Talk:Varus/@comment-94.109.88.176-20121208214409/@comment-4916873-20121209141921

You're asking a big lot of questions there in that post, but I'll try to answer them as clear as possible.

To any readers, AP Varus == Hybrid Varus.

Please be noted as due to the shifting meta I haven't yet made a side-by-side comparison between AP Varus and other carries.

1. " is runaan hurricane viable on Ap varus ? You sacrifice some ap to get your DPS spread, same goes for blight stacks, and so you can eventually stack those on three enemies at a time and proc them all together with a deadly, well aimed E or, better, R."

Runaan's Huricane is a beast of an item once you've got your single-target damage settled. There is little point in getting the item early. Yet when your single-target damage output is settled it's probably the biggest steroid out there. I prefer to get it as my sixth item.

2. "Currently I've got the feeling that CDR is still a really important component to choose, as he's quite ulti-reliant, and need to pop these stacks as frequently as possible. But i really want to avoid nashor's tooth. Then which Items would u choose ?"

I can't find out why one wouldn't want to build Nashor's Tooth. After Guinsoo's Rageblade it surely is the most cost-efficiënt item AP Varus can get. Not getting this item will probably mean you've got to alter your whole build, I'll suggest an alteration later in this post.

3. "Then which Items would u choose ? Rabadon Runaan Sorc (lucidity ?) Void staff seems core to me ( so nifty that ap varus actually dont have much mana problems ). And then ? DFG maybe ? Malady really worth it ?"

If you're dodging Nashor's Tooth and taking Void Staff you'll probably end up with something magic penetration oriënted. That's the problem with magic penetration nowadays; you either build none of it or you build lots of it, similar to how Critical Strikes work. You'll end up with some sort of tank hunter build like Sorc. Shoes - Malady - Rageblade - Void Staff - Rabadon's - DFG?.

Obviously, the build above has two major problems: CDR and AS. Good thing: If you lack one you need less of the other. Other problems are: Extreme early-game weakness (you can't focus on physical damage early game to make up for your bad early-game AP scalings) and squishiness (you could trade in Rageblade for RoA, don't expect to deal sustainable damage that way though).

I just want to stress this: '''If you go magic pen. you've got to go all the way now'''. It's a terribly expensive statistic and is primarily build on champions that heavily rely on ability base damage. AP Varus is not famous for his base damage, but for his scalings, which makes magic penetration items and especially Malady not-so cost-effective.

4."sorry for double post, but i have to say that I'm asking that because now, with S3, I really think that AD varus got a huge buff ( I'm actually running a Berzerk IE Bork Runaan BC Statikk/Zephyr atm, and it works wonder). As such, i wanted to know if AP varus got improved by season 3 too ..."

He has changed and is of exactly the same strength (I think). You're just playing a Kog'Maw/Vayne that belongs in the middle lane. Surviving this early game (by not taking large risks) is just a matter of practice. It's not as if he's useless in the laning phase or anything, he's just less powerful than most champions in that phase.

Season 2 to Season 3 brought a few nerfs to him and a few buffs. Rabadon's Deathcap has been nerfed, Rageblade has been buffed, Nashor's has been nerfed, Runaan's Hurricane made it's way...

Mid- to endgame you should be the one killing. :)