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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Ability Order
Living Vengeance (PASSIVE)
Varus Passive Ability
Chapter 1



Hello, welcome to my first guide on Mobafire. This guide (obviously) is on

Hopefully, I have been able to put together a logical reason behind all my choices in how I build


Also, thank you jhoijhoi for teaching me how to use all of the coding in creating this guide and for allowing me to use parts of her template, which you can find here.



I've decided to start this guide with a quick summary. Basically, this is a VERY in-depth guide concerning Varus, with ALL the information I take into consideration when building him.
However, to make sure you're not disturbed by the length of this guide, I will summarize the main points of the guide for those that do not wish to spend the time it takes to read it all.
Exhaust allows easy get-aways and works both offensively and defensively, this along with
Flash make up for
Varus's lack of escaping abilities.
- I level up
Piercing Arrow first so that I can have high damage poke, and high damage burst when I detonate my
Blighted Quiver stacks. If you're less used to skill shots, leveling up
Blighted Quiver provides a more reliable damage output.
- I rush
Bloodthirster instead of infinity edge because
Varus's
Piercing Arrow synergizes better with it, and it gives him better early game lane sustain, as well as increasing his over-all burst damage ability.
- I go for flat Attack Damage marks and Quintessences, as well as a 21/9/0 mastery build, in order to boost my early game attack damage, and burst ability.
- I grab
Hail of Arrows as my first ability, because the slow and heal reduction serves better in level 1 fights, allowing for get aways,
Heal crippling, and chasing down First Blood.
Varus plays the first half of the game as a burst champion, but plays the second half of the game as a Range DPS champion.
If you have any thoughts or questions on these ideas, please, read further into the guide :)



Varus is an AD Carry unlike any other. In the title of this guide, I call him a AD-Burst Hybrid. Although half of his skills level up with Ap, I do not think that building any AP on him is effective. No, so how can

If you've played




So now what. Have we wasted our money on










To take advantage of






In late game,


To see how I build




spaaaaaaace |
Pros
+ Long Range Nuke + Early Game Burst + Multi-Target Root + Slow/Reduce Healing + Pretty Good Farming + Damage That Scales With HP + Epic Laugh :D |
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Cons
- Very Squishy - No Escape Ability - SOOOO MANA HUNGRY.. - Positioning Dependent - Easy To Punish - Completely Skill Shot Based - Often Focused - Questionable Dance.. :P |



I'm going to jump right into the meatiest and most controversial part of building



Living Vengeance is


This ability can be used in two different ways. The more obvious way is using the ability to clear out creep waves surprisingly fast. The second way is using the ability in fights. In team fights, you will snowball after your team gets that first kill, and you get that 40% extra attack speed.


Piercing Arrow is

This ability can be utilized in many different situations. Because of it's long range, you can use it to poke your enemies, farm creeps when you're zoned, and to snipe off fleeing enemies.




Blighted Quiver is



This ability is the reason



Your ability use should be something like: W-W-W-Ability-W-W-W-Ability-W-W-W-Ability. The abilities that you use will depend on the situation, however you will often want to open with either R (to immobilize your enemies), or Q (because it's cool down is shorter than W's, and you will often get to fire it twice in most later game encounters).


This ability is

This ability is






Chain of Corruption is

This ability is great, as it allows you to grab some easy ganks/kill secures and can even make a great initiate in team fights, as it will grab one enemy, and the rest of the team if they stay too close; either they will lose a champion before the fight, or they can jump in at a disadvantage. However BE WARNED, this skill only ROOTS your enemies, it does not stun them! If they are ranged, they can still attack you!



This is one of the most controversial parts of building


Common Leveling Ideas in all options:
I ALWAYS grab a point in

In all of these sequences, I suggest leveling up



Leveling up your W skill first:
This allows you to take a larger amount of HP when you proc your Blight Stacks. This idea focuses on getting attackSPEED before getting attack DAMAGE, so that you are able to apply blight as fast as you can. Leveling your W skill first is becomes more viable in relation to the tanker the enemies that you are facing in your lane are, as it will deal more damage to tanky support chars like



Leveling up your E skill first:
The arguement I have heard for leveling up your E first on



Leveling up your Q skill first:
This option is the one that I've settled on. Leveling up your Q first allows for better poke, and higher damage output overall, as your Q (fully charged) has a1 AD to 1.6 damage output. (100 AD = 160 bonus damage on




Mastery Explanations
Offensive Tree
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Defensive Tree
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Possible Changes:
Some builds will grab



I didn't put any points into







This is, of course, all my own opinion, you make your own choices.
The UTILITY TREE:
Some other builds went for the Utility over the defense tree. Although I personally prefer the survavibility over the mana regen, I figure I might as well cover it so that you can make your own choice. I find this idea more viable in mid lane, where you are likely to be tempted to poke more often due to squishy mid-laners and you'll need more mana regen.
Utility Tree
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Let it be known, however, that this skill (and in essence the entire tree) can be made obsolete if you can get the blue buff from your jungler (or yourself). ![]() |



Rune Choices

Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Chosen for early game damage, and because attack damage synergizes well with
Varus's abilities.
Other options are
- Greater mark of Desolation for the armor pen which scales well into late game
Greater Mark of Attack Speed which helps you stack
Blighted Quiver faster. (You should probably go for these if you're planning to max
Blighted Quiver first, but we will get to that later.)
- All of these options work in all of the lanes.

Greater Seal of Armor: Chosen to make exchanges with your fellow AD-Bot-Laners more favorable, and to increase gank survivablity.
Other options are
Greater Seal of Attack Speed if you just can't get enough attack speed (Not worth it in my opinion)
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration for the extra Mana Regen (I chose the per-level Seals because they beat the flat ones by level 7, and are .2 away at level 6, which is when you'll A. Be more likely to be looking for kills with
Chain of Corruption and B. You'll need to use more skills to keep the enemy at bay, as they will also have their ultimate up.)
In middle lane, I chooseGreater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration because we won't need the armor until later in the game (where your base Armor will be fine, and you can make up any deficit with an armor item).

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Chosen for the much needed magic resistance later in the game. If you're struggling with an AP carry, these runes and an item like
Banshee's Veil or
Hexdrinker (Or later
Maw of Malmortius) should give you the survivability you need to stay around long enough to do your job.
If you're taking middle lane, you could opt for gettingGreater Glyph of Magic Resists, so you have a better early magic resist. However, in late game you'll be less fortified.
Once again, you could grab someGreater Glyph of Attack Speeds if you're an attack speed mad-man, but I don't recommend it (even if it will increase the speed of your pokes when stacking blight).

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: Chosen for the same reason as the
Greater Mark of Attack Damages.
Other options are
Greater Quintessence of Health which decreases your natural squish-i-tude and boost your early game win chance
- Greater Quintessence of Desolation for the armor pen (scales well through the game, but you lose the early game advantage)
Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed for EVEN MORE ATTACK SPEED~~~



Preferred Summoner Spells
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Viable Summoner Spells
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LESS Viable






Anything else. Not even worth mentioning, and shouldn't even be tempting to you.



-
: Berserker's Greaves are core because YOU WANT ATTACK SPEED, both as an AD carry, and for stacking Blight, YOU WANT THIS. You could switch these out for Mercury Treads for the tenacity, but I feel like if there is THAT MUCH CC on the other team, (enough for the boots to be worth it), then you're going going to get caught regardless of tenacity. So, in my opinion, Berserker's Greaves, kill them before they kill you.
-
: Blood Thirster, I not only make this item core on
Varus, I suggest that this is the FIRST thing you get, after the one or two
Doran's Blades. This item will both turn your Q into a nuke, (160 more damage~), but will give you MUCH better lane sustain, and with a blue buff, you'll be set for quite awhile. Once you get this item, you should be able to root and burst down the enemy carry once they reach 70% health, (otherwise known as after you hit them once with your
Piercing Arrow ;D).
-
: Phantom Dancer, very important. Right after you get The Blood Thirster, you'll have a significant boost to your damage output. So what's left but to be able to get extra movement speed to chase down those squishies, extra attack speed and criticals to stack your blights, and fire a 320 damage
Piercing Arrow right into their forehead?
-
: This weapon is the final nail in building the bridge to carry your team. At this point, you're doing about 200+ damage at 1.6 Hits each second, with 29% vamp. This weapon will ignite your nuclear warheads, turning your 200 dmg into 700 dmg on your 45% chance for critical hits! Unless the enemy team can get together, get past your team and focus you, they're in for quite a lot of time spent respawning.



-
: This item is great for the amount that it costs, and adds survivability to Varus. I feel that it is worth getting your second item. Depending on how well you are farming, you could consider getting a second blade to greater increase your damage output early game. If you get two of these, you have 9% vamp with your mastery, and an extra 160 health. (As well as 32 more damage on your Q :D)
- Wriggles Lantern: This item is good for the extra armor, damage, last hit-ability, and vamp. I will sometimes get this item if I'm not able to stomp all over my lane. However, if you have an advantage, I would suggest instead pushing it and continuing to rush
Bloodthirster.
-
: Good to buy if the enemy is really stacking defense. If they aren't putting their defenses past about 100, it would be better to just get a
Black Cleaver, as it will give you more attack damage, attack speed, and more armor penetration.
-
: This is a good defensive item if the enemy AP Carry has gotten dangerous, as it gives you some more magic resistance, some health/mana, and a shield that blocks a spell every 45 seconds. However, when fighting against a good caster, they can use a lesser ability to remove your shield before using the rest of their combo.
-
: This is a more offensive option to
Banshee's Veil. Not only does it give you Magic resist and a shield that negates 400 magic damage when you REALLY need it, it gives you 55 attack! As well as a passive that can boost that to 80 attack! This item can give you the split second you needed to vamp some life back and live through that pesky AP's barrage! I feel like this is better then losing the shield over a lesser spell. However, it doesn't give you the HP
Banshee's Veil does. Counting the extra hp from
Banshee's Veil, that spell shield only has to negate more than 25 damage for it to beat
Maw of Malmortius in survivability. However, MoM gives you more damage (which could add to vamp). It's all your decision, and may differ on the situation.
-
: I get this to get less squishy. I often get this item, as it helps slow enemies so you can get kills and better increase your ability to carry the game. If you're losing, it gives you some more HP, and makes it so you can KILL all the low health champions that always seem to get away when you're losing...
-
: Gives some good magic resist AND armor, however I rarely get this, as the passive just lets the enemy dance around your body before they kill you again. EH.
-
: If you've been majorly fed, you can always get another one of these for the extra 100 dmg and 20% vamp, which will boost your survivability as well as dmg output. Try and secure your fed status, but don't go overboard with damage, as eventually the enemy team will get a clue and start focusing you.
-
: Attack speed is always good, movement speed isn't bad, and more critical shots is great. Stack those blights all the faster, run away all the quicker.
-
: An overall good build for a carry, gives you the Magic resistance and the ability to get out of CC. (Very important to NOT get shut down as the AD carry.) This is a very common item among AD carries. (Suggested by Phil Collins)



Early Game:
Early game, you want to start off with


FARM. FARM. FARM. As the AD carry it is your DUTY to get those last hits. Poking takes second to creep killing. If you can go in for a kill, try and clear the creep wave first. It will both reduce the damage you take (those creeps will screw you up in the early game), and ensure you got your farm in.
I would suggest waiting until about level 5, or when you get your 2nd



If you are leveling up your




Always try and get 1-2 health pots when you B, and if your support isn't doing a good enough job, a ward or two.
Mid Game:
In mid game, you want to make sure that unless you're already fed, KEEP FARMING. Always keep late game in mind, as that is where you play your key role in the game. If you're already fed, begin your carrying now, and get an early win. :)
By about now you will have your


Late Game:
At this point you should be SO FARMED, that you have your core items done a long time ago(if you haven't been completely shut down by a nasty

In team fights, you will have to be EXTRA careful about your positioning. Be aware of what your team is doing, and place yourself in strategic positions. One of the major downfalls of

Although you should never try to initiate, you should learn to recognize situations where you can take advantage of your ultimate. If your team is ready for a team fight, and the enemy


Tips and Tricks:
- In early game, try and kill minions between first attacking a champion to gain the boost from
Living Vengeance to stack blight faster.
- ALL of
Varus's abilities are skill shots, I HIGHLY recommend using smart cast to fire off quick
Piercing Arrows and
Hail of Arrows
- Charging up your
Piercing Arrow from the bush = an unprepared champion and an easy shot (as Piercing arrow has a quick projectile speed)
- When an Enemy is running under their tower and you know you can't catch up with them, ALWAYS hold
Piercing Arrow out for it's full duration in order to be able to do maximum damage, and have maximum range.
- Learning how to lead with your skillshots is one of the defining traits of a good
Varus Player, the enemy won't always be running in a straight line towards or away from you.
- Often times, it is worth waiting for an enemy to already be stunned for you to use your ultimate, this is less important the better you are at skillshots
Comment with any more tips you think should be shared! :D



You made it to the ending! If you actually read through all of that, I commend you. I hope you appreciate the work that I've put into the guide, and I hope it helps you develop your skills with

And, to run through the summary points in the beginning again:
Exhaust allows easy get-aways and works both offensively and defensively, this along with
Flash make up for
Varus's lack of escaping abilities.
- I level up
Piercing Arrow first so that I can have high damage poke, and high damage burst when I detonate my
Blighted Quiver stacks. If you're less used to skill shots, leveling up
Blighted Quiver provides a more reliable damage output.
- I rush
Bloodthirster instead of infinity edge because
Varus's
Piercing Arrow synergizes better with it, and it gives him better early game lane sustain, as well as increasing his over-all burst damage ability.
- I go for flat Attack Damage marks and Quintessences, as well as a 21/9/0 mastery build, in order to boost my early game attack damage, and burst ability.
- I grab
Hail of Arrows as my first ability, because the slow and heal reduction serves better in level 1 fights, allowing for get aways,
Heal crippling, and chasing down First Blood.
Varus plays the first half of the game as a burst champion, but plays the second half of the game as a Range DPS champion.



Ask questions!! :)




This is where I place the evidence of your success! :D



These are all the guides that I read that both gave me, and helped develop my ideas on how to build Varus. (As well as make this guide.)
Jhoijhoi: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506
CellOne: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/this-is-not-caitlyn-in-depth-analysis-of-varus-by-1-7k-210488 (proof that Varus isn't Caitlyn)
GrandmasterD: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/varus-there-is-no-salvation-210383
Phil Collins: http://www.mobafire.com/profile/phil-collins-209225
Yokiharo: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/varus-the-arrow-of-pwnibution-last-updated-17-05-2012-212532



Guide was published: 05-18-12, 12:51 AM
Fixed some formatting, added in Quicksilver, Trinity, and a new cheat sheet option. Thanks for the comments!: 05-18-12, 11:18 PM
Removed trinity, changed item build progression, Yay comments! 05-20-12
Replaced all the photobucket photo links with imageshack ones. Lol. Suchapain. Also added 0's in front of all the 5's in the dates in the changelog. ^^ 05/21/12
Oops. Missed one. 05/22/12
Maintenance. 05/24/12
Edited the Item Progression 05/25/12
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