Varus Dragon Lane Wild Rift overview and best build snapshot
Best Build
Quick snapshot of the default setup for this guide.
Items
Summoner Spells
Spell 1
Flash
Spell 2
Ghost
How to play
Poke before the fight starts Hold your 1st ability to extend the arrow's range, then release it at an enemy with little room to dodge.
Attack before using a damage spell Basic attacks add marks to an enemy after you learn your 2nd ability. Hit them with your 1st or 3rd ability to burst the marks for extra damage.
Use your ultimate to catch or protect Root an exposed enemy for your team, or stop a diver who is getting too close.
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
- Blight detonations deal percent maximum health damage, so tanks and bruisers die as fast as squishies.
- Very high sustained damage once his attack speed items are online.
- One of the best teamfight ultimates in the role: a chaining root that locks down a cluster.
Weaknesses
- Completely immobile, with no dash and no escape.
- Has to stand in attack range to deal damage, so every dive reaches him.
- Weak until his first on-hit items, since his whole damage pattern runs on attack speed.
Varus Dragon Lane Wild Rift best build, items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order
ITEM BUILD
Best Wild Rift build for Varus Dragon Lane, including items, runes, summoner spells, and skill order.
STARTING ITEM
Simple early attack damage, since his blight stacks come from attacks before his abilities detonate them.
BOOTS
Attack speed stacks blight faster, so his abilities detonate three stacks rather than one.
CORE BUILD
The first item for Varus's hybrid on-hit build combines Attack Damage, Ability Power, and Attack Speed. Its Energized lightning spreads on-hit pressure through nearby targets, while repeated attacks prepare Blight for his next ability detonation.
On-hit magic damage that compounds with the rest of the build, and every extra attack is another blight stack.
Buy third after Statikk and Rageblade when Varus needs penetration for both halves of his damage. Repeated attacks build its penetration and resistances, rewarding a safe firing line between Blight detonations.
The bolts apply on-hit effects, so blight goes onto several enemies at once and his abilities detonate a whole group.
Build this when you are fighting inside the group rather than behind it, and need both armor and magic resist.
SITUATIONAL ITEMS
A good first-item alternative to Statikk Shiv for a strong early power spike. The tradeoff is weaker two- and three-item power spikes than the standard build. Its third-attack damage rewards the repeated attacks Varus uses to build Blight stacks.
Replace Statikk as the opener when Varus must focus down a health-stacking frontline. Current-health damage and Lifesteal improve that sustained single-target fight, trading away Statikk's hybrid stats and bouncing lightning.
After Varus detonates Blight with an ability, that cast primes Spellblade for his next attack. The extra on-hit reapplies Blighted Quiver's (2nd) magic damage and another Blight stack; when Nashor's Tooth is also chosen, it repeats Gnaw too, giving the two situational items strong synergy.
Attack speed lets Varus rebuild three Blight stacks after each detonation, while Gnaw adds ability-power-scaled damage to those same attacks. Dusk and Dawn can apply Gnaw a second time and add another Blight stack on its empowered hit, so pair them when leaning into the AP on-hit option.
Attack Speed rebuilds Varus's Blight stacks and adds magic on-hit damage between detonations. Magic Resistance and Tenacity help Varus keep attacking through enemy magic damage and crowd control.
Boot swap against heavy physical damage, when surviving long enough to stack blight matters more than stacking faster.
Build this when one stun or root ends his fights. He has no dash of any kind.
RUNES
KEYSTONE
Ramping attack speed is the whole plan, since every extra attack is another blight stack for his abilities to detonate.
PRIMARY
His abilities are what detonate blight, so amplifying them raises the payoff of every stack.
The bonus damage applies while the target is above 60 percent health, which is where every fight he commits to begins.
More attack speed is faster blight stacking, which is the tempo his damage runs on.
SECONDARY
He has no dash, so every engage reaches him, and this makes the opening rotation survivable.
SITUATIONAL RUNES
Take this over Cut Down against squishy teams, since a full detonation already leaves them low.
SUMMONER SPELLS
MAIN SPELLS
Flash
Must take. He has no dash and Piercing Arrow (1st) slows him while he charges it, so Flash is his emergency reposition when a diver closes the gap.
Ghost
He has no dash and has to stand in attack range to deal damage, so this is what closes that gap and what gets him back out when the fight turns.
SITUATIONAL SPELLS
Cleanse
Take this over Ghost against removable roots and stuns. Varus can move while charging Piercing Arrow (1st), although he is slowed by 20%; cast-inhibiting crowd control can interrupt the channel before he fires.
SKILL ORDER
Skill Priority Order
- 12nd Ability
W - 21st Ability
Q - 33rd Ability
E
Varus Dragon Lane Wild Rift matchups and counters
Wild Rift matchup guide for Varus Dragon Lane, covering favorable lanes and difficult counters to prepare for in ranked, plus the duo partners that pair best with this pick.
Good Matchups
These champions are favorable matchups for this pick in Wild Rift. You have advantages against them and can play more aggressively.
Tristana
Tristana has to jump onto you to threaten anything, and landing next to a marksman holding a root is how that ends. Before she has items your sustained damage wins the straight trade.
Jinx
Neither of you can walk away from a trade, which favours the one whose damage ramps with attack speed. Winning those extended trades denies the farm her scaling needs.
Twitch
Twitch is no threat early and depends on farm you can contest by winning every trade he takes. His only early danger is the stealth flank, and he only wins if he reaches the late game.
Varus Counters
These champions counter this pick in Wild Rift and can be difficult matchups. Learn how to play against them or consider banning them.
Jhin
He punishes you from a range you have to walk into to deal damage, and his root lands on a frame that cannot dodge it. Survive to your attack speed items and the fight flips, and your chaining ultimate out-values his single shots when teams group.
Miss Fortune
Her burst trades faster than you can stack blight, and her strut (2nd) keeps the spacing you need to close to attack range. She punishes your immobile frame until your items even it out.
Caitlyn
Caitlyn's basic-attack range and Yordle Snap Traps (2nd) control the ground Varus needs to charge Piercing Arrow (1st), while 90 Caliber Net (3rd) preserves her distance if he approaches. Farm with Arrow (1st) from outside Headshot (Passive) range, avoid channeling beside traps, and save Chain of Corruption (Ult) for grouped fights where its spread can out-value her single-target siege.
Synergies
The Dragon lane is a 2v2, so your support matters as much as the matchup. These supports bring out the best in this pick: duo with one of them or draft toward the pairing.
Karma
Her shield and the movement speed are what get an immobile marksman into attack range and keep him there. She covers the approach his kit has no answer for.
Lux
Chain of Corruption (Ult) into her root, or hers into yours, holds a target still long enough to stack blight and detonate it. Her shield covers the escape he does not have.
Milio
His campfire extends the attack range an on-hit marksman has to live inside, and heals him while he stands in it. His ultimate cleanses the root or stun that would otherwise end an immobile carry's fight before it starts.
Varus Dragon Lane Wild Rift game strategy and teamfighting guide
Wild Rift game strategy for Varus Dragon Lane, from early lane control through mid and late game map play to final teamfights.