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Sovereignty
Reinforced Greaves (Deleted)
Hide of the Nemean Lion
Ethereal Staff
Spiked Shell
Cloak of Meditation
Bracer of Replenishment
Divine Ruin
Hide of Leviathan
Soul Eater
Breastplate of Valor
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B
A
X
S1D3FX here dropping some knowledge on one of my favorite Gods,
. I fell in love with this guy when I went on a 9+ game win streak by only focusing on being a tanky support. I think that's where he shines. While looking through this guide, keep in mind that it is just that. A guide.
Now, without further ado, let's jump into it.
Fortified Defense:+ 15 to protections makes Guan Yu deceptively more tanky when fighting under his tower. If the enemy dives your tower to kill you, that +15 just might be enough to save you. Conversely, it gives him a bit of a boost to soak up a little more damage under an enemy tower while on the offensive.
Tranquil Gift:No, it's not the BEST heal in the game. No it doesn't have the BEST magical power scaling. That being said, it's still worth shaking a stick at (or Green Dragon Crescent Blade for that matter). The fact it's an AOE heal that heals not only you and your allied champions but your minions too. Comes in handy for pushing towers. Try to save it for when one of your allies are in range to benefit from the 2 second CDR for all your other abilities.
Warrior's Will:This works perfectly with his kit. It gives you a much needed mobility ability, provides movement THROUGH enemies, applies a decent slow to all within the AOE, and if an enemy champion is hit, all other spells CD's are lowered. Note: Only the damage increases with level. The slow % and duration are not effected and remain constant at 20% for 2 seconds ranks 1 through 5.
Taolu Assault:Keep in mind it takes about 1.2 seconds to reach the max buff/debuff, and thats assuming you dont miss a tick. Protection from knockback is nice, but note: you're NOT immune to stuns/silences/freezes. If you know you're going against someone with good CC, try to wait for them to burn their abilities before using this. Also, Taolu Assault can be used to push or freeze a lane if needed due to each tick against a minion pushing that minion back slightly just as if you had auto attacked them.
Tactician's Advantage:Great all around and has multiple uses. The only real downside to his ult is, to reach it's full potential, you have to land 3 consecutive hits while your opponent (if s/he is not a graduate from Herp Derp High) is trying to dodge them. In other words, it's not a fire and forget ultimate. Even after a 2 hit combo you've at least prevented your enemy from being able to use any type of escape ability. Looking at you 
Neith. Knowing your opponents escape abilities is crucial to landing all 3 strikes. If you pop this before Neith uses backflip well... you basically just wasted your ult.
Keep in mind: This build fits MY playstyle. |
I love this item. I dream about this item. I get morning wood when I dream about this item. It's almost better than Tapatio hot sauce. So hungry...Anyway, it gives a hefty chunk of HP which feeds into the Ethereal Staff perfectly (we'll talk more about this later)and it passively gives your allies +20 protections! This is my play style manifested in an item. I get it every game. No questions.
To be honest with you, for a tanky support boots are just boots. If you want to take 5% less damage, then pick up 
Plated Greaves. For about 50 gold more you lose your reduction of CC & out-of-combat movement speed buff and in turn get -5% all damage. Another one of those preference things.
Another source of HPto feed into the Ethereal Staff, a friggin BOAT load of physical resistance and the best part, the dmg reflection. 30% is a lot and they WILL feel it. Works well against high attack speed enemies. This item does cater more toward a heavy physical enemy team and for this reason it CAN be substituted with any of the items from purchase list #2.
Another staple of almost all my games. Ready for math class? So 
Guan Yu's base HP at level 20 is 2066 (470 @ level 1 +84 per level). Through the 4 core items you receive another 1250 bringing your level 20 HP with only these 4 items to 3316. Keep in mind once you have a full 6 item build, it may easily be higher. So this staff converts 2% max HP to magic power: 3316 x 0.02 = 66. That's in addition to the 30 already provided in the base stats of the item. So you can see, this staff in this build gives...
Team not dying? Not worried about protections and HP pool? Pick this up to help keep you AND your team in lane longer.
While this doesn't fit in this build as well as some of the other items, it is very useful in situations where your enemy has a lot of sustain and/or healer (
Aphrodite) Give you a slight boost to mana pool and all your abilities will benefit from the magical lifesteal.
Main reason for this being optional is for the CC reduction. If you decide to go with different boots than I have listed, I would strongly suggest picking up this item.
Have an AD heavy team? Pick this up to give them a little boost and give your auto attacks a little lifesteal. If nothing else, the +300 HP synergizes well with Ethereal Staff.
Having issues with mana? Cooldowns just too long? Give this a try. Once you learn to use his abilities at optimal times to benefit from the 2 second CD reduction, you shouldn't have too many issues with CD.
Awesome answer to 
Polynomicon. The base magic protection lowers their ability dmg output then the proc magic protection boost reduces the damage from Polynomicon.
Highest magic protection item currently in game. MP/5 allows you to spam more abilities and HP/5 gives you more lane sustain. All around great item for magic heavy teams. The passive 2% HP regen is sick. Another item that works great with stacking HP ( Ethereal Staff )
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[*] Higher damage output than other tanks/supports. [*] Great TEAM sustain with AOE heal [*] Good initiation with gap closer Warrior's Will[*] Can punish enemies who only focus the carry [*] Passive allows for good defensive plays near ally towers at the same time allowing for dive plays on enemy towers |
[*] No true CC [*] Ult takes some practice to get full benefit [*] Mana hungry early on [*] Jack of all trades-Master of none [*] The way I play him, he is item dependent |
My typical initiation combo looks something like: 3->2->1->4. This lowers your enemies' protections, gives them a target to focus their abilities on, and once they blow their damaging abilities on you (you're designed to soak up the damage) your allies can go all out without as much fear for repercussion since enemy abilities will be on CD. Unfortunately, the major downside to playing how I do is you rely HEAVILY on your team. You need to be on the same page or it just wont work. However, a lot of this can be alleviated by you just by knowing the other gods mechanics and play-style. Below are some of my suggestions on how to play and some of my techniques.
Below are a few of my tactics and suggestions on gameplay. A lot of this may seem like common sense but unfortunately, common sense is not so common...
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"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War -- Chapter 3 Know your limits. Until you become very comfortable with Guan Yu, don't take dumb chances. Don't initiate unless you're fairly certain you can win the fight, or at least win the exchange. It's much better to play safe than try to make something happen and fail. Knowing YOUR limits is only half the battle; you must also have an understanding of what your enemy is capable of. This will come with experience and a lot of reading. |
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"The aware do not die; The unaware are as though dead already." Anonymous, The Dhammapada In general, don't initiate when your team is low on HP and/or mana. You're just setting your team up for failure by doing this. I try to keep an eye on my lane partners HP/MP as well as the enemy HP/MP and try to pick the most opportune time to initiate. Understand it's your responsibility to have high situational awareness. The carry needs to focus on getting fed through farm and kills, it will help them immensely if they have confidence in you to keep track of all the other potential hazards (i.e. ganks, MIAs). The mini map and wards are your friend. |
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"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw Communication is HUGE. Let your team know when your ult is up, when it's down, when you're going back to base, when the enemy has gone back to base etc. Basically ANYTHING of significance. Whether or not your team heeds your words, well... that's up to them. Just focus on doing your part and your team will thank you. There is no such thing as too much tactical communication. |
Well, there you have it. That's how I play Guan Yu, and it's brought me a lot of success.
Hope this guide helps. Thanks for checking it out and please feel free to leave constructive feedback.
-S1D3FX
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You seem to enjoy a more support-y role of Guan Yu, which would explain why you have Soul Eater (stares at UnknownPandr).
I see a big problem here. You give us information on just his skills and the items, and while you give good insight on why you choose the items you have picked and your thoughts on the skills, you give no real info that would help a new player.
I would recommend giving a section on game play, and really go into detail about how you play Guan Yu and give some tips for playing him. Aside from that, all I see is what I already know. You mention that this is just a guide, but it's more of a study guide at the moment.
I love that picture, though. I know you can add a lot more info and make a good guide, so I'll be checking up.
Hey thanks for the feedback man. Makes sense, so I've added a "Gameplay" chapter. Check it out if you like!
And you're right, I totally rock Guan Yu as support tank. My fav play-style by far
Ummm, why is
Thanks for the question!
Well, I have it listed under the optional/fill section of the item build because it's...well...optional! It has it's uses on
Obviously, if it's not going to benefit more than one or two Gods, I wouldn't invest in it.
Hope this helps!
I see a big problem here. You give us information on just his skills and the items, and while you give good insight on why you choose the items you have picked and your thoughts on the skills, you give no real info that would help a new player.
I would recommend giving a section on gameplay, and really go into detail about how you play Guan Yu and give some tips for playing him. Aside from that, all I see is what I already know. You mention that this is just a guide, but it's more of a study guide at the moment.
I love that picture, though. I know you can add a lot more info and make a good guide, so I'll be checking up.
its a good build just add items for when u face a more magical team
Updated with "Vs. Magic Heavy Team"