Volibear

Master Tier Champion Guide

Identity

Volibear is the relentless storm, a versatile juggernaut who shines in forcing all-in engagements and running down his foes. You should play Volibear if you enjoy a champion that blends the lines between a diver and a drain tank, capable of weathering immense damage only to heal it back in the heat of battle. His kit rewards calculated aggression and disciplined ability usage, particularly in mastering the timing of his second W for maximum healing. With powerful item synergies that turn him into a late-game monster, Volibear is perfect for players who want to be the unkillable frontline, dictating the pace of fights and bringing the thunder down on the enemy backline.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

Volibear has really strong short trades when running Grasp and excels at forcing all-ins when running PTA.
Revitalize significantly boosts the healing from W and the shielding from E, making him highly sustainable in fights.
When utilizing points in Q (Thundering Smash) and items like Cosmic Drive, Volibear gains powerful extra mobility to reach and run down opponents.

Weaknesses

Vulnerable if he cannot maintain his passive stacks or crashes the wave too slowly.
Volibear needs to be very strong and ahead of the curve (up 2-3k gold) to effectively utilize high-damage items like Navori Quickblades, otherwise, he is too squishy.
Requires disciplined ability usage, especially holding W to secure the second, higher-value bite.

Laning Phase

Volibear's laning requires a consistent pattern of wave crashing, utilizing Grasp/PTA for short or long trades, and specific skill allocation depending on the matchup.

Level 2 Spike

If starting Q, ensure you use the first Q quickly so that the cooldown is almost finished by the time you hit Level 2, allowing for an instant Q-E combo.

Skill Maxing

Max W straight (five points) against melee champions that have a strong all-in (E.g., Darius, Sett, K'Sante) because you need the extra damage and healing.
Put four points in Q before maxing W against range champions (E.g., Gnar) or weak melee champions (e.g., Garen, Aatrox). Four points in Q grants 24% movement speed, which is often enough to run down opponents, and you don't need the extra W damage in these matchups.

Skill Start

Start Q against champions that don't have a lot of room to fight back (E.g., Garen, Aatrox) to force a quick grasp trade.
Start E against champions that will contest you level one and can fight back (E.g., Darius, K'Sante, Sett), as the shield provides more value.
Against a good range top player, start E because it is hard to hit Q level one.

Trading

Always look to use your passive stacks and force a quick trade. When trading, many high-level Volibear players go for a little bite (W1) first, so that the second trade will have a potential W2 available.

Wave Control and Tempo

Look to crash wave two really fast. Pushing too quickly is natural due to Volibear's passive.
A fast wave two crash is necessary so the wave bounces back to the center (not slow push). This grants a lot of room to chase the opponent down the lane.

Team Fighting & Macro

Macro Strategy

Vision

After crashing wave two quickly, use the opportunity to get a jungle ward. If you see the enemy jungler's camps are gone (E.g., Red, Golems, Raptors), you know exactly where they are without needing a ward.

Item Spikes

The first three items (Cosmic Drive, Unending Despair, and Spirit Visage, depending on the order) are the most broken point of Volibear. After that, you usually build tanky items.

Rushing Lucidity

If you back with 900 gold, purchasing Ionian Boots of Lucidity should be the priority, as the flash cooldown reduction is extremely broken on this champion.

Team Fighting

Goal

Team fighting is relatively straightforward: dive in and get stuck in with the boys and try to flash onto a priority target.

W Awareness

Be very aware and maintain yourW stacks. Especially late game when built as a drain tank (with Spirit Visage and Unending Despair), keeping up W stacks is highly impactful.

W2 Discipline

Do not just kill the target before you can land your W2 (second bite). Wait and hold yourW to secure the massive heal and execute.

Flash Discipline

The hardest part is discipline with your Flash. Do not Q-Flash onto a target where no one can follow up; instead, use Q to engage on a target where teammates can follow, and save Flash for the subsequent rotation of Q to punish a retreating enemy.

Runes

Grasp of the Undying

Default choice against pretty much any melee champion (e.g., K'Sante, Renekton, Sett) to grant really strong short trades.

Press the Attack (PTA)

Used against champions you cannot short trade against (e.g., Kennen, Gnar, Urgot). It's also preferred in volatile melee lanes (e.g., Aatrox, Gwen) to force stronger all-ins and shut them down early. PTA now provides value by increasing the strength of the all-in trade.

Key Combos

Level 2 Crash Combo

Auto

Requires quick Q usage Level 1 so Q is available at Level 2.

Full Trade/Dive (Q Buffer)

Auto

Buffer W through CC, then engage. The final W is the second bite (W2).

Ultimate Dive

Auto

Flash Engagement

Auto

Used to cover a huge distance and secure the stun. Hold Q to milk the movement speed before the final stun.

Tips & Tricks

Abilities

If Volibear gets CC'd out of his Q, the cooldown is refreshed, allowing for a second round of Q use to stay in range.

You should look to buffer W through any type of enemy CC (E.g., Garen Q) by starting the W animation right before the CC hits.

When facing champions who have tenacity (like Garen W), place yourE (Sky Splitter) quite far away to ensure the CC lands.

When diving, you can hit the tower once just before your Volibear passive stacks expire to keep five out of five stacks active.

Item Synergies

Starting Item

Always start Doran's Ring, regardless of the matchup, for the extra trading power and shielding. Never start Doran's Shield.

Rushing AP

Cosmic Drive is the preferred AP item (never Rod of Ages) for the added mobility, especially into range champions or champions that need to be run down (E.g., Olaf, Darius).

Navori Caution

Navori Quickblades is a very fun item, but strictly for when you are snowballing extremely hard (up 2-3k gold) and are already very tanky; otherwise, you become a 'complete shit stain'.

Armor Items

Choose between Unending Despair (drain tank/versatile), Randuin's Omen (against multiple crit champions like Yasuo/Yone), or Frozen Heart (against heavy auto attackers like Xin Zhao).

Buying Time

If the enemy has heavy burst, items like Zhonya's Hourglass (or just Seeker's Armguard) can be useful for buying time before a major fight.