This is a simple Vi jungle build that accentuates mobility and should leave you with a capable offtank by the endgame. While probably not suitable for high levels of play, it's just fine for players who can be quick on their toes, land their skillshots reliably enough and aren't afraid of some jungle fisting.

The guide itself is based on rokk154's jungle guide with variations of my own.

Naturally, I'd appreciate any input on the guides contents and/or structure.

Vi is a hero that excels in speed and mobility. She doubles as a capable offtank and damage dealer, resulting in great utility when it comes to singling out squishy targets. Her CC ability is stellar considering the above, making her deadly when played properly.
With proper skill and item combination, Vi can be an excellent tank opener and even a capable semi-assassin.

The hero is somewhat challenging to play. She is dependent on good execution of combos, quick thinking and good ability to make tactical decisions. Her early game ganking ability is somewhat low, but she is a beast in mid and late game.

If you decide to play Vi, expect a wild ride full of skillshots, close calls on both sides, jumping and most importantly, hilarious fisting jokes.

Pros

• High speed and mobility
• Efficient offtank
• Significant damage dealer
• Good CC when executed properly

Cons

• Weak ganks during early game
• Challenging without red buff
• Somewhat manahungry in early to mid game
• Q's charge can get interrupted
• R can take you away on a wild adventure ending in your gruesome death

The choice of seals and glyphs is straightforward - armor and scaling magic resist respectively.

The marks and quintessences may not appear so.

The marks of attack speed are used in lieu of marks of attack damage simply because of their raw utility. While the flat damage seems as a nice deal, it becomes less significant once you get into the midgame (i.e. build phage). The attack speed is still highly viable and will give you a significant (15%, even) boost at early game damage.

The choice of quintessence of movement speed over quintessence of physical damage is a similar story. The speed quint gives you faster clear and higher mobility during ganks whereas 6.8 points of attack damage is simply laughable.

Keep in mind that while you can (literally) pack a punch, you are not the main DPS. Vi excels in mobility and crowd control while being a capable offtank at the same time.

The offensive tree favors cooldown in lieu of attack speed simply because of the 15% speed gain from runes. It's always good to get CD reduction as close to the 40% cap as possible, for obvious reasons, the chief being the ability to harass with Q or simply use it as a powerful movement tool.

Lethality might seem as an odd choice, but when seems obvious when compared to the alternative +3 AD.

If you don't feel like having 10% crit chance just 'cause, you might consider using the two points in tenacious, relentless or even hardiness and resistance combo instead. The former can help you if you're having trouble with a dodging CCs, the later is a nice defensive boost overall.


The defensive tree gives you the usual jungle survival mix with another 4% HP on top from juggernaut. Again, don't hesitate to move the points around to favor CC reduction if you find yourself rooted to the spot a bit too often.

Vault Breaker (Q)
This skill will be your bread and butter. While it requires a time to charge to its full range, it can be used almost instantly in melee range. This makes Q's knockback a potent ally to counter channeled abilities, knock enemies out of bushes during escapes or incapacitate them during a chase.
Vault breaker is also a great flash-like mobility tool, allowing you to quickly navigate the jungle and escape, set up ganks, jungle or even counter-jungle.

The Q's main weakness lies in its charging time. You can't use it for immediate escapes like you'd use flash because it can be easily interrupted. Any sensible summoner will move away from you if you lunge at them from the brush. This, coupled with the not-so-great range of Q and the significant movement speed reduction during the charging makes Q a difficult gank opener, resulting in overall challenging ganks early game.

Denting Blows (W)
...or the great tank-breaker. This ability makes every one of your blows hurt more. However, since the armor reduction delivered remains the same, it's pointless to put more than one point into the skill unless you have nothing better (other) to max.

Excessive Force (E)
If vault breaker is your bread and butter, excessive force is the whole sandwich. This ability much more than flat damage tool.

• When activated, your attack is reset and you strike again at once. This, combined with the denting blows attack speed bonus is a great tool to land several blows in quick succession, not unlike Lee Sin's... well, everything. This also means you should think before using E as its proper timing is the key to maximizing your damage output.
• The cone damage can work as an effective harassment tool if used properly. While the reach is not optimal and placement is a key, E can (and will) make the lives of any melee hero you encounter a living hell. If there are any enemy creeps between you, that is.
• The teamfight utility of the cone is high. When you manage to approach the fight from the direction that allows you to hit all of the enemy team with your cone, the effect is definitely palpable. Plus hey, tons of damage!

Assault and Battery (R)
The ultimate is an excellent ganking tool, as well as a situational ability. Open your ganks with this ability whenever able. The enemy can't dodge from your charge, you are immune to any crowd control and most people can't even react.
Furthermore, the initial 1.25 second knockup and disable helps the other team members get into the position. Coupled with a quick short-range Vault Breaker (Q), you'll CC the target for as much as three seconds, making this combo an excellent tool to single out squishier enemies.
A&B's main flaw comes from the inability to cancel out of it. When the enemy reacts fast enough, he can flash (or use other movement abilities) out of your team and into a possibly lethal situation. This is an inherit risk that will force you to think about your target choices a great deal.


As far as the summoner spells go, ghost seems to be very valid option. Vi has almost no use for flash (since it can be supplemented with Q).

The build's logic is simple: to give you a high clear in the early game with some quick mobility, focusing on gank potential in the midgame and making you a mobile tank-busting death machine in the late.

There are multiple choices for boots:

• Ninja Tabi serve you well in jungle and with top and even bot ganks, giving you a nice overall balance for any normal team you encounter.
• Mercury's Treads are great against more AP-centric teams or in any situation where a lot of CC could be a problem.
• Boots of Swiftness are for the more ballsy players. They will definitely keep you mobile, but you will sacrifice early resists and armor, as well as any potential CC reduction.

The boot upgrades are somewhat situational. The upgrade choice will dictate when you'd want to get said upgrade.

• Alacrity can be highly useful early on, between spirit stone and phage. The added speed will not only speed up your jungling, but more importantly, help you gain the upper hand (fist) during those difficult ganks and obnoxious chases. While this is later remedied by phage, a bit of speed never killed anyone. Just the guy who's not fast enough.
• Captain is another nice alternative, helping you not get separated from your team during ghost chases and a mobile playstyle overall. This upgrade isn't as significant early on, but you should definitely have it before brutalizer.
• Furor is an excellent upgrade against fast heroes and mobile teams. Its combination with phage/frozen mallet will give you the ability to stick with your chosen target until (preferably their) death do you part. This is why the upgrade works best just after the phage.

The item logic:

• Phage/Frozen Mallet as early as possible reduces the opponents ability to run, giving you a significant edge during ganks or when you pick off more squishy heroes.
• Spirit of the Ancient Golem is a perfect jungler item that also gives you health, armor, regen and a good chunk of tenacity. Face it - it could make rainbows made out of gold and you couldn't be happier.
• Black Cleaver, when combined with your denting blows, is a great tool for stopping tanks, especially when you have to dispatch of one quickly before his team can help him.
• Runic Bulwark is an awesome defensive item overall, boosting you as well as your team mates. If you're having trouble defending, don't hesitate to build it as quick as possible - even before you build brutalizer.
• Blade of the Ruined King is a hilarious tool in many aspects, most notably its active. This ability is great for re-opening team fights when you're not full on HP, killing the annoying AD carries that just won't stand still, taking care of tanks that strayed to your jungle without permission and so on. It also gives you a nice AD boost and leech to boot, making this the perfect sixth or in some cases, fifth item.

While level 1 denting blows is a must-have in jungle, it should be maxed out last as its bonuses are much more felt in the late game.

You should focus on excessive force with a quick dab into vault breaker on level 3. This is because E's damage output scales very well whereas Q only really reduces its cooldown.

If you're having mobility problems, don't hesitate to put more points to vault breaker early on though - the reduced cooldown can help you out of many difficult situations.

The jungle is as simple as it gets. The usual approach is
wolves - blue - wraiths - red - golems
At this stage, you can either go for a gank on the nearby lane or go
wraiths - wolves
and gank the other one.

Keep in mind that you should always try getting red buff as Vi depends on it significantly. A ward or two in the enemy jungle, coupled with a good smite&kill can be a good counter-jungling tactic, helping both you and your team mates.

Ganks before level 6 are somewhat challenging, but coming from behind will almost always at least send your enemy running for his life. Ghost is a useful tool as well, helping you chase enemies or get out of sticky situations.