Jungling with Winter's Claw: Volibear's Strategies

Last time, I ran through Volibear's build in the jungle. This time, I will focus on Volibear’s Q, Rolling Thunder. Rolling Thunder is a character-displacing ability which has enormous potential in ganks and teamfights. It can also trip up new Volibear players who have not yet learned the basics. This article will showcase five fundamental plays to make and pitfalls to avoid, as well as one more advanced move to shake up your enemies.

1) First, always be aware of the direction that you are facing. Not only will this protect you against rogue Casseopeias, it will also help assure that you always flip your enemies in the direction you intend.

2) Using your Q in the jungle is ineffective because it does not do enough damage for its mana cost. For example, it costs 40 mana to deal 30 physical damage at level 1. It also ultimately slows you down because once you flip the monster you must reposition yourself to start attacking it again.

3) Even though your Q deals extra physical damage to towers, avoid using it when split-pushing because you will most likely need it to make a quick getaway. The cooldown is long enough that you will not be able to both use it to attack the tower and then again to evade your enemies.

4) Try not to use your Q to reach a gank, because if you use the speed boost too early, the flip will run out before you reach your enemy. Try to pop your Q at the last possible moment that will still ensure that you reach the enemy. This allows you to take advantage of as much of the speed boost as possible.

5) Practice Flashing to right next to your enemy and then hitting your E and Q. This way, you seize the element of surprise and startle your enemies while slowing their escape and flipping them toward your allies.

6) Finally, for a fancy move that will impress your allies and enemies alike, learn to Flash over the enemy’s front lines and flip the back-liners into your allies or your tower. Practice flashing while facing the squishier champions so that once you are amongst the enemy team you can flip them toward your team, not away from. Before you dive into the enemy team, however, make sure that you are tanky enough to survive the onslaught of damage.

Happy jungling!