Warwick is one of the strongest jungle champions in League of Legends. Beginner players can use him to learn the game because he has everything – damage, mobility, crowd control, and defensiveness. But the first thing to understand about Warwick is whether he is an AP or an AD champion in LoL. And in this post, I’ll tell you everything you need to know!
What type of damage Is Warwick? Does Warwick deal more magic or physical damage? Does Warwick do AP damage? And can you play Warwick AP?
Here are the answers to all of these questions!
Is Warwick AP or AD in LoL?
Warwick is primarily an AD tank/fighter champion in League of Legends. Most of his damage comes from his basic attacks and his Q and R abilities. And because of this, most players build Warwick like an AD fighter or a tank. However, Warwick’s abilities also deal magic damage and scale with AP.
If you aren’t a total beginner in League of Legends, then you probably know what kind of items Warwick players build. Divine Sunderer, Titanic Hydra, Sterak’s Gage – these are the core items in Warwick’s season 13 build.
And what all of these items have in common is the fact that they grant both offensive and defensive stats. For example, Divine Sunderer grants 40 attack damage, 300 health, 20 ability haste, and 5% armor and magic penetration per legendary item completed.
Items like Divine Sunderer are vital to Warwick’s playstyle in season 13 of League of Legends because they increase his offensiveness and defensiveness at the same time. They allow him to deal lots of damage while still being able to endure the enemy attacks and not get one shot.
However, Warwick players often switch their builds to full tank if there isn’t another tanky champion in their team or they need more defensive stats to survive team fights. Then they build items like Sunfire Aegis or Spirit Visage.
So if you’re looking to counter Warwick this season, the best way to do so is by building lots of armor and max HP items. But you can also negate his defensiveness by purchasing these anti-tank items too.
An interesting fact is that both Warwick’s passive and Q are technically magic damage and not physical. They have AP and AD ratios, so Warwick can also be played as AP.
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Can You Play Warwick AP?
Since Warwick’s passive and Q are categorized as magic damage and scale with ability power, it’s totally possible to play Warwick full AP. In fact, the AP ratio on Warwick’s Q is 100%, so its damage with AP items will always be high. However, the AP WW build is much squishier than the AD/tank build.
One thing that you shouldn’t forget is the fact that Warwick’s passive allows him to apply all on-hit effects through basic attacks. And if this effect is combined with items like Nashor’s Tooth or Lich Bane, the results are surprisingly good!
So the problem with playing AP Warwick isn’t really the damage output. The difficult part is to survive as a melee champion that only has melee damage (basic attacks and Q).
The trick here is to play Warwick like an AP assassin. Think of Ekko or Fizz. The best way to fight is to engage with R, do damage with basic attacks, finish the target with Q and run away.
WW’s Q is one of the best abilities in League of Legends. Not only can it one-shot a squishy enemy, but if you hold the button, the ability will also follow your target anywhere. This makes it impossible for your enemies to run away from your AP damage, even with Flash.
If you want to see a comparison of AD Warwick and AP Warwick, watch this YouTube video. There you can see where each build shines and where it falls short.
And if you still don’t know whether to play Warwick AD or AP, this next part is for you!
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How Do You Play Warwick AP? (AP Warwick Build Season 13)
The best runes for playing AP Warwick in season 13:
- Dark Harvest – a great keystyone for late-game scaling and executing enemies on low HP.
- Cheap Shot – makes you deal more damage to enemies while they’re in CC.
- Eyeball Collection – passively increases your ability power.
- Ultimate Hunter – significantly reduces the cooldown of your ultimate.
- Celerity – boosts your overall movement speed.
- Waterwalking – gives you high movement speed while being in the river.
Some great optional runes are Ravenous Hunter, Relentless Hunter, Triumph, and Coup de Grace.
The best items for playing AP Warwick in season 13:
- Mercury’s Treads – provide you with enough tenacity to quickly get out of crowd control.
- Riftmaker – allows you to deal more damage and self-heal.
- Nashor’s Tooth – increases your attack speed and synergizes wtih your passive.
- Demonic Embrace – works perfectly with Riftmaker and burns the target for additional magic damage.
- Zhonya’s Hourglass – grants you armor and allows you to use the Stasis effect.
- Rabadon’s Deathcap – greatly increases your damage in the late game.
The best optional items that you can get on AP Warwick are Lich Bane, Void Staff, Morellonomicon, or Banshee’s Veil.
The AP Warwick build is a fun playstyle that I really recommend trying, especially in mid lane. It has so much damage that you can easily one-shot the enemy ADC. And here are the rune and items you’re going to need!
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Conclusion
That’s all you need to know about Warwick AP or AD in League of Legends. The champion is really simple and its main ability to understand is Q – Jaws of the Beast. It’s a magic damage type of spell that scales with both AP and AD. And depending on what you build, it can deal really high damage overall.
I’d suggest you check Warwick’s official fandom page if you want to view all ratios of his abilities. It can give you an insight into how this champion works in LoL.
And I hope this guide helped you figure out how Warwick’s damage works in the game!
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