Varus vs Heimerdinger
Hard matchup
Build vs Heimerdinger
The champion's reference build, for lack of enough games in this matchup
Recommended items for Varus: Experimental Hexplate, Dusk and Dawn, Riftmaker, Mercury's Treads, Statikk Shiv, Guinsoo's Rageblade, Nashor's Tooth, Zhonya's Hourglass.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Heimerdinger's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Gain Move Speed while near allied towers and turrets deployed by Heimerdinger.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1s | 11s | 11s | – |
| 6 | 1s | 11s | 11s | 1m40 |
| 9 | 1s | 10s | 11s | 1m40 |
| 11 | 1s | 9s | 11s | 1m25 |
| 16 | 1s | 7s | 11s | 1m10 |
| 18 | 1s | 7s | 11s | 1m10 |
Playing as Varus
Tips to maximize your impact
- Apply Blight, then a spell
Apply Blight with your autos through Blighted Quiver (W), then detonate it with a spell: each stack deals damage based on max health and, on a champion, lowers your cooldowns.
- Fire early at close range
Against a close target, fire Piercing Arrow (Q) without waiting for a full charge: charging adds damage, but it slows you in the meantime.
- Cut their healing with your hail
Cast Hail of Arrows (E) on enemies who are healing or charging at you: the desecrated ground slows them and applies Grievous Wounds.
- Target an enemy near their team
Cast Chain of Corruption (R) on a champion close to their allies: the corruption then spreads to nearby champions and roots them too.
Playing against Heimerdinger
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Destroy his turrets first
Take down his turrets before you trade, with your minions' help: each H-28 G Evolution Turret (Q) builds up charge over time, then fires a stronger shot.
- Dodge the center of his grenade
Get out of the center of CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E): that's where it stuns, and if it hits a champion, it fully charges his nearby turrets.
- All-in after his grenade
Start your all-in or gank after CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade (E): it's his only stun, it has an 11-second cooldown, and he has no dash.
- Pull him away from his turrets
Take your trades away from his turrets: they deactivate when he moves too far from them, and Hextech Affinity (passive) speeds him up near them.
- Back off from his giant turret
Stay out of his giant turret's range for its 8 seconds: placed with UPGRADE!!! (R), it slows, deals area damage and is immune to CC.
Other Varus matchups
Patch 16.21.1