For those of you who don't like reading, I made a video guide! It outlines most of what I go over in this build, I worked pretty hard on it so I hope that it is helpful to you =)
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Gameplay: I went 15/2/18 with this build in this video and put it on here to show how to do the things that I explain in this build. I am in the process of making a video guide as well. I hope that you all enjoy this. Just so you know the beginning is pretty slow, but it turns out to be a good game!
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Another Fun Offtank Build:
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THIS IS NOT A TROLL GUIDE. AP Offtank Rammus is extremely viable, and rather effective. I personally enjoy playing AP Offtank Rammus over full tank. It is so satisfying flying out of nowhere and one shotting their carries. Make sure you tell your teammates that you are going AP when you start so they don't think otherwise and rage at you (happens a lot when behind). Keep in mind that it doesn't work for every composition. Enjoy this build and give it a couple tries =)

Flat AP for your glyphs and quinessences gives you some more early game damage, and helps you greatly with clearing the jungle early game as well. I prefer going AP glyphs instead of MR because it is more useful for clearing the jungle, and is overall more impactful for you.

Magic penetration marks are useful because it adds to how much damage you can do. By having some flat magic pen, it will make it easier for you to burst an enemy, which is your goal.

Armor seals are very helpful in the jungle because it makes it so you don't get absolutely obliterated by the camps. They will still do decent damage, but these combined with your W makes it so you take a relatively small amount of damage.

Boots

All Boots are Good Options


These are rather good and allow you to travel around the jungle very fast, and roll into lane to gank at even scarier speeds. They are very good for this build because you are going to be going from lane to lane and through your jungle a ton, and doing it fast is important.


Also a good buy for Rammus, the extra speed is really sweet and reducing the effectiveness of slows is huge because they can cause your Powerball to time out before reaching your target. Plus these boots aren't too pricey.


The magic pen on these is great, and makes you be that much scarier to your enemy. If you need an extra little bit of burst and can sacrifice a little bit of speed then go with these.


Also not a terrible option. Like I mention in the build, cool down reduction is very helpful on Rammus especially when all of your damage is coming from your abilities. Also being able to Powerball + Flash into the middle of a team lets you hit multiple targets, and this is also really good for ganking. These boots will let you have your summoner up more often to make these flashy plays.



These are also really strong because of the tenacity that they give you. When you get stunned it can mean that you won't be able to fly your Powerball straight into the enemy team. Get these if they have lots of CC and or AP.


Also not a bad option, they go really well with your passive, and also make it so that you can counter auto attack based champions even better. Get these if they are AD heavy, or if they have an auto attack based champion that is fed.


[Damage Items


What Items You Want


Get this no matter which smite items you go. This has everything you need as AP Jungle Rammus. Movement speed, AP, and more damage with it's passive. I used to always get Runglave then Luden's Tempest but now I just buy this item and am happy sooner.


This items is fantastic for offtank Rammus. First off, the build path is great, Hextech Revolver adds some decent damage to your combo. Also it gives you AP, Health, Cooldown Reduction, AND and active that is AMAZING. The active firebolt adds burst to your combo, and is also a gap closer. Plus the bolts from it proc your Enchantment: Runic Echoes passive, as well as Rylai's Crystal Scepter passive so that you can do decent damage and slow someone from a distance. This item has made offtank Rammus so much better, and it is super cheap. It is really nice that it is so cheap because it allows you to have a very strong power spike early on.


This item is really great in this build, I love that it has a decent amount of AP which is great for this build, and it has some armor, which works well with your passive. It also turns you gold, which is freaking awesome. Plus this will make a teamfight go heavily in your favor if you can get in the middle of their team ult and zhonya's. The effect from your ult continues when zhonya's is on so this is extremely strong on AP Rammus. You need to put yourself in the middle of the enemy, but are squishy, this item lets you do that.


I love Rylai's on this build, it makes you survive a little better, and it also makes it so much more difficult for your target to escape you. With your ult going you have an AOE slow that lasts for 8 seconds. I love this item on AP Rammus.


Getting that 120 AP is beautiful, on top of that it gives you bonus AP based on how much you already have. So with a build where you are going full AP this item is fantastic. It can make you a lot more powerful, and is a really strong option. However, if you are trying to be a little tankier then you might want to consider other options.


I love void staff, especially when they have a bit of MR. Make sure if they are building Magic Resist that you build this item. It lets you be able to keep your ability to one shot them.


Also a strong item on AP Rammus. Because of the Aura that reduces magic resist of enemies near by, you are able to do more damage to them, and so are other magic damage dealing members of your team. The cooldown reduction is also really helpful. On top of that, you always have to be close enough for the passive to work to even be dealing damage so it is pretty good on him.


This item goes best with Rylai's Crystal Scepter because the slow from RCS makes the passive of Liandry's do double damage because of the slow. Liandry's is a very good item if their team is too tanky, and you really need to be shredding them with your ultimate.


If you need a bit more burst, movement speed, and cdr, this item is perfect. The passive from Lich Bane makes this item awesome. Adding that damage to your combo increases your ability to one shot people. This is a great item on Rammus and really ups his damage output.

Good Tanky Items


This item is great, it has a ton of armor, which works very well with his passive, has 20% cdr which means you can use your combo much more often, and it also slows attackers attack speed. This item is great if you can spare the health you could get from other tank items.


I would get this item third, after your jungle items and Hextech Rocketbelt It gives you a ton of armor, which works great with your passive, and also goes well with your W active. They both return damage to people attacking you, so when someone attacks you they take a lot of damage back. Lastly, it is really cheap. The only time I wouldn't buy this is if they don't have much AD or their AP carries are fed.


This is another great option. It gives you armor, a slow, movement speed, and health. Basically everything that you could want for this build. You will do more damage, be able to chase better, and stick to them better. Great item to pick up.


Also a great item, it has a lot of armor, which adds to your tankiness and helps with your passive Spiked Shell and has an spellblade which will slow the enemy and add damage to your combo. The 20% cdr is also incredibly helpful on Rammus.


I also really like this item, especially when you are diving into the middle of their team. It has the passive where it slows the attack speed of attackers. On top of this it offers a good amount of health and armor which are both really great for Offtank Rammus. The reduced damage from critical stikes is huge against a Yasuo or Tryndamere and the active helps keep you sticking with the enemy after your puncturing taunt wears off.


Banshee's is a great item on Rammus because the spellshield can help protect you from getting CC'd when you are flying in to get your combo off. It also has some decent magic resist, and health as well. Pretty solid pickup for Rammus, if you don't go Thornmail third then pick this up instead.

AP Offtank Rammus can really utilize so many items.

Spiked Shell: This is pretty good, especially after you pick up Thornmail it makes it so that you can do more damage when you have armor.

Powerball: This will be the first ability that you max. It has a 100% AP ratio, which is insane for any champion in League of Legends. On top of that it increases your movement speed, knocks back enemy targets that are hit, and slows them for 2 seconds. This lets you come flying out from the side and run down enemies with crazy high burst.

Defensive Ball Curl: This is the ability that I almost always start with in the jungle, unless we are going for an invade and need some cc. This ability bumps up your MR and Armor and also make whatever is attacking you take damage. This is great to have in the jungle because it helps you clear faster and also take less damage. It also works really well with Thornmail because it makes it so that anyone attacking you takes damage back from two sources.

puncturing tauntPuncturing Taunt: I max this ability second because the longer duration of the taunt is really helpful. The problem with the taunt in this build is that you are squishy and don't want someone like Master Yi or Yasuo just auto attacking you, but better you than your carries right? However, it is really good at pulling enemies into your team, or keeping someone stuck in your ultimate. On top of that it can prevent casters from using their abilities which is huge.

Tremors: This is one of the greatest AP abilities in League of Legends. At max rank it does up to 1560 damage over its duration and also has a 240% AP Ratio. That is an absurd amount of damage. The ways to use this are insane. It does an area effect damage around you over time, that adds up to crazy amounts of damage. If someone wants to fight you and they are melee or close range, they will take so much damage. This ability also hits turrets, and other structures, like the nexus. I have won a game by flying past the team and smacking the nexus with Soaring Slam going and then when the team tried to kill me just used zhonya's and they had to watch their base die.

Follow this path for clearing (Same camps if on other side).


1. Gromp- Make sure to clear gromp first and to smite it. The effect from the gromp + the effect from you Defensive Ball Curl make it so camps take a lot of damage over time while attacking you.

2. Blue Buff- Basically standard after starting gromp, mana regen is very useful, make sure to clear this second.

3. Wolves or Raptors- You can clear either one of these next, I would usually go raptors simply because the combination of Defensive Ball Curl + The passive you get from smiting Gromp makes it so the small raptors will die after you use your Q Powerball in the middle of all of them and then activate your W Defensive Ball Curl

4. Red Buff- You will have smite available at this point and it will help you finish the camp and keep you from dying with the health you get back. Rammus early game in the jungle isn't that great. You should be pretty low health at this point so going back to get Hunter's Potion is a good idea. If you have enough health ganking mid could also be a good option, but only if you are sure you are safe.



1. Use Q Powerball to cancel the large monster's attack animation. You can do this by waiting for the big monster at whichever camp you are at to almost hit you with their attack and then activating Q Powerball This will knock them back and reset their attack animation. If you can time this right you will be minimizing the number of attacks a camp will get on you and decreasing the damage you take. Please note that you must be next to them when activating your ability for it to hit them upon activation.

2. Your E puncturing taunt is helpful for taking down the large monster's as well because it lowers their armor. This will make it so your auto attacks do some more damage against them. If you have a lot of mana, this can help you clear camps a little bit faster.

3. Use one Hunter's Potion once you have it every time you start a camp (when you have 5). You will always get one back after clearing the large monster, so make sure to get the most out of this item by consuming the potion once you have taken an damage from the camp or if you aren't at full health already. This is a basic tip on this item, but I have seen people clear camps while having 5 potions ready to consume and walk away without having used one.

4. Use your combo properly to maximize damage dealt to a camp, and reduce damage taken. Here is a brief explanation of what you should do. First position yourself in the middle of a camp so that when you activate your Q Powerball you will be able to hit all of the monsters. Next, auto attack the large monster at the camp. Doing this will aggro the camp, and that is when you wait for the large monsters animation to almost hit you and do step 1, use your Q Powerball to stop the attack animation. Then just keep auto attacking the camp. Wait for when the large creep is just about to hit you for the first time, once it is about to land the attack then activate your W Defensive Ball Curl this will make it so that you can have it active for as long as possible. This is optimal instead of using it right away when you are keeping it from attacking. By doing this each of the monsters attacks will do a little less damage.

This is basic Jungle knowledge, but is still very helpful to be refreshed on and think about during the game. You are playing a champion that has excellent ganks, has CC and burst that makes follow up very easy. Below is a map I made showing When to Gank (roughly). The colors represent zones of where the enemy laner is at and whether you should gank them or not. You should also take into account their summoner spells, escape abilities, and if they are too fed for you to gank.

Green = Gank them, they are in prime position to take a powerball to the face.

Yellow = Can gank them, but depends on how your laner follows up, and if the enemy can CC you or pull off an escape. This is worth trying but good to know it won't always work.

Red = Don't gank them. They are basically under turret, and you really are just opening up a good chance for them to kill you. This will rarely work, and takes coordination from the team to aggro a turret well, plus you are squishy so you need to really approach this with caution. I would just farm if the champion is here.


Please note: All of these are when your team is on the blue side (bottom left)

Now that you know when to gank, it is important to know how to gank. This may seem like some obvious information to some, but once again it can still be a good reminder. There are four things to cover when ganking after having determined if you should gank.

1. What path to take.

2. How to use your abilities.

3. What Abilities Your Teammates Have.

4. What abilities your enemy has.

All four of these things should be understood when you are preparing for a gank so that you can be as effective as possible, and snowball the game to victory.



It is important to know how to approach a lane to gank them. If you follow what I wrote previously, then you will be able to understand when to approach, and you can choose whichever path best fits your situation. I have made a rough sketch of how to approach each lane.

Please note: All of these are when your team is on the blue side (bottom left)


Ganking Top Lane


1. Gank from the enemy tri bush through the top of the lane. This will let you be able to get behind them and cut off their escape to the turret. Whenever the enemy laner is pushed far enough for you to choose this path, I would take it. This is also the path I would take if the enemy is in the yellow zone.

2. The classic straight through the river gank. This one only works if the enemy laner is pushed forward. If they have no escape this will be just fine to use. Sometimes, it will be better to use this path over path 1 because it will save time and still be just as effective.

3. Lane gank/hide in bush. I really like this one if you see the enemy wave is going to be pushing and they are in the red or yellow zone. Get to the furthest bush that you can without being spotted, then hop out and surprise gank them. This one is usually pretty effective because it catches the enemy laner off guard.


Ganking Mid Lane



1. & 2. These are you standard river ganks. When you just come from raptors or wolves and the enemy laner is pushed up in the green zone this is a pretty easy way to gank. These bushes are often warded so it is good if you have smited the raptors for the vision or to make sure to sweep the bush.

3. & 4. I would use these gank paths more often than 1 and 2 simply because they make it harder for the enemy to escape by cutting off their path to the turret. This path is also good because you can punish them for just being in the middle of the lane and not even very pushed up.


Ganking Bot Lane



1. This is the standard tri brush gank. Roll through here, then swing through the river into lane. For this to work the enemy has to be pretty extended, or your bot lane will need to bait a fight or lock them down.

2. This is a similar path, but comes down from the river, it only works if the river and river bush aren't warded, and the enemy is in the green zone or if bot lane can make a play. It is better than path one because there is only the river bush you can get spot at instead of both tri brush and river.

3. Ganking through the lane and hiding in the bushes is one of my favorite ways to gank bot lane with this build. If the lane is about to push back from yellow or red towards your teams tower, then you will be able to take advantage of this. Slip into the furthest bush you can undetected, and when the enemy pushes forward to farm or fight you can easily gank them.



- Use your Q Powerball to roll into lane
- Make sure to dodge creep
- Bonk the enemy laner
- Use your E puncturing taunt and W Defensive Ball Curl to keep them in place attacking you.
- If you have Ultimate Soaring Slam then use that right when you bonk them so they are forced to stay in the damage when you taunt.
- If the enemy is hiding in their creep wave or about to reach tower, then you can use your Q Powerball and Flash so that you end up right on top of them.



- Does your teammate have any crowd control?
- Does your teammate have enough damage to help kill them?
- Know the general cooldown times on your allied champions so that your ganks can be efficient and yield you or your laner kills.




- Do they have Crowd Control abilities?
- Do they have an escape?
- Predict what they will do.

This is when things become a bit more tricky for AP Offtank Rammus. During the laning phase you can easily swing around and pick someone off to help snowball your lanes, so hopefully you have done this already. When it comes time to push objectives there are a couple things that you can do to move the game along.

1. Get Picks

This may seem obvious, but it is worth saying because it is how AP Offtank Rammus is set up to play. You will get shredded if you get caught out, and have a tough time positioning for teamfights. Setting up a bush with a pink ward and waiting for a squishy can be very effective.

2. Flank the Enemy

I would say that this is your next best bet when it comes to post-laning phase. When teams are posturing to fight, do what you can to swing around behind them and just explode one of their carries. If you can get around with your Q Powerball and then Flash onto a carry you can easily use E puncturing taunt + R Soaring Slam + Zhonya's Hourglass to blow up the carry and deal a bunch of damage to the rest of the team. If they sit there and wait for your Zhonya's active to time out, then they will take a ton of damage and your team can collapse on them. If they run away, then you just got a free kill and it is now a 4 vs. 5 and you can get objectives.

3. Wait for an Opportunity

Even though this sounds lame, it is actually a very good way to play it. Once a teamfight is underway it can be a bit chaotic. Once you notice some key abilities on their team are down you can use your Powerball to fly in and bonk someone. Other times it will seem that they are winning a teamfight, but your combo does more damage then people expect. Falling back just to turn on them works surprisingly well. They don't expect the burst. It is especially good when running through the jungle and you can lose vision and surprise them easily.

4. Peel for Carries

Peeling for your ADC or whoever is strong can save the game. I actually think that you are better at peeling for carries as an offtank than a full tank because you do damage, but still too tanky to just one shot. If you can hold another champion off of your carry then they will be able to freely attack and take down their tanks or assassins. With your E puncturing taunt you can easily force whoever is going after your carry to focus you. Also, if they are being chased, your Q Powerball is very good for disrupting and peeling.

5. Fly Straight at Them

I wouldn't recommend this against most teams, because someone will probably have crowd control, or the team can just blow you up. However, sometimes this is possible. If the rest of your team is able to run straight at them too, like let's say you have a Sivir then just go for it and steamroll them.

Pros

+ Lots of Burst
+ High AP Ratios
+ Extremely Satisfying to One Shot Enenmies
+ Moves Very Fast With Q Powerball
+ Easy to Play
+ Can Snowball Easily
+ Not Common so Enemy Won't Expect the Damage
+ Good Crowd Control and Early Ganks
+ Pretty Tanky With Just a Couple Tank Items
+ Way More Fun Than Straight Tank

Cons

- Reliant on Abilities for Damage
- Slow Jungle Clear Early Game
- Terrible When Behind
- Gets Countered By Banshee's Veil and Quicksilver Sash
- Can Be Awkward in Team Fights
- Doesn't Utilize Passive Very Efficiently Spiked Shell
- Can't Soak Up as Much Damage as Full Tank

I really enjoyed making this guide, and love playing Rammmus like this. I hope that you guys enjoy this build. If you read through it and have any questions about what I do, any comments about what you like or don't like please let me know. I will get back to you as soon as I can and will make changes to the guide. Give this a couple tries and I am sure you will love it. Have fun =)