Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
Greater Seal of Replenishment
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

Blaze

Brand's spells light his targets ablaze, dealing 2% of their maximum Health in magic damage per second for 4 seconds.

This is Brand's passive, which essentially is an Ignite. Great for picking up kills when you burst them down to almost nothing. To get the most of of this skill, especially when you are doing early farming, use your next skill at 3 seconds, so the blaze timer will reset when it is just about to end. I cannot emphasize how important this is for farming and especially taking down blue buff. If you were to spam your full combo while doing blue buff, Blaze would time out and you would get the added effects of either Sear or Pillar of Flame. It takes practice, but it is for just a tiny bit of extra damage.


Sear

Cost: 50 Mana
Range: 25000
Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals 80/120/160/200/240 (+0.65) magic damage.
If the target is ablaze, Sear will stun the target for 2 seconds.



Great spell for poking, but really just used for initiating and stunning enemies. It has a small hitbox, and is a medium speed projectile, so get used to landing these stuns. The true difference between a good and a bad Brand is whether or not you can land this stun consistently.


Pillar of Flame

Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 Mana
Range: 900
After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing 80/125/170/215/260 (+0.6) magic damage to enemy units within the area.
Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage from Pillar of Flame.


The bread and butter of your damage. With the 25% damage bonus, you can DESTROY enemies, and make them rage at you hard. Of course, the delay is hard to get used to, but if you can consistently land this move, then you will dominate your lane, and eventually their entire team. It's an amazing poking skill, as well as farming and CC once you get your Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This skill is what makes people think that Brand is OP and does too much damage.


Conflagration

Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
Range: 675
Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing 70/105/140/175/210 (+0.55) magic damage.
If the target is ablaze, Conflagration spreads to nearby enemies.


The shortest ranged skill for Brand, but it is a target shot, unlike Sear and Pillar of Flame. By far the easiest skill to set up for a stun, and makes farming as Brand easy with Pillar of Flame.



Pyroclasm

Cost: 100/150/200 Mana
Range: 750
Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire, dealing 150/250/350 (+0.5) magic damage each time it bounces up to 5 bounces.
If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases.

Can be frustrating to use, but it is ridiculous if two champions are standing next to each other or in the middle of a team fight. Be aware that this can also bounce off of minions, so if you are 1v1 against a Malzahar, THROW THIS BAD BOY OUT AS SOON AS HE IS ALONE WITH HIS VOIDLING! Try not to use Pyroclasm against a champion around a full wave of minions as 9/10 times it will hit the champion and never come back. Pyroclasm is all about choosing your fights and positioning, as are his skill shots i.e. Sear and Pillar of Flame

Skill Combos

1. HIGH BURST AOE
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I put the combos in order of preference. I like to use Pyroclasm at the end of my combo, but you can use it whenever you feel appropriate. Either way, Sear and Conflagration, so that multiple targets have your passive Blaze on them, followed by a Pillar of Flame is the highest damaging combo that Brand has.

In the following combos, I won't put Pyroclasm as an option since it is only used for team fights and securing kills. Use it at your own discretion, as the bounce is very unreliable sometimes.

2. Quick Stun (For Ganks)
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A quick Conflagration and Sear will stun anyone, especially if they are running towards you or are already stunned. This is the quickest way to get someone in a stun, but be aware that since Sear is a skill shot, it can be blocked by minions and other champions. Always make sure that you have a clear shot when you try to go for this combo.

3. Running Away and Tower Diving
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This lets you lead off with Pillar of Flame. Now you may ask why would I not want to use the extra 25% bonus damage from Pillar of Flame? Well let's put it in context.

If you wanted to dive someone, Conflagration almost ALWAYS puts you in the tower's range, and if you get stunned while in the tower's range before even landing a stun, then you will have given up a free kill. Leading with Pillar of Flame gives you a safer way to put your passive onto the enemy champion.

Now when you are running away, the tables are flipped. The Quick Stun Combo will also work for this, but usually I will be chased by more than one target. In this case, I want to lay down ALL of my spells as quickly as possible, not to do as much damage as possible, but to scare them away and keep them away from me. Pillar of Flame with Rylai's Crystal Scepter makes them slowed from far away, but it takes practice to land this properly while fleeing. Followed by a Sear stun and then a timed Conflagration to keep the slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter and the Blaze DoT up will ensure that they keep their distance from you. If they keep chasing, since you used your Pillar of Flame first, it will come off of cooldown quicker than normal, hopefully before Blaze wears off of the enemy champions. The 25% damage bonus can help ensure kills when the enemy overextends for you. It can also lead to some interesting kills and failed chases for the enemy. Be warned that if you are not running away in between skills, then you will DEFINITELY get caught and will most likely be killed.

Doran's Ring --> Boots --> Needlessly Large Rod or Giant's Belt --> Rabadon's Deathcap Rylai's Crystal Scepter --> Sorcerer's Shoes --> Will of the Ancients --> Void Staff --> Zhonya's Hourglass


I like to start off with a Doran's Ring. It gives you HP, AP, and mana regen, which is essential on Brand. With the mana regen, along with clarity, you shouldn't have to leave lane for the first 20 minutes. The only time you should go back is when you're low on HP, which should never happen thanks to his amazing ranged harass, or if you can afford any major items aka Needlessly Large Rod.


Rabadon's is great for Brand. The quick AP boost works wonders, but only start rushing this item if, and i emphasize, IF you can get it within 5 or 10 minutes. If you have 2 or 3 kills by the time you go back your first time or have more than 1600 gp for a Needlessly Large Rod, then definitely start rushing Rabadon's. Some people say ALWAYS rush Rabadon's, but honestly, if you are somehow getting zoned out and are low on gold, you should spend it on something more cost efficient, even if it is an Amplifying Tome for Rylai's Crystal Scepter or Boots. Although I do rush Rabadon's Deathcap at the beginning of the item build, I don't believe that builds are set in stone.


In most situations, I will rush Rylai's first by getting a Giant's Belt instead of Rabadon's. This gives you a ridiculous amount of health early on for an AP Carry. The only issue is that you won't be doing as much damage, but honestly, as Brand, you don't NEED a lot of AP early game. Your poking and harassing should keep people away from you, which sets up for easy ganks and dives in your lane. Now Rylai's gives you both a slow and 700 HP. The slow will help you land your stun, and let you chase better, even without tier 2 boots. The 700 HP boost also gives you more sustain, allowing you to really take some hits and not be afraid of going in for the kills. Rylai's, i feel, is essential for Brand since it gives him more utility in team fights and helps him sustain his lane better. The slow has also saved me countless times while running away from ganks.


Getting Boots is a must while rushing or between acquiring Rabadon's Deathcap and Rylai's Crystal Scepter. You need some kind of boots by 15 minutes in, even if you are rushing another item. I chose Sorcerer's Shoes because they give you some magic pen, which makes Brand even more deadly than before.

Will of the Ancients: One of the best, but very under used, items in the game for AP carries. People don't realize how much spell vamp does for AP Carries, especially when you have a Rabadon's Deathcap already. The spell vamp, along with the HP from Rylai's Crystal Scepter make Brand much tankier and have much better sustain in team fights. He can continuously stay in team fights while taking damage because his spell vamp will keep his health relatively high. Of course if you get focused down, nothing will save you, but you just have to be cautious in team fights.


This item gives you both AP and 40% Magic Pen, which lets you SHRED through tanks or anyone that has MR i.e. Singed and Mordekaiser. Without void staff, the damage you do could be cut down in half due to Force of Nature and Banshee's Veil. It is essential late game if you see more than 2 characters with either of the two aforementioned items.


Okay, so the hourglass only gives you 100 AP and 70 armor. What's the use of that? More AP is ALWAYS good on Brand, and the extra armor is quite amazing. The last patch also made Zhonya's Hourglass 200 gold cheaper, which makes it easier to get, but the active ability is truly amazing. If you ever are in a team fight as Brand, you will begin to get focused down HARD. He is too much of a threat to be ignored, so when you do begin to get focused, you just activate Zhonya's Hourglass and become untargetable and invulnerable for 2 seconds. This is HUGE. Although you can't cast any spells while the hourglass is active, it allows you to avoid dying instantly, and possibly survive the team fight. As soon as the 2 seconds are up though, you have to either throw down ALL of your spells or make a tactical retreat to better position yourself for your full combo.

--OPTIONAL ITEMS--


Not needed for Brand, but it comes in handy when facing a team loaded with cc or against another huge AP carry doing well on the other team


Great Item, but it doesn't offer as much as the items in the core build do. It gives AP, CDR (which is ALWAYS good), and mana regen, but the mana regen is wasted if you have clarity and mp5 seals. Again, if you do grab this, then you do not need clarity.


Okay, I have a HUGE issue with people getting Archangel's on Brand. I don't understand why anyone would take a Tear, when getting Clarity can solve your mana problems. Clarity along with mana regen masteries, runes, and especially blue buff, will take away ALL of your mana problems for the entire game. Not only that, but Archangel's takes too long to build up a decent amount of AP. Even if you were to Tear of the Goddess never upgrade it to Archangel's Staff until late game, most of Brand's moves are not very "spammable". Yes, Archangel's does give more AP than Rabadon's Deathcap, but you are sacrificing so much time building up for late game. By spending 995 gold on a Tear of the Goddess, you are setting yourself farther away from finishing your Rabadon's Deathcap, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, and even your Sorcerer's Shoes. Tear only gives you mana regen, so you don't gain any AP from your 995 gold, which is a loss of potential damage during the laning phase. This in turn leads to losing kills within the first 10 minutes because you didn't grab an item that truly helped your harass. With Clarity, you already have more than enough mana for the first 20 minutes of the game, without getting ANY mana items. Archangel's is not the worst item ever, and it definitely helps Brand. I just think it takes too long and isn't worth it for someone who needs more survivability, since he can get focused down very quickly in team fights. I just TRULY do not support or approve of ever getting Archangel's Staff on Brand.

STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION