Varus Mid Build

Varus Champion Guide

Role: Marksman

Lane: Midlane

Varus Mid performs best with a build featuring Youmuu's Ghostblade, Boots of Swiftness, Manamune, Edge of Night, and Serylda's Grudge. The most effective rune setup for Varus Mid includes Arcane Comet, Manaflow Band, Transcendence, and Scorch in the primary tree, paired with Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight in the secondary tree.

Varus Champion Abilities

Living Vengeance

When Varus kills an enemy, he gains 10 / 15 / 20% attack speed (levels 1 / 7 / 13) as well as bonus attack damage and ability power equal to 10% bonus attack speed for 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 (at levels 1 / 6 / 11 / 16) seconds. Champion takedowns grant 50% attack speed as well as bonus attack damage and ability power equal to 25% attack speed instead.

While this passive is active, Varus' attack speed cap is increased from 2.5 to 3.0 instead. P

Piercing Arrow

Begin Charging: Varus draws back his next shot, slowing himself by 20%. After 4 seconds, if not fired, Varus will cancel the ability and refund 50% of its mana cost.

Release: Varus releases the arrow, dealing 60 / 106.67 / 153.33 / 200 / 246.67 (+0.8667 / 0.9333 / 1.0 / 1.0667 / 1.1333% per bonus attack damage) physical damage, reduced by 0−67% per enemy hit (minimum 19.8 / 35.2 / 50.6 / 66 / 81.4 (+0.286 / 0.308 / 0.33 / 0.352 / 0.374% per bonus attack damage) and maximum 29.7 / 52.8 / 75.9 / 99 / 122.1 (+0.429 / 0.462 / 0.495 / 0.528 / 0.561% per bonus attack damage)). Damage and Blight detonation effects are increased by 0−50% depending on charge time (maximum 90 / 160 / 230 / 300 / 370 (+1.3 / 1.4 / 1.5 / 1.6 / 1.7% per bonus attack damage)). Q

Blighted Quiver

Passive: Varus' attacks deal an additional 8 / 13 / 18 / 23 / 28 (+35% of ability power) magic damage and apply a Blight stack for 6 seconds (max 3 stacks). Varus' other abilities detonate Blight stacks dealing 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5% (+1.5% per 100 ability power) of target's max health as magic damage per stack. Detonating Blight on champions and epic monsters also reduces his basic abilities' cooldowns by 13% of their maximum per stack.

Active: Varus' next Piercing Arrow deals an additional 6−14% missing health as magic damage (depending on level), increased up to 80% missing health damage depending on charge time. W

Hail of Arrows

Varus fires a hail of arrows that deal 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage) physical damage and desecrate the ground. Desecrated ground slows enemies' movement speed by 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% for 0.25 seconds and reduces their healing and regeneration by 40%. The slow duration is refreshed if enemies stay within the zone. E

Chain of Corruption

Varus flings out a tendril of corruption, rooting the first champion hit for 2 seconds and dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (+100% of ability power) magic damage. Rooted enemies gain max blight stacks over the duration. The corruption spreads from its target to uninfected enemy champions. If it reaches them, they take the same damage and root. R

Varus Summoner Spells

Flash

Flash is a location-targeted summoner spell that causes your champion to blink to the location in range of your cursor.

Exhaust

Exhaust is a unit-targeted summoner spell that slows an enemy champion's movement speed and reduces their damage dealt for a few seconds.

Varus Runes

Varus Items

Varus Ability Order

Varus Matchups Overview

Strong against

Fizz

Kayle

Corki

Katarina

LeBlanc

Cho'Gath

Weak against

Naafiri

Jayce

Vel'Koz

Talon

Mel

Quinn

Varus Tips and Tricks

Try to poke the enemy down with your E and Q before committing to a fight. Delay team fights while you harass the enemy with your Q. Once an enemy champion overextends, cast your R to catch them out of position. Never leave your team's side as you will be easy pickings for an Assassin or Bruiser. Stick with your team throughout the later stages of the game.

Varus Best Build, Runes and Items for Mid

Most Popular

If you want to use the most popular Varus Mid build, you should take Flash and Teleport as your Summoner Spells. For runes, you should pick Arcane Comet as your keystone, followed by Manaflow Band, Transcendence and Scorch in the primary tree, as well as Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight in the secondary tree. For rune shards, you want Attack Speed in offense, Adaptive Force in flex and Health in defense, though it depends on the matchup. Finally, for your items, you should build Youmuu's Ghostblade as your first item, followed by Boots of Swiftness and Manamune. For your last 3 items, you should build Edge of Night, Serylda's Grudge and finish with Serpent's Fang. For the skill order, you want to stick with Q - W - E.

Optional

Your second option for Varus Mid build would be to take Flash and Barrier as your Summoner Spells. The runes that this build takes advantage of are Lethal Tempo as your keystone, Absorb Life, Legend: Alacrity and Cut Down in the primary tree, and Biscuit Delivery with Cosmic Insight in the secondary tree. The shards used in this build are Attack Speed in offense, Adaptive Force in flex and Health in defense. The items for the build are Blade of The Ruined King, which you should build first, followed by Berserker's Greaves as your second item and Guinsoo's Rageblade as your third item. The rest of the items in order are Terminus, Jak'Sho, The Protean and Lord Dominik's Regards. The skill order for this build is Q - W - E.

Alternative

If you're looking for alternatives, you can use Flash and Barrier as your Summoner Spells, with runes being Press the Attack as your keystone, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace in the primary tree, and Taste of Blood with Treasure Hunter in the secondary tree, as well as Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Health Scaling as your rune shards. The items that this build incorporates are Nashor's Tooth as your first item, then Sorcerer's Shoes as a second item and Stormsurge as a third item. You want to finish the build with Shadowflame, Rabadon's Deathcap and Banshee's Veil. As far as ability max order goes, you want to keep it W - Q - E.

Off-Meta

If you want to try an Off-Meta Varus Mid build, try Flash and Teleport as your Summoner Spells, Hail of Blades, Taste of Blood, Grisly Mementos and Ultimate Hunter as your primary rune tree, and Overgrowth with Bone Plating as your secondary tree. Use Attack Speed, Adaptive Force and Health as your shards. For items in this build, you want to complete Nashor's Tooth as your first item, then finish Sorcerer's Shoes as your second item, and Malignance as third item. The last 3 options are Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff and Stormsurge. The ability order for this build is W - Q - E.

Situational Varus Runes and Items

Depending on the context of your game, your matchup, and enemy champions, you might want to consider building some situational items or taking specific runes. Carefully examine your team, enemy team, game state, and your matchup to plan your Varus build accordingly! For example, when it comes to rune shards, you might want to take either Armor or Magic Resist, depending on which champion you are about to lane against.