Talk:Malphite/@comment-8234800-20140315220734

!Dominion post lies ahead!

I've played this guy AP/tank for years, but now that I've tried building him Bruiser, I think I was wrong. At least, Bruiser Malphite is much more fun and a somewhat more reliable pick, imo. The only thing that scales with AD on him is his W, but 40% extra AD on every strike really is kinda crazy on its own.

His AP ratios on the other hand are just horrible. 0.6 AP every 5-6 seconds really is pretty bad and that E ratio isn't even worth discussing. In the quick-paced environment of Dominion, you just can't rely on a two-minute-cooldown ult. MPen is pretty good on him, though.

So, for Runes I pick Hybrid Pen Reds, Armor Yellows, MR Blues and HP Big Ones. 9/21 masteries, picking up the CDR and AD in the offensive tree. Starting with Giant's Belt and Boots give you a ridiculous amount of HP/shield at the start. First item's Frozen Mallet, second Atma's - unless the enemies really don't have any AD at all. Finish it up with Trinity Force and whatever the situation requires.

I still max Q first because that's probably the main source of damage early on (unless you go like early Pickaxe, but you really shouldn't) and because of the Utility the speed steal delivers.