AMUMU BUILD GUIDE: Jungle Amumu: Tanky AP by ChronicApathy123

Introduction

As a disclaimer, I do not play ranked. I mainly play premade blind 5s with friends, but I will occasionally solo queue. I have seen very few laning guides for Amumu, have never seen a laning Amumu ingame, and do not believe he is a very strong laning choice. This guide will teach you how to play Amumu as a tanky AP jungler.

Amumu is strong because he is able to have a very good teamfight presence with very few items, He also has a natural 35 spell pen (very significant) whenever he autoattacks, which should be frequently. He has a disable/distance closer, and an AoE disable ult, one of the best (if not the best) in the game. These make him a great tank, and his his scales turn him into an incredibly powerful AP AoE nuker if the game lasts long enough. Amumu has fallen out of popularity with the jungle changes, but that does not make him any less powerful in the right circumstances.

Amumu works well with blue, but can give up red very easily. Because of this, it is advantageous to have a mid that can do without blue, and a top or bot that does well with red. Talon mid is also an option, as he works well with red and can do without blue. In a premade, this can be circumvented with communication and control of both golems.

Masteries

Amumu is a tank, and so takes defensive masteries. Flat damage reduction, combined with the damage reduction passive from Amumu's E and regeneration masteries, allow him to clear the jungle and take almost no damage. This means that he can be at full health for a gank or countergank at any time, and vastly improves map control. Armor and magic resist masteries allow for increased damage reduction during fights. Enlightenment allows for Amumu's ult and other spells to be cast more often, and initiator improves jungling speed, especially since amumu is rarely below 70% health when clearing. The 9 points into utility should be self explanatory. Switching mana regen for movement is optional if you will be keeping blue during late game.

Another option for Amumu is to get 21 in utility. This allows for smite to cool down faster, and should be used in combination with boots start for a more counter-centric jungling style. the remaining 9 points can be spent in either offense or defense, getting either spell penetration, damage reduction, or damage return to jungle minions.

Using offensive masteries is possible, and increases jungling speed, but greatly decreases survivability, and thus damage and stun output, during teamfights.

I find that the spell penetration mastery is less useful on Amumu than on other magic damagers, because his passive (and probably abyssal scepter) decreases the enemy's base magic resist, reducing the effectiveness of the 10% spell pen.

Runes

There are many more possible runes for Amumu than those that are listed, and I frequently experiment with new choices.

Here are the top runes in each category for Amumu

red:
spell pen: This is the best choice by for for reds, on Amumu or any magic damager. Amumu scales especially well with spell pen, considering his passive.

yellow:
hp(flat or per lv): increases tankiness
armor: decreases damage taken during clearing and increases dueling potential. Increases tankiness.
mana regen (either flat or per lv): allows you to give up blue without taking too big a hit to clearing speed, decreases earlygame survivability

blue:
spell pen: significantly less useful than spell pen reds, but you can never have enough spell pen
cooldowns/lv: allows you to ult and use other skills more often. Since the cooldown on E is reduced by a flat amount when you are hit, cooldown reduction synergies very well.
ap (flat or per lv): flat ap increases clearng speed, per lv increases lategame damage (recommend flat, if you are doing ap blues)

quints:
movement: faster clearing, ganking, and counterganking. I do not own movement quints, but would like to use them.
any of the above. Amumu scales with all listed stats. Pick what you think he needs, or follow the listed runes.

Summoner Spells

viable spells, from best to worst

jungling spell. Mandatory
[summoners/flash.png]

allows escapes and initiates over walls. A great spell.
[summoners/ghost.png]

better than flash in some situations. I prefer flash.
[summoners/teleport.png]

allows for ganks and counterganks. Map awareness or communication required.
[summoners/exhaust.png]

combined with stun and ult, allows you to basically shut a single person(carry) down for an entire fight. Also useful in ganks. Less safe, but still a good spell.
[summoners/cleanse.png]

Allows you to escape CC chains to land a better ult. If you are tanky enough, this means that you can sit alone in their team while they use all their cooldowns on you, then cleanse and ult. People will rarely target a tank with abilities however, which is why this is so low on the recommended list.
[summoners/heal.png]

allows for baits. Less utility, but your team will love you.
[summoners/clarity.png]

can be useful, if you are giving away blue and do not have mp5 runes
[summoners/ignite.png]

you are a kser. Take if nobody else has one to prevent healing, or don't.
[summoners/surge.png]

could be good, with the passive on autoattack. I refuse to try it. Increases hitbox size, and thus tankiness vs. noobs.
[summoners/revive.png]

lol, i guess.

Skills

Passive: Cursed Touch

Amumu's attacks reduce the target's magic resistance by 15/25/35 for 5 seconds.

Explanation:

a great passive. Make sure to be autoattacking constantly, but spread them across the team. When combined with runes and the non-situational build, this passive gives Amumu over 100 spell pen, enough to put most squishies at negative resistance This also helps any magic damagers on your team, because it reduces the target's resistance instead of increasing your own spell pen.

Q: Bandage Toss

Throws a bandage to target location. If it hits an enemy unit, Amumu will pull himself to the enemy, stun them, and deal 80 / 140 / 200 / 260 / 320 (+100% of ability power) magic damage.

Cooldown 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 / 10seconds
Cost 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120mana
Range 25000

Explanation:

A nuke, a stun, and a distance closer. One of the longest skill shots in the game. The travel time makes it one of the slowest skill shots in the game, so it may take some getting used to. You must be able to land this in order to play Amumu effectively. I level this second to increase the damage and reduce the cooldown, increasing the ganking nuke combo damage. You should rarely use this skill (or any distance closer) to move yourself towards the enemy but away from their tower, because then then can just flash over you or outrun you to their tower. If the stun would allow other CCers to catch up and unload, this does not apply.

W: Despair

Toggle: Nearby enemies take 8 / 12 / 16 / 20 / 24 magic damage plus 1.5 / 1.8 / 2.1 / 2.4 / 2.7 (+1% of ability power)% of their maximum health each second.

Cooldown 1seconds
Cost 8mana per second
Range 300

Explanation:

This skill is great at the first level, and does not scale with levels until endgame, when it becomes incredible. Level once early. This skill continues to deal damage while hourglass is active. This skill applies the slow from Rylai's. This skill has no cap to the %dmg, and so is very useful vs. baron and dragon. This skill is very mana efficient even at level 1, so should be your main clearing tool without blue.

E: Tantrum

Passive: Amumu takes 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 reduced damage from physical attacks.

Active: Amumu deals 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 (+50% of ability power) magic damage to surrounding units. Each time Amumu is hit, the cooldown on Tantrum is reduced by 0.5 seconds.

Cooldown 21 / 18 / 15 / 12 / 9seconds
Cost 50mana
Range 400

Explanation:

The passive, when combined with masteries, allows Amumu to take almost no damage when clearing the jungle. The cooldown reduction on hit makes it advantageous to tank minions during a gank, as the ability can be reset almost instantly. Leveling this skill increases gank combo damage and clearing speed with blue, aw well as reducing cooldown significantly, so I level it first.

R: Curse of the Sad Mummy

Amumu entangles surrounding enemy units, causing them to be unable to attack or move for 2.5 seconds, dealing 50 / 100 / 150 (+35% of ability power) magic damage to them each second.

Cooldown 170 / 150 / 130seconds
Cost 100 / 150 / 200mana
Range 600

Explanation:

break the game once every few minutes. This is easily among the best ults in the game. It has great nuke damage, and an incredible disable. This is the reason Amumu is viable and even a great choice. Use it to secure kills, but not to steal them. The main use of this skill is to farm bot for double kills, or to kill the enemy jungler at buffs or with a teammate.

Skill Order

Skill order is very situational. If you find that lanes are easily gankable or having trouble, max [skills/amumu/q.png]

first. If your blue is being countered, you die with it, or you give it to a teammate, consider putting another point into [skills/amumu/w.png]

. Maxing

first is standard, and allows for fast clearing while still mantaining damage during gank nuke combo.

Item Builds

There are many viable item choices on Amumu. Amumu can do very well without many items, which allows him to get gp5 items in order to complete a full build sooner and camp lanes without losing too much gold. The non-situational build maximizes damage while mantaining health and damage resistance, but as the tank it is your responsibility to build to counter the enemy.Listed are many viable item choices, along with situations in which they would be useful. (in no particular order)

ALWAYS

(only one, they do not synergize.)
reduces enemy magic resist, increasing damage dealt by you and any magic damagers on your team. When combined with your passive, you are able to reduce the magic resist of any enemy by 55, enough for magic to be true damage if they have not build any magic resist items.
[items/boots-of-mobility.png]

allows for effective roaming, ganking and counterganking. Great map control, and probably the best boots before teamfight phase. It is possible to buy these boots at first, then sell them for a different pair later.
[items/frozen-heart.png]

Amumu needs a large mana pool if he is giving away blue, which this item gives. The 20% CDR also makes up for the CDR lost from blue. The passive cripples any AD you stand near (as a tank you should be doing this) which is another nice bonus. Add on 99 armor and you have yourself a great tanky item for Amumu
[items/guardian-angel.png]

great item for anyone. If you find that you die, buy a GA.
[items/haunting-guise.png]

with his passive, Amumu scales very well with spell penetration. Add in hp and ap, and you have an incredible item for its price.
[items/malady.png]

*very* situational, but it can work on high magic teams.
[items/lich-bane.png]

since you autoattack, this item helps. Movement, magic resist and AP are all great stats on Amumu, and the passive allows you to do large amounts of physical damage if they stack magic resist.
[items/quicksilver-sash.png]

if the enemy are CCing you they've already lost, but still a valid choice.
[items/nashors-tooth.png]

alows you to make good use of your passive, as well as providing AP and CDR.
[items/mercurys-treads.png]

if they have large amounts of CC
[items/ninja-tabi.png]

if they have a physical team
[items/quicksilver-sash.png]

see cleanse from summoner spells. If you are playing draft and the enemy team has a lot of magic, this item (early) is recommended over cleanse.
[items/rabadons-deathcap.png]

lots of AP, great endgame item.
[items/randuins-omen.png]

AoE slow, can be used to either set up ults or as a followup.
[items/rylais-crystal-scepter.png]

you become a walking slow. You do not need this as much as some others because of your ult and Q, but it still helps.
[items/will-of-the-ancients.png]

never buy this for yourself, but if you have multiple casters this can be a valid choice. Because AoE abilities have reduced spell vamp, this item is not very good on Amumu.
[items/rod-of-ages.png]

contrary to popular belief, this item does not need to be rushed. The stats are great even without the time scaling,so getting this at any point in the game should be considered. Not a lot of utility, but still a great item.
[items/shurelyas-reverie.png]

ideally the support should get this, but you can never have enough movement.
[items/sorcerers-shoes.png]

Amumu scales well with spell pen.
[items/sunfire-cape.png]

overrated item, but still viable.
[items/zhonyas-hourglass.png]

continues to deal damage while the active is in use, allowing for clutch baits and turnarounds.

Good Amumu Team Members

Amumu is a situational pick. Here are people it is good (and bad) to have on your team as Amumu

Very Best: AoE mid that can do without blue, and other AoE lanes

Mid:

Support:

*

AD:

Top:

*can be played in other lanes, but this is the preferred lane

Other Strong Picks

bad teammates

Jungling

standard route: level E->W->Q or E
[items/regrowth-pendant.png]

wolves->blue, get damage on wolves and a leash on blue (smite it). Next head to wraiths, then back to wolves (they should respawn by the time you return) Next red (smite should be up), which you will probably give to AD or top (whichever is closest) After that you can either gank or head to any camp that is up, and you should have no trouble clearing.

alternate route (if blue is invaded and you cannot push them out): W->E->Q or W or E
[items/cloth-armor.png]

wraiths->red, get damage on wraiths and a leash on red (smite). Next, head either golems (a) if your team is willing to check blue, or blue (b) if not.

(a) clear golems->wraiths, then back to base if no gank opportunities are available. you should be able to afford a gp5 item or boots.
(b) clear any leftover mobs, then do wraiths->golems.

counterjungling: blue (recommend boots start+communication with team) Q or E->E or W->Q or E
follow standard route up to wraiths, then either head to red (a) if someone is willing to ward blue, wolves (b) if not, or blue (c) if your mid wants it

(a)clear red, giving to either top or AD as needed, Next golems->wolves or wraiths->wolves or wraiths->blue
(b)clear wolves->blue, giving to mid as needed->wraiths
(c) give blue blue, clear wolves->wraiths

it is also possible (but not recommended) to counterjungle red using a similar method, but Amumu does not jungle well with red, so only do this to give it to the AD or to get first blood.

Early Game

This is when you should be ganking and farming the jungle. Amumu is good at securing dragon, and can do so with help from bot lane very early because of the %dmg from [skills/amumu/w.png]

. If you are going to attempt an early dragon, consider spending a second point in [skills/amumu/w.png]

. Map awareness is key. Always be looking for gank and countergank opportunities once you are level 2 or 3 and have a point in [skills/amumu/q.png]

. As with everything, practice makes perfect.

Mid Game

This is Amumu's chance to shine as a tank. Once every few minutes, you can guarantee a win in a teamfight by pressing R. this can be used to force objectives and push aggressively. You will not be dealing much damage at this point, so focus on applying your passive debuff and disrupting the enemy team.

Late Game

Once Amumu has a full build, he becomes an almost unstoppable AoE nuker. You have a very short cooldown stun, an AoE that comes off cooldown as enemies attack you, and your ult is still a game breaker. Few people have played against an endgame ap Amumu, and many will underestimate the amount of damage you will be doing with spell pen. Use this to your advantage. If you choose to hourglass, you can use it to bait the enemy team into chasing you at low health, having [skills/amumu/w.png]

deal damage the entire time, then use hourglass as your team initiates onto them. Ulting after the hourglass will almost always ensure an ace.

Final Comments

Amumu is not the best jungler out there. He is, however, a great situational pick and fulfills his role extremely well. This build ends the game with over 3000 hp and over 100 of each resist, and deals good amounts of damage.

	Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Cursed Touch (Passive)
	Bandage Toss
	Despair
	Tantrum
	Curse of the Sad Mummy