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How the F*** do you fight Volibear?

SkyblazeHydraX3··10 votes·4,549 views

I keep seeing him in my ranked games, and quite honestly he is really starting to piss me off. I mean really, how the fucking hell do you fight him? And please do not give me crap about "kiting" him, because that doesn't work for every champion. In fact just to narrow it down, assume playing a melee champion without hard CC when giving your advice.

It just feels like the meta and the surrounding changes have been way to kind to Volibear as of late. But before I get into a rant saying how Volibear needs changes or nerfs or gets too many tools and benefits, I wanna try asking how the flying hell I turn this armored bear into a fancy rug.

Early in my League days I actually really liked Volibear. Now I can't stand him because he's a tank who gets to deal some obscene damage because he builds tanky. On top of that certain items (Deadman's Plate, Swiftness Boots, Titanic Hydra) pretty strongly cover his supposed weaknesses. So legitimately, how do you fight him?

92 Comments

ModAttysu The Poro5 votes

http://www.gifmania.co.uk/Objects-Animated-Gifs/Animated-Toys/Kites/Tied-Kite-89335.gif

SkyblazeHydraX33 votes

And please do not give me crap about "kiting" him, because that doesn't work for every champion.

See that? Y'know, right there in the first paragraph of the original post? Literally the third freaking sentence?

ModAttysu The Poro2 votes

{quoted}

See that? Y'know, right there in the first paragraph of the original post? Literally the third freaking sentence?

Well my kite gif was just a joke ;_; IF YOU DON'T APPRECIATE MY KITE THEN NONE FOR YOU!! :(

In all seriousness if you gonna be mad, maybe Exhaust and hard CC him? And bait out his heal ult thing and ignite him for health regen reduction?

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

Sorry. Typically when I see comments like that I take it as trolling or someone being a jackass, rather than a simple joke.

ModAttysu The Poro1 votes

{quoted}

Sorry. Typically when I see comments like that I take it as trolling or someone being a jackass, rather than a simple joke.

Ah it's okay, I understand that's how the community on the boards can be sometimes. I'm not really mad xD

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

Good to know, again sorry for snapping.

ModAttysu The Poro1 votes

{quoted}

Good to know, again sorry for snapping.

No worries x3

Angry Monster5 votes

You are mad that you can not instant blow a juggernaut. yes voli qualifies as a juggernaut not a pure tank.

Try taking an ally with you and blow him up? Voli can easily be picked off by a small group without ults being used. Also you can bait him out in to over extending in team fights.

But the problem is really you not the Voli bear champion. Maybe you should play a few rounds of voli and understand the champ. Its a hard concept i know, but do able.

SkyblazeHydraX33 votes

I'd be much more interested in taking your advice if you didn't come off as so... Oh yeah.

Condescending.

Try and reign in your ego.

Beldair2 votes

To beat a Voli, Urgot. He goes to flip, you ult him completely messing it up and just pepper him with Qs.

Or get the ever so fun, Azir top.

Hell, Udyr might work. He does wear a bear skin so i'm sure he knows how to "skin a bear" so to speak XD

Angry Monster3 votes

i would be much more helpful but you are pretty stuck up

i was intentionally Condescending. What you really want to hear in this thread that you are right and he is OP.

No ego here, just real talk.

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

What I want to hear is advice on how to fight him that isn't "pick X champion or you're screwed".

CoronaGulp2 votes

Okay, honest advice. and btw it IS YOU! not an OP Volibear.

  1. Stop picking fights that you will lose, this means don't look to fight a Bruiser, aka fighter tank. Not fighting is an option.

  2. Farm gold, your damage out-scales his survivability late game. By increasing your gold you can itemize better for this late game damage.

  3. If you don't have vision of the closest expected enemies near you, don't fight him in a 2v1. Volibear is strong early game, and if you 2v1 him you can still lose because his passive works as a bait in the early game. He will bait you and turn the 2v1 into 2v2 that you WILL lose. mainly because you will be baited to "kill him" due to his low health, even though it will be regenerating.

  4. Inflict grievous wounds on him with 800 gold item, executioners calling.

  5. Don't focus him, he's harmless alone, and the damage will be behind him. Don't fear him either. His biggest CC is the fear he imposes on champions that worry more about running away from an inevitable low damage champion, other than dealing damage to counter balance his survivability.

  6. Poke him down to 35% health so that when you do go for his kill, you don't waste your abilities to get him down to 35% instead you have fresh abilities to finish him off.

  7. TRADE damage. Volibear isn't special. When he comes up to hit a minion, hit him.

  8. If you're low health and he's trying to kill you, run away from minions, his Ult damage can be triggered on the minions and it can kill you if you're too close.

  9. this is now boring, research yourself.

  10. Oh right, build health.... Build tank... Health helps the most against volibear tho.

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

I feel like I should point out my most frequent problem is jungle Volibear, where a good portion of this advice can't really apply.

CoronaGulp1 votes

Actually 100% of it applies, except number 7, which applies to the lane. Why are you afraid of a jg that only shows up once in a blue to gank you? Sounds like your problem is heavily emphasized on you being too pushed up in lane. lol. Or you probably don't ward strategically. Pay attention to where he is on the map. Check the mini map constantly. Predict his movements. It's not Volibear, it's you. There are plenty of counter play against Voli, but little to no counter play to lack of skill and good habits.

CoronaGulp1 votes

Tell them!

Dominick Destine4 votes

Picnic baskets are a hard counter.

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

Come back when you have something constructive to add, K?

cuddlykitten43 votes

Well, have you actually tried using a picnic basket yet?

71389808DEL14 votes

LoL duuude it's simple....u don't, u just play dead (._.) he's a bear, he'll walk away, trust me :D

Beldair2 votes

Giving him fish might work too.

71389808DEL11 votes

see this guy gets it :D

Beldair2 votes

Course if your brave, you could try honey too. XD

Veraska1 votes

Fizz will tell you, it certainly does not work. No bueno

Beldair1 votes

Hello, bears eat trout and salmon. So obviously Fizz is giving him the wrong kind of fish.

1374341 votes

Probably mistaking Fizz for a fish.

Shi Rose3 votes

item 3123 into item 3033 stops his healing

Maple Crusader2 votes

item 3153

SkyblazeHydraX32 votes

Sure, that works great. I'll just build that on my Kha'Zix, my Fizz, my Azir, my... need I go on?

MunchCrunchLunch1 votes

there is a champion type pyramid in league of legends.

Assassins kill adcs and mages but they are weak against bruisers and tanks

mages kill adcs but they are weak against anything else

adcs kill everything but they can be weak against anything

bruisers are strong against everything and weak against anything depending on situation

you can't really try to 1v1 a drain tank as a squishy burst assassin and expect to win.

Veraska1 votes

A much simpler pyramid is durability>burst>DPS>durability

Elite4Runner2 votes

That really depends on who you are playing as. %HP damage, crowd control, and grievous wounds tend to be your best tools in dealing with him.

For AD champions item 3153 item 3022 item 3033 And Jungle AD item 1416

For AP champions item 3151 item 3116 item 3165

Summoners summoner 3 summoner 14

SkyblazeHydraX32 votes

I often play burstier champions, with occasional DPS ones. For example far and away Kha'Zix is my main champion by a huge margin. But I just continue to struggle with Volibear. He gets so much damage by just building beef, to the point it feels like you're punished no matter what you do. Focus down the enemy squishies? Volibear fucks you up and your team likely loses. Focus down Volibear? Enemy squishies fuck you up and Volibear likely lives.

Elite4Runner1 votes

Well Voli does counter Kha pretty hard, so you are probably best to simply keep your jungle warded to avoid ganks, jump out and stay safe. You have a pretty big mobility benefit with him, plus if you work on your mechanics with his passive you should be able to burst him down in chunks and run away. When you're dealing with a bruiser/tank as an assassin you are usually going to find yourself in a tough situation. The only alternative I can think of is to try to go for more of a bruiser build yourself. Something like Death's Dance isn't bad on Kha'Zix. Consider getting some resistances too. Tank Voli tends to deal quite a bit of physical damage, but he often has something like Sunfire/Cinderhulk as well as his E and Ultimate to deal magic damage as well.

And again, just play safely. Sorry to say it, but that is really the best you can do.

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

See? This is the kind of advice I'm looking for. Usually when I ask for advice I usually get "use X tactic that not every champion can use" or "counterpick with X champion, ignoring that that isn't always possible". It's annoying and honestly makes me wanna find some place where I can get ACTUAL advice.

Elite4Runner2 votes

{quoted}

See? This is the kind of advice I'm looking for.

I do what I can.

I agree with you, the amount of actual advice and friendly discussion is a bit lacking on these boards, but there are some honest good people out there still.

USG Failsawce1 votes

{quoted}

That really depends on who you are playing as. %HP damage, crowd control, and grievous wounds tend to be your best tools in dealing with him.

For AD champions item 3153 item 3022 item 3033 And Jungle AD item 1416

For AP champions item 3151 item 3116 item 3165

Summoners summoner 3 summoner 14

+1

{quoted}

Sure, that works great. I'll just build that on my Kha'Zix, my Fizz, my Azir, my... need I go on?

You're actually complaining that you get countered on champs that he countered? The answer is, you DON'T fight him with them (except azir mid/late if not behind).

And if he gets ahead and/or is that big of a problem for you then why is the above suggestions so inconceivable to you? You asked for advice, and that dude gave it. And damn good advice at that.

Any other advice that could be added is learn to kite better, position well behind your team if you're a carry, and use slows/stuns/roots/knockbacks when he charges. And above all don't let him get ahead. He's exceedingly easy to counter, but it sounds like you're trying to duel him and wondering why you're losing.

He's meant to destroy in 1v1s, especially early.

BluePolarizer2 votes

melee champ with no hard CC?

MasterYi Fiora Shyvana Udyr Yasuo XinZhao Warwick Tryndamere Trundle all destroy Volibear in every way imaginable. Turns out that lifesteal and DPS > Voli.

If you are trying to play sustainless, low DPS burst assassins 1v1 against one of the tankiest tanks in the game, I have to say, you're picking the wrong fights.

Beldair1 votes

Of course Udyr can, he's already skinned one bear to make a hooded cloak. So why not a white one to make some boots? xD

MoonToonEx2 votes

Play Trundle ...

You have sustain, your ult drains his passive and your pillar stop him from running towards or away from you if placed well.

Bronzoid2 votes

{quoted}

Play Trundle ...

You have sustain, your ult drains his passive and your pillar stop him from running towards or away from you if placed well.

Yes, play another dumb Bruisertank, who's also overpowered. You can't play a normal champion against these abominations.

The Whamboozler2 votes

The first step is to not act like such a prat when asking for advice.

Zone of Endless1 votes

You just play safe and avoid fighting him as much as possible unless you have the advantage. Come mid/late game just teamfights/take objectives. If you don't have a way of kiting him efficiently then your team will.

And it's hard to find melee without much CC that can't fight voli. Usually if a melee that doesn't have CC have some kind of damage/dash

SkyblazeHydraX32 votes

Problem with that is jungle Volibear. With his Q it's often very difficult to get away from him, especially if he flashes or uses his E to slow you down. Plus, I often play solo or otherwise with people I can't easily strategize with- and in Silver V, meaning kiting is a skill few have managed to get down pat.

Buff Jax please1 votes

Kite if you are playing a ranged champion or a mobile fighter like Riven/Yasuo.

You can also pick champs who just straighout beat him 1v1 like Tryndamere, Jax, Nasus, Trundle, etc...

SkyblazeHydraX31 votes

I typically play squishy champions with more gated mobility, like Kha'Zix. Or in my most recent game, Fizz. Yes yes, I know Fizz is cancerous scum and I should feel bad for playing him. But Volibear is just so infuriating to fight, especially when so many items cater to him so well.

Also, what do I do when I'm NOT playing champions like that?

Buff Jax please1 votes

Nothing wrong with playing Fizz homie. There are guys who play Kindred, Ekko, Ryze, etc.. in ranked.

Well as Kha Zix or Fizz you can't really fight him head to head...but he is not your target anyway. You wanna kill the enemy carries and with the tools these champs have you should just ignore Voli and assassinate your targets.

Also Volibear is a strong pick atm...so I can see why you are feeling like that.

SkyblazeHydraX32 votes

Volibear is hard to ignore when he can nuke me, or flip me right off my intended targets. Nevermind his ult. Just.... uuuuuugh. Why is it that some champions I once took a liking to have become such enormous pains? Volibear, Wukong, Pantheon, Lucian, Kog'Maw... Nevermind the torrid history that is Kha'Zix and Azir's balancing.

Vekkna1 votes

In addition to the other champs suggested, I would add

Morgana Can go top. Impossible for Voli to touch between binding and black shield. You're his worst enemy. Zyra Can also top. Has roots, slows, very high dps, and standard build is max Mpen and Liandry's. Probably the safest counter to hp stackers. Can get away with taking tp, using MS quints, or building DMP/Zzrot without being irrelevant. Kayle High dps, good lane sustain, extremely strong kiting, and ulti for "oh shit" button MonkeyKing High armor pen, can build lifesteal, and can decoy when he charges you Illaoi Counterengage kit counters Voli's pure engage kit. If he engages you, he has no way out of your ulti and can't cc you out of spamming W. You can also poke him down and bait/force engages. Quinn Can poke to death and vault + blind his engage. Can also outroam.

FioraWillCarry1 votes

Volibear is a bad match up for Kayle. If he freezes the lane on you near his tower it's gg.

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