Tips for Late Game with Dr. Mundo?

Bald Bandit·2/5/2015, 8:54:35 PM·5 votes·1,721 views

I'm still relatively new to League of Legends, and I've enjoyed playing Dr. Mundo a lot. I've probably put in about 20 games with him, but I find I tend to fall off in late game. The problem - as I see it - is that my team typically expects me to tank, but I don't find Mundo has the sustain that most other tank champions have. He just doesn't last like most people expect him to in team fights. I typically build Spirit Visage, Warmog's Armor, and Thornmail. But I still feel the need to hang back and toss cleavers until the other team starts running. THEN I'll hit my ult and chase using W and E to to finish them off after slowing them with my Q. Is this normal or is there a better approach with Mundo late game?

19 Comments

Ulric Greatsword2/5/2015, 10:10:17 PM5 votes

Use hybrid penetration runes; they are nearly as cost-effective as straight mpen runes, but they also help provide more oomph when you activate your E.
Don't build straight tank; the meta right now is very harsh towards tanks because of penetration and %hp damage. Try to go for more of a bruiser route. My preferred build includes at least one on-hit item like or .
. Don't forget these three items!

McAllister2/5/2015, 9:17:18 PM4 votes

Mundo doesn't really shine in late game, sadly. I think his torch is pretty bright in Twisted Treeline, and if he were better in 5v5 he'd be overpowering there. A few tips:

-Tanks are widely thought to be bad place, every one of them. Last Whisper and Void Staff are super common, damage items are more slot efficient than tank items, super late game tanks get blown up basically no matter what. This is a problem for tanks that can control the terms of engagement like Nautilus or Malphite, and a really big problem for tanks who can't initiate like Mundo.

-I run MPen marks. Helps with cleaver, helps with fire, helps with Sunfire

-Despite the above tip, Masochism does massive damage. At max rank, it adds 100 damage to your autoattacks even at full HP. Definitely worth hitting people with, even if you don't build to help it at all. Maybe building some attack speed or armor pen would be worthwhile to synergize with this: I doubt it, mpen marks and Sunfire are good because they don't distract from massive tankiness.

-Sunfire Cape>Warmogs. I think you'll find that, in many teamfights, the enemies ignore you to kill people who die faster. This helps you punish them for that without sacrificing tanks. New Warmogs is an anti-poke item, and not really what Mundo needs.

-Spirit Visage>everything. Glad you figured that out.

-Randuin's Omen>Thornmail. Almost as much armor, tasty tasty HP, and a form of CC. Thornmail's nice, but if you're going to get it, get it last.

-Mundo bait. It's hard to tell the difference between "I can let them dive me, ult away to survive and my team will kill them while they're overextended" and "if I get hit with CC, I'm instantly melted :(" but that's the difference between an alright mundo and a really solid one. Make sure you know, not only where the other team is, but where yours is: going in alone is pretty pointless. Honestly, Mundo's happy throwing cleavers and letting someone else engage. If you hit someone with a cleaver and they hit you with their poke, Mundo usually wins that trade.

-If the enemy team is focusing you, one of two things happened: either you went in without your team behind you, or you're doing your job. Sometimes, dying is part of doing your job. If your team is following you in and still losing the fight, they're not doing their job. If your team is nearby, you go in, and they leave you to die, you're probably the weaker team at the moment (or your teammates think you are) and they're too scared to engage. This makes Mundo very sad, but all you can do is stick with them, wait for the enemy to engage and activate tank mode.

-If the enemy team is ignoring you, pick someone squishy (ADC 75+% of the time), stand next to them, be on fire, pop Randuin's, make many cleavers, block skillshots, get Masochistic, and ult so you can do it some more. Often, if the enemy ADC kites you away from the fight and takes forever to kill you, that's actually worthwhile.

-Ignite>Mundo. Sad but true. Probably not worth building QSS to counter. Very sad, probably still true.

redniwediS2/5/2015, 9:56:01 PM3 votes

Save one item slot for offense. I personally recommend Hydra, as it's aoe life stealing will do wonders for your late game power. Just remember to spam your E.

alaskaneagle2/5/2015, 11:40:34 PM2 votes

54367

with the playstyle you describe you might want to try olaf, he might suit your style better. I find the style you like to play matters more than any other factor.

Erockandroll2/6/2015, 12:44:31 AM1 votes

Mundo is kinda an In and out tank. He basically does not die in the laning phase. And a good chunk of his Tankyness comes from his Regen.

Personally I splash cooldown in my tank build, Relying on his Ult for engage and Tankyness.

he does not have much damage Ratios, which is why I don't typically build damage on him. because his E has bonus damage on it, you could build AS item like Wit's end, if you needed better dueling. Or if you need split pushing power get Portal.

Silents4292/6/2015, 12:54:02 AM1 votes

Not sure how you aren't tanking. Where is your Randiuns and Sunfire?

Whats your runes and masteries?

I find late game Mundo to be insane to deal with.

I haven't played him but here are a few things you should be doing.

Late game try soaking up any skillshots heading towards your team.
In team fights try to just keep anyone off your carries, if a support is able to do it, then go straight for their APC or ADC. Just be annoying.
Check out Stonewall008's newest Mundo video he demonstrates perfectly how Mundo can be used wonderfully. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBAa9wlY8r4)

ABlueQuaker2/6/2015, 1:07:40 AM1 votes

In the late game, you just need to try to live on the Enemy AD Carry's head. Frozen Heart + Spirit Visage = 30% CDR = a lot of cleavers.

junglerboy162/6/2015, 1:35:20 AM1 votes

The question is when are you activating your ult? If you are only using for the speed boost, then yes you will not tank through anything. As Mundo, you are supposed to get into the fight, last as long as possible, and pop ult when you are nearly dead so the heal has the most effect (it costs an amount based off of current health, and restores an amount based off of max health, basically, the lower you get the less it costs to use). You should NEVER use it as just a speed boost, since its all about letting you live longer than anyone feasibly should.

Also, SV and Warmogs are excellent items on him, but don't go item 3075 unless the enemy team is almost all AD champions. Buy a item 3143 first every time anyway, it is much better for you since it gives more health, a lot of armor, and has a nice active slow. After that, then you might consider a thorn mail, or maybe a Locket of the Iron solari or a banshee's veil if they have more AP damage.

EDIT: I also forgot, but Mundo is really weak right now since the most popular AP item in the game right now gives grievous wounds, which cuts Mundo's healing from hi passive and ult in half.

MrBuffington2/6/2015, 3:29:42 AM1 votes

Be careful picking Mundo; it might not be relevant if you're still leveling and people aren't building correctly, but Morellonomicon is a very popular item right now for mages, and that item counters Mundo really hard.

I'd say your experience is pretty normal; Mundo is very tanky but he's not unkillable, lol, you can't just dive 1v5 and expect survive, unless you're absurdly far ahead. He's actually very strong late game when you get a lot of items on him, but that doesn't mean you can just play recklessly on him, it just means he's very hard to kill if played correctly; he still has trouble engaging on the enemy, etc. I'd also recommend getting Sunfire Cape if ahead and Randuin's Omen in general as an armor item over Thornmail (get Thornmail later if you're vs. auto attackers); You want to build health on Mundo because of how his passive and abilities work.

lojician2/5/2015, 10:18:54 PM1 votes

All tanks fall of lategame when the last whispers and void staffs start coming out. Offensive itemization scaling just shits on defensive scaling in this game. As a tank you hope you can make an impact during the couple midgame teamfights where you're actually strong and then after that wonder why you didn't just pick a second mage like riot wants you to.

Only Play Darius2/5/2015, 11:55:16 PM1 votes

Get a Rylai's, you will have an area slow.

terkmc2/6/2015, 12:43:30 AM1 votes

Obtain Liandry, shred everything.