Swain Top-Lane Build Help?

[quote=ZeUnit]As an avid fan of the top lane, for the longest time I've enjoyed playing underrated champions; my favorite champion was Trundle for the longest time and now he has recently risen to fame! One champion I consider underrated is Swain. I was wondering if any kind folks could give me advice on what to build in Swain for the top lane, and any comments on my current build, e.g. what to change: [[rylai's crystal scepter]] Since most of Swain's abilities rely on positioning, I feel Rylai's is very useful. Also it helps him become more tanky; I feel he is better played like Singed, a tanky, disruptive, DoT mage rather than in the mid-lane as a burst mage due to his ridiculous sustain and staying power. [[liandry's torment]] This item is a must with Rylai's. Tears through people's health, and helps with top-lane health stacking matchups. The fact damage is amplified for the duration of [[torment]] means one cast is a scary, low cost poke. [[spirit visage]] Increasingly popular in the top-lane, it synergises well with Swain's ultimate. Good source of health and MR. [[frozen heart]] Provides a lot of useful stats; armour for the tankyness, mana for his mana dependancy, and CDR because CDR is never bad. -This can be replaced for armour item of choice depending on situation e.g. [[randuin's omen]], [[zhonya's hourglass]] [[sorcerer's shoes]] Best boots in general. Magic Pen goes a long way. Can be replaced for Mercs depending on situation. 6th slot- I don't really have a staple 6th item. [[rabadon's deathcap]] can be bought if I'm on a roll. [[abyssal scepter]] can be bought for extra MR + MR shred. [[void staff]] can be bought for extra Magic Pen. A second armour item can be bought. [[guardian angel]] can be bought if it will impact a teamfight. I'm fairly new to LoL and have barely reached level 30, so I'm open to any criticism as I know my build will probably have tons of flaws. I would appreciate any help on my build as I just want to do the best I can and enjoy top-lane Swain Also, birdlazer.[/quote]

[quote=GrandmasterD][[Rylai's Crystal Scepter]] is really really meh on [[Swain]]. In order to get double damage from [[Liandry's Torment]], simply use your [[Decrepify]] properly and there's also [[Nevermove]]. [[Liandry's Torment]] is alright. It does well in top lane, although not sure if you can get it early. [[Spirit Visage]] is very situational. [[Athene's Unholy Grail]] is a far better source of mres + CDR. [[Banshee's Veil]] is generally better as magic resist item. [[Frozen Heart]] is a nope. [[Athene's Unholy Grail]] is better for CDR, so is [[Morellonomicon]]. For armour; get [[Zhonya's Hourglass]]. [[Void Staff]] is core on every ap caster and is generally built as 3rd major item. [rule] Personally, I've played quite a bit of top lane [[Swain]] and I would open with [[Rod of Ages]] and either [[Athene's Unholy Grail]] or [[Seraph's Embrace]]. I personally think [[Athene's Unholy Grail]] is the better option as [[Tear of the goddess]] kinda weakens your laning phase a lot and doesn't stack quickly. Next up, you generally want to build [[Void Staff]] unless you desperately require resistances in order to stay alive. In that case look for [[Seeker's Armguard]] or [[Spectre's Cowl]]. Then, you generally want to finish your resistance item followed by a [[Rabadon's Deathcap]] or [[Liandry's Torment]] for late-game scaling (Generally you want [icon=Rabadon's deathcap] Cap but you should get [icon=Liandry's torment] Liandry's if the enemy team consists of multiple heavy health stackers).[/quote]

[quote=TheKut]I've played a bit of top [[Swain]] and I prefer to get an early [[Chalice of Harmony]] and then [[Rod of Ages]]. Following is very situational but I mostly finnish my [[Athene's Unholy Grail]] and after that I get [[Zhonya's Hourglass]], [[Spirit Visage]] and sometimes I get [[Sunfire Cape]] if there's a lot of attack damage in the enemy team, or a [[Liandry's Torment]], [[Void Staff]], [[Rabadon's Deathcap]] or [[Will of the Ancients]]. He has a shitload of items that scales well with him so there's not really any optimal builds.[/quote]

[quote=Vapora Dark]Swain's spells don't rely on positioning at all. All you need to do is charge in with your ult turned on and make a carry shit their pants while you charge at them ignoring all the damage being thrown onto you by the enemy team. There are 2 items you need to get in every game, basically as soon as possible, and they are [[rod of ages]] and [[zhonya's hourglass]]. Swain's objective is to be enough of a threat that the enemy team thinks of him as a high priority target, but to also be tanky enough to soak all the enemy team's damage. So he needs damage and tankiness. To get damage, you need AP. To be tanky, you need HP/resistances, and mana, to keep your ult up and sustain more. Rylai's < [[rod of ages]] Liandry's is situational, if the enemy team builds HP but not MR. [[spirit visage]] is situational as a 6th item, never sooner. [[frozen heart]] is pretty bad on Swain, a huge part of the item is 20% CDR, which [[swain]] doesn't use well (his main ability is his ult, which is a toggle). If you need more armor after Zhonya's, you can take Randuin's. You should take 1 mana item other than RoA, which can be either Tear or Chalice. If you're going Tear, build it as soon as possible. If you're going Chalice, you can build it after you have Zhonya's. Tear actually isn't bad in laning phase seeing as Swain's base damages and tankiness are pretty good if you have enough mana to use your ult long enough without going OOM. If I'm ahead when I use the Tear route, I go Archangel's Staff straight after RoA because W at level 13 will 1-shot caster minions, rather than force you to auto-attack each of them once. And of course, you'll get mana faster. i cba to finish my post properly, but this is what i usually build [[tear of the goddess]] [[rod of ages]] [[sorcerer's shoes]] [[archangel's staff]] [[zhonya's hourglass]] [[rabadon's deathcap]] [[void staff]] / [[randuin's omen]] / [[will of the ancients]] / [[spirit visage]] / [[liandry's torment]][/quote]

[quote=utopus]yea i'd much rather have a RoA over a FH, and athene's as well. Swain's kinda got nice mana regen from [[feast]], [[carrion renewal]], and [[doran's ring]] anyways, so all he needs is something that makes him tanky enough to really get up close and personal with the opposing team, and make the most out of his ulti. EDIT: [[void staff]] and 'situational' should never EVER belong in the same sentence. There's no reason you should ever snub the most cost efficient AP damage item in the game[/quote]

[quote=Vapora Dark][quote=utopus] yea i'd much rather have a RoA over a FH, and athene's as well. Swain's kinda got nice mana regen from [[feast]], [[carrion renewal]], and [[doran's ring]] anyways, so all he needs is something that makes him tanky enough to really get up close and personal with the opposing team, and make the most out of his ulti. EDIT: [[void staff]] and 'situational' should never EVER belong in the same sentence. There's no reason you should ever snub the most cost efficient AP damage item in the game [/quote] Swain has enough damage even without Void Staff. His role is to tank as much as it is to deal damage, so yes, Void Staff IS situational.[/quote]

[quote=Thalia Kael]I'm currently 7/1 as Swain top in SoloQ and my general build is [[Chalice of Harmony]] -> [[Rod of Ages]] -> [[Athene's unholy Grail]] -> [[Zhonya's Hourglass]]/[[Spirit Visage]] -> [[Zhonya's Hourglass]]/[[Spirit Visage]] -> [[Void Staff]]/[[Randuin's Omen]]/[[Banshee's Veil]]/[[Abyssal Scepter]] Last item heavily depending on the situation, rarely get [[Abyssal Scepter]] though.[/quote]