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Playing Against Varus
BotPatch 16.2.1
What They Do
Varus is a versatile marksman who specializes in long-range poke and tank-shredding. He uses to snipe from distance and stacks to melt high-health targets with % Max HP damage. He is extremely immobile but provides high utility with his crowd control.
Abilities (What to Watch For)
| Ability | What You'll See | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| A purple glow around Varus and his bow after a kill or assist. | He gains a massive Attack Speed, AD, and AP buff. Be cautious of trading with him immediately after he last-hits a minion, and especially after he gets a champion takedown. | |
| Varus pulls back his bow, drawing a line indicator before firing a massive arrow. | This is his primary poke. He is slowed by 20% while charging it, making him vulnerable to engage, but the damage and range increase the longer he holds it. | |
| Three purple orbs or rings orbiting your champion model. | Passive: His autos apply Blight. His other abilities detonate these stacks for % Max HP damage. Active: His next deals massive missing health damage (execute). | |
| A hail of arrows that leaves a dark, desecrated circle on the ground. | This deals physical damage and slows. Crucially, it applies 40% Grievous Wounds, so do not use Heal or high-sustain abilities while standing inside it. | |
| A large, fast-moving purple tendril of corruption. | Roots the first champion hit. It then tethers to nearby allies; if they don't move away within a few seconds, they also become rooted. Spread out immediately if someone is hit. |
Respect
- !3-Stack Blight Procs→If he hits you with 3 autos and then hits a or , the detonation can deal over 15-20% of your Max HP in one go.
- !+ Snipe→The active on turns his next arrow into a lethal execute. If you are below 40% HP, a fully charged arrow from the fog of war will likely kill you.
- !Chain Spread→In teamfights, if you clump up, his ultimate can CC your entire team sequentially, leading to an easy ace.
- !Grievous Wounds on →The desecrated ground reduces all healing. If you rely on lifesteal or a Soraka/Yuumi to survive an all-in, you will lose if you stay in the circle.
Punish
- +is on cooldown→Varus has zero mobility and no other hard CC. When his ultimate is down, he is extremely easy to dive or gank.
- +Charging →He is slowed by 20% during the draw. Use this time to land your own skillshots (like a Hook or Zenith Blade) as his dodging ability is severely impaired.
- +Missed →Without , he loses his only slow and his ability to reduce your healing. This is the best time for sustain-based ADCs (like Draven or Samira) to force an all-in.
- +Low Mana→Varus is very mana-hungry if he pokes with . If he is below 100 mana, he cannot reliably cast his full combo to detonate stacks.
Laning Tips
- •Dodge by moving perpendicular to the arrow. Do not run straight back, as the range is likely longer than your movement speed allows.
- •Stand behind healthy minions; damage is reduced by 15% for every target it passes through (up to 33% reduction).
- •Keep trades short if you have 3 Blight stacks. Back off and let the marks expire (4 seconds) before re-engaging.
- •Varus's makes him very strong after a minion kill. Avoid trading when he has the purple glow around his bow.
- •If you see him activate (his bow will glow bright purple), expect an immediate and prepare to Flash or use a mobility spell.
- •Check his items early; if he is building lethality, stay high HP. If he builds On-Hit (Bork/Guinsoo's), don't let him stack on you.
Teamfight Warning
- ⚠Don't fight in jungle chokepoints where can easily spread to your entire backline.
- ⚠Assassins must wait for him to use or before jumping in, or he will simply root you and kite back.
- ⚠He can shred tanks remarkably fast with procs; tanks should build Kaenic Rookern or Force of Nature to mitigate the magic damage from his stacks.
- ⚠Ward over walls near objectives like Dragon/Baron. A common Varus tactic is to charge a + from out of vision to steal the objective or snipe the jungler.
- ⚠If he gets an assist, his grants him massive attack speed. Do not try to 'clean up' a fight against him if your team is already low.
AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached