by DandyGuy

[2.5a] Brand Guide - %Health magic damage hurts a lot

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Perfectionist
I will be writing support/ADC matchups and more laning tips in the future, so do keep an eye out for updates. Just remember, it's not arson if no one lives to see the ashes.
Patch 2.5a
December 18, 2021 07:47
Mid

%Health magic damage hurts a lot

The proper way to build both Brand support and Brand in the mid lane, along with tips to play him. I mainly made this guide to spread the word of "stop building Luden's Echo on Brand."

Pros

  • One of the hardest scaling mages in the game
  • The absolute best tank shredding mage in the game
  • Flexible as a mid laner and support
  • The best team fighting mage in the game with ult
  • The best mage in the game for taking epic monsters

Cons

  • The squishiest mage in the game stat-growth wise
  • Reliant on Pillar of Flame and hitting 3 abilities for damage at all stages
  • No safety tools besides ult slow and sear's stun
  • Absolutely no mobility tools whatsoever

Brand Build

Best Build Guide for Brand

Mages like to read
Amplifying Tome
Mid-lane and independent
Liandry's Torment
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Archangel's Staff
Rabadon's Deathcap
Void Staff
Support if you're into that
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Liandry's Torment
Archangel's Staff
Rabadon's Deathcap
Void Staff

Item Build Description

Additional information on the items

You are, in fact, a mage and mages like to read. You didn't think all mages started Amplifying TomeAmplifying Tome because they have to? No way.


Stop building Luden's Echo you nerds

There is nothing that upsets me more than being in my Grandmaster games and STILL seeing BrandBrand players either rush Luden's EchoLuden's Echo or build it second item. For starters, your wave clear, if you know how to do it right which is talked about later, does NOT need the additional boost that you get from Luden's passive. Secondly, the mana that you get from this item isn't enough on its own to fully solve Brand's mana issues in the long term. The Lost ChapterLost Chapter will help a lot in lane, for sure, but 300 mana goes by quick when you're constantly slinging abilities later on. The correct way to build BrandBrand , regardless if you're playing support or mid, is to get back to base when you have 900 gold, buy a Tear of the GoddessTear of the Goddess , then continue as usual. The Seraph's EmbraceSeraph's Embrace not only gives you a ton of mana, but will also take advantage of BrandBrand 's mana growth for even more ability power. Plus, the extra ability haste AND the lifeline shield is invaluable at all stages of the game. As for the build itself, you do %health damage over time (DOT), so Liandry's TormentLiandry's Torment is a must-buy for this champion. If you're going Liandry's TormentLiandry's Torment , you might as well also build Rylai's Crystal ScepterRylai's Crystal Scepter for the additional slows AND guaranteeing the additional damage from Liandry's passive. Once you have Liandry's and Rylai's, you then want to finish your tear into an Archangel's StaffArchangel's Staff . You won't be able to sling abilities fast/often enough to finish the tear quick enough to warrant building Archangel's 1st or 2nd, so finish it after you have the core items done. This is very important to hit the INSANE power spike that is when you have Liandry's and Rylai's finished. The health they both give you also help to alleviate BrandBrand 's squishiness as well! The Rabadon's DeathcapRabadon's Deathcap and Void StaffVoid Staff are just the icing and toppings on the cake to make sure no one gets away without 3rd degree burns.

The only thing in terms of build path that you change when playing support is that you still want the Tear of the GoddessTear of the Goddess , only you go Rylai's Crystal ScepterRylai's Crystal Scepter first instead of Liandry's TormentLiandry's Torment so you have good utility early through big area of effect (AOE) slows. You can also go MorellonomiconMorellonomicon instead of Void staff or Deathcap to beat the healer/enchanters with a stick if you need to.

Brand Runes

Best Runes for Brand

Keystone
Summon Aery
Summon Aery
Domination
Brutal
Brutal
Resolve
Second Wind
Second Wind
Inspiration
Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth

The runes listed here are the ones I recommend as the best to take for both BrandBrand in mid lane and as a support. Summon AerySummon Aery is the best rune to take as it helps with your poke, allowing your stray Conflagrations that hit do more damage. You won't need any other sources of damage outside of lane, and none of the other keystones will help you much in lane.

Red

BrutalBrutal - Free stats are free stats and those free stats help you get through lane.

Gathering StormGathering Storm - Helps you play to scale so you become that much more of a late game monster.

WeaknessWeakness - Can make your damage really hurt after you get Rylai's or when you land your stun, but useless otherwise.

Green

Bone PlatingBone Plating - Very nice defensive rune against champions that rely on blowing all their abilities on you at once, especially assassins. Can save your life against said champions late game.

Second WindSecond Wind - Your best friend for an easier lane. Gives you some sustain in lane as a champ that has no source of it for himself.

Hunter TitanHunter Titan - A great rune if you can get all 5 unique takedowns fast, but can be hard to get all 5 stacks.

Blue

PathfinderPathfinder - Makes your roams faster and getting around the map in general faster as well. Can be great if your rotations and roams are good.

Hunter GeniusHunter Genius - Same as the other hunter runes, great if you can swing it but hard to get working.

Sweet ToothSweet Tooth - A fantastic source of sustain in lane and free gold from all honeydew plants you come across.

Manaflow BandManaflow Band - Great source of mana in lane and can lead to more AP with your Seraph's EmbraceSeraph's Embrace , but can leave other parts of your stats a little lacking as a result.

Keystone
Font of Life
Font of Life
Domination
Weakness
Weakness
Resolve
Second Wind
Second Wind
Inspiration
Sweet Tooth
Sweet Tooth

An alternative rune page for support. WeaknessWeakness works fantastically since you'll be going for Rylai's Crystal ScepterRylai's Crystal Scepter as your first item, but BrutalBrutal can still work fine. Font of LifeFont of Life can provide plenty of healing since all you're building is health and ability power, both of the stats that scale with it. The Summon AerySummon Aery page still works fine for support, but this is a great alternative if you want one.

Skill Order

How to distribute skill points

Blaze
Blaze - Passive
Sear
Sear
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Pillar Of Flame
Pillar Of Flame
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Conflagration
Conflagration
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Pyroclasm
Pyroclasm
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Summoner Spells

When to take which summoners

Flash
I'm sure I don't need to explain why you should always be taking Flash.
Ignite
Nothing like additional true damage/heal reducing burning to accommodate your %health burn damage for securing kills in lane, eh?
Barrier
If you're fighting assassins and worried about dying, this can be your best friend.

Combos

Learn how to maximize the champions potential

Sear
1st
Conflagration
3rd
Pillar Of Flame
2nd
Auto Attack
AA
Auto Attack
AA

The reason you don't need Luden's EchoLuden's Echo

Start by hitting a melee minion with SearSear , then use ConflagrationConflagration on that same minion to spread BlazeBlaze to the entire wave, then finish by aiming Pillar Of FlamePillar Of Flame to hit all 4 of them, and bam. The entire wave is dead besides the cannon and the cannon just needs an auto attack or two to also go down. 

Conflagration
3rd
Sear
1st
Pillar Of Flame
2nd

Your best trading combo

In lane, this can half health the average laner if you can land the SearSear , as it guarantees that you land Pillar Of FlamePillar Of Flame and proc the explosion part of BlazeBlaze . The trickiest part is landing Sear since it can be blocked by minions.

Conflagration
3rd
Sear
1st
Pillar Of Flame
2nd
Ignite
Ignite
Pyroclasm
Ult

The "brutally murder someone and potentially their whole team" combo

If you ever catch someone in range of your ConflagrationConflagration , you can go for this combo quickly to potentially one-shot whoever you catch and if they go to their team, you can half health or more the rest of them.

Conflagration
3rd
Pyroclasm
Ult
Ignite
Ignite
Pillar Of Flame
2nd

How to burst someone down if hitting Sear is too difficult

The slow from hitting PyroclasmPyroclasm after they are burning from BlazeBlaze can give you a good opening to hit Pillar Of FlamePillar Of Flame and secure a kill. The ignite is just to make sure they go down. This combo is also one of the best against a large group of enemies in a teamfight.

Conflagration
3rd
Sear
1st
Flash
Flash
Pillar Of Flame
2nd
Ignite
Ignite

Surprise stun

This combo is a way to make SearSear very hard to react to, and can stun someone that isn't paying attention. The idea is that you start doing Sear, then before the projectile comes out, flash so it hits the enemy quickly, stunning them, and guaranteeing you land Pillar of Flame for a kill. This combo is especially invaluable for gank set ups and when you're playing support.

Blaze
Passive
Conflagration
3rd
Blaze
Passive
Conflagration
3rd
Blaze
Passive
Conflagration
3rd
Blaze
Passive
Conflagration
3rd
Blaze
Passive

IMPORTANT NOTE ON BRAND'S PASSIVE

You do not need to hit 3 abilities in quick succession to trigger the explosion part of BlazeBlaze , if they have a burn stack on them underneath their champion, you can hit them with any ability again to refresh the burn stacks AND get them one stack closer to the explosion! This helps a ton on URF since you, in theory, can just ConflagrationConflagration someone 3 times to make them explode.

Brand Matchups & Counters

Detailed information on how to play matchups and counters

Katarina
Easy
Katarina
Veigar
Easy
Veigar
Twisted Fate
Easy
Twisted Fate
Corki
Easy
Corki
Lux
Medium
Lux
Ahri
Medium
Ahri
Aurelion Sol
Medium
Aurelion Sol
Diana
Medium
Diana
Ziggs
Medium
Ziggs
Fizz
Hard
Fizz
Galio
Hard
Galio
Orianna
Hard
Orianna
Pantheon
Hard
Pantheon
Annie
Hard
Annie
Zed
Hard
Zed
Irelia
Skill
Irelia
Akali
Skill
Akali
Lucian
Skill
Lucian

She does have the tools other assassins have to get in on you, but she has to commit much harder when she chooses to and is much more vulnerable after she does. You can poke her out pretty effectively and can hold your own against her.

Brand

Laning/early game

It's pretty straight forward, regardless if you're support or mid lane; take whatever poke you can. If you're mid, focus more on farming since you scale very well, but don't be afraid to hit them if they give you opportunities to. If you're support, focus more on getting in damage when you can and constantly threatening them with your abilities. Don't just throw out abilities all willy-nilly, even after you get Tear of the GoddessTear of the Goddess , as finding your balance between farming and hitting them is important to getting through lane with BrandBrand .

If you ever want to roam, remember your wave clear combo mentioned earlier to quickly clear and shove a wave to show up to fights.

Brand

How to push Brand's power

It's pretty simple really, Brand's % max health damage with just his passive and the explosion part of his passive (which have no cap against epic monsters), along with the Liandry's TormentLiandry's Torment burn makes him one of, if not the best mage in the game for taking epic monsters. Showing up with your jungler to Baron or drake can allow you to take it insanely fast and can even nab it under people's noses if they underestimate your damage to epic monsters. If you are ahead, you can use your presence as a team fighter to make taking objectives all the easier. If they try to group for said objectives, you can PyroclasmPyroclasm them and make them wish they never got out of bed that day.

Brand

General tips

  • Brand's ConflagrationConflagration spreads to further targets if the thing you target with this ability is already on fire, use this to quickly spread damage to as many people as possible in team fights. 
  • Save your SearSear stun, as it is your only way to escape from people barring your flash, enchantments, and ult slow. A quick ConflagrationConflagration into SearSear with retreating Pillar Of FlamePillar Of Flame is a great way to peel for yourself while also getting an explosion proc on your passive.
  • Although staying alive is great, your whole thing in team fights is to do as much damage as possible to as many people as possible. If it takes you potentially dying to hit 4 people with your ult, that's a solid move if your team can follow up, especially on the chance you live by using [stasis enchant].
  • If you're fighting against healers/enchanters, don't be afraid to skip on the Void StaffVoid Staff or Rabadon's DeathcapRabadon's Deathcap (depending on how much MR they build) for a MorellonomiconMorellonomicon . With your ult and ConflagrationConflagration , you can spread some nasty long lasting grevious wounds due to your damage over time.
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