Vi ARAM Build and Guide

Updated for patch 26.22. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch; ARAM balance numbers come from the League of Legends Wiki’s champion data.

A Vi ARAM build leans on two small buffs: in ARAM, Vi deals 105% damage and takes 95% damage. Honestly, her kit suits one lane anyway. Vault Breaker closes the gap, Denting Blows breaks armor, and Cease and Desist locks one target down while knocking aside anyone in the way.

The items picked for this page reflect our own reading of what each one does as of patch 26.22. We don’t use win-rate data.

How is Vi changed in ARAM?

Two nudges, both in her favor. The Vi ARAM modifiers are 105% damage dealt and 95% damage taken (a value of 100% would mean no change at all). How much does 5% matter? Put it on a real trade: a combo that does 1,000 damage on Summoner’s Rift does 1,050 on the Howling Abyss, and 1,000 incoming damage lands as 950. Small, sure. Vi has 125 attack range, so she has to get close before she can punch anything, and that 5% is a small cushion on the way in.

Why does Vi work in a single lane?

Because every part of her kit points forward. Riot lists Vi as a Fighter and Assassin, with Jungle as her only position. ARAM skips that part. Everyone is stuck in the same corridor and the enemy carry can’t go stand behind a wall somewhere.

• Blast Shield (passive): a shield that charges over time and activates when she hits an enemy with an ability. In a single lane there is usually an enemy to hit with an ability, which is what activates it.
• Vault Breaker (Q): Vi charges her gauntlets and punches forward, carrying herself with the blow. Enemies she hits are knocked back and get a stack of Denting Blows. Cooldown 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds by rank.
• Denting Blows (W): her punches break the target’s armor, deal bonus damage and grant her attack speed. No cooldown.
• Relentless Force (E): her next attack blasts through the target and damages enemies behind it.
• Cease and Desist (R): Vi runs down one enemy, knocks aside anyone in the way, knocks the target into the air and slams it down. Cooldown 140/115/90 seconds.

The catch is you can’t take it back. Outside of Cease and Desist, Vault Breaker is her only gap closer, and once she spends it she walks like everyone else, with 125 range and no way back out. If your team came with you, great. If they didn’t, you get to watch the rest of the fight from the grey screen.

What should a Vi ARAM build focus on?

Attack damage with health attached, plus effects that reward landing an ability and then punching. Trinity Force (36 Attack Damage, 30% Attack Speed, 333 Health, 15 Ability Haste) is the natural first item in this Vi ARAM build. Its Spellblade passive makes the next attack after an ability deal bonus physical damage on-hit, which is exactly what Vault Breaker into Relentless Force does, and Quicken adds 20 Move Speed for 2 seconds whenever she attacks. Black Cleaver (45 AD, 400 Health, 20 Ability Haste) reduces the armor of champions she deals physical damage to by 6% for 6 seconds, stacking 5 times, on top of the armor break from Denting Blows. Both effects reduce the same target’s armor.

Spear of Shojin (45 AD, 450 Health) grants 25 Basic Ability Haste, so a 12 second Vault Breaker at rank 1 comes back sooner, and Focused Will raises her ability and passive damage by 3% per ability hit, up to 4 stacks. Sterak’s Gage (400 Health, 20% Tenacity) rounds it out with bonus Attack Damage and a decaying shield for 4.5 seconds when damage would drop her below 30% Health. That shield gives her some protection when Cease and Desist carries her into the enemy team. Full stats and patch history for everything above sit in our item database.

How do you play Vi on the Howling Abyss?

• Save Vault Breaker for a champion. Outside of Cease and Desist and Mark, it is her only way across the lane, and at rank 1 that is a 12 second wait if you spend it on minions.
• Charge the shield before the fight starts. Blast Shield activates when an ability hits an enemy, so land something before you go in.
• Attack through the tank, not around it. Relentless Force damages enemies behind the target, so aim it through the front line at the enemies standing behind it.
• Ult the one who matters. Cease and Desist knocks aside anyone in the way, so the front line is not a reason to pick a worse target.
• Keep hitting the same enemy. Vault Breaker puts a stack of Denting Blows on the enemies it hits, and Denting Blows breaks that opponent’s armor, deals bonus damage and grants Vi attack speed, so the armor break is wasted if you swap targets mid-fight.

How do shopping and Mark change the plan?

Thing is, you can’t recall in ARAM. Your only chances to buy come at the fountain, once at the start of the game and again after every respawn. Since walking back to base is off the table, the health relics dotted down the lane become your only source of healing between deaths. In practice, every death is a shopping trip, and it helps to know the next item before it happens.

Then there is Mark, the mode’s summoner spell. Land its snowball on an enemy and you get the option to dash to whoever it struck. For Vi this is another gap closer on a champion whose only others are Vault Breaker and Cease and Desist, so the sequence writes itself: snowball, dash, Vault Breaker to knock the target back, Cease and Desist if they try to leave. You make the Mark decision in the lobby, because the game locks summoner spells before loading and you cannot change them once the match begins. Is it worth a slot? On a 125 range champion it is an extra gap closer worth considering.

Is Vi good on the Howling Abyss?

Yes, when there is something to punch. Vi ARAM games go well against teams with one or two squishy damage dealers standing behind a tank, because Cease and Desist ignores the tank and Relentless Force hits both. What goes wrong? Five durable champions, or enough peel to stop her the moment she lands, and she does her one combo and then stands in the middle of the enemy team with the fight already lost.

The Rift matchups are in our Vi counters guide, and if you want to see the gauntlets in other colors there is a Vi skins page. Newer players who wonder why Riot lists Vi only as a jungler can read our guide to LoL roles.

Put simply, the Vi ARAM plan comes down to this: get the shield up, land Vault Breaker on the right person, then ult the one their tank can’t body-block.

FAQ

Is Vi buffed in ARAM?

Slightly. The League of Legends Wiki’s ARAM data puts Vi at 105% damage dealt and 95% damage taken in the mode.

What items does Vi build in ARAM?

Attack damage items with health: Trinity Force, Black Cleaver, Spear of Shojin and Sterak’s Gage.

Should Vi use Vault Breaker to engage or to escape?

To engage, in most cases. Vault Breaker punches forward and knocks enemies back, and outside of Cease and Desist and Mark it is her only dash, so spending it to leave means she has no way back in until those are available.

Who should Vi ult in ARAM?

The champion your team can follow up on. Cease and Desist knocks aside anyone in the way and knocks the target into the air, so the front line does not have to decide the target for you.

Is this build based on win rates?

No. Everything here comes from our own editorial read of how the items and abilities work in patch 26.22. We don’t use win-rate data.