Looking for an entry level champion to play Jungle with? We’ve got you covered! Warwick is a very easy champion to pick up that can help you learn the ins and outs of being a Jungler. Here’s how you can get started playing the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun.

Warwick is a pretty basic champion to play but don’t mistake his simplistic kit for a champion that takes no skill to play. He is best suited as a Jungler and is often recommended as a good gateway champion to the role. He has very strong sustain for a Jungler and has great abilities that make him very effective at ganking lanes. Although he lacks damaging AoE abilities and crowd control, Warwick still packs a punch and can carry a game on his own. So what exactly makes him a strong champion?

Champion Abilities

Warwick’s kit is geared towards sustainability and picking off high priority targets. His abilities allow him to basically stay in the jungle forever without having to recall to regenerate. That’s how good his sustain is.

Passive – Eternal Hunger

Warwick’s basic attacks deal bonus magic damage. If Warwick is below 50% health, he heals the same amount. If Warwick is below 25% health, this healing triples.

There’s nothing too flashy about Warwick’s passive. It’s pretty straightforward and basically increases his already strong sustain. It’s perfect for clearing jungle camps and soloing objectives like Dragon or Rift Herald.

Q – Jaws of the Beast

Warwick lunges forward and bites his target. While the key is held down, he will attach to the target then leap behind them. On release, deals magic damage (applies On-hit effects). Heal some of the damage dealt. While attached, Warwick is connected to the target and follows any movement they make.

This is Warwick’s primary offensive ability and the main source of his sustain. It is also your primary gap closer as it allows you to stick to your target from a short distance. The damage is pretty good but the heal is what makes it stand out. Thanks to this ability, you can practically duel any champion that dares to stand in your way.

W – Blood Hunt

Passive: Warwick gains Attack Speed against enemies below 50% health. He also senses low health champions globally, moving faster toward them when out of combat. These bonuses are tripled against enemies below 20% health.

Active: Warwick briefly senses all enemies. The nearest sensed champion is Blood Hunted for 8 seconds. Cast only while not in combat with a champion.

While no enemies are being hunted, Blood Hunt cools down twice as fast.

This is what makes Warwick excellent when it comes to ganking. In a game like League of Legends, vision is very important. So the fact that Warwick can sense where low health targets are, adds a ton of utility for him and his team. Not only does it help you scout targets, it also increases your move speed when you follow their trail making it nearly impossible to escape you.

E – Primal Howl

Warwick gains damage reduction for 2.5 seconds. At the end of the duration, or if activated again, Warwick howls, causing all nearby enemies to flee for 1 second.

At first glance, you may think that this ability is best used defensively because of its damage reduction. But it’s actually very powerful when used offensively. This is your only AoE crowd control and can be used in a lot of situations. It can be used as both an engage and disengage thanks to the fear it inflicts on enemies. When chained with your other abilities, you’re pretty much guaranteed a kill.

R – Infinite Duress

Warwick leaps 2.5 seconds worth of Movement Speed in a direction, suppressing the first champion he collides with for 1.5 seconds. Deals magic damage and applies on-hit effects 3 times. Warwick heals for 100% of all damage he deals during Infinite Duress.

This ability is what makes Warwick such a dangerous Jungler. It essentially locks down a target and forces them to take all the damage you and your teammates can deal. It can be difficult to hit at first since it is a skill shot. But once you’ve mastered it, it can ruin your opponent’s day.

Runes and Item Builds

Despite scaling really well with ability power, Warwick is best built like a tanky bruiser. Your primary focus should be to enhance his already strong sustain. By increasing his sustain, you’re also increasing his survivability and at the same time indirectly increasing his overall damage output. The longer you can stay in a fight, the more damage you can deal.

Starting Items

Since you’ll be playing in the Jungle, your starting item should be Emberknife. This gives you bonus damage and omnivamp against neutral monsters. After 5 uses, it also upgrades your Smite into Challenging Smite. When you use Challenging Smite on an enemy champion, they’ll be marked for 4 seconds and will increase the damage you deal to them.

Mythic Items

Technically, there are plenty of Mythic Items that can work well with Warwick. Most items that give Attack Damage, Ability Power, or Health can actually be viable on him. But out of all of these items, we’ve found that these two are the best choices for Warwick.

• Divine Sunderer – This item gives Warwick all the key stats he needs: Attack Damage, Health, and Ability Haste. All those are great but what makes this Mythic item standout is its Spellblade passive. After you use an ability, your next basic attack will deal bonus damage that scales with a percentage of your target’s health. This is pretty great against tanky champions and is just as powerful for eliminating squishy targets. This should be your go to Mythic and what you should rush 90% of the time.
• Goredrinker – This is another item that gives you solid stats in areas Warwick is already strong at. It’s active ability, however, makes you insanely hard to kill. Goredrinker has the active ability, Thirsting Slash, which damages enemy champions around you and restores your health depending on how many champions you’ve hit. This increases your sustain and survivability even more.

Full Build

After purchasing your Mythic, finish up your tier 2 boots. In this case, Plated Steelcaps is the best option. Next, go for Titanic Hydra. This item makes you bulkier thanks to 500 Health it gives. It will also help you deal a bit more damage and help you clear jungle camps faster. Spirit Visage is one of the best items on Warwick since it not only increases your health and magic resist, it also increases all forms of healing you receive. Once you’ve completed this item, you should buy Thornmail next for the armor, health and return damage. Finish off your build with Sterak’s Gage to increase both your damage and survivability.

Other Viable Items

There are plenty of other viable items on Warwick. In fact, as long as it gives health, armor, magic resist, or attack damage, you can make a case for it being a viable item on Warwick. Here are some of the best choices you can seamlessly swap for one of the items on your core build.

• Gargoyle Stoneplate – This is a great item on any tank or bruiser. Apart from the bonus armor and magic resist it gives, it also has an active shield that essentially acts like a second life bar. 
• Ravenous Hydra – A good alternative to Titanic Hydra. If you need more damage and sustain, don’t hesitate to swap it out for this item.
• Chempunk Chainsword – Heals are all the rage in the current meta so having an item that mitigates heals can be a great asset. This item can help in that regard thanks to the Grievous Wounds it inflicts whenever you damage an enemy.

Runes

For runes, you should go with the Precision tree and take Press the Attack as your keystone. While some of you may prefer Conqueror since Warwick excels in extended trades, it would be redundant with all the sustain he already has in his kit. Press the Attack enables you to deal more damage and its effects won’t fall off in the late game. Next, take Triumph for the bonuses, Legend: Tenacity to help you stick to your target, and Last Stand to give you an edge in close call situations. For secondaries, take Celerity and Waterwalking. Since you’re a Jungler, you could use all the movement speed buffs you can get to make your ganks more efficient. For rune shards, take Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Warwick is really good at controlling objectives because of his healing and high sustain. In fact, you can actually solo a Dragon as early as level 4. Just be careful as the enemy might pick up and try to flank you while clearing it.
2. When timed correctly, Jaws of the Beast will follow your target even if they use a mobility spell like Flash to get away. Similarly, when you time Infinite Duress precisely, you can become untargetable for a fraction of a second making it a good way to dodge abilities and crowd control.
3. For summoner spells, always take Smite and Flash. Ghost can be a good alternative to Flash but is less effective in certain matchups.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Warwick in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!