Guan Yu

How to play Guan Yu

Guan Yu is a melee warrior from the Chinese pantheon who deals physical damage. Top players mostly play Guan Yu in the Solo lane (64% of games) and the Support role (36% of games).

In your kit, Warrior's Will (dash damage slow) is your way in and out of fights. Warrior's Will (dash damage slow) slows enemies. Conviction (area heal, cooldown reduction) and Taolu Assault (channel damage, steal protections) add damage and pressure. Your ultimate is Cavalry Charge (mount, attack, stun), on a long cooldown (about 90s at rank 1), so save it for fights that matter. Your passive is Battle Fervor: damage grants attack speed.

Community guides level Taolu Assault, Warrior's Will and Taolu Assault first. Max Taolu Assault first, then Warrior's Will, then Conviction.

You are a front line fighter who deals damage and takes it. Walk into the fight first, start it with your crowd control, and stay on the enemy your team is focusing. Conviction and Taolu Assault keeps you in the fight longer than they expect. In the solo lane you will often fight one on one, so attack when their key ability is on cooldown.

Start with Hunter's Cowl, then buy Devourer's Gauntlet. Buy it early so it finishes stacking. Your core is Berserker's Shield and Shifter's Shield, and you finish with Genji's Guard, Freya's Tears and Kinetic Cuirass. A good relic is Blink Rune. If the enemy team heals a lot or you keep dying, open the full tool and enter the enemy gods for the exact swaps.

If you own Aspect of the General, it reworks Battle Fervor (damage grants intelligence), Conviction (area heal over time), Warrior's Will (dash damage slow), Taolu Assault (channel damage, steal protections) and Cavalry Charge (mount, attack, stun). It changes what to build, so turn on Aspect in the tool when you play it.

Top players win most often against Sobek, Hachiman and Xing Tian, and struggle against Scylla, Thanatos or Ullr. Against those, play safer and consider a defensive item earlier.