Brand is one of the league's newest hard AP carries.

Having ridiculous amounts of AoE damage, coupled with stuns, tank killing capabilities, harassing, and absolutely amazing burst damage, Brand has worked his way up into my favorite AP carries.

Hope you enjoy the following guide on Brand, The Burning Vengeance!

• I try to pick up as much AP, cdr, and Magic Penetration as possible in the offense tree, not worrying too much about anything else.
• Archmage's Savvy - Really the only good option for an AP carry in the first tier or masteries.
• Deadliness - Place holder to unlock the next tier of masteries.
• Sorcery - More cdr = More spell usage = More damage. A must have for AP carries.
• Archaic Knowledge - More Magic Penetration = Better nuke = More damage. A must have for AP carries.

• Good Hands - Best choice for first tier masteries.
• Perseverence - Place holder to unlock the next tier of masteries. I get this as a secondary mastery because it doesn't benefit you that much if you're not actually stacking items with mana and health regen like .
• Awareness - You are going to be taking a solo lane. The quicker you can get those levels over your lane opponents can, the more of an advantage you have in lane.
• Meditation - More mana regen to keep you in lane. Pretty straight forward.
• Utility Mastery - You are going to want to get blue buff once mid / late game kicks in. The 30% increased duration is absolutely amazing.
• Quickness - More movement speed is always good ^_^
• Blink of an Eye - Reduced cooldown on your . Self explanatory.
• Intelligence - Once again, More cdr = More spell usage = More damage. A must have for AP carries.
• Presence of the Master - More cooldown reduction on your summoner spells.

My rune setup on Brand is a pretty common AP carry page.

Marks: Magic Pen - Maximize early and mid game damage
Seals: Mana Regen - More lane staying capabilities, less need to Blue Pill
Glyphs: CDR - Being able to spam spells in team fights means more damage output
Quints: Magic Pen - Maximize early and mid game damage



Seals: Armor
Glyphs: Flat CDR or AP per Level
Quints: Health or Movement Speed

• Explanation:
• Adds more damage to your burst
• Shuts down healers
• Shuts down lifesteal

• Explanation:
• Provides an escape mechanism
• Can be used to jumps over walls
• Can be used aggressively to close a gap

Removes all debuffs from your champion, pretty self explanatory


can be replaced for flash, but really its just a personal preference as to which you like better.


Decent, but there are better options


DO NOT GET:


No


Let the supports do their job


Let the supports do their job


Shouldn't be used on a carry


Much better options compared to heal


No


You're not jungling

Brand's spells light his targets ablaze, dealing 2% of their maximum Health in magic damage per second for 4 seconds.

• Explanation:
• Amazing Passive, makes laning phase incredible easy
• Amazing dot when facing tanks
• Basically similar to a , but deals damage over time

Brand launches a ball of fire forward that deals 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+65% of ability power) magic damage. If the target is ablaze, the target will be stunned for 2 seconds.

Cooldown 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6 seconds

Cost 50 mana

Range 900

• Explanation:
• Should be used to stun people after hitting them with any of your other spells
• Can be used to activate your passive on somebody
• Last hit minions

After a short delay, Brand creates a pillar of flame at a target area, dealing 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to enemy units with the area. Units that are ablaze take an additional 25% damage.

Cooldown 10 seconds

Cost 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 mana

Range 900

• Explanation:
• Brand's Bread and Butter
• Use it to nuke an enemy
• Use it to farm minions
• Can be used after any of your other spells to trigger the 25% bonus damage

Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target, dealing 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+55% of ability power) magic damage to them. If the target is ablaze the conflagration will damage nearby enemies as well.

Cooldown 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10 seconds

Cost 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana

Range 675

• Explanation:
• Can be used after any of your other spells to trigger some AoE damage (really the only time you should use it)
• Use it to farm minions after landing a successful
• Use it during team fights to spread some AoE damage
• Use it to setup an easy stun with your

Brand unleashes a devastating torrent of fire that bounces between enemies, dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (+50% of ability power) magic damage each time it bounces. If a target is ablaze, Pyroclasm's missile speed increases. It will bounce five times, and can hit the same enemy up to three times.

Cooldown 105 / 90 / 75 seconds

Cost 100 / 150 / 200 mana

Range 750

• Explanation:
• Great AoE nuking
• Should be used while trying to go for a kill
• Should be used during team fights to deal some AoE damage throughout their team
• Can be used after any other spell to make the projectile travel faster
• Should be used to last hit enemies (but be sure to let your team get some kills too!)

I find that leveling over anything else benefits Brand the most during all phases of the game.

It supplies:

• Amazing AoE damage
• An amazing nuke
• An excellent farming ability
• And an excellent ability to catch escaping enemies

As my secondary skill, I find that is best as it has great synergy with your during laning phase.

It supplies:

• Amazing AoE damage
• A decent nuke
• An excellent farming ability (if used with )
• A guaranteed setup for a nuke with your

And last but not least, I find that should really only be used to stun enemy champions, and perhaps get a minion kill or two.

It supplies:

• Decent damage
• A 2 second stun

And of course, get your whenever possible!!!

Brand has a pretty straight forward job to accomplish with his item build, Be able to nuke enemies asap while being able to survive in team fights.

This can be accomplished with a various number of builds, but from what I've seen, mine works the best.

I try to focus on getting my early game damage (ability power) up as fast as possible, and once achieving that, I try to get some more survivability. Survivability is much needed on Brand seeing as he is a "Glass Cannon", meaning he is a hard nuker, but dies incredibly fast.




CC Heavy:


More dmg:


Both are viable choices, however, I prefer





A fantastic item on Brand, provides an excellent 80AP, 500 Health, and best of all, a passive slow on all of your spells. This item is basically a MUST on brand as it supplies both of his much needed stats.


Excellent item on Brand, but requires tons of early game farm to make it fully effective and worth while. Supplies 80AP, 630HP, and 725MP when fully maxed out, all which greatly benefit Brand. If you want to make it a worth while purchase, try to get it before 20:00 into the game, allowing it to stack a bit before team fights start breaking out.


A MUST HAVE on any hard AP carry. This item should generally be bought once you are getting ready to enter Late Game. It provides 70AP and most importantly, 40% Magic Penetration. Makes your nukes hit harder. This is a MUST HAVE once your enemies start getting resistances built up.


A must have on any AP carry. Ridiculous amounts of AP, and it keeps scaling as you get more and more AP. This item should be bought around mid - late game.


A great item to have if you feel like the enemy team is focusing you too much in team fights. Supplies plenty of armor and AP. This item shouldn't be bought until (late)-mid game, or (early)late game.


A great item to get if the enemy team is mainly AP Damage. Supplies 70AP and 57MR, on top of that, it reduces the MR of all enemies within a 1,000 unit radius. Makes your nukes hit harder while building MR. The item should be built mid - late game.


I don't recommend building this on Brand as getting this item prevents him from getting that early Catalyst, which is absolutely essential in order to be able to farm early and mid game. However, if you feel like your having too much mana problems, feel free to get this item.




Should be built after completing as it supplies amazing stats, with an even more amazing passive. Great item choice!

Most were already covered in the Damage Items section.




A must, regardless of your build. This item supplies all the lane staying you will ever need. The proc is absolutely amazing and allows you to nearly spam spells on cooldown. The health and mana bonuses are both exceptionally good.

When you first enter the game, purchase your and start heading to either mid or top, depending on who's on your team. Most of the time however, it will be mid.

While traveling to your team, put your first rank into

Now depending on whether or not your team tries to force the level 1 team fight or not, you can either continue sticking with the team (while staying behind the tanks) or if the fight isn't going to happen, simply leash blue for your jungler and head back to mid.

Early game, farming should be your #1 priority. Try not to get involved too much with trying to harass your lane opponent until you are at least level 4+. Just keep farming until you reach said level.

Keep in mind that Brand's auto attacks are what I consider to be the fastest auto-attack animation in the game so late hitting should be a breeze.

Once hitting level 4 / 5 / whatever the case may be, simply go initiate the 1v1 fight with a --> --> combo. This combo is basically used to both land a stun on your opponent, while getting the 25% increased damage on your .

If you're doing good in your lane, simply push your lane to their tower, and communicate with the team to see if you can get a side-lane gank going. Ganks usually have the best outcome if both you and your jungler are showing up, making it either a 4v2, or 3v1.

Once you have enough gold, head back to base and purchase your . Keep in mind that the Catalyst should be rushed. You generally want to prioritize it over everything else, as it supplies you with enough lane staying capabilities to easily stay in lane and farm more.

You should have your and at least a by now. Mid game is generally a continued version of Early Game, with the exception that you have to gank side-lanes more often, and communicate with your team to try and stay above in dragon kills.

By now, you should be able to nuke enemies for most of their health by using the following combo:

--> --> --> --> .


However, during Team Fights, your combo should look something like this.

--> --> --> --> your focus.

Try to always land your stun on either their Hard Carry, or your team's main focus target.

Also, try to save your ult until they are nearly fully stacked up, as it will deal the most damage possible.

By now you should have the following items:







You generally should do nothing but stick with your team late game, with the exception of blue pilling. Even when just taking neutral buff camps, try to have at least 2 people with you at all times.



Like before, when team fights initiate, let your tanks run in first, followed by your AD ranged carries. Your goal is to be the last one into the team fight. Focus their squishies / carries first!

Once in the fight, simply pop the same combo as before:

--> --> --> --> your focus.



When taking neutral camps like Dragon or Baron, try to spam your skills as the DoT from works wonders while taking down high-health enemies.

--> --> --> --> REPEAT



--> --> --> --> REPEAT

Was mostly covered in the rest of the guide.

• Be the last one into the fight
• Focus their Carry / Squishies first
• Kite the team through your team
• If in trouble, flash away to safety
• Stay behind your TANK!
• Try not to branch off and chase enemies alone, as their team will generally chase after you.

As far as spell combos go, use the same combo that has been mentioned multiple times in the rest of the guide.

--> --> --> --> your focus.


If you already have your , simply pop it as soon as their team starts to focus you. Once the activation is over, you generally want to flash away if they switch right back to you!

There are a few things to keep in mind before ulting

Some of these things might include the following:

• How many enemies are in the fight?
• How close are the enemies to the target?

First of all, is closely related to Fiddlestick's Dark Wind, as it bounces between nearby enemies, but only if they are in range of each other.

Before ulting, you have to determine how far apart each of your enemies are. You're #1 goal to achieve with is to hit AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE.

You have to use proper judgment before ulting.

If they are too far apart, do not ult.

If they are stacked up, ult.

The only exception to this rule might be if you are in a 1v1 situation where you need to burst down an enemy asap.

Thanks for checking out my Brand guide, hope it helped some of you learn how to play him better.

Feel free to leave questions and suggestions in the comments and I will do my best to reply / react asap.

Go out there and have fun!