League of Legends Volibear Guide

Thunderous roars fill the battlefield as the demi-gods of Freljord clash at the doorstep of mortal civilizations. Volibear has been one of League of Legend’s fiercest champions with a lust for battle and a need to jump right into the fray. Volibear has a very aggressive playstyle is the very definition of what an engage champion is meant to be. Since Volibear is a great champion in both the Top Lane and Jungle, we’ll be looking at his general champion overview in this Volibear guide.

The Relentless Storm’s Rampage

As one of the demi-gods that created the strong-willed origins of Freljord, Volibear is utterly disgusted at how the humans of this age cower in fear as they hide behind walls to protect themselves. His hatred for the weak has forced him to take action against the humans to return them to the so-called era of power. His mission is to break the humans until they no longer fear death nor danger, for the old world was forged from the perils of the storm, so shall it be returned by his hands.

Volibear’s recent rework has made him fit his title as the Relentless Storm. He’s been receiving a lot of attention in professional League of Legends because of his ability to engage in fights and counter aggressive champions in the top lane. The champion is able to create openings to suit his team. While Volibear has always been the type of champion who likes to jump into battle even before the rework, this attribute is now greatly supported by his new kit which will be highlighted into our Volibear guide.

Volibear General Playstyle

Volibear is a hard-engage champs who will literally jump into the middle of the enemy team to create an opening for them to back him up. As a bruiser, he thrives in 1v1 situations and seeks to constantly harass his opponents or charge at them whenever his cooldowns are refreshed. This champion is also notorious for his ability to perfectly execute tower dives because of his abilities. In this Volibear guide, we’ll be learning about how he can be an effective engage champion in either jungle or top lane.

Volibear Guide – Skills and Rotations

Volibear’s skill kit screams aggression as all of them rely on trying to land hits on the enemy opponent or diving right in the middle of fights. Volibear’s abilities all focus on him trying to close the distance to give him the advantage in melee fights. Champions that can’t effectively kite against Volibear’s relentless attacks are at a disadvantage. While he is effective by himself, he can also be an excellent teammate since he’s able to create openings for the entire team to abuse which we’ll be tackling on this Volibear guide.

Passive: The Relentless Storm

Innate – Volibear gains a stack of The Relentless Storm each time he attacks an enemy with a basic attack or on-hit ability, stacking up to 5 times for 6 seconds. Each basic attack or on-hit ability will refresh the duration of the stacks. At 5 stacks, Volibear gains Lightning Claws.

The Relentless Storm – Each stack of The Relentless Storm gives Volibear bonus 5% attack speed, stacking up to 25%.

Lightning Claws – Volibear’s attacks are enchanted by lightning, which is unleashed each time he attacks an enemy unit. Each attack will deal magic damage chaining up to 4 visible units close to the target.

The Relentless Storm gives Volibear a massive advantage in lane against his opponents. When laning, try to consecutively hit minions near the enemy champion so that the lightning will chain to the opponent, effectively harassing them when they try to go for a minion kill. Before fighting an opponent, charge your stacks first so that you’ll enter the duel immediately with a bonus 25% attack speed that makes your other abilities more terrifying.

Q: Thundering Smash

Active – Volibear drops on all 4 feet to increase his movement speed and gaining Ghost for 4 seconds. While Volibear is charging at an enemy champion, the effects of this ability are doubled.

While Thundering Smash is active, Volibear’s next basic attack becomes Unstoppable as he pounces on an enemy unit, dealing bonus physical damage and stunning them for 1 second.

If Volibear is immobilized while Thundering Smash is active, this ability automatically ends and its cooldown becomes reset.

Thundering Smash is an excellent way to close the gap between you and the opponent. Try to charge at the enemy team’s most valuable or most vulnerable member to motivate your team to follow up. This ability gives Volibear a lot of openings to start fights and the sight of Volibear dropping on his feet make the enemies subconsciously run away. You can also use this ability to run away during fights if things get a little bit dicey.

W: Frenzied Maul

Active – Volibear strikes the target enemy, dealing bonus physical damage which apply on-hit and on-attack effects. This also Wounds wounds the target for 8 seconds.

When Volibear attacks a Wounded champion, he deals 50% increased damage and heals himself on attack. The healing amount is halved on minions and monsters.

Frenzied Maul makes Volibear an excellent duelist. Whenever an enemy tries to attack you alone, you’ll always have the advantage as long as you have Frenzied Maul combined with The Relentless Storm to increase your attack speed which increases the rate at which you heal per attack. Apply this ability as soon as you can and focus on that target so that you won’t waste the increased damage and healing that you get from Frenzied Maul’s effects.

E: Sky Splitter

Active – Volibears channels the energies of the storm to summon a lightning bolt at a target area after a 2-second delay. Enemies will be able to see the AoE after a 1-second delay. If Volibear enters Sky Splitter, he gains a shield amounting to 15% of his maximum HP for 3 seconds.

The lightning bolt deals magic damage to all enemies within the area, slowing them by 40% for 2 seconds and grants sight on the area affected by this ability for 1 second.

Sky Splitter is a great long-distance ability that aims to harass opponents or set you up for a duel. While Sky Splitter is active, Volibear can’t do any other action so cast this from afar then slowly walk towards the area so that you can benefit from the shield. This should give you an advantage when dueling and set you up for success at the beginning of the fight. You can also use this to check bushes or areas affected by the Fog of War to check for hidden enemies.

R: Stormbringer

Active – Volibear gains Stormbringer which allows him to leap to a target area with immunity to crowd control effects. This ability grants sight as he moves towards his selected area.

Stormbringer – Volibear becomes empowered by the effects of Primal Lightning that he changes form. While in this form, he gains Ghost, he also gains bonus health, 50 bonus attack range, 25 bonus range on Frenzied Maul, and 35% increased size.

Upon landing, Volibear slows down all units affected within the area of this ability by 50% which decays over 1 second. Enemies in the epicenter are dealt physical damage.

Volibear also disables all turrets in an area for a few seconds which causes them unable to attack. This ability also deals the same physical damage to the turrets that were hit.

Stormbringer is Volibear’s signature ability and is a great engage or escape tool. Stormbringer is an easy way to close the distance which you can use to jump into the middle of the enemy team to slow them and follow up with Thundering Smash to stun a high priority target. Use this ability when looking for a fight since you’ll gain bonus health to help you survive. You can also use this ability to dive low-health enemies hiding under a turret but be careful since it only disables the structures for a few seconds.

Volibear Guide – Items and Builds

Next up on the Volibear guide, we’ll be talking about Volibear’s general items depending on whether you’re planning to play in the Top Lane or Jungle.

Starting Items

Doran’s Ring – Since Volibear will likely start with Sky Splitter to help him survive the early game where he is weakest, Doran’s Ring offer a great way to continuously cast this ability by increasing the mana pool and damage through the added AP. Use this as a Top Laner

Hunter’s Machete – Volibear would like to clear camps quickly using his abilities so Hunter’s Machete is the best choice. Use this as a Jungler.

Core Items

Iceborn Gauntlet – This item helps Volibear increase his damage output by empowering his auto-attacks since he uses a lot of abilities that can proc Spellblade. The slow also increases Volibear’s engage capabilities for the team.

Spirit Visage – This item will greatly increase Volibear’s healing bonus from Frenzied Maul. This will make Volibear an even bigger threat in fights.

Stalker’s Blade – An item to be build only when Jungling. This item gives access to Chilling Smite which will help Volibear pursue enemies.

Recommended Items

Dead Man’s Plate – Perfect for Volibear to deal a high amount of damage as he charges at an opponent. Dead Man’s Plate makes it difficult for opponents to face him as he charges at them.

Sterak’s Gage – Gives Volibear much-needed AD and at the same time giving him a significant amount of HP. It also helps Volibear survive longer in battle due to the Lifeline ability which shields him when his HP drops to a certain percentage.

Thornmail – Gives a high amount of armor and lowers the amount of healing from the enemy team by applying Grievous Wounds. Use this item when the opponent has a high amount of AD.

Warmog’s Armor – Gives Volibear a ridiculous amount of HP and healing out of battle. This allows him to be persistent in fights and allow him to dive into battle multiple fights.

Death’s Dance – An item to use when Volibear is ahead. This provides a high-amount of damage and lifesteal. It also prevents him from taking too much burst damage as it converts burst damage to DoT which can he can heal.

Volibear Guide – Runes

Primary: Domination

Keystone: Press the Attack – Volibear relies on his auto-attacks and on-hit effects to deal damage. This allows Volibear to relentlessly attack his opponents after they become vulnerable.

Triumph – Heals Volibear after a kill. This makes him more tenacious in teamfights especially if he has built Spirit Visage.

Legend: Tenacity – Makes him a more effective engage champion by making it more difficult to slow him down or stop him in place.

Last Stand – As a frontline champion, he’ll most likely be taken down to 60% quickly. This helps him increase his damage output when he reaches that point.

Secondary: Inspiration

Magical Footwear – Free boots helps Volibear buy other expensive items much quicker.

Cosmic Insight – CDR allows Volibear to spam his skills much quicker and raise his damage output.

Volibear Overview

Volibear is a relentless hunter that does not fear jumping into the middle of the fight to secure an opening for his team. This champion requires a keen sense of decision-making as his abilities can be very risky at the wrong time. When playing this champion, people should be aware of the limitations of his abilities so that they don’t end up jumping into the middle of losing fights. This Volibear guide should allow players to understand how to use this champion depending on the role they want to play.