Vayne Build Guide by Dougernaut

Introduction

Hopefully you're reading this even after seeing a Vayne build that has 3k+ hp and less than 200 AD. If you are, congratulations, welcome to my Vayne build =D. I've played Vayne quite a bit recently and have come to like her quite a bit. She's a heavy damage dealer, destroys tanks and squishies alike with this build, has a stealth that's saved my butt numerous occasions, etc. Just an all around great champ to play, for beginners and pros alike.

To start off, I want to point out this is an Attack Speed / On Hit type build, kind of what you see on some Teemo builds. Vayne, IMO, specializes in getting in 3 (very important number) hits on any target in about 2 seconds, dealing high burst regardless of armor.

Pros / Cons

Pros
Great damage vs tank / off-tank / squishy alike
End-game survivability, rare for most carries.
Good neutral monster farmer (after obtaining Madred's Razors)
Easy to learn
Low CD ultimate
Great at chasing


Cons
Squishy early-mid game.
Very prone to be ganked in mid.
Expensive build, must farm well.
Stun requires terrain
Prone to focus.
Needs constant map awareness (but who doesn't =D)

Runes

These are the runes I use:

Greater Mark of Desolation - Self-explanatory. Some people may argue attack speed marks, but I prefer the flat Armor Pen for early game damage. Seems like 9 out of 10 people have the flat armor Yellows (like I do =D) so the Armor Pen ignores all of that.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation - ^^ Nuff said.

Greater Seal of Armor - Flat armor for those AD carries who head mid.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - Flat magic resist for those AP carries.

These are what I use remember, experiment however you see fit :).

Masteries

"Running 9/0/21 on an AD carry? Y U NO INTELLIGENT?!"

Well Mr. Trollsonmobafire, I play Vayne as a carry, but not an AD carry. Her damage mid-late game comes from on hits and her W skill, Silver Bolts. End game her attack speed will come close to capping, around 2.3-2.4 with Elixir of Agility. so almost every second you'll deal massive true damage.

That being said, Vayne lacks an escape mechanism, so any reduced cooldowns on summoner spells and moves alike is helpful. Grab bonus attack speed in the Offense mastery tree instead of cooldowns, I feel it's more beneficial all game.

Summoner Spells

I don't think there are any set summoner spells for champs. You use what you're comfortable with. That being said:

- Flash seems to be a given for practically every champ, helps escape all those near death situations.

- Teleport helps a lot more than some think. Early game you'll get back to your lane faster, mid-game it'll allow for very quick farming/pushing, and late-game if need be, a backdoor push is always possible.


Viable Picks

Exhaust - It can help shut down the enemy melee AD when they charge you. I replace Teleport with Exhaust if nobody else on the team has it.

Ghost - More escape options, though not the most reliable in my opinion. Her passive helps with chasing so using it offensively isn't always necessary.

Ignite - If you want? Personally if your range isn't going to finish the job, you won't be close enough to ignite anyway. But if you're comfortable, it helps tons with first blood.

Heal - I'd save this for your supports, but it can't hurt to have a heal on Vayne. For those level 3 accounts on free Vayne week.

Cleanse - If you're really worried about stuns and such, cleanse can be very helpful to get right back into the team fight. I believe there are better spells though.

Big No-Nos

Revive - Too long a cooldown to be useful.
Clarity - Don't spam your skills the whole time, you'll have no mana issues.
Clairvoyance - Best kept for your supports
Rally - I almost forgot about this summoner spell because it's so pointless
Fortify - No thanks.

Skill Sequence

Vayne has an interesting passive, Night Hunter. This helps quite a bit early game since we won't be getting boots.

Her Q skill Tumble let's Vayne perform a small roll towards the mouse cursor and buffs her next auto attack to do bonus damage based on her total AD. Some might tell you to max this first, but not in this build. Mainly this is used for getting a final shot in before your enemy retreats. It can also be used to farm/push minions as it resets your auto attack. Grab a point in this at level 1, but don't use it for anything besides a last hit for now.

What makes Vayne so damn good, her W skill, Silver Bolts is a debuff on the enemy that, when it hits the magic number 3, procs for a flat amount (based on the rank of the skill) + 4-8% of the opponents max health as true damage, also depending on the rank. For anyone wondering, true damage ignores all resistance. This is why W is leveled first. Suddenly that Dr. Mundo with 3.5k health isn't so daunting.

Her E skill, Condemn is a long cooldown, single target pushback. Similar to Poppy and her charge, this skill will deal double damage and stun if you push your opponent into a wall. That Singed will stop chasing you when you push him into a wall and burst 3/4 his health away before he can do anything.

Finally, that lovely ultimate, Final Hour. It makes Vayne a very dangerous opponent at level 6. It grants additional attack damage, which an attack speed build lacks early, and triples that passive movement speed bonus, making chasing child's play. You'll want to use this offensively 95% of the time. However, if you think it'll help, pop your ultimate and tumble. Congratulations, you're invisible for 1.5 seconds. Make sure that's enough time to get to safety, otherwise take your death and learn not to over extended =D. Lasts 8 seconds at rank 1.



>>>>>>


You'll want to start off maxing your W, then Q, then E, and of course the ultimate whenever possible.

Items to Get and When?

Starting off, I grab Cloth Armor and 5x Health Potion. It's 1000 HP in the laning phase, provided you don't get bursted down. Plus, if you lane against an Ashe or Caitlyn, gives you some nice resist to the auto attacks and allows trading. The cloth armor also builds into Madreds, which you'll want a.s.a.p.

First time back, get your level one boots and hopefully finish Madred's Razors. If not, grab Berzerker's Greaves Try to grab 3-4 Health Potions as well, they help tremendously.

Start building that Madred's BloodRazor. Get the attack speed component before the attack damage, unless you can only afford the Pickaxe. Once it is finished, your damage will be DECENT, not overwhelming. The enemy AD carry might even hit harder than you because you're still very squishy. Your damage comes in bursts on the 3rd attack, so only commit if you're positive a kill is there.

Second item should vary depending on the enemy team. If there are AP nukes, Wit's End will give you a little MR and more attack speed, exactly what you need. Enemy AD, you already have a little armor from your Bloodrazor. Basically, you're looking for even more attack speed, life steal, and resistance of some kind.

After you have the three main attack speed items you're looking for; Madred's Bloodrazor Wit's End Zeke's Harbinger : You want to build survivability.

If the game lasts this long, I build Frozen Mallet for the health and the built-in slow. They have 0 chance of running away without help after this item. The health helps tremendously as well. After that, depending on the enemy team comp you build;

Magic resist -
Armor -
Not the main focus of enemy team (for whatever reason) -

Note:
That 3rd option hasn't really happened to me yet, but more damage and stronger life steal seems like an obvious choice.

Laning / Combinations To Deal Damage

If you want step-by-step instructions on how to lane, this is the wrong guide. There are wonderful guides on how to last hit with any champion here on Mobafire, give them a skim-through. Let's focus on how to prevent the other person from doing so =D.

Vayne starts out with, if I remember, <450hp at level 1. This makes the person in mid drool a little bit usually, but don't panic, you're not harassing at level 1. Personally, I start at 3-4 because its safest, but if the opportunity presents itself at level 2, do so SAFELY. That being said, here are some of the combos I use to do decent damage and back out safely:

Basics

Two Auto Attacks -> Tumble - This is used when the person in mid is walking away from you. Vayne's passive will catch her up for that second auto attack. As soon as you see that attack go off, tumble towards your enemy for one last shot. Increased damage plus your silver bolts will take a pretty little chunk from that health bar.

One Auto Attack -> Condemn -> Final Auto Attack - I use this for those long range AD carries. Caitlyn Ashe Tristana etc. This might take some practice. You have to trust you'll get the 3rd auto attack off while your enemy is being pushed back. Practice on some bots in the Co-op vs AI mode. Bonus points if you knock the opponent into a wall. You can generally attack until they run away, as most will after being stunned and taking heavy damage.


Going for a kill 1v1

This little sequence is for when you want to 1v1 a champ you feel you can kill provided he or she has full health and fairly close to you. It doesn't guarantee a kill by any means, but the damage will be big and they'll be in a poor position (if done correctly).


Start off using your ultimate, Final Hour and Tumble towards the target. You'll be stealthed for 1.5 seconds.

Run behind the enemy. Generally they'll run towards their turret. If you can line it up so Condemn pushes them into a wall, do so. Otherwise just push them away from their turret.

Right click FTW =). Watch as that W procs at least twice. Throw in your Q whenever it's up for a slight bonus damage and a reset on your auto attack timer.

What Do I Do Now? Early-Late Game and Team Fight Roles.

When I first started playing, I would sit in my lane practically until 18. I wouldn't farm other lanes, wouldn't gank, etc. Yes, I was a noob =(.

But now, I'm.. less of a noob.


Early Game

Early game you want to farm. Farm, farm, farm, go on Facebook and play FARMville, then farm some more. It's very simple. Tumble resets the auto attack timer, use it to your advantage. If you can harass safely without missing too many last-hits, do so. If your opponent goes back to base and you're in lane still, push your lane extremely hard. That means be auto attacking the creep wave constantly while trying to last hit as well. Make your enemy miss experience.

A basic plan for pushing a lane is focusing on the caster minions in the back row first, since they are the easiest to kill. Your Silver Bolts will help with Seige and melee minions. Leave ganking to your jungler preferably, but if you're pretty sure a kill will come of it, gank a side lane.

Side-note: - If you're level 6 and are trying to gank a side lane, pop your ultimate in the river bush. Tumble towards your position, enjoy that stealth, and Condemn towards your teammates. Easy as one, two, silver bolts.



Mid-game

Mid-game for me is when a teamfight breaks out and you are sitting in mid with 2-4 of your teammates pushing. You should have your upgraded boots, obviously, Madred's Bloodrazor finished and working on a second item (depending on when mid-game starts of course). If this isn't the case, tell your team you should farm alone for a while. Chances are you'd be an easy kill for the other team anyway.

If you are doing respectable damage, stay with your team. You're just like most AD carries with slightly less range. You stay behind your team, poking who you can, focusing down the most dangerous enemy first. If their AD carry is too far away to get safely, poke someone closer. The benefit of being Vayne is you will deal big damage even to a tank.

Pop-Quiz

You're behind your team,

Ashe is behind her team.
Ashe has Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, and is poking your Rammus for 150 damage at a time tops, while hurting herself. Her attack speed is 1.4 per second
You have Madred's Bloodrazor, Wit's End, and are poking the enemy Rammus for 40 damage, 4% of his max health per hit, a bonus 42 magic damage, and an additional 60 + 8% of his max health on your third hit in true damage.

Which Rammus dies first, yours or the enemies?


Yep, you tear apart tanks as Vayne, which allows your team to push through the tank to the carries. Ideally of course, there are always variables. Just hope your team is competent enough to peel of that Xin Zhao when he charges you. Worst case scenario, push him back with Condemn.

Bottom Line; stay back, poke who you can, stay alive. /win


Late Game

I'll define late game as when you've been level 18 for a good amount of time, Baron has been taken at least once, and farming has become irrelevant. At this point, you should have 5/6 items with that last one near completion. As the guide states, with a Banshee's Veil, Frozen Mallet, and elixirs, Vayne hits about 3.5k hp and her attack speed is near cap. Without Banshee's its still above 3k.

So you are dealing very nice damage to everyone, and difficult to kill. Late game is just like every team fight you've had. Stay behind your team, pick apart who you can, stay alive. Also, because you have so much attack speed with Madred's Bloodrazor, Baron can be done with you and a support/tanky teammate. Vayne isn't the best tower pusher due to lack of damage, but the high attack speed helps. Aim for the ace and push to win. LAte game Vayne is pretty much avoiding the enemy carry.

Why not AD Vayne?

People doubt Aspd Vayne because she seems built to carry AD. The damage is amazing, both her skills scale well with attack damage. Build her like you build Ashe and its easy right?

Not really. Vayne, I feel, lacks the range, escape abilities, or CC needed to build squishy AD.

Ashe slows as you walk towards her, dealing good damage while you haven't even hit her yet.
Caitlyn has enough range and her 90 Caliber Net allows for escapes / slows.
Tristana has more range than Cait at level.. 9 or 12. Either way, end-game her range is unparalleled, and her Rocket Jump is an amazing escape tool.
Corki is virtually impossible to catch without a stun of some kind.


however, can't do this as easily. Tumble doesn't move far enough to warrant an escape, her range is nowhere near as good as the above carries, and the only real form of CC is a pushback that has a cooldown above 10 seconds. That's once a teamfight, twice if you're lucky. Therefore, tanky Aspd Vayne comes into play. Quick hits, in and out of range, and can take a fair bit of damage.

Summary

Hope you try the build out before voting/commenting. This is my first build, just an FYI. I figured I'd put this at the end so nobody knew until it was too late. Muahahaha

Anyway, have fun, enjoy the potential face rolling, and I'll see you around =).


Hoping to have a Nidalee and Pantheon build up... eventually.