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Warwick Build Guide by Sixxth Berry

Tank Warwick: The Strongest Wolf in the Jungle (S6 Patch 6.13)

Tank Warwick: The Strongest Wolf in the Jungle (S6 Patch 6.13)

Updated on July 4, 2016
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Sixxth Berry Build Guide By Sixxth Berry 111,064 Views 4 Comments
111,064 Views 4 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Sixxth Berry Warwick Build Guide By Sixxth Berry Updated on July 4, 2016
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Warwick
    Standard Warwick Build
  • LoL Champion: Warwick
    Special AD Build

Introduction



Hello, my name is Sixxth Berry. I am by no means a pro League player, but Warwick has been my favorite champion since I first discovered him and I feel that I can help other people to learn how to best play this beast. I have been playing League since late season 3, and I have learned a lot about League from others, and I hope to pass on some of that information to the people who see this guide.
I just finished the update for the mid-season 6, and will continue to update this throughout the season with each new patch.

Key Terms
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
SPACE
The goods and bads of Warwick
SPACE What runes are ideal on Warwick?
SPACE What other items can be effective on Warwick?
SPACE What do you want to be doing in the late game as Warwick?
What order do you wanna max Warwick's abilities in?
SPACE What summoner spells work best for Warwick?
SPACE What do you want to be doing in the early game as Warwick?
SPACE How does Warwick fare against other popular junglers?
What masteries are ideal on Warwick?
SPACE What items are standard on Warwick?
SPACE What do you want to be doing in the mid game as Warwick?
SPACE A short thank you to a couple of people.
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Pros / Cons

Pros

+ A lot of percentage-max health damage with Enchantment: Bloodrazor + Blade of the Ruined King.
+ Very good lockdown with Infinite Duress.
+ Infinite Duress is one of the few suppressions in the game.
+ Team attack speed buff with Hunters Call.
+ Great sustain in the season 6 jungle
+ Extreme movespeed buff with Blood Scent.
Warwick has one of the strongest ults in the game, being a suppression, which allows him to completely lock down a champion on the other team, which works very well attacking the ADC. And with the new Enchantment: Bloodrazor, he gets a nice boost in power in the mid game. Combine this with a Blade of the Ruined King, and you'll be doing 3% max health damage + 6% current health damage + your normal auto attack damage. And if you're going assassin Warwick, you can throw in a Guinsoo's Rageblade and the phantom hit will double that damage. He also gives a very strong attack speed buff, making him very strong with most ADC's, especially those who scale best with attack speed such as Vayne and Sivir. It's also really good if you have a top or mid laner who scales well with attack speed, such as Teemo, Kayle, or Diana. He also has the best sustain in the jungle thanks to his Eternal Thirst and his Hungering Strike. This allows his to farm in the jungle for as long as he wants, and he can still stay at full or nearly full health. He is also very good at chasing low health enemies with his e, Blood Scent toggled on.

Cons

+ Weak/nonexistant early game ganks.
+ Little to no cc without Infinite Duress.
+ No reliable gap closer without Infinite Duress.
+ Somewhat mana hungry/blue buff reliant.
+ Ult can be interrupted easily.
+ No built-in escape.
As strong and fun as Warwick is, he has his downsides as well. Pre-6, or whenever your ult is down, you have no cc, unless you have red buff or an item that slows the enemies. He also has no real gap closer without his ult, the only thing he has that resembles a gap closer is his Blood Scent's high movespeed buff. He is also kind of mana hungry, as his mana pool is fairly low early game, and his Hungering Strike takes 70-110 mana. This means that he will run oom if you spam it often. Another one of Warwick's cons is that his one large form of cc, his Infinite Duress, can be interrupted pretty easily by hard cc. Warwick also has no good way to escape other than his Flash, unless there is a low health enemy champion near by that will trigger his Blood Scent.
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Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence Order




> > >
I max out Infinite Duress at levels 6, 11, and 16, because of it's decreased cooldown and increased damage with level. I max out my q, Hungering Strike second because it's Warwick's only other damaging spell, and the increased damage and heal is really helpful. Now here is where you have options, personally I max out Blood Scent second for it's increased movespeed buff and increased range, getting up to 4700 range and 40% movespeed at level 5. However, it is also really good to max out your w, Hunters Call second and your Blood Scent last if you so choose, but I feel that the increased attack speed buff is already high enough at rank one that you can max it out last. It all comes down to personal preference.



Eternal Thirst Warwick's basic attacks deal from 3 to 16 additional magic damage, based on level, and heal him for the same amount. Each successive attack against the same target will stack this amount of healing and damage up to a maximum of 3 stacks. The stacks remain for 4 seconds.
This passive allows Warwick to have a lot of extra sustain, and between this and his Hungering Strike, he can stay in the jungle forever. This is essentially passive lifesteal. Eternal Thirst is also considered an on-hit effect, which means that it applies to Infinite Duress as well.

Hungering Strike Warwick swipes at a target enemy, dealing the greater value of (75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+ 100% AP)) or (8 / 10 / 12 / 14 / 16% of target's maximum health (+ 100% AP)) magic damage (flat damage only against minions and monsters). Warwick heals himself for 80% of the damage dealt.
This is Warwick's main damage ability. It helps him to have great sustain, as well as win many trades because you're able to deal damage and heal the damage that is done to you. However, it uses a lot of mana, so be careful about spamming this without blue buff.

Hunters Call For 6 seconds, Warwick increases his attack speed by (40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80%) and increases the attack speeds of all allies within range by half as much (20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%).
This ability is very helpful for Warwick, being an autoattack champion. It's also very helpful in teamfights, giving him free assists, and helping his allies to have higher attack speed, which works well with top laners who rely on attack speed such as Jax or Irelia and ADC's who scale very well with attack speed, such as Vayne and Sivir. It also has no cast time, so you can use it when you're trying to run farther or closer from/to enemies.

Blood Scent Warwick reveals enemy champions below 50% health within (1500 / 2300 / 3100 / 3900 / 4700) units and gives a movespeed buff of (20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%)
This is Warwick's main form of mobility. It can be used mainly for chasing, but is also great for escaping if there is a low health enemy anywhere nearby. It gives quite a great movespeed buff, especially when leveled up. It also allows you to hunt down the enemy jungler for some easy kills in the mid game. It reveals enemies in the fog of war or in brush, but you can't see stealthed enemies when this is toggled on. However, you still do get the movespeed buff.

Infinite Duress Warwick blinks to the front of an enemy champion and channels for 1.5 seconds, suppressing the target for 1.8 seconds and dealing (30 / 50 / 70 (+ 40% bonus AD)) magic damage on hit 5 times in 0.3 seconds intervals, which equals to 150 / 250 / 350 (+ 200% bonus AD) damage. Warwick gains 30% life steal for the duration. Each damaging strike applies on-hit effects, including lifesteal and Eternal Thirst.
Infinite Duress is the ability that makes Warwick good at locking someone down. He gets a supression that allows his team to completely pick out a certain enemy and destroy them in a second. He also gets lots of lifesteal, so if you're dueling someone, then you can ult them when you are around half health, and you will lifesteal a lot of it back, so it's good to use if you're caught out and low and you know that there are no other enemies nearby. It'll help you heal up and likely scare the other person away. It is one of the only supressions in the game, which is helpful, however, you have to be careful about when and where and who you ult. If you ult their Nautilus, it won't be as helpful as ulting their fed Jinx.

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Masteries

Mastery Explanations

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FEROCITY

Fury is a great mastery on Warwick. He is an auto-attacking champion, so attack speed is always a good stat. This helps him to get more stacks of his passive, Eternal Thirst, onto the enemy.

Double Edged Sword is a good option on all melee champions who are going into the Ferocity tree. The damage amplification is just too helpful, and while you do take more damage as well, on Warwick, you will heal it back pretty quickly.

Vampirism is a no-brainer on Warwick. You get free lifesteal, something which Warwick greatly benifts from, and spell vamp, which will make your Hungering Strike heal for even more.

Next, I pick up Bounty Hunter most games, because Warwick has no natural cc other than Infinite Duress. Plus, as a jungler, you will be getting kills around the map on everyone. However, if you're playing with a team of high cc champions, I recommend switching to Oppressor .

I personally prefer Piercing Thoughts on Warwick. Now, you may say "Why not get Battering Blows , you're an auto-attacking champion, you build AD items, etc." However, Warwick actually deals more magic damage than physical damage. However, with the new bloodrazor dealing physical damage, I plan on trying Battering Blows out to see if it's better.

Lastly, I pick up Fervor of Battle as my keystone. This is amazing on Warwick, due to the on-hit damage that it gives him. Warwick loves on-hit effects, and he can even proc this with his ult, Infinite Duress.




space
RESOLVE

In the Resolve tree, I start with Unyielding , because it will help make you tankier in the mid/late game when you're starting to get lots of armor and magic resist.

Next, I get Explorer , to help you get around the map faster for ganks and farming the jungle. This is fairly self explanatory, as it's a great option for junglers.

Runic Armor is an amazing mastery on Warwick, due to his amazing natural sustain being amplified even further. It synergizes amazingly with Spirit Visage as well.

Lastly, I pick up Insight . Having Flash on a lower cooldown is so beneficial for Warwick, as he needs it to escape and for the Flash- Infinite Duress "combo".
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Runes

These are the runes I normally run on Warwick
Greater Mark of Attack Damage : This helps you because you auto-attack often as Warwick and it also helps you with clearing the jungle.
Greater Seal of Armor : I like taking these runes because the jungle camps deal physical damage, and the armor is helpful in the early game against them, as well as enemy champions.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist : I take these glyphs because I'm not often facing heavy magic damage in the early game, and these allow me to have more magic resist later on.
Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed : These help because Warwick scales so well with attack speed, so you'll get a few more autos off in fights.

Other Viable Choices
Greater Mark of Attack Speed : Even more attack speed, these help out too if you don't wanna take or don't own AD marks.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist : These can be an option if you are facing a heavy AP team with an enemy jungler who might invade you early, or who you might end up fighting in the early game at some point, but I still like the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist.
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed : These will help you to get around the map a lot easier, and work best if you've substituted AS marks for the AD marks.

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Summoner Spells


I take Flash nearly every game with Warwick, it is essential on almost any champion. A Flash Infinite Duress combo lets you gap close a large distance and surprise the enemy. It is also good for escaping bad situations.

Smite is essential on every jungler, no exceptions. It allows you to get your jungle enchantment, Enchantment: Bloodrazor, which is very strong on Warwick. It is also helpful when taking objectives like Dragon or Baron .

I rarely use Exhaust but I felt the need to include it because it does have it's strong points. It is strong against a team with multiple assassins, or champions with no mobility, but only take it if you are comfortable without Flash.

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Items

Items

Item Sequence

Skirmisher's Sabre - Bloodrazor 2625
Ninja Tabi 1100
Blade of the Ruined King 3200
Sunfire Aegis 2700
Spirit Visage 2900
Guardian Angel 3200
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Skirmisher's Sabre - Bloodrazor
Enchantment: Bloodrazor is a core item on Warwick, giving him everything that he needs, attack speed and on hit damage. Plus, its percentage max health damage allows him to become a late game beast and absolutely murder tanks. Plus, the Skirmisher's Sabre allows him to duel nearly anyone in the game fairly easily with the challenging smite.
Ninja Tabi
Ninja Tabi is a fairly strong choice of boots on Warwick. It gives him some armor, as well as a helpful passive. You almost always want these boots when the enemy team has more than one champion who uses autoattacks often, such as Yasuo, Fiora, or Jax.
Blade of The Ruined King
Blade of the Ruined King is the perfect item on Warwick, giving him attack speed, lifesteal, and a small amount of AD. It's passive also synergizes very well with his ult, procing it 5 times. The active also is really helpful for chasing, giving Warwick some much needed cc. Overall, this is a great option against tanks.
Sunfire Cape
A Sunfire Aegis on Warwick is very nice if you want more damage, but need to build armor. The magic damage in fights is helpful, and it's a bit cheaper than a Randuin's Omen, but it does give slightly less defenses.
Spirit Visage
Spirit Visage is a fantastic item on Warwick. He is already a sustain god, and this item gives him a nice chunk of MR, health, health regen, and a small amount of cdr. But the best part of this item on Warwick is it's passive. The passive on Spirit Visage gives Warwick more healing on his q, passive, and more lifesteal.
Guardian Angel
This is an amazing item on Warwick, due to the fact that it gives more tanky stats to help your generally stay alive in fights longer. Plus, when you respawn as Warwick, you can heal up with lifesteal and your Q. However, I'd only get it last on Warwick.
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Situational Items

Damage
SPACE
The new Guinsoo's Rageblade works great on Warwick, giving him both AD and AP, both of which his kit can benefit from, as well as bonus AD and AP from the passive. The passive also gives a ton of AS, another stat Warwick loves, making it an all around great option. Plus, at 6 stacks, the phantom hit doubles your on hit damage, which Warwick generally has a lot of. Death's Dance is quite an appealing item on Warwick, especially if you have Blade of the Ruined King, because it will cause your ultimate to heal you for even more than usual, plus the lifesteal from Blade of the Ruined King combined with the Death's Dance gives you amazing sustain.

Wit's End is an amazing offensive option when facing a heavy magic damage team. The on-hit passive also works with your ult, so you will automatically get 5 stacks from ulting someone. Pick this up if you need more damage and they have a fed magic damage champ. While I rarely buy Trinity Force, it is still not the worst item on Warwick, as the stats it give are all quite nice, the Phage proc can help you keep up with enemies, and the Sheen proc is nice for taking down towers and helping with burst, but considering it's high cost, and the fact that there are often better options, it's meh.

Sterak's Gage is a good overall item if you feel like you are getting bursted down quickly, thanks to the passive Primal Rage. It also gives a nice boost to your base AD, and if you decided to go for Trinity Force, this is almost a must-buy due to their synergy together. Ravenous Hydra is an alright option on Warwick, but it's not always great. It is however, good when you need to waveclear a lot because of the passive and active effects of it, plus, it gives a sizable amount of AD and lifesteal if you need more damage. Another choice is the Titanic Hydra for a tankier option.
Defense
SPACE
I really like picking up a Frozen Mallet on Warwick because the slow allows you to chase very easily, plus, it gives a ton of health, almost as much as a Warmog's Armor and the small AD boost is nice as well. Frozen Heart is an good item on Warwick. It gives him a good armor boost, CDR, which allows Warwick to ult more often, and the mana stat is helpful due to Warwick's tendency to be a bit mana hungry. The passive is very good against teams with multiple attack speed champions, but make sure you have enough health to use it effectively.
Randuin's Omen is a nice buy against a team with multiple champions who rely on critical strikes, but it is also just a good item to buy when you need both health and armor. Banshee's Veil is very good if you have to block that one Nidalee spear or Blitzcrank grab, but most of the time, Spirit Visage is a better choice.

Dead Man's Plate works pretty well on Warwick for an armor item. The speed boost is nice for runnning up to jump onto someone with your ult. The slowing effect is also nice for sticking onto someone. I'd buy this if they don't have a spell based ADC, ex: Ez or Corki, and no other critical strike-based threats. Warmog's Armor is a good choice against heavy true damage champions, such as Vayne or Fiora, and the passive regen is really helpful too, but be sure to buy resists as well with it. You also wanna make sure you have enough health to benefit from the Warmog's Heart passive

Thornmail is very good against multiple fed autoattack champions, like a team with more than one ADC, or a melee ADC such as Yasuo or Tryndamere. I would only purchase a Locket of the Iron Solari if my support didn't buy one, and the enemy team had a lot of AoE magic damage, such as a Ziggs, Anivia, or Orianna. But often times, I like Spirit Visage or Banshee's Veil better.

Boot Options
Mercury's Treads are very good against a team with multiple stuns, roots, slows, etc. Mobility Boots are my boots of choice when I need to be ganking all the lanes often, as it'll help me get around the map faster.

I like to buy Sorc Shoes occasionally because Warwick has a high amount of magic damage in his kit, with his passive, q, and ult. I like to pair my Sorc Shoes with Sunfire Aegis and maybe a Wit's End for more magic damage. Boots of Swiftness are in a really good spot right now, and are a great buy if you need to keep up with enemies, or if they have many slows.

Elixers
Elixir of Wrath is a decent damage option, which can help if you're fed and trying to carry. Elixir of Iron is very nice for defenses, and just helping to make you really tanky.
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Jungling / Early Game

Shown here is the route I normally take as Warwick, including a trip down river to take the scuttle crab. Doing this route, I end back up at the same camp that I started at, and just clear whatever else is up at the time.
space spacespa Early Game Jungle Route spacespacespacespace
As Warwick in the early game, you don't have very much power at all. You want to just clear camps and hope that you don't get invaded. I like to just farm up until I have 2275 gold; enough to buy my Skirmisher's Sabre - Bloodrazor. By this time, you will likely be level 6, and have your ultimate, Infinite Duress. I prefer to gank either mid lane or bot lane at this time. Doing so can allow you to get a kill (or two if you went bot), and then go for dragon which Warwick is amazing at taking early. He can actually solo it at level 4 or 5, if you'd like. After ganking/getting dragon, you will want to go back into the jungle and farm till your ultimate is off CD. You should only be ganking if the enemy is extremely pushed up, or if you have your ultimate up.
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Mid Game

By mid game, you should be focusing on taking dragon whenever it is up. At this time in the game, you'll want to be clearing wards with your Oracle Lens. You should also always have a pink ward up somewhere on the map. Shown below is a map of good places to ward with your sight wards when you still have your green trinket and vision wards.
SPACE
Teamfighting as Warwick is pretty simple. You have to find the carry on their team, often the ADC or mid laner, and as soon as your team is ready, jump onto them with your ult. If you activate your w, Hunters Call, before you ult, you can get assists on kills that you don't actively participate in, because it gives your team an attack speed boost. After you ult, if you immediatly use Hungering Strike, it gives quite good burst. Other than that, you just autoattack, Warwick simple champion in that respect. If you get low in a team fight, you should be able to escape with the speed boost from your Blood Scent. Warwick also is amazing at picking off targets in the mid game. By walking into the enemy jungle with a high damage threat, like your fed mid laner, you can get some easy picks, which can allow you to take an easy dragon or tower.
SPACE
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Late Game

As Warwick in the late game, you can still be making picks around the map. But you have many other things you need to focus on as well. One, is that Warwick has very good objective control. You can solo dragon easily, as long as you have vision and know where the enemy jungler is. You can also take baron with one other person, as long as they have either the tankiness or damage to help. But be careful of doing this with no vision of the enemies, as you could easily get ambushed and lose baron, and ultimately, the game. Another thing Warwick excels at is split pushing with an ADC, as you can easily take down turrets thanks to the AS buff from your Hunters Call. In late game teamfights, you will just want to be ulting onto whoever is the biggest threat on the enemy team. You also should be thinking about when you should use your ult. If you expect a teamfight to be coming up soon, you don't wanna try to use your ult to catch out the enemy tank. You should save it for when you'll really need it.
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Matchups

Shown below here are some common jungle matchups you might end up against. Click on the spoilers to see a description as to why each jungler gets the rating they do.

2/10
AMUMU

2/10
EKKO

7/10
ELISE

3/10
GRAGAS

6/10
JARVAN IV

5/10
LEE SIN

3/10
MASTER YI

3/10
NIDALEE

8/10
REK'SAI

10/10
RENGAR

9/10
SHYVANA

10/10
SKARNER

8/10
VI

6/10
WARWICK

4/10
XIN ZHAO

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Thanks!

Thanks to Janitsu for making the amazing Warwick edit seen at the top for me, check out the rest of her art and hit her up if you want some fantastic edits!

Thanks to jhoijhoi for her Making a Guide guide, it really helps with formatting and general guide tips. Check it out if you want to make a guide!

Thanks to MasianC for some of the terms used in his Vi guide, it's a really good guide for her, and I'd recommend it for any new Vi players.

And lastly, thank you, the reader, for taking your time to read this in-depth guide on my favorite beast on the Rift, Warwick!
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Changelog

10/16/15 - Finally published guide!
10/20/15 - Minor visual fix
10/30/15 - Another minor coding fix
2/10/16 - Finally completed S6 update in full! Hope everyone likes it!
2/16/16 - Minor text edits
7/4/16 - Edits that I should have made a while ago detailing new items and a better build
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Warwick: The Strongest Wolf in the Jungle (S6 Patch 6.13)

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