Volibear is a champion known but generally ignored by many in the League of Legends community due to his reputation as a "noob" champion. However, his simplicity is actually his strength because players can quickly master his mechanics and focus more on other aspects of the game, such as decision making and macro play.

Basic Overview

Passive: Chosen of the Storm
Volibear periodically regenerates 30% of his maximum health over 6 seconds when below 30% of his maximum health.

Tip: In teamfights and skirmishes, it is often optimal to fight hard until your passive pops and then retreat to a safer location while your passive ticks you back up. Afterwards, you can reengage as a stronger and healthier bear.

Q: Rolling Thunder
Volibear drops to all fours and runs faster. This bonus speed increases when chasing enemy champions. The first enemy he attacks is thrown backwards over Volibear.

Tip: This ability is an auto-attack reset. If you are not using this as your gap closer, you can auto>Q>Auto>W for huge burst damage against a squishy.

W: Frenzy
Volibear's repeated attacks grant him additional Attack Speed. Once Volibear has repeatedly attacked three times, he can perform a vicious bite on his target which deals increased damage based on the target's missing Health.

Tip: This ability is an execute which scales off of your health and your target's missing health.

E: Majestic Roar
Volibear lets out a powerful roar that damages and slows enemies. Minions and monsters are feared as well.

R: Thunder Claws
Volibear erupts with chain lightning, damaging a number nearby enemies. The power of the storm causes Volibear's attacks to blast his targets with lightning that bounces to other nearby enemies.

The general leveling order is W>Q>E, putting points into your R whenever you can. I prefer to start at level 1 with my E, as the damage between my E and W are comparable at level 1 and my E will save me health by fearing the first camp.

Pros:

• SIMPLE
• Very tanky, and the tankier he gets the more damage he deals
• Good duelist with his passive, Chosen of the Storm
• Easy to gank with, and hard to mess up the gank as well
• Amazing synergy with Cinderhulk
• Execute on his Frenzy ability makes securing and stealing dragons and barons easy
• Snowballs LIKE A MONSTER

Volibear has a lot going for him, especially in low elo. After one or two health/tank items, his Frenzy bite will give him a second smite, allowing you to secure dragons instantly from 1k HP. His ganks are strong, and after buying Cinderhulk he can tower dive with ease. Few junglers can fight him 1v1 before 15 minutes unless insanely ahead, and Volibear steamrolls over most ADC's without a team to get you off of them. However, Riot would never allow a champion to have just strengths with no weaknesses, right?

Cons:

• Clears slowly
• Susceptible to being kited (Competent Vaynes can and will make you cry)
• Has no way to reliably initiate fights
• Provides "only" damage and tankiness, with little utility

In low elo, his strengths are only amplified and none of his weaknesses can be properly taken advantage of by the other team. ADC's who can kite effectively will not stay in Silver, just as enemy junglers who can counterjungle exceptionally will not stay in Bronze, so low elo Volibear players will not have to worry about either.

Summoner Spells: Ghost or Flash?

 OR

For Volibear, the choice between these two summoner spells is largely up to choice. Ghost lets you gank much more frequently, since it has a lower cooldown than Flash, while also allowing you to easily catch cowards retreating in fear. However, flashing over walls and being able to quickly blink onto an out of position carry during teamfights provides you playmaking opportunities Ghost simply cannot provide.

Runes

Runes are also up to preference, however my preferred rune page for Volibear is as follows:

My reasonings for these runes are...

• I like Attack Speed Reds to help with Volibear's clear and stacking the passive portion of his W
• Armor Yellows are my personal preference because I usually buy a lot of health early game anyway, so some armor helps.
• I take six Scaling Cooldown Glyphs because CDR is hard to come by in most of my Volibear builds, and three Magic Resist Glyphs for a little more tankiness. At level 18, I will at least have 10% CDR from runes.
• I take Movespeed Quints because Volibear lacks any dashes and can only really run at his enemy

Masteries

Similar to runes, masteries are based largely on preference. I take 18 points in the Resolve Tree because I like Strength of Ages (free health is always nice!). I put the rest of my points down the Cunning Tree primarily because it gives you a little out of combat movement speed, increased damage while alone to help with dueling, and increased damage to targets at low health (which synergizes with your bite). Dangerous Game is also a nice plus that can save your life at times or allow you to tank damage for longer in a teamfight.

Build Helper

A mark of a good player is an ability to adapt his build according to the game. Volibear is no different, but his build does have some core items which he should always try to incorporate into his build.

Core Items

Cinderhulk: No reason to get any other smite item over Cinderhulk. Volibear scales best off of health, which Cinderhulk provides, and the AOE burn of Cinderhulk helps to speed up his clear. Your choice of color smite is up to preference, but I usually prefer Stalkers Blade because it gives Volibear more burst and crowd control.

Boots: Generally Mercury's Treads if enemy team has lots of CC, Ninja Tabi if there are a lot of auto-attackers or a fed ADC, and Boots of Swiftness if there are lots of slows or you value the extra movement speed.

Warmog's Armor: A solid item after Cinderhulk, gives some tankiness, CDR, and a nice regen passive but the biggest selling point is the massive health increase which makes your bite do insane damage to squishies (remember, your bite damage scales off of your health). You almost always want this as long as you aren't egregiously behind as it is one of the largest single item damage spikes in the game for Volibear.

Situational Items

Guardian Angel: Cheap item with dual resistances. Can be bought right after Cinderhulk if enemy team has a fed AD threat and a fed AP threat. Passive on this item is perfect for 3v3 skirmishes in bot lane/river because you're already hard enough to kill pre-25 minutes, and if you are dead in such a skirmish then you were focused and your team can clean up the rest.

Spirit Visage: Gives cooldown reduction, health, magic resistance, and above all a healing passive which synergizes with Volibear's passive.

Randuin's Omen: I get this in most of my games as Volibear. Gives health, a nice chunk of armor, and a passive to help slow down the DPS of enemy ADC's, while the active slow helps you and your team to catch out carries.

Thornmail: Good against a fed ADC or when you need a hefty armor item against a team with a lot of attack damage.

Deadman's Plate: Good armor items if you have to rotate/move around the map a lot.

Righteous Glory: Very situational. I only get this if I need to be the primary initiator on my team. Do NOT get this if you have Warmog's; even though Volibear scales well with health, he needs the tankiness from resistances and this is especially true if he is going to be the initiator on his team.

General Gameplay Tips

Because Volibear is such a simple champion, much of this section will revolve around decision making from game to game.

First Clear

Volibear's first clear is quite slow, and usually unhealthy unless he utilizes his passive. The usual start is Gromp>Blue Buff>Red Buff, smiting Gromp and Red Buff. The key to this clear is smiting Red Buff after Volibear's passive has popped, allowing Volibear to gank at about 75% health.

An alternative route can go Krugs>Raptors>Red Buff, smiting Krugs and Red Buff. This clear is a little faster and saves your passive, however you do run the risk of running out of mana if an extended fight occurs due to your lack of Blue Buff. I like this clear the best because it opens you up to gank a nearby sidelane, go into the enemy jungle, or ward for your laners and recall.

Laning Phase: Ganking vs Farming

Volibear has a very poor clear speed, especially early in the game, so ganks are usually what you want to be focusing on during the laning phase. However, do not neglect farming. Volibear wants levels, and spikes especially hard at levels 3 and 6. Take what farm you can get, but focus on ganks so you can fully take advantage of your strong early and midgame pressure. A Sweeping Lens on your first or second back does wonders for ganking, as it allows you to sweep bushes as you gank, disabling the wards inside and allowing you to walk into lane without your victims even knowing.

Volibear's easiest lane to gank is probably mid lane. Most of the time, there is a squishy mage sitting here, and unsuspecting mid-laners often push hard so they can be set up to roam elsewhere. Volibear is the natural predator of squishies, especially immobile mages. If you see a Lux or Syndra in champion select, be ready to gank mid often.

Plan your ganks according to what objectives are open on the map. After a successful gank, ALWAYS be looking for an objective. For example, if you force the enemy bot lane to recall you can push for the tower. Ping your intentions, and gauge how long you have to secure said objective. Usually, a walk back to lane will take about 10-15 seconds to complete, so work what you can within this window. Set up deep wards in the enemy jungle, take down dragon, or pushing for the tower are all feasible options. Remember, objectives over kills.

Finally, TAKE KILLS. A snowballed Volibear is a force to be reckoned with, and with enough of a lead you can be both a damage threat and a massive tank for your team.

Mid Game

At this point in time, Volibear is truly a force to be reckoned with. This is Volibear's strongest time in the game. If ahead, feel free to dive laners and, if you know the champion well enough, there are even times when you can 1v2 or even 1v3 and do some serious damage. If behind, use your flip and slow to catch out carries or protect your own when being dove upon. Don't be afraid to prey on a lonely, overextended ADC who goes to farm a sidelane.

After acquiring Cinderhulk, Volibear can usually dive bot lane with the proper set up. When diving, try to get your burst combo off and then retreat. If they're not already dead, the enemy botlane will usually be dangerously low by this time, and your own bot lane should be able to finish them off as you leave turret range.

Late Game

If you have not snowballed by this time, Volibear can run into some issues. Because carries are "coming online" and are now at 4-6 items, you are more easily shredded in an extended fight. Unless I am very ahead, I usually do not look to dive carries at this time as I can be easily peeled/kited. Instead, I peel for my own carries and hope my team has enough damage to get the job done. If you do end up diving carries, be careful about outrunning your team and overextending farther than they can reach. Try to always be in a position for your team to back you up, as at this point in the game you do not have the damage nor the tankiness to survive 1v3. This can involve engaging a fight, and then falling back to your team to peel for your carries. Sometimes, you don't have to kill a carry, but can instead zone them from the fight and keep them from outputting damage.

Conclusion

In the current meta of immobile ADC's and squishy mages, Volibear is in a happy state. Although he may not see pro play in the near future, Volibear's consistent success in Solo Queue provides him with all the accolades The Thunder's Roar needs. Strong, consistent, and rarely changed, true mains of Volibear can only go one way in ranked - up.

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