Hello, and my name is (at least in game) is CalMacDa. Volibear has been my main forever. I mean this quite literally. I played against him once and got so frustrated. He would flip me and slow me, taking out any chance of escape. He then would get my health low. I thought I could kill him, but then his OP passive, The Relentless Storm, pops. He gains 30% of his health and uses Frenzy on me. Fights over. GG. I then saved 4800, buying Teemo along the way due to a recommendation from a friend. I have been playing LoL for a few months and have 60k mastery points with him. Im no league all-star, but definitely know how to Volibear.

When I first started maining Volibear, I played him in top lane. I dominated with him in my early league "career". Later though, I started to get countered a lot. I saved up for Gnar and played him. While Volibear is a strong pick in the top lane, I think his talents are better used in the jungle. I have never played him as a support but I see it quite a bit and its successful. He can also be built very diversely. You can build him with things varying from Warmog's Armor to the Maw of Malmortius. I also find him incredibly fun to play. My win rate and overall KDA with him is better than any other champion I have ever played.

Before reading this guide I recommend watching this video. It really helped me learn him and how to gank and clear with him.

Click Here to Watch

The first clear is important and usually different for each jungler. Volibear's passive and the two pots from the starting items allow him to clear both buffs in the first clear. With Volibear, its best to start gromp. After the leash, you then take blue buff. It will seem like you are going to die, but The Relentless Storm will give you 30% of your health. You then drink your Potion of Health and then take red. You should have almost full health and mana because when you smite red buff it gives you health. You then can clear other camps and gank when necessary. After you have recalled and gotten Stalker's Blade, start taking advantage of your brutal ganking power. even if you can't kill or assist, make yourself known. Make sure they know that if they push your coming. If needed buy some wards or even a Sightstone.

The black represents your first clear. The red represents where it's best to gnak from in my opinion. The blue represents strategic places to place Vision Wards. Remember to kill the rift scuttlers. It not only gives increased movement speed in that part of the river but it also grants vision. When clearing, use Sky Splitter to fear and damage jungle monsters. Also use Frenzy frequently because its cooldown is reduced 50% when he uses it on a monster. Overall I would say he had a fast clear time and above average sustain.

The Relentless Storm
Volibear's passive is OP like Frenzy . Think of it this way. If you enter a 1v1 with full health against an enemy, you get +30% health. Use this to your advantage. If an enemy does not know what your passive is or does, use it to your advantage. They will attack you and think they can take you down and then you get rapid regeneration for a few seconds.

Thundering Smash
Although this is what makes him a strong ganker, max is last. The use of it is not for damage, its for the movement speed and flip. The flip is the best part and it's just as good at level 1 as it is at level 5. When ganking, flip them, slow them, and try to get 3 stacks of Frenzy . If you can land the flip away from their tower, they can either flash or die. Also use Thundering Smash while escaping.

Frenzy
OP. Period. Done. In my opinion, Frenzy is the most overpowered ability in League of Legends, factoring in the cooldown time. The passive gives you incredible attack speed when when clearing the jungle and taking towers. When activated on an enemy champion, it deals devastating damage to low health targets. The damage is increased for the amount of health missing from the target. Use this to finish low health targets.

Sky Splitter
Sky Splitter is a good AoE slow which deals a bit of damage. Use this along with Thundering Smash to flip them then slow them. Also use it while escaping when an enemy is chasing. It's best used in the jungle though. It fears and damages neutral monsters and enemy minions. It's good for clearing, slowing, and escaping.

Stormbringer
I think it's a bit of a let down compared to his other abilities, but it's still useful. Is there a huge wave of creeps approaching a tower? Ult and clear it. It clears waves with incredible speed. You can also use it when ganking bot lane when there are 2 targets. It basicly transfers your auto attacks to several nearby enemies. It also adds some magic damage to your auto attacks.

Ordered by Priority

Smite
Not an option. Use it. You are a jungler, and you need it for income, ganking, and clearing. A must have for any jungler. Not much else to say.

Flash
I take this on pretty much every champion unless they are like Shaco with an ability like it but better. You can take Ghost, which will give you more total distance, but flash is instant. You can dodge abilities, instantly get to champions, and have a get out of jail free card.

Ghost
If you don't take Flash, use this. Use it to escape or catch up to a champion. I don't recommend it though. Flash is superior in most ways.

Ignite
Great for finishing off champions with low health, and taking out a portion of their health. Just make sure you're ready to not be able to get out of situations.

Teleport
This spell can get you back into the jungle in a second, globally gank, and get into fights from across the map. Besides Flash, its my favorite, but Smite prioritizes because you need it to jungle.

Runes
Attack speed is useful along with Frenzy , and I get these as my quintessences. With Volibear, CDR is also important. While his autos attacks are important, CDR allows him to use his OP abilities sooner. Armor isn't as important early game for him so I go with the scaling armor. The AD is to take advantage of his frenzy stacks and quintessences.

Masteries
With Volibear, I like to put 18 in offense and 12 in defense. Personally I like having 18 in offense with all champions, but it's more about your preference in putting your points in defense or offense. Never put them in utility with Volibear though. The keystone [fervor of battle] goes very well with Volibear W, Frenzy .

The one item that I always get with Volibear is Turbo Chemtank. It gives you a ton of health and takes away all your mana problems. It's still a good buy even after the 5.13 nerf which took off one hundred health and added 30 seconds to its cooldown. It is still a great item overall. If you build tanky, make sure your team is behind you, activate Turbo Chemtank, activate Thundering Smash, activate Stormbringer, and throw yourself into the enemy team. Remember, Volibear is best used as a tank. Keep that in mind when selecting items. The Relentless Storm will save you if you are low health. Just know when to back out of the fight if it's necessary.

Volibear has always been my favorite champ and I think he always will be. He has a strong presence throughout the whole game, and he can gank right when he gets Thundering Smash. He has a great clear time, a good balance between CC and damage, and is very useful in team fights. I say buy Volibear and main him. And hey, if you do, use this guide. I hope you learned all you need to know about Volibear. If you like it and want to see me make more guides, please Upvote. Thanks for reading, and even Zilean couldn't keep an armored bear out of League of Legends.

Published 7/12/2015

More updates coming soon! I will try to have an update to every influential patch