Introduction: Gangplank is my favorite champion due to his amazing versatility. He can be built any number of ways and still do well on a regular basis (Trinity and Tiamat gives Parrrley massive AOE damage for hilarious battles). The following is the well-rounded build that allows for a good mix of DPS and tanking.
Gangplanks skills summary :
Parrrley - This is your mega farm skill early game, and a 800 damage "soft disable" every 6 seconds.
Remove Scurvy - This is your all purpose miracle cure-all.
Raise Morale - This is the DPS mid game, and team buff late game.
Cannon Barrage - This is your global killsteal, team assist, and aoe slow.
Grog Soaked Blade - This is your harassing passive.
Gangplank's skills analysis:
Parrrley is by far your best asset and as such, you should build your champion around this one skill. It deals 30/60/90/120/150 plus 65% of your attack damage as physical damage. It also applies all of your attack effects, such as: slow, aoe dmg, crit, lifesteal, and so forth. On kills, it gives a bonus 3/5/7/9/11 gold.
Remove Scurvy is your next best friend. One level is all you will ever need but it will save you from all manner of gank. When ganked, run like crazy and if they slow or stun you, hit the "W" button and keep running. Remove Scurvy cures ALL enemy effects.
Raise Morale is your unused passive that makes you an engine of death by giving attack speed and movement speed.
Cannon Barrage, despite being Gangplank's ultimate is also the weakest of all the skills. The cannon shells are unreliable, slow, and requires you take your eyes off your own hero, which is always BAD. The only redeeming quality is that it nets you a steady supply of assists. The 160/220/260 damage per cannon for 8 seconds sounds like alot, until you realize that someone can stand inside the circle for the entire 8 seconds and 70% of the time will be missed by EVERY SINGLE CANNON BALL. I regularly cannon teleporting enemies and they get away 85% of the time.
Grog Soaked Blades deals 5 + level damage per second for 7 seconds and reduced incoming healing by 40%. It does not stack and does not work on parrrley.
Item build: Divided into 5 groups.
1) Starting Items
Meki Pendant
Health Potion x2
2) First Trip home
Regrowth Pendant
Philosopher's Stone
3) Second Trip home
Avarice Blade x2
Boots of Speed
4) Buy piece by piece when able
Cloak of Agility
Pickaxe
Infinity Edge
5) Endgame shopping
Frozen Mallet
SELL Philosopher's Stone
Stark's Fervor
SELL Avarice Blade
Phantom Dancer
SELL Boots of Speed
Guardian Angel
SELL Avarice Blade
Phantom Dancer
Final Item build:
Infinity Edge
Frozen Mallet
Stark's Fervor
Phantom Dancer
Guardian Angel
Phantom Dancer
Skill build:
1.Parrrley
2.Remove Scurvy
3.Parrrley
4.Raise Morale
5.Parrrley
6.Cannon Barrage
7.Parrrley
8.Raise Morale
9.Parrrley
10.Raise Morale
11.Cannon Barrage
12.Raise Morale
13.Raise Morale
14.Remove Scurvy
15.Remove Scurvy
16.Cannon Barrage
17.Remove Scurvy
18.Remove Scurvy
Gameplay:
Early Game: I start the game by buying item group 1. I start with the assumption that my opponents are much better players than I am, despite this never being true. I start in super-coward mode and stay as far away from the enemy as possible while still getting exp. I don't even bother last hitting minions outside of shooting them with Parrrley. Meanwhile, I am dodging the enemy harassment and using the potions as soon as I am about 200 hp away from maximum health. I stick around until I get too badly hurt, get enough gold to buy item group 2, or double-kill my opponents.
The Philosopher Stone gives me the regen I need to I keep on laning as such until I get enough money to buy item group 3. That's when Gangplank starts raking in the money. I shoots down pretty much EVERY minion that gets to half health and I get bonus gold as well. Then I work my way towards the Infinity Edge. Getting the Infinity Edge ends the early game.
Mid Game: The Infinity Edge gives you a consistent 650 damage nuke. That means that over the course of 7 seconds, I can do 1300 damage 30% of the time. So now I go sneaking up on people and shooting them in the back. Shoot, cannon, chase, shoot. Mid game is where I turn into skirmishing mode. I always run and shoot. Parrrley allows me to fight without getting hurt. Whereas I used to not fight at all, now I can skirmish to my heart's content. I spend my downtime, i.e. returning to base to heal or buy items, by watching my teammates and getting assist gold with cannon barrage. If they fight, I cannon on the enemy. Fairly simple way to get free money. Once the frozen mallet comes along, the kills start piling up. Unfortunately, this is where I need to start worrying about my teammates. I grab a Stark's Fervor because I EXPECT my teammates to start sucking. The early game heroes have become outclassed and they need all the help they can get.
Late Game: Lategame is about survivability. I expect big battles and I really dont want to give the enemy the +1000 gold for ending my legendary streak. Nasher assisted suicides do not end streaks. So I need to stack the dodge and the armor. Phantom dancer lets me run like crazy and Guardian Angel keeps me from giving the other team the lotto money. I stay exclusively in large groups and push the inhibitors. I keep cannon barrage exclusively for team battles now. As the carry hero, the enemy will focus fire on me so I absolutely need the survivability.
Summoner Spells:
Heal - restores a fourth of your health when you get ambushed. Also helps ALOT in team battles.
Fortify - Keeps your tower alive and nets you kills.
Masteries:
Utility 11- Go straight for the 1 mana per second regen. This lets you lane better early game.
Perseverence x3
Good Hands x1
Awareness x4
Meditation x3
Defense 19- Keeps you alive in team battles so you can win.
Mender's Faith x1
Resistance x3
Evasion x4
Nimbleness x1
Hardiness x3
Veterans Scars x4
Hardened Skin x3
Runes:
Critical Damage bonuses and Mana Regeneration.
Combos to remember:
Cannon Barrage + Fortify. Yes, cannon kills the minions and leaves them slowed next to the buffed tower.
Parrrley + Run. While technically not a combo, running is your best friend. There is not much use in attacking unless you have no choice or it is late game.
Parrrley + Cannon Barrage + Parrrley. Cannon slows them so they cant run far. You run parallel to them so that they can't get away but you aren't closing in for close combat.
Cannon Barrage + Run. Aim the cannon about 4 inches in front of your path of escape and run into your own cannon barrage. The cannons will land as you enter and slow the chasing enemies so that you can escape.
Disputed points:
What about Bloodthirster?
Yes, as Fbsunny pointed out in one of the reply quotes, Bloodthirster DOES work on creeps. My mistake. I got noobed. Therefore, Bloodthirster IS a very good item for Gangplank, but I stand by my statement that Stark's Fervor is better because one expects bigger noobs than myself to be on my team.
What about boots?
Frozen Mallet lets me chase down most heroes. I want to save the slot to stack my dodge. Gangplank turns into a tank lategame and the 36% dodge combines with the bonus armor for a good 8000 effective hit points.
What about Trinity Force/Tiamat/Frozen Heart/ect?
Those are good items on Gangplank, but the late game focus is team battles. Its Gankplank, not Ramboplank. I've done that build and lost the match despite playing 17-4-8.
Final notes: The play style progression goes Coward-Farmer ---> Sneaky-Assassin ---> Berserk-Tank.
Gangplanks skills summary :
Parrrley - This is your mega farm skill early game, and a 800 damage "soft disable" every 6 seconds.
Remove Scurvy - This is your all purpose miracle cure-all.
Raise Morale - This is the DPS mid game, and team buff late game.
Cannon Barrage - This is your global killsteal, team assist, and aoe slow.
Grog Soaked Blade - This is your harassing passive.
Gangplank's skills analysis:
Parrrley is by far your best asset and as such, you should build your champion around this one skill. It deals 30/60/90/120/150 plus 65% of your attack damage as physical damage. It also applies all of your attack effects, such as: slow, aoe dmg, crit, lifesteal, and so forth. On kills, it gives a bonus 3/5/7/9/11 gold.
Remove Scurvy is your next best friend. One level is all you will ever need but it will save you from all manner of gank. When ganked, run like crazy and if they slow or stun you, hit the "W" button and keep running. Remove Scurvy cures ALL enemy effects.
Raise Morale is your unused passive that makes you an engine of death by giving attack speed and movement speed.
Cannon Barrage, despite being Gangplank's ultimate is also the weakest of all the skills. The cannon shells are unreliable, slow, and requires you take your eyes off your own hero, which is always BAD. The only redeeming quality is that it nets you a steady supply of assists. The 160/220/260 damage per cannon for 8 seconds sounds like alot, until you realize that someone can stand inside the circle for the entire 8 seconds and 70% of the time will be missed by EVERY SINGLE CANNON BALL. I regularly cannon teleporting enemies and they get away 85% of the time.
Grog Soaked Blades deals 5 + level damage per second for 7 seconds and reduced incoming healing by 40%. It does not stack and does not work on parrrley.
Item build: Divided into 5 groups.
1) Starting Items
Meki Pendant
Health Potion x2
2) First Trip home
Regrowth Pendant
Philosopher's Stone
3) Second Trip home
Avarice Blade x2
Boots of Speed
4) Buy piece by piece when able
Cloak of Agility
Pickaxe
Infinity Edge
5) Endgame shopping
Frozen Mallet
SELL Philosopher's Stone
Stark's Fervor
SELL Avarice Blade
Phantom Dancer
SELL Boots of Speed
Guardian Angel
SELL Avarice Blade
Phantom Dancer
Final Item build:
Infinity Edge
Frozen Mallet
Stark's Fervor
Phantom Dancer
Guardian Angel
Phantom Dancer
Skill build:
1.Parrrley
2.Remove Scurvy
3.Parrrley
4.Raise Morale
5.Parrrley
6.Cannon Barrage
7.Parrrley
8.Raise Morale
9.Parrrley
10.Raise Morale
11.Cannon Barrage
12.Raise Morale
13.Raise Morale
14.Remove Scurvy
15.Remove Scurvy
16.Cannon Barrage
17.Remove Scurvy
18.Remove Scurvy
Gameplay:
Early Game: I start the game by buying item group 1. I start with the assumption that my opponents are much better players than I am, despite this never being true. I start in super-coward mode and stay as far away from the enemy as possible while still getting exp. I don't even bother last hitting minions outside of shooting them with Parrrley. Meanwhile, I am dodging the enemy harassment and using the potions as soon as I am about 200 hp away from maximum health. I stick around until I get too badly hurt, get enough gold to buy item group 2, or double-kill my opponents.
The Philosopher Stone gives me the regen I need to I keep on laning as such until I get enough money to buy item group 3. That's when Gangplank starts raking in the money. I shoots down pretty much EVERY minion that gets to half health and I get bonus gold as well. Then I work my way towards the Infinity Edge. Getting the Infinity Edge ends the early game.
Mid Game: The Infinity Edge gives you a consistent 650 damage nuke. That means that over the course of 7 seconds, I can do 1300 damage 30% of the time. So now I go sneaking up on people and shooting them in the back. Shoot, cannon, chase, shoot. Mid game is where I turn into skirmishing mode. I always run and shoot. Parrrley allows me to fight without getting hurt. Whereas I used to not fight at all, now I can skirmish to my heart's content. I spend my downtime, i.e. returning to base to heal or buy items, by watching my teammates and getting assist gold with cannon barrage. If they fight, I cannon on the enemy. Fairly simple way to get free money. Once the frozen mallet comes along, the kills start piling up. Unfortunately, this is where I need to start worrying about my teammates. I grab a Stark's Fervor because I EXPECT my teammates to start sucking. The early game heroes have become outclassed and they need all the help they can get.
Late Game: Lategame is about survivability. I expect big battles and I really dont want to give the enemy the +1000 gold for ending my legendary streak. Nasher assisted suicides do not end streaks. So I need to stack the dodge and the armor. Phantom dancer lets me run like crazy and Guardian Angel keeps me from giving the other team the lotto money. I stay exclusively in large groups and push the inhibitors. I keep cannon barrage exclusively for team battles now. As the carry hero, the enemy will focus fire on me so I absolutely need the survivability.
Summoner Spells:
Heal - restores a fourth of your health when you get ambushed. Also helps ALOT in team battles.
Fortify - Keeps your tower alive and nets you kills.
Masteries:
Utility 11- Go straight for the 1 mana per second regen. This lets you lane better early game.
Perseverence x3
Good Hands x1
Awareness x4
Meditation x3
Defense 19- Keeps you alive in team battles so you can win.
Mender's Faith x1
Resistance x3
Evasion x4
Nimbleness x1
Hardiness x3
Veterans Scars x4
Hardened Skin x3
Runes:
Critical Damage bonuses and Mana Regeneration.
Combos to remember:
Cannon Barrage + Fortify. Yes, cannon kills the minions and leaves them slowed next to the buffed tower.
Parrrley + Run. While technically not a combo, running is your best friend. There is not much use in attacking unless you have no choice or it is late game.
Parrrley + Cannon Barrage + Parrrley. Cannon slows them so they cant run far. You run parallel to them so that they can't get away but you aren't closing in for close combat.
Cannon Barrage + Run. Aim the cannon about 4 inches in front of your path of escape and run into your own cannon barrage. The cannons will land as you enter and slow the chasing enemies so that you can escape.
Disputed points:
What about Bloodthirster?
Yes, as Fbsunny pointed out in one of the reply quotes, Bloodthirster DOES work on creeps. My mistake. I got noobed. Therefore, Bloodthirster IS a very good item for Gangplank, but I stand by my statement that Stark's Fervor is better because one expects bigger noobs than myself to be on my team.
What about boots?
Frozen Mallet lets me chase down most heroes. I want to save the slot to stack my dodge. Gangplank turns into a tank lategame and the 36% dodge combines with the bonus armor for a good 8000 effective hit points.
What about Trinity Force/Tiamat/Frozen Heart/ect?
Those are good items on Gangplank, but the late game focus is team battles. Its Gankplank, not Ramboplank. I've done that build and lost the match despite playing 17-4-8.
Final notes: The play style progression goes Coward-Farmer ---> Sneaky-Assassin ---> Berserk-Tank.
