Varus is a stellar champion with a unique kit that always has a place in the meta. He features a combination of burst damage, on-hit damage, and CC. One of the easiest things we can do to utilize him to his full potential is to follow the correct build.
Let’s get right into the thick of things!
Best Varus build Season 2024
Core Items
Blade of the Ruined King (BOTRK)
Blade of the Ruined King is the first Varus powerspike. After purchasing this item, your hits will do 6% of the enemy’s current HP worth of damage. It also has great value in terms of attack speed, damage, and lifestyle gain.
Guinsoo’s Rageblade
One of the most fun items happens to be one of the strongest items for Varus, what a deal. Guinsoo’s Rageblade’s power lies in the synergy it creates with BOTRK. It amplifies your attack speed with each attack, which in turn increases the amount of BOTRK passive hits. It also greatly enhances Varus’s ability power, which scales extremely well with his abilities.
Kraken Slayer
Kraken Slayer is the greatest asset to this build. It is a safe purchase that does consistently high damage. It generally builds as a third item, but if the enemies are squishy you are free to build it second.
Wits End
55% attack speed, 50 magic resist, 20 tenacity, how do you like that Leona? Wits End is the most profitable item you can buy when playing against AP and CC-heavy enemies. It greatly reduces impairments and provides copious amounts of sustain against spell casters. It is okay to take this item for its attack speed properties too!
Terminus
We will finish the item portfolio with none other than Terminus. The item that alternates between light and darkness with each hit. The light attacks grant magic resist and armor, while the dark ones boost your armor and magic penetration, so sweet. However, this is not everything Terminus has to offer. This item also features a passive ability which does AP on hit damage. I was not paid to sponsor the item, it’s just that overloaded.
Nashor’s tooth
I will let you on a small secret of great masters, the Nashor’s tooth. This monstrous item can be built on occasion, and it will take your enemies by surprise. What’s the deal? Well, Nashor’s tooth offers a great combination of AP and attack speed. It will give you the ability to quickly stack your W passive on enemies, then proc it with Q to deal illegal amounts of damage.
The reason that this item works so well is that most enemies are just not accustomed to playing against it, especially in the early game. This is why we will sacrifice building BOTRK first, and go with this item instead. BOTRK will instead be built second, and the item we will permanently will be Kraken Slayer.
Boots
Generally, you will want to have Berserker’s Greaves on Varus, however, if the circumstance demands more defensive options, you can always pick up a pair of Plateed Steelcaps or Mercury’s Threads.
Optimal runes for Varus
Primary runes
- Press the attack
- Triumph
- Legend: Alacrity
- Cut down
Secondary runes
- Bone plating
- Overgrowth
In Conclusion
Varus is a great pick that has survived every meta shift, and his build has remained relatively the same. The build in question is the on-hit build featuring BOTRK, Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Kraken Slayer, Wits End, and Terminus.