Welcome to the League of Legends Champion Spotlight featuring Varus, the Arrow of Vengeance, recorded with the help of the newly-released Spectator Mode.
Varus is a mix of physical ranged carry and caster, adept at whittling down individual targets or assassinating them from afar.
Utilizing his mix of persistent and burst damage, Varus is an exceptional addition to any team composition.
Varus’ passive is Living Vengeance. Every time Varus kills a minion or monster, he gains attack speed for a few seconds.
If he kills or assists in the kill of an enemy champion, he gains more attack speed for an even longer duration.
Piercing Arrow charges up and then fires a powerful shot that damages all enemies it hits in a line, dealing reduced damage as it passes through more targets.
On the first cast of Piercing Arrow, Varus begins drawing back his bow, slowing him and removing his ability to attack.
When cast a second time, he fires with bonus damage and bonus range based on how long he was channeling.
If you use smart casting, holding down the button will begin the charge and letting go will fire.
Silencing or stunning Varus will put the spell on cooldown without firing.
If Varus waits too long to fire, the spell goes on cooldown and refunds part of the mana cost.
Blighted Quiver passively gives Varus’ basic attack bonus magic damage. They also apply stacks of Blight, up to a cap.
When any of Varus’ active abilities hit an enemy, these stacks explode, dealing damage based on the target’s maximum health.
Hail of Arrows fires arrows into an area, damaging all enemies they hit.
For the next few seconds, enemies in that area are slowed and receive reduced healing.
Varus’ ultimate is Chain of Corruption. Varus fires out a skill shot nuke that damages and roots the first enemy champion it hits.
Immediately after, it attempts to spread to other nearby enemy champions, damaging and rooting them as well.
Every time Chain of Corruption spreads it searches again for new targets, but will never hit a champion more than once.
Varus functions exceptionally well in mid lane. Taking early points in Piercing Arrow and Blighted Quiver, try to place Blight stacks on your opponents, and then trigger them whenever you can.
Doing this will let you whittle down your opponent and win the lane. 0:02:26.500,0:02:00.000 This gameplay also works well in partnered lanes. Fighting against Caitlyn and Kayle, I constantly apply Blight stacks whenever I can, following up with Piercing Arrow.
Finally Caitlyn gets low enough for me to finish the job. I push the minions to their turret, charge up, and snipe Caitlyn for a long-ranged kill.
As you level up, these combos get easier. Once you reach enough Blighted Quiver stacks, lock your target down with Chain of Corruption and keep attacking.
Toss out Hail of Arrows for the slow as soon as the root ends and finish off your target with a quickly-fired Piercing Arrow.
With proper vision, Piercing Arrow can steal important kills from your enemies. I walk across Ryze trying to kill the Ancient Golem.
After dropping a Sight Ward in the brush, I back off and charge Piercing Arrow.
Once I see him start to burst it down for the kill, I shoot off the arrow, stealing away the golem completely out of range for counter-attack.
Flash plus Chain of Corruption lets you pick off running enemies.
Basic attacks followed by Piercing Arrow pick up a quick kill. 0:03:26.000,0:03:22.300 Varus is exceptionally fast at killing Baron Nashor or the Dragon. Fire Piercing Arrow immediately after getting three Blight stacks.
If you time it right, Hail of Arrows can actually trigger four stacks. Launch it after reaching three and land a basic attack while it’s falling.
Hail of Arrows will constantly trigger Blight stacks as it hits an enemy, giving you a fourth.
In the ensuing team fight, I resort to hitting the tanks first, but save Chain of Corruption until it can spread.
Once Amumu gets pulled away, I target Udyr. I switch focus to him and the corruption spreads to Ryze and the enemy Varus.
We take down four enemy champions in sequence with no hope for any of them to escape.
Varus’ long range makes him great at defending capture points in Dominion.
As Dr. Mundo and Alistar begin capturing the Boneyard, I charge up Piercing Arrow and interrupt them both.
I walk out of range after they stop capturing, but once they turn back into it, I head in again for Hail of Arrows.
They turn to fight me, so I retreat and charge another Piercing Arrow. Alistar starts another capture and again I stop him.
Fiora and I then enter in to stop them once more. Fiora falls but I turn to Dr. Mundo, taking him down by stacking Blight and landing Piercing Arrow.
As Varus is a physical damage dealer, I focus on amplifying that damage as much as possible.
For runes I recommend flat attack damage marks, flat armor seals, magic resist per level glyphs, and flat attack damage quintessences.
For masteries I recommend 22/1/7, taking all the physical damage increasing masteries in offense, mana regeneration in utility, and improving my summoner spells.
For summoner spells, I recommend Heal and Flash, as these spells will help you navigate and survive fights.
On Summoner’s Rift I recommend opening with Boots of Speed and three Health Potions, following up with a couple of Doran’s Blades, Berserker’s Greaves, and a Vampiric Scepter.
Then look for significant damage through Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, and Last Whisper. From here look for items like Guardian Angel, Banshee’s Veil, and Bloodthirster.
In Dominion, a similar build will work well. I recommend Boots of Speed, Prospector’s Blade, and two Health Potions.
Grab Berserker’s Greaves and head for Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, Last Whisper, and Sanguine Blade.
Round out your build with Odyn’s Veil or a second Phantom Dancer.
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