Build Guide by Slauwwter

Introduction

Hey guys, I've been playing Vlad for quite a while, and I only play 3v3. Keep in mind, this is a 3v3 build. I want to say this first : If you do not like Vlad, or think he's OP, that's your opinion, keep it to yourself. This is not a theory build, I use this daily to great success. I win most games with this build, and only lose do to a team mate that feeds. I started out using Vladamir - The Bloodied Impaler(AP Nuke Build) by SmartxAxBSH. I liked that build, although, overtime, I tweaked it more and more, and this is the end result. This build is BASED on his but has a more magic penetration for damage. Alright, well I'll get on with it.

This is my first build, so please use constructive criticism

Pros/Cons

PROS

Great damage output
High health
Amazing ult for team fights
Great at harassing

CONS

Despite high health, rather squishy
Horrible at low levels
One of the slowest characters in the game, even with boots

Patches

v1.0.0.111
* Crimson Pact Bonus ability power gained reduced to 1 ability power per 40 bonus health from 25 health
* Sanguine Pool no longer grants a speed bonus on use
* Fixed a bug where Turrets would sometimes idle while Vladimir was pooled
* Fixed a bug where Sanguine Pool would occasionally not properly draw aggro upon exiting his pool

This doesn't affect us too bad. We're not relying on health for AP here, nor is Sanguine's power nerfed. The only true negative is less health from Rylai's and less escaping ability. This can be made up for with a ghost + pool combo.

Change list

2/24/11

Change some runes, also swapped out Zhonya's Hourglass for Lichbane

3/5/11

Added Misc Section
Made item order a little more in depth

Runes

Magic penetration, great for all of your attacks.

Greater Seal of Vitality A lot health, along with a good amount of AP. Always nice.

Alright, this is quite a bit of AP for simple runes. And bonus health.

Greater Quintessence of Vitality Same thing as your seals, except more stats.

These are the runes that I have had best success using. You can change it, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Possible runes
I can see why you'd get this. Some of Vlad's moves are rather long on cooldown. I wouldn't recommend it, but I can see why.

Items

Best item to start with for Vlad. It'll give you quite a bit of health and AP. On top of that, it will also build to your soul stealer.

These are the best boots for Vlad. You're getting good movement speed, which Vlad desperately needs, as he's rather slow, and you're getting some magic penetration, so you'll blast straight through their magic resistance.

I have to say. This is an amazing Vlad item. It starts with the bonuses of a Amplifying Tome. Not very good. Every time you kill someone though you gain two "stacks", and for every assist you gain one "stack". Each stack is 8 AP. You can get up to 20 stacks, although on death, you lose a third of them. The key to this item is keeping your stacks. The more stacks you have, the more powerful you become. To maximize the effectiveness, communicate with your team to set up ganks. Remember, ever assists get you stacks. However, the key to this item is not losing the stacks. Don't get overconfident and die. You won't die as Vlad unless you're careless. That, or your fatboy run will screw you over.

Yet another amazing Vlad item. Lots of ability power, and then massive amounts of health. Once you get to this item, you're a god on the battlefield.

This is where most of your Magic Penetration is coming from. Good item, you're getting AP, you're getting tons of magic penetration. If you feel like you're getting wrecked by another mage, go with [Abyssal Scepter]. I explain why, if it isn't too obvious, lower.

Holy ****... Massive amounts of AP, and with that 30% bonus, you will tear everyone in your path apart.

MORE POWER! This item is wonderful. I've overlooked this for a while due to the fact that I hate that it gives you mana. No longer will I ignore it. This gives you a little movement speed along with lots of ability power, and a little magic resistance, let's face it, you can kite melee champs all day as long as you keep them slowed with Rylai's Crystal Scepter. The main reason behind this item though is its passive. Without factoring in defenses, one transfusion combo + an auto attack with all these items will do 1297 damage (.6*592.54 + 99 + 592.54). Keep in mind, during that time, you can use all your other abilities on them, and can repeat that every 3 seconds. That means, without factoring in defenses, and attacks, in 9 seconds (with this combo alone) you can do 3891 damage. It might just be me, but I like that seeing as it's 3 spell casts and 3 auto attacks. Great item.

**********************************Optional*******************************
I haven't really done too much here. Still working on it.
My replacement for the Void Staff. I took a look tonight and realized, this is a good item. You're getting the same amount of APand even some magic resistance... This is a beautiful item.

Summoner Spells

Use these spells. They will make your game if used right.

Amazing skill. Use this to chase down or escape from your enemies.

Great DoT. If you pop this on a low health enemy, you can run away and laugh when they drop from that wonderful DoT. Also, a perfect counter to heal. Try to time it right before they pop it and laugh at them as their heal does next to nothing Watch out for counters such as Banshee's Veil

Secondary Spells, depending upon preference.

Wonderful escape and chase skill for short distances. In the long run, ghost will work better, but it's still a good spell.

Great if the enemy team is heavy melee carries. You'll slow the hell out of them, and be immune to auto attacks. What more could you want?

Vladimir's Spells

Your main spell. I nickname this "Spam-fusion" do to the ability to spam it once you reach level 5 in it. You can do massive amounts of damage with this, along with heal yourself.

**Note: this takes 20% of your CURRENT health. Be careful, you could do yourself some serious harm. This is perhaps Vlad's most versatile attack. It's extremely effective, both offensively and defensively. Knowing how to use this attack properly will put you very much ahead of other Vlad players and most other players in general. To escape or chase, pop ghost first, and then pool. This will give you much more speed to either catch the running champion or retreat to safety. Also, you will not want to use this on minions until you do enough damage to completely life steal the cost back. I see many Vlads do this early game and all it does is drain their health and it doesn't do too much to the minions. Stick with Tides early game. Also, the damage on this works a bit differently to the other spells you have. and also works much to the favor of this build. Besides being affected by the normal AP, it also does additional damage (15%) based on your bonus health that is received from Vlad's passive from stacking AP. So basically, your AP helps you twice with this attack. Lastly, NEVER initiate a fight with this spell, the cost will put you at a disadvantage, wait until the enemies have lowered your health a bit and the surprise them with the massive power and lifesteal of this great attack.

This is a massive AoE spell. Hit this, and it'll hurt the nearest enemies. You can spam this for massive damage. It's a great spell, just really underestimated.

This is your ultimate, and what an ultimate it is. I recommend holding this for team fights. When you get into a team, if you can hit the whole team with this, your team is pretty much guaranteed victory. Always initiate with this. This allows your up to 18% more damage for 5 seconds, then at the end, take a HUGE chunk of their health bar out... This is a team fight tide turner. Learn to use this well, and you'll be winning quite often.

Minion Aggro

Every players nightmare. I have a certain friend that pulls minion aggro constantly, if this happens, all the minions in the area will start attacking you. If you pull minion aggro, immediately run until they aren't attacking you. Don't let them get you, it's really frustrating, and although it is fairly rare for it to happen, it can kill you if you're not paying attention, especially early game.

Early Game

At this stage in the game all you want to be doing is harassing. Run in, pop Transfusion, retreat and auto-attack minions, after the cooldown refreshes, rinse and repeat. This will without fail wear down any mana casters as once they run out of mana, they won't be able to do anything to you. As more melee champions, just harass them while kiting the hell out of them.

Mid Game

Mid Game starts at level 9. You will have maxed out Transfusion now, and now have quite a bit of power. You can start going for kills now, but stay cautious. You're not a tank, no matter what people say. You are a beefy caster, and if caught out in mid game, you're probably going to die.

Late Game

Your late game starts the moment you get Void Staff. You're now very strong, and should be able to take on most champions. Watch out for champions like Garen, if they Silence/Stun you, you're in a very bad position, and will likely die. You can now do essentially whatever you want, and the map is yours as long as you are not under leveled.

Turret Diving

If you're chasing an enemy down, and they run behind there turret and start to laugh, thinking, "Hahaha! I just got away! Kill robbed!" Think again. You are armed well enough to destroy these kinds of players. Make sure they are on under 500 health and you are level 10+ if you want to do this.
Run at them and hit them with Transfusion then Tides of Blood. If they are still alive pop Ignite on them, then drop into Sanguine Pool and run away. Sanguine Pool will drop turret aggression, allowing you to survive, and maybe pick up a nice, easy kill.
Counters include
Banshee's Veil If you used Transfusion first, guess what, it did no damage.
Soraka Nidalee etc. They can heal. It's annoying.
Mordekaiser's shield can stop your spells if he hits you with a spell as you run in.
**Note: These are not all the counters to it, simply some examples.**

Misc

Thanks to Xylph for reminding me about this. You want to ward dragon, and other buffs. If you can keep the enemy from getting these, you'll cripple them.
You'll also want to pick up Elixir of Fortitude and Elixir of Brilliance They'll buff you quite a bit.

Summary

Vlad is a great champion if played right, he's also very fun to play. I hope you enjoyed my guide, please rate and comment (constructive please). Thank you for reading this and good luck all. Also, thank you to AFKwithyoursister For helping me put some stuFF into words and typing it. (my F key is broken as I type this, sorry >.<)

~Slauwwter