Hey all it's my first build so be fair with me, starring Vladimir

RATE AND COMMENT MY GUIDE PLEASE :)
Follow that guide and make your enemies FACEPALMING :D

Its an all-in-one build that will help you pretty much especially if you are new on Vladimir.

Fame and glory are sure thing if you read this guide step by step!

But remember... Don't over do it! Don't rush much, try not to be the target of enemies' ganks!

Any critisism is accepted since I think that it would make me better and could help me make more and more builds :D

THE CRIMSON REAPER

Vladimir is quite OP champion in my opinion. Due to Transfusion you will find yourself staying more in a lane and due to Sanguine Pool you will find yourself escaping easier ^_^

Things to remember: With almost no armor or Magic resistance you won't last long against a group of enemy champions. But luckily if you engaged them with your own team as well, with Hemoplague they should be dead long before you ever even need to run away.

Choose your gear wiselly and remember it depends on your enemies !

I guess on that build you can stand more in battle, the item sequence I recommend is this one.


Of course you can change the items, talents or runes as you wish if you are too squishy or do not deal much damage.

Pros:
>Great team fighter
>Super beefy
>Great damage output
>Self-Sufficent,only has to go back for items
>Able to dodge 10+ spells with a well timed Sanguine Pool
>Able to dodge most forms of Crowd Control if played properly

Cons:
>Targetted with CC often
>Often played poorly by people who don't understand how to utilize him
>Referred to as "one of the easiest champions in the game""
>Extremely volatile early game

As i said before you can combine your runes as you wish but I think that what I recommend you is the best!

OPTIONAL RUNES :
--> NUKE :D
--> Nuke ^.^
--> Cooldown Reduction <3
--> If you want flat hp from 1 level even.
--> If you find yourself needing more magic penetration!
--> More nuke! :D


But that all depends on your gameplay and how you like your champion to be like :)
Check prices at any time :D

Well Vladimir goes either Defence or Utility masteries. I guess if you go Utility that will make you more squishy so I don't really recommend it, especially in higher levels that you meet more experienced enemies.

I guess Presence of the Master amount of cd reduction will be covered if you go for an item that provides you cd reduction along with something else useful for Vladimir :D

That's another reason why I prefer Defence to Utility ^^

If you see yourself having a problem with those items you can switch them, depends on enemy team. If they have a tank you should surely go for Void Staff so that you get the Spell penetration needed. If you have many caster opponents you should go for some more Spell resistance so go for Abyssal Mask for example.

If you find yourself not having a problem surviving vs enemies or just not being their primary target and you would like to deal more damage to them, skip Rylai's Crystal Scepter and go straight ahead for Rabadon's Deathcap !!

Now about Lich Bane, I was about to place it in the guide but I thought it may not be the best for you, since if someone sees you are using it they might call you a noob or something since you don't use mana. If you are not influenced by others' opinion then go for it for sure :)

I also love because of cd reduction :P

Last but not least, If in early game you see yourself killing many enemies get a Mejai's Soulstealer and your AP will get "Up to the sky" ;)

If you are a Warmog's Armor freak, that won't work. Check Vladimir's passive... Ability Power will give you 1.8 hp / 1 A.P. Think of it!! At least that is my opinion.

This is a chapter by itself since many people disagree about which boots to choose. In my opinion the sequence should be like this one:

< < < = .

Depends on your gamestyle and your opponents, but you can check prices too.
Be sure before you choose to buy any of these boots!

Ignite provides the necessary tool to prevent healing and regeneration when trying to focus down a carry. It also provides that last bit of damage you need to score a First Blood! There's nothing more frustrating than an enemy getting away with less than 100 hit points.



Ghost provides great mobility, and great tools for escaping and or chasing down enemies. It also provides the ability to catch up to team mates as they might be entering into combat. The most important benefit as it stacks with Sanguine Pool, which is absolutely awesome!

I highly recommend those too spells but you could also change Ghost to Flash for example if you find yourself more comfortable with it ;)
If you see in advance that you have survivability problems due to hard to avoid CC's you should also try Cleanse.
Makes it hard to get ganked if you Clairvoyance in a brush if you think someone is hiding in :D

Spells that you should never get:
Heal --> Never got that spell. I hate noobs that get it just to have some heal because of lack of skills. You even have your own heal Transfusion
Clarity --> No mana - NO Clarity :)
Teleport --> You got self heal, so you just teleport in order to buy items. You don't need it at all, especially if you go 3vs3.
Fortify --> Not a Vladimir spell, maybe some tank could get it but that doesn't happen a lot even!
Revive --> Hard to die on 1vs1 so you won't need it at all if you play correctly since you can heal yourself or use a potion at low level.
Rally --> C'mon! Noone uses that spell, even melee champions. Why should you? :P

1) Transfusion
2) Tides of Blood
3) Transfusion
4) Sanguine Pool
5) Transfusion
6) Hemoplague
7) Transfusion
8) Sanguine Pool
9) Transfusion
10) Tides of Blood
11) Hemoplague
12) Sanguine Pool
13) Tides of Blood
14) Sanguine Pool
15) Tides of Blood
16) Hemoplague
17) Sanguine Pool
18) Tides of Blood

(Innate): Every 40 points of bonus health gives Vladimir 1 ability power and every 1 point of ability power gives Vladimir 1.8 bonus health.

This ability is freaking awesome! It's also the reason that influences me to getting 21 points in defense, and only 9 in offense. Once you get a few ability power items and start pushing that 500-600AP mark your health will in turn be peaking over 4,000!! You become very deadly, and nearly impossible to kill if played right! =)




(Active): Vladimir drains the lifeforce of his target, dealing magic damage and healing himself for 25% (+0.25 per ability power) of that amount.
No cost
Range: 600
Cooldown: 12 / 10 / 8 / 6 / 4 seconds
Magic Damage: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+0.6 per ability power)

This ability is Vladimir's bread and butter. It's imperative that you try your best to reduce your cooldowns as much as possible by getting the Golem buff early on, or purchasing the Elixir of Brilliance before large battles. As I mentioned above, even though you will be a bit more tankier than a typical Vladimir build, adding Spirit Visage to this build makes this spell even more effective thus giving you the ability to really outlive your opponents.




(Active): Vladimir unleashes a torrent of blood dealing magic damage to nearby enemies.
Each cast gives him an Empowered stack (max 4), increasing his healing and regeneration by 8% each for 10 seconds. Additionally, his next tides of Blood deals 25% more damage and costs 50% more health per stack.
Cooldown: 8 seconds
Area of Effect: 620
Cost: 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 Health
Magic Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+0.45 per ability power)

This ability is very important to spam and use often. It increases your healing and regeneration, and also does a fair amount of damage to all targets in close range. This is your primary ability for farming and can really come in handy. When combined with Spirit Visage your Transfusion will be healing you for insane amounts of health!




(Active): Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood for 2 seconds, becoming untargetable and slowing enemies above him by 40%, and deals magic damage over the duration plus heals himself for 12.5% of that amount.
Cost: 20% current health
Area of Effect:
Cooldown: 26 / 23 / 20 / 17 / 13 seconds
Magic Damage: 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+15% of bonus Health)

In my honest opinion, Sanguine Pool is by far the best ability in the game right now. I will even admit that it's imbalanced and probably should be nerfed, at least the way I use it. Generally like I have mentioned, I like to save it for last, however it has many uses, such as "dodging" negative spells/effects. That's right, when pooling no one can actually target you. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Now, other than it's defensive capabilities, it also provides an amazing offensive ability, by slowing your opponents and dishing out a ton of damage in the process. Oh yeah and all the while it's healing you...

Now because it is your main escape, please don't blow it trying to score an easy kill. If your patient the combination of Hemoplague, Transfusion, and Ignite will earn you plenty of kills! =)



(Active): Vladimir infects the target area with a virulent plague which increases the damage nearby enemies take for 5 seconds. After these 5 seconds, infected enemies take magic damage.
Cooldown: 150 / 135 / 120 seconds
Cost: 15% current health
Range: 700
Area of Effect:
Extra Damage Taken: 14 %
Magic Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 (+0.70 per ability power)

This ability is what makes Vladimir absolutely deadly! Generally at level 6 I will rush to either top or bottom depending on which lane is being pushed by our opponents. Upon arriving I usually dart in, use my other abilities saving Sanguine Pool for last, tossing Ignite on one of them, and as soon as they begin to turn to run/escape I then cast Hemoplague. Like I mentioned earlier, if they are in fact running then I will use Sanguine Pool to prevent their escape, otherwise I save it incase mid is coming down to counter-gank etc.

I highly recommend playing with some sort of tank with a good stun, aoe stun/slow, or taunt ability. Without having those types of abilities you will be focused down quickly due to your ability to dish out a lot of damage. The following below are examples of who you should try to group up!

Amumu Cho'Gath Kog'Maw Galio Rammus Nunu & Willump Kennen Akali Veigar Shen . If noone of those is available you should be in the same lane as a quick moving ranged so that you can get enemy minions down quicker and push as much as possible.

Dont ask why but I would just love laning with this hero although I have never achieved to :/

Try getting last hit on minions. Needed for Vladimir, needed for any champion you choose to play. Provides you great money pool and it's easier to get the items I recommend and start pewpew enemies ;)

Jungling... I don't think that it is nessesary or recommended for Vladimir but if you wish so and your teammates let you to, do it :P

Tips & Tricks

Just a brief list of tips and tricks that you should use while playing Vladimir.

1. You can use Sanguine Pool to Permanently drop aggro from turrets EVEN AFTER damaging enemy champions, AS long as their is another target for the turret to fire upon. Ex: A friendly minion, pet, or even another champion.

2. Your Hemoplague has an excellent reach, See someone recalling too close to their turret but are low health? You can cast your ultimate on them from outside the turret's range as long as you hit them with just the outside edge of the spell.

3. Level 13+ Don't be afraid to turret dive, but do it wiselly! Run in and smack the enemy with a Transfusion or your Ultimate and then use Sanguine Pool for an easy escape. By level 13+ your Sanguine Pool cooldown should be low enough so that it will be up the next time you need it.

4. Never initiate with your Sanguine Pool. Save it for extra damage after your ultimate(Level 13+ So the cooldown is shorter) or during iffy battles to help with your retreat.

5. Gank! Vladamir is an excellent ganker. If you are playing center, watch the top and bottom lanes constantly and work with your teammates to set up traps for the enemy champions who push a little too far into your territory. Try to get behind them and use your Sanguine Pool (If it is safe to do so) to slow them down for your friendly champs.

6. Average speed melee chasing you? Do you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter? If so, Cast Transfusion on every cooldown while running. The slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter will help you to keep your distance while allowing you to get your health up and maybe even get the advantage on your opponent.

Many ways to play on Vladimir, depends on the lane you are going to play to and the game you are planning to join (3vs3 or 5vs5)

LANING
Generally I would recommend going to the "Middle" lane, thus giving you the opportunity to farm, possibly score a fist blood, and out level your opponents, which is the most important part.

Allow me to explain why, if you can hit level 6 before anyone else does you will be able to utilize Vladimir's ultimate Hemoplague. So basically the trick here is to hit level 6, use your Ghost summoner spell and rush to either the top lane, or bottom lane. You will want to pick the lane that has the most potential for success, ie, your opponents are over extended, or low on health.

COMBAT
Now you should be at least 1 level above your opponents, and the lane you have chosen to go to, should be set up for a gank. You should have pinged on the opponent that you want to strike first, giving your team the heads up to be ready. Here is a step by step play.

1. Hide in the a nearby forest waiting for the right moment.
2. Rush in behind your opponents cutting off their primary exit.
3. Initiate combat by using Transfusion on the enemy that you want to kill first.
4. Next begin spamming Tides of Blood each time the cooldown has reset, thus increasing stacks, and adding more damage to the mix.
5. Cast your ultimate Hemoplague on your opponents, specifically on the lowest health target.
6. Cast Transfusion and Tides of Blood again increasing more damage done.
7. Use Ignite on the lowest health enemy who has been inflicted with Hemoplague.
8. Cast Sanguine Pool to either slow your opponents from escaping, or swooping past their tower, or leaving before you take counter-damage.
9. Recast Transfusion on the last enemy standing, if no one is left, cast it on the nearest creep to regain some health before leaving.

You should have been able to score at least one kill by yourself, if your team was helping you should be able to get a double kill without any causalities. You will want to return to Mid and prepare to do this again the next time your ultimate is up.

TEAM FIGHTS
Team fights are a lot of fun with Vladimir, he has the ability to really change the outcome in most games and i'll give you a breakdown on how and why.

First, we need to acknowledge how team oriented his abilities are, starting with his ultimate, Hemoplague. Enemies inflicted by Hemoplague will take up to 18% more damage from ALL SOURCES.

Second, his ability to nuke his opponents quickly and often, while keeping his own health full, via Transfusion. This is great for baiting your opponents or trying to cause one of them to get dangerously low thus giving your team the initial advantage.

Third, his ability to snare entire teams giving your team the ability to land all of their primary attacks, stuns, and snares on your opponents using Sanguine Pool.

Fourth, if all of that wasn't enough, Vladimir has the ability to continuously do area effect damage to all of your opponents using Tides of Blood, which will constantly weaken your opponents helping your team score that ACE!

That was my build for Vladimir. Not long not short, that was it.

I hope you enjoyed it and that it will be helpful to you in the near future!

Remember it was created in 18/7/2011 so it must be of the most up-to-date Vladimir builds.

Please... Don't Forget to vote and comment! Thank you for reading.

Yours, Neymar77