Here's a tip, max E first.

Unless you're playing ARAM.

I actually just got a Pentakill with Varus on SR not 10 minutes ago.

Skill build on him is variant on playstyle, and something i've messed around with a lot over the time he's been available. Q max is extremely potent lane-poke once you get used to it, and i would usually max it out if laned with someone like Taric or Leona generally (Sweetspotting a 300+ damage Arrow in lane is an awesome feeling).

The arrow scales pretty well with items and not just levels though - so as of late i've been going E -> W as a skillbuild, using my arrow as poke when i'm not planning to engage and as a secondary quick-tap way of proc'ing my blight charges. I usually build him without a single item of Crit, opting for Bloodthirster -> Zephyr - > Zerker's (with alacrity most often, or distortion if i'm vs a ton of gapclosing bruisers). The sustain and obscene MS increase (10% is the highest available on an item these days) combined with a potent AoE slow and root really allow me to manipulate the battlefield, rooting a key target and debuffing teams so we just faceroll.

A big point of advice would be to not sit on your Chain of Corruption - it can come out really quickly and surprise your opponents with a burst of damage, leading to an unexpected kill or burning a lot of the opposition's summoner spells. The cooldown isn't super prohibitive, and can allow you to escape a 3+ man gank successfully.

Typically round out the build with Blade of the Ruined King and Runaan's Hurricane (or 'Blight Shotgun', as the build was called in S3 development). Tons of fun to play, and a really unique experience outside of just 'shoot the creeps shoot the people'. Shoutout to Meddler for one of my favorite carries.

My biggest issue with Varus is his charge shot is really, really hard to poke with at higher skill levels.

I used to love cleaning up n00bs with it in unranked but it just has too much warning and not enough speed to land on alert and mobile ranked players. Having to use it from brush is a pretty big setback IMO.

I wouldn't even mind if it got a bit of a damage nerf in exchange for a bit of missile speed.

Q: Scales greatly with AD, when you are ahead max it and it makes you further ahead with the AD you should be buying! (Make your enemy in lane hang onto the tower for dear life!) *Charging it when your kill-lane partner is going in usually leads to a sure hit, as they normally have a stun*
W: Passive damage for last-hitting (if you are bad at that sort of thing), max it first if you start falling behind and want to try and trade. (% life damage may be "bad scale-wise" early game, but if you lack AD, it may be better in direct trades to have a bit more damage, both % after using a skill and the base on-hit.)
E: AOE slow with half-healing, max it if you want more upfront burst damage or slightly better chasing/fleeing capabilities!
R: The "you-are-f**ked-now" abillity... "And you, and you, and you and you!"

Next week on underused adcs: Sivir, she has to be a counter-pick but she can be good! Find out how!

(Btw Riot, some people like playing Varus AP, I hate that, but I don't wish for it to be a fotm and for him to be nerfed in some way. Some people have SOME AP on Varus via blast due to getting the Magic Pen %.)

I'm currently writing a tier list for ad carries and these are Varus' stats. At the end of each line you can see the grade he deserves in my opinion compared to the other carries.

Varus:
health: 1876 (482 at level 1) B
ad: 100 D
as: 0.658 + 47.7% C
armor: 74.7 B
ms: 335 B
range: 575 A
steroids: B
utility: A
dueling: B

I think the reason he is not played more is because his steroids begin to fall off once the enemy team gets Runic Bulwark/more magic resist. Also often you can't hold onto your E and ult in a fight, so his W steroid can only be procced by his Q reliably which means once per fight. His passive gives him more synergy with other snowbally team fighters like Akali and Katarina, but it's highly situational and if you want a competetively viable champion, he needs to be able to do well consistently.

He has no repositioning tool so he is also rather hard to peel for, though his ult helps him out somewhat, compared to other carries with no escape.

I didn't give him a better dueling grade, because his combo is very reliant on free-casting. An attack speed slow is enough to hurt his combo potential a lot. His early game has strong damage, but that doesn't necessarily have to make him a good duelist.

Not saying he is bad or anything, but if you want an early-mid game carry, why not pick Corki, MF or Draven?

I attached the list, however it's still a work-in-process and thus not complete.

Attached Files

ad.txt (4.2 KB, 6 views)

I play Varus a lot i think it would be nicer if his Q charged up a tad bit faster