The Batting Cages

[Jonathan Meer]

Get kills don't die

[Kaden]

It's mostly about positioning and target selection.

Never be the first person into a fight. Keep at least one person between you and the enemies. Don't forget to adjust your positioning as the fight moves. Go for the most dangerous enemy first (never target the tank).

It really is 90% positioning. A couple of good tricks are, if the fight is near a brush, shoot from just outside of it; if you're attacking someone from inside, they'll have vision of you, but if you don't, it will give you a place to back into so they lose line-of-sight. Always take Flash. When enemies see someone Flash during a fight, they'll usually break off because they assume the person has gotten away. Using Flash to re-position yourself (instead of just walking to reposition) can get people to back off of you.

Part of positioning is awareness. If you keep losing yourself during team fights, hold space-bar as the fight starts to keep the camera locked on you so you know where you are. But really just paying attention is huge.

[Jarka]

I've been trying to do what you've said, Kaden, and have greatly improved with the whole not dying thing and somewhat improved with getting kills (lately I've ended up with a buttload of assists and, like, a couple more kills).

Now for something completely different:

Janna: I need help with a build for the goddess slut of assists. I know how to build an AP nuker thanks to Veigar, but I don't actually know a viable build for her as support.

Kassadin: I tried him early on and hated him and recently replayed him and hated him considerably less. For a long time, I hadn't seen a single Kass played well, so I thought he was just a shitty champ. Recently, I've seen him dominate a couple of games; he's gotten my interest. Any tips would be great.

[Orion]

My build for Janna is

Mana Crystal -> Catalyst

Boots of Lucidity

Depending on the enemy team comp I go:

Lots of damage output/skillshots: Banshee's
Otherwise: Deathcap

The Shroud item that gives health and cooldowns is a good one too.

[Kaden]

Janna: I need help with a build for the goddess slut of assists. I know how to build an AP nuker thanks to Veigar, but I don't actually know a viable build for her as support.

Philo Stone, Heart of Gold, CDR Boots, wards.

Dead serious.

Kassadin: I tried him early on and hated him and recently replayed him and hated him considerably less. For a long time, I hadn't seen a single Kass played well, so I thought he was just a shitty champ. Recently, I've seen him dominate a couple of games; he's gotten my interest. Any tips would be great.

RoA, Deathcap, Sorc Boots, Void Staff.

Kass is really about just getting as much AP as possible. He needs a bit of extra mana, but otherwise his skills give him tons of utility so he doesn't need to spend the extra gold for effects like Rylai's or Zhonya's.

[Mal Nova]

=(

I played with that Rammus bastard today. I only picked him because people always talk so good about him and the game I played yesterday had a Rammus who was the ass kicker of the game. But I picked Rammus today because I was last to pick and no one had picked him.

I sucked horridly. Why?

[Alura]

=(

I played with that Rammus bastard today. I only picked him because people always talk so good about him and the game I played yesterday had a Rammus who was the ass kicker of the game. But I picked Rammus today because I was last to pick and no one had picked him.

I sucked horridly. Why?

You're new. You probably don't know how to build or play him. These things happen. It comes with research, advice from friends, and practice.

[Ashe]

=(

I played with that Rammus bastard today. I only picked him because people always talk so good about him and the game I played yesterday had a Rammus who was the ass kicker of the game. But I picked Rammus today because I was last to pick and no one had picked him.

I sucked horridly. Why?

Playing Rammus well is actually more complicated than it would appear. There's a lot of technical management that would come from experience with the game.

[Jonathan Meer]

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.

[Ashe]

Playing Rammus well is actually more complicated than it would appear. There's a lot of technical management that would come from experience with the game.

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.

Or that.

[Mal Nova]

Thanks for that bit of info. If I ever play with that oversized armordillo again I will keep it in mind.

In the first game I played where someone was him, I think I was Katrina and me and him laned together for the most part but he wound up being much stronger then me.

The game I was just playing in where I was Wariock, I think he was more by himself then anything and I found myself laning with Malphite at the beginning then switching off with teaming up with the two.

The bots had a Cho'gath and Renkton that kept teaming up =(

Is Cho'gath a Tank?

And whats a good way to make Warwick stronger faster?

[Kaden]

Cho'Gath can play tank, yeah. He can also build Ability Power and do quite a bit of damage while still being super beefy.

The most common way to build Warwick is to go tanky and then grab a high-damage or high-utility item, with Madred's Bloodrazor and Frozen Mallet being the most common, respectively.

Less often you'll see people who try for a straight bruiser-style build on Warwick by grabbing stuff like Yomuu's Ghostblade, Infinity Edge, Bloodrazor and so on.

The least common is what people call "Magewick." You build a lot of Ability Power and just do massive amounts of damage with your Q skill. It's pretty funny, but not all that effective.

[Mal Nova]

I've been tending to get Doran's Sheild... Then the Vampiric Scepter to Turn into the Emblem of Valor.

The Life Steal attracts me and I can eat up minions to heal or an d I think it helps with my Q and Ult right?. Then I get the suggested boots and then get the Madred Bloodrazor as suggested and go from there.

In one game I wound up eventually selling the Dorans Sheild and getting something better I think...

[Kaden]

If you want to do damage, do it while building tanky. Sunfire Cape, and Atma's Impaler can definitely work on Cho'Gath. For AP, you can go Abyssal Scepter, Rod of Ages, and Zhonya's Hourglass.

Emblem of Valor/Stark's Fervor isn't a good item for Cho'Gath. If you want something to keep your HP up, go for HP Regen items. Force of Nature is particularly good on him.

[John Doe]

Holy shit Sona is SUCH a bro. Like, I thought Soraka was pretty brotastic, but damn son Sona just outshines her. Any tips on being even MORE of a bro with Sona?

[Rafael]

Sona=the best support imo. She's so fun

[Kaden]

I think Janna and Taric are tied for best support, personally. Followed by Soraka and Sona.

Sona's a good champion, no question, but I think the others bring more to their teams.

EDIT: Ok, well, I wouldn't say Soraka brings "more" to the team, but she's far and away the best straight healer in the game.