Blitzcrank, The Great Steam Golem



The city of Zaun is a place where both magic and science have gone awry. The unchecked nature of experimentation has taken its toll on the city. However, Zaun's lenient restrictions allow their researchers and inventors the leeway to push the bounds of science at an accelerated rate, for better or worse. It was under these conditions that a team of doctoral students from Zaun's College of Techmaturgy made a breakthrough in the field of intelligent steam automation. Their creation, the steam golem Blitzcrank, was developed to exercise judgment on-the-fly in order to assist with Zaun's hazardous waste reclamation process, since so often the conditions did not allow for human supervision. However, he soon began exhibiting unforeseen behaviors.

Over time, the scientists were able to identify a demonstrated learning process, and Blitzcrank fast became a celebrity. As is sadly often the case though, credit for the golem's creation was scooped up by another - Professor Stanwick Pididly - though most now know the truth. In the wake of the ensuing legal maelstrom, it became evident that neither party truly had the steam golem's best interests at heart, and Blitzcrank humbly petitioned for personal autonomy. Backed by overwhelming support from the public, it took the liberal Council of Zaun only a few weeks to declare Blitzcrank a fully-independent, sentient entity. A unique being, the golem left Zaun, distressed by the controversy and feeling there was no place he could fit in. His travels led him to the one location in Valoran where unique beings have a place - the League of Legends. Fortunately, he was easily able to adapt his design to suit the rigors he would face on the Fields of Justice.

Though Blitzcrank may batter anything that stands in his way, he really has a heart of gold...encased in a framework of iron...in a carapace of steel.


This guide will cover the following:

1) Stat increases per level
2) Abilities
3) Summoner Spells
4) Masteries
5) Runes
6) Skill Order
7) Items
8) Reasons to play Blitzcrank
9) Tips to playing Blitzcrank


Stat increases per level:

Damage 55.66 (+3.5 / per level)
Health 468 (+100 / per level)
Mana 260 (+40 / per level)
Move Speed 300
Armor 14.5 (+3.5 / per level)
Spell Block 30 (+1.25 / per level)
Health Regen 1.45 (+0.15 / per level)
Mana Regen 1.32 (+0.1 / per level)


Abilities:

Passive Ability:
Mana Barrier - When Blitzcrank life is brought below 20% health he activates Mana Barrier. This creates a mana shield equal to 50% of his mana for 10 seconds. Mana Barrier can only occur once per minute.

"Q" Ability:
Rocket Grab - Blitzcrank fires his right hand to grab an opponent on it's path, dealing damage and dragging it back to him.
Blitzcrank fires his right hand, if it encounters an enemy unit it will stun them and deal 60/120/180/240/300 (+0.8) magic damage while he pulls them to himself.
Cost: 140/140/140/140/140 Mana
Range: 1000

"W" Ability:
Overdrive - Blitzcrank super charges himself to get dramatically increased movement and attack speed.
Blitzcrank supercharges himself to increase Movement Speed by 16/20/24/28/32% and attack speed by 30/38/46/54/62% for 8 seconds.
Cost: 75/75/75/75/75 Mana
Range: 1

"E" Ability:
Power Fist - Blitzcrank charges up his fist to make his next attack deal double damage and pop his target up in the air.
Cost: 25/25/25/25/25 Mana
Range: 300

"R" Ability:
Static Field - Passively causes lightning bolts to damage a nearby enemy. Additionally, Blitzcrank can activate this ability to damage nearby enemies and silences for 0.5 seconds, but doing so removes the passive lightning until Static Field becomes available again.
Passive: Lightning arcs off of Blitzcrank to hit a random nearby enemy for 100/200/300 (+0.25) magic damage every 2.5 seconds.
Active: Deals 250/375/500 (+) magic damage and silences surrounding enemy units for 0.5 seconds. The passive is not in effect during the cooldown.
Cost: 150/150/150 Mana
Range: 600


Summoner Spells:

Flash: A very good get away/gank summoner. You can combine your "E" spell with the flash to instantly toss the enemy hero or flash into a team fight and use your ultimate.
Ghost: Ghost allows Blitzcrank to chase down pretty much anyone in the game combined with his w ability. It is a bit redundant though and flash is a better overall summoner.
Exhaust: I usually grab exhaust because most people on my team don't. It can be used on enemy heroes if you grab them within tower range and usually results in a death. Just a great overall summoner.
Clairvoyance: If your team is prepared for a level 1 fight (exhaust/stuns) clairvoyance is extremely useful. CV to see where the team is then grab one of them.

I usually run Flash/Exhaust. Flash is a great way to initiate fights or chase people down. Exhaust for an enemy ad carry. Choices for summoners depends on your team and your enemy team's combination.


Masteries:



I like going a 21/0/9 route because he makes me more deadly in team fights. If you want to be more of a tank, a 0/21/9 or a 9/21/0 set up would work as well. I usually only put 21 points into Utility if I grab CV. I usually don't so I stick with the 21/0/9.


Runes:

Quints: 3x Move Speed
Marks (reds): 9x Armor Penetration
Seals (yellows): 9x Flat Armor
Glyphs (blues): 9x Magic Resist (Can use either flat or scaling)

This is a fairly standard rune set for a tanky hero. I like the move speed quints because it helps me chase down the other team easier or get away faster. The rest are self-explanatory.
You can choose to use cdr blues instead, but the difference in the cooldown is relatively minimal, so I personally don't prefer using it.


Skill Order:

1) Q
2) E
3) Q
4) W
5) Q
6) R
7) Q
8) W
9) Q
10) W
11) R
12) W
13) W
14) E
15) E
16) R
17) E
18) E

I know many of you stat "E" first, but I prefer the damage from grab especially early game. It does good damage if you manage to grab an enemy and helps you kill much faster.
Another common way to stat is R>E>W>Q. Again, I like the burst damage I get from grabbing an enemy.


Items:

Mercury's Treads (1200 gold): +25 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2 Reduces the duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, snares, sleeps, and immobilizes by 35%.
Merc Treads is pretty much the only option. It adds magic resist and tenacity (cc reduction). I'd much rather get merc treads than have a spot clogged up with an item used specifically for tenacity.

Trinity Force (4070 gold): +30 Damage, +30 Ability Power, +30% Attack Speed, +15% Crit Chance, +12% Move Speed, +250 Health, +250 Mana, UNIQUE Passive: 25% chance on hit to slow the target by 35% for 2.5 seconds; on cast, your next attack deals bonus damage equal to 150% of your base attack.
This is the second core item for Blitzcrank. Everything on the Trinity Force is beneficial to Blitzcrank. The most important are move speed, mana, and the passive. The passive on this item combined with your "E" ability (toss) does 3.5 times the damage to the enemy.

Banshee's Veil (2715 gold): +375 Health +375 Mana +50 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Blocks one negative spell every 45 seconds
This is the final core item for Blitzcrank. This item makes him tanky and very annoying to hit. It also adds mana which synergies with your passive.

Tank items are essential for Blitzcrank. You are likely going to be the second tankiest champion on your team and you need survivability. After BV, I usually grab Radiun's Omen. The rest is all situational. If the other team has a ton of AP characters, go for Force of Nature. If the other team has a ton of AD, go for thornmail, atma's, guardian angel, frozen heart, or sunfire. If I'm fed hard early in the game, I tend to get manamune, but I no longer consider it a core item since it takes too long to farm for it and T-Force.


I normally start off with a mana crystal and 2 health pots. Build a sheen and then merc treads. At this point you will know if you'll be farming well or not. If you are not farming well, I suggest getting a couple of heart of golds, or one heart of gold and one philo stone. Otherwise I finish off trinity and then build a heart of gold and go situational from there.


Reasons to play Blitzcrank:

He is one of the most enjoyable champions to play. His versatility and his synergies allow him to be a machine in game. A single well timed grab can ruin the game for the other team. Three of his abilities are also CC abilities, meaning he can absolutely ruin the enemy team's carry. He has a low cool down on his ultimate which allows him to clear creep waves easily. His "W" ability makes him almost impossible to catch and also allows him to take down a tower quickly.


Tips to playing Blitzcrank:

1) Initiate team fights with your grab. Try to target an enemy carry. If your grab hits, it can easily turn the fight into a 5v4.
2) His abilities synergize off of each other. Once you land a grab on a champion, immediately hit your "E" (toss) ability so you can keep the champ from going anywhere. This is especially useful in the early game if you happen to grab an enemy hero into a tower.
3) Your "Q", "E", and "R" are great sources of CC. You can use it to stop channeling abilities such as Katarina's Ultimate, Malzahar's Ultimate, Nunu's Ultimate, etc.
4) Some helpful level benchmarks. Level 11 at 18minutes and 16 at 28 minutes. At these levels and times, you will be able to clear all the ranged creep for a few minutes. This will definitely help you push/farm.
5) Use your "E" ability (toss) to last hit early game.
6) If an enemy tower dives, grab him (Q) and toss him (E) at the tower. This usually will result in you living and the enemy dying.
7) Take towers down quickly with "W" and "E" while your teammates are pushing other lanes.
8) Good lane parters are ones with some sort of stun or slow. Xin, Alistar, Lux, Sion, Taric, etc. are all great lane partners.
9) Once I hit level 7, I usually start roaming to try and help my other lanes if they need help.

max E last? max Q first.... and you got 21-0-9?

this is so bad, and hes sporting a 58% win ratio as if its good.

w
t
f

Just a question, on your masteries.
Why do you choose 4 into attack speed rather than cooldown for your offensive?

well his stats arent bad for sure. 2:1 k/d, nearly 2 tower per game seems pretty fine for me

ur blitz, u walk into a fight and ult, assists on everybody, or u can KS like a pro with it. Not hard to get good score with blitz.

Doublelift maxes E first. Your point is invalid. This guy only has 70 blitz games.

Yeah the game is super easy for everyone to go 50-0

If you actually read it, you may understand why. The damage from grab early does good damage. If I manage to grab someone into my turret, they're already down a ton of hp. Exhaust/Toss pretty much equals a dead hero. I'd rather have that than someone getting away with 20 hp.
Also, team fights dont last long. You won't be constantly hitting e during the team fight. You have phage to slow people down and w for ms to catch up so the toss isn't necessary.





Oh man, one person who's good with blitz. Let's all follow him and not think about other ways Blitz can be effective.

This post was edited by MirageMage on May 16 2011 04:10pm

cause E should be maxed first, lvl 9 with a popup on like a 4 second cooldown, why the fuck wouldnt u max it first.



asinine post is asinine



lol, yeah, cause blitz rolls in lane alone, being able to pop somebody up twice for ur partner to rape them is worse then a higher damage grab thats on a 20 sec cooldown.

sigh...

This post was edited by Hockeygod9911 on May 16 2011 04:10pm