Talk:Volibear/@comment-5.83.71.124-20130215052530

Too many people forgetting that he is a tanky DPS, not just a simple damage dealer. True that he's overshadowed by other initiators, but still can do it in any competent hands. And too many people asking for builds. Well, guess it's time to contribute and be blamed by those who've never really won any fight when playing as Voli:

Common Voli

Voli antiAD

Voli antiAP

Basically, Philo stone and Warmog's are his core. Philo mana regen and gold per 10 makes smooth Voli's mana consumption and swifter his itemization. Shurelya's is not strictly something that you want to get, so you can delay it until you have six items, then upgrade the Philo for the CDR and the active. Now, if you want to deal damage, you either get AS and stack W faster, hitting more times with R -Which only requires one AS item: Wit's end or Zephyr- or you stack health, which will make you tankier, deal more damage with W active, and heal better with your innate. Anyother item besides boots and AS choices MUST give HP substantial amounts of HP, mixed with good defensive stats, and if possible, an antiDPS (Tabi/Randuin's) or antiburst (BV) effect.

This is actually why Voli can afford initiating, even if it's just for killing quickly one of the enemies with your team, withdraw, then do it again, kill them all one by one, punish them for their bad positioning. AND, this IS the damage dealer Voli, shred them with your AS+W passive+R until they have 1000 HP or so, then use W, gg. If you don't understand it, keep learning about understanding ability kits, because you still have to learn a thing or two.

Don't give a f*ck about who bought Randuin's or Bulwark first. This are the items that you scalate with, so you get those, or wouldn't you buy a PD when playing a carry, just because another carry in the team has already bought it? (It's just an example, don't get double carry comps). Needless to say, Shurelya's+BV synergize greatly with your Q, and Randuin's with your E, you can cast one first, then the other when the first has wore off to keep CC'd your target.

Things that you DON'T want with Voli:

·Wriggle's lantern/Atma's impaller/Hexdrinker>Maw of Malmortius:

Tanky DPS's are defined by, at best, get one agressive-defensive item. This is Voli's case. These bruiser items don't fit him because you don't get AS from them. Not to mention that lifesteal is redundant with Warmog's around. Wit's end will overshadow them most of the times, while Zephyr supported by Sunfire cape (Which is more of a defensive item than an offensive one) will do the trick against AD comps.

·Statikk shiv:

This is NOT Ionic spark. Ionic spark was nice when you were ahead and wanted to keep the advantage by constant CS, and although overshadowed by Wit's end, it could be left as your offensive item because HP synergized with Voli's kit. Statikk shiv, on the other hand, is more a carry-item that gives you crit chance, which you don't carve, and is more expensive than what Ionic spark used to be. Just don't get it.

·Frozen mallet/Iceborn gauntlet/Rylai's crystal scepter:

FM has a good chance to stand as one of Voli's personal choices, but I feel it redundant with E, and doesn't provides a secondary defensive stat. Nice, but subpar. IGB on the other hand should raise your damage pretty well, but for a limited time, since Voli can't make a good use of it due his cooldowns. Not that great. And well, I know that Rylai's has been out of question for a long long time, but I wanted to remind you that Voli's AP scaling are shit, Rylai's slow is kinda shit, and it gets diminished returns with E, which is why you shouldn't mix any item slow with it.

·Guardian angel:

Great item, just not on Voli, as it doesn't provides HP. To be honest, if you're half competent with the bear, you shouldn't even need to resurrect.

·Spirit visage:

Face it, you're not Mundo. You don't have a second Warmog's passive to improve, and Warmog's itself scalates better with HP, so does your W. True that Voli's innate gets well-boosted by SV's passive, but as it doesn't benefits from the CDR, healing an extra 6% every two minutes is not that great. What is more, the improvement is barely noticeable. Maybe this is good as a MR choice when you've fallen behind, but then you can get, let's say, Ruby sightstone, and be far better and useful for your team due the map awareness.

All in all, that should be it. Want more advices? Farm passively in lane with your AA (NEVER use your R for farming, you want that for dueling), use Q+W+E for harrassing if they try to harrass you, then run towards your turret, your minions will finish the harrass. As soon as your W is ready again, it's time to kill, go binary, and be as aggressive as you want. For a real duel, don't begin with Q+E, shred them with your R, and if they're still not at W range, Q+E when they try to run away, then W. Always use your R in teamfights, that's what gives you tf pressence, and only initiate if there are no better initiators in your team. Keep in mind that initiation with Voli is not like Ali's or Cho's initations, your team must focus quickly on the guy you're Q+E on, then wait until you can do that again to anyother enemy.

Good luck, and let the hatred games begin.