Rammus is a tricky one but a few simple rules will help you out. First, you should never be solo. Use your teammates. Second, level taunt. I don't know if you do already, but its phenominal and if you are chilling in your tower range, that is the BEST place you wanna be with Rammus. Dragging people into tower-fire is what Rammus is all about. Third, Sunfury Cape. HP + Armor + damage aura is all you could want. It's great early on, gives you a lot of damage output when combined with tremors. Don't be afraid to blow tremors to clear a creepwave at your tower. You should be spec'd into Defensive Masteries and with Imp fortify especially. Taunt + fortify often grants you early first bloods. In addition an extra 9 damge to creeps is fantastic for last hitting, especially since Ramus does have quite high damage levels for a tank due to his passive. Last hitting will take some timing as Rammus's attack animation isn't the fastest in the game. However, get that down and it will be quite easy to make that cash while in the protection of your tower. Being in tower range isn't a bad thing, unless you can't stop them from beasting your tower. With the amount of armor you will have, you should be able to tank creep damage with little problem.

And he's a pro-tip to help you a bit more. Full hp melee minions take 3 tower shots to kill. However, after 2 they only have a sliver of life. Wait for two hits then time your attack to hit them right after the 2nd hit. Guaranteed last hit right there. This will help you a lot when farming near your tower.

I have lots of success with a competent team mate using roll and taunt to get early kills, often double kills. Getting another champion with you is key to a good Rammus game I have found. Getting 2 points into taunt will help keep people running away and keep them in tremors and maxing out roll then go for his defensive ability.

Don't forget to turn tremors on for turrets either, its great for pushing, turret destroying and team battles, it has a low cool down and even lower with the right runes and items.

I don't bother with heart of gold usually and always stack up hp, armor, magic resist in that order usually, forget being offensive with him, his abilities alone are enough damage and buff to your team that they will take care of the rest. Guardian Angel, Legion, Warmogs, Mercury treads, Frozen heart and Banshees Veil I have found to be the best items for him for tanking anything. Lot of abilities do a mix of physical and magical damage so of course adjust those to your taste if you face more of one then the other.

I usually enjoy around 10 kills a game and 10-20 assists with Rammus with good team mates.

I was in the same boat with my rammus. (Sometimes still am) He honestly just has a hard early game. Some people do not like hearts of gold. I love them. Hp, armor, and more money so you can get to your good game faster. I never stack sunfires on rammus anymore. I use to but now I really prefer having guardians+thornmail+wardensmail. I do take one sunfires and a pair of boots.

Rammus is one of very few characters in which you can get "fully geared" and at the end of the game just have tons of extra cash laying around.

I tend to go full defensive mastery. If I am laning with someone who can heal at all I grab ruby crystal first. Otherwise health regen is pretty needed or you will be forced out of the lane. mana regen isnt a big problem so I tend to go cloth armor+4 health pots. Never solo. You can get some early game kills or assists due to high level of taunt depending on who you are laned with. Heart>boots>heart>heart. Then start working on your main gear.

Some people do not like gold p5 items though I find it helps. Last game I played as rammus I was 6kills,5deaths,29 assists. Getting the final blow just isnt something rammus does. taunt and powerball keeping them CCed so others finish them works much better.

That all said *phew* Malphite or amumu are better tanks in general.

Yeah, I'm sorry if you took it as stacking sunfires. Not the best plan, but one is definitely good. Aegis is imba. It's fantastic and your teammates will LOVE you for it. Guardian Angel is pretty much a staple 6th item for every hero. It's fantastic for Rammus as well. However, probably better to get a bit later, when dying matters more (for counter pushing that is).

Rammus is pretty awful in lane, so I think 5g/10 items are the best way to reach his middle game ASAP. The way I build him is with Philosopher's Stone + Heart of Gold, and possible a second Heart. The Stone is great for his early mana problems, especially combined with Chalice, and the Hearts are like better-value Sunfire Capes. Sort of.

Problem with going Heart of gold's is that it's a temp fix. If you get more than one it takes quite a while for it to pay back its own cost, which is why you get them in the first place. In reality, people who mass 5g/10sec items just appear as those who simply can't farm well. Rammus does NOT have a problem farming. With his recent hp buffs, he can lane quite well. He just requires patience for the first 6 levels. Don't play risky, let them push your tower and just soley concentrate on last hitting. You perfect that skill and not only will your Rammus play improve, but so will your play with every other character. That aside, one Heart of Gold is not a bad idea at all. I usually get one early along with Merc's/Ninja and a chalice.

My build for Rammus is this.

Philosophers stone... I lane with a Heimy so i need the cash
Ninja tabi
Sunfire cloak
Thorn armor
Sunfire cloak
Frozen heart

if the game is a long one i will sell my philosophers stone for a Warmogs