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Am I doing it wrong or Vlad is still underwhelming ?

option paralysis··6 votes·1,107 views

I liked the old Vlad much more. You were shit in early game just like now, but you were beast mid/late. Now, when I play Vlad, I feel like shit always. I only do dmg if the enemy lets me walk up to them and during no point in the game I'm like "holy shit, dat dmg, I'm enjoying this". Just had a 40 min game, where I should feel amazing right, but full build item 3001 item 3157 item 3151 item 3116 item 3135 , I had like 350 AP lol. Dealt nice dmg, but again I didn't feel like anything special. When I play Wukong top before for example, and you one shot the enemy ad/mage/supp, you felt amazing and like a champ that does something. On Vlad I feel like I kill people only if they let me, if you know what I mean, lol. MYMU gave counterplay on his Q and E, but made other problems and after harsh nerfs, he was sitting on 40% win rate for months and that just means his kit is still a problem. I'd like to see him get a full VGU, but that's not gonna happen for at least a year, so yeah... And I can't forget riot ruining my fav skin in the game - blood lord Vlad. That beautiful, massive Q animation before reduced to a single line of blood you can't even see.

12 Comments

Hayes3 votes

Change out Void Staff for Deathcap, its been shown the boost in AP is more effective than the magic pen.

WoonStruck1 votes

Actually, you replace the Rylai's.

Unless the enemy team has no MR, there's very little point in giving up Void Staff.

This is why Stormraider's is a good keystone. It eliminates the need for Rylai's, especially if you have Ghost.

The only reason DFT and TLD are even viable on Vlad is for cheesing during his strong early game (lvl 1-5). If you aren't doing that, you should be using Stormraiders.

Later in the game the extra damage is unnecessary and often overkill.

duckarp2 votes

You compare two completely different types of champions... Vlad was never supposed to one-shot others. If you need that "umph" feeling, you should play assassins.

Erockandroll1 votes

The only problem I really have is that Riot backed off on the Juggermage scaling. Back when he could get away with building a ton more HP. But understandably, Riot found it oppressive that Vlad could counter any AP matchup, if he was able to rush a SV first item.

I feel like he's better than before, just a little rough around the edges. I think he works best as a midliner. (infront of the carries but behind the tank) Once you have your tank engage, he can provide pretty good followup. What you don't want is focus fire, which is why I get tilted if the team looks to me to Tank.

WoonStruck1 votes

He functions better top for both pressure and late-game scenarios.

Having an AP mid means there are two other priority targets outside of you, in addition to the additional control potential for your team.

OP.GG actually has pretty absurd numbers for his top gameplay right now as well, considering where mid is at.

Mid is only good if you can use it to snowball early. Late game it ends up being the inferior team set-up.

Cremepie1 votes

2 things item 3285 feels a million times better than item 3116 on vlad now. item 3089 Feels almost necessary if you want to carry late game.

Here's just my opinion: You want to be a little tankier than what you're current build is. Abyssal in my opinion is trash because you hardly notice the damage amp. I'd rather have the 500 HP from visage and get my damage from ludens+rabadons. Choose one penetration item based on the enemy team, Vlad can't really one shot anyone anyway with just Q+E with all the mobility/healing in the game, so in reality you want a safer rotation of spells.

WoonStruck1 votes

Abyssal is in no way trash. Its the strongest rush on him atm.

10% is extremely noticeable.

Visage is actually the trash MR item because it kills your damage curve. You only take it if you want to accomplish nothing mid-late game (or early if you buy it early) except for healing slightly more.

I had 3800 HP and 950 AP at the end of last game. High AP is statistically superior to any individual pure-tank item now.

The only reason he can't 1 shot with just Q+E is because of your build. I do it regularly. Abyssal+deathcap is the primary reason you can do this.

Requiemsfire1 votes

Vlad's in a good spot I feel, the last quality of life change really did it for me. In fact now his winrate is 50% at least according to champion.gg which suggests he's now at a decent place in terms of balance.

Chaos Milk Tea1 votes

It's partially your build for sure.

Movement speed quints are almost mandatory on him now. He's heavily positioning based. If you can't catch them with the third q, you're losing most of your damage. Also go for 45% cdr with the stormraider's surge mastery.

These are Vlad's new core items: item 3152: Pretty much the strongest rush item. It gives every stat vlad wants: HP, cdr, Ap, and mobility item 3158 /item 3009 : You either get more heals or better positioning. Sorc boots can be used against tanks. Don't forget Mercury treads can be necessary. item 3116: Another stat stick item in terms of HP and AP, and the slow helps your mobility greatly. Also your team will appreciate your presence more. item 3089: Common wisdom says to rush void staff first, but Vladimir benefits more from the raw AP due to his passive turning it into HP and his Q getting more heals from it.

That leaves two slots open for whatever other defensive or offensive items you need. Usually these: item 3157 item 3001 item 3151 item 3065 item 3285

An example vlad build: item 3152 > item 3158 > item 3116 > item 3157 > item 3089 > item 3285

You can drop the Rylai's sometimes, but you almost NEED item 3152 and item 3089

Hyperiön1 votes

Spirit Visage over ludens then a solid build.

And if the game gets late enough, sell Boots for Liandries

WoonStruck1 votes

Incorrect.

MS Quints kill your early game. You should be starting boots+pots which is more than enough, especially with Stormraider's.

Abyssal is the strongest rush.

You get either Ionian or Tabi atm. Depends on runepage.

Rylai's is very situational now. Overkill if you take Stormraider's and/or Ghost.

Deathcap vs Void first is highly dependent on what the enemy is building. There is no standard build order for Vlad. It depends entirely on what the enemy team is doing.

WoonStruck1 votes

You are doing something wrong. You have really low AP.

As an example I ended my last game with ~950 AP. item 3001 item 3157 item 3135 item 3089 item 3151 and I traded my item 3158 for item 3100 (Mostly for CDR + MS + AP; autos were a bonus). I did this because every fight was a stat-check, not positioning/chasing/kiting; it was worth giving up the 23 MS. Lich Bane is not always a viable boot replacement in the circumstances you might do so.

Vlad has a 2.11 AP ratio on a 3 second CD. There's no point in skimping on AP.

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