, there's always something new to learn.

Runes are sort of random on Udyr. He can make use of everything, really. But I do prefer go with the usual armor penetration marks, dodge seals, flat magic resist glyphs and movement speed quints. Glyphs are really optional, you can go with anything here.

The reason I use dodge is because of Nimbleness. The 10% movement speed buff is really something you shouldn't overlook, even more when playing as Udyr, with his only real escape is running very fast. You can go flat armor and still do well, just throwing this here if you really don't like random number generation on dodge.

You will want to go for the utility tree, the best mastery tree in the game. Get Your nimbleness and wisely build your masteries for who you're laning against. Rumble? Get that Resistance. Vladimir? Same thing. Renekton? Go for Hardiness. Detailed masteries are up there. If you're playing normal game, just put 2 points in each one of them.

You can also give up on Nimbleness if you want to get the improved exhaust. I don't recommend it, Nimbleness is too good on Udyr. It's true that the improved exhaust will help you a lot when 1v1, just throw it up there and Tiger Stance all day. But normal exhaust do almost the same thing and won't give you the chance to runaway or to chase with increased speed + Bear Stance.

This is a very hard topic. Items are game dependent, you may and may not build some things I posted up there. Their main damage source is AP? Skip Randuins. Their main damage output is AD? Randuin's should come before Wit's End. Since you're going to be initiating most of the teamfights, you must remember what resistance is more important for you when going into the meat grinder. You shouldn't die before you take out the enemy carry.

You can start with Cloth Armor + 5 Health Potions. Turn that Cloth Armor into Wriggle's Lantern as fast as possible. With this, you'll never have to leave your lane, ever. Add a Sheen and Tier 1 Boots to start applying pressure and damage. Keep on the farming at top, it shouldn't be hard after you get Wriggle's. Soon you'll have enough to get your Trinity Force. Once that's done, prepare to melt some carries.

Some other items that can be used are:

For that amazing and annoying second chance.
For attack speed/critical strike stackers.
Having a hard time at top? Get this. You'll never have to pill again. It's cheap, gives you a free ward, easier time farming, armor, attack damage, lifesteal. Everything you need for only 1600. Really good item. There's also a bug with this item that I should mention. Since it gives you a 450~500 damage proc on hit, while in Turtle Stance, if it procs, you'll regen A LOT of mana. I'm not sure if this is intended, but it works.
Great synergy with Bear Stance and additional armor penetration / cooldown reduction. What's not to like? Build this if one of the defensive items is not needed.
Health stackers in general will fear you now. You'll laugh out loud when you activate Tiger Stance and go for the enemy carry.
I don't even know why does this work, but it works. It works on every AD champ ever, I guess. Get it when your team needs more damage.
Some champions have annoying one shot combos. You'll most likely never die to those combos, but if they ever get fed, Banshee's Veil is your option. Enemy Annie and LeBlanc will hate you.
Does the other team have: , , , ? If the answer to the question was yes, then get this. Spam in chat in all caps for your team to get this too. Really. This is specially important against Mordekaiser, since your ghost can probably destroy your teammates with Mordekaiser.
I can see this working. With , he will get a great amount of damage and armor. Don't prioritize these, though.



Core items


You should have these items around the 15 minute mark. Faster means better. If you're fed enough skip defensive items and go straight for Trinity Force. Else, delay Trinity Force a little to get that Negatron Cloak / Chain Vest.

Maxing Turtle first for laning phase is needed and pretty much obligatory. This defines your laning dominance and why solo top Udyr is so OP up there. With this you can harass, heal HP, heal mana, while protecting yourself from harm and creep aggro. You'll get an early point in Bear because that MS Bonus + Stun are godlike for harassing. Never, ever take a point in Phoenix before 6. You need both Bear and Tiger to deal burst damage in lane. The only and I MEAN the only reason you should take a point in Phoenix before 6 is if your lane is 2v1 and it's being pushed a lot.

Summary:

Damage dealing, Turret taking.
Lane staying, healing, aggro controling.
Chasing, running away, harassing, general gap closer.
Farming.

As mostly tanky DPS characters, your focus will be their carry. Being able to get in range to kill the carry is the most decisive fact when choosing your summoner spells. That's the reason I choose Flash and Exhaust. This way I can get to the carry, stun him with bear, Tiger DPS him and if he ever tries to escape just exhaust and chase him with bear till he's dead.

Flash usefulness doesn't end here. It's the greatest summoner spell in the game for a reason. Allowing for easy escapes through the jungle walls.

You can also hold your exhaust for that annoying AP burst carry like Annie or Mal'zahar when they focus your carry really hard. Exhaust them and their damage isn't that significant and they just spent all their cooldowns.

Quick Analysis on the other summoner spells:

Good, but not enough. Also, Udyr has a built in ghost every 6 seconds or so.
Lane dependent. Depends also on the other team. It really isn't worth it to get an Exec. Calling just for the other team's burst heal, so you might consider taking Ignite against a team with Soraka and Fiddlesticks for example.
I don't see this working for Udyr. It might work with + + + playing a very turtleish game, but other than that, I see no use to this spell for Udyr.
You're not jungling. No need for this.
Better suited for supports.
It can work, ward ganking is still strong and unexpected. However you'll let your lane behind by doing so. Consider the risks.
Never take this.
Never take this.
You don't need this.
You also don't need this.
It's ok. But if you ever need this, remember that you can build a for just 1440 gold. No item gives you an effect similar to exhaust.

Pros

• Fantastic early game dominance, almost impossible to lose a lane.
• Easy last hitting skills.
• Great mobility.
• Fantastic survivability
• Good escape mechanisms thanks to the turtle + bear combo.
• Great pusher thanks to the Phoenix + Tiger combo.

Cons

• Somewhat easily kited early on. (This changes once he gets Warden's Mail or one point in Bear Stance)
• Fast pushing early, when in need to regen mana and HP in turtle stance.

FARM. FARM. FARM.

Udyr needs dat CS. Learn his attack patterns, remember to press S to cancel attack animation to avoid not last-hitting a creep. Make the max of your farming skills and around 10 minutes in game you should have at least 70 minions down. This is enough for our core build + some wards.

Solo top Udyr doesn't have that much problems against most of the other solo top characters. I'll list some of the matchups.

Really Bad Matchups:

As of now, those don't really exist. Most of the champs that could be a problem for Udyr at top are generally at bot lane, like Caitlyn or Corki. Even then, those aren't that much of a threat once you learn their patterns and get your CS done.

Bad Matchups:

Warwick:
He outheals you, outfarms you, set ganks better than you, chases better than you. His DPS is lower, but he's really strong at solo top lane. It'll be a stamina battle and the best coordinated with his team will win the lane. Talk a lot to your jungler.

EDIT: New patch comes in, Warwick still the same at the top lane. Reducing his heal by 80% means nothing, but you're still intact. Still not moving this one to the Even Matchups cause it's still hard to outlane him.

Brand:
He just pokes you and suddenly BOOM half of your HP gone. Ok, you can get that back in a blink but his harass is annoying. You'll not lose your lane, but you'll have a HARD TIME against this guy. Ask your jungler to come up top often, as he has no real escape and is likely to push his lane due to his skills.

EDIT: Deathcap Nerfs came. It doesn't change anything. He'll just stack doran's rings and stay there poking you forever with incredible mana regen.

Alistar:
This guy... This guy. You don't even need to mess with him to get the horns. His headbutt will keep you from farming as well as damaging you, so watch out for that. Ganks are impossible, he just headbutts or pulverize your jungler away. When he hits level 6 you can bait his ultimate by bursting him with Bear + Tiger. On the early stages of the game he'll be low on mana after some pulverizes. A roamer is the best way to deal with Solotopstar. Did I mention he can heal? Yeah...

EDIT: Alistar got hit really hard with the Nerf Bat. It's not that he sucks, he still can tank and support like a boss, but he isn't that overpowered now. He will still deny your farm with Headbutts, He will still be a pain to gank and to kill, but he'll not kill your jungler in return anymore. Probably even matchup worthy now. I have to see ingame first before I update this.

Nidalee:
This isn't exactly hard. Her harassing is annoying, she'll just heal up and auto-attack you until the buff is gone, then she'll run to the bush and repeat it. Activate your shield as soon as she heals and starts going for you. When she hits 6, if she jumps at you in Cougar, stun her with Bear and turtle away. This lane is exhaustive, but winnable.

Rumble:
He's a bully. He'll keep harassing you while farming, because he can do so, as his spells have no cost and a really nice AP ratio / base damage early on. Turtle shield on, farm, and avoid staying in his range.

EDIT: Really insignificant nerf. It's like they didn't even cared about him being overpowered. A 0,05 nerf on his Q is irrelevant. The base damage changes are also totally ignorable. Maybe he won't be that stupid endgame with these nerfs on Deathcap + His damage + ratios, but it doesn't change his early game a bit. Still a pain.

Even Matchups

Everyone not listed on the other lists. Irelia, Karthus and Kayle are important mentions. They have a great chance of winning against you if you do badly, as they can maximize on your mistakes with a single burst. Still you can do the same to them, maybe except for Kayle.

Fair Advantage Matchups

Pretty much every other Melee DPS character in the game will cry against you. Some mages also, like Kassadin, Gragas and Cassiopeia will also have a hard time against you. Other tanky DPS champions don't have the same sustain you have and a couple of ganks will take them out of the lane, while you will stay there, mauling minions forever.

You'll be the initiator. The tanky guy that soaks up all the damage and goes away with his mission done. Better yet, if your team has a Healer you can keep this up until they're all dead. You go in, chasing the enemy carry, stun him, slap him, exhaust him, kill him, retreat. If your carry is being targeted you can stun his chaser and help him run away. Activate Randuin's for maximum effect. Try to be "the annoying guy that is always up there" so you can be the target to most of their spells. Run away a little when low, go heal on jungle creeps, come back for the second round.

With this build you should be unkillable endgame. Even midgame, it should take a lot of their team to kill you, and you should abuse this. Dive in, make them waste their cooldowns, so your carries can go in and instagib them as fast as possible. You're Udyr, you can do this, even if you don't have Locket anymore.

Well, I exposed everything I know about solo top Udyr so far. If you ever read this guide and use this build, post your results here so we can see them!

UPDATE 1

A quick look on the nerfs of some solo top matchups. Still needs ingame confirmation, but it's just an early thought.