Hi everyone! My name is The Goat Prince, and I've been playing on the EUW server for a year now. Vladimir is one of my favourite champions, because of the fun plays he can do (and for the rages of the enemy how I escaped with my lovely pool). And since his rework, I believe he is stronger than ever, and with a correct build and use, he can easily carry a game. Nobody should underestimate our Vampire and I hope when you finish reading this guide, he will be a force to be reckoned with in your hands, just as in mine. So let's get to it!

PROS - High sustain - Really good farming thanks to Q - Scales into late game (AP+HP) - Dive and escape potential - Fairly low CD in late game - Tanky with tons of damage

CONS - Weak early game and long CD - Vulnerable to CC, doesn't have built-in CC - Escape depends on W, other then that he is immobile - Awful skins (yeah, I really think that's a disadvantage :P)

Vladimir's weaknesses are in early game, and if that's paired with a counter, the whole game will be a suffer. But if you manage to survive until the late game, let the bloodbath begin, because you have crazy damage, healing and low cooldowns and to top that, you are tanky as well thanks to your passive.
I think most of the runes are pretty self-explanatory, we need them to balance out Vladimir's early game. If you want, you can change armor, for scaling health, but I think our passive, Crimson Pact and Rylai's Crystal Scepter is good for that, so I prefer this setup.

We need to use Q and E constantly, especially in teamfights, so some CDR is the solution for that. Some flat CDR to feel it in the early game, and some scaling to late game.

As I said, I like armor to take less damage from AD top laners like Irelia, but you can change it to scaling health, if you want. Some MP so our Q and E hurt even more!

AP AP AP, as any other mage, Vlad's abilities scale based on ability power, so we need as much of them as possibly to make our healing more potent and our abilites hurt more.

I think it's pretty obvious what to choose, but you can change them to your own playstyle, you can grab Ignite insted of Teleport to create even more kill potential.

Flash is a must have on most champions, especially someone like Vladimir, who is immobile and his only escape, Sanguine Pool has a fairly long cooldown. So we need it for escapes, or to catch an enemy, who managed to escape. Teleport is most common for toplaners. Since top lane is mostly chill and farming, until mid for Vlad, he needs to get back to lane as fast as he can. Plus it's really useful to gank bot or split-push in late game, which Vladimir excels at. You can choose Ignite as well, instead of Teleport, only if you are certain you destroy your lane opponent and kill him/her easily. Also Ignite, combined with our ult, Hemoplague can mostly secure the kill for us.

Every 40 points of bonus health gives Vladimir 1 ability power and every 1 point of ability power gives Vladimir 1.4 bonus health. These bonuses do not stack with themselves. This is Vladimir's passive, which helps him get tanky in late game, even without building HP. So basically he gets tanky just from building full AP items, which really makes the item choices easier. But it works the other way around as well, he gains AP from HP items, like Spirit Visage for example. This, and his insane sustain, helps him stay in teamfights as long as he wants.

Vladimir drains the lifeforce of his target, dealing 75/90/105/120/135 (+55% of ability power) magic damage and healing himself for 15/25/35/45/55 (+55% of ability power). After casting Transfusion twice, Vladimir gains Crimson Rush for 2.5 seconds once Transfusion comes off cooldown. While under the effects of Crimson Rush, Vladimir gains a short burst of speed and his next Transfusion deals double damage and heals for 40-240 (at level 1-18) (+4% missing health per 100 ability power). This is Vladimir's Q, and his most important ability, that's why we max this first. Our vampire's bread and butter ability, his form of sustain and poke. We have to spam this ability, especially in teamfights, this is the reason we need as much CDR as possible. And since his rework, it has a critical damage, so Crimson Rush is best used to poke enemy, because we get even more HP and they lose even more than from a usual Q. Also this ability is a really good for farming, because it has no cost. If you are not on full HP and the enemy figured out your little technique of always hitting them with this crit Q (Vladimir turns red when Crimson Rush is avaible), you it on the minions, because it's far too precious to just waste it. And if you are on full HP, best used after a E, to restore the Health, spent on that ability, and this combo makes for a pretty good poke as well.

Vladimir sinks into a pool of blood for 2 seconds, becoming untargetable and gaining 37.5% bonus movement speed which decays rapidly over 1 second. Enemies above him are slowed by 40% and take 20/33.75/47.5/61.25/75 (+2% of bonus health) magic damage every half second, while Vladimir heals himself for 15% of the damage done. Vladimir's W, which makes him untargetable, but unfortunately he can still take DoT damage, like Ignite or Noxious Trap, and the Ignite even denies us that little healing we can get from the ability. But this ability makes Vladimir capable of divings or escaping a gank, use this to dodge the most damage you can. Unfortunately it has a pretty long CD, especially in early game, so make sure to use it in the exact time you have to, because a wasted pool often ends up in one more death. Giving that we use this ability to dodge things, we max it the last time.

Vladimir charges up a reservoir of blood, paying 2.5%-10% of his maximum health (based on charge duration) over 1 second to increase Tides of Blood's damage. Vladimir is slowed after the initial 1 second if he continues to charge. On release (or after 1.5 seconds), Vladimir unleashes a nova of blood missiles, dealing between 30/45/60/75/90 (+35% of ability power)(+2.5% of max health) and 60/90/120/150/180 (+70% of ability power)(+10% of max health) magic damage (based on the charge duration) to the first enemy hit in a large area around him. If charged for at least 1 second, enemies hit by Tides of Blood are also slowed by 40% for 0.5 seconds. This is Vladimir's E, which we max second, after Q. Really useful to waveclear if you charge it to the maximum, but only use it if you are safe, or have enough HP, because it usually ends with you having a lot less HP even if you use your Q. Other then that, it is mostly used to poke enemy, although be careful, because minions "tank" its damage and the result from that is HP loss and if you are unlucky maybe some poke from the enemy to punish you for your mistake. If you can charge to the maximum when you have Crimson Rush, because you can gain most of your HP loss back just after casting this. Also as a poke, or maybe even as an escape it's a really good idea to cast E, then pool as the enemy is chasing you, which chunks a good portion of their HP, then you can top it with a Q to max out the max, and gain back your lost HP.

Vladimir infects the target area with a virulent plague. Affected enemies take 10% increased damage for 4 seconds. After 4 seconds, infected enemies take 150/250/350 (+70% of ability power) magic damage, while Vladimir is healed for the same amount (healing increases by 50% for each additional champion hit beyond the first). Vladimir's ultimate(R), which can secure a kill and really useful in teamfights. Use it wisely, because its CD is really long (but the 45% CDR we have in late game helps that), and misplacing it can be really frustrating. Also, since the rework, that plus healing we get from it really helps us to stay longer in teamfights or duels, and hit as many enemies as you can with the ultimate, because it increases the healing, which could be vital at the end of the teamfight. Because it increases the damage taken by the enemy, always use your ultimate first in your skill sequence if you fight someone.

In Vladimir's case, there are a few starting items to consider, depending on the enemy you face, but most of the times I prefer the second one.

Doran's Shield is really good against AD enemies, who use AA as poke ( Kayle), or single target spells like Teemo. It is considered a safe start, bacuse of the HP it gives and the HP regen, so use this start if the top laner counters you and you need to play safe. Amplifying Tome really helps your sustain, take this if you probably counter your enemy, and want to crush with even more early game damage. Plus you can build Rylai's Crystal Scepter earlier from this, which makes mid game a little bit easier. I don't really like this item, as a start, but just like Amplifying Tome, this can make our building easier later on. But opposed to AT, this is a rather safe start, because it gives us HP, so choose this if the enemy counters you. These items are core to your build, because their stats match your kit, build them as fast as you can.

The best boots for you, because it gives CDR for a fairly low price, and movement speed which really helps in escaping or going back to lane as fast as possible. If you prefer even more damage, you can build Sorcerer's Shoes, but I prefer this one. It is a must, because of the passive, which makes our amazing sustain even better, it's really good if they have an AP mid, jungler or even top, like Rumble. If the enemy team is full AD, you may lose this item. Now this item is the must-must, in every game, it gives us AP and HP and a wonderful passive, which slows enemies hit by our abilities. This is really good for catching an escaping enemy for example. Build this as your first, or second item if possible. These are situational items, so choose the correct one depending on your enemies and game. Most of them are defensive items, but firstly I discuss the rather offensive ones.

I don't really like this item, and I think, with good positioning you don't even need that active. Also considering my usual build, we already reach the max CDR, so it's unnecessary. But the stats are good and it's a viable choice for Vladimir. This really boosts your damage, so if you have enough money for this, you can alaways grab it, you will see an amazing growth of the done damage thanks to it. If not, grab Void Staff instead, that is a good item on Vladimir either. This item's passive matches well, with Rilay's, so the two of them together equals massive amount damage, and also matches our ultimate. But if that's not needed, you can build Luden's Tempest to get more AP and mobility, choose one. This is a really good item, especially if they have a fed AP midlaner or jungler. Also it gives us AP, so it's offensive and defensive as well. But don't forget that Spirit Visage gives MR and some boots can as well, so there are easier(cheaper) ways to get MR. This, just like Abyssal is a defensive and offensive item in one, just gives armor and a passive, which matches our Sanguine Pool, useful against enemies like Fiddlesticks or Renekton, because immediately after W, we can be invulnerable to deny them as much damage as possible. Randuin's Omen is now clearly a tanky, defensive item, which helps against fed carries, like Miss Fortune or Lucian. If the ADC uses AA, not abilities as much(for example Varus or Ashe), I recommend choosing Thornmail instead. Banshee's gives us HP and even more MR if we need it. It's passive is really useful against teamfight initaiting abilites like Rocket Grab or Dark Binding. If you need more armor, grab Sunfire Aegis, but i don't really think its passive matches our kit. This item gives us tons of HP, and the passive works really well with our kit, because it gives us even more sustain. Although I don't it's worth building this on Vladimir, but there are cases, where we could benefit from these stats.

EARLY GAME

Early game for Vladimir is most of the time Farmville, because of your weak early game. Farming can hard, because of our low AD, but Transfusion balances that out, as it's great to last hit the minions. Note that the crit Transfusion can kill minions ~50% of their HP. Maybe early is hard for you, but don't forget your strenght, which is your sustain. You don't use mana, your poke costs you nothing, and it heals even and probably your enemy has a worse sustain than you. Which opens a window of opportunities. Push your lane and gank mid, if they need help, or just do it anyway, because you're nice like that. If you know the location of the enemy jungler, you can easily do some counter-jungling. Or if you have TP, you can teleport down bot, to secure a kill and push the turret. And be back in your lane, just in time (okay, not every one of these, in just one recall, but choose). So even from your weakness, comes something good too. If your early game enables your opponent to gank other lanes, follow them (if you are certain you will get there in time, because if not, you lost CS and experience as well, which is crucial). But the other option is to punish them with a really good push. If it's the other way around (you counter your enemy), you can easily do one of the options above again, help other lanes go counter-jungling, but always keep an eye on your lane, because I know for sure, that when a Riven lives me alone on top lane, to gank mid, she won't have a turret in no time.

MID/LATE GAME

Now this is your time to shine. You got tanky enough, thanks to your passive, you have enoough damage, your heal is even stronger, and your CDs are low. From now on, you are really strong, and it really depends on the game, what you should do. If you are doing good on your lane, it's pushed, help others, it's good for them and you may even get some kills or assists (=more gold $.$). If you are behind, try to push your lane as much as you can, but if your enemy starts to gank others, go help them. Because Vladimir excels at split-pushing, your maxed Tides of Blood with a few AA and Transfusion can almost always clear a whole minionwave in seconds, so you can easily reach the enemy base in no time. Don't forget to communicate with your teammates in this case, because getting a turrets half HP and getting killed for that not always worth it. So use pings and wards if possible, and don't be greedy ("I'm just gonna get the base turret as well; oh they have red,I might as well take it"), if you know the enemy is missing, because the chances are they are going for you.

TEAMFIGHTS

Usually teamfights happen throughout mid and late game, which is really good for you, because you are strongest during those times. There are two roles you can have in teamfights, as Vladimir. If your team lacks a tank, you should build tank, and your usual build is not enough for that. And don't be afraid do give up AP, because of Crimson Pact we can still get some AP, from our tanky builds. In these cases, you stand in the frontline and you absorb as much damage as possible, if see your HP decreasing really fast, just use Sanguine Pool, and get some HP from jungle monsters or other enemies with Transfusion. But even with builds, you are not a real tank, and your kit is not the best for that role, so let's hope you won't have to do that. The other role is the usual AP mage offtank. In these cases, you can be the one to start the teamfight, dropping your Hemoplague on the enemy team. Do if they are close to each other, so you can hit as many as possible, because of the increased damage dealt to them and healing you get after it. So after you placed your ultimate, let the show begin! Thanks to your ultimate, all your teammates deal increased damage to the enemy, your job is now to focus the fed midlaner or ADC, first use Tides of Blood (don't forget, that other enemies or even minions in front of the specific person can take the damage instead), and then Transfusion. After this, they probably start focusing you, so activate Tides of Blood again just before Sanguine Pool, so damaging them, while you are untargetable. After this use Transfusion again, which if you are mathed it out correctly can even be a critical one. If your team focused well, and you too, hopefully you can come out of teamfights winning with this combo, so let's see again: > > > + >

I hope I could help you understand this wonderful champion a little bit, and you found this guide useful. If there is any question you have, or some feedback, don't be afraid to write. Thank you for reading my Vladimir guide, if you liked it and it was gelpful don't forget to upvote it! :)

- Match-up section is still under construction, hopefully I can add more soon, and if there are enough match-ups, I'll do a section in the guide for them, which will make it easier to read.