I am finding Volibear really strong atm. mostly because of the recent change in Heal (summoner spell). Now giving HP+MS boost (even to an ally) and best of all removing healing reduction effects! (Great for Voli's passive ofc.)

Heal thereby removes Voli's weakness against ignite and high dmg early game. And is also great for top ganks (both ways) and teamfights.

My combination of masteries and runes means that even with a defensive buy, Voli is doing great dmg. Atleast with his (W).

This build is meant for playing versus melee champs without stuns. Playing versus renekton or irelia i would use 9-21 masteries and more defensive runes.

I will start with an explanation of my Masteries and Runes. Then move on to the strongest sides of Voli.

Masteries:
I believe my 13-17 masteries are good vs most champs. but ofc. if a full tank is very needed, or as mentioned above playing vs. champs with stun, or your enemy is a ranged champ 9-21 could be the better choice.

With 13-17 i am boosting most of Volis better sides. Im letting his(W) do 7% more dmg to targets below 50 % health. Also getting a bit of AD and AS from Offense is nice,

But i still get the best of defense masteries i reckon; Second Wind, Perseverance and HP is the main thing.

Having Feast and Unyielding while buying dorans shield and blade early u have great lane control since you can exchange AA's, farm, sustain extc.

Runes+ Early tactics:


I am using quite alot pr. lvl runes, this might make Voli quite weak at lvl 1-2 but hp regen quickly compencates for an early fight and this is where i bait then use (Q) so my enemy gets hit by minions, do a basic attack and then go back. This should make wave 3 be quite close to ally tower, do a (Q)-(E) combo and get a tower hit on them before using (W). Mainly let your enemy push and stall with (E). Sure this depends on which enemy champion, but
Very early game(1-4): play defensive and bait
Early game(5-10): Take the fights possible, aggresive play without going all-in.
Mid game(11-15): Mostly do engages and baits all over the map.
Late game(16-): Getting Either: AOE items (locket, Zeke's, Randuim's), Full tank, or Off tank.

Playing this way should ensure a good farm, lvl, and stats. Which is needed for Volibear!

With this build Voli can be in total control of a top lane. Atleast vs anything melee.

The new Heal summoner spell is just great for this champ. Giving HP, MS boost (even to an ally) and best of all it removes healing reduction effects!
Since u should be able to remove an possible ignite from your passive u can fight most champions early game.
Furthermore if the enemy dares to gank you :) theres a good chance u can get a double kill!
Having summ's, ultimate (R) and passive ready makes Voli VERY strong lvl 6-10.

With passive heal and flash voli is a very hard kill and as mentioned 2v1 is viable vs most enemy champs. Furthermore Volis (W) is just great to keep enemy low and at distance. Farming can be a bit difficult but if u can keep (W) stack at atleast 1 at all times you are pretty safe since a (Q) - (E) - (W) combo will do massive dmg.
A high hp regen pr.5 sec combined with Dorans blade+shield you can out-regen any champion.

Therefore my general strategy is: Fight everytime (W) is ready. The cooldown is quite long but if you save youre other abilities u can always escape.
This should be done while standing in front line, farming and stopping enemy from "easy" farm.

Teamwork is very important and quite tricky with Voli in general, espacially with this build (not fulltank) which is a good choice having another tank in your team, also having team mates with good gap closers are quite important.

In late game plays you must be carefull with full engages, try to help ally carry, or go for enemy adc. Popping (R) early in the fight is escential.

Picking Volibear early in picking order can be good, saying "top or jungel" and then adjust to team and enemy pick. I see Voli being really strong in ranked, with the right team ofc. but his great diving powers and crazy regen will always makes him quite a game winner in mid game.

I really think most of Voli's weaknesses is diminished with this build.
Mostly by Heal, but also having dmg % and regen runes.

Would appreciate some feedback.


TroySin