Just wanted to run some ideas for a bit of feedback, was fiddling with an item order in my head.

Sapphire Crystal + hp pots
Boots of Speed
crystal -> Catalyst the Protector
Glacial Shroud/Banshee's Veil/boots -> Mercury's Treads (depending on opponents)
if you didn't get boots, finish them, otherwise pick according to opponents again
Guardian Angel
Warmog's Armor (little late, but most games should be over before now, and if they arent you really need the hp)
shroud -> Frozen Heart

Last item slot could be another Warmog's, you shouldnt need more base armor and resist, or you could leave it open for elixir's if there are stealth people running around.

Another option could be getting Rylai's instead of the Warmog's and filling the 6th slot with Rod of Ages, your hp will be almost as high and your ability damage will go up very noticably.

Never tried these before, just wanted to get a critique on my thought process.

I disagree with reliance on Sunfire/Tremors to farm, if you give Rammus even moderate AP he can farm well with powerball esp once it hits level 5.

Also, if the test realm guys are correct, AP rammus with some mild armor and more HP than you currently see will be the new standard way to play, as all armor over 100 points are headed for uber-nerf territory.

Seconded. Warmog's is never worth it on Rammus. Randuin's Omen is better in it's stead since it helps you to slow most of the enemy in a 5v5 fight, allowing your teams to kill em easier or run away. Get Rylai's, if you don't want more armor.

If the game lasts a long time, then consider grabbing Thronmail against phys DPSers since they will burst you down hard--why not let them kill themselves in doing so? Once the item slots are full, replace your boots with Phantom Dancer.

Well, ruby crystal takes all the starting gold so I have no health regen or pots, which I find to be almost universally a bad thing since it forces you to play defensive early. On the other hand, the extremely small amount of armor from the other prereq for Heart of Gold is entirely negligible, it feels like leaving town with nothing but health pots to me.

I play rammus a lot and the i always go, health regen pendant upgraded into PS then boots then HoG. Once HoG is completed i finish my boots off depending on the team.

After that I usally try to build nashors tooth. after that its a sunfire cape. Recently after I have my sunfire I go starks. Once Starks is done I sell my PS as my healing and mana are met with starks and Nashors. Which leaves the HoG to be turned into a Thornmail.

Once you have all these items you have both good Physical DPS, AP Damage and surviability.

Also A tip for farming with rammus for new players. To farm an enemy creep wave quickly with out tremors and with out sunfire cape get the enemy creeps as they are traveling in a line. As long as your minions arent close the melee minions will turn back around and attack you while. Now powerball and drop DBC. Enemy minions will all be dead within about 3-5secs.

Has anyone experimented with Force of Nature on Rammus?

I've considered trying to build HoG > FoN > Merc Treads > Randuin's, because I really like having Movement Speed 3, and having FoN gives me that without losing merc treads, and you end up with over 100 of both armor and MR, with much more health regen.

Anyone tried something similar? If so, what would you go for afterwards? Sunfires? One of +AP items?

FoN is bad for Rammus. It offers almost no survivability against ganks or focus-fires. The regen helps in laning but by the time you get the item, the laning phase will be mostly over. Better rely on the DBC that will save you from magic attacks or better yet, get Banshee's Veil since the mana that comes with it is welcome, as is the Catalyst part.

After B Veil, get HP Items such as Frozen Mallet, Rylais', or Randuin's Omen against a caster heavy team since they will offer you far better utlity and EHP with your DBC up.

If you ever want magic resist on Rammus, go for an Abyssal Scepter. 57 Magic Resist, -20 Magic Resist for enemies, and 70 AP really helps your Powerball and Tremors.

What I generally go for now is 2x Heart of Gold by the 12-15 minute mark, then keep them for the majority of the game. Your farming ability isn't really great, thus during roaming phase the gold generation really helps. You can sell one later on if needed, and the other can be straight upgraded to Randuin's. Basically after 10-15 minutes holding HoG, you're gaining profit. The extra survivability helps you stay in field as well.

As for starting items, Cloth Armor for +18 armor giving you a extra 5 damage from your passive, 3 health pots, 1 mana pot is generally a good start.