Volibear · Jungle

Volibear Aggressive Guide

OffensiveData-drivenMediumPatch 16.19.1

547Updated 24 hours ago

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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 is about playing Volibear aggressively. Aggressive jungle means invading the enemy's camps when you know where their jungler is, ganking early and snowballing the lane that gets the kill. Your spikes are level 6, when Stormbringer comes online, and each completed item: Black Cleaver first, then Trinity Force. Riot rates it 7/10 in attack, 4/10 in magic, 7/10 in defense and 3/10 in difficulty.

Strengths

Crowd control: Thundering Smash applies a stun to set up kills.
Very durable: Riot rates it 7/10 in defense.
Mobility: Stormbringer lets you reposition, engage or escape.
Sustain from Frenzied Maul.

Weaknesses

Every death while playing aggressively hands the tempo back to the enemy.
Falls behind if the early ganks fail: every wasted trip is lost farm.

Build cheat sheet

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

Lethality buildOffensiveRecommendedAll-in on damage: Terminus, Lord Dominik's Regards and Blade of The Ruined King stack attack damage, attack speed and on-hit effects. Choose it when you're ahead or the enemy team is fragile — it gives up safety for kill pressure.
Against physical damageDefensiveSituationalFor a lane or a team that hits with attacks: armor boots and an armor item in the core.

Builds

Lethality build

OffensiveRecommended

Open build

When to use it

All-in on damage: Terminus, Lord Dominik's Regards and Blade of The Ruined King stack attack damage, attack speed and on-hit effects. Choose it when you're ahead or the enemy team is fragile — it gives up safety for kill pressure.

Where it's played

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

Summoner's RiftRed side · bottom leftBlue side · top right

JungleMain54% of matches
TopPriority 246% of matches

Jungle priorities

StartRed buff

1Voidgrubs
2Gank top
3Rift Herald
4Scuttle Crab
5Dragons
6Baron Nashor
7Atakhan

Guideline, not a measurement: an early skirmisher starting red side. Take the void grubs and look for ganks while your early damage is ahead, then Herald and dragons.

Starting items

Gustwalker HatchlingHealth Potion

Core items

1Terminus
2Lord Dominik's Regards
3Blade of The Ruined King

Boots

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

Situational

Death's DanceAgainst heavy physical damage.Mercurial ScimitarAgainst heavy magic damage.Guardian AngelAgainst burst and assassins.Chempunk ChainswordCuts the enemy's healing.

Runes

Primary· Precision

Secondary· Domination

Shards

Summoner spells

Flash
Smite

Abilities

The Relentless StormPassiveVolibear's Attacks and abilities grant Attack Speed, and eventually cause his Attacks to deal bonus magic damage to nearby enemies.
QThundering Smash12/11.5/11/10.5/10s50 mpVolibear gains speed towards enemies, Stunning and damaging the first one he Attacks.
Cooldown
12·11.5·11·10.5·10
Cost
50
Range
300
Basic ability — applies a stun. Save it for priority targets or to interrupt a channel.
WFrenzied Maul5s20/25/30/35/40 mpVolibear damages an enemy, applying on-hit effects and marking them. Casting this ability again on the same target deals bonus damage and Heals Volibear.
Cooldown
5
Cost
20·25·30·35·40
Range
325
ESky Splitter16s50 mpVolibear summons a lightning bolt at a location, dealing damage and Slowing enemies while granting Volibear a Shield if he's inside the blast radius.
Cooldown
16
Cost
50
Range
1200
RStormbringerUltimate160/135/110s100 mpVolibear leaps to a target location, Slowing and damaging enemies beneath him while gaining bonus Health. Enemy towers near his landing location become temporarily disabled.
Cooldown
160·135·110
Cost
100
Range
550
Ultimate — slows and moves you. Keep it to escape unless the kill is certain.

Strategy

1When to fight

Your spikes are level 6, when Stormbringer comes online, and each completed item: Black Cleaver first, then Trinity Force. Aggressive jungle means invading the enemy's camps when you know where their jungler is, ganking early and snowballing the lane that gets the kill.

2Picking your targets

In fights, enter after the enemy uses their key crowd control and land Thundering Smash on the carry; keep Smite for the objective, not for damage. The best target is the one your team can reach and kill before the enemy answers, not always the most valuable one.

3Snowballing a lead

After a won fight, take dragons and towers before anything else: that's what turns kills into a lead the enemy can't erase. Early, your objectives are the first dragons and the void grubs: track where the enemy jungler started and contest on the opposite side.

4When to back off

Safe jungle means full clears, counter-ganking where the enemy jungler shows up and never contesting an objective without vision or numbers. If your key abilities are on cooldown or the enemy is missing from the map, the aggressive play is to wait.

Tips

Fight on your spikes: right after Black Cleaver, look for the next fight instead of farming.
Look for kills when Stormbringer is ready and the enemy's key ability is not.
Use Thundering Smash to start the fight, then commit your damage.
Track the enemy's key cooldowns and attack right after they use them.
Turn every kill into dragons and towers: a kill without an objective is a wasted lead.
Push your lane before you roam so the aggression doesn't cost you resources.

Matchups

Strong against

Graves
Thundering Smash (stun) lets Volibear pin Graves down before Quickdraw gets them out.
Kha'Zix
Thundering Smash (stun) lets Volibear pin Kha'Zix down before Leap gets them out.
Jayce
Thundering Smash (stun) lets Volibear pin Jayce down before To the Skies! / Shock Blast gets them out.