Learning Varus after 2 years maining support champs: I have no idea what I'm doing.

Varus is an interesting ADC because he can be played either as a typical On-Hit ADC or more as an AD spellcaster, and your build and playstyle should reflect that. First off your runes are fine though I recommend experimenting a bit with them as you try different playstyles. If you like the feeling of AD Spellcaster I'd recommend you switch out the AS marks to get Armor Pen or AD marks. For a more typical ADC build you could try AS quints and AD marks instead of the other way around. You've already gotten a lot of types on how to play a more standard ADC Varus, the highlights: *His AA range is greater than most ADCs, use this to harass and in a duel use it along with his ult to fight from out of your opponents range. *While a full charge isn't always necessary, whenever possible charge your Q to max damage. *Always try to proc more blight, especially if your opponent is tankier. *Stay at the outskirts of fights. Varus has good range and never wants to be closer than he has to for auto attacks. It can even be acceptable to enter a fight late so that you aren't their immediate focus (not recommended of course). *A good build for Varus will be IE > Berserkers > BT/BotRK (BotRK if they have a tankier comp) > LW > PD > Defensive item (Mercurial, GA, Banshees, Randuins) *Pick up a zeal before rushing to finish last whisper, sometimes even before you finish BT. The bonus attack speed and crit will pay off. *While you are still getting accustomed to Varus I recommend maxing E instead of Q. E gives you more reliable waveclear, especially under tower, as it doesn't reduce in damage with each target hit. E max will still help you in a fight and your Q's AD scaling will keep the spell relevant. Even if you are confident with Varus, if you are losing lane and don't expect to turn the tides when you finish your first items, max E. *In the earlier game use Q (or E) until you have ~1/4 mana. Then conserve mana until you have at least half a mana bar and poke again. You always want this reserve of mana so you can use E and R defensively. Now personally I prefer AD spellcaster Varus. The concept behind this is to play almost entirely around your Q by utilizing its amazing scaling and immense range. With this playstyle you basically never want to be close enough to AA an enemy, just stay in Q range. You'll hit your damage spike around level 3 Q when you have a BF Sword. With this your build should be Essence Reaver > Ionian Boots > LW > BT > Mercurial Scimitar/IE > IE/Defensive item (Randuins, GA, Banshee's). As you can probably tell, you're looking to maximize your AD with this, and you don't care about attack speed at all. For your fifth item, if you are snowballing thats when you pick up an infinity edge over the Mercurial, and then get mercurial last, otherwise get mercurial for some defense and then decide if you can afford a 6th damage item instead of defense. *Once you have essence reaver: Q on cooldown and use it at full charge, you will need to because thats how far away you should be anyway. Then use ER passive to gain mana off of minion waves. *In the earlier game use Q until you have ~1/4 mana. Then conserve mana until you have at least half a mana bar and poke again. You always want this reserve of mana so you can use E and R defensively. *Play safe early on. Until you can get a BF Sword your trading isn't spectacular, and if a fight goes south Flash is your only real safety net. You want to farm more than you want kills at this point. *Going off of that, you want to deny your opponent farm by making them afraid of your Q. Even in the early game it removes a good chunk of health. *Once you have lvl3 Q and a BF Sword you will really see your opponents fall to pieces with your Qs. After you land a few hits be more aggressive, they are probably scared of you now. *If the enemy support is a healer (Soraka, Sona, Nami), go ahead and aim your poke at them, force them to drain their mana. While they heal themselves Q their ADC, or use E to reduce the heals. Same goes for shields. Mix up your target so your opponent won't know who to shield. *Even if they have a tanky support (Leona, etc.) poke them. They won't have a lot of armor yet, so it'll hurt.

/r/summonerschool Thread