Vi is a relatively stable and consistent pick to take alongside ranged carry teammates. She does a great job at initiating fights, and chaining down the enemy carries. The highest win rate ARAM Vi build is a bruiser one, and that is exactly the build that we will cover in this article.
Best Vi Items
Sundered Sky & Boots
The greatest first item for Vi is Sundered Sky. It will enhance our auto-attacks periodically, making them do double the amount of their base damage. The item is really great for a Q>Auto-Attack>E combo. After performing the combo, you can walk back and wait for your cooldowns to reset. This combo is amazing for chunking down enemies, and getting them low on HP. After having Sundered Sky completed, we will want to pick up a pair of defensive boots, either Plated Steelcaps or Mercury Threads.
Eclipse
The second item we will build is the Eclipse. After chaining a couple of attacks together (basic attacks, abilities, etc) the item will give us a major shield. The shield will be really useful as we will be able to pair it with our passive shield as well. The shields combined will give us great all in potential, and the potential for the aforementioned Sundered Sky combo.
Death’s Dance
Another major item for Vi is the Death’s Dance. It gives us all the stats we really need such as: armor, ability haste, and attack damage. Death’s Dance also has a powerful passive, which will store the damage and convert it to damage over time. The passive will cancel the damage over time if we score a takedown. Frequent damage cancellations will significantly improve our sustain.
Black Cleaver
One of my favorite buys on Vi for ARAM is the Black Cleaver. The item is packed with HP, ability haste, and most importantly, a passive reducing armor. Each consecutive attack will reduce enemies’ armor by a percentage (up to 30%). The passive is easy to stack, as we can combo enemies and apply 5 stacks in less than 2 seconds.
Sterak’s Gage
By the 5th item, we have pretty much covered all our bases and basic needs, so we can consider the last item as a plus. The greatest last item is the Sterak’s Gage, as it will give us incredible sustain through its HP and shield buffs.
Another 5th item alternative that can be considered is the Guardian Angel. We can buy it for the passive it gives, and use the passive to have an extra chance of surviving in a fight. If we happen to be stacked with gold, we can use the passive, then switch back to Sterak’s, as the item has more valuable stats.
Runes for Vi
- Hail of Blades
- Sudden Impact
- Eyeball Collection
- Treasure Hunter
- Triumph
- Coup de Grace
The greatest keystone for Vi in ARAM is Hail of Blades. It allows us to do rapid damage combos, and proc the Black Cleaver Swiftly. The second rune we will take is the Sudden Impact, as it is great for getting some extra damage after casting Q.
We will also take the Eyeball Collection for extra damage per unique takedown, and Treasure Hunter for extra gold per unique takedown. Finally, we will take Triumph for healing after scoring a takedown, and Coup de Grace to deal more damage to low HP enemies.
Final Thoughts
Vi is quite a decent ARAM pick. The best playstyle would entail a bruiser build such as the one outlined in the article, coupled with the Hail of Blades keystone. The build is quite great at going in and out of fights, poking enemies, but it is also great for all ins and hard engagements.