Varus's standard build mainly aims to give him a solid first timing, then enough damage and room to stay useful if the fight lasts. The first items should keep open his different ways of playing a fight.
Three builds, one right answer per draft. The advisor reads the five enemies (and your allies) and names who triggers what — the same rule as the Draft MVP sheet and Ask Nexus.
Best Varus build (Dragon Lane): Blade of the Ruined King › Runaan's Hurricane › Kraken Slayer › Wit's End › Guardian Angel, boots Berserker's Greaves, keystone Lethal Tempo. Three variants and when to pick each are below.
Standard build maximizing damage output. Use on neutral matchups or when ahead.
14,900 total cost
Nothing dominates on the other side: the standard build maximizes your damage.
Open this draft in the tool →Anti-resist build for tanky enemies. Choose when multiple enemies build armor/magic resist.
15,000 total cost +100gSustain build leaning on heal/omnivamp to win prolonged duels.
15,400 total cost +500g
Scores out of 10: where this champion sits against the whole roster, phase by phase. The strip shows its own power ramp level by level — it does not compare across champions.
Best Varus build (Mid Lane): Blade of the Ruined King › Kraken Slayer › Runaan's Hurricane › Terminus › Wit's End, boots Berserker's Greaves, keystone Lethal Tempo. Three variants and when to pick each are below.
Standard build maximizing damage output. Use on neutral matchups or when ahead.
15,000 total costNothing dominates on the other side: the standard build maximizes your damage.
Open this draft in the tool →Anti-resist build for tanky enemies. Choose when multiple enemies build armor/magic resist.
15,000 total costSustain build leaning on heal/omnivamp to win prolonged duels.
15,400 total cost +400gScores out of 10: where this champion sits against the whole roster, phase by phase. The strip shows its own power ramp level by level — it does not compare across champions.
Your hardest matchups in this role, and the item from your situational list that answers each one.
Yasuo
Guardian Angel
Physical damage
Katarina
Mercurial Scimitar
Magic damage
Yone
Guardian Angel
Physical damage
Zed
Guardian Angel
Physical damage
Same advisor in the Draft (the MVP sheet applies it to your real draft) and in Ask Nexus, which explains the choice. On counters pages: the variant to take against each counter-pick.
Foundational item core, without recent situational additions — kept as a base for understanding the kit. For the up-to-date build, see the section above.
On-hit Varus relies on repeated hits, not burst. His build maximizes hit frequency and effectiveness.
Long Sword
%HP on-hit, Varus stack the W Blight faster
Double on-hit, stack W Blight in 2x faster
Multi-target hits apply W Blight stacks to everyone hit
Gluttonous Greaves
Stasis
›
›
attaques fast with W Blighted Quiver stack the passive corrupteur faster.
Strengthens Q Piercing Arrow charged and his autos for trades impactful.
Your charged Q pokes full targets from afar — the healthy-target bonus rides every siege arrow.
Attack speed to stack Blighted Quiver W (3 hits) and explode targets.
Reduces incoming damage during trades when he is stationary to charger the Q.
Riftmaker
Guardian Angel
Riftmaker
Wit's End
Stasis
Quicksilver
Coup De Grace
Giant Slayer
Level 5 turns Varus from a lane poke champion into a real catch threat. His ultimate can force Flash, lock a carry, or stop an enemy entry before an objective. At this point, he should play around wave and vision, not simply look for raw duels.
The Manamune transformation is a real turning point: his Q and E hit harder, and every objective setup can become costly for the enemy. Varus should then look for repeated angles, but without walking forward as if he had gained mobility.
With Youmuu and Draktharr, Varus becomes dangerous against already damaged targets. He can speed up a reposition, fire from a side angle, and turn one skillshot into a pick. This window still requires good flanker awareness, because his burst does not replace a defensive dash.
