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Vladimir

Zahkara·1/5/2015, 9:59:48 AM·1 votes·1,389 views

Hey guys. So I recently posted a thread asking for basic tips and tricks on top lane in general and counters. After reading through the comments I finally decided to try and main Vlad top. I've played him a couple time before and I find him to be very fun to play and I just think he's a cool champ in general. I've already read up on advice on him, mostly his build, anymore advice on how to play him, especially against the "OP" champs of top lane(, , , , etc.), and his build would be very appreciated.

My current build that I put together for him in the item sets are as follows.(these are not in buy order just price order) Ionian Boots /w Furor or Alacrity Will of the Ancients Spirit Visage Liandry's Torment Rabadon's Deathcap Zhonya's Hourglass

My other option is Sorcerer's Shoes but I thought I'd benefit more from more cdr since I already have Liandry's. Also with the cdr mastery with full points I have max cdr, which is 40% if I remember correctly.

Also if you have any tips for a budding top laner please go to my thread and put any advice you have http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/tips-tricks/owjj2aUm-top-lane-tips-tricks-and-counters

5 Comments

Anisoptera1/5/2015, 1:16:57 PM2 votes

I became a Vladimir main a while ago and those items are fairly solid as it goes.

The CDR boots are not always your best pick. It is often regarded that getting those boots first means you need an early Void Staff to compensate.

Rushing Hextech Revolver and Seeker's Armguard is almost always your best bet.

I play Vlad mid a lot due to the amount of single target ults such as Zed existing. Sanguine Pool will ignore his ult.

Spirit Visage is good when against an AP heavy comp or you find yourself against an AP toplaner. The unique passive synergizes so well with Will of the Ancients and Vladimir's Q and E.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a must buy, as when coupled with Vladimir's passive, it becomes one of the most gold-efficient items in the game. It also provides some CC with some slows on his abilities and he has no CC, so bear that in mind. Rylai's and Liandrys work well together on champs like Zyra, but also with Vladimir. You can hurt lots of targets in fights, applying slows and DoT % damage.

Rabadons Deathcap should always be considered, as the AP and the damage increase gives lots of health on top of damage.

Depending on your matchup, you can either starts Dorans Shield for sustain, or Amplifying Tome to build an early hextech.

Now for gameplay:

Don't spam E early. It will hurt you a lot. The best combo to get health back is E>Q, as E will increase health gains and damage on Q.

Upgrade Q E Q W, then max R,Q,E,W.

Always save your pool for ganks and death dealing damage incoming. Against people like Darius, his ult will reset without CD which is stupid. The pool and Zhonyas should act as proper counter play and reset the cool down, but it doesn't.

I usually run Flash and Teleport in both mid and top. If you are getting bullied and want an early Hextech or Seekers you can go B and return to lane fast.

Use your Ult at the beginning of fights as it increases all incoming damage on affected targets.

It is easy to farm with Q. Your cool downs are high early and low late. Vladimir is very late game. I use MPen marks, Scaling Health Seals, Scaling AP, and AP quints. The quints can be swapped for MS quints as they are viable on every champ.

I use 21/9/0 masteries

Positioning is key in fights.

Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Yawnli1/5/2015, 3:08:14 PM1 votes

Vlad main here too. As you have probably noticed, vlad's early game is one of the weakest out of all champs in this game; as an example i could tell you of one time i was laning against a riven and managed to get 2 kills off her and be up by about 30 cs. Although i obviously had more items we met at river and i ended up dying to her.

To counter all of this champs your best bet is becoming extremely good at farming with just auto attacks and harassing them with q, this should work well for all champs except riven. In Riven's case, you first have to wait for her to use her q and then harass. Using the minions to your advantage is very important, as their damage output early will be game changing.

Do not engage against an enemy unless you have harassed him enough to burst him down and practice the combos with zhonya hourglass

LoliOG1/5/2015, 11:20:44 PM1 votes

change item 3151 with item 3135

EndlessSorcerer1/5/2015, 11:45:05 PM1 votes

Vlad's build can vary a lot depending on the teams and in-game situation. However, I find that there are a few standard build choices I tend to make.

Masteries: 21/9/0
Runes: Movement Speed, Armor, Scaling CDR, Hybrid Pen
Early Items: Sorceror Shoes, Hextech Revolver, Zhonya's Hourglass or Rylai's Crystal Scepter

I like Movement Speed quints because they let me chase and kite more easily, roam better, and escape ganks. Scaling CDR Gylphs are nice because they equal flat CDR glyphs at level 9 (which is when you have Q maxed) and they mean that I don't have to itemize as much CDR to be useful, which lets me get more utility or damage instead.

I think Sorcerer Shoes are important for the early magic penetration because it is a significant increase to Vladimir's burst damage and he doesn't really need the boost to sustained damage Ionian Boots give (since his sustained damage is high anyways).

Hextech Revolver or Seeker's Armguard (vs strong early AD) are typically my first purchase for durability or sustain so I can stay in lane longer and bully my opponent.

Zhonya's Hourglass, when combined with your pool, give you a lot of time during fights to wait out your cooldowns and make you great at tower diving or surviving dives. With a bit of CDR, it pretty much guarantees you'll get three rotations of your Q and E out before dying.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is great for chasing and kiting enemies, especially during fights where your E can hit most of the enemy team and slow them. It's stats work very well with his passive, so he gets a lot of additional cost efficiency out of it, and it greatly increases his durability. This is amazing when you are against champions without escapes or gapclosers since it can prevent them from chasing or escaping you.