Just wondering, I love his skins and all but I always love new things, does anyone know?

Hello, I am a support player in D4 NA looking for a Smolder player to duo with. I can play pretty much anything and will help ban whatever you hate facing. If you are interested in duoing, please hit me up in DMs thanks

So the build cards got deleted because of some weird Reddit bug where images disappear when you edit a post, soooo here they are again :)

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/SmolderMains/comments/1x23k31/challenger_smolder_build_guide_rank_1_otp_smolder/

Just a silly thing i did following this meme trend

Smash that refund button brrrr 🥶

Had a vayne main tell me smolder does far more true dmg than her everygame. Is this true?

Not too familiar with how smolder plays.

Hi, I'm martxd1, a Challenger OTP Smolder Rank 1. I've reached Challenger multiple times and I was rank 11 on my server.

Since I always see people asking here and on Discord every week, "What's the new Smolder build?", I decided a while ago to create these cards to gather all the builds in one place. Out of all the options I've tried, I consider these to be the most consistent for each of the three build options that currently exist:

When to build CRIT vs BRUISER vs LETHALITY

CRIT (BUFFED): This is the build you want if your goal is to maximize damage. You can run Fleet/Inspiration or Sorcery if you want scaling, or the traditional DFT/Inspiration if you want max damage. It's harder to play than the bruiser build, but it rewards you with a monster late game.

Your 3rd item can be C44 vs comps with no long range, RFC vs long range comps, or Dominik vs tanks / Mortal Reminder when you need antiheal. If you go Dominik/Mortal Reminder 3rd, build C44/RFC 4th.

With this build, you want to play around your cooldowns and avoid auto attacking unless your Q is up.

Since this build got buffed, it's now my go to instead of bruiser. You want to go CRIT when your team lacks AD carries, since the value it provides is massive compared to the bruiser build, which is more focused on survival (and being annoying while doing so)

BRUISER: This is the easiest Smolder build to play, so if you're new or trying the champ for the first time, give it a try. It forgives a lot of mistakes and gives you a massive health bar at the cost of dealing less damage.

You usually run DFT/Inspiration. I've also seen people play Fleet/Inspiration, and from what I've tested, it's pretty useful considering that with the bruiser build, you want to build things like Doran's Helm + Plated Steelcaps, and this way you don't have to build an omnivamp item like Doran's Blade or Gluttonous Greaves.

You'll generally start Doran's Helm, but Doran's Blade is also good if you have an aggressive engage or poke support.

Your three core items are Essence Reaver, Black Cleaver, and Shojin/Endless Hunger. From there, you can adapt depending on the enemy comp. If they're full AD, you can commit to armor. If they're full AP, you can commit to MR. If you want as much damage as possible, go Shojin + Endless Hunger (3rd + 4th slots).

Finally, bruiser is more suited for enemy comps that stack a lot of HP, or when your team doesn't need another DPS and you want to support your AD carries by shredding armor with Black Cleaver (Kayn jg, Yasuo mid, Yone mid, Qiyana jg, etc).

LETHALITY: This build isn't as useful as it used to be, but it's still pretty decent in low-mid elo because there are so many kills happening around the map, so you'll stack Arrogance pretty quickly.

DFT/Inspiration is always a solid option (for max damage), but I would also consider Stormraider against some immobile matchups. Since you're building lethality, dealing 25% of someone's max HP isn't that hard, and the extra MS feels really good against them. You can take short trades and then leave, which is basically how this build is meant to be played.

It hits harder than the standard crit build, but takes a bit longer to become effective because Smolder got nerfed for not building crit, and you're delaying your crit item by one slot.

You generally want to survive until you have 1,000 gold, then buy Dirk and start committing to trades.

My main problem with this build is that Hubris isn't what it used to be and is pretty nerfed right now. Also, if you fall too far behind, you basically do nothing xd XD.

Endless Hunger is ideal here because Hubris gives AD and Endless Hunger gives AH based on AD, soooo STONKS.

Doran's Blade vs. Doran's Helm vs. Doran's Bow

Doran's Blade: Doran's Blade is the most consistent starter of the three. It's very flexible and can be played in all three builds because it gives you AD + HP + Omnivamp, all stats that are useful for Smolder in any matchup. So if you don't want to think too much about your starting item, this is a really good option.

Doran's Helm: Doran's Helm is good, but it's not god tier like some people think. Personally, I like using it against all-in champions or in poke lanes (in these lanes, I combine it with Cull + Refillable Potion for maximum sustain in lane). However, I usually only use it when playing the bruiser build, because you lose a lot of damage by not going for the other two items in the crit/lethality builds.

Doran's Bow: I like using Doran's Bow when I have an engage support, as I explained above, since it allows you to follow up on their damage. It's also useful in lanes against mages if you're running Ghost and think you can all-in your enemy and kill them.

About the spells when take Barrier, exhaust, cleanse, ghost or TP?

So all three builds have five options: Exhaust, Barrier, Cleanse, Ghost, or Teleport. I’m not going to go into detail about Cleanse because it’s situational and only necessary against comps with 3+ heavy hard CC champions. Even then, you’ll eventually build Mercurial Scimitar anyway.

For example, against Gnar, Volibear, Ashe, and Seraphine, you should take Cleanse + Mercurial Scimitar.

Barrier:

Barrier is useful when you’re playing against APCs (Hwei, Karma) or heavy poke lanes (Ezreal, Karma). It has a low cooldown, so you’ll be able to activate Nimbus Cloak much more often than with Exhaust.

Exhaust:

If you’re using this build, you should take this spell 99.99999% of the time. There are two reasons for that.

First, most ADCs currently run Barrier. By having Exhaust available, you can deny a lot of damage from burst-heavy champions more than a Barrier would be able to protect against. For example, against Miss Fortune, Twitch, or Lucian. This gives you the opportunity to match them in a 1v1, which can translate into a kill in matchups where you normally wouldn’t expect to be able to kill them.

Second, Nimbus Cloak has excellent synergy with this spell. You gain a 35% decaying movement speed boost while slowing the enemy by 40% for 3 seconds, which gives you strong chase potential. It also helps you secure early kills and hit your power spikes faster. In addition, it allows your jungler to have a much more reliable gank thanks to the slow, and on top of that, people playing against Smolder generally don’t take Cleanse.

Ghost:

Ghost ips an alternative I take in some games when I'm against immobile champions and want to use it offensively against champs like Jinx, Hwei, or Syndra. Essentially, the gameplay is to wait for them to use their CC and then chase them down with Ghost to look for a kill.

I also take it when I need the extra MS to kite melee comps (Renekton, Aatrox, Darius, Yasuo). It's a pretty consistent spell and a solid option if Barrier or Exhaust aren't necessary.

Teleport:

Teleport isn't really a spell I like that much because most of the time you'll use it when you want to match the Teleport of an APC (Ziggs, Hwei, Mel) or when you're against enemies that poke you a lot in lane.

Even so, if you're taking Teleport, it's because you're planning to play for scaling, which makes it easier to reach 225 stacks since you'll be spending more time in lane, although it's a pretty difficult spell to use properly.

Now, one recommendation I can give you when using Teleport, especially during the laning phase, is to look for recalls that allow you to buy your components. In other words, recall when you can buy boots (Steelcaps, Gluttonous, etc.) or complete an item.

For example, if I already have Sheen + Caulfield's, I'll wait until I have 1,100 gold to complete Essence Reaver, then TP back to lane.

I'm a supp main what supp should i go?

A while ago, I created this support tier list for playing with Smolder. While I'm not going to go into detail about every single support, what you need to know is that Seraphine, Milio, and Karma are the best supports because they provide everything Smolder needs: CC, shields/heals, and a strong early lane. In Milio's case, he also provides his W, which is why he's the best support to pair with Smolder in the late game.

On the other hand, engage supports don't work very well with Smolder, mainly because Smolder lacks damage in early. So whenever I get a Thresh, Pyke, Braum, Blitzcrank, etc., I usually tend to start Doran's Bow so I can contribute more damage to their engages.

Mage supports are meh. They give you a good early laning phase, but after that, they don't really help you with anything.

And finally, trash champs simply don't work with Smolder, either because their early game is terrible or because the champion itself just doesn't work well with him.

Despite that, Yuumi takes the crown as the worst support, basically because if the enemy has a brain, they can freeze the wave or permanently dive you, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it (But if you manage to reach late game with this duo, you've practically already won)

The end

I hope you like my mini-guide on how to build Smolder, and I hope that with this, people will finally know what the current build is (or at least what I think is the most optimal).

I occasionally stream on my Twitch martxd1, so if you have any questions about builds, matchups, synergies, etc., feel free to ask me :) (I speak Spanish, but I can also answer in English)

Some Other Banger Posts I've Made

Smolder Meme

Smolder Meme 2

Core and Spells explanation (Oldge)

Can some 1 explain it to me why no one is buying hexoptics on smolder. Because if you look at the item it fits the champ great. The range and plus % damage on your already existing % damage increase that you have with your spear of shojin on a infinitely scaling champ sounds good. The only damage in your kit that this item does not increase is the true dmg you deal with the passive as far as i know

it took me around 3 hours but it was worth it

They are a bit nice going crit lol

Also fk yunara

Hi guys, just re-hit masters this season playing 90% smolder. I feel like when I play smolder sometimes my supports mental takes a -50% debuff straight away the higher I climb lol. I do empathise though since laning sometimes sucks haha. Wondering what people's experience has been these days masters+?

Oi galera, minha dúvida é básica, comecei a jogar apenas de Smolder de um tempo para cá, mas algo que eu percebo sem dúvidas é que Smolder perde para QUALQUER adc de ataque basico, é até ridículo isso, pois campeões que consegue bater mais rápido que reset de habilidade, e gostaria de saber como vocês burlam isso, tipo se tem alguma forma ou build boa para contra eles, ou apenas dicas para não tomar 2 ataque basico do draven, yunara, vayne e virar pó antes mesmo do sup dar o stun

hi people, I've started picking up smolder recently and been having a lot of fun, but been wondering when they're gonna release new skins. it's super weird to me how he only has 2 even though he's not that unpopular, been out for quite some time, and his reindeer skin sold pretty well...

when do you guys think riot's gonna give him a legendary? and I'm curious to know what themes/details you think would really fit him and make the skin amazing (sorry if the title is misleading, wasn't intentional)

Hey guys, as the title says, whats the go to build for smolder today? ive recently started to play him but im not sure if i ever build the right things, pls let me know the full build and situationsl items

When you guys build hubris do you go ER-HUBRIS or HUBRIS-ER. What feels good to you?

I am really trying to find smolder bot lane OTPs that stream or have youtube videos to study, but I really can't find any. Anyone know anybody? Also no loud = funny pls

I'm sort of lost on what's most efficient on him. I do okay with DFT, but I really never feel like it's doing much of anything since the nerf.

Do we run Fleet? PTA? Dare I say Comet?

What about secondaries? JoAT is still okay, but definitely worse. I also see some people running Precision secondary with Legend Haste.

• Q passive bonus magic damage increased from 25%-55% (+9% IE) to 25%-60%(+10.5% IE)
• E passive bonus magic damage increased from 8%-12.8% (+1.44% IE) to 8%-14% (+1.8% IE)
• R self heal increased from 100-170 (+50% bonus AD)(+75% AP) to 100-250 (+75% bonus AD)(+75% AP)

Buffs are for crit builds and late game

"Smolder
- Smolder has also been on the weaker side after we made a bunch of adjustments to Black Cleaver and Deathfire Touch several months ago
- We're continuing to add more power to him, but into his Crit builds as his Bruiser builds have worse counterplay given his scaling profile"

Info from RiotPhroxzon on X

Smolder is getting a buff next patch (let's hope its not +2 base ad)