Vladimir Mains, Give Me Advice

Hallbuster·Apr 8, 2017·1 votes·1,846 views

I can't climb if I stay a one trick pony aka only using Annie, when people counter pick: Xerath, Lux, and Syndra to make me cry.

9 Comments

WitchQueen AnnieApr 8, 20173 votes

item 3001 / item 3157 > item 3158 > item 3065 > item 3285 > item 3089 > item 3135

If your team needs more damage earlier, build item 3067 and skip item 3065 until later in the game when you can slot it.

At 3 to 4 items you are the most OP thing on the map with a 2 seconds cool down completely spammable Tides of Blood AOE blaster nuke and your Ultimate damage amplifier nuke should be up at every team fight.

When playing as Vladimir, it is best to imagine that you are a recently resurrected vampire lord who needs time (and lots and lots of blood) to regain all of his powers. You are basically a Castlevania Dracula type character... you need to be patient and not make mistakes of hubris early on. Just patiently farm and feed on the minions. Your power is DIRECTLY correlated to how many points you have in your Tides of Blood but you DO have to max Transfusion first.

When you have 4 to 5 points in Tides of Blood that's when you have regained most of your Dracula powers and can command the full might of Castlevania. But until then... be patient and safe.

The time to 1 vs 3, 1 vs 4 is late game... not early game. Wait for your Tides of Blood to be upgraded.

Asayake 5150glowApr 8, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Vlad Maine ,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=XPiXxKRP,comment-id=0002,timestamp=2017-04-08T21:49:14.195+0000)

/ > > > > >

If your team needs more damage earlier, build and skip until later in the game when you can slot it.

At 3 to 4 items you are the most OP thing on the map with a 2 seconds cool down completely spammable Tides of Blood AOE blaster nuke and your Ultimate damage amplifier nuke should be up at every team fight.

When playing as Vladimir, it is best to imagine that you are a recently resurrected vampire lord who needs time (and lots and lots of blood) to regain all of his powers. You are basically a Castlevania Dracula type character... you need to be patient and not make mistakes of hubris early on. Just patiently farm and feed on the minions. Your power is DIRECTLY correlated to how many points you have in your Tides of Blood but you DO have to max Transfusion first.

When you have 4 to 5 points in Tides of Blood that's when you have regained most of your Dracula powers and can command the full might of Castlevania. But until then... be patient and safe.

The time to 1 vs 3, 1 vs 4 is late game... not early game. Wait for your Tides of Blood to be upgraded.

I've heard that his lvl 1-3 is pretty strong top lane on account of his Q being what it is and him being ranged. After that he's pretty weak though.

WitchQueen AnnieApr 8, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Cant Hold Me Now,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=XPiXxKRP,comment-id=00020000,timestamp=2017-04-08T22:55:46.506+0000)

I've heard that his lvl 1-3 is pretty strong top lane on account of his Q being what it is and him being ranged. After that he's pretty weak though.

I prefer Mid Vladimir. His abilities deal AOE damage so placing him in Mid allows to join team fights easier and bring those AOE skills to bear. Putting him on Top risks getting him isolated (its also not using his AOE abilities as well until later); also he has no tower push.

From Mid, you can easily take Ghost and if the opportunity presents itself, Ghost down to the bot lane and pick up a double kill with E + Flash + Ult + E release (chase with pool and Qs if necessary).

...

There's a bit of an early dance with Vladimir where you want to "test" your enemy so to speak. See how much you can get away with Q-ing him, how likely you are to be able to consistently win trades (you can Q him and his footwork seems bad, he can't trade back very well or you can dodge it). If he's not experienced with the match-up, you can try to go for an early level 1-6 kill if you can poke him down for it. To finish, just have empowered Q... then go E charge + Flash + E pop + Empowered Q and chase with autos and Pool for kill.

However, the MINUTE you sense you are being out-traded or he's too good for this cheese strat to work, just go back to farm mode. You have infinite sustain and no mana costs so you can stay and farm safely forever.

HallbusterApr 8, 20171 votes

I will remember this!

RequiemsfireApr 8, 20172 votes

Personally I go item 3152 item 3158 as my first two items.

My full build is item 3152 item 3001 item 3157 item 3158 item 3089 item 3135

Generally I feel Vlad should always be able to dominate syndra in the early game in that before 6, he can consistently poke her down before she hits her power spikes and shove her in under turret making it harder to farm.

Always be aware of when your blood pool is full, run at them when it's yellow, always try to initiate a fight with an empowered Q available so that you can ult, protobelt, Q, E, W to dodge vital spells.

In most lane match ups your first 2 major pickups should generally be item 3067 and item 3158 boots due it increasing vlad's effective sustain and all in potential right away.

Finally only use W at important moments.

HallbusterApr 8, 20171 votes

Bump.

Chaos Milk TeaApr 8, 20171 votes

So are you saying that you play only Annie and want to pick up Vlad?

HallbusterApr 8, 20171 votes

Exactly. He was also recommended as another hyper carry champion.

Chaos Milk TeaApr 9, 20171 votes

Well, Vlad's most complex aspect is his building. Due to his passive and reliance on a combination of hp, resistances, movement speed, ap, and cdr, (yes all of those stats) how you build him each game will greatly affect your effectiveness. Early game, you mostly farm. A vlad with items is a terrifying. A vlad without items is hardly there.

Vladimir hardly ever builds the same each game. He has core items, but even those aren't set in stone and don't have to be built every game.

#CORE item 3152 item 3089 Protobelt gives every stat vladimir uses: Hp, cdr, ap, and a burst of movement. He rushes this item most games. Deathcap is the 4th item in most vladimir builds. He likes the raw AP as it boosts his HP, damage, and heals. #BOOTS item 3009 item 3158 item 3111 item 3047 item 3020 Honestly, you can take your pick. Damage? Defense? Mobility? If you are unsure then cdr is usually the right answer, but a good vlad player knows when to pick boots of swiftness or mercury treads based on how team fights look. #DAMAGE item 3285 item 3135 item 3151 These items are in order of usefulness to Vlad. Luden's lets you weave in and out of the fight to maximize your cool downs, which is an extremely powerful asset on Vlad. Void staff and Liandry's are ok, but generally not as useful unless they are stacking MR. #DEFENSE item 3001 item 3157 item 3065 A great way to dip in AP, defense, and CDR all at once. Spirit Visage is your item of choice against AP heavy teams or when there are VERY long team fights. If the enemy is full AD, you may have to buy something weird like Randuin's Omen or Dead Man's plate. #ASSHOLE'S SCEPTAR item 3116 If you have the necesity items for the matchup and you don't know what to build next, this item is never wrong. It used to be stronger on him back when it had more AP and was a must rush. Now it's more situational, but if you need a generally good item then this provides a lot of stats and utiltity. Also wearing this with Luden's Echo makes you inescapable.