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Alistar · Support

Alistar Abilities and Combos

Abilities & combosData-drivenHardPatch 16.19.1
360Updated

More Alistar guides

This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.

Overview

This guide goes through Alistar's kit ability by ability. The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Triumphant Roar and sustain with Triumphant Roar. Its ultimate is Unbreakable Will.

Strengths

  • Crowd control: Triumphant Roar applies a stun to set up kills.
  • Very durable: Riot rates it 9/10 in defense.
  • Sustain from Triumphant Roar.

Weaknesses

  • No dash or blink in the kit: vulnerable to ganks without vision.
  • Low priority on gold and experience.

Build cheat sheet

Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.

Builds

Standard build

BalancedRecommended
Open build

When to use it

The default path: Locket of the Iron Solari, Knight's Vow and Sunfire Aegis give the health, magic resist and armor this class relies on. Pick it when you have no reason to adapt. Built from Riot's item tags and the champion's class; Riot publishes no build statistics.

Where it's played

Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.

Summoner's RiftRed side · bottom leftBlue side · top right
  1. SupportMain100% of matches

Starting items

World AtlasHealth Potion

Core items

  1. 1Locket of the Iron Solari
  2. 2Knight's Vow
  3. 3Sunfire Aegis

Boots

Plated Steelcaps

Situational

Dead Man's PlateAgainst heavy physical damage.Kaenic RookernAgainst heavy magic damage.Randuin's OmenAgainst burst and assassins.ThornmailCuts the enemy's healing.

Runes

Primary· Resolve

PrecisionDominationSorceryInspirationResolve
Grasp of the UndyingAftershockGuardian
DemolishFont of LifeShield Bash
ConditioningSecond WindBone Plating
OvergrowthRevitalizeUnflinching

Secondary· Inspiration

PrecisionDominationSorceryInspiration
Hextech FlashtraptionMagical FootwearCash Back
Triple TonicTime Warp TonicBiscuit Delivery
Cosmic InsightApproach VelocityJack Of All Trades

Shards

Adaptive ForceAttack SpeedAbility Haste
Adaptive ForceMove SpeedHealth Scaling
HealthTenacity and Slow ResistHealth Scaling

Summoner spells

  • Flash
  • Ignite

Abilities

  • Triumphant RoarPassiveAlistar charges his roar by stunning or displacing enemy champions or when nearby enemies die. When fully charged he heals himself all nearby allied champions.Passive — applies a stun, heals and hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • QPulverize14/13/12/11/10s50/55/60/65/70 mpAlistar smashes the ground, dealing damage to nearby enemies and tossing them into the air.
    Cooldown
    14·13·12·11·10
    Cost
    50·55·60·65·70
    Range
    365
    Basic ability — hits an area. Part of your regular rotation.
  • WHeadbutt14/13/12/11/10s50/55/60/65/70 mpAlistar rams a target with his head, dealing damage and knocking the target back.
    Cooldown
    14·13·12·11·10
    Cost
    50·55·60·65·70
    Range
    650
    Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • ETrample12/11.5/11/10.5/10s50/55/60/65/70 mpAlistar tramples nearby enemy units, ignoring unit collision and gaining stacks if he damages an enemy champion. At full stacks Alistar's next basic attack against an enemy champion deals additional magic damage and stuns them.
    Cooldown
    12·11.5·11·10.5·10
    Cost
    50·55·60·65·70
    Range
    350
    Basic ability — applies a stun and hits an area. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • RUnbreakable WillUltimate120/100/80s100 mpAlistar lets out a wild roar, removing all crowd control effects on himself, and reducing incoming physical and magical damage for the duration.
    Cooldown
    120·100·80
    Cost
    100
    Range
    1
    Ultimate. Plan your fights around its cooldown.

Strategy

1The kit

The kit brings crowd control (stun) with Triumphant Roar and sustain with Triumphant Roar.

  • Triumphant Roar — Passive — applies a stun, heals and hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • [Q] Pulverize — Basic ability — hits an area. Part of your regular rotation.
  • [W] Headbutt — Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • [E] Trample — Basic ability — applies a stun and hits an area. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
  • [R] Unbreakable Will — Ultimate. Plan your fights around its cooldown.

2Skill order

Put a point in Unbreakable Will at levels 6, 11 and 16. Between the basic abilities, max first the one that does most for your lane — usually your main damage or wave clear — and keep the utility one for last.

3Combos

A simple sequence that follows from the kit: open with Triumphant Roar, follow with Pulverize and Headbutt and finish with Unbreakable Will. The disable first means everything after it lands.

4Using your ultimate

Unbreakable Will is the ability the enemy plays around. Use it where it changes the fight, and remember its cooldown: after using it, you're a smaller threat for a while.

Tips

  • Using Pulverize can allow you to establish better positioning for Headbutt.
  • Move Speed is very important on Alistar. Consider which boots to buy carefully.
  • Using Flash can allow you catch your target off guard to knock them back into your allies with Pulverize and Headbutt.
  • Land Triumphant Roar first: every ability after it is easier to hit.
  • Use Triumphant Roar reactively, when the enemy commits.

Changelog

  1. Guide created for patch 16.19.1.

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