Volibear Build Guide by Temzilla

Introduction

I do not own Volleybear, this is theorycraft.

As such, I can't promise this will make you into a godlike volibear player.

Also, VOLLEYBEAR IS SO CUTE, LIKE... TEEMO CUTE.

Pros / Cons

Pros:
+He's a cute fluffy bear =^_^=
+He scales off of health, so you can have a really huge health bar and that is psychologically intimidating.
+He moves fast and displaces with Q
+His Ultimate does substantial AoE damage even without many items.
+He works effectively as a tanky champion because of his great base stats, and high scaling with health.
+5000 hp bears running at you is really scary.
+This Item build is fairly cheap for a solo lane champion.



Cons:
-This build is quite susceptible to Madred's Bloodrazor
-This build is fairly team dependant, as you have no sustain, and Shurelya's is a mediocre item without the team to back you up.
-Has a rough laning phase against more than a few champions because of lack of range.
-Lacks the damage to really be a terrifying bear.

Runes

-These make you go fast, and being a melee champion, Volibear has to rely on his movement speed to initiate fights and get out of hairy situations.

Volibear is a really good chaser with Frozen Mallet and these quints.



-The main use of these is to get your W Frenzy off faster, and to help with the early laning phase, where you want to be able to do as much as possible after your Q fling.



-These, along with the glyphs just help your laning phase.



-These, along with the seals help your laning phase a lot.

Masteries

I go 0/22/8 because with phage, i really feel that Volleybear doesn't need red buff or blue buff (he has 0 mana costs and should have 40% CDR from this build), so i grab all the crazy DR masteries in defense, and then grab the movespeed in utility.

I don't feel that offense is a good tree for volibear simply because he does so much split damage, and he scales really well with the defense tree.

The 21 point talent in offense is really strong for his W though, he can be built like an assassin, and Q>E>R>Auto Attack people, and execute them with W.

Items

:You start Cloth Armor + 5 Health Potions because most top lane champions are AD champions.

Trade this for a Null-Magic Mantle + 2 Health Potions if the top lane is AP.

: These are pretty much essential for any tanky dps with mixed damage who build CDR.

: This lets your Frenzy scale as you farm, and synergizes well with your high base defensive stats.

: This makes your passive stronger, gives you CDR, and is overall a solid item for anyone who scales well with CDR.

Shurelya's Reverie: This is kind of an item that i would put in place of a Wit's End, Phantom Dancer, or an Attack Speed Item.

I prefer Shurelya's over Phantom Dancer for three reasons.
-The whole team gets the speed buff
-Shurelya's gives you 15% CDR
-It's cheaper, and builds out of Philo Stone.

: Makes you stick to targets, and gives you that extra health for Frenzy.

: Rounds out your resists so that AD's don't own you late game, and gives you a huge amount of AD.

SITUATIONAL ITEMS

Phantom Dancer: I would use this as a replacement for Shurelya's in pub matches, it greatly increases your R dps, and you get places a lot faster.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: Also an acceptable replacement for Shurelya's.

This will make you REALLY sticky, and also, your (Q?),E, and R scale with AP.

Aegis of the Legion: REALLY strong item, just feel that Shurelya's or Spirit Visage is a better choice.

If you run into a Bloodrazor comp, then you should build this instead of the Warmog's.

Skill Sequence

In a standard match up, i level up R>Q>W>E because Q is the only skill who's cooldown goes down.

After that, i level up W because it's more damage, and then E because it's slow doesn't scale with level, and it's pretty much a 1 point wonder.

If i'm being pushed, I'll level E after Q, but otherwise, last hitting is fairly easy just by using some skills, and R>Q>W>E is your best duelist priority, which is king in lane.

Summoner Spells

I run Heal/Flash because I feel that baiting people is what volibear does REALLY well.

Also, when you heal as soon as his passive activates, combined with the Spirit Visage, you should be pretty crazy bait.

I run flash because Ghost to me, isn't really a reliable summoner for initiation or escape, simply because flash lets you run routes that ghost can not.

Ranked Play

I play Volibear as a sort of tanky support-off tank.

I take heal, and shurelya's and i speed up or heal my team, and have a big effect in team fights.

Your role will be Top lane, and your W helps you greatly if you want to jungle invade, it can do massive damage to jungle creeps.

Tips for and against Volibear.

Playing As Volibear:

-All of his skills can be cast while you are on all fours with Q.
-Q>E combo can let you get a ton of hits on someone, combined with attack speed and R, this is a lot of damage.
-Your mana costs are low, so if you need to, you can push waves out by leveling E first.
-Volibear has really good scaling with health and cooldown reduction.

Playing Against Volibear:

-Volibear is susceptible to stuns and snares while he is charging, you can stop his charges before they start.
-Volibear doesn't get his charge movement speed bonus when he is running away, he is very chaseable, but not easily kited.
-Watch out for Volibear's Chosen of the Storm, don't get baited
-Keep in mind that Volibear needs to auto attack three times before he can use Frenzy on you, but he can get these stacks from minions.

Summary

Overall, Volleybear is a super cute champion, he's really fun, and when he's gets his items, he's really strong.