League of Legends - Varus Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Varus

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Living Vengeance INNATE: On kill or assist, Varus temporarily gains Attack Speed. This bonus is larger if the enemy is a champion.
	Piercing Arrow (Target Range: 925/1625, Speed: 1850, Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 Mana, Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12)FIRST CAST: Varus starts drawing back his next shot, gradually increasing its range and damage.SECOND CAST: Varus fires, dealing 10/47/84/120/157 (+100% Attack Damage) to 15/70/125/180/235 (+165% Attack Damage) physical damage, reduced by 15% per enemy hit (minimum 33%).While preparing to shoot Varus’ Movement Speed is slowed by 20%. After 4 seconds, Piercing Arrow fails but refunds 50% of its Mana cost.
	Blighted Quiver (Target Range: 900, Effect Radius: 112.5, Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Mana, Cooldown: 10/9.5/9/8.5/8)PASSIVE: Varus’ basic attacks deal 10/14/18/22/26 (+25% Ability Power) bonus magic damage and apply Blight for 6 seconds (stacks 3 times).Varus’ other abilities detonate Blight, dealing magic damage equal to 2/2.75/3.5000000000000004/4.25/5% (+[2% Ability Power]%) of the target’s maximum Health per stack (Max: 360 total damage vs Monsters).
	Hail of Arrows (Target Range: 925, Cost: 80 Mana, Cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10)ACTIVE: Varus fires a hail of arrows that deals 65/100/135/170/205 (+60% bonus Attack Damage)physical damage and desecrates the ground for 4 seconds.Desecrated Ground slows enemy Movement Speed by 25/30/35/40/45% and reduces healing effects by 40%.
	Chain of Corruption (Target Range: 1075, Collision Radius: 60, Effect Radius: 550, Tether Radius: 600, Speed: 1850, Cost: 100 Mana, Cooldown: 110/90/70)ACTIVE: Varus flings out a tendril of corruption that deals 100/175/250 (+100% Ability Power) magic damage and immobilizes the first enemy champion hit for 2 seconds. The corruption then spreads towards nearby uninfected enemy champions. If it reaches them, they take the same damage and are also immobilized. Immobilized units gain 3 Blight stacks over the duration.

Strategy

• Varus’ (Q) Piercing Arrow is good both for harassing your enemy champion while also dealing killing blows on minions. This skill gradually increases in both range and power the longer it is held down
• Your passive skill Living Vengeance increases your attack speed whenever you kill a unit, whether a champion or a minion. During the laning phase, last hit a minion first before engaging the enemy champion so you can get that bonus attack speed
• Use Varus’ (E) Hail of Arrows to poke your enemy champion and get an AoE shot on minions. This also decreases health regen so
• Varus is known for catching fleeing enemies due to the increased range given by his (Q) Piercing Arrow. Flash doesn’t interrupt this skill so you can use them simultaneously to close the gap and take out an enemy champion
• During short-range clashes, it’s better for Varus not to charge his (Q) Piercing Arrow as he cannot auto-attack while charging his skill. The damage you make while doing auto attacks is higher than the damage you gain from charging
• Your Ultimate skill (R) Chain of Corruption is a true game-changer. It can be used both for fleeing and engaging. During ganks, you
• Fire off a skill for every auto-attack you deal on an enemy to maximize your (W) Blight stacks.
• (Q) Piercing Arrow is one of the simple yet hard to hit Varus abilities that you need to get a good playing time in order to fully understand how it works in-game.

Runes & Masteries

Summoner Spells

Bot Lane
Heal	Flash

Item Builds

AD Carry

Starter Items
Doran’s Blade	Health Potion	Warding Totem

Core Items
Guinsoo’s Rageblade	Runaan’s Hurricane	Berserker’s Graves

Guinsoo’s Rageblade – Guinsoo’s Rageblade is currently one of the best options for Varus. Aside from the attack speed it provides, it also has an AP component which makes your (W) Blight even stronger. The on-hit effects of this item strengthens Varus in team fights.

Runaan’s Hurricane – Runaan’s Hurricane is a very solid starter item as it increases his attack speed while letting him hit 2-3 enemies in one basic attack. It basically increases your wave clear, letting you proc your passive easier.

Berserker’s Greaves – Berserker’s Greaves increases your movement speed and your attack speed, making you even more threatening in skirmishes.

Full Item Build
Guinsoo’s Rageblade	Runaan’s Hurricane	Wit’s End
Infinity Edge	Berserker’s Graves	Statikk Shiv

Wit’s End – Wit’s End increases your attack speed and magic resitance. What’s good about this item is the passive which decreases the magic resistance of the enemy with each basic attack, making your abilities stronger and your (W) Blight much effective. It also grants 40+ bonus on-hit magic damage.

Infinity Edge – Infinity Edge increases his critical strike and damage. This is a staple item on almost all ADCs and it is essential if you want to deal damage in the mid-late game when the enemy team have already their core items.

Statikk Shiv – Statikk Shiv further adds wave clear and attack speed to his kit. Much like Runaan’s Hurricane, this item elevates the offensive nature of Varus, making him a beast in the late game.

Other Items
The Bloodthirster	Mortal Reminder	Guardian Angel
Blade of the Ruined KIng	Lord Dominik’s Regards

The Bloodthirster – Get this item if you think that lifesteal is needed in the game. This item is the best fit if you opt to have an aggressive lifesteal item compared to Blade of the Ruined King.

Mortal Reminder – This item is essential if the enemy team has a lot of health and regeneration that needs to be addressed.

Guardian Angel – Guardian Angel gives you more freedom in team fights and crucial clashes because it revives you when you die, giving you an option to either continue the fight or back away and reset the situation. This item also grants extra attack damage which can improve his offensive firepower.

Blade of the Ruined King – Blade of the Ruined King is an item that is meant to be a fix to ADCs who are having a hard time positioning because the enemy team has a lot of gap closers and assassins. This item lets you kite enemies while applying lifesteal on them.

Lord Dominik’s Regards – Lastly, Lord Dominik’s Regards is a strong item against enemy compositions with a lot of tanks. This can shred armor easily, improving your damage against the likes of Malphite, Rammus, and other tanks.

Playing Against

• Varus doesn’t have any escaping skills so try to catch him in a bad location. During clashes, focus on Varus first as he can deal extremely high damage
• Move away from Varus or your allies when he uses his Ultimate Skill as it rebounds from champion to champion exponentially extending his range
• Stay away from his Hail of Arrows no matter what happens as it decreases your health regen and movement speed
• Varus is highly susceptible to crowd controls (ie. snares, stuns, hooks, etc) so try to poke him using these skills. He has low mobility and so would not be able to escape from ganks easily

Hard Counters

Vayne – Vayne can easily Tumble from Varus’ Piercing Arrow and Hail of Arrows. Aside from that, Varus excels against ADCs who do not have mobility, making him very vulnerable when Vayne uses her ultimate.

Xayah – Xayah is an ADC that also excels against ADCs who are immobile as she can exploit them with her feathers, decreasing Varus’ movement in the laning phase. Xayah can also nullify Chain Corruption with Featherstorm that lets her be untargetable when she casts her ultimate.

Miss Fortune – Miss Fortune also doesn’t have any mobility, but her (W) Strut can be an effective tool in dodging Piercing Arrow. She also outdamages Varus in a team fight, especially her ultimate Bullet Time. 

Strategy Video

COMING SOON

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