Guan Yu, the unstoppable medic

Hello, i wan't to talk about Guan Yu, his one of my top favorite gods, i play him a lot in ranked and normal conquest and have a 82% win rate with him. I think Guan Yu is only viable in ranked if his role is support(not solo). i'm sure i have enough experience with Guan Yu to make a guide and share my thoughts on him. Guan Yu has high damage on his ultimate and on his skill number 3 even if his built as a full support, Guan can easily chase down enemies that have escaped from your adc.

Full build

Sovereignty: A very good item to build first, it gives you a lot of physical protection and health to stay in lane longer and it also gives some physical protection to allied gods near you, that's a very good aura if your playing as a support.
Reinforced greaves: This item gives you some physical/magical protection, needed CC reduction and some health which helps your tankyness + the boots give you running speed which is good for chasing and escaping.
Hide of the Urchin: Buying this item early game will give you a chance to build stacks faster which is a great idea cause when the stacks are done, you will have lot's of physical and magical protection, i buy this item For Guan Yu 99,9% times i play him.

Bulwark of hope: i buy this item for the magical protections and the passive, the passive is very useful, when your Health is below 25%, you gain a shield that reduces any kind of damage recieved for 1 second.

Witchblade: the item gives some physical protection and increases your mobility significantly, it also provides a aura, that increases any enemies attack speed and physical power, this aura is useful against ADC's and assassins.

Ancile: This new item gives a nice number of physical power and a nice % of cooldown reduction + a lot of magical protection. I like a little physical power on Guan.

Starter Build

Watchers Gift: This item is useful for any support, it gives you some sustain and a needed passive.
Hand of the gods AKA HOG: you really need this item early game for the blue buff near your lane, if you don't have a HOG your buff might be stolen and your ADC will be out of mana very fast.
Ward: If you don't wan't any suprise attacks on you or your ADC, Carry 2 of these with you when you go out of base.
You will easily know where the enemy is.
Multi Potion: you need potions for your early sustain to be in the lane longer and help your ADC.

Possible replacements

Breastplate of valor: Buy this item if you have mana issues, it also gives a nice amount of physical protections and cooldown reduction.
Magis blessing: Buy it if your having troubles with enemy CC and remember that many things can disrupt your ability number 3, so buying magis is always a good idea.

Mystical mail: The passive of this item goes very well with your ability number 3 and also gives you much physical protections and some health.

Useful actives

Wrath of the gods: A must for a support because of the passive it gives, you can secure gold fury and fire giant without the fear of loosing them to the enemy team.
Weakening curse: i don't really choose this active over enfeebling curse but if you happen to have troubles with healers, they are sometimes hard to kill, this active will surely fix your problem.

Enfeebling curse: i almost always choose this item over weakening curse because i like the attack speed debuf better then healing reduction.

Painless
Key Bind: Passive

Guan Yu gains force of will as he takes damage. Each instance of damage he receives charges up his Conviction ability, increasing its healing by up to 2x after 20 hits. Guan Yu's basic attacks also utilize a four swing chain with escalating damage and swing time, hitting in a longer narrow line in front of him on the final blow.

Ability: Buff
Affects: Self
Max Heal Multiplier: 2x
Num Hits to Full Charge: 20x
Melee Progression: 1/1/1.3/1.75x damage and swing time
This passive has saved me a lot of times, i sometimes even feel unkillable. If the passive is at a full charge, you will get a good amount of health back by healing yourself.

Conviction
Key Bind: 1

Guan Yu's courageous leadership is infectious and, when focused, heals himself and his allies and increases physical protections for 3s. Healing friendly gods reduces all cooldowns by 2s.

Ability: Area
Affects: Allies
Radius: 30
Healing: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170
Max Healing: 100 / 160 / 220 / 280 / 340
Physical Protection: 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45
Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 14s

This is one of the reasons i almost never die, it gives you a good amount of physical protections and heals some damage too, with the passive the amount of health restored will be much larger, you can also heal your allies and prevent them from dying, i have saved many lives with this ability, keep it off cooldown when you know your about to have a teamfight.

Warrior's Will
Key Bind: 2

Guan Yu charges forward, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade extended in front of him. All enemies in his path take damage and are slowed. Hitting enemy gods lowers all of Guan Yu's cooldowns by 2s.

Ability: Line
Affects: Enemy
Damage: Physical
Damage: 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+50% of your physical power)
Slow: 20%
Slow Duration: 2s
Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 14s

i use this ability for chasing, escaping and engaging, it's a short dash that does damage in a line and slows the enemies who are hit by it. the ability is good for securing kills too. I like using my ability number 2 before i use my ability number 3, i can stick to my opponent and keep hitting him shredding the health out of him.

Taolu Assault
Key Bind: 3

Guan Yu spins his blade in a controlled but furious display, slicing enemies for damage every .3s for 3s. Each hit debuffs the enemies' protections. Guan Yu is immune to knockback for the duration.

Ability: Line
Affects: Enemy
Damage: Physical
Damage per Hit: 15 / 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 (+20% of your physical power)
Damage (Total): 150 / 250 / 350 / 450 / 550 +200% of your physical power)
Protection Debuff: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Debuff Max Stacks: 3
Debuff Duration: 3s
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 15s

This ability is awesome, it takes a few protections off the enemy plus it deals a lot of damage, you can shred a lot of health off a squishy with your sword beying a full tank but try not to steal kills from your team, press the right click to stop the ability if you think your team can secure the kill.

Cavalry Charge
Key Bind: 4

Guan Yu mounts his warhorse and charges for 4s. While mounted, he can steer and click to attack and is immune to crowd control. Enemies hit take damage and are slowed. Each hit increases damage from consecutive hits against that target by 20%. Enemies hit on the dismount are stunned. Right-click to dismount early.

Ability: Area
Affects: Enemy
Damage: Physical
Damage: 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 (+20% of your physical power)
Damage Escalation: 20% per hit
Damage (Max of 6 hits): 745 / 993 / 1241 / 1490 / 1738 (+199% of your physical power)
Slow: 25% for 2s
Stun: 1.5s
Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120
Cooldown: 90s

You can't believe how much damage this ability does, in a lane if you adc takes some health off the enemy adc, Guan can just summon his horse and simply kill him with his strikes, the ability also slows when you hit the enemy and stuns a enemy at the end when you jump off the horse. THIS ABILITY IS THE BEST AT TEAMFIGHTS, you can get 5 people stunned for 1.5 seconds if their standing close to eatchother, your team can easily finish them off also it's possible to cancel the ability to get the stun faster on your opponents.

Pros

High survivability

A very good support

High mobility

High damage even when built tanky

Cons

Taolu assault can be easily disrupted

Don't join a ranked match if you think your not good enough to play a role, go and play normal conquest matches till your confident enough you can do well and win.

Early game

Early game you should buy some wards, get a blue buff for your ADC and help him clear minion waves and maybe even get a few kills or assists, be sure to keep your adc safe and keep healing him/her with you ability number 1, don't die or let your adc die. Don't dive in and start attacking so early in the game, you might get killed, watch out for minions they can deal significant damage to you early. All get's better when you get some protections and a few more levels.

Mid game

You should start roaming aleady, ganking mid or solo with, i think you will be able to secure a couple of kills if your mid or solo laner is near. Don't forget to take care of the middle harpies, they are important because you get more experience then the enemy team. By mid game you should already buy Wrath of the gods, your team might wan't to go for the gold fury or when the enemy team is trying to get it, you can simply steal it with your Wrath of the gods. Try to attend at every teamfight.

Late game

You should already be super tanky, be at the front row when team fights are going to happen, you should engage with your might horse and your team will do the rest.
Also look out for a chance to get the fire giants buff, always ward the fire giant late game, ALWAYS. when you see the enemy team trying to take the fire giant, try to steal it with your Wrath of the gods Late game team fights are everything, if you get 3-4 enemies out of 5 killed, you can take a lot of towers and maybe even win the game.

I hope that people will starting to use Guan Yu more often, i haven't seen much of them for the past couple of months.

Guan works best with a team, he can easily hop on his horse and stun half of the enemy team + dealing lots of damage and leaving the kills for the allies to enjoy. Even without Guan's ult he is important to his team in team fights, he has a decent heal, a dash that slows, Guan can easily engage with it and start using your 3 to shred off enemies protections. Don't be afraid to use your horse to save a ally from a though situation and don't forget to heal.

Hope you liked my first guide ever written, leave comments below if you have something to say about my guide.