On October 22 2012 09:48 Sufficiency wrote: Question:
I have seen a lot of different suggestions on how to build Vlad's masteries (as far as top lane is concerned). Some people say 21-9-0, some people say 9-21-0, and Reapered does 9-0-21. I have tried all of them but I frankly can't make up my mind on this. Does anyone know if any sets of the masteries above is superior, say, in certain match ups?
I recommend going 9/21/0 for top lane against gap closers/heavy hitters as it gives you a ton of extra defensive stats and the extra movespeed as well. I would also use movement speed quints, armor yellows, magic resist or scaling ap blues and magic pen reds for top lane. Basically this build with movement quints will make your life much easier vs any champs with gap closers due to the extra defense stats and the extra movespeed for escaping. If the enemy jungler/top laner realizes you have no extra movespeed aside from your base/boots you can bet that you will get camped since its an ez gank regardless of your pool/ghost or flash. Also, picking up an early dorans shield might be a good idea vs a xin zhao/irelia. If you are facing another ap champ up top you will probably just want to use a mid lane rune set up provided below.
For mid lane, It is best to go 21/9/0, specing in magic resist and the extra health from the defensive tree. For runes in mid lane you can use spellvamp quints(they allow you to spam tides of blood more frequently) or movement quints or flat ap quints, health per level yellows, and either Magic resist or scaling ap blues along with magic pen reds for mid lane. Against an easier mid lane I would just run Movement quints or spellvamp quints with scaling ap yellows/blues with mpen reds.
I've tried 9/0/21 before on vlad for the extra movespeed, spellvamp and cdr but i feel its pretty weak for him since you aren't any top end damage/defensive stats. If i were to run 9/0/21 it would be in mid lane against one of the easier matchups to where i can easily farm and I would take the movespeed, spellvamp, extra gold/1 point in wealth to start with an extra potion for added sustain and the cdr to start at 10%. I would also probably use spellvamp quints( to start off with 9% including masteries for extra sustain/tides of blood spamming to farm better)with flat cdr blues(that would give me almost 16% starting cdr), health per level yellows and magic pen reds. I would also probably make my item build something like hextech/cdr boots/rylais/deathcap then finish the wota or go directly into voidstaff and then finish the wota since u've already got 21% spellvamp due to hextech/runes/masteries. You can also toss in a zhonya's sooner or later depending on how the laning phase went/enemy team comp. The mass cdr/rylais allows you to kite for days. This would be my version of 9/0/21 for vlad. Here is a direct link to a near identical version of the 9/0/21 vlad that Reapered uses: http://www.solomid.net/guides.php?g=33441-thebreakdancer-vladimir-build-guide
As you can see, most of these runepage/mastery setups are entirely based on the situation. I tend to use varied set ups for what i'm facing. Basically there is no one for all runepage and i recommend having 2-3 different ones setup for vlad for each scenario.
If you are relatively knew to vlad it's not a bad idea to go 9/21/0 with a defensive runesetup(with MS quints) regardless of which lane you are in till you get the hang of how to play vlad since he is a little weak early game. Just remember that anytime you use 9/21/0 on him you are cutting off some of his top end damage because you won't be getting the havok, ap/lvl, 5% more ap and executioner's bonus from specing deep into the offensive tree.
Also, in general, Vlad's kill potential is rather low till level 9. At level 9, Transfusion is maxed and you should probably have your hextech revolver/tier 2 boots which will allow you to bully the enemy in lane and possibly score a kill without assistance from your jungler. Hope this helped.
On January 02 2013 07:40 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Haunting guise is a fun, fast pickup, but I haven't turned it into Liandry's very much yet. I think he didn't get changed too hardcore, playstyle-wise
He gets the bonus 10% damage or whatever from Liandrys since pool slows them doesnt he? Seems like it'd be pretty decent on him imo.
On January 02 2013 08:13 Zabad wrote: So should I get haunting guise before hextech usually? Sorry I am a new vlad and all the guides out seem to be out of date
personally no
You want that hextech so you can spam your E with minimal dmg. I would only go haunting guise first if I was troll-raping my lane for w.e stupid reason. The amount of dmg you do is nice... but it isn't usually justified.
On January 02 2013 07:40 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Haunting guise is a fun, fast pickup, but I haven't turned it into Liandry's very much yet. I think he didn't get changed too hardcore, playstyle-wise
He gets the bonus 10% damage or whatever from Liandrys since pool slows them doesnt he? Seems like it'd be pretty decent on him imo.
Ehhhhh you shouldn't be using your pool for any offensive actions. It does sync well but if you are using your pool cd during teamfights for no particular reason (not using it to dodge stuns/skills shots) but only for dps then something wrong is going on (your team is annihilating the opposing team).
Liandry's seems pretty solid on Vlad, especially since you want to try and get as much damage as possible right after you lay down your ult which is ideally going to be right after the intiation and it does % max hp. Sounds good to me in theory.
With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
You spend liek 2600 on warmogs for a whole 25 ap, you could spend 400 gold on an amp tomb, get the same amount of ap, and it'll turn into other useful stuff(rylais dfg etc)
id never get sunfire/warmogs on vlad ever the benefits of just building ap are too great in comparison to building health
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
You spend liek 2600 on warmogs for a whole 25 ap, you could spend 400 gold on an amp tomb, get the same amount of ap, and it'll turn into other useful stuff(rylais dfg etc)
id never get sunfire/warmogs on vlad ever the benefits of just building ap are too great in comparison to building health
So you can stack damage and get health whereas other top laners stack health and get no damage from it. This seems like a pretty big advantage to me
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
You spend liek 2600 on warmogs for a whole 25 ap, you could spend 400 gold on an amp tomb, get the same amount of ap, and it'll turn into other useful stuff(rylais dfg etc)
id never get sunfire/warmogs on vlad ever the benefits of just building ap are too great in comparison to building health
So you can stack damage and get health whereas other top laners stack health and get no damage from it. This seems like a pretty big advantage to me
Basically, no need to ever stack health while his passive works better the other way
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
You spend liek 2600 on warmogs for a whole 25 ap, you could spend 400 gold on an amp tomb, get the same amount of ap, and it'll turn into other useful stuff(rylais dfg etc)
id never get sunfire/warmogs on vlad ever the benefits of just building ap are too great in comparison to building health
So you can stack damage and get health whereas other top laners stack health and get no damage from it. This seems like a pretty big advantage to me
Basically, no need to ever stack health while his passive works better the other way
From just a Rylai's and Liandry's you would get like 900 hp and 200 AP which is pretty great considering those are items you want on Vlad anyway
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
You spend liek 2600 on warmogs for a whole 25 ap, you could spend 400 gold on an amp tomb, get the same amount of ap, and it'll turn into other useful stuff(rylais dfg etc)
id never get sunfire/warmogs on vlad ever the benefits of just building ap are too great in comparison to building health
So you can stack damage and get health whereas other top laners stack health and get no damage from it. This seems like a pretty big advantage to me
Basically, no need to ever stack health while his passive works better the other way
From just a Rylai's and Liandry's you would get like 900 hp and 200 AP which is pretty great considering those are items you want on Vlad anyway
Rylai's is good because of the kiting potential and decent AP, not because the HP part of it magically gives you more AP (it gives like 5).
Except in the case where you are instantly 1shot and can't get a second round of spells off, you will always do more damage putting your gold into AP than HP. In this sense Vlad is a lot like Swain: you want enough base HP to not die immediately and then AP translated directly into more survivability due to healing mechanics/champ design/killing the other guy faster = dying slower.
What are people's thoughts on revolver? I feel that it isn't as core anymore due to top lane going from sustain fest to slugfest. You can more HP back from skipping the early revolver and just getting HP pots
On January 09 2013 13:39 MattBarry wrote: With the stack health flavor of the month going on right now at top lane I'm shocked not to see Vlad get way more play. His passive would really shine in the current meta
The Health -> AP part of his passive is kinda trash is why, its not even remotely close to how good the AP->Health part of it is
Still, if you're going to buy sunfire and warmogs on someone like Katarina, you might as well do it on someone who actually gets damage from it like Vlad.
Alternatively you can stack AP anyway and be the late game monster Vlad always is. The current meta really favors a resurgence of Vlad.
You spend liek 2600 on warmogs for a whole 25 ap, you could spend 400 gold on an amp tomb, get the same amount of ap, and it'll turn into other useful stuff(rylais dfg etc)
id never get sunfire/warmogs on vlad ever the benefits of just building ap are too great in comparison to building health
So you can stack damage and get health whereas other top laners stack health and get no damage from it. This seems like a pretty big advantage to me
Basically, no need to ever stack health while his passive works better the other way
From just a Rylai's and Liandry's you would get like 900 hp and 200 AP which is pretty great considering those are items you want on Vlad anyway
Rylai's is good because of the kiting potential and decent AP, not because the HP part of it magically gives you more AP (it gives like 5).
Except in the case where you are instantly 1shot and can't get a second round of spells off, you will always do more damage putting your gold into AP than HP. In this sense Vlad is a lot like Swain: you want enough base HP to not die immediately and then AP translated directly into more survivability due to healing mechanics/champ design/killing the other guy faster = dying slower.
What are people's thoughts on revolver? I feel that it isn't as core anymore due to top lane going from sustain fest to slugfest. You can more HP back from skipping the early revolver and just getting HP pots
Revolvers still really good on him, you get the flat heal from Q and the % heal from Revolver, WoTA is a good team buff and vlad def uses all the stats on it
When is it better to build tankier items first (eg rylais and zhonyas) and when is it better to go for more damage (deathcap)? It is just a top vs mid thing?
I've been liking Vlad as a midlaner lately, will probably take him top more often. Liandry's is good poke, but I generally hold off on it until I have a Rylai's for the slow/extra damage synergy. His core of Revolver/Boots/Guise -> Rylai/Liandry/whatever is just so smooth and good.
Still pretty tough against good divers, but I've found that doing things like go heavy into defensive tree and buying a DShield early on can help even his worst matchups, and late game Vlad is nothing to scoff at by any means.
I really think hextech into seekers armguards (or vice versa) would be so amazing in lane, especially if you're facing an AD. Getting Zhoyna's is always a great item for Vlad because with that and pool you just stay alive forever in team fights. Do your full combo, pool, do full combo, zhoynas, do full combo, pool, etc etc.
Will have to experiment with that build and maybe I'll give this Rylais/Liadry's build a try, I haven't played Vlad too much recently but with the kennen buff and seekers I was playing Kennen a bit more...and since vlad and kennen work so well together why not try out vlad again. :D
EPT
