Hello. Welcome to my Gangplank guide :D. This build that i have created focuses on a tanky AD type build, with extra resistances. Here you will learn how to farm, harass, gank, and team fight as Gangplank.

Cons

• Can't spam his Parrrley (Q) for ever.
• Runs out of mana quickly if without proper masteries/item build
• Can be countered by any tanky solo top with a shield or high armor/hp regen. Such as Malphite or Shen

Pros

• Parrrley is an ideal last hitting tool for any solo top. Plus it grants bonus gold on last hits.
• Can pick up assists from anywhere on the map with his ult, Cannon Barrage if placed well in a team fight.
• Rooted by Morgana's pesky Dark Binding? Eat oranges and it'll be k.
• He's a pirate with a cool hat :3

Marks: I like to get 9 Armor Pen reds, due to the fact that when most people see a gangplank, their first thought is ninja tabi. With these runes it will help you to win your lane early game and slighty increase your damage late game.

Seals: For seals I prefer to get flat armor yellows. This helps me counter the heavy AD champions i could be put against, such as Riven, or Tryndamere.
The armor early game and laning is great but it wont scale very helpful late game.

Glyphs: For glyphs I like to get flat Magic Resist becuase it scales well in early game and mid game, but if you have 2 strong AP champions such as mordekaiser] who is soloing top and [[veigar who is mid, your gonna have some problems of surviving in team fights. If this happens I recommend that you build a Hexdrinker somewhere in mid-game if your Mercury's Treads aren't giving you enough sustain.

Quints: For quints, I like to get flat AD so i can be a little bit more dangerous when I harass in the top lane. I find that if you have a good set of runes that greatly increase your early game performances, the easier it is going to be to win your lane by mid game or even early game.

The mastery build I made for gangplank gives him much needed mana regen (i'll explain why in the last hitting tap) early game sustain, and overall damage increases. You may be thinking to yourself "Oh that mastery build looks horrible i'm not gonna use it" but it does focus on the main things Gangplank needs to do effective in early game solo top. So i do recommend it.

First off, i do this skill sequence because in my eyes, maxing Parrrley first is a must.
I then prefer to max Raise Morale second and Remove Scurvy last. You might be wondering why i max Remove Scurvy last. It is a great heal yes, but its sole purpose early game is to remove that annoying warick ult or Shen's taunt, therefore you can escape from ganks easily. This does not mean you can over extend all the time. Over extending in solo top when you dont know where the jungler is could be the stupidest thing you can do. By over extend, i mean past the river or more.

For Gangplank, I like to get Flash and Ignite. Mainly because they are just the 2 best summoner spells in the game in my opinion. Flash is fantastic for obvious reasons and Ignite is great for ganks if you think they would get away.

Other viable summoner spells you can use:

Teleport for a solo top champ is great because it allows you to go bank to buy item and come back to your lane before your turret takes any damage.
Heal is always a great spell if your commonly in front line situations. Since this Gangplank build is rather tanky, you will commonly be forced to run to the front of team fights is your Rammus or Malphite or any other strong tank isn't around.
Exhaust is a great spell as well, just not necessary do to the fact your Parrrley and slow and your Cannon Barrage can also slow. But its a great spell to take if you play very aggressively and commonly try your best for the first blood
Cleanse is a great spell but very underestimated. If the enemy team has extremely high CC and you know you would get focused a lot on any champ not just Gangplank, then this spell would be usefull in team fights when your playing Vayne and your sash is on cooldown and you get stunned by that 10/2 Veigar who is an instant death to anyone.


Meh:

Promote some people use this spell a lot when soloing top but I think its horrible. The reason for that opinion is becuase 1. it pushes lanes too much. 2. If the lane is too pushed your jungler can't gank.
Surge is a very damage effecting spell. I don't think its the best for gangplank becuase it gives AP. Some people might think its good because his Cannon Barrage scales with AP. If you prefer getting this instead of ignite or flash that wouldn't be bad, just no recommended.
Ghost isn't very useful on Gangplank because his Raise Morale does almost the same thing but a bit slower. I don't use this.


Just no:

Revive no sane person should ever even think about this spell
Smite The best spell in the game. But i'm pretty sure you don't use smite to solo top.
Clarity is a complete waste. the only reason you would use this is if you have mana problems. if you use this build correctly, you shouldn't have mana problems this bad ever.
Clairvoyance no point in getting this when your tank or support already has it.

Learning to last hit with Gangplank is very easy. The reason you max your Parrrley first is 1. because you last hit with it and you will get more gold for every rank higher it gets. and 2. its your main harass skill.

Very easy. So instead of rushing in there where your enemy is just to get one last hit but get take 2 or 3 auto attacks is not smart when you have your Parrrley

I chose to discus items last since it will be a lengthy section.

Starting items
Regrowth Pendant and Mana Potionx1

I prefer to get this item because it will keep me in the lane longer so I don't have to go back in 5 minutes and have my tower pushed to half hp already.

First trip back
philosopher's stone, Boots, a ward and maybe 1 or 2 more health pootion.

philo stone is a must because it gives you the much needed mana regen to be able to spam your Parrrley. If you dont have proper mana regen, you will go oom in no time. And get boots, a ward and potions for obvious reasons.

Third trip back or after you destroyed a tower
Mercury's Treads OR Ninja Tabi, Giant's Belt OR B.F sword

First off, the choice of boots depends on the enemy team. If the enemy has high cc and a lot of AP, get merc treads. If the enemy team has like 3 strong AD, then get ninja tabi. Get a giant's belt if your getting to half health to quickly in fights to make yourself more tankyish. If your doing fine health wise but not enough damage, save up a bit more if not already and buy a B.F sword.

Mid Game Core items
By midgame you should have atleast 1 of the 2 following items:

Warmog's Armor and Infinity Edge

Let's say your teams tank is 2/0/6 in 8 minutes. I consider that fed so he should be able to afford some good tank items. Because of this you can get your infinity edge first to do more damage. You should have your fully built warmogs at around 28 minutes to 30 minutes.

Mid game/Late game transition
By now you should have your I.E and warmogs. You can now either make the choice to buy a shurelyas or an atmas. If you would like to milk your philo stone for more gold then build your atmas first.

After that, you should build a Hexdrinker or even a maw of malmortious if you have enough money. This will complete your basic tanky gangplank build.

Other great end game items
I'm not really gonna sit here and explain all the items in the game. But what I am gonna do is list off all the items you can buy late game that can help your team win:

Too much CC?

Quicksilver Sash Banshee's Veil Cloak and Dagger

Too many AP nukes?

maw of malmortious guardian's angel Quicksilver Sash Force of Nature

Fed ad carry always focusing you?

Thornmail

Additional non-situational items that you can get:

Frozen Mallet Phantom Dancer Last Whisper Youmuu's Ghostblade
zeke's herald

I hope this guide helped you out a bit. I've been playing gangplank ever for almost a year now. Back in august of 2011 when he was free to play, i loved him, bought him, played him a lot, and here i am now hoping you'll get as much from him as i am.

Guide by Esplode with more to come :3