Vayne is a tricky champion to master and an even tricker champion to start out with, simply due to her range being a bit of a hindrance in ARAM settings.
Vayne deals high amounts of quick damage, though if players are caught in the line of fire or are crowd controlled they will be subject to a great deal of pain if not death.
Night Hunter (Vayne’s passive) allows Vayne to move faster when moving towards enemies that are visible to her. Vayne will gain more movement speed if her ultimate is active, which we will cover later.
Tumble (Q) allows Vayne to dash forward, dealing bonus physical damage against enemies (including minions and turrets) and resetting Vayne’s basic attack time.
Silver Bolt (W) is a passive ability that will place rings/stacks onto enemies, similar to Hyper (Gnar’s W), though Silver Bolt stacks can only be on a single enemy at a time. If players damage another enemy after the first Silver Bolt stack is placed, the passive will reset.
If players are successful at placing three stacks of Silver Bolt on an enemy champion, the third attack will deal true damage to enemies.
Condemn (E) can be used to push enemies back, applying a stack of Silver Bolt (W). If enemies are pushed into a wall they will become stunned for 1.5-seconds.
Final Hour (R) gives Vayne an increase in movement speed, damage, and allows Vayne to become invisible when she uses Tumble (Q).
As an added benefit, if players secure a takedown while Final Hour (R) is active, players will receive 4 extra seconds of duration. That being said, Final Hour (R) also reduces the cooldown of Tumble (Q) and although players will become invisible whenever they Tumble (Q) if players use Condemn (E) or damage an enemy, they will be revealed immediately.
Final Hour (R) is by far the scariest part of Vayne’s build as it effectively makes her disappear in team fights, only to resurface and blast down enemy champions.
QUICK RUNDOWN:
SUMMONER SPELLS: Flash, Heal
RUNES: Press the Attack, Triumph, Alacrity, Coup de Grace // Ravenous Hunter, Taste of Blood
ABILITY POWER UP: Q, W, E
FIRST BUY: Vampiric Scepter and Boots of Speed
BUILD ORDER: Blade of the Ruined King, Berserker’s Greaves, Statikk Shiv, Infinity Edge, Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Phantom Dancer
COMBOS: Vayne’s combo is fairly straight forward as she is a typical auto-attack Marksman who doesn’t have much to do but chase champions.
Players should try to basic attack, use Condemn (E) to stun enemies, then finish off with Tumble (Q) which gives Vayne’s next basic attack more damage in tandem with the final stack of Silver Bolt (W).
Players should always try to stack Tumble (Q) with the final stack of Silver Bullet (W) as it will deal the most damage.
SUMMONER SPELLS FOR VAYNE IN ARAM
FLASH
Being the slick champion that she is, Vayne only benefits tremendously from having Flash on her kit, whether it’s to Flash into battle only to use Condemn (E) to push enemies back into a wall, or to Flash away from battle, because she’s taking too much of a beating.
Flash is a typical summoner spell to take on any champions in ARAM, though it’s not often that you will use such a high damage dealer who makes use of Flash in both ways.
Many players actually recommend using Flash to get closer to the enemy team’s side in order to push enemies towards allies, helping secure takedowns. While pushing enemies towards teammates is a really good idea, I would recommend having your Final Hour (R) active in order to have extra protection as Vayne may otherwise have difficulty escaping.
HEAL
Heal is a typical summoner spell to take on Vayne simply due to the fact that Vayne doesn’t have much health and should focus on building attack speed instead of general health or life steal.
Heal will both provide players with some extra health as well as movement speed that will either help Vayne escape from battle or help launch her into battle while she’s sustained.
The one thing I would be wary about when selecting Heal as your summoner spell is the fact that it provides players with diminishing returns if multiple allies activate heal within a short time frame.
If players notice that their teammates all have Heal or want to be extra aggressive I recommend taking Exhaust or Ignite as Vayne players will be playing close enough to enemies due to her short-range.
I have more of an affinity to Exhaust as Vayne’s damage is already high enough and will often secure takedowns on its own without the fear of enemies escaping with minimal health.
RUNE TREES FOR VAYNE IN ARAM
DAMAGE HEAVY RUNES FOR VAYNE (PRECISION DOMINATION)
Vayne really only has one rune build that players will want to follow in order to maximize their damage in ARAM.
Players will want to stick to a typical Marksmen build, much like Kindred, Xayah, Tristana, Sivir, Ashe, Varus, Caitlyn, and Jhin, though players do have all options open for keystone runes with Vayne, other than Conqueror.
Unfortunately, Conquerer just isn’t as good for Vayne as any of the other keystone runes, making it more of a hindrance than anything.
The following is the most effective rune build I have found on Vayne.
DAMAGE HEAVY/BURST RUNES FOR VAYNE (PRECISION/DOMINATION)
PRESS THE ATTACK
Basic attacks against enemy champions will apply stacks for a maximum of 4 seconds on a single target, if players switch targets they will have to restart the stacks.
Upon stacking Press the Attack three times, players will consume the stacks, dealing 40-180 bonus damage and exposing them for 6 seconds causing them to take increased damage from all subsequent sources by 8-12% based on level.
The most awesome thing about Press the Attack is the fact that it has an extremely short cooldown, coming in at 6 seconds, making it perfect to use when in tandem with Silver Bolt (W) stacks.
TRIUMPH
Triumph is one of the most powerful runes that players can take while playing ARAM, especially if your team gets a number of kills in a row.
Players will receive 6% of missing health as well as 10 Gold every time they participate in a champion takedown. Players will experience a 1-second delay before they get their health from securing a takedown.
Triumph is one of the best ways players can keep their health up when playing a Marksman, especially if players aren’t hoping on building (m)any Life Steal items or aren’t taking Fleet Footwork as their keystone rune.
Triumph lets me focus on what’s most important to me… damage!
ALACRITY
Alacrity provides players with 3% (+ 1.5% per Legend stack) bonus Attack Speed, up to 18% when players have 10 stacks.
Securing enough kills to receive the 18% Attack Speed can be game-changing, especially if players haven’t died and thus do not have a way to access the shop.
Alacrity won’t help carry you throughout the whole game, but it will make sure that you get a few extra hits whenever you need it. Alacrity is perfect for those of you who need some extra help
COUP DE GRACE
The fourth Rune is definitely a personal choice, but I always like to choose Coup de Grace because it gives you 8% more damage to enemy champions below 40% health.
TASTE OF BLOOD (OR SUDDEN IMPACT)
Taste of Blood provides players with 18-35 (+20% bonus AD) health on enemy hits every 15 seconds.
Taste of Blood can be especially useful when players are against another Marksman or when trying to help shred down a tank.
Players can also take Sudden Impact if they hope to deal more damage and do not need any extra healing.
RAVENOUS HUNTER
Abilities Heal for 1.5% of damage + 2.5% per every champion takedown for a maximum of 5 stacks. Healing is reduced to 1/3 on AoE damage.
While Ravenous Hunter won’t do a great deal of healing, it’s never a bad idea to round out your damage with some extra healing.
Kindred is fairly ability heavy for a Marksman, so they will benefit from Ravenous Hunter much more than a typical Tristana or Jinx.
Ravenous Hunter is kind of like another form of Triumph, in regards to the fact that Ravenous Hunter luckily gives players a healthy portion of health without having to do anything special to do other than use abilities.
SKILL LEVEL UP RECOMMENDATIONS & TIPS ON HOW TO PLAY VAYNE IN ARAM
TUMBLE (Q)
Every 4 / 3.5 / 3 / 2.5 / 2 seconds players will be able to dash forward and deal 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80% AD as bonus physical damage and resets Vayne’s basic attack timer.
Tumble should be used on the third stack of Silver Bolts (W) as Vayne players will deal more damage and ensure that they get the third stack of Silver Bolts on quick champions.
Players can also use Tumble to get closer to enemy champions or to escape from team fights or sticky situations. The prior, getting closer to enemy champions, is a much better use of Tumble, though the reality is that Tumble is so easily accessible that players should have a chance to get it off regularly without the fear of missing out.
The only thing to caution when it comes to overusing Tumble is that it costs 30 mana which can quickly drain Vayne, though truth be told… Tumble is the ability I use the most as Condemn (E) is very situational.
Tumble should always be the first ability players power up when playing Vayne.
SILVER BOLTS (W)
Both Vayne’s basic attacks and Condemn (E) will apply a stack of Silver Bolts for 3.5 seconds.
If players manage to get 3 stacks of Silver Bolts on a single target stacks will be consumed and players will deal a minimum of 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 true damage.
Minimum? Why a minimum amount of damage? Well, that’s because Vayne will actually deal 4 / 6.5 / 9 / 11.5 / 14% of the target’s maximum health meaning that Vayne is a phenomenal tank shredder.
It should be noted that unlike Hyper (Gnar’s W), players can only put stacks of Silver Bolts on one target, thus should focus on a single target when poking instead of switching between targets.
Since Silver Bolts deals such well-scaling damage, players should always power it up second. Enjoy that extra true damage, especially against them husky tanks.
If you’re able to land Silver Bolts on enemies regularly I would recommend powering up Silver Bolts first, as you would in Summoner’s Rift, but since it can be difficult to burst down a single champion in the early game of ARAM, the cooldown reduction you get from Tumble (Q) may be better.
CONDEMN (E)
Every 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 seconds players can fire a bolt that deals 50 / 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 (+50% bonus AD), knocking them back and applying a stack of Silver Bolts (W).
If players manage to knock the target back into one of the walls of the Howling Abyss, they will both stun the enemy and deal 75 / 127.5 / 180 / 232.5 / 285 (+75% bonus AD) bonus physical damage.
As easy as it is to say “make sure you always shove enemy champions back when using Condemn (E)” the Howling Abyss’ lane is wider than Summoner’s Rift, making it that much more difficult to properly nail enemies down.
Condemn is a phenomenal ability for shredding enemy champions, similar to Silver Bolts (W), and it has a “bursty Mage” vibe to it.
Players will want to be careful about using Condemn too often due to its 90 mana cost.
Players should also be cautious when using Condemn as I see many players save enemies by using it to push said enemies off of them. While pushing enemy champions off of you can be a tactic for safety, make sure that you do not push off enemies if they can be jumped on and taken down by allies.
Although Condemn deals a great deal of damage, I would highly recommend powering it up last as it has quite a long cooldown and is a bit trickier to use.
FINAL HOUR (R)
Every 100 / 85 / 70 seconds Vayne players can activate Final hour that provides players with 25 / 40 / 55 bonus attack damage and tripling the movement speed bonus from Night Hunter’s (passive).
Players will also receive a cooldown on Tumble (Q) by 30 / 40 / 50% and if players use Tumble (Q) they will gain Invisibility for 1 second.
If players use a basic attack or cast Condemn when invisible, they will reveal themselves once more.
Final Hour lasts for 8 / 10 / 12 seconds however players can extend the length of Final Hour by 4 seconds if they kill an enemy champion within 3 seconds.
Final Hour cannot be extended further than its maximum duration, though can effectively be triggered multiple times by bursting down squishes.
Final Hour costs players 80 mana, which is a bit shocking to me, simply being that Vayne is an auto-attack champ, though really, that’s not a bad tradeoff for an increase in damage.
Final Hour is most beneficial for the invisibility it provides players, so make sure not to waste it whenever you have the chance to use it.
GEAR BUILD FOR VAYNE
BLADE OF THE RUINED KING
Giving players 40 Attack Damage, 25% Attack Speed and 12% Life Steal.
The most enticing thing about Blade of the Ruined King is that basic attacks deal 8% of the target’s current health as bonus physical damage. This makes shredding tanks fairly easy, while still giving you the same effect on lower health champions. The minimum bonus physical damage players will deal is 15 AD.
As an active, players will deal 100 magic damage to the target champion, causing them to move 25% slower for 3 seconds.
Blade of the Ruined King is really powerful when it comes to shredding tanks or enemies with a large health pool.
BERSERKER’S GREAVES
Attack speed for a Marksman? Sounds about right.
STATIKK SHIV
Providing players with 40% attack speed, 25% critical strike chance, 5% movement speed.
As a passive, players will deal 120 bonus magic damage to 7 targets once Statikk Shiv is energized.
Statikk Shiv will help extend Vayne’s range and will be important to stack Silver Bolts (W) quickly and efficiently.
INFINITY EDGE
Infinity Edge deals 80 Attack Damage, 25% Critical Strike Chance and also deals 25% critical damage.
More damage, more power. Infinity Edge is going to be the piece of gear that sets you apart from the other team.
Due to the extremely high damage that comes from Infinity Edge, players will not need to build any other high damage items and can begin focussing on attack speed to help support Vayne’sSilver Bolts (W) stacks.
GUINSOO’S RAGEBLADE
25 Ability Power, 25 Attack Damage, and 25% Attack Speed.
As a unique, Guinsoo’s Rageblade provides players with both 15% armour penetration and 15% magic penetration.
Players will also receive 8% bonus attack speed per attack speed up to a maximum of 48% attack speed which will decay after 5 seconds.
Upon reaching 48% attack speed, players will activate Guinsoo’s Rage which causes every third basic attack to deal a bit more damage.
PHANTOM DANCER
Providing players with 30% attack speed, 25% critical strike chance, 5% movement speed as well as providing players with ghost as well as 7% bonus movement speed for 2 seconds.
As a unique passive, players will receive a shield that absorbs 240-600 (based on level) damage decaying over 2 seconds every 90 seconds when the player’s maximum health is below 30%.
Honestly, Phantom Dancer is just a nice piece of gear to have on any quick Marksman!
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