After a fan vote last year, Volibear found his way onto Riot’s list of reworks. With a linear kit that led him to be easily kited, crowd controlled, and killed quickly in teamfights, it was time everyone’s beloved bear got a tune-up. In patch 10.11, the new Volibear hit the Rift for the first time. A drastically different champion, his rework received a mixed bag of reviews out the gate. Some claimed he was too strong, some claimed he wasn’t good enough, and some claimed that Riot had somehow put the champion in a worse place than he had been in before. However, as players began to understand his new position in the meta and how he interacted on the Rift, he quickly found his way into pro play and high-level solo queue. Suddenly, the clunky off-tank Volibear was no more. This Volibear was a force to be reckoned with, with a new purpose on the Rift. Let's examine why Volibear is one of League of Legends' most popular junglers.

What Are Volibear’s Abilities?

Volibear’s passive, The Relentless Storm, grants him attack speed with each auto. This passive stacks up to five times and gives him 5% attack speed per stack. Upon reaching five stacks, Volibear begins to chain lightning between nearby opponents with each auto. This lightning is an on-hit magic damage effect and can reach up to four subsequent targets.

Volibear’s Q, Thundering Smash, grants him movement speed and ghosting for four seconds. This movement speed buff is doubled if moving towards enemy champions. Upon reaching an opponent, his next auto attack stuns for one second and deals bonus physical damage.

Volibear’s W, Frenzied Maul, causes him to strike the target, dealing on-hit effects and bonus physical damage. This ability also wounds the target for eight seconds. If Volibear uses this ability on a wounded target, it bites the enemy instead, dealing 50% bonus damage and healing him.

Volibear’s E, Sky Splitter, allows him to call a lightning bolt down from the sky. The lightning bolt strikes the area he cast it on after two seconds. After one second, the enemies can see an indicator of the abilities landing spot. If the ability hits Volibear, he gains a shield. Enemies hit by the bolt are also slowed by 40% for two seconds.

Volibear’s ultimate, Stormbringer, causes him to leap forward and slam the ground in a selected area. It also causes him to grow 35% in size, gain health, gain attack range, and gain cast range on his Frenzied Maul (W) for twelve seconds. Enemies hit by this ability are slowed by 50% for one second, and enemies in the epicenter take physical damage. This ability also disables any turrets in the landing zone for a few seconds.

What Runes Should I Run On Volibear?

While Volibear may rely on Grasp of the Undying when played in the top lane, he has a few alternative options when played in the jungle. One of these frequently used options is Predator. Predator solves Volibear’s mobility problem, and accentuates the strength of his Thundering Smash (Q). The early ganking potential that Predator gives allows Volibear to dictate the early game and truly snowball a lane for his teammates. Press the Attack is also a possibility in the jungle, it just shifts the focus of the build towards damage instead of engage. The Predator rune page should be laid out as follows: Predator, Cheap Shot, Zombie Ward, Relentless Hunter, Nimbus Cloak, Celerity. The Press the Attack rune page should be constructed as: Press the Attack, Triumph, Legend: Tenacity, Coup De Grace, Nimbus Cloak, Celerity.

Both of these rune sets rely on the movement speed given by Nimbus Cloak when you Smite an opponent. Celerity enhances this movement speed buff as well as the movement speed buff given by your Thundering Smash (Q). As a result, these runes make it much easier to run down unsuspecting targets and stick to them once on top of them. From there, much like the other juggernauts in the game, Volibear typically puts out incredible damage.

Why Pick Volibear?

Volibear’s rework caused him to tweak his playstyle in a few ways. Now a genuinely flexible pick between top lane and jungle, it became clear that Riot wanted this champion to have more interactive trade patterns and a means to duel other champions rather than being a mindless champion delivery system like the old Volibear. Volibear provides the jungle with a juggernaut, providing both damage and tankiness. Volibear’s kit is also stacked with crowd control. This crowd control includes a stun on his Thundering Smash (Q), a slow on his Sky Splitter (E), and a slow on his Stormbringer (R). Between these abilities, Volibear has phenomenal ganking potential from the jungle and can help win skirmishes with ease. Volibear's ultimate also grants his team a faux Ohmwrecker and allows for easy tower dives without the risk of soaking too many tower shots. As a result, Volibear is a phenomenal pick when your team is a little squishier than you would prefer, and you have a lane that you can easily gank and snowball. His gank potential can quickly spiral a lane out of control if he chooses to pour his resources into that lane.

What Are Volibear’s Weaknesses?

Overall as a champion, Volibear suffers from the same pitfalls that most other juggernauts do. Volibear has little to no escape capability once he’s used his Thundering Smash (Q). If caught in a bad fight without that cooldown, he most likely has no choice but to stay and fight. Also, champions who do percent health damage hurt Volibear a lot due to his high health pool. On top of that, his linear approach to engagements often means that champions with ranged crowd control can prevent him from ever getting to utilize his crowd control. This situation can then leave Volibear up the creek without a paddle, as mentioned before. Volibear hates fighting front-to-back and falls flat when not allowed access to the backline. However, if able to reach the backline with his Thundering Smash (Q) and his Stormbringer (R), Volibear can wreak havoc on mages and marksmen.

What Makes Volibear a Viable Jungler?

Volibear excels in most categories of jungling. His ganks are proficient, especially when paired with the Predator keystone. The movement speed granted from his Thundering Smash (Q) and the slow from his Sky Splitter (E) makes it easy to get to a laner and damage them. The stun provided by Thundering Smash (Q) means if Volibear can reach a target, they most likely are dead with a little help from the laner. Volibear’s clear is also incredibly healthy and relatively quick. As a result, Volibear can often get full clears in the early game and still leave time to make plays with his ganking. Raptors and Krugs quickly fall victim due to his passive, the Relentless Storm, while many other junglers struggle with these two camps early. Volibear’s main struggle in the jungle is in his objective control. Due to rather slow base attack speed and long cooldowns, Volibear struggles to take objectives quickly. Also, without a huge burst of damage such as Nunu & Willump’s Consume (Q), or zoning potential such as Kindred’s Wolf's Frenzy (W), Volibear can feel a tad helpless in potential 50/50 Smite battles. Despite his problems with objective control, Volibear can check many of the boxes that more traditional junglers do and thus has carved himself a role roaming amidst the jungle.

When playing jungle Volibear, aim to fully clear your camps on your first clear. Volibear stays incredibly healthy when clearing, and you can net a comfortable gold advantage just by playing against junglers who can’t clear as well. This ability to clear quickly allows you to cover the map incredibly fast and snowball whichever lane you deem possible without losing out on your coveted farm. As a very engage-heavy jungler, look to create ganks or small skirmishes, rather than just hunting out duels with the enemy jungler. Your crowd control can make the space needed for your ADC or Mid to focus on putting out damage. Aim to use your ganking ability to create number advantages, so you don’t ever have to risk a 50/50 objective. More often than not, Volibear would rather turn off of an objective to fight than risk a potential steal play.

Conclusion

While the top lane can contain fancy trading patterns, intelligent wave management, and a vacation to the notorious top island, Volibear is fully capable of thriving in the jungle. Through his incredible ganking ability and ridiculously healthy clear, Volibear has the power of making plays all over the map, rather than in just one lane. After all, every bear needs to hunt, and what better to hunt than the various beasts housed in the jungle of Summoner’s Rift.