Runeterra’s resident Relentless Storm Volibear has quickly risen in popularity in League of Legends ever since Riot Games applied sweeping changes to both his ability set, visuals, and audio effects in 2020. The champion is now a mainstay in both pro play and solo queue, due to his versatility in multiple situations.
Volibear is a great pick for a dive composition since he can disable turrets with his ultimate ability, Stormbringer, but he can also provide some much-needed crowd control with his Thundering Smash and zoning potential with his Sky Splitter. He’s a big body that can soak up a good amount of damage in teamfights, while also being the perfect champion for early ganks.
He does need the right tools to become a true god on Summoner’s Rift, with runes and items to help him dominate enemies as players try to climb the ranks with the storm at their back.
Here is the best Volibear build in League season 12.
Runes
Precision
Press the Attack: Since Volibear has a point-and-click one-second stun and a slowing blast zone built into his kit, he has plenty of tools to slow down his enemies while he gets three basic attacks off. Afterward, he is able to punch out a ton of damage, while also making his enemies take more damage from all sources for six seconds.
Triumph: With this rune, Volibear can push forward through a teamfight by gaining plenty of health after a takedown, giving him enough snowball power to maintain the front line for his damage dealing allies.
Legend: Tenacity: Tenacity is very important for Volibear to stay active and efficient when running around Summoner’s Rift, since it allows him to shrug off crowd control during a gank or engage. If the bear gets bogged down, it usually means he’ll be dead soon after since he needs to be right in an opponent’s face to succeed.
Last Stand: Because Volibear will be absorbing a lot of the incoming damage in a teamfight, Last Stand will help the bear convert that punishment into a reward by dealing more increased damage as he loses health. The only issue is when enemy teams start to focus on other members of Volibear’s team, but his attacks should be strong enough to warrant some constant attention.
Sorcery
Celerity: More movement speed will allow Volibear to catch up to any champion so he and his team can send them back to their fountain, and if he’s paired with a support pick that can speed him up, he’ll be a menace to deal with throughout the game.
Waterwalking: Ganking takes time and effort, but this rune will let the massive bear run around from lane to lane with ease. Waterwalking allows any jungler the ability to fight for scuttle crabs and skirmish in the river with ease. The bonus movement speed and adaptive damage should be a welcome sight for most junglers looking to make an early impact.
Bonuses: +10 percent attack speed, +9 adaptive force, +6 armor
Items
Starting items: Hailblade, Refillable Potion
Volibear takes a classic jungler start with Hailblade, giving him a good amount of damage while using the shield from his Sky Splitter ability to stay healthy during his first few clears. Additionally, the item upgrades into a Chilling Smite that gives the bear another way to slow down his enemies to drop the lightning.
Core items: Turbo Chemtank, Dead Man’s Plate, Ionian Boots of Lucidity
The need for speed is key for Volibear’s success. Turbo Chemtank and Dead Man’s Plate will be a player’s best friend to zoom around the map with ease, since the former gives 40 percent movement speed when running towards enemies, and the latter builds up movement speed as well. The Lucidity boots are great for fighting, so that he can continue to throw out spells and CC.
Final items: Force of Nature, Thornmail, Frozen Heart, Spirit Visage
Force of Nature gives more speed and tank stats, while the rest of the items give Volibear enough durability to soak up the damage he needs to. Depending on the enemy team, you can buy Frozen Heart and Thornmail against auto-attack heavy champions, or Spirit Visage when going against AP-heavy compositions.
