FOTM Report: T-Force Death's Dance Volibear Replaces Gunblade

Guide to Playing Volibear Top

Hextech Gunblade Volibear was the flavor of the month for June, but players are discovering a more traditional bruiser build for the bear and it's working out even better. The benefit of the Gunblade build is more damage early game and additional sustain. However, this modified build gives Volibear massive sustained damage and additional survivability.

Check out the details on runes and builds below!

Guide to Playing Volibear Top

Hextech Gunblade Volibear was the flavor of the month for June, but players are discovering a more traditional bruiser build for the bear and it's working out even better. The benefit of the Gunblade build is more damage early game and additional sustain. However, this modified build gives Volibear massive sustained damage and additional survivability.

Check out the details on runes and builds below!

How to Play

Abilities: E, W, Q then prioritize R > W > Q > E

Summoner Spells: Flash + Teleport

Starting Items: Doran Ring + Health Potions

Strategy: Trade freely in the lane as long as you can hit your W on them. The health regen will allow you to win most trades.

Core Items: Trinity Force, Ninja Tabi, Death's Dance, Spirit Visage, Deadman's Plate, Thornmail

Rune Setup

Primary: Conqueror, Triumph, Legend: Tenacity, Last Stand

Secondary: Bone Plating, Overgrowth

How It Works

Traditional Bruiser Power
Rushing a Trinity Force gives Volibear standard bruiser abilities including excellent sustained damage and chase potential. This isn't nearly as strong as Hextech Gunblade's single item trade potential but it scales much better into the late game for a front line bruiser.

Huge Damage Reduction and Durability
By building Trinity Force first, Volibear is tanky enough that he doesn't need to build full tank after his first item. This allows him to pick up Death's Dance as his lifesteal item for additional damage. Lifesteal works incredibly well with his W and makes him nearly impossible to kill, especially at low health. As an added benefit, Death's Dance offers considerably more survivability than Gunblade.

Extra Cooldown Reduction
This build provides Volibear with much more CDR when compared to the previous Gunblade + tank item build. This allows players significantly more chasing power and a ton more utility. When you combine this with the other benefits that this build provides, Volibear can stay in fights for extended durations and soak massive damage with his life steal.

Potential Pitfalls

Weaker Early Game
The power spikes on this build correspond to the majority of other bruisers top lane. This means that Volibear won't enjoy the same kind of early to early-mid game dominance as players have enjoyed with the Gunblade build this past month.

Lower Burst Damage
Without the AP damage that Gunblade provides, players are more reliant on Sheen proc for their burst damage and must instead rely on longer skirmishes for damage. This increases the potential for enemy counterplay.

Countering Volibear Top

Beating Volibear top generally involves either picking up a melee bully like Illaoi or Kled. Alternatively, you can use someone like Quinn but should be warier of jungle ganks.

Conclusions

Volibear top is very strong and the standard Gunblade build is already very strong and worthy of God Tier as a top lane. However, this new build may very well be even stronger as a result of the additional survivability and sustained damage. I think this will ultimately be the standard Volibear build and while Gunblade is an interesting gimmick, this is stronger in the long run.

Suggested Tier: God Tier

What do you think about this pick? Fancy trying it out? Comment below!