Full Build Friday - Volibear, the Relentless Storm [Awakened Animal Barbarian] (Patreon)

I've had this brainstorm brewing for a while and I figured it was finally time to unleash it! As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in my best attempt to fit the character. These choices may not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.

Brave the storm to find this build for Volibear, the Relentless Storm from League of Legends!

VOLIBEAR, THE RELENTLESS STORM

SOURCE League of Legends

BUILD GOALS

o    Resembling an immense polar bear, Volibear is actually a divine being that embodies lightning, storms, battle, and war

o    Within the League, he is a melee juggernaut that fights with his natural weapons and control over the storms. As a juggernaut, he has durability while also dealing out damage but lacks extra mobility

o    His eponymous passive builds up stacks as he attacks enemies, which increase his attack speed and eventually lead into Lightning Claws, empowering his attacks to zap other nearby foes

o    He gets a bit beasty with Thundering Smash where he runs at an enemy on all fours and empowers his next attack with extra damage and a stunning effect

o    With his Frenzied Maul, he slashes at a target to deal damage and mark them with Wounded. If they’re already Wounded, he instead chomps at them to deal more damage and heal himself

o    The last of his basic abilities is Sky Splitter, which summons a lightning bolt to a location that damages and slows enemies but will shield Volibear if he’s in the area

o    His arsenal finishes off with Stormbringer, which has him leap to a location while powering himself up – increasing his size and reach. On impact, he damages and slows enemies and disables enemy turrets

o    In Legends of Runeterra, Volibear is a powerful unit that calls down Relentless Storms to damage enemy units

Summary of Goals: To bring this character to life, I want to capture Volibear’s savage nature. Both the wildness of his form and his association with storms. He should be able to channel the storm both into his attacks and just call down lightning bolts. His ability to disable turrets can potentially be explored through effects that can destroy objects or structures.

LEVEL 1

Ancestry & Heritage: Hungerseed Awakened Animal – Large

o    Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Strength, -Charisma

o    Ancestry Feat: Tooth and Claw

o    Natural Attacks: Claw – 1d4 S (agile, finesse, unarmed), Jaws – 1d6 P (finesse, unarmed)

Background: Storm Survivor

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Charisma

o    Skill Increase: Survival (T), Weather Lore (T)

o    Background Feat: Forager

Class & Subclass: Bloodrager Barbarian

o    Class Ability Boost: +Strength

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (T), Intimidation (T), Medicine (T), Nature (T)

o    Class Feat: Sudden Charge

Details

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +4, Dex +0, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +2)

For this build, I heavily considered the use of the yaoguai ancestry however awakened animal fits better mechanically with what I want to build. We will be mixing things up a bit with the hungerseed heritage to get a horns natural attack to go along with the one that we get as an awakened animal, and then we’ll triple down on that with Tooth and Claw, grabbing some claws or jaws to best suit him. I did struggle with his background a bit before settling on storm survivor given his association with storms and such. Similar to his ancestry, I wanted to use the elemental instinct for the build but I looked into it, and it couldn’t really work out. Ultimately, I had to settle on the bloodrager though we don’t really get the full effect for a level or two. Inspired by the rush of his Thundering Smash, I did add the Sudden Charge as his class feat.

LEVEL 2

o    Class Feat: Bloodrager Dedication – Arcane

o    Skill Feat: Predict Weather

o    Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – electric arc, live wire

o    Gear: psycopomp mask

LEVEL 3

o    General Feat: Fleet

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (E)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1), psycopomp mask, ring of discretion

LEVEL 4

o    Class Feat: Rising Blood Magic

o    Skill Feat: Quick Jump

o    Spell Repertoire: 1st – horizon thunder sphere

o    Gear: coyote cloak, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), necklace of knives, psycopomp mask

LEVEL 5

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +4.5, Dex +1, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +3)

o    Ancestry Feat: Storming Gaze

o    Skill Increase: Survival (E)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), coyote cloak, warming parka, necklace of knives, psycopomp mask, ring of discretion

We start exploring our bloodrager class archetype this block and we’ll be using it to pick up electricity-based spells though you could likely include spells with the air or cold trait as well while still staying on theme. Given the requirements of the Bloodrager Dedication, we’ll have to start with live wire though I do like a Strike followed by an electric arc to resemble the arcing electricity of his Lightning Claws. Rising Blood Magic presents us with some additional storm spells, such as the horizon thunder sphere. Naturally, for a storm deity, Predict Weather might be more along the lines of ‘make weather,’ but I think it can fit pretty nicely. He does get a bit more physical with Quick Jump calling to mind the jump he makes as part of his Stormbringer. Since we did end up going for a versatile heritage, we’re a little slower than I’d like to be, so he’ll take an early Fleet to get a slight speed boost. Though, from that heritage, we can acquire Storming Gaze, which is a great fit for Volibear and one of the main reasons that I went for the hungerseed heritage.

LEVEL 6

o    Class Feat: Barreling Charge

o    Skill Feat: Combat Climber

o    Spell Repertoire: 2nd – sudden bolt

o    Gear: +1 breastplate, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), lifting belt, coyote cloak, necklace of knives, lesser everair mask

LEVEL 7

o    General Feat: Toughness

o    Skill Increase: Athletics (M)

o    Gear: staff of the tempest, +1 breastplate, lesser rending gauntlets, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), coyote cloak, warming parka

LEVEL 8

o    Class Feat: Bespell Strikes

o    Skill Feat: Rapid Mantel

o    Spell Repertoire: 3rd – haste

o    Gear: nomad’s shawl, spiritsight ring, staff of the tempest, +1 breastplate, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking), lifting belt

LEVEL 9

o    Ancestry Feat: Wild Stride

o    Skill Increase: Survival (M)

o    Gear: +1 resilient breastplate, nomad’s shawl, boots of bounding, staff of the tempest, lesser rending gauntlets, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)

LEVEL 10

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Charisma (Str +5, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +4)

o    Class Feat: Renewed Vigor

o    Skill Feat: Environmental Guide

o    Gear: armbands of athleticism, +1 resilient hide, shock weapon rune, nomad’s shawl, staff of the tempest, handwraps of mighty blows (+1 striking)

Barreling Charge might honestly fit Thundering Smash a bit better than Sudden Charge with the ability to run through people fitting the ghosting effect of it and still ending with a Strike. We do snap back to our bloodrager feats to gain Bespell Strikes, providing us with a way to apply electricity damage to our strikes. As for other aspects of his kit, Volibear actually has a good bit of healing or even shielding. The former is a bit harder to replicate in PF2e, but you can use Renewed Vigor to have a way of consistently applying temporary Hit Points as a means of referencing that. There is a spell to be found here and I’d actually use the haste spell at third-rank to give us a way to represent the stacking attack speed of his Relentless Storm, something which is a little hard to do with the barbarian normally. Given his mountainous homeland, Combat Climber and Rapid Mantel both felt like natural fits whereas Environmental Guide should help him survive to in the chill environs of the Freljord and let him grant that grace to others as well. Toughness adds to his tankiness, and then Wild Stride is actually an important part of the build as this is what lets him really drop onto all fours to race forward. It would be fun if this was more of a passive effect, but I guess we’ll take what we can get.

LEVEL 11

o    General Feat: Fast Recovery

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (E)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak, +1 resilient hide, boots of bounding, medal of the wolf pack

LEVEL 12

o    Class Feat: Sudden Leap

o    Skill Feat: Planar Survival

o    Gear: +2 resilient hide, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 striking), greater staff of the tempest, armbands of athleticism, shock weapon rune, greater jolt coil

LEVEL 13

o    Ancestry Feat: Tempest Gaze

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (M)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), +2 resilient hide, bravery baldric (stone), greater staff of the tempest, armbands of athleticism, greater coyote cloak

LEVEL 14

o    Class Feat: Surging Blood Magic

o    Skill Feat: Quick Climb

o    Spell Repertoire: 4th – draw the lightning

o    Gear: propulsive boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), major jolt coil, +2 resilient hide, wand of crackling lightning (4th-rank), greater staff of the tempest

LEVEL 15

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str +5.5, Dex +2, Con +4.5, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +4.5)

o    General Feat: Sanguine Tenacity

o    Skill Increase: Acrobatics (T), Athletics (L)

o    Gear: +2 greater resilient hide, propulsive boots, greater ring of the ram, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), bravery baldric (stone), greater obsidian goggles

The leap and smash of Stormbringer influenced my inclusion of Sudden Leap, allowing Volibear to come crashing down in a devastating slam. Our lagging Arcana skill did lead to the somewhat late acquisition of draw the lightning and while it might be hard to find foes that are taller than Volibear, it certainly suits his Sky Splitter. A draw the lightning followed by a Renewed Vigor is a solid way of resembling this ability all together save for the fact that it’s more of a single target spell. Planar Survival is inspired by the fact that he is a deity so some association with realms outside the physical should match him and then he uses Quick Climb so that he can swiftly scale his daunting domain. Fast Recovery is usually a good fit for League characters but especially for tanky ones like this while Sanguine Tenacity is something that I talked about for our previous bloodrager build. We do get to improve Storming Gaze into Tempest Gaze, which does apply a cooldown to it but significantly soups it up.

LEVEL 16

o    Class Feat: Hematocritical

o    Skill Feat: Cloud Jump

o    Spell Repertoire: 6th – chain lightning

o    Gear: greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, major staff of the tempest, propulsive boots, handwraps of mighty blows (+2 greater striking), major jolt coil

LEVEL 17

o    Ancestry Feat: Kishin Rage

o    Skill Increase: Arcana (L)

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater shock weapon rune, greater thundering weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, propulsive boots, greater ring of the ram

LEVEL 18

o    Class Feat: Exultant Blood Magic

o    Skill Feat: Terrain Expertise – Mountain

o    Gear: bracers of strength, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), wand of paralytic shocks (7th-rank), greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient hide, major staff of the tempest

LEVEL 19

o    General Feat: Robust Health

o    Skill Increase: Survival (L)

o    Gear: +3 greater resilient hide, bracers of strength, major shining symbol, handwraps of mighty blows (+3 greater striking), greater shock weapon rune, greater thunderblast slippers

LEVEL 20

o    Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str +6, Dex +2, Con +5, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +5)

o    Class Feat: Annihilating Swing

o    Skill Feat: Legendary Survivalist

o    Gear: handwraps of mighty blows (+3 major striking), +3 greater resilient hide, wand of crackling lightning (8th-rank), bracers of strength, wand of paralytic shocks (7th-rank), quickstrike weapon rune

This build does have a slight more focus on throwing out spells to inflict upon others than our previous bloodrager so I slipped in Hematocritical among our class feats to potentially make our spells a bit more potent. Along those same lines, he’ll use Exultant Blood Magic just to be able to heighten the spells we’ve already gained and get more spell slots overall. This is a fantastic feat of this type, giving way more benefits than it maybe should. He finishes off his class feats with Annihilating Swing. The ability to simply destroy objects or at least parts of structures feels right for the turret disabling effect of his Stormbringer. From his previous blood magic feat, he does unlock chain lightning in this block, which is another way to resemble the arcing of his Lightning Claws. As for his final skill feats, Cloud Jump means he can leap from way off field to come crashing down. We focus on his Survival skill with his last two feats, making him even more of a master of the mountains while Legendary Survivalist shall help him to weather any storm. Kishin Rage is another way to add electricity to his attacks while also giving him a super solid shield of temporary Hit Points. Speaking of his HP, he can use Robust Health so that it’s easier for his allies to get him patched up and back into battle.

FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: While it’s something that I looked at initially before deciding against, you could consider a Kineticist Dedication in a free archetype game. You would predominantly use the air and metal elements as those are what will give you access to electricity effects, but I felt they were a little lacking from the options. You could also consider an Exemplar Dedication and take up the Hands of the Wildling with the Energized Spark for electricity damage with the splash damage honestly being a great way to resemble his Lightning Claws.

BUILD CONCLUSION

Volibear the Relentless Storm is a hungerseed awakened animal barbarian with a bloodrager instinct and a storm survivor background. He’s modeled after a polar bear as a Large running animal, but doesn’t get the full benefit of that due to his hungerseed heritage, which is busy calling to mind both his divine nature and association with storms. The barbarian class is a good stand-in for the juggernaut class from League with the damage and durability of its Rage. Through its bloodrager instinct, we’ll be able to tap into an array of spells, including haste which we can use to represent the stacking attack speed of his Relentless Storm passive. The Lightning Claws it grants on full stacks can come from Bespell Strikes, draw the lightning, or even his Kishin Rage though for the arcing effects, we’ll have to rely on electric arc or chain lightning. We can use a Barreling Charge for his Thundering Smash, running down foes with the barbarian’s Furious Footfalls and finishing off with a solid strike. To fit the feel of the stun, he’ll probably have to use his master Athletics skill to Trip or even Grapple the target to simulate the idea. Frenzied Maul seems like it should be straightforward, just being a Strike as there doesn’t really exist a condition to match League’s Wounded. He does have different damage values on his claws and jaws, so maybe that could help. While it may be a little hard to use given his size, draw the lightning is a great way to cover Sky Splitter, especially when you combo it with Renewed Vigor. Without any actual limit on this action, this should honestly be a decent way to resemble the host of healing in his kit. Finishing off his classic kit, the entry of Stormbringer comes from his Sudden Leap while the ramp-up effects could suit his Kishin Rage. He further covers its effect to disable turrets with Annihilating Swing letting him potentially wipe out or otherwise devastate a structure. In League’s card game, he calls down bolts to devastate the battlefield, which we can find in the form of sudden bolt.

The sire of storms, this super-sized celestials smashes cities and civilizations to smithereens with squalls and sundering slams while supporting a surrender to ceaseless savagery.

Have a fantastic Friday!