Vulcan

Vulcan Guide

Optimal laning phase strategies and how to maximize Vulcan’s potential in the early game.As Vulcan, focus on clearing waves efficiently by using your 1, Backfire, and 2, Inferno Cannon. Level up 1 first, maxing it by level 8. Your passive, Forge Fire, gives you extra MP5 (mana per 5 seconds) when near structures, so stay near your tower until level 5-6. Poke the enemy with 1 whenever possible, especially if they step up to clear. Save your 3, Magma Bomb, for peel or securing kills. Don’t hesitate to use your ult, Volcanic Overdrive, to secure an early kill, the cooldown isn’t too long.

The best positions to pick for Vulcan and how to adapt to various team compositions.Vulcan excels in mid and as an aggressive support. In mid, build damage and clear waves fast to get pressure and rotate. As support, build hybrid damage/defense and poke the enemy ADC out of lane. Vulcan pairs well with aggressive ADCs like Anhur or AMC who can capitalize on your poke. For team comps, pick Vulcan when your team lacks zoning, objective secure or lane push. His AOE abilities and turret are great for controlling space, securing FG/GF and sieging towers.

Tips and tricks for utilizing Vulcan’s abilities in various situations, including team fights and objective control.In teamfights, place your turret in a spot that covers your ADC/mage, then poke with 1 and slow groups of enemies with 3. Throw 2 at approaching melee enemies, forcing them into your team, and/or to peel for your backline. To secure objectives, place your turret in the objective’s firing range. Its attacks and constant fire slow makes stealing difficult. As soon as it spawns/respawns, use your 1-2 to burst it down quickly. Your passive gives you tankiness to survive the damage.

Their role in the game and how they should interact with the team.Vulcan is a damage/utility mage. Early on, focus on farming and controlling your lane. Rotate and gank when you have pressure. In teamfights, stay behind your frontline and deal AOE damage to the enemy backline while peeling for your damage dealers with turret/2/3. Late game, group up and use your ult to burst/secure objectives or in final pushes to wipe towers and end. Communicate with your support to get wards for objectives and your jungle to gank when you have opponents out of position.

Casting abilities at the optimal time is key to dominating with Vulcan. His abilities combo well, so chaining them effectively will yield the most success. Inferno cannon into magma bomb is a great combination, as the knock up from Inferno cannon allows for an easy magma bomb hit, dealing massive damage. Placing a turret and then using Backfire to knock enemies into its range will allow the turret to continuously attack them while they are slowed. Be careful when placing turrets in team fights, as they can be destroyed easily if placed improperly. Utilizing voltaraic overdrive at the right time will decimate enemies, so wait until multiple enemies are grouped up or caught out of position to use your ultimate to its full potential.

Constantly clear waves and look to poke out your opponent in lane. Rotate and gank when you have pushed your wave into the enemy tower. Help your jungler secure mid camps and contest the fire giant and gold fury when they spawn. Late game, group with your team and siege towers. Look to zone enemies from objectives and deal massive damage in team fights. Carefully manage your abilities, using them to control enemies instead of dumping everything at once. With practice, Vulcan can overwhelm opponents and carry teams to victory through smart ability use and objective control.

Communicate with your team and call out when your abilities are on cooldown so they know when you are unable to follow up. Also call for ganks when you have opponents pushed and poked out so you can secure early kills. Build damage and cooldown reduction to have your abilities up as much as possible. A typical build would be: Shoes of the Magi, Spear of the Magus, Chronos Pendant, Rod of Tahuti, Soul Reaver, Spear of Desolation. This provides a mix of damage, penetration and cooldown reduction for maximal effectiveness. With this guide, you will be knocking up, slowing and decimating your opponents with Vulcan in no time.