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BATTLECRUISER OPERATIONAL
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QmX1n.png)
So with permission from our friendly forum moderator, I have got permission for my 10,000th post to redo the Swain guide! A short introduction, i'm Arb i post here alot and i've been here a good while, i used to think Swain was a worthless hero however, upon playing him I really think he's one of the most ridiculous mids in the game. So let's get started!
Section 1: Why play Swain?
Why play Swain? Because he's The Master Tactician with Infinite Sustain of course.
Pros :
•Stupidly obnoxious sustain when you hit 6
•Spells do a lot more damage then most people expect from him
•Popular gap closing assassin mids such as Katarina/Diana/Akali/Ahri are pretty much shut down when they get near him due to his retarded damage when you unload.
•Really hard to shut down when you get rolling
•He's a hell of a lot of fun!
Cons :
• If you get shut down its hard to come back
• Hard to sustain pre-6
• Similar to Ryze has very little pushing power before he gets some AP or level 6.
• Pretty high skill cap imo.
Section 2: Skills
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/skills/swain/p.png) Passive Carrion Renewal: Whenever Swain kills an enemy unit, he restores 9 + (1 × level) mana.
Basically, you get free flat mana whenever you last hit. Early game provided you can last hit really well, you'll be at full mana 99% of the time. Realllllly strong passive.
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/skills/swain/q.png) Q Decrepify : Swain sends his raven to cripple an enemy, creating a tether between the enemy and the raven, which stays in the position Swain was upon cast. Over the next 3 seconds, the target takes damage each second and is slowed. If enemies walk out of the tether, the effect ends immediately.
Swains Q is an instant cast tethered DoT(Damage over Time) that also slows your enemy! Early on use this to slow jungles if they come into gank you, if you wanna get aggressive use E in combination with the slow from Q will help you land a very easy W!
Note* : The tether doesn't move from where you initially cast it
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/skills/swain/w.png) W Nevermove : Swain marks a target area. After a short delay, mighty talons grab hold of enemy units, dealing damage and rooting them for 2 seconds.
Swains W is a skill shot AoE(Area of Effect) Root for 2 seconds, it also does pretty good damage later when combined with some AP! It has a couple of uses early on, comboing this with Q/E for damage, Rooting their mid when your jungle ganks, rooting their jungle when they gank, and just killing big waves with it plus your ult!
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/skills/swain/e.png) E Torment : Swain afflicts his target with debilitating pain dealing damage to them over 4 seconds, and causing any further damage dealt by Swain during this period to be increased by a percentage. This includes summoner spells and items used by Swain.
Ahhh, torment your bread and butter harass + damage skill, using this not only places a really strong DoT on your enemy, it also causes all of your spells/items/autoattacks to do bonus damage, and scales off itself! Anytime you go in to harass with autoattacks or just do harass in general make sure to lead off with this.
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/skills/swain/r.png) R Ravenous Flock : Swain transforms into the form of a raven, during this time up to 3 lesser ravens strike out at nearby enemies each second, one raven per enemy and prioritizing champions. Swain is healed for 75% the damage dealt to champions and by 25% of the damage dealt to minions and monsters. The cost to sustain Ravenous Flock increases every second.
Your ultimate gives you incredible sustain once leveled(hence Swain The Master Tactician with Infinite Sustain!). When someone dives on you mid? Turn into a bird and CAW CAW CAW heal to full while you blow your load all over them and make them regret ever fucking with you. Can be used for semi decent farming once you get blue + Rod. Remember the cost starts out small but increases every second, eventually you wont be able to sustain its cost and it'll cut itself off, ALWAYS know how much mana you have and swap between bird/human form as needed!
Section 3 : Summoner Spells & Runes & Masteries
Section 3A Summoner Spells :
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/summoners/flash.png) Flash : Teleports you to your cursor, pretty much an always use. Can get you away from ganks, position in teamfights or anything really.
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/summoners/ignite.png) Ignite : One of the two options for your second spell, its another DoT spell and does extra damage with paired with your E! Most of the time i'll take this but sometimes it requires a different spell.
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/summoners/exhaust.png) Exhaust : Can also use this if you really wanted to, will reduce something like Karthus' damage and Ahri/Kat if they jump on you(you'll shit on them regardless but assurance never hurts)
Section 3B Runes :
I truthfully use a couple different rune setups for Swain as sometimes a matchup requires a different setup!
Rune Setup 1
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/runes/mark4.png) 9x Greater Mark of Insight
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/runes/seal1.png) 9x Greater Seal of Resilience
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/runes/glyph4.png) 9x Greater Glyph of Force
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/runes/quint3.png) 3x Greater Quintessence of Potency
This one will probably be your default, Magic Pen is pretty self explanatory, armor if youre facing someone who auto attacks heavily/go toplane, and AP/L and Flat AP for more ap obviously.
Rune Setup 2
9x Greater Mark of Insight
9x Greater Seal of Resilience
9x Greater Glyph of Force
3x Greater Quintessence of Swiftness
Basically the same as the one above with Movement Speed instead of Ability Power, use this if you want to forsake as much early damage for more utility! Plus running fast is always great!
Other Runes to Consider :
The only other real options IMO are Health/Level Yellows because being more healthy is always nice if you decide to go for some glass cannon build(which you shouldnt) or dont expect to be taking alot of auto damage.
Flat Magic Resist/Magic Resist Per Level Glyphs, You are going mid after all, and having extra MR to help against the opposing mid laner is NEVER a bad idea.
Section 3C Masteries :
The most common setups here are really 21/9/0 taking all the appropriate AP masteries and the health per level/ flat HP + magic resist in the defensive tree
You can also run 9/21/0 IF you're scared of dying or something, which you wont be because Swains unkillable.
9/0/21 Is also viable but Im not 100% sure why you'd do it!
Section 4 Item's and you :
You can build almost anything on Swain and expect to do well, because well he's the best champion in the game obviously.
Section 4A Core build :
99% your core build will be this :
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/mercurys-treads.png) or ![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/sorcerers-shoes.png) or ![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/ninja-tabi.png) ![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/rod-of-ages.png)
Your choice of boots will really depend on whats happening in the game, most of the time you'll go mercs, but if youre shitting on kids go Sorcs, if their top/bot is fed just go tabis. RoA(Rod of Ages) is something I always get because it gives you health/mana aswell as AP items besides these will depend on the situation youre in during the game!
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/sight-ward5.png) Wards :
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS buy atleast 1 when you back, don't ever neglect buying wards. When you can see a gank coming, or where their mid is going it can save you and your teammates lives! Good places to ward include, your/their Wraiths, dragon, the bushes next to the midlane bushes, and your enemy buffs whenever possible!
Section 4B Situational items :
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/abyssal-scepter.png) Abyssal Scepter :
Say you really need MR, or you feel like going sorcs/abyssal for a magic pen build or something, this is a really good item. Playing vs something like Ahri/Diana i like to build this since when they dive on you and eat your entire combo they'll be doing it with 20 less MR, plus its a pretty good overall aura for your team.
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/chalice-of-harmony.png) and ![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/athenes-unholy-grail.png) Chalice of Harmony/Athenes Unholy Grail :
If you dont go abyssal, i'd recommend grabbing Chalice atleast after rod, coupled with blue buff + its insane passive(1% mp5 per 1% mana missing yes plz) it'll ensure you're CAW CAW CAWing for aslong as possible, and when upgraded you return 12% of your max mana on a kill/assist which also fuels your Bird power! You'll get some MR with these but really the main thing is to get the passive, usually i'll hold off on upgrading into Athenes till after your next big item, but sometimes you may need to get it sooner!
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/rabadons-deathcap.png) Rabadons Deathcap :
If you're really pooping on kids you can grab this quickly, it'll provide you with the most raw damage out of almost any item you can rush. You should get this most games at some point, but sometimes getting it after RoA because you got a bunch of kills/are farming exceptionally well(which you should be of course). is a pretty decent idea!
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/zhonyas-hourglass.png) Zhonyas Hourglass :
If you dont need to rush Athenes/ youre getting focused hella hard grab this after Chalice/RoA when they all jump on you, stasis and troll face as you heal to full(yes your ult goes on while Zhonyas is up, awesome!) I'd recommend getting this late game though, the armor is always pretty good vs Ad's(which will dominate late game) and you get alot of AP + the awesome active.
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/frozen-heart.png) Frozen Heart :
99 armor + 500 mana + 20% AoE attack speed slow + 20% CDR, this is a pretty decent item if you need the armor/mana badly late game. The slow aura is always nice for slowing their DPS down, get this sometimes. You can grab a Glacial early and then hold on it for a while the CDR helps you spam spells more also!
![[image loading]](http://www.solomid.net/guide/items/spirit-visage.png) Spirit Visage :
Lategame when you buy this item, throw on your trollface with zhonyas since your ult will be healing retarded amounts of health back. Get this sometimes, dont always rush it but if you find you could use it it's always worth considering!
Section 5 : Laning/Teamfighting :
I'll break this up into 3 sections Early/Mid/Late games!
Section 5A Early Game :
Early game you want to focus on 2 things, last hitting and not dying. Anytime you can harass/they get near creeps throw out and E and and auto attack or two and back off. Follow them if they roam and make sure to farm, thats the main thing is to farm, and not die. If you think you can get a kill with ignite + ult and flash go for it, but like I said mostly focus on farming and not dying.
Section 5B Mid Game :
Continue farming, and make sure you buy wards. Group up with your team when they go to do dragon, and don't leave your jungler out to dry unless he does something dumb. Follow the enemy mid when they roam top/bot and make sure you farm still. If you get into a big fight make sure you peel for your AD and unload your spells constantly, manage your mana with bird form for maximum CAW CAW CAWing.
Section 5C Late Game :
Late game you wanna be with your team forcing objectives. Peel for your AD Carry use your slow + snare smart, and throw out E's and CAW CAW CAW everywhere. If you can catch someone with a W then awesome, your team should be able to kill them, the more people you can catch in a W in a teamfight the better. Use your spells smartly and peel for your AD while shitting on their team.
Section 6 Closing thoughts :
Well that's it for my Swain Guide/10,000th post! I hope you learned something and I sincerely hope you enjoy the champion as much as I did. Any questions or comments or improvements you can always leave below or just feel free to shoot me a PM!
Happy CAW CAW CAWING!
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I used this guide and went 20-0 then I bought wards and went 30-0 #dota2sucks
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Not sure why you didn't mention Rylai. I feel that it's extremely strong on him because he can pretty much perm-slow the entire enemy team and provides the most brainless kiting ever (just move backward and leave R on). His E will also provide an obnoxious 5.5 seconds slow.
When S3 comes, Swain will definitely be stronger with Ignite nerf/Spirit Visage buff/Tear buff.
One other important piece of information (imo) regarding Swain:
His Q creates a Tether AT WHERE SWAIN INITIALLY CASTED Q and does not move with him (unlike, say, Noc's E). Because the tether range is about 200 distance longer than the Q cast range, this means that when you cast a Q on a target at max range while the said target is running away from you, you typically will only get one tick off (33% of the damage). The fact that his Q casts instantly without any casting animation means that you can also use it to last hit a minion, although you will do only 30ish damage at rank 1.
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On November 16 2012 18:33 Sufficiency wrote:
Not sure why you didn't mention Rylai. I feel that it's extremely strong on him because he can pretty much perm-slow the entire enemy team and provides the most brainless kiting ever (just move backward and leave R on). His E will also provide an obnoxious 5.5 seconds slow.
When S3 comes, Swain will definitely be stronger with Ignite nerf/Spirit Visage buff/Tear buff.
One other important piece of information (imo) regarding Swain:
His Q creates a Tether AT WHERE SWAIN INITIALLY CASTED Q and does not move with him (unlike, say, Noc's E). Because the tether range is about 200 distance longer than the Q cast range, this means that when you cast a Q on a target at max range while the said target is running away from you, you typically will only get one tick off (33% of the damage). The fact that his Q casts instantly without any casting animation means that you can also use it to last hit a minion, although you will do only 30ish damage at rank 1.
I'll def add a section for Rylais in the coming days, i've never been a huge fan of it personally
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Rylai gives HP, Swain prefers resistances, and the slows is "wasted" on Q and W because of the stacking mechanic and the root. The slow's also kinda weak on his ult and will only hit the 3 closest enemies, which may help but I don't feel like it warrants the amount of gold you'll pour into it.
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I think this was already talked about in the old Swain thread or in some GD months ago when Swain was a topic for a page or two, but Rylai's sucks on Swain for a few reasons.
1. If you're building any health item, it's going to be catalyst -> ROA. ROA > Rylai's by a very large margin because it not only provides the catalyst proc (building up to it from catalyst and when finished as ROA), but it also provides a large mana pool that helps out Swain maybe more than any other champion in the game.
2. Since you would rather build ROA than Rylai's, after you finish ROA you will almost always prefer to build resistances over more health because it gives you more effective health. And in the cases where you're completely dominating, building a NLR is so much more impactful than Rylai's because you're going to be killing and healing more anyway. The slow from Rylai's isn't even really necessary because your Q's slow is really strong, and it's very easy to land your W if the target is tethered by your Q. After ROA, you want to be building resists and ap so that you have more effective hp, kill people faster, and heal more. Spending gold on Rylai's after ROA just isn't a very effective way of spending gold on Swain.
edit: I just want to suggest that scaling mana regen seals can be very, very strong on Swain. They are my personal favourite seals for Swain.
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On November 17 2012 03:25 koreasilver wrote:
I think this was already talked about in the old Swain thread or in some GD months ago when Swain was a topic for a page or two, but Rylai's sucks on Swain for a few reasons.
1. If you're building any health item, it's going to be catalyst -> ROA. ROA > Rylai's by a very large margin because it not only provides the catalyst proc (building up to it from catalyst and when finished as ROA), but it also provides a large mana pool that helps out Swain maybe more than any other champion in the game.
2. Since you would rather build ROA than Rylai's, after you finish ROA you will almost always prefer to build resistances over more health because it gives you more effective health. And in the cases where you're completely dominating, building a NLR is so much more impactful than Rylai's because you're going to be killing and healing more anyway. The slow from Rylai's isn't even really necessary because your Q's slow is really strong, and it's very easy to land your W if the target is tethered by your Q. After ROA, you want to be building resists and ap so that you have more effective hp, kill people faster, and heal more. Spending gold on Rylai's after ROA just isn't a very effective way of spending gold on Swain.
edit: I just want to suggest that scaling mana regen seals can be very, very strong on Swain. They are my personal favourite seals for Swain.
I am not suggesting building Rylai's second. It's more of a teamfighting item since his Q can already easily slow a single target approaching him. I don't think it's awfully bad, but if there is only one "diver" from the enemy team it's obviously not worth it.
BTW, recently I have trying to get better at this champion. The LoL wiki does not have the upkeep cost of his R after x seconds, so I made a chart so I can get a better grasp of his mana cost. It looks pretty rough and could be wrong (the numbers are calculated based on the description of the ability from the wiki and NOT from the actual in-game behaviour), but here it goes:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/do8xp.png)
Maybe it'll be useful for other readers.
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In teamfights you should be aiming to kill, not try to augment him in a very awkward and very ineffective way. Swain's role in a teamfight isn't primarily to provide utility. His design is still primarily focused around singling out one target and just outright killing them. He can have really strong sustain but if you build him like a "tank" that provides utility, then you're playing him wrong. He is foremost a damage dealer. The sustain that his ult provides should be taken as something that aids him in achieving the primary goal.
edit: lets not mince words. Rylai's is awful on Swain.
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Yo just dropping by to say that Zhonya's -> QSS or SV is still 100% the best way to spend your gold as Swain.
once you get good at timing your Zs, you'll never go back to RoA
Still undecided as to whether Athene's is enough of a mana solution. New Tear gonna be autobuy imo.
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Not sure about the tear. It only procs once every 3s, right? So since you tend to use your first 3 spells in a single combo, you'll only charge it once. Then once or maybe twice with your ult. You'll charge it a bit faster if you use your ult to push a bit without fighting, but with his cooldowns and the way his spells work, as much as he'll charge tear faster then than now, he'll still charge it pretty slowly.
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On November 17 2012 05:16 Alaric wrote:
Not sure about the tear. It only procs once every 3s, right? So since you tend to use your first 3 spells in a single combo, you'll only charge it once. Then once or maybe twice with your ult. You'll charge it a bit faster if you use your ult to push a bit without fighting, but with his cooldowns and the way his spells work, as much as he'll charge tear faster then than now, he'll still charge it pretty slowly.
I think with the Tear change, you can spam your ult a little bit while you are moving to lane or idling. Currently he can only build Tear by spamming W, since the rest of his abilities are either Toggled or require a target.
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On November 17 2012 04:48 Tooplark wrote:
Yo just dropping by to say that Zhonya's -> QSS or SV is still 100% the best way to spend your gold as Swain.
once you get good at timing your Zs, you'll never go back to RoA
Still undecided as to whether Athene's is enough of a mana solution. New Tear gonna be autobuy imo.
I like getting RoA mostly for the mana truthfully, the longer you can CAW CAW early and later the better. Cata proc also never hurts imo.
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Well, first Tear is going to be ~700 gold now iirc, which isn't much for something that gives you crazy mana pool. Previously the biggest challenge with going Hourglass/QSS Swain was your tiny mana pool - you either had to buy Tear early, which wasn't feasible against most lanes unless you were really rollin', or you had to buy catalyst (in which case, why not start catalyst (in which case why not build RoA)). New Tear charges faster, so you can get it later, and becomes godlike after enough time.
^ yeah the mana pool was previously the hardest thing to itemize. I hope the new tear works well.
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On November 17 2012 07:18 Tooplark wrote:
Well, first Tear is going to be ~700 gold now iirc, which isn't much for something that gives you crazy mana pool. Previously the biggest challenge with going Hourglass/QSS Swain was your tiny mana pool - you either had to buy Tear early, which wasn't feasible against most lanes unless you were really rollin', or you had to buy catalyst (in which case, why not start catalyst (in which case why not build RoA)). New Tear charges faster, so you can get it later, and becomes godlike after enough time.
^ yeah the mana pool was previously the hardest thing to itemize. I hope the new tear works well.
If the new tear works well then it'll def be a must buy. I just cant justify not getting RoA right now because you really do need the mana when his ult cost ramps up and you cant sustain it with just blue anymore
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You also need the HP pool. Swain goes better with resistances, but being able to heal won't do any good if your HP pool is so low that you can get bursted 100-0 in one go before you have the chance to regenerate.
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On November 17 2012 07:58 Alaric wrote:
You also need the HP pool. Swain goes better with resistances, but being able to heal won't do any good if your HP pool is so low that you can get bursted 100-0 in one go before you have the chance to regenerate.
With tear being cheaper, and if youre farming well/not getting shit on i could see Tear/RoA being decent. since you can sit on tear for a while to charge it up before turning it into the new item it builds into
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United States37500 Posts
I would never get the current Tear on Swain. o_o
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On November 17 2012 09:11 NeoIllusions wrote:
I would never get the current Tear on Swain. o_o
Truthfully even with it getting made cheaper and junk I have trouble thinking the new one will be that good, you'll be unloading your entire combo as fast as you can so it wont get charges that quick. Rushing it and not having health just isnt a good idea imo, even though you get all that mana.
I think experimenting with Rod/Tear might have some merit but im not really sure. You need some kind of health to make sure you dont die instantly, but you need mana to make sure your ult is on as long as possible also.
Does tear proc on/off with his ult like it does anivias? if so it could be.. okay i guess but i still dont really know.
RoA will still probably be core on him i think
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United States37500 Posts
Currently, health options are either Catalyst for Giant's Belt. Not sold on Rylai's either.
Agree on RoA core. Does so much more for him than Ring stacking.
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No, Anivia is the only exception regarding toggles. I guess Riot made it intentionally since "she needs sooooooooo much mana" (and 0 AP... God I hate her. But this ain't no place to rant). So basically you'd need to cast your ult, let it run 3 seconds, then turn it off. So one proc for 25 initial mana, then another one for (30+35+40) 105 mana, assuming you're only at level 1 ult, otherwise it's 6 or 12 mana more. Considering his mana costs, if you want to charge your tear and you've got targets and no threats it's cheaper to just turn your ult on and off, immediatly, then cast one of your other spells after 3 seconds on a target, cast another one 3 seconds later, then turn on your ult again as it'll have cooled down.
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Which is exactly the same as the current tear.
Yes, you can charge it better without targets but it'll be expensive as hell (105 mana for a second tick, 150, or even 210 for a third one). I don't think even the new tear will be worth it because the difference in charging speed won't be big enough.
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EPT
