Lane and Jungle Samuel (2.7) by TheMinuteman

Lane and Jungle Samuel (2.7)

By: TheMinuteman
Last Updated: Aug 19, 2017
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Samuel

Build: Ranked Flex Build

Ability Path

Corrupted Genius
Heroic Perk
Malice & Verdict
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Drifting Dark
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Oblivion
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Item Choices

Starting Shop (Depends)

Weapon Blade
Crystal Bit
Energy Battery
Halcyon Potion
Flare
Scout Trap

First Item

Eve of Harvest
Frostburn
Shatterglass

Second Item

Eve of Harvest
Frostburn
Broken Myth

Third Item

Broken Myth
Aegis
Metal Jacket
Crucible
Atlas Pauldron

Fourth Item

Shatterglass
Metal Jacket
Atlas Pauldron
Crucible
Aegis
Halcyon Chargers

Fifth Item

Metal Jacket
Atlas Pauldron
Aegis
Crucible
Halcyon Chargers

sixth item

Halcyon Chargers
Crystal Infusion
Metal Jacket
Atlas Pauldron
Crucible
Aegis

Threat Meter

Threat
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High
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Threat Hero Notes
1
 Lance Captain - He plays like Phinn in the sense that he needs to play compact. You can dodge his Impale with Malice and Verdict, and other than his Gythian Wall, he can't stop you from destroying his team.
2
   No Threat
3
 Phinn Captain - A massive late game hero, he will be virtually unable to stop you until he hits the level 8 powerspike. You are strong early game and can snowball. Watch out for his hook and stun, and you can kite his entire team, who are probably very slow, and he needs to play compact to be most effective.
3
 Lyra Captain - Ok, yes, she can dive onto you and can prevent you from darting around with Bright Bulwark. That said, if you can stay away from her during team fights, and just toss Malice and Verdict from range, and if your other carry gets Poison Shiv, I don't see why you can't win.
4
 Ardan Captain - He can help other heroes dive onto you, which is not good considering that Samuel is a kiting hero. But, his Gauntlet will "trap" his teammates together, making for easy Samuel kills.
5
   No Threat
6
 Catherine Captain - Haha, no. Merciless Pursuit and Blast Tremor will probably be followed by War Treads, making you a dead Samuel (how does that even happen?). You need good positioning, vision, and reflex blocking to be sure to come out on top.
7
   No Threat
8
   No Threat
9
   No Threat
10
   No Threat

Introduction Top

About Me


Hi, I'm TheMinuteman. I play in the NA Server. I main roam heroes and wrote a Lance guide during the winter. I am dedicated to updating my guides and making sure that they are up to date and as helpful as possible. I wrote a guide for Lance sometime ago that has fared pretty well. You can find it here: Lance as Captain (2.6)

Samuel


Remember how I said that I main roam heroes? Well, when solo queuing, it is impossible to always play the desired role. Because of this - and because Samuel works so well with Lance(my favorite hero)- I started to play him as a flex pick in Ranked, capable of starting on both the Lane and in the Jungle. The main reason for his ridiculous team play potential lies in his ability to heal while doing damage, meaning that he can go from half health to full, while decimating all three members of the opposing team. Because of this, he has one of the best 1v3 potentials in Vainglory.
*EDIT: My rank has tanked recently. I am going to play a sh*t ton now.*

Kit of Samuel Top

Corrupted Genius


 Corrupted Genius
Slot: Heroic Perk

Every 6s, Samuel's next basic attack fires a bolt of dark power that deals bonus crystal damage and draws health & energy back to Samuel.
  • Crystal Damage: 50-60 (level 1-12)
  • Healing: 10-120 (level 1-12) health
  • Recharge: 30-200 (level 1-12) energy
  • The restorative powers are only 25% as effective against non-heroes.

Corrupted Genius allows you to be an early game powerhouse, as well as sustain in late game fights. The stamina and health that is returned to you allows you to use Malice and Verdict a lot for early game farming. Each hit with Corrupted Genius active also deals extra crystal damage which means you can get insane farm for a CP Lane Mage. The stamina and health recovered is greater when you hit enemy heroes, so I like to use it for early game harass, kind of like Ringo's Double Down.

Malice and Verdict


 Malice & Verdict
Slot: A

Samuel fires two bolts from his wands at a target location, impacting the first enemy hit. Samuel can move between the shots.

If Samuel is standing inside the energy field from Drifting Dark, these bolts move faster, travel farther and deal additional area damage. In addition, the cooldown is significantly reduced.
  • Empowered shots deal reduced damage to minions.

Your main source of damage in the early game, and which chunks down enemies in the late game, Malice and Verdictalso allows you to kite effectively. When using Malice and Verdict, you tap an area, and Samuel launches two bolts of "Dark Energy". During this time, you can also tap to drift around, and he will still fire at the designated area. It has incredible range and poke potential (damage too when you get enough CP). But, another very useful... well, use of Malice and Verdict is for dodging other heroes' attacks and/or kiting them. Using Malice and Verdict, I have dodged Quibbles, Merciless Pursuits, etc, in addition to a very fun ending where I kited all three members of the opposing team (including a Taka!) almost into my base before I died, while my teammates destroyed their crystal.


Drifting Dark


 Drifting Dark
Slot: B

Samuel creates a large field of darkness that slowly drifts forward, damaging enemies who stand inside it. If Samuel also stands inside, Malice & Verdict is greatly empowered and he heals for a small amount for each affected target.
  • The field will disappear if Samuel moves more than 16 meters away from it.
  • Deals 50% less damage to minions.

I can't even believe how well this syncs with Corrupted Genius and Malice and Verdict. When standing inside Drifting Dark,Samuel heals based on the number of opponents (minions included) inside his dark cloud while damaging them too. When you summon it, you tap in the direction that you want the cloud to move in. While in the Drifting Dark cloud, Malice and Verdict "reload" a lot faster, deal more damage, hit further, and deal splash damage. When kiting a compact team, you can get a triple kill very fast if they have low defense, slow reflexes, and you have good accuracy and lots of CP. Keep in mind that Malice and Verdict can shoot through walls. Securing an ace by sniping with empowered Malice and Verdict is one of the most satisfying experiences in Vainglory, right up there with getting a kill with Taka's X-Retsu Mortal Wound or Ringo's Hellfire Brew burn or Adagio's Gift of Fire burn.

Oblivion


 Oblivion
Slot: C

After a short delay, Samuel summons a phantasm at the target location, which puts nearby enemies to sleep. Enemies inflicted are unable to move or act.
  • Dealing direct damage to a sleeping enemy with an attack or ability will wake them up.

This ability complements the rest of the kit nicely. With Oblivion, Samuel summons a dark cloud which collapses, damaging and putting to sleep (literally, not killing, thought that happens sometimes too)
all affected opponents within a radius. This pretty easily Crucibled or Reflex Blocked, but if it lands successfully, it is a nightmare. But, even if it is blocked, that's less blocks for the rest of the fight. It is best used with CC, either by allies or enemies works. For example, if an opponent Ardan drops a Gauntlet, that's just inviting Oblivion. Putting a hero to sleep can cancel abilities. Damaging a sleeping hero wakes up said hero. Sleeping hero wakes up after a while if not damaged while sleeping.

Build of Samuel Top

Spawn Shop (Early Game)




Weapon Blade


The Weapon Blade is a very nice item to pick up, allows him to clear out the first lane minion waves, and allows Samuel to hit around 60 CS by five minutes, at which point you should probably sell it because you're building crystal and your empowered basic attacks are more than enough to secure minion kills.

Crystal Bit


Whether you take Weapon Blade or Crystal Bit is completely up to you. If you are confident in your abilities to last hit without bonus weapon power, Crystal Bit is probably better for you because you can use it to build directly into your first item and buying Weapon Blade would just be wasting money. It also increases the damage that your empowered attacks do, which should help with farming under less pressure.

Energy Battery


This one pretty much goes without saying. Energy Battery provides you with more energy and energy recharge so that you can use your abilities more in the early game. It builds into what will probably be your first item, Eve of Harvest, which also happens to be the most common first item on Samuel.

Halcyon Potion


Now that you are given free Halcyon Potions at the beginning of every match, buying these during the first shop not as necessary. However, you can buy more if you want, and it is usually very helpful to pick these up during your first few shops. While you do have natural health and stamina restoration with Corrupted Genius, the small burst of healing can keep you alive during a gank, enough for you to run under your turret and deny the enemy team First Blood.

Flare


Vision is necessary to prevent you from dying to much, and to Let's be honest. Not all the Roams (Captains) you meet will be smart enough to pick up vision in the early game. In that case, flares are a good thing to get during your first few shops. Before you push up the Lane, you should probably flare the enemy Mustache Bush, unless your teammates have spotted the enemy team somewhere they're not going to gank you.

Scout Trap


The other option for early game vision, the choice for both, or even whether to take vision is up to you. If your Roam takes vision in the early game, then it probably is not necessary, and discouraged, to buy vision, as it can be spent on other items. If you know that your Roam will be buying vision soon, then Flares are probably a better option. If you want to push far up the Lane, Flares are probably better. If you will only be pushing up to the halfway point of the Lane, or if you don't think your Roam will be picking up vision anytime soon, then get Scout Traps.

Final Items


Eve of Harvest


This is probably the most common item on Samuel, and for good reason. In addition to increasing the energy cap and recharge rate Samuel has, enabling him do more spells, this also provides 50CP,increasing the damage of his spells, and provides CP lifesteal. What this means is that if you're low on health in a teamfight, drop Drifting Dark throw some Malice and Verdicts, and you will gain back massive portions of health. It feels a bit like getting attacked by Koshka in early game, reversed. And, of course, it partners with Corrupted Genius.

Frostburn


Frostburn provides some CP, but more importantly, it slows opponents based on CP, up to a cap of 35%. This is how it works in game: your teammates went and done committed suicide, like the idiots they (sometimes) are. You, left alone, drop Drifting Dark backwards, and start throwing out Malice and Verdict. You slow the entire enemy team. Yet, they still keep coming after you. As you keep healing from your abilities (potentially including Eve of Harvest), and you lure them into your Crystal Sentry. You basic attack the mid treeant, which roots them in place. You secure the turnaround ace with the help of the Crystal Sentry, and you are now God in the eyes of your stupid teammates.

Shatterglass


Pick this up when you have a good roam and/or your opponents pick up little to no shield, or if you have Broken Myth, and don't need one or both of the above items. This pumps up the rookie numbers that your Malice and Verdict normally does. You get 300 damage per shot without Drifting Dark. Keep in mind that Drifting Dark amplifies damage and spreads it to the whole team. DO NOT get Shatterglass if you have a bad roam (and your opponents are rational human beings) or if everyone on the other team builds a lot of shield and you don't plan on getting Broken Myth anytime soon, because that'd be a waste.

Broken Myth


Not only does it provide crystal power and punch through shield, it also greatly amplifies your damage throughout a teamfight. With his inherent sustain, this means Samuel becomes ridiculously powerful at the end of teamfights. Pick this up as the second or third offensive item. Remember, the more damage you do, the more your damage amps, the more lifesteal you have, and the more damage you do.

Aegis


Your most essential defensive item, it is useful even if your opponents foolishly decide to go full WP. It provides the most shield in game, some health, a bit of armor, and a reflex block. Time your reflex block correctly and you prevent yourself from getting stunned, silenced, put to sleep, nuked, or just dealt a lot of damage to. While your reflex block is up, it provides a bit of a health cushion. Only get this when you absolutely do not need it or need another item much more. For example, if the opposing team does a lot of sustained damage with no CC abilities. In some cases, Crucible or Metal Jacket are superior alternatives.

Metal Jacket


This thing is probably your best bet against bursty WP heroes. You'd either want this or Atlas Pauldron. Realistically, you'd get this against crit heroes like Double Crit Vox or Kestrel, or any other of the heroes building with an emphasis on crit instead of attack speed. DO NOT get this against high attack speed heroes, and you might also want to get another Coat of Plates instead of Aegis if the other team goes full crystal and gets armor-pierce.

Atlas Pauldron


The other armor item, I get this more often in team matches, especially when the other team has a WP Jungler like Alpha good for diving. Obviously, you'll want to play near the back where you can poke without losing too much health, but, if you know you can kill the Jungler pretty fast, cheat up a bit and see if you can lure him out of position. Then, you Atlas Pauldron him, and you kite him and he dies, and then you get to turn onto the Carry and Captain (Roam). This also works against high attack speed crystal builds.

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