A League of Legends walkthrough / guide by Remanemporor.
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(Note: To find something quickly you can also hit CTRL+F on your keyboard and search for it)Introduction
The Game
The Successor of DotA
Terms and Abbreviations
Basic Elements
A Basic Rundown
Controls
The Roles
Attributes
Recommended Items?
Champion Statistics
Early Game Strategies
Lane Compilation
Before the Minions
Top and Bottom
Middle Lane
A Junglers Guide
The Transition
Version History
Copyright
Introduction
(Back to Top) ~~~ League of Legends ~~~~ Created by: Remanemporor Version: 0.20 Contact me for ANYTHING that you think should be added, removed, expanded, contracted, replaced, transposed, inverted, or changed in any way (I'm lonely enough that I will respond to almost anything). If you see any typos, tell me. Any bad info, tell me. I will give you credit. Also, if you have a guide/build for a champ that you think is particularly awesome, send it in! The more variation the better. Contact: Remanemporor2[@]live.com This is my second attempt at writing a FAQ. I picked League of Legends (abbreviated LoL) because I have been playing it A LOT recently, so it seemed like a good candidate. I was also shocked at the lack of other complete guides (there are hundreds of guides on character building, but these don't give tips on the game in general). _________________________ [1.1] The Game League of Legends is one of the first self proclaimed "MOBA" (massive online battle arena), and is available free for download off the internet. It has some RPG elements, but is primarily a RTS with a heavy emphasis on teamwork. It has been out for about a year now (since the start of this guide), and has a playerbase in America of almost one million. _________________________ [1.2] The Successor of DotA If you've ever played Warcraft 3, you've probably heard about its most popular mod, DotA (Defense of the Ancients). The mod was so successful that it spawned its own lineage of game. The other two main ones that I can think of are Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and Demigod. As of now, LoL is the only one of them that is free to play, so it was the one I chose. If you are coming from DotA you'll notice a few changes. The addition of brush allows you to become invisible to surrounding enemies, unless they enter the brush themselves. This is useful for launching ganks, as you can have the first strike. The other main difference is that you can no longer deny. This can be annoying sometimes when their Heimerdinger gets over 300 minion kills by the 30 minute mark, but overall its not such a big deal. It allows for a last hitting strategy, where you only attack for the killing blow, ensuring that you get the kill and gold, rather than your minions. Other than these two major changes, the rest has remained relatively the same. _________________________ [1.3] Terms and Abbreviations You will hear many terms in the game, forums, and on this guide that you may not know. Here is a compilation of some of the most popular. This is by no means a complete list, but at least it will get you started. ability: each champion has 3 abilities and 1 ultimate that usually do magic damage AD: attack damage; increased by leveling up and by items, this helps normal right-click attacks to do more damage AFK: away from keyboard; when people are not playing at all, they are considered AFK (this is highly shunned in the LoL community) AP: ability power; used for casters to help their spells do more damage aura: some items give an aura that allow you AND your nearby allies to receive benefits b: back; used to signal that a teammate should retreat backdoor: when a champ attempts to take out a turret or inhibitor without the help of minions, usually when the enemy team is away baron: baron nashor; the huge worm in Summoners Rift that, if killed, grants large bonuses to everyone on the team basic attacks: each champion has the ability to simply right click on an enemy to do physical damage, but can be augmented by passive abilities or magical items (such as sheen) bg: bad game blind: a move that makes an enemy champion unable to use normal attacks, but still able to use abilities bot: referring to the bottom lane in Summoners Rift brush: an area of grass where you become invisible except when an enemy enters it buff: a temporary increase to some stat, can be received through allies, items, or slaying certain neutrals care: careful; used to tell your allies that they are in danger, can be accompanied by pings or someones name, such as "care pantheon" carry: these champs (if played correctly) will be the deciding factor in the late game fights cc: crowd control; general term that describes an ability that would hinder a champions ability to fight, stuns, blinds, and silences are the most common cd: cooldown; all spells have a certain time before they can be used again champ: champion creeps: minions spawned by each nexus d: defend dc: a player who disconnects from the game before it is over DoT: damage over time, spells where damage is dealt over a period of time rather than all at once, examples are ignite and Teemo's mushrooms DotA: Defense of the Ancients; the game that inspired LoL DPS: damage per second; these champs are specialized to do the most damage possible ELO: in a very small nutshell, how good a player is farm: to kill a large amount of creeps or neutrals to get experience and gold FB: first blood; the first kill in the game grants 400 gold instead of 300 fear: an ability that causes the target to run around like an idiot for a period of time, making them unable to attack or move where they want to go feed: when someone constantly dies, they are said to be feeding the other team, when a player has many kills they are said to be fed focus: target a specific player, generally low HP ones gank: ambush gg: good game gj: good job harass: hit the enemy with non lethal bursts of damage to force them to go back and heal inc: incoming; a variation of omw, but can also be used to say that an ult is coming, such as saying "pantheon ult inc" jungle: in between lanes is typically called the "jungle" lane: referring to the top, mid, or bottom lane in Summoners Rift leaver: a player that quits a game before it ends lol: League of Legends or laugh out loud, depending on context mage: (aka magic DPS) a champ that is built to kill others by using their abilities mia: missing in action; used to alert allies that a certain enemy is away from their lane, and may be trying to gank mid: referring to the middle lane in Summoners Rift neutrals: referring to the AI controlled monsters in the jungle omw: on my way; used when you are moving to a certain location oom: out of mana; used when you or an enemy is out of mana, and is vulnerable because of it physical DPS: a champion that is built to kill other champs by using their basic attack pot: potion; for instance a health pot would be a health potion push: when you gather with allies and minions and try to destroy enemy towers and/or inhibitors ragequit: to quit a game because of anger re: if someone calls an mia, but relize that they weren't mia, the would just say "re", for instance, "nidalee mia..... re" Riot: the developer of the game silence: a move that makes an enemy champion unable to use abilities, but still able to use normal attacks skillshot: most abilities are auto aimed and always hit the target, but skillshots are aimed manually and can miss slow: a move that slows the movement speed of a target or group of targets snare: a move that immobilizes a champion, but allows them to attack squishy: a champ with low health and armor that can easily be killed if they are alone SR: the Summoners Rift map stun: completely immobilizes a champion or group of champions, making them unable to move or attack, but usually lasts for a shorter time than slows support: these champs are based solely on helping their allies through buffs, heals, and disrupting the enemy tank: the primary goal of these champs is to keep their allies alive by absorbing incoming fire, usually aided by health and armor items taunt: a move that forces the targeted champ to attack the champ that used the taunt top: referring to the top lane in Summoners Rift ult: ultimate; the defining move a character unique: some items say "UNIQUE passive" which means that if you buy 2 of the same item, the passive doesn't stackBasic Elements
(Back to Top) ========================================================================== Here is a guide to the most basic elements of the game. If you have played the game at all, you'll probably know most of this. You should know that each champ has 1 innate ability (also called passive because it can't be activated), 3 regular abilities, and 1 ult (except udyr). _________________________ [2.1] A Basic Rundown League of Legends starts off with each champ buying their starting items. This can give a first glance into their playing style, but isn't always a foolproof method (an AD Master Yi could easily start out with mana regen too). Once everyone has their items, they head out, 2 to the top lane, 2 to the bottom, and 1 mid (unless there's a dc, jungler, early game gank, etc.). Top and bottom lanes fight their enemies for control of the brush at the corners of the map, and many first bloods occur before the first minion has even spawned. Once the minion armies come, the first 15 minutes or so is termed the "laning phase" where each champ tries to kill as many minions as possible to get gold. Champs are always harassing each other to try and make their enemies go back to heal and lose valuable gold and experience, but this happens to an extreme level in the middle lane. It is truely a war of attrition at mid, and even going back to heal once is considered a small defeat. After the laning phase ends, most champs head mid to help out in team fights. Both teams try to push their enemies towers, while some champs may go to the top or bottom lanes to farm or backdoor the other towers. Eventually a team fight ensues. Usually there is a clear-cut winner, and if they are a good team, they will attempt to push some turrets. Bad teams may get lucky and win a team fight, but if they don't destroy some towers, it is a very shallow win. At the 25 minute mark teams are allowed to surrender. Because of this, many games simply end here. If it is a good game, however, it can take as long as 45 minutes or more (my longest was a 72 minute game). It will boil down to not only which team wins team fights, but also who can push the best. Many games are won where one team loses every team fight up until the 50 minute mark, finally wins one, and pushes so well that they end up destroying the nexus. _________________________ [2.2] Controls Here is a list of all the controls in the game Q = cast spell 1 W = cast spell 2 E = cast spell 3 R = cast spell 4 ctrl + Q = level up spell 1 ctrl + W = level up spell 2 ctrl + E = level up spell 3 ctrl + R = level up spell 4 D = summoner spell 1 F = summoner spell 2 alt + Q = smart cast spell 1 alt + W = smart cast spell 2 alt + E = smart cast spell 3 alt + R = smart cast spell 4 space = c enter camera on champion F1 = select self F2 = select ally 1 F3 = select ally 2 F4 = select ally 3 F5 = select ally 4 Y = camera lock up = scroll up down = scroll down left = scroll left right = scroll right mouse wheel = zoom in/out C = show character names O = score board Z = chat history P = shop 1 = use item in slot 1 2 = use item in slot 2 3 = use item in slot 3 4 = use item in slot 4 5 = use item in slot 5 6 = use item in slot 6 B = teleport to base shift + L = show health bars H = minion health bars shift + K = summoner names G = ping F5 = draw hud ctrl + F = toggle FPS display alt + click = control pet _________________________ [2.3] The Roles There are 3 general roles in this game, as well as hybrids (magetank). The 3 roles are tank, physical dps, and the mage. As a tank, it is your sole responsibility to make sure that your allies stay alive, even if that means sacrificing yourself. To do this, you'll want to make yourself as annoying as possible, such as by stunning the enemy team, or taunting them, forcing them to attack you. You need to have items that prolong your life to absorb as much damage as possible before you die, enabling you to protect your team longer. You will be focusing health, magic resist, armor, or a combination of these. As a physical DPS, your main goal is to deal physical damage to the enemy team by using your basic attack. You'll want to get items that boost your attack damage, attack speed, and critical chance to help you. Usually you are weak on health, so you should ALWAYS be protected by a tank in team fights. Usually, you'll only want to attack the enemy with the lowest health (don't focus the tank). As a mage, you can have 2 goals. Some mages such as Soraka and Zilean are supports, and they help their team by giving health, aura buffs, escapes, etc. Your main job is to keep your team fighting fit. The other mage type is the offensive caster, otherwise known as the magical DPS. These guys (such as Annie and Fiddlesticks) use their ability power to strengthen their spells, which they use to kill enemies. Both types of magic users need to stay behind tanks whenever they can. _________________________ [2.4] Attributes Riot has given each of the champions certain "attributes". These do nothing in the game, but can help you to discern what kind of character you are looking at. Are they a carry? Can they farm well? Here is a list of all of the attributes and what they mean. Assassin: These guys can kill enemies quickly, and usually have some skill to make them invisible or close distance with an enemy quickly Carry: Champs that are carries are the ones who will win late game team fights, and although they start off weaker (on average), they scale well into the late game Disabler: A champ that interfere with a summoners ability to control their champ, such as a fear or stun Farmer: These champs have skills that allow to farm with efficiency, usually they have AoE skills Fighter: A champ that performs best in team fights Flee: A champ that possesses a skill that allows it to escape from fights Haste: A champ that can speed itself up, or an ally Heal: A champ that can heal itself, or an ally Mage: AP based champs Melee: A champ that has to be next to an enemy to use their basic attack Ninja: A champ that uses energy instead of mana Nuke: Usually AP champs that have the ability to do a large amount of damage in a wide radius in a short time. They don't scale well, however Pet: A champ that can create a pet, sometimes controllable by using the ctrl key Pusher: Good for destroying towers and, to some extent, minions Ranged: The opposite of a melee, these can use their basic attack from a distance Silence: A champ that can silence enemies Snare: A champ that can immobilize enemies for a short time Slow: A champ that can slow enemies Stealth: A champ that can become invisible Stun: A champ that can stun Support: Usually AP champs that help their allies Tank: Champs that are designed to get killed to save their allies Teleport: Champs that can teleport to the target location Tough: A champ that is harder to kill than most _________________________ [2.5] Recommended Items? At the top of the shop menu there is a list called recommended items. It is different for each champ, and it is what Riot says would be a good build if it is your first time as that character. Should you use it? If you have only played a few games, then yes you should. They at least get you in the right direction for playing the character. If you are a newcomer, you might try an AD Annie, or AP Twitch. After a few games, you should switch a few items up for a build that makes a bit more sense (I cringe when Riot recommends a guardian angel for a DPS character). After a while, you should have a good strategy going, and you can completely forget recommended items. _________________________ [2.6] Champion Statistics Here is a rundown of what makes up a champion HP: How much health a champion has, and how much damage they can take HP Regen: How fast champions regenerate health Attack: How much damage your physical attacks do Armor Pen: If a champ had 100 armor and you had 20 armor pen, your attacks would treat that champ as if he only had 80 armor Lifesteal: How much your physical attacks heal you. If you had 10% lifesteal and attacked for 150 damage after armor and whatnot, you would gain 15 HP. This is good for staying out in the field longer Attack Speed: How many times per second your champ attacks Crit Chance: How likely your champ is to deal double damage Range: How far your champ can attack Speed: How fast your champ moves Mana: All spells cost mana (for most champs), and this is how large your mana pool is Mana Regen: Like health regen, only for mana Ability Power: How much ability power your champion has, which affects how much their abilities do Spell Penetration: Like armor penetration, only for magic resistance Cooldown Reduction: How much percent shorter your cooldowns are Dodge: How likely you are to dodge physical attacks, and take no damage from them Armor: How resistant to physical attacks you are Magic Resistance: How resistant to magical attacks you areEarly Game Strategies
(Back to Top) The Laning phase occupies approximately the first 15 minutes of every game on Summoners Rift. It is critical not to make many mistakes here, because they snowball into huge problems by the late game. _________________________ [3.1] Lane Compilation Which champions go in which lane can have a huge impact on your entire game. Generally, you'll want someone capable to handle mid, due to its attrition like nature (I detail which champs are best for mid in the champion section). For the other two lanes, you'll usually want to have at least one ranged champ in each, be it a physical dps or a mage. If your team is running low on ranged champs, you can always substitute some in. Gangplank can make a suitable ranged because of his parrrley ability. Chogath can also fill in, due to his ability to harass with his spikes. Sometimes though, you'll just get a bad team combo, or a team that won't listen to where they should go. If this happens, just sit by your tower and snipe minion kills when you get the chance. An easy way to do this is for the tower to hit melee minions twice, then you strike. For caster minions, strike them, have your turret hit them, then you hit them again for another kill. Doing this can allow you to stay competitve in the game. _________________________ [3.2] Before the Minions In the minute and 30 seconds before minions spawn, there is quite a bit to accomplish. First you'll want to get your starting items, then you need to decide which lane to go in, and finally try and grab the brush before your enemy can. So which starting item should you get? Doran's items (shield, ring, and sword) are always good, especially with a health potion. If you are a ranged character, you could go with the vampiric scepter, but this isn't recommended if you are a melee. If you want speed quickly you could go for boots and a few health potions, but only try this if you have been playing for a while. Also, some champs have good starting items that don't build into their overall strategy. An example would be Master Yi getting a Meki Pendant for mana regen. Even if he didn't become an AP character later on, his Meditate and Alpha Strike skills are vital enough that extra mana is viable in the eraly game. Once you have your items, set out for your lane. If it is the middle lane, just get to your tower and sit there until your minions come. If you are top or bottom, you can rush into the brush and try to get a first blood by killing your enemies if they come into your side of the grass. Don't try too hard (AKA don't turret dive), and if you are injured even a little bit, you should go back and heal. Its better to start the laning phase at full health rather than get a few seconds of killing minions. _________________________ [3.3] Top and Bottom The top lane and bottom lane play pretty much the say, due to the map being somewhat symmetrical. You start out by rushing to the brush that is in the corners of the map. If you arrive too late, however, don't bother going in. The enemy has probably already arrived and you trying to get into the grass is just a way to die quickly. If you can, get there before the enemy team can, and try to kill them before they can escape. When the minions come you should try a strategy called "last hitting". Since you only get gold for the finishing kill, it only makes sense to save your strikes for the last hit of a unit. This way you can control who you kill and hopefully get the maximum amount of gold. If you can, you should harass your enemies. Obviously some champs do this better than others, but you should still try to make them go back to heal. If you can do it a lot, you can prevent them from getting experience and gold, drastically increasing how long they have to farm. Every once in a while, or at the request of a team mate, you should gather with your allies and try to gank a lane for a few easy kills. To do this, have the people in the lane go back as far as they can to your turret, then have everyone else come out and attack them all at once. If you do it well, you'll get a kill and/or assist. The general rule of thumb if you are on the side lanes is that you should try to harass the enemy while getting kills of your own. How you perform now will have a significant impact on the rest of the game. _________________________ [3.4] Middle Lane The middle lane plays much differentely than the top and bottom. You start off by running to your tower, and usually just sitting there for a while until the minions come. Since there is no brush to fight over (at least for now), not many first bloods occur in the middle lane. Once the battle begins, you'll have to contend with many obstacles. For one, your enemy will always be trying to harass you. Recalling while in the middle lane isn't a good thing to do a lot, because your enemy can easily destroy your tower while you are away. You'll also have to deal with ganks. Hopefully your allies will call MIAs, but you always have to have an eagle eye on the minimap. If you see a champ missing from their lanes, and you're far away from one of your towers, you have a huge risk of being ganked, so back up a little and try to play it safe. The worst thing you could do is die because you were too aggressive. Also, some champs (Teemo for example) can place traps that give a line of sight into the grass, which helps to prevent suprise attacks. If you want, you could buy some sight wards to help you. While this is going on, you also need to be worried about getting the last hit on minion kills. If you can, you should also try to harass your opponent and try to make them recall. If you can do that, you will get a slight experience and gold advantage over them that can last through the entire game. Although you have to contend with lots of different aspects at the same time when you are mid, it does have its benefits. You will get gold and experience faster (as long as you don't go back and heal too often), and you can build your champion faster. You can also launch ganks on the two lanes beside you as long as your tower doesn't fall while you're doing it. _________________________ [3.5] A Junglers Guide Jungling can be an entertaining way to start off the game if you prefer not to be put under the stress of the laning phase. Instead of going into a lane and helping an ally, you will go in between the lanes and kill the neutrals to gain gold and experience. The positive is that you won't have to try to last hit, because there aren't any minions/towers/team mates to worry about. One of your allies will gain experience and gold faster too, because you aren't there to steal it. The negative is that one of your lanes will be 2v1, and the turret and champ are incredibly vulnerable because of this. Some team compilations simply can't afford this (if your team is all melee, its not advised to jungle). To start out with, you'll need the right champion to jungle with. The four best (in my opinion) are Warwick, Ammumu, Udyr, and Shaco. Others can try, but these four can simply do it more efficiently. As for summoners spells, Smite is a great option to help you kill most neutrals in 1 hit and take a large chunk out of the golem and lizard. The downside is that after the laning phase, Smite is less effective than other spells. Also, a Warwick with Smite almost always indicates a jungler, and your enemies may try to gank you even before the minions spawn. If you want, you could also bring along Heal or Clairvoyance to help you stay out in the field longer. Starting items for each character differs greatly, but at least a few health potions are advised. Warwick could just skip these and go right for the Vampiric Scepter, but this would be harder for the others. To start out, Warwick and Ammumu should go to either the wolf/mini golem camp or to the wraith camp. Udyr can attempt to kill the big golem to get the buff. Shaco can pop as many Jack in the Box's as he can around the big Lizard to get the red buff. After level two, jungling becomes much easier as you can bounce around to any of the neutral camps. If you need mana, take down the golem. If you need more damage, take out the lizard. If you don't need either than go kill the mini golems/wolves/wraiths. When you get to level 5 (or higher), you can try to take on the dragon. Be sure to have good enough stats before you try it, and make sure to watch your MIAs. Rinse and repeat until you are around level 6. Once you get your ultimate, you should immediately try to gank the lane that your enemies have pushed in the furthest. About 50 percent of the time you'll be able to land a kill, and you can use this to try and take down a turret. You can also gank or help out another allied lane if they are having trouble, but getting kills before level 6 is much harder. Once you see that the laning phase is over, you should stop jungling and help out your teammates. Don't fall into the trap of "I'll just kill one more golem" and miss out on a team fight. It could just cost you the game. _________________________Character Info
(Back to Top) Here is a list of all of the characters, with stats, lore, and strategies along with it. For the stats portion, each star indicates a champ has more of it. For instance, a champ with ***** has moderate health gain per level, while a ********** has immense health gain per level. So it goes more health with every star, more attack with every star, better spells with every star, and more difficult to master with every star (these are all taken from the in-game log). When you see for instance health 425 + (85), the 425 is the base health (how much the champ starts with) and the one in parentheses is how much they gain per level. In the ability section I will show something like "and it causes 50/75/100/125/150 magic damage". Each of the different numbers represents what level of skill it is, for example, lv 1 would do 50 magic damage, lv 2 would do 75, etc. I will also give my opinion on each of the champions spells, and on their possible roles and an overall strategy. These are only MY opinions, and aren't official. Keep in mind though, I've tested all of these in-game (versus real opponents), so they at least have SOME merit. Finally, I will show how well they can do at the middle lane (1-3 stars) in my experience. _________________________ Akali, the Fist of Shadow Stats: Health ** (2) Attack ********* (9) Spells *** (3) Diffic ****** (4) Attributes: Farmer, Assassin, Stealth, Melee, Nuke, Ninja Health: 425 (+85) Energy: 200 Damage: 53 (+3.2) Attack Speed: .625(+) Range: 125 Armor: 13.5(+3.5) Magic Res: 30 (+1.25) Health Regen: 1.45/sec (+0.13) Energy Regen: 10/sec Move Speed: 325 Lore: There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness - all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Akali is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Pruning the Tree - eliminating those who threaten the equilibrium of Valoran. A prodigal martial artist, Akali began training with her mother as soon as she could make a fist. Her mother's discipline was relentless and unforgiving, but predicated on the fundamental principle: "We do that which must be done." When the Kinkou inducted her into the order at the age of fourteen, she could slice a dangling chain with a chop of her hand. There was no question – she would succeed her mother as the Fist of Shadow. She has had to do much in this role which others might find morally questionable, but to her it is in service of her mother's inviolable doctrine. She now works with her fellows Shen and Kennen to enforce the balance of Valoran. This hallowed pursuit has unsurprisingly led the triumvirate to the Fields of Justice. "The Fist of Shadow strikes from the cover of death itself. Do not impede the balance." Abilities Innate: Twin Disciplines Discipline of Might - Upon obtaining 20 ability power, Akali's hits deal 10% bonus magic damage, increasing by 1% for every 5 ability power gained thereafter. Discipline of Force - Upon obtaining 10 attack damage, Akali gains 10% spell vamp, increasing by an additional 1% for every 10 attack damage gained thereafter. -This makes Akali a good AP/AD hybrid Active: Mark of the Assassin (Q) Cost: 60 energy Cooldown: 6 / 5.5 / 5 / 4.5 / 4 seconds Range: 600 Akali spins her kama at a target enemy to deal 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+0.4 per ability power) magic damage and mark the target for 6 seconds. Akali's melee attacks against a marked target will trigger and consume the mark to cause additional damage and restore 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 energy. -Great for the laning phase. Because you have no mana, you can spam these at your targets to force them to go back and heal Active: Twilight Shroud (W) Cost: 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 Energy. Cooldown: 8 seconds Range: 700 Akali throws down a cover of smoke. While inside the area, Akali gains 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 armor/magic resistance and becomes stealthed. Attacking or using abilities will briefly reveal her. Enemies inside the smoke have their movement speed reduced by 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 / 30 %. -Great for escaping or chasing down enemies Active: Crescent Slash (E) Cost: 60 energy Cooldown: 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 seconds Range: 325 Akali flourishes her kamas, hitting nearby units for 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 physical damage plus 30% Ability Power and 60% Attack Damage. -Great for doing a burst of damage in team fights Ultimate (active): Shadow Dance (R) Cost: 1 Essence of Shadow Cooldown: 2 / 1.5 / 1 seconds Range: 800 Akali moves through shadows to quickly strike her target, dealing 100/175/ 250 (+0.5 per ability power) magic damage. Akali stores an Essence of Shadow once every 25 / 20 / 15 seconds up to a total of 3. Additionally, Akali gains an Essence of Shadow for a kill or an assist -Good for catching up and killing any fleeing players Best Builds: AD, AP Due to her passive, building an AD/AP hybrid is recommended. The attack will help with spell vamp and crescent slash while ability power will help with lifesteal and 3 of her abilities. Mid Ability: ** Again, due to her passive giving her spell vamp and lifesteal, and her ability to have invisibility, and her mark of the assassin being ranged, she can be a mid if you don't have anyone better. Tips for Playing Her: Official: -It is often worth seeing your laning opponent before assigning your first ability point. Mark of the Assassin can be used to last hit in otherwise hostile lanes. -Find the balance between Essence of Shadows, and using Shadow Dance before having max charges Mine: -Don't use Akali's skills excessively except in team fights, because her energy can run out quickly -Crescent Slash can be useful for farming -Twilight Shroud can be used both offensively to catch escaping enemies and defensively for escaping Tips for Playing Against Her: Official -Akali can still he hit by AoE spells while stealthed inside Twilight Shadow -Akali greatly benefits from both Mejai's Soulstealer and the Sword of the Occult. Watch which items she gets and prioritize her accordingly Mine: -If Akali is able to farm and get kills with snowball items like Mejai's, she can become VERY dangerous. Usually she is squishy enough to be killed in a straight up team fight, though -Akali is good at burst damage, but not so good at sustained fire. If you get attacked by her, running away is probably a bad idea Strategy: Due to her being one of the best hybrids of the game, it would be wise to get items like Guinsoo's Rageblade and anything else that gives AP and AD. Start off the game by farming with your crescent slash to hit many minions at the same time. You can harass others by using Mark of the Assassin, since it is a ranged attack. After laning phase ends, try to gank someone. Akali is very good at chasing down enemy champs due to her ultimate and Twilight Shroud. If you want to make her even better, add a Rylai's Crystal Scepter to slow down your enemies even further. During team fights, it is your job to jump in and out of the fight. Due to your ability to do burst damage, simply use Mark of the Assassin, Shadow Dance, Crescent Slash, and then Twilight Shroud to escape. This will use up almost all of your energy, so wait until it refills to jump in again. If you have even a moderately good team, you should be able to play Akali efficiently. If you find that you are able to get several kills without dying, snowball itms like Mejai's could be a possibility, but stay away if you seem to be dying a lot. ========================================================================== [8] Other Stuff ========================================================================== ========================================================================== [9] Version History ========================================================================== Date Started: 7/22/10 Date Updated: 7/27/10 7/22/10 0.01 Guide started, template done 7/25/10 0.10 Intro chapter and copyright done 7/26/10 0.11 Chapter 2 started 7/27/10 0.20 Bouncing around, finished chapter 2, started 3 ========================================================================== [10] Copyright ========================================================================== You can post this guide anywhere as long as you: 1) Contact me via-Email. I will say yes (almost always) 2) Don't change the author line at the top. I'm so selfish that I want all the credit for myself! But seriously, don't touch it. 3) Don't alter original data. You can add or remove sections, but don't change the facts I've written. Sites that can post this guide: Gamefaqs Neoseeker Supercheats GamingReality Contact: [email protected]