06-22-2011, 10:46 PM
Probably because you don't know how to play tanks.
If you're the highest or second-highest in kills for your team as a tank, you're doing it wrong. Your job is to absorb damage and mold teamfights so that your carries (the high-damage output folk; think Vayne, Veigar, Ashe, Ryze) can decimate the other team without dying immediately. Rammus is fantastic for this; his Taunt is all-powerful, and his Powerball provides a mini-stun that simply cannot be ignored.
Basic Rammus tips:
Start with a point in Powerball. After that, R > E > W > Q (in other words, put a point in your ult whenever you can. If you can't, put a point in your E. If you can't, put a point in your W. If you can't, stick it in your Q)
Start with cloth armor + 5 health pots. You're going to need them. You'll probably end up being useless-ish for your first few levels. Unless you're matched up extremely well in lane, you're going to need to play defensively, and let your carry farm up. Soak up damage for him/her. When the minions are pushed to your turret, don't be afraid to step up and dance around; if you taunt an enemy champ when they're in range, they'll attack you, and the turret will attack them. Followed up with a quick powerball as they're escaping (if needed), as well as help from your carry, equals an easy kill. At lower ELO, this works pretty often. It doesn't really work at my ELO, but the threat of that is enough to keep them off your turret. Just don't get carried away. You're slow, and pretty damn squishy at this point.
Your first monetary goal is 825 (1175 is better). Once you hit 825, and it makes sense to go buy, get a Heart of Gold. The health is nice; the gold UNIQUE is better. Next is your Boots of Speed.
MID-GAME
Rammus will start to shine at this point, as long as you've been leveling and getting gold when you can. Ganks with Rammus are thoroughly enjoyable. Your standard 'combo' will be Powerballing into the enemy champ, Taunting him, then hitting your W (not only to decrease the damage they do for attacking you, but also to give some damage back to them). Using your ultimate is a bit of a tricky thing; I suggest you use it whenever you can (as long as the champ isn't simply getting away), but you'll learn to not use it if the person you're helping will kill them without it. Ideally, you will get zero kills and mucho assists with Rammus. While that kill gold is lovely lovely lovely, it is far more important that your carry gets that gold. Your goal is to help your carry get it, not get it for yourself. That said, until you get a feel for that, it's better to just kill the damn enemy at all, rather than letting him get away with 10 HP because you didn't use your ult. You'll get a feel for this.
Largescale Teamfights
If you're in a large teamfight, and you die while your carry kills THEIR carry, that is a huge huge huge huge huge success. That's exactly what you want to happen, and this is where playing as a tank can be a bit weird. While surviving is better than not surviving, all else being equal, there will be times when a teamfight will mean you'll probably die and you should jump into that teamfight anyway. I'm not saying you should be reckless; your death isn't a good thing, but what your death might enable could be a great thing.
Suppose you're in a 3v3 teamfight. They have two carries and a tank, your team has two carries and a tank (which is you). You jump into that fight, Taunt a carry, pop your ult, and hunker down with your W. Before long, you are killed. In that same amount of time, one of their carries is dead, and the other carry has a chunk of health gone from your ult. This may seem like a straightforward 1 death for 1 death, all is balanced, but that is by no means the case. They now have 1 tank and 1 carry, while you have 2 carries. If those two carries are at all intelligent, they'll focus the other carry, and suddenly their tank is running for the hills. Bam bam, great success, +2 or +3 assists, patcherself on the back.
It's usually up to you, as tank, to decide when to 'initiate.' This is to say, it will be you leading the charge, not your carries. That's a pretty damn big responsibility, and the fate of games always rests upon teamfights. If you're diving in, ping so your team knows to dive in with you.
It's hard to explain. You'll get a feel for it as time goes on, but the sort of senses needed takes a looooong time to hone.
Initiating with Powerball
Three words: Boots of Mobility. There are other boots you can use, sure, but a lot of the power of ganking with Rammus comes from two things: getting set up for the gank quickly, and initiating the fight before the other person can get away. When you're planning to start the gank, don't hit your powerball and immediately right-click the enemy. Let your powerball spin up. As your powerball spins up, you'll get faster and faster, even though you're staying in one place. If you dive out immediately, they'll see you, and simply get away while you're waiting for your speed to kick in. If you wait until your powerball is 75% up, however, they are far less likely to get away in time, and you can start your combo before they're aware of what's happening. This is where the Boots of Mobility come in; if you're out of combat for five seconds, your movement speed shoots way up. Start your powerballs in bushes, away from combat, and dive out when the time is right. This is also something you'll get a feel for.
Something else that is hilariously effective is starting up your powerball in a lane (outside of a bush), but far back enough so that the enemy team can't see you because of fog-of-war. Charge it up to the 60% or so, rush in, and you may well be able to start your combo. This is particularly effective if you're fairly certain they've warded the bush you'd like to use, and can be a nasty surprise for a melee champion who thinks he is safely whacking away at one of your turrets.
Items
Rammus builds off Armor; the more Armor you have, the more damage you do with your auto-attacks. And, since your Taunt forces them to auto-attack you, you'll want the armor for that anyway. However, this doesn't mean you should just build straight armor. Your utility as a tank is far more important than your damage output. You should consider the damage bonus from armor as a simple perk, rather than something to maximize at the expense of doing your job. You're going to want AT LEAST one magic resist item (Banshee's Veil is a great choice, as is Force of Nature). If you notice that the other team is filled with AP casters (I realize you're kinda new, so you might not know what type of damage all the champions do; ask your team and hope they know what they're talking about), get more magic resist.
If they have any melee dps at all, Thornmail is good fun. Sunfire Cape is lovely as well. But in the end, you have to play to what you NEED. Check your death recap in teamfights. Are you dying to 90% magic damage and 10% physical? You probably need more mr. 90% phys and 10% magic? Get more armor. Are people focusing you down too quickly for you to be much good anyway? Consider a Guardian's Angel.
...I think I'll leave it there.
If you're the highest or second-highest in kills for your team as a tank, you're doing it wrong. Your job is to absorb damage and mold teamfights so that your carries (the high-damage output folk; think Vayne, Veigar, Ashe, Ryze) can decimate the other team without dying immediately. Rammus is fantastic for this; his Taunt is all-powerful, and his Powerball provides a mini-stun that simply cannot be ignored.
Basic Rammus tips:
Start with a point in Powerball. After that, R > E > W > Q (in other words, put a point in your ult whenever you can. If you can't, put a point in your E. If you can't, put a point in your W. If you can't, stick it in your Q)
Start with cloth armor + 5 health pots. You're going to need them. You'll probably end up being useless-ish for your first few levels. Unless you're matched up extremely well in lane, you're going to need to play defensively, and let your carry farm up. Soak up damage for him/her. When the minions are pushed to your turret, don't be afraid to step up and dance around; if you taunt an enemy champ when they're in range, they'll attack you, and the turret will attack them. Followed up with a quick powerball as they're escaping (if needed), as well as help from your carry, equals an easy kill. At lower ELO, this works pretty often. It doesn't really work at my ELO, but the threat of that is enough to keep them off your turret. Just don't get carried away. You're slow, and pretty damn squishy at this point.
Your first monetary goal is 825 (1175 is better). Once you hit 825, and it makes sense to go buy, get a Heart of Gold. The health is nice; the gold UNIQUE is better. Next is your Boots of Speed.
MID-GAME
Rammus will start to shine at this point, as long as you've been leveling and getting gold when you can. Ganks with Rammus are thoroughly enjoyable. Your standard 'combo' will be Powerballing into the enemy champ, Taunting him, then hitting your W (not only to decrease the damage they do for attacking you, but also to give some damage back to them). Using your ultimate is a bit of a tricky thing; I suggest you use it whenever you can (as long as the champ isn't simply getting away), but you'll learn to not use it if the person you're helping will kill them without it. Ideally, you will get zero kills and mucho assists with Rammus. While that kill gold is lovely lovely lovely, it is far more important that your carry gets that gold. Your goal is to help your carry get it, not get it for yourself. That said, until you get a feel for that, it's better to just kill the damn enemy at all, rather than letting him get away with 10 HP because you didn't use your ult. You'll get a feel for this.
Largescale Teamfights
If you're in a large teamfight, and you die while your carry kills THEIR carry, that is a huge huge huge huge huge success. That's exactly what you want to happen, and this is where playing as a tank can be a bit weird. While surviving is better than not surviving, all else being equal, there will be times when a teamfight will mean you'll probably die and you should jump into that teamfight anyway. I'm not saying you should be reckless; your death isn't a good thing, but what your death might enable could be a great thing.
Suppose you're in a 3v3 teamfight. They have two carries and a tank, your team has two carries and a tank (which is you). You jump into that fight, Taunt a carry, pop your ult, and hunker down with your W. Before long, you are killed. In that same amount of time, one of their carries is dead, and the other carry has a chunk of health gone from your ult. This may seem like a straightforward 1 death for 1 death, all is balanced, but that is by no means the case. They now have 1 tank and 1 carry, while you have 2 carries. If those two carries are at all intelligent, they'll focus the other carry, and suddenly their tank is running for the hills. Bam bam, great success, +2 or +3 assists, patcherself on the back.
It's usually up to you, as tank, to decide when to 'initiate.' This is to say, it will be you leading the charge, not your carries. That's a pretty damn big responsibility, and the fate of games always rests upon teamfights. If you're diving in, ping so your team knows to dive in with you.
It's hard to explain. You'll get a feel for it as time goes on, but the sort of senses needed takes a looooong time to hone.
Initiating with Powerball
Three words: Boots of Mobility. There are other boots you can use, sure, but a lot of the power of ganking with Rammus comes from two things: getting set up for the gank quickly, and initiating the fight before the other person can get away. When you're planning to start the gank, don't hit your powerball and immediately right-click the enemy. Let your powerball spin up. As your powerball spins up, you'll get faster and faster, even though you're staying in one place. If you dive out immediately, they'll see you, and simply get away while you're waiting for your speed to kick in. If you wait until your powerball is 75% up, however, they are far less likely to get away in time, and you can start your combo before they're aware of what's happening. This is where the Boots of Mobility come in; if you're out of combat for five seconds, your movement speed shoots way up. Start your powerballs in bushes, away from combat, and dive out when the time is right. This is also something you'll get a feel for.
Something else that is hilariously effective is starting up your powerball in a lane (outside of a bush), but far back enough so that the enemy team can't see you because of fog-of-war. Charge it up to the 60% or so, rush in, and you may well be able to start your combo. This is particularly effective if you're fairly certain they've warded the bush you'd like to use, and can be a nasty surprise for a melee champion who thinks he is safely whacking away at one of your turrets.
Items
Rammus builds off Armor; the more Armor you have, the more damage you do with your auto-attacks. And, since your Taunt forces them to auto-attack you, you'll want the armor for that anyway. However, this doesn't mean you should just build straight armor. Your utility as a tank is far more important than your damage output. You should consider the damage bonus from armor as a simple perk, rather than something to maximize at the expense of doing your job. You're going to want AT LEAST one magic resist item (Banshee's Veil is a great choice, as is Force of Nature). If you notice that the other team is filled with AP casters (I realize you're kinda new, so you might not know what type of damage all the champions do; ask your team and hope they know what they're talking about), get more magic resist.
If they have any melee dps at all, Thornmail is good fun. Sunfire Cape is lovely as well. But in the end, you have to play to what you NEED. Check your death recap in teamfights. Are you dying to 90% magic damage and 10% physical? You probably need more mr. 90% phys and 10% magic? Get more armor. Are people focusing you down too quickly for you to be much good anyway? Consider a Guardian's Angel.
...I think I'll leave it there.
![[Image: av50fd.png]](http://i55.tinypic.com/av50fd.png)
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