Talk:Swain/@comment-203.87.205.14-20110607011210/@comment-146.180.106.230-20110608181828

It takes some time and it's important to remember he's not much of an early-gamer. While learning how to play him, I rush a philosophers stone for very important Gold (since you dont get early game kills), health & mana regen. I then build a tear of the goddess for the huge mana pool. Always go Sorcerors Shoes for MPen. From there, you can play with any of the +AP items you want (obviously turn your Tear into an Archangels). Aside from that, the only other essential item is a spirit visage which you need to make your ultimate much more effective.

Harass with Torment & Nevermore, your ultimate can basically be spammed when you want to do damage or heal. Start taking down the blue golem by level 9 or 10...

Play conservative with him, he's one of the slowest champs in the game, so you're not exactly flying through the map to get quick kills. Your role is to be smart. Bait people into thinking you're weak and turn on your ultimate. With a lot of minions around, you heal almost instantly.