Swain Mid Lane Wild Rift overview and best build snapshot
Best Build
Quick snapshot of the default setup for this guide.
Items
Items
Summoner Spells
Spell 1
Flash
Spell 2
Ghost
How to play
Catch enemies with your returning root Your 3rd ability roots enemies on its return trip. Cast it again to pull them closer, then follow with your 1st ability for damage.
Collect souls through safe spell hits Hit champions with your 2nd ability to reveal them and collect souls that permanently increase your health. Use its long range to help nearby fights while farming.
Stay near enemies during your ultimate Fight around your team so you can keep draining targets without being focused alone.
Guide author
Royal
Royal has reached Rank 1 in EU and NA, and Legend and Sovereign on the Chinese server. Created by Royal with input from high elo and professional players and the WildRiftGuides Discord community.
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Strengths
- Soul fragments and his ultimate drain make him very hard to burst, so he survives fights that would kill a normal mage.
- A long delayed root that feeds into a pull gives him real pick threat, both in lane and from brush.
- He does his best work in messy grouped fights, healing off every nearby enemy while his nova chunks the whole group.
Weaknesses
- No dash and no blink, so anyone who out-ranges or kites him plays around his slow walk and telegraphed snare.
- Grievous Wounds reduces his drain healing, forcing him to rely more on stored health and keeping champions in range to sustain Demonic Energy.
- The snare's visible windup and delay let mobile assassins and dash-heavy skirmishers dodge the one button his combo needs.
Swain Mid Lane Wild Rift best build, items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order
ITEM BUILD
Best Wild Rift build for Swain Mid Lane, including items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order.
STARTING ITEM
Early ability power for a lane built on landing bolts and collecting soul fragments.
BOOTS
Magic penetration keeps his drain relevant, since his damage is steady ticking rather than burst.
CORE BUILD
Ultimate haste means more drains, and the burn adds damage on everyone caught in it.
Crits against low health targets, which finishes the group his drain left low.
Multiplies his ability power, and since his drain heals off that damage, it is his sustain too.
His drain touches everyone nearby continuously, so the magic resist shred stacks across a whole team. It is best when Swain has other magic-damage allies who can exploit the team-wide shred; if Swain is the team's only significant magic threat, build Void Staff instead for stronger personal penetration.
His ultimate keeps draining while he is untargetable, so stasis buys free healing in the middle of their team. Buy Seeker's Armguard early for the armor and ability power.
SITUATIONAL ITEMS
Cuts the magic resist that lets a frontline stand in his drain and ignore it. Choose it over Cryptbloom when enemies are stacking magic resist and maximum personal damage matters more than ability haste and team healing.
His drain never stops applying, so the max health burn is permanently on everyone near him.
The slow keeps enemies inside his drain radius, which is the only way a damage-over-time ultimate works.
The alternative to Void Staff. Less penetration, but the ability haste and healing on takedown help in the grouped fights his ultimate creates. Choose it when enemies have not built much magic resist, so trading Void Staff's extra damage for more ability haste and an area heal after takedowns is worthwhile.
Build this when the enemy heals through his drain. Buy Oblivion Orb early, since the anti-heal works from the component and the full item can wait.
Build this when the enemy has shields that keep absorbing the drain his sustain depends on.
Build this when Swain needs armor and anti-heal. Entwine applies Grievous Wounds from his own damage as well as enemy attacks, so Demonic Ascension (Ult) keeps the reduction running on every nearby champion it damages.
Build this when the enemy has crowd control aimed at him as he walks in, which is his only committed moment.
Increases magic damage taken by enemies near him by 12%, which works because his ultimate requires them to be exactly there.
Build this when you are fighting in the middle of the enemy team and need both armor and magic resist. Demonic Ascension (Ult) keeps Swain in combat and healing long enough to activate Twinguard, making every drained health point harder to remove.
Build this when the enemy team has a lot of attack speed dependent champions, which is who stands in his drain trying to kill him.
Boot swap against heavy physical damage, when armor is what lets his drain outlast the trade.
Boot swap against heavy magic damage and crowd control. Disables do not cancel Demonic Ascension (Ult), but they can stop Swain from following champions and cause his Demonic Energy to expire when nobody remains in drain range.
RUNES
KEYSTONE
His bolts and root are several quick hits, and the move speed is how a slow battlemage reaches the position his drain needs.
PRIMARY
His ultimate is his entire champion, so amplifying it specifically is worth more to him than to most mages.
Ability haste means more roots and pulls, which is how he gathers the enemies his drain needs.
Move speed after a summoner spell helps him arrive at the fight his ultimate wants to anchor.
SECONDARY
He wants long fights, and this covers the opening burst that would end one before his drain gets going.
SITUATIONAL RUNES
Take this over Phase Rush when the fight is a long drain brawl rather than a repositioning problem.
Take this over Bone Plating when repeated crowd control is more dangerous than one burst combo. Its 10% Tenacity shortens most disables, and the temporary Armor and Magic Resist add protection while immobilized.
Take this over Bone Plating against durable teams that remain within Swain's range. Shorter Death's Hand (1st) and Nevermove (3rd) cooldowns help him keep dealing damage and catching targets throughout a long fight.
SUMMONER SPELLS
MAIN SPELLS
Flash
Flash lets an immobile Swain reposition Nevermove's (3rd) returning claw or stay beside champions during Demonic Ascension (Ult). Nevermove's (3rd) pull only becomes available after the returning claw has rooted a champion.
Ghost
His ultimate drains everyone around him, so his damage and his healing both scale with how long he stays in the middle of the fight. This is what keeps him there.
SKILL ORDER
Skill Priority Order
- 11st Ability
Q - 22nd Ability
W - 33rd Ability
E
Swain Mid Lane Wild Rift matchups and counters
Wild Rift matchup guide for Swain Mid Lane, covering favorable lanes and difficult counters to prepare for in ranked.
Good Matchups
These champions are favorable matchups for this pick in Wild Rift. You have advantages against them and can play more aggressively.
Vex
Swain never dashes, so he does not create free Gloom (Passive) marks. Mistral Bolt (1st) and Looming Darkness (3rd) are telegraphed, but Personal Space (2nd) is immediate and Shadow Surge (Ult) gives Vex a real dash; track the prepared Doom (Passive) fear before committing to a drain fight.
Fizz
His whole game is a burst dive, and you are a drain tank built to outlast exactly that: your healing beats his combo, and he is squishy once pinned next to you.
Yasuo
Wind Wall (2nd) can deny Nevermove's (3rd) projectile path, but it does not stop the drain from Demonic Ascension (Ult) once Yasuo has dashed into Swain's range. Bait the wall before using Nevermove (3rd), place Vision of Empire (2nd) on his return path, and extend the fight with the ultimate only after he has consumed nearby minions as dash targets.
Akali
Her burst is built for squishies, and your ultimate heals it back while she is stuck in melee next to you; the shroud breaks targeting but not your ground root.
Ahri
Ahri's charm burst is meant for squishies, and you heal it back, so her all-in feeds the ultimate it was supposed to kill; only her three dashes let her get away.
Swain Counters
These champions counter this pick in Wild Rift and can be difficult matchups. Learn how to play against them or consider banning them.
Syndra
Syndra out-ranges your root and stun-bursts you from a distance your sustain cannot answer, and her early poke out-paces your drain before your fragments stack.
Brand
Brand's stun chain interrupts the engage your whole kit is built around, he out-ranges your reach, and his full combo chunks you faster than your drain heals it back.
Viktor
Death Ray (3rd) damages Swain before Nevermove (3rd) can threaten, Gravity Field (2nd) controls the ground his ultimate wants to occupy, and Power Transfer (1st) shields Viktor's short return trade. Approach from a side angle after the field is used, pull Viktor into Demonic Ascension (Ult) rather than walking through the zone, and preserve health until an extended fight is actually available.
Vel'Koz
Vel'Koz pokes from a range your short reach cannot answer, his knockup stops the walk-up your game depends on, and his true damage chips through your sustain faster than you heal it back.
Swain Mid Lane Wild Rift game strategy and teamfighting guide
Wild Rift game strategy for Swain Mid Lane, from early lane control through mid and late game map play to final teamfights.