Volibear General Guide by HorusHeresy

Introduction

Welcome to my first guide. This, in my opinion, is the best way to play Volibear. He is an extremly strong tank which is capable of realising a huge amount of damage. His passive makes him very useful for team fights and solo fights while it grants him immense survivabillity. As a tank he must have a lot of armor, magic resist and health , which is his main source of damage. This champion has moderate cooldowns and is not that mana dependant. Hope you enjoy :)

Pros & Cons

Good Aspects Of This Guide.

• Strong solo champion in the begining of the game. Large amounts of damage.
• Good farmer.
• Can isolate easly enemies or snare a fleeing enemy.
• Very strong tank.
• Great survivabillity, mainly because of Chosen of the Storm

Negative Aspects Of This Guide.

• Weak when it comes to escaping.
• Not that good at 1v1 in later game.
• This guide, through my experience, seems to work better at 5v5 games.

Summoner Spells

Summoner Spells You Should Choose

This is a very useful spell you should consider as it can help you reach your targets, slow persuers or help the team weaken an enemy in order to kill him.

One of the best spells in the game. As you are weak at escaping, this one of the "must get" spells. Also, it's uses are countless not only in escaping but also in persuing.

A common spell which enables you to get a kill and reduces your opponents healing rate. Pretty much proposed at every guide.

Spells You Could Consider

This spell can help you escape enemies or reaching others who are falling back. Could be used effectively but I wouldnt recommend it that much.

A pretty useful spell for all tanks as it removes all snares and stuns. Useful but not that needed if you ask me.

You could always pick this spell if you want more survivabillity but doesnt worth that much in comparison with Exhaust or Flash.

A moderate spell. Might help you travel large distances quickly but I firmly believe it is not worth that much.

Spells That You Should Not Take

This is a tanking build. You do not care to increase your attack speed and abillity power that much for that small period.

Again... this is a tanking build not a jungle one. Jungle is not forbidden if you follow this guide but i wouldnt suggest it.

Volibear does not have a lot of mana problems so this spell is considered a waste.

Nobody takes this spell cause it is totally worthless. It can rarely be proven useful so I advice you not to pick this spell.

You do not need this spell. Just get a couple of wards and ward the place. Nevertheless, you are a tank thus entering a suspicious bush to check it is your job.

As a hardcore tank you will not be killed easily and often. So you do not need this abillity.

Skill Explanation

This champion has a wide range of very useful abillities.

This is Volibear's passive. When you reach below 30% health it rapidly heals you for another 30% of your maximum health. This is very useful in team fights or solo fights as it is like a Heal. I would consider it a second ulti (R).


This abillity enables to knowback your targets just like Singed's Fling . It throws your enemy behind you thus you can isolate players, save a teamate who is being persuded or save yourself from your persuers. Furthermore, it increses your movement speed when you persude champions.


It is important to understand that Frenzy can do immense damage as it stacks on your health , which is increased by the items I chose, and can kill an opponent who has something less than 25% health almost instantly (of course this opponent must not be a well "builded" tank and you have some health items) as well as it increases your attack speed. Last but not least, the less health your opponent has the more damage it will cause.


This abillity slows your enemy and fears minions. It can help you reduce the incoming damage from minions or slow persuers or generally your enemies. It can also prove useful when you tower dive as it will keep the minions distracted. The BEST part with this abillity is it's fear which can be used to kill enemies. By this I mean that you can fear almost every champion's minion. For instance, you can fear Shaco's Hallucinate and Jack In The Box, Malzahar's Summon Voidling and LeBlanc's mirror image. I am not quite sure so I must check about Mordekaiser's Children of the Grave.


This is Volibear's ultimate abillity. It enables you for 12secs to emit lighting bolts in each hit which deal a moderate amount of damage and which chain around your enemies.

Runes

As a tank it is mostly advised to make a build which contains a lot of defensive stats. I chose as you can see armor, magic resist and health and to be more precise

• 9x Greater Seal of Armor
• 9x Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
• 9x Greater Mark of Health
• 3x Quintessence of Health

.
People might ask.. "armor and magic resist are good stats for a tank but why not replace the health with more armor or magic resist?". Well despite the more survivabillity it grants, it also boosts your main source of damage, Frenzy ! Despite of that, some cooldown runes could help although I believe the cooldown granted by your masteries is enough.

Masteries

The reason why I chose these masteries? Firstly you are a tank so .. well.. defensive masteries are the most suitable of course. However, not all masteries in this "tree" are important like Indomitable or Evasion or Initiator . Thus I decided to spend some points in the offensive "tree" in order to increase his damage output and decrease his cooldowns like Mental Force , Sorcery and Arcane Knowledge . Furthermore, the health and health regenaration added by the defensive masteries increases your survivabillity in lanes and your Frenzy.

Items

The items I chose are for a balanced tank, the one which can cope in a game where your oponent is a balanced team containing attack damage players and abillity power ones. As an ordinary tank you grab first a Doran's Shield . Then everynow and then, head for base and grab a Health Potion and a couple of sight ward as they can help. Mercury's Treads is in my opinion the most suitable boot as it increases your tenacity. As you might find, Volibear is VERY weak at escapes as he can only slow his persuares or get an 30% health form his passive. Thus reducing slows, stuns and snares is very important. Then I pick a Warmog's Armor increasing my health and damage output and a Randuin's Omen . Next, depending on the opponent team I make a Force of Nature and a Thornmail maximazing my armor and magic resist. Finally, by selling the Doran's Shield , you are granted the choice of Guardian Angel (which I prefer), Atma's Impaler which increases your damage or a Banshee's Veil.

Skill Sequence

Entering A Battle

Firstly, when you want to enter a battle and especially when you have teamates following you, you activate q ( Rolling Thunder) thus isolating an enemy and making him vulnerable to your teamates attacks. Then you activate your roar ( Majestic Roar) which will slow your opponent. Activate Frenzy only when you are sure that you will kill your enemy as it has a long cooldown. Furthermore, you can alwways activate Randuin's Omen's passive as it will make you more resistant.

During A Fight

Your most powerfull attack is Frenzy so this should be the move you use to take a kill during a fight. Activate your abillities whenever they are ready and dont forget that your auto attacks will deal a considarate amount of damage (specially to non-tank champions). Remember to activate your ultimate Thunder Claws as it deals a huge amount of damage which chains and hits multiple enemies. It is also advisable to use it even when you are 1v1 with another champion. Lastly, your ultimate can get you a kill from a really low health champion who is retreating and at a distance, as it can chain throughout minions and champions.
When you want to make a turret dive be sure you are taking all the turrets damage and that you use Rolling Thunderon your enemy to remove him away from it and Majestic Roar to slow him.

When retrating or escaping

Volibear is pretty weak at escaping so this is a reason why you should carry a Flash or an Exhaust. However, when you are trying to escape, open your Randuin's Omen's passive (of course only if you have built this item already) and spam your Majestic Roar whenver you can as it will slow your enemies. If an enemy appears in front of you use Rolling Thunder to clear path. Remember not to move "in a straight line" and try to get behind minions as enemies such as Lux or Morgana will snare you. Your last line of defense is your passive which will give you an extra 30% life in order for you to run away. Use it wisely as it has a huge cooldown.

Laning

Here are all the champions. I am gonna try to analise and advice you which you should lane with.
Ahri If she is not in the middle lane than combining with your snares and tanking abillities, you can make a devastating duo. So approved.
Akali A good champion to lane with as she can do a lot of damage while you tank.
Alistar No way. Unless you want to lose do not lane with another tank. Only if he is building Abillity Power. In that case your "snaring power" and his healing abillity can prove very useful and annoying.
Amumu Laning with this champion is risky. While in the begining of the game you will **** your opponents because of your OverPower snares, late game you will prove useless unless you are fed real good.
Anivia If you have this champion in your team you will be stupid enough to lane with her and not let her go at the middle lane.
Annie Good combo if another champion is in her place in the middle lane. Her stun and huge damage + your snares is devastating.
Ashe Pretty good choice as she can do a lot of damage while she can also slow your opponents so that you can reach them.
Blitzcrank Risky choice as despite the fact he is a good dps he is melee. Thus unless he is pro enough to hit your opponent with Rocket Grab every time or your lane opponents are melee DO NOT LANE WITH THIS GUY.
Brand Do not lane with this guy. Do whatever it takes to convince him to go at the middle lane.
Caitlyn Good choice as she is an increadibe range attack damage champion. Approved.
Cassiopeia She can be a realiable ally when if she lanes with you instead of going at the middle lane. Her poisons can really be harassing and her ulti combined with your snares is top combination.
Cho'Gath If he is a tank DO NOT LANE WITH HIM. If he is building Abillity Power items he is apretty good choice. He has also some very interesting snares and can deal good damage and harass while you tank.
Corki Another pretty good ally for Volibear. He can also make good work of your enemies while you keep them busy.
Dr. Mundo Two tanks in the same lane and team is not a very functioning technique. However, the combination of his Infected Cleaver and your Frenzy is pretty effective.
Evelynn After the last patch Evelynn has been weakened so that only a very well fed one can make a kill. Generally I would suggest not to lane with her.
Ezreal Very good champion although he is weak when he is not in the middle lane. He can make a lot of damage but is really squishy. Your combo could bear good results but you must remember always to protect him.
Fiddlesticks He is the definition of snaring and harassment. If he does not go mid definatly lane with him as his Terrify and Dark Wind + your Rolling Thunder and Majestic Roar will ''snare the opponent to death.''
Fizz Good choice to lane with. He can do a lot of damage while you tank. Mind though not to go against a range champion.
Galio As I previously mentioned.. DO NOT LANE WITH A TANK.
Gangplank A very OverPower champion which I would definatly propose you to lane with.
Garen If he is playing tank forget it. If he is playing dps than he is a good comrade. He can do a lot of damage and finish of enemies who have survived from your Frenzy with Demacian Justice.
Gragas A mediocre choice. He can harass well with [[barrel roll] but apart from that.. he will make a pretty weak lane-mate.
Graves If there is a better champion in his place soloing in the middle lane, than implore him to come to your lane. He is the defination of range nuker with good survivabillity because of his True Grit.
Heimerdinger He is a pretty good choice to lane with. You can knock your opponent back to his turrets and grenade but laso you can benefit from his Techmaturgical Repair Bots.
Irelia A champion which can do some damage but despite that I would not suggest to lane with her.
Janna A good support but.. no.. she cannot do good damage and yours will not suffice. So do not lane with her.
Jarvan IV He can be of great assistance because of his amazing damage and Demacian Standard.
Jax This champion I think can lane with any champion and send enemies back to their mums crying. He is able to kick ***.
Karma An excellent support which can also do some damage. She can heal you and shield you thus making her a very good ally.
Karthus No way. Do not lane with this guy. He is squishy and if your team cannot understand that he must solo than.. good luck.
Kassadin he can silence your enemy, slow him and also do great amounts of damage so.. why not?
Katarina Her damage combined with your tanking skills are a destructive combination. I approve.
Kayle Good support with a fair amount of damage. You could lane with this champion and get not only survivabillity but also damage.
Kennen Again, if your team is stupid enough to not let kennen solo than.. good luck.
Kog'Maw Huge amounts of damage combined with wide range and your abillities... what more is there to say?
LeBlanc She should be soloing not laning.
leesin One of the most OverPower champions in the game. Definatly lane iwht him if you can.
Leona DO NOT LANE WITH ANOTHER TANK.
Lux Well.. if she is not soloing than she could be a powerfull ally as she can shield you and snare your opponents while doing huge amounts of damage.
Malphite He is a tank. Although he has amazing snares he is a tank. You do not lane with other tanks.
Malzahar An OverPower mage. If he is not soloing take him to your lane. His silence and huge damage will destroy your enemies.
Maokai No.. he is a tank.
Master Yi He can do tremendus damage in a small period but also he is really squishy. Take him to your lane but be careful to protect him.
Miss Fortune If you have her in your team and she doesnt solo than take her. She is a valuable ally who can do good amounts of damage.
Mordekaiser A good champion to lane with. He is a very good dps and a tough one.
Morgana Crazy damage and snare. If she doesnt go solo you should definatly lane with her.
Nasus Dont lane with Nasus. Especially if he is a tank. There are 30 champions who worth 10 times more than laning with nasus.
Nidalee A good support which can also do great damage with her javelin. A must if she doesnt go solo.
Nocturne His damage is tremendous as well as his lifesteal. If you can tank and have him dps-ing you will wipe your opponents.
Nunu If he plays Abillity Power add him to your lane, else ignore him.
Olaf As a semi-tank or a full dps Olaf can be a heck of an ally. If he plays full tank then DO NOT LANE WITH HIM.
Orianna In my opinion, weak champion so ---> weak laning with Volibear.
Pantheon The best teammate Volibear could ask for. His high damage + Aegis of Zeonia + your snares = UBER-POWN.
Poppy Good dps, especially with Devastating Blow and tough, I would recommend her as a lane-mate.
Rammus DO NOT LANE WITH A TANK.
Renekton High dps, a good stun and good survivabillity. A good choice but only when your enemies are not range.
Riven I belive that she is one of the best companions for Volibear as she can reach her target and stun him with Ki Burst so you can snare him and throw him back, thus enabling you two to pulverise him.
Rumble Good dps but just cant work with Volibear, in my opinion.
Ryze A pretty good choice as you can snare your opponent + Rune Prison him and then nuke 'em.
Shaco As long as he knows how to play, (by this i mean know when and where to place Jack In The Box or use Deceive or know what "stealth" means) everything will go alright. Else, you are doomed.
Shen He is a tank, and according to what we have said above... DO NOT LANE WITH HIM.
Shyvana She can do good dps and harass well your opponents. Furthermore, she can reach them easily with her Burnout and nuke them good. Another champion, APPROVED.
Singed H-E I-S A T-A-N-K. So do not lane with this guy. The last thing the team wants is two tanks.
scion Abillity Power or Attack Damege scion can prove very useful. His Cryptic Gaze and high damage can prove him to be an excellent lane-mate.
Sivir You dont want to lane with her because of the fact that there isnt any possible combination which you might do and which will make your enemies grovel before you.
Skarner I would not advice you to go with this guy as he is really weak early game and that is when you need to be fed a little bit.
Sona Great support with good damage, heals and buffs. I believe she is a very good choice as a support for Volibear.
Soraka Ehmm... NO .. really dont lane with her. I dont omit the fact she is an excellent support but up to that point. No extra damage at all.
Swain A pretty good choice if he isnt soloing. Your snare combination can prove devastating and really harassing.
Talon As we all know this champion has one of the highest melee damage output. Your snares + his damage are something you wouldnt want to lose.
Taric This tanky support is useless for you as there is no room for two tanks.
Teemo You could take him in your lane. His Blinding Dart can save you but also reduce your incoming damage. Also his is an excellent dps and harasser.
Tristana She can hit the enemy but up to that.DO NOT LANE WITH HER.
Trundle You could consider this champion. His pillar of filfth can prove useful to you but also he can deal moderate damage to enemy champions.
Tryndamere If you want a kill do not lane with this guy. Else you must learn to ''feed'' from assists. Despite that he is indead a very strong ally.
Twisted Fate He can deal some damage and use his Pick A Card + your snares for some amazing results.
Twitch This little mouse combined with your fluffy bear can lay waste to your opponents. Protect him and with his damage you will see results which will melt your eyeball.
Udyr This champion is made for jungling. Do not take from him this chance.
Urgot His Acid Hunter will deal a serious amount of damage especially when you do not late your enemies to get out of his line of sight with your snares. APPROVED.
Vayne She is also one of the best range dps champions. Lane with her whenver you can as she will be of real help to take down especially tanks.
Veigar This little fellow should be soloing. However, his Event Horizon can prove very useful.
Viktor Insiffusient information right now.
Vladimir Good choice. If he is not soloing take him as a lane-mate. He can really hurt and harass with his Transfusion.
Warwick This melee champion can also help you great at ganks as his Infinite Duress matches really well with your Rolling Thunder. His lifesteal while also increase greatly your team's survivabillity.
Wukong Great damage and good escapes. Good ally for your lane.
Xerath Once more, another champion who should be soloing. However, this one is not that effective with you as he is squishy and he will be your opponents' first target.
Xin Zhao Another great melee champion with good lifesteal, survivabillity and a great snare Three Talon Strike. Combine him withyour snares and you have a killing machine.
Yorick Half tank half dps is the only way this guy will be of any use to you. He has some snares but not that great. If you can AVOID LANING WITH HIM.
Zilean This fellow can really help you out with his Chronoshift but besides that he is ultra weak. Avoid laning with him also.

Summary

This is the way I believe someone should play Volibear and up to now it has proven to me a very strong build. As I mentioned before this guide is my first and is bound to some changes in the near future such as adding some pictures and more information about new champions or patch changes. Please leave your comments below or email me at tony@kouzoupis.gr with ideas or correction and advices.
Thanks for your time.