League of Legends LoL: how to play Briar? best build

Briar, a new champion in League of Legends (LoL), made her debut in Patch 13.18 on the Public Beta Environment (PBE). A vampire created by the Black Rose, led by Leblanc, Briar is a powerhouse designed to balance her insatiable thirst for blood with a quest to understand life itself. Her abilities, build, and playstyle make her an intriguing champion to master.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to play Briar effectively, including the best summoner spells, runes, items, skill order, and more.

Briar’s Summoner Spells: Top Lane and Jungle

Top Lane:

  • Flash: This is a must-have for almost every champion in League of Legends, and Briar is no exception. It allows her to close the gap or escape from dangerous situations.
  • Teleport: A staple for top laners, providing the ability to quickly rotate and influence other lanes.

Jungle:

  • Flash: Again, this is crucial for positioning, engaging, or escaping.
  • Smite: This is essential for junglers to secure objectives and farm effectively.
  • Ghost: Briar benefits from this spell due to her need for high mobility to deal consistent damage. Ghost will allow her to chase down enemies or escape sticky situations.

Best Runes for Briar

Jungler Runes:

Briar needs a combination of damage, movement speed, and tenacity to reach and continuously attack enemies. Here's a great rune setup:

    LoL, Best Runes, Briar, Jungler
  • Precision Tree:

    • Conqueror: Briar can stack Conqueror quickly in fights, which amplifies her damage the longer she stays in combat.
    • Triumph: Gives her health and bonus gold after takedowns, which is perfect for staying in the fight longer.
    • Legend: Tenacity: Provides Briar with much-needed tenacity to withstand crowd control, especially in team fights.
    • Coup de Grace: Increases damage against low-health targets, ideal for finishing off enemies.
  • Secondary Tree:

    • Resolve:
      • Second Wind: A good choice for Briar’s laning phase, providing extra sustain.
      • Unflinching: This rune increases tenacity and slow resistance, helping Briar remain mobile in team fights.

Top Lane Runes:

While Briar is primarily designed for the jungle, she can also be played in the top lane. Against certain champions, Lethal Tempo might be an option for even more auto-attack damage:

    LoL, Best Runes, Briar, Jungler
  • Precision Tree:

    • Lethal Tempo (instead of Conqueror for more consistent DPS)
    • Triumph
    • Legend: Alacrity (if you want even more attack speed)
    • Coup de Grace
  • Secondary Tree:

    • Resolve:
      • Second Wind or Bone Plating
      • Unflinching

Briar's Best Items

Core Items:

  • Duskblade of Draktharr: Ideal for Briar's damage potential and escape ability. This item grants extra lethality, attack damage, and an "untargetable" effect after securing a kill, allowing Briar to reposition or escape.
  • Trinity Force: Provides a nice mix of damage, attack speed, health, and movement speed, which is great for Briar’s kit.
  • Guinsoo's Rageblade: Briar’s passive makes her a great candidate for Guinsoo's, enhancing her attack speed and auto-attack damage. It synergizes well with her stacking passive.

Standard Build (Top and Jungle):

  • Blade of the Ruined King: This item offers life steal, attack speed, and bonus magic damage on auto-attacks. It's excellent for Briar to deal with tanky champions while sustaining herself in the jungle or in lane.
  • Black Cleaver: This is useful for reducing enemy armor and gives Briar more durability and damage output. It also provides cooldown reduction (CDR), which helps Briar use her abilities more frequently.
  • Sterak's Gage: Provides Briar with health, attack damage, tenacity, and a massive shield—perfect for surviving in teamfights.

Endgame Items:

  • Death’s Dance: This item offers life steal, bonus attack damage, and a damage reduction mechanic, making it perfect for Briar to take risks while staying alive in prolonged fights.
  • Edge of Night: Great for engaging and providing a spell shield to protect Briar from crowd control.
  • Maw of Malmortius: This item is fantastic against magic damage champions. It grants Briar a shield and bonus AD, making her even tankier against mages.
  • Serpent’s Fang: Ideal when facing multiple shields. It allows Briar to cut through shield-heavy compositions.

Boots:

  • Berserker's Greaves: Best for early-game damage. They provide Briar with more attack speed to ramp up her offensive power.
  • Mercury's Treads: Useful against heavy crowd control, but be mindful that tenacity doesn’t counter knock-ups and removals.
  • Plated Steelcaps: A good option against physical damage-heavy champions, especially those who rely on basic attacks.

Briar’s Skill Order: Top Lane and Jungle

Briar’s skill order largely depends on whether you are playing her in the top lane or jungle.

In Jungle:

  1. Max W (Vampiric Frenzy) first to increase her healing and attack speed.
  2. Max E (Siphoning Strike) second to enhance her mobility and damage.
  3. Max A (Crimson Rush) last, as it provides more utility once the other abilities are maxed.

In Top Lane:

  1. Max W (Vampiric Frenzy) first, as this is her key sustain tool and provides great damage.
  2. Max A (Crimson Rush) second, offering her solid wave clear and damage.
  3. Max E (Siphoning Strike) last.

Ultimate (R): Max this ability as soon as possible. Briar’s ultimate is a game-changer that boosts her combat prowess significantly.

Playing Briar Effectively

Jungle Tips:

  • Farm efficiently: Briar’s jungle clear speed is solid, so focus on clearing camps and farming the jungle for gold and experience.
  • Gank aggressively: With her mobility and high sustain, Briar is excellent at ganking lanes and staying alive. Make sure to use Ghost or Flash to position for kills.
  • Objectives: Briar excels at securing objectives like Dragon and Rift Herald, thanks to her lifesteal and sustain.

Top Lane Tips:

  • Trade smart: In lane, Briar thrives with all-in trades. Use W (Vampiric Frenzy) to sustain yourself during trades and position yourself for maximum damage.
  • Manage your passive: Briar’s A (Crimson Rush) is her primary damage tool. Always make sure to use it when you have the passive charge for maximum effectiveness.

Conclusion

Briar is a powerful and versatile champion who can be played both in the jungle and top lane. She combines tankiness, mobility, and sustained damage, making her a force to be reckoned with in the right hands. Whether you’re clearing the jungle or taking on top laners, mastering Briar’s kit will allow you to dominate the battlefield with her thirst for blood. Just be mindful that, since Briar is a new champion, some of this information may change in future patches. Be sure to stay updated and adjust your build accordingly!

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