Guide Sections (15)
- Champion Stats
- The Blood Hunt
- Which Warwick Skin to Use
- When They Ban Warwick
- Optimal Runes for Warwick
- Warwick's Ability Priority
- Mastering Warwick's Kit
- Warwick's Lane Opponents
- Ult Range Overestimate
- When the Duel Is Unwinnable
- Diving the Backline
- The Titanic Warwick Build
- Timing Warwick's All-Ins
- The Cross-Map Ult
- Recent Patch History
Champion Stats
Low elo players do not respect Warwick's sustain. They will fight you at half HP and be shocked when you heal to full. They don't buy Grievous Wounds until it's too late. Furthermore, Blood Hunt gives you free information—you can see when enemies are low and gank from across the map. It's like having permanent wards on wounded enemies.
The Blood Hunt
Start Q and fight at the enemy Red Buff. Warwick is one of the strongest level 1 duelists in the game. Your Q heals you for massive amounts and deals %HP damage. Walk into their jungle, fight them at their buff, and kill them while they're distracted. Most junglers die or flash, giving you a massive early advantage.
Your W passive speed is insane. Run across the map in 5 seconds. You're the ultimate cleanup crew. If they're at 50% HP, you're at 200% speed. No one runs from the wolf. Hunt on.
Which Warwick Skin to Use
'Old God Warwick' has the best visual clarity on E fear zone. 'Lunar Guardian' has excellent W trail visuals that help you track your path. 'Project Warwick' is visually overwhelming and can be distracting for enemies, but occasionally distracts YOU too. The base skin is actually very clean.
'Old God' is the best. 'Lunar Guardian' for the trail. 'Hyena' for the laugh. Warwick is the hound of the rift—pick the one that smells the most blood. Hunt them down.
'Old God' is clean. 'Hyena' has the laugh (spam laugh while running). 'Project' is okay. Hyena Warwick's laugh is a weapon.
When They Ban Warwick
If Warwick is gone, Volibear is the best 'healing-duelist' pivot. If you want more speed, Hecarim. But nothing replaces the 'blood trail'. The wolf finds another forest.
Volibear for the drain. Trundle for the stats. Xin Zhao for the healing. Volibear matches the 'sustain tank' vibe.
Optimal Runes for Warwick
Press the Attack for burst and dueling. Lethal Tempo for extended skirmishes. Grasp of the Undying is rare but works in lane Warwick (top). Secondary: Triumph + Legend: Tenacity for anti-CC. Bone Plating secondary if you expect lots of burst (assassin junglers).
Warwick's Ability Priority
(Alternatively Q > E > W). Max Q first always—it's your damage and sustain. Max W second for better Blood Hunt tracking range. Max E second if you need more fear uptime and damage reduction against bursty enemies.
Mastering Warwick's Kit
Jaws of the Beast has two versions—tap Q to bite and heal, HOLD Q to lunge THROUGH the target. Hold Q to dodge skillshots, follow flashes, and stick to dashing targets. This is the mechanic that separates good Warwicks from great ones.
Blood Hunt reveals wounded enemies and grants attack speed AND movement speed toward them. The ACTIVE only briefly boosts speed—save it for chasing, not farming. It activates automatically when enemies are low.
Primal Howl gives damage reduction while active. Recast to fear enemies. You can HOLD E for the full duration or RECAST early if you need the fear immediately. The fear direction is away from you.
Infinite Duress leaps in a line and suppresses the first champion hit. It's unstoppable during the leap. You can use it to dodge CC. The suppression heals you for massive amounts—it often saves your life in 1v2s.
Warwick's Lane Opponents
Skill Matchup. He can interrupt your R with any CC. Respect his early damage, sustain through with Q. You outscale into mid-game.
Hard Counter. His ult negates your fear and R suppression. Do not fight him when he has ult. Wait it out.
Olaf ignores fear. Jax blocks autos. Teemo blinds autos. These are pain. Use E for damage reduction, not fear.
Vs Olaf: Hard. He ignores your fear/suppress. Vs Lee Sin: Skill. Time your Q to follow his dash. Vs Ranged: Suffering.
Ult Range Overestimate
Stop pressing E randomly. Your E is a DAMAGE REDUCTION tool AND a FEAR. Use it when you're taking damage, not as an engage. Also, stop pressing W—Blood Hunt is PASSIVE. The active only increases the blood trail speed, it doesn't activate the sense. Your W activates automatically on low-HP enemies.
R range scales with movement speed. Ghost + W passive = Cross map launch. You are a missile.
R range scales with Move Speed. Ghost + W passive = Cross map launch. Don't miss. If you miss R, you are a sitting duck.
When the Duel Is Unwinnable
Dodge if facing heavy kite comps (Ashe + Janna + Lux). You need to get on top of people, and endless slows/CC make that impossible. Also dodge into Jungle Lillia—her kiting is oppressive and she steals your camps with impunity.
Trundle/Olaf. They just beat you. You don't win the stat check. Run away.
Dodge Olaf/Trundle. They stat check you. You can't outheal their damage. Also heavy kiting comps (Ashe/Lulu). You never touch them.
Diving the Backline
You are not the engage (unless flanking with R). Your job is to dive the backline OR peel for your carry. E fear is a massive disengage tool. Q-hold onto priority targets to stick to them. R into the backline if you can get a clean angle, otherwise front-to-back with your team.
Follow the blood trail. Fear them into your team. Suppress the carry. If you miss R, you die of embarrassment.
Follow the blood trail. R the carry. Fear everyone away. Q-hold to follow their flash. You are a homing missile.
The Titanic Warwick Build
Divine Sunderer into Titanic Hydra into full tank. You become an unkillable front liner who shreds tanks AND heals through their damage. The %HP damage on Q + Divine procs is disgusting.
Titanic Hydra and Divine Sunderer. You're a healing beast. Your Q can follow Flashes and TPs—hold the button! You stick like glue and heal like a fountain.
Titanic Hydra -> Stridebreaker -> Sterak's. Auto-Q-Titanic reset is huge burst. You are tanky and deal damage. Best of both worlds.
Timing Warwick's All-Ins
Level 3 is your first spike—you're incredibly hard to duel. First item completion (Stridebreaker or Divine) is your murder window. Baron/Dragon are free with your sustain—you can solo almost any objective.
Wait for the blood trail. Then go. Your E-fear is for the finish. Your R is a gap-closer or an execute. You're the simplest but most effective hunter in the jungle. Awooo!.
Level 3 Invincible. Level 6 Lockdown. BORK/Stridebreaker spike. If they are below 50% HP, you are faster. Hunt them.
The Cross-Map Ult
Howl after kills (use emote). Walk directly at low-HP enemies during Blood Hunt—they will panic even if you're on the other side of the map. Type 'no heal?' after draining through their burst. Chase them into their fountain with R.
Camera lock off. Watch the map. See low HP mid? Run. Jump. Kill. Return top.
Seeing red trail. Running at Mach 10. Flying from River to Mid lane tower. Landing the suppression. Type 'Jumpscare' in chat.
Recent Patch History
Recent Balance Changes
| Patch | Date | Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| V14.9 | May 1, 2024 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
| V12.22 | Nov 16, 2022 | BUFF | Base stats adjusted |
| V12.10 | May 25, 2022 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
| V11.20 | Oct 6, 2021 | NERF | P nerfed |
| V11.6 | Mar 17, 2021 | BUFF | R adjusted |
