Rolling with Rammus
This guide is mostly my friends and I opinion of Rammus and how awesome he is and how he should be played. We often refer to him as the Turtle, not the Armordillo or Rammus like his name actually is. Why? Because he looks like a Turtle with spikes, a Koopa Troopa, and/or Bowser!Mastery? I usually roll 9/0/21 or 0/9/21 Utility works on every champion but its mostly just my personal preference, He undoubtedly works well with ANY build as my friends all play 21/0/9 9/21/0 0/21/9 themselves and have all done, almost, as well as I have ; )
[Rune Selection?] My friends all use their Health book on Rammus, I however use a mostly Health book (All Red/Yellow are HP/level) with some cooldown reduction (Flat cooldown atm trying to change it to -CD/level) and +move speed Quintessences.
Client Side Skins?
Bloodpike Rammus:
Red Rammus:
Summoner Spells? My preffered spells to use with pretty much any hero go something like this.
Ghost: Fantastic for getting away or chasing, also the no collision can really
throw people off. Much shorter coodlown then Flash
Heal: Pretty ridiculous when you think your going to kill that guy only to have him and 3 of his allies pop summoner heal... bringing him to full life. Its to useful for you and your team to not use unless....
Rally: If you are offensive spec and have improved Rally use it, its heal is just as good as summoner heal just over time and it increases your damage (I don't think its as useful unless you have improved because magic damage is alot of damage and not increasing it makes me feel like Heal is better)
Flash (Blink): Alot of people swear its the best summoner skill and yea its damn good, but it has such a long cooldown and can easily be messed up since its usually a last ditch thing. Definetly not a bad choice I just like Ghost better.
Teleport: Useful early game, still useful late game for defending then going offensive or vice versa.
Exhaust: never really used it why slow someone when you can do that already and just pop ghost?
Smite: Not too useful.... unless we can find someone to Jungle Rammus
Cleanse (Boost): kind of useful but again I'ld rather just use ghost, unless it still provides a short immunity to snares... even then just use ghost : p
Fortify: should IMO be a team skill with a 5/6 minute cooldown like it was in DoTA, I never use it but in competitve premade vs premade games I'm sure its usefull... maybe
Promote: Never used it never plan to other summoner skills just seem to useful to waste it on this.
Revive: Huge cooldown not a big a deal as it used to be since respawn time isn't 14 days at level 18 like it used to be.
Clairvoyance: Pretty much completely useless now
Rammus is obviously a tank champion, that being said I'm mostly a tank champion player. Why? Any competent competetive team wants to have atleast 1 very tanky tank, so when I play with friends most people don't want to do that but I have no problems. That being said I feel Rammus is BY FAR the most fun tank to play hes also probably one of the better tanks in the game. Why?
Lets find out!
Abilities
Passive: 25% of his armor also becomes attack power
Cost: 90/100/110/120/130
Powerball:
Does 100/150/200/250/300 magic damage and slows for 28/36/44/52/60% to all nearby enemies on impact (of another enemy unit or Champion). While in Powerball spin, you constantly gain movement speed over the 10 second duration.
125 AP -> +125/ 12 AP -> 12/ 10 AP -> 10 (meaning 1:1 AP Conversion)
327-687 no boots/ 381-765 basic boots/402-796 tier 2/419-827 tier 3 /454-889 with tier 4 boots
Cost: 40/50/60/70/80
Defensive Ball Curl:
Returns 24/32/38/44/50 damage to all attackers as well as giving 50/75/100/125/150 Armor and Magic Resistance while also slightly lowering movement speed and blocking casting of powerball. Lasts 6 seconds
125 AP -> +31/ 12 AP -> 3/ 10 AP -> 3 (meaning 1:.25 AP Conversion)
327-322 no boots/ 381-376 basic boots/ 402-397 tier 2 /419-415 tier 3 / 454- 449 tier 4
Cost: 50/70/90/110/130
Puncturing Taunt:
Taunts enemy unit or Champion, reducing armor by 10/15/20/25/30 and forcing them to attack Rammus for 1/1.5/2/2.5/3
Cost: 100/150/200
Tremors:
Rammus deals 55/110/165 magic damage a second to nearby untis/champs/buildings over 8 seconds
125 AP -> +38/12 AP -> 4/ 10 AP -> 3 (meaning 1:.3~ AP conversion)
So if your somehow confused, first is his passive, next is the mana cost on his powerball, the */*/*/* denotes levels of the ability, the * AP -> ** means having * AP gives Powerball ** more damage, the 327-687 is base movement speed and the final movement speed at the last second of powerball, the next / is with tier 1/2/3/4 boot, and the movement speeds after Defensive ball curl is the amount you lose during the duration.
Now that we know everything about Rammus and his abilities we'll learn how to use them to the max. Powerball: one of the most versatile skills in the game, you can use it to run away, chase, get somewhere quicker, aoe farm (kills the life stealing ghost creep camp in almost 1 hit at level 4) Deter enemy champions, frighten them, pretty much anything. That being said it takes some getting used to. Example if you spin right next to a creep you won't usually instantly hit them you'll have to spin away and back into them. It will also take some getting used to with the sometimes crappy way heroes decide to go the space you can fit through and not have an impact and the speed at which you travel. If you've never played Rammus I'ld recommend getting used to the way his powerball works asap.
Defensive Ball Curl: Gigantic Magic Resist and Armor boost despite the fact that this skill makes you slower when used it can pretty much save your life and be the reason you escape fights or being chased with the 10 hp you have left.
Puncturing Taunt:
More CC great for catching someone after you hit them with a powerball. Powerball -> Taunt -> Defensive Ball Curl -> Keep chasing. Its also incredibly useful for team fights. Oh the giant Physical DPS BEAST (Warwick Yi etc) is killing one of your squishies and theres nothing you can do? oh wait your Rammus Taunt that mofo! Taunt does some times "bug out" or "not work" but I've found that it has something to do with how far away a hero is from you, if you taunt and the hero doesn't immediately turn to you and start auto attacking then get as close as possible and they should. Once they are focused on you if they are melee they are at your will meaning you can drag them to a tower or even further from your squishes!
Tremors:
125 AP -> +125/ 12 AP -> 12/ 10 AP -> 10 (meaning 1:1 AP Conversion)
327-687 no boots/ 381-765 basic boots/402-796 tier 2/419-827 tier 3 /454-889 with tier 4 boots
Cost: 40/50/60/70/80
Defensive Ball Curl:
Returns 24/32/38/44/50 damage to all attackers as well as giving 50/75/100/125/150 Armor and Magic Resistance while also slightly lowering movement speed and blocking casting of powerball. Lasts 6 seconds
125 AP -> +31/ 12 AP -> 3/ 10 AP -> 3 (meaning 1:.25 AP Conversion)
327-322 no boots/ 381-376 basic boots/ 402-397 tier 2 /419-415 tier 3 / 454- 449 tier 4
Cost: 50/70/90/110/130
Puncturing Taunt:
Taunts enemy unit or Champion, reducing armor by 10/15/20/25/30 and forcing them to attack Rammus for 1/1.5/2/2.5/3
Cost: 100/150/200
Tremors:
Rammus deals 55/110/165 magic damage a second to nearby untis/champs/buildings over 8 seconds
125 AP -> +38/12 AP -> 4/ 10 AP -> 3 (meaning 1:.3~ AP conversion)
So if your somehow confused, first is his passive, next is the mana cost on his powerball, the */*/*/* denotes levels of the ability, the * AP -> ** means having * AP gives Powerball ** more damage, the 327-687 is base movement speed and the final movement speed at the last second of powerball, the next / is with tier 1/2/3/4 boot, and the movement speeds after Defensive ball curl is the amount you lose during the duration.
Now that we know everything about Rammus and his abilities we'll learn how to use them to the max. Powerball: one of the most versatile skills in the game, you can use it to run away, chase, get somewhere quicker, aoe farm (kills the life stealing ghost creep camp in almost 1 hit at level 4) Deter enemy champions, frighten them, pretty much anything. That being said it takes some getting used to. Example if you spin right next to a creep you won't usually instantly hit them you'll have to spin away and back into them. It will also take some getting used to with the sometimes crappy way heroes decide to go the space you can fit through and not have an impact and the speed at which you travel. If you've never played Rammus I'ld recommend getting used to the way his powerball works asap.
Defensive Ball Curl: Gigantic Magic Resist and Armor boost despite the fact that this skill makes you slower when used it can pretty much save your life and be the reason you escape fights or being chased with the 10 hp you have left.
Puncturing Taunt:
More CC great for catching someone after you hit them with a powerball. Powerball -> Taunt -> Defensive Ball Curl -> Keep chasing. Its also incredibly useful for team fights. Oh the giant Physical DPS BEAST (Warwick Yi etc) is killing one of your squishies and theres nothing you can do? oh wait your Rammus Taunt that mofo! Taunt does some times "bug out" or "not work" but I've found that it has something to do with how far away a hero is from you, if you taunt and the hero doesn't immediately turn to you and start auto attacking then get as close as possible and they should. Once they are focused on you if they are melee they are at your will meaning you can drag them to a tower or even further from your squishes!
Tremors:
Its got a 60ish~? second cooldown, use it all the time everytime : p. Seriously theres no reason to save a 60 second cooldown it will be up when you need it again. Pushing a tower? use it. Big creep wave coming? use it. Even a remote chance you might gank that hero? use it. Some heroes are coming to gank you? use it! with such a short cooldown and it being magic damage it straight up owns buildings and most heroes. There are times where I go to gank a hero
use it, kill him then go to push a tower and its Back up, use it to kill that tower and its up AGAIN before I hit the next tower. Seriously its so awesome.
[Skill Build: Defensive]
1.(Q) Powerball
2.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
3.(Q) Powerball
4.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
5.(Q) Powerball
6.(R) Tremors
7.(Q) Powerball
8.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
9.(Q) Powerball
10.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
11.(R) Tremors
12.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
13.(E) Puncturing Taunt
14.(E) Puncturing Taunt
15.(E) Puncturing Taunt
16.(R) Tremors
17.(E) Puncturing Taunt
18.(E) Puncturing Taunt
Skill Build: Really Offensive
1.(Q) Powerball
2.(E) Puncturing Taunt
3.(Q) Powerball
4.(E) Puncturing Taunt
5.(Q) Powerball
6.(R) Tremors
7.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
8.(Q) Powerball
9.(Q) Powerball
10.(E) Puncturing Taunt
11.(R) Tremors
12.(E) Puncturing Taunt
13.(E) Puncturing Taunt
14.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
15.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
16.(R) Tremors
17.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
18.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
Again these are just how I do it, its totally up to you. But the reason I always max Powerball is because its your main ability your going to be spamming it to harass, to catch heroes, to farm creeps, to do pretty much everything. If I'm playing only slightly offensive I get DBC first because it helps with getting away and will deter most people from attacking. If I'm playing totally offensive Powerball + taunt = lots of dead heroes : P.
Item Build: Average Game
Faerie Charm
Rejuvination Bead
Boots of Speed -> Boots of Swiftness
Giant's Belt + Phage -> Frozen Mallet
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Faerie Charm(one you already had) + Faerie Charm -> Mana Manipulator
*Sell Rejuvination Bead if you have to*
Giant's Belt + Mana Manipulator - > Soul Shroud (unless someone on your team already has one in which case get some other mana regen Item {Nashor's Tooth / Innervating Locket]
Giant's Belt -> Warmog's Armor
Yes I Realize getting Warmog's last means its less effective but I usually don't even make it past the second Sunfire Cape so rushing a Warmog's would be about equally as pointless. Alot of Times I also don't get a mana regen item and just get an Atma's but you'll find out as I have that you burn through mana once you have all three spells up and use them all frequently
Item Build: Evenly Matched
Faerie Charm
Rejuvination Bead
Boots of Speed -> Boots of Swiftness
Giant's Belt + Phage -> Frozen Mallet
Giant's Belt + Ruby Crystal + Regrowth Pendant -> Warmog's Armor
Chain Vest + Cloak of Agility - > Atma's Impaler
Sell off Rejuvination Bead
Giant's Belt + Ruby Crystal + Regrowth Pendant -> Warmog's Armor
Sell off Faerie Charm
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
By the time you finish your Mallet you should be able to gauge if the game will end soon or if your pretty evenly matched meaning your going to want Warmog's ASAP. Your really going to be hurting for mana most of the time but your also going to be pretty ridiculous to actually kill and will soak up damage like no other.
Item Build: lots of Auto attackers] (Warwick/Ashe/Tristana/Yi/ pretty much all physical DPS
Faerie Charm
Rejuvination Bead
Boots of Speed -> Boots of Swiftness
Chain Vest + Cloth Armor -> Thornmail
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Sell off Rejuvination Bead
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Sell off Faerie Charm
Warmog's Armor/Another Sunerfire Cape/Atma's Impaler/ Pretty much whatever for the last slot.
General Item Notes
If you don't like the small health/mana regen you can always just start with a regrowth pendant and get the Meki Pendant asap
just make sure you turn them into a Philosopher's Stone asap. The biggest problem I have with this is usually I end up selling off the Philosopher's Stone eventually even in some moderately average games. Sunfire Cape damage aura stacks. Warmog's Passive kill = HP/HP Regen stacks.
Laning Partners
I really haven't seen anyone thats a bad choice to lane with Rammus. Other heroes with Slow/Disables are obviously a good choice. The worst choices are probably the support characters because they don't general bring enough DPs/CC to help take other heroes down
Playstyle
Early Game: I play probably overly aggressive, thats what the Faerie Charm/Rejuv Bead are for they allow you to harass and farm while staying in your lane much longer. Early game I usually try and harass/gank the enemy hero with powerball/taunt if I take it. The only time I don't do this is if I'm solo vs 2 disables then its suicide no matter what hero you are. if your at full mana at any point just spin to mess with the enemy heroes even if you don't hit them they will usually back up. I usually try to last hit creeps with my powerball and just end up hitting heroes hugging the creeps. When Powerball is max level I like to hit up the ghost creep camp whenver possible spin once and auto attack for some gold, or if your in a lane spin into the ranged creeps and auto attack once for gold (unless you have sunfire cape then you can pretty much just spin and excpect them to die.)
Midgame: Very similiar to early game, except now I'm usually traveling around the map looking to gank. Powerball + Taunt on an unexpecting hero usually means they are going to die. If you trying to kill alone Powerball -> Tremors -> Taunt (Frozen Mallet works wonders here).
Late game:
Well your officially a tank now with DBC maxed/almost maxed you can tank towers for your team, bait people, taunt and DBC to get some extra damage on a hero. Your pretty much a delicious baiting turtle. In team battles you want to make sure you get focused first since your the tank. Overextend a little bit get the heroes to blow cooldowns on you then pop DBC and Tremors if they are in range and just ride it out (usually now is the time I pop Heal and Ghost and just book back towards base), hopefully your team isn't sucking meaning even if you die they will be getting a kill or two. If you aren't being focused be useful powerball into running/chasing enemies, Taunt the physical DPS trying to kill your buddies, tremors and sit in the middle of them all.
use it, kill him then go to push a tower and its Back up, use it to kill that tower and its up AGAIN before I hit the next tower. Seriously its so awesome.
[Skill Build: Defensive]
1.(Q) Powerball
2.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
3.(Q) Powerball
4.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
5.(Q) Powerball
6.(R) Tremors
7.(Q) Powerball
8.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
9.(Q) Powerball
10.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
11.(R) Tremors
12.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
13.(E) Puncturing Taunt
14.(E) Puncturing Taunt
15.(E) Puncturing Taunt
16.(R) Tremors
17.(E) Puncturing Taunt
18.(E) Puncturing Taunt
Skill Build: Really Offensive
1.(Q) Powerball
2.(E) Puncturing Taunt
3.(Q) Powerball
4.(E) Puncturing Taunt
5.(Q) Powerball
6.(R) Tremors
7.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
8.(Q) Powerball
9.(Q) Powerball
10.(E) Puncturing Taunt
11.(R) Tremors
12.(E) Puncturing Taunt
13.(E) Puncturing Taunt
14.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
15.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
16.(R) Tremors
17.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
18.(w) Defensive Ball Curl
Again these are just how I do it, its totally up to you. But the reason I always max Powerball is because its your main ability your going to be spamming it to harass, to catch heroes, to farm creeps, to do pretty much everything. If I'm playing only slightly offensive I get DBC first because it helps with getting away and will deter most people from attacking. If I'm playing totally offensive Powerball + taunt = lots of dead heroes : P.
Item Build: Average Game
Faerie Charm
Rejuvination Bead
Boots of Speed -> Boots of Swiftness
Giant's Belt + Phage -> Frozen Mallet
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Faerie Charm(one you already had) + Faerie Charm -> Mana Manipulator
*Sell Rejuvination Bead if you have to*
Giant's Belt + Mana Manipulator - > Soul Shroud (unless someone on your team already has one in which case get some other mana regen Item {Nashor's Tooth / Innervating Locket]
Giant's Belt -> Warmog's Armor
Yes I Realize getting Warmog's last means its less effective but I usually don't even make it past the second Sunfire Cape so rushing a Warmog's would be about equally as pointless. Alot of Times I also don't get a mana regen item and just get an Atma's but you'll find out as I have that you burn through mana once you have all three spells up and use them all frequently
Item Build: Evenly Matched
Faerie Charm
Rejuvination Bead
Boots of Speed -> Boots of Swiftness
Giant's Belt + Phage -> Frozen Mallet
Giant's Belt + Ruby Crystal + Regrowth Pendant -> Warmog's Armor
Chain Vest + Cloak of Agility - > Atma's Impaler
Sell off Rejuvination Bead
Giant's Belt + Ruby Crystal + Regrowth Pendant -> Warmog's Armor
Sell off Faerie Charm
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
By the time you finish your Mallet you should be able to gauge if the game will end soon or if your pretty evenly matched meaning your going to want Warmog's ASAP. Your really going to be hurting for mana most of the time but your also going to be pretty ridiculous to actually kill and will soak up damage like no other.
Item Build: lots of Auto attackers] (Warwick/Ashe/Tristana/Yi/ pretty much all physical DPS
Faerie Charm
Rejuvination Bead
Boots of Speed -> Boots of Swiftness
Chain Vest + Cloth Armor -> Thornmail
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Sell off Rejuvination Bead
Giant's Belt + Chain Vest -> Sunfire Cape
Sell off Faerie Charm
Warmog's Armor/Another Sunerfire Cape/Atma's Impaler/ Pretty much whatever for the last slot.
General Item Notes
If you don't like the small health/mana regen you can always just start with a regrowth pendant and get the Meki Pendant asap
just make sure you turn them into a Philosopher's Stone asap. The biggest problem I have with this is usually I end up selling off the Philosopher's Stone eventually even in some moderately average games. Sunfire Cape damage aura stacks. Warmog's Passive kill = HP/HP Regen stacks.
Laning Partners
I really haven't seen anyone thats a bad choice to lane with Rammus. Other heroes with Slow/Disables are obviously a good choice. The worst choices are probably the support characters because they don't general bring enough DPs/CC to help take other heroes down
Playstyle
Early Game: I play probably overly aggressive, thats what the Faerie Charm/Rejuv Bead are for they allow you to harass and farm while staying in your lane much longer. Early game I usually try and harass/gank the enemy hero with powerball/taunt if I take it. The only time I don't do this is if I'm solo vs 2 disables then its suicide no matter what hero you are. if your at full mana at any point just spin to mess with the enemy heroes even if you don't hit them they will usually back up. I usually try to last hit creeps with my powerball and just end up hitting heroes hugging the creeps. When Powerball is max level I like to hit up the ghost creep camp whenver possible spin once and auto attack for some gold, or if your in a lane spin into the ranged creeps and auto attack once for gold (unless you have sunfire cape then you can pretty much just spin and excpect them to die.)
Midgame: Very similiar to early game, except now I'm usually traveling around the map looking to gank. Powerball + Taunt on an unexpecting hero usually means they are going to die. If you trying to kill alone Powerball -> Tremors -> Taunt (Frozen Mallet works wonders here).
Late game:
Well your officially a tank now with DBC maxed/almost maxed you can tank towers for your team, bait people, taunt and DBC to get some extra damage on a hero. Your pretty much a delicious baiting turtle. In team battles you want to make sure you get focused first since your the tank. Overextend a little bit get the heroes to blow cooldowns on you then pop DBC and Tremors if they are in range and just ride it out (usually now is the time I pop Heal and Ghost and just book back towards base), hopefully your team isn't sucking meaning even if you die they will be getting a kill or two. If you aren't being focused be useful powerball into running/chasing enemies, Taunt the physical DPS trying to kill your buddies, tremors and sit in the middle of them all.
