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Spells:
Flash
Exhaust
Ability Order
The Relentless Storm (PASSIVE)
Volibear Passive Ability
Introduction
As of November 29th, the new champion

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Pros:- Volibear is tanky- Can shut down low life targets - Excellent tracker - Good initiate - Can solo any AD champ |
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Cons:- Less resistant in teamfight- Except ![]() - Very dependant on early game farm / kills (costy build) - 1 -2 |
First off, let's see his abilities in details :

Volibear's movement speed increase, enabling him to damage the enemy and to fling him behind
This ability is more likely the most suited for tracking and chasing an enemy champion. You do want to have it when a carry try to escape the teamfight. This ability only gives movement speed bonus while chasing an enemy. Running away won't give any bonus speed

Volibear instantly deal damage to a single target, scaling according to its bonus health points.
This ability is going to be the one you will max. You just do want to see how you can destroy an enemy champion with it. This skill must however be used when the target have less than 50% of its health points so you can truly benefit from it.

Volibear lets out a powerful roar that damages and slows enemies. Minions and monsters are feared as well.
This ability is well suited for teamfights and ganks. You slow the enemy and fear the minions, which allows you to track the enemy without worrying about your health by minions.

Volibear channels the power of the storm causing his attacks to blast his targets with lightning that bounces to other nearby enemies.
Awesome. This ability is to be used in teamfights as much as you can. The bonus damage dealth is great, and it does it to 4 other targets, which are more likely to be champions.

Volibear heals rapidly for a few seconds when his health drops to a critical level.
This makes Volibear an over powering champion. More you have life, more the passive heals. How many times will the AD carry will try to kill you because he sees you low life? As much as he dies!
Recommended Runes
Runes





This quintessence allows Volibear to be fast. Why choosing Quintessence of Swiftness over any others? Because Volibear makes an incredible tracker to bring down an opponent. With three Quintessence of Swiftness you are going to run fast, fast!
Greater Mark of DesolationGreater Mark of Desolation
You do want to deal damage. Whereas



Greater Seal of DefenseGreater Seal of Defense
In any case, Volibear has no choice but to be either a melee or a tank. That is why some Armor per level allows you to be tanky. Why choosing Armor per level instead of flat armor ? Because the build is focusing on health. You start tanky, and end tanky.

Same as above, the Greater Seal of Defense, but this time we're focusing on some magic resist. Who knows, maybe the other team will have some good AP carry!
Recommendable Runes
This is more depending on your game style. However, here is few runes that would be, in my humble opinion, be fit on Volibear. Any Flat armor / magic resist is also viable.
Runes





Some good old flat hp Quintessences. I totally do approve. With Volibear's Frenzy, it does suit well and enables him to stay a great tank early game. So if you feel going full tank, those Quintessences are a great choice.

Are you an ability spammer, or is it just you are staying alone in your lane too long? Well, these are surprinsigly good. Seals of Clarity gives you just a good amount of mana regen all along the game. But I'd say I put these recommended, but Volibear doesn't consume a lot of mana. So it is based on your play style.

Feeling more tanky? You can replace the


Maybe you prefer having flat magic resist early game? However, the bonus it gives compared to



Just as the


This mastery surprised me well. It is very offensive early game and very defensive late game. While exhausted, the victims are completely useless. Less armor and magic resist. If you took

Greed, Swiftness and Awareness
Since we're going offtank, we'll need to be ready to sacrifice a couple of minions. However, with the fast experience gained and the gold accumulated, you stay in the game. As of Swiftness, I just do feel that Volibear needs it. He's a tracker, after all.
As the rest of the masteries, they more likely to allow you to survive early game, with some decent supplementary armor and magic resist. Because we're offtank, I did not really consider the Offense tree because we're going to use our abilities.
- We'll seek for survivability
- We'll seek for destruction of the enemy
- We'll tank a turret and 2-3 champions
Starting Items
Starting item: Ruby Crystal
Ruby crystal is probably one of the less popular starting items. Usually a champion will probably go for



Alternative starting item: Boots of Speed +
Health Potion
This combo is never a bad start, for almost any character. For Volibear, this is also an excellent start. It enables him to track an enemy early instead of being outranged fast. However, if you are going to use this starting combo, then you are better going off using

First fall back
Heart of Gold
Heart of gold is one of those items that I use the most, since I am often playing tanks and offtanks such as



The first time you are coming back at spawn, you should be able to afford




Giant's Belt
Giant's Belt is a secure item. You won't regret from buying it. Without any doubt you are going to buy it because you want to grab our hand on that


Now you grabbed your hand on Giant's Belt,

Core Items (We're getting serious are we?)
Mercury's Treads
Depending on how well the game goes, I'd priorize Mercury's Treads over






Warmog's Armor +
Atma's Impaler = Atmog
This is too great to be true, but it is. Once you grabbed your "Atmog", this is the part in game where the enemy team should consider to surrender. Or, let put a situation where you get a bear running after you at deathly speed, flipping you within his comrades then..ah, you are dead. Now this is what you are, a beast.
In ordinary games, I do deal around 194 damage, only because of Atma's. Going in fights and doing some crits while flipping people is really fun. See their reactions when they get

Randuin's Omen
Randuin's Omen is a great item for





Situational Core Items
Frozen Mallet
I can consider



However, if the team has a load of, let's say

Sunfire Cape
Sunfire Cape. That's a classic. Dealing some AoE damage ? Sweet. Getting some bonus health, again? Even great! Getting some armor? Oh my, well built are we ? Sunfire cape is an item I'd take (if the other team wouldn't surrender) if the other team starts getting hard on me. I'll just show them my way of thoughts.
Banshee's Veil
Getting more health points, mana points, and some nice magic resist? We're talking now! This item is really good, especially if you are playing against



Atma's Impaler
You have an excellent quantity of health points. Along with


Optional Items
Leviathan (Because you're strong and you know it)
Let get it straight right. If you are playing aggressive and it works, Levathian is an item you may want to consider. You receive a basic 180 health. Ok. You got an early assist, or even a kill? Now you're talking! 32 health per stacks is absolutely great! Fully stacked, you get a total of 820 health points and reduced damage taken of 15%. How can you not consider this if you are good ? The price is rather low once you get the Ruby's Crystal, which makes an early use really interesting.
Do not buy this item if you're past early-game state (aka level 6+). It is not worth, since a


Soul Shroud (Feeling like supporting?)
Yet another item with some nice health points. However, although I am not fan of this item on him, I cannot deny you can help people. Its unique aura gives a great 10% cooldown to you and your allies, as well as some sweet mana regen. In my opinion this item is not too much of a big deal. You should be using this item if you feel like your team is quishy on mana and have a bit much of cooldown reduction.
Thornmail
Okay. At first glance, this item is not optimal for Volibear. Let me convince you otherwise. Although I did not include it in core items, it is an item really powerful against AD champions. You get great armor, and a nice counter. As





Trinity Force
Need to be speedy? Need to be a bit tankier? Need a little more damage, life and mana? This item fits Volibear if you feel a bit more offensive. I'd replace either


Rylai's Crystal Scepter
This item gives good amount of life, few APs and procs little slow. I put this item into Optional because the AP ratio of Volibear isn't high and therefore better items such as






Then, depending on which ability you chose, take the other one. Your third choice is




Recommended Spells
Flash - Your Way Out
This is a spell that I always carry with me. Since you're probably going to initiate some team fights and ganks, Flash is going to be your favorite tool. Wether it is to escape or to track down the few survivors, flash is a standard spell that you wish to use.
Exhaust - It's dead, right?
As offtank, you can afford this spell. It reduces the target's armor by 10 and its magic resist aswell (with the mastery

Along with that, exhaust on a carry renders him useless. 70% reduced damage is big, and 45% reduced ability is also rather good. In a teamfight, your goal is to use exhaust on the carry and to shut him down as soon as possible (usually 3 auto attack +


Optionnal Spells
Ghost - Because minions are doing a wall
How many times you tried to track someone but you were blocked by a minion wall? Ghost is not bad for you, since that is your main role. Tracking someone is your ultimate goal. You cannot afford being blocked by a &?%?! wall full of minions.
Promote - Feeling like pushin'
If you are someone that love pushing a lane hard, promote can be good for you. However, I put it recommended although I'd rarely use it.
Ignite - Securing a kill
If you feel you are never lucky, get ignite. It will allow you to secure
some kills time to time. Why not?
Teleport - Solo'ing like a boss?
If you are solo'ing a lane, then you might desire to get teleport. It might as well helps
your partner for surprise ganks.
Not Recommended
Heal - Wait, what?
Why the hell would you get heal? I mean, your passive

Clarity - Uhm. No.
Yet again, you are not a support. You are lucky since your abilities don't consume a load of mana, unlike many offtank, such as

Revive - Wait, you actually died?!
How can you die with that build, I mean, really...
Clairvoyance
You are not a support. You are technically not supposed to use this if you have a support in your team.
Good Partners - Cause it's a team play (Tier 1)
In a general case, you will be willing to help your carries.
Shyvana (AD) - Excellent partner! Great early damage, not too squishy. With a little teamwork, you should dominate your lane. However, she's often refered as better jungler, and you might prefer having a ranged with you.
Kassadin (AP) - Excellent partner. If he's not mid, take him with you. You will pawn with him!
Master Yi (AD) - A good partner. Starting with ABILITY ONE [Q] along with exhaust, you will do a first blood easily.
Singed (AP) - Overpower. You shouldn't technically be with him, but your partnership owns. You can flip someone to your turret fast.
Vayne (AD) - Really good. Yet again, you will do a kill very fast.
Gangplank (AD) - You will feed him. He will give you assists. good combo.
Tryndamere (AD) - A slow, with a flipping, wow, free kills and assists on the go.
Alistar (Support/Tank) - Your duo is overpower. Once you caught your target, it's gone.
Twitch (AD) - He got slow, can get invisible. If you want him to be fed, good game.
Rammus (Tank) - If he's not jungling, laning with you is strong when well coordonated. Nobody can really escape alive.
Pantheon (AD) - Kill secured. Good stun, flipping behind. Hopefully they'll turret dive >:D
Renekton (AD) - A stun, great damage, good resistance, great partner.
Malphite (Tank) - A slow, great resistance, great ult, this guy is surprinsigly good.
Shaco (AP/AD) - An AP Shaco will allows you to stack fast a
Leviathan, by both assists and kills.
Riven (AD)- If not solo'ing top, Riven is an excellent partner, you will get kills fast with her stun and own your lane.
Miss Fortune (AD) - Strong, small slow, just enough to push your lane.
Poppy (AD) - Truly strong duo. Deal tons of damage fast. You definitely want to lane with him.
Blitzcrank - Great duo if Blitz has good skillshots. Once caught, the enemy has no chance to live.
Ashe (AD) - Great partner that slows the enemy. A well placed flip is strong, let Ashe get fed and stack a
Leviathan, good job.
Nunu & Willump (AP) - Funny duo, terribly strong. Good slow with the ice ball, ultimate if needed, the enemy is going to have hard time.
Nocturne (AD) - Strong duo, if he's not jungling, Nocturne shall bring great damage on the enemy, and you can always finish the job if needed.
Jax (Hybrid) - Great partner, great damage, has stun, good duo in overall.
Caitlyn (AD) - Great damage, awesome range, the traps also restrict the enemi movement. One mistep and he's dead!
Less good partners (Tier 2)
Shyvana - Great partner, deals good damage. Absence of CC makes the duo harder to use.
Mordekaiser - Huehue Morde es #1! Not anymore, but good damage and a good start isgreat for Mordekaiser that can help your team later in game.
Anivia - Great wall, allows you to catch up with enemies. Has also good stun. However, always preferable to let her mid tho.
Gragas - Good damage, he's not squishy, high sustainability. He got good belly jump ;-)
Leona - She's tank, she stuns, but her range is as limited as yours, and therefore kills are hard to get.
Shen - He's tank, he taunts. Decent partner if well played, kills aren't often though.
Amumu - He'stanky, he stuns, decent partner if he lets you the kills. However you shouldn't depend on him. He could be more useful to another carry.
Garen - Great damage partner, with a silence, good tracker too. However, limited range too.
Janna - She slows, create a strong shield. However, she would be more useful to another ally. Her passive applies on you globally anyways.
Fizz] - He's good, but he's better mid, and he's better with a support.
Taric - Good stun, great heal. Great combo but you'd prefer
Xin Zhao - Great guy, deals good damage, but he'd be better with someone like
Taric.
Jarvan IV - Powerful ally, but he'd be better solo'ing top, or jungling.
Yorick - Powerful ally, but he is better solo'ing top, since he needs a tons of farms. Great slow, however.
Katarina - Good duo if your goal is to feed her. If she's not mid, can be good choice. However, try to get a
Leviathan soon.
Akali - Good duo, really strong, but Akali should be solo'ing like a true ninja.
Kennen - Kills guaranteed, however why isn't he mid?
Nasus - Overpower slow. Overpower
Siphoning Strike. He is, however, farm hungry. Solo top is his best spot.
Trundle - Not bad, not good. However, a jungling Trundle is stronger!
Xerath - He should be mid but, his range and his stun is definitely strong with you. The enemy is tracked...dead.
Sivir - If she's not alone in mid, then it's a decent partner, with good damage. Not the optimal choice, though.
Annie - She's strong, she got a stun, but, she's better be solo'ing mid because she needs to get good farm and level fast.
Karthus - He deals decent damage, got a good slow, but he's better going mid, just like Annie.
Warwick - Good damage, good ult. Better jungler, tho.
- Fiddlestick - Good fear, good skills, I do however prefer him jungler or solo mid.
Ryze - Great snare, great damage output. Once he spammed them, your job is to ensure the kill or flipping behind the enemy.
Irelia - She's not bad, but I've seen better combination. She deals decent damage but you need to be careful to not let her die.
Partner you shouldn't lane with (Tier 3)
Soraka - She heals, silence, regen mana... Nothing you really need there. You are better alone.
Sona - Except her ultimate, which stuns, she heals, gives few speed bonus. She could be useful to others.
Galio - Great tank, small shield, mm, he's better solo'ing mid as carry or being with a carry.
Karma - She's not bad, but, she is way more useful solo'ing mid or being with a squishy carry.
Lee Sin - Good player, but he's more an individualist, jungler than a partner. You shouldn'tlane with him.
Evelynn - Hard duo. Difficult to succeed ganks since the enemies will most likely buy vizion wards.
Brand - Please, tell me why he's not solo mid...
In the case you chose
Thundering Smash
If you took rolling thunder, try to get a hold with your partner so you don't miss a chance to get the kill. Volibear likes the bushes, and, any surprise attack is a good attack. Even if they stay careful, if you can manage to make them miss last hits, then it's already good.


In the case you chose
Frenzy
Just hit the minions. Always be sure



If not, maybe it is because it was a tank. Always aim for the carry, or less defensive/tankish. If you aim the tank, at least be sure your exhaust spell is up.
In the case of
Sky Splitter
Oh well. Guess can't be helped, but fearing minions is always a good thing when attacking an enemy champion..I guess. I'd suggest you to at least grab

Levels 3-6
Starting level 3, you do want to get some additional gold. You technically have your 3 abilities, your exhaust up, and ready to kill. Maximize your




Upon reaching level 6, you either kill or fall back at base getting AT least few items of the build. I always suggest you to get

Needing gold? Okay...
Sometimes you just can't get a kill. It is even possible that


Technically, you should be owning the laning with any tier 1 or tier 2 partners. Try to be the first to destroy the turrets, then go help mid, bot, top etc.. Initiate the ganking phase.


Why Jungling With Volibear
Although jungling

Yet again, I do prefer a solo top



Jungling Items :
I do start with




Third and fourth item:
Boots +
Ward
I chose


jhoijhoi's blog post, see ward part, clear short and correctly explained.
Next items
Next items will more likely to be the same sequence as earlier above, following my general build on

Don't forget that map awareness is one of those main factors between successful ganks and successful escapes.
Jungle Runes
I do suggest you to go straight flat defense and magic resist, instead of armor per level and magic resist per level. This is one of those case where having early tankyness is welcomed.
Ganking
When ganking you will want to be at least 2 to secure a kill. If you are alone, be sure you don't miss your fight.

Also, try to know where your enemies are. Never gank if you only see 1 enemy on the map. It is more likely to be a bait. You can also play the bait, you know?
Teamfights
In teamfights, your role as head hunter will be to shut down their carry. I truly mean it. Don't forget



A team without their carry is done for, at least, this general rule works when you are not facing a


- Getting focused a lot by CC's
- Getting nerfed soon
- Expected to be a jungler / tank only (to not pick the kills)
Getting Nerfed
I prefer seeing his future. I'm certain he'll be nerfed, and so, let prepare ourselves.
What would be nerfed?




In that case, the health + atma build wouldn't be bad and Volibear would remain one good melee champion. I'll also try doing an alternative builds, in this order.
Conclusion
This build will be subject to some supplementary updates and love. I do hope you read the whole guide, and I do strongly welcome comments that will help to improve it. If you want to post screenshots / videos of you using this build, just send me it in comments and I'll look for it!
Have fun pawning your enemies ;-)
P.S. If you ever wanted to try some good builds, I'd strongly recommend this one:
Augman's Guide for Mordekaiser
- Corrected Skill Sequence (
Frenzy @level 13)
As of December 6th
- Added
Shyvana in tier 1 partners, in laning partner
As of December 3rd 2011:
- Added few runes in "Recommendable Runes"
- Corrected the purchase order where it is not as I do in game
- Changed Great Mark of Insight for Greater Mark of Desolation (thanks to Varst pointing me out
Frenzy was Physical (:-)
As of December 2nd 2011:
- Added
Anivia into tier 2 laning partner
- Changed
Gragas to tier 2 instead tier 3 laning partner
- Added
Mordekaiser to tier 2 laning partner
- Added "Games Log" section.
- Added
Shyvana into tier 2 laning partner
As of December 1st 2011:
- Added
Jax into Tier 1 partners
- Switched to
Mercury's Treads over
Boots of Swiftness : better choice
- Added "Pros/Cons" into the introduction, for brief utility of the guide.
- Switched
Rylai's Crystal Scepter into "Optional Items". Replaced item by
Atma's Impaler in build.
- Added
Trinity Force in "Optional items". Great item, really, but costy.
- Added
Caitlyn in tier 1 lane partners.
- Added
Atma's Impaler in Situational Core Items, plus in purchase order, instead of
Sunfire Aegis
Thanks to 4sight, Badass Prince Of LOL & Shrewms for their contributions on this log!
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