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Bluestone Pendant
Boots
Chalice of Healing
Mana Potion
Bluestone Pendant
Watcher's Gift
Chalice of Healing
Mana Potion
Warrior Tabi
Gladiator's Shield
Ancile
Stone of Gaia
Masamune
Spirit Robe
Bracer of Radiance
Magic Shell
Cloak of Meditation
Heavenly Wings
Shield of Thorns
Purification Beads
Belt of Frenzy
Horrific Emblem
Y
B
A
X
(PATCH 4.22) This is a very strong Guan Yu build to use in casual modes like Arena, Clash, and Siege. I have not done much testing of it in Conquest, but there is potential for it to work well in the Jungle with some adjustments to the start. If you are planning on playing solo or support Guan there are better ways to build him than this. However in casual modes this build provides really nice sustain, power and tankiness at a relatively low cost. As well, it is extremely important that you are using Guan Unicorn. Without that skin this build will do nothing for you except make you feel shame for not buying that skin when you had the chance. As well with this skin you need to go VVB,VSR,VVB,VSR,VEW, otherwise you will never do well with this build
Items:
Warrior Tabi: This is self-explanatory, never buy Ninja Tabi on Guan. In some situations Reinforced might work depending on team compositions and if you think you will need the extra tankiness. Talaria can work well in Conquest, but I don't think it is worth it in casual modes.
Gladiators shield: Strong item right now, though after the nerfs next patch it probably won't be worth it on Guan any more. It's already borderline, but for a cheap hybrid item with some sustain and cooldown it works well to get early. If you are more worried about physical damage, buy this item directly after boots.
Ancile: Another cheap hybrid item that gives tankiness against magical damage dealers, as well as giving the silence after taking magical damage. Also gives cooldown to help spam your heals more. If you are more worried about magical damage, buy this item directly after boots.
Stone of Gaia: You should be buying this on every tank you play regardless of whether or not the enemy team has knockups/pulls. The tankiness this item gives for how cheap it is is absurd. It is like having a constant health pot ticking along with a boost in HP5 and 400 base health. It only gets better if the enemy team has knockups/pulls and you will notice a big improvement in tankiness after buying this item.
Masamune: These last two items can be reversed depending how the game is going. If you are getting ahead and CC isn't being a big issue, then go Masamune for the hybrid boost in power and defense, along with some movement speed.
Spirit's Robe: However if you are getting locked down with CC constantly then go Spirit's Robe, the passive is great, but the CC reduction will make a noticeable difference in how well you survive.
Relics: There are a lot of options here, but Bracer, Shell, Sprint, Frenzy, Meditation, and Blink can all work well depending on the situation. Beads are good too if you are up against characters like Daji or Ares, but your ult makes you CC immune, so you have to gauge whether or not it is worth the risk and manage when you use your ult.
Passive: You want to watch your passive and manage what abilities you want to receive a boost. This will normally be healing, since health is always needed, but try to make sure the passive is fully stacked before ulting for greater impact
Conviction: Conviction is an ability that you need to always watch when it is off cooldown. In a fight you need to be spamming this ability as much as you can to give your team and yourself that extra health. You can level this first or second depending on how much damage you feel you need to be dealing early, but unless you are playing as a support, I would recommend this one being leveled second. I would reccomend always trying to use your passive on this ability as the up to 300 HP heal can be the deciding factor in a team fight.
Warrior's Will: Not a long dash, so not a reliable escape, however it can be enough to get you out of dangerous spots. Usually you want to use this ability to dash into squishies in order to slow them, then follow up with autos and Taolu Assault. But if you are able to use Taolu first, this will do more damage. Also make sure you watch if your passive is fully stacked, this is the least useful ability to waste the boost on. Level this ability last.
Taolu Assault: The first ability that you should be leveling almost every time. The damage this ability does can be surprising, but the main advantage is the protection steal. Not only can you gain tankiness from this ability, but you can make multiple enemies squishier for 5 seconds. With strong follow up you can melt even tankier targets. So if you are able to, always try to use this ability on a target first for max damage.
Calvary Charge: Can function very well as both offensive and defensive ult. So you should level it up depending on how the game is going and what way you feel you'll probably be using it. It is great to start a teamfight, but make sure you are focusing on the squishy damage dealers and not the tank. It works wonders to zone objectives, but don't hesitate to jump off early to get the stun if you need.
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That said,
@NKE07: going to provide some feedback. Not meant to be harsh here, meant to be constructive.
In some situations,
Really, the focus of the build should usually be protections and CDR. Maxing his CDR is basically an essential thing. Since he doesn't have any hard CC outside of the last hit of his ult, he needs to just spam his abilities as much as possible to keep enemy protections down (
Since this is basically non-Conquest, I'm confused why
Speaking of spamming abilities,
Speaking FURTHER of spamming abilities...it's not the health sustain he needs...he needs a mana POOL to spam said abilities. Nowhere in your set build do you have any added mana from items. Where is
Finally, don't waste a relic slot on
At this point, even for use in casual modes, I can't approve this build. You have no flexibility in the build itself, and you're missing on some very effective items...
I would definitely agree that if you are playing solo in conquest, you would want to get BVP and Genjis, but as I mentioned that isn't what my goal was here.
Stone of Gaia is more consistent healing compared to Mail of Renewal, while also giving MP5. Mail of Renewal can definitely work too, and I do like the extra 10% CDR, but it is not as consistent, and if the other team has any significant knock-ups then it isn't even debatable.
Gladiators shield is stronger than a normal bridge item. Like I said, Guan isn't the best warrior to make use of it, but he still has abilities that let you proc it easily while also giving power and decent physical protections. I didn't say to sell it late game because I normally don't. If you ult into an enemy team you are getting a big chunk of your health back in team fights from this item. While Guan's heal is definitely good if you can manage his passive, the extra sustain is still useful. Also, I think you are severely underestimating the importance of cost in casual gamemodes. It's not to the same degree as conquest, but getting fast power spikes will always be useful and can entirely change a game.
Ancile is good as a bruiser item. It provides decent magical protections, while also giving you a boost in power. Again, the purpose of this build is to be a bruiser, not a straight tank damage soak. It helps him avoid getting blown up by a Mage or locked down by a Guardian as he dives onto squishies, while also dealing good damage.
These items do give CDR. I agree that having more CDR faster is a good build on Guan, I do not think it is as essential as you think in casual gamemodes. Guan can function very well with the amount of CDR this build gives him along with the added power.
I don't prioritize Conviction as much because I simply value Taolu Assault more. I think if your goal is to be a bruiser, you'll have a much greater impact on the game from protection stealing than you will from his healing.
Like I said, if you think you can use Taolu Assault first, then that is going to be better. But you can't always just walk up to the enemy and have them stand in your Taolu Assault every time. The slow will make them unable to run, while also allowing for some follow up as their protections are being shred. The cooldown it gives is nice, but I think it is more important to confirm the Taolu Assault hits. Also, you should never cancel Taolu Assault unless you want to disengage. Giving up the extra 7 ticks of damage makes no sense with this build, as that is ~450 damage onto a squishy you are giving up.
With this build, the added mana pool is not as necessary as you will most likely not be fighting long drawn out poke fights. As well, the penalty for backing is much less noticeable in casual gamemodes compared to conquest, so as long as you can manage your backs decently well and buy mana pots when you do back, this isn't a big of a concern.
I really don't like your mindset regarding buying Beads. A tank should definitely buy beads if the team comp they are going against requires it. Let me give you an example. You are fighting an Ares, Poseidon, Daji, Artemis, and Ao Kuang. In that situation, you want beads. You are not going to be able to support your team if you are constantly chain CC'd and blown up. In that situation I'd even throw in a Magi's to help, but you definitely wont be able to rely solely on your ult for your safety. And I did mention that his ult makes him CC immune in my write-up. I specifically mentioned that if you don't buy beads you'll need to be careful with using it offensively and you'll have to manage the times you use it.
Also, blink is not bad on any character that wants to initiate. There might be better options for given situations, but being able to close the gap and dive the backline in an instant before they can react will never be a bad idea.
I appreciate your feedback, but I suggest you give the build a try. A lot of the concerns you have are not as big of an issue as you think, and this build is very fun to use. I think you are approaching this build with the mentality of being a support or solo laner, and I would agree, this build would be very bad if that was the way you were trying to play. But this build is more-so with the mentality of a warrior jungle in conquest. I think Guan is not only viable with this build, but he is a lot of fun with it in casuals.