Solarbacca, the name that resonates with Gangplank mastery, has finally released his highly anticipated Season 14 Gangplank Build Guide. After numerous requests for an in-depth item and rune guide, Solarbacca has delivered just that.
Recently, he showcased his skill on EUW with 90 ping, having an impressive 67% win rate and reaching Masters with 244 LP.
Now, let’s talk about the build and runes that have made him a Gangplank god. Without further ado, let’s jump right into Solarbacca’s Gangplank Build and Runes Guide for Season 14.
Solarbacca Gangplank Build
Starting Items
- Long Sword Start: For experienced Gangplank players, starting with a Long Sword into Refillable Potion is optimal. This saves gold for a quick transition into Trinity Force. It’s suitable if you’re running Fleet Footwork or Grasp of the Undying, but not recommended for first-timers.
- Doran’s Blade: Choose Doran’s Blade if you expect to fight in lane, such as against champions like Vladimir, Yasuo, Yone, or Fiora. It offers extra health, 10 AD, and lifesteal for sustain. If you’re running First Strike, Doran’s Blade gives you three haste right from the start.
- Doran’s Shield: Opt for Doran’s Shield if you’re facing tough matchups like Rumble, Akshan, or Vayne. However, consider dodging the game if you feel forced to take Doran’s Shield, as going even is not ideal for Gangplank. You want to be able to carry a lead.
Core Build
- Main Build: The primary build consists of Trinity Force followed by Lucidity Boots. Always choose Lucidity Boots for the ability haste, as they are the best boots for Gangplank. Trinity Force provides both attack speed and movement speed, making it the top choice.
- Item Progression:
- Trinity Force
- Lucidity Boots
- Infinity Edge (second item)
- Collector or Mortal Reminder (third item)
- Immortal Shieldbow (fourth item)
The recent buff makes Shieldbow feel amazing, and it’s recommended as a fourth item. It scales well, providing a 600-630 health shield. It’s comparable to or even better than Maw of Malmortius in terms of shield value.
Choosing Between Collector and Mortal Reminder:
- Go for Collector if you’re ahead and the enemy team is squishy.
- Opt for Mortal Reminder if the enemy team has multiple tanky champions. Gangplank’s barrels already provide armor penetration, so the 5% extra armor pen from Lord Dominik’s Regards (LDR) is not as effective. Additionally, LDR no longer has the Giant Slayer passive, making Mortal Reminder the better choice for healing reduction.
Late Game and Situational Items
- Serpent’s Fang: Build Serpent’s Fang as a second item if facing shield-heavy compositions with champions like Ivern, Lulu, or multiple enchanters.
- Bloodthirster: Against poke compositions, consider selling your boots for Bloodthirster to gain a significant health shield and sustain.
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade: Useful for mobility to move around the map and dodging abilities. It’s a great choice if you’re snowballing after purchasing Collector.
- Opportunity: Great item if you are snowballing hard as well after purchasing Collector. If you don’t have to dodge a lot of abilities, opt for Opportunity instead of Youmuus.
- Essence Reaver: Best used as a second item if you lack ability haste in your runes. It provides 70 AD, 25 ability haste, and 25% crit chance, making it a strong option for sustained damage output.
Full Squishy Team Gangplank Build
This should be your go-to build if you are against a squishy team. Lethality Gangplank is insanely strong right now if you can use it properly. This is one of Solarbacca’s favorite builds as it feels extremely good.
- Trinity Force
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
- Opportunity
- Collector
- Infinity Edge
Your barrels will deal 800-900 damage once you complete Opportunity. So with 3 items, you’ll guarantee 800-900 damage without relying on crit chance RNG.
Bruiser Gangplank Build
This build should only be used for fun, as there are better build options at the moment.
- Trinity Force
- Spear of Shojin
- Liandry’s Anguish
- Sterak’s Gage
- Horizon Focus (or other situational items)
Solarbacca AP Gangplank Build
- Main Build: Trinity Force into Malignance for ultimate haste and damage. Sorcerer’s Shoes to maximize the damage of your ultimate with the “Fire at Will” upgrade (~1.2k – 1.3k AOE ult damage at level 11).
- Further Items:
- Liandry’s Anguish: After Malignance you get Liandrys. You get more damage on your barrels, Q, and especially in your ulti.
- Axiom Arc: Provides additional haste and lethality. Ideal with the First Strike rune for increased Jack of Trades stats.
- Opportunity: Opportunity gives you an additional 8 lethality at this point, so you’ll have anywhere from 26-28 lethality just from 1 item alone.
- Serpent’s Fang: If you can’t buy Opportunity because the enemy team has a lot of shields, consider Serpents instead.
- Horizon Focus: If selling boots late game, it’s a great purchase for additional damage.
This build shines with setup champions on your team like Rell, Jarvan IV, Rakan, Nautilus, Zac, or Sejuani. It’s also a good option if your team is full of AD. Otherwise, this build is also for fun, only do it if you have the champions above.
Solarbacca Gangplank Runes Guide
For the Precision tree, PTA and Conqueror are no longer recommended for Gangplank.
Instead, Fleet Footwork and Absorb Life are suggested. Fleet Footwork helps maintain health, especially when building Trinity Force, which is important for 1v1s or surviving against champions like Riven or Darius.
Absorb Life is preferred for staying healthy, but if you have mana issues, you can consider taking Presence of Mind. Triumph and Alacrity are not recommended; instead, take Legend: Tenacity for 15 ability haste on all abilities except your ultimate.
Cut Down is suggested for most matchups to increase damage against low-health targets, while Last Stand is effective against champions like Darius, Yone, Yasuo, or Fiora when you’re likely to be at low health but still fighting back. Use Last Stand in these specific scenarios; otherwise, Cut Down is the default choice.
In the Sorcery tree, Transcendence provides 10 ability haste, adding up to 25 ability haste from runes, allowing you to skip Essence Reaver and go straight into Infinity Edge.
Gathering Storm is chosen over Mana Flow Band for better scaling with additional AD. An Attack Speed Shard is useful for early barrel placement and farming under tower before completing Trinity Force. Always take Adaptive and Flat Health shards to improve durability in lane, helping in completing core items like Sheen, Phage and Trinity Force efficiently.
Using these runes with a Long Sword start allows you to complete Trinity Force around the 9-minute mark, enabling a strong transition into Collector and Infinity Edge for a complete 1v9.
Conclusion
Solarbacca has released his Gangplank Build Guide for Season 14. The guide includes starting items such as Long Sword and Doran’s Blade.
The main build consists of Trinity Force followed by Lucidity Boots. Late-game and situational items include Serpent’s Fang, Bloodthirster, Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Opportunity, Collector, and Mortal Reminder. The recent buff makes Shieldbow feel amazing, and it’s recommended as a fourth item. Solarbacca also recommends going for Collector if you’re ahead and the enemy team is squishy.
