Ahri Build Guide : Ahri (아리) - The Fox in the Middle (still testing for S3)

Seriously, I need a break

PLEASE READ

I'm sorry I've been missing in action for awhile. I am well awear of the mistakes I made in the mastery build and I will be working on them again. In the mean time there is a LOT of family drama and real life going on for me. While this guide is informative and still valuable, I will be away for some time. Please don't mind all the mistake for now. I'll be back soon. Please stop backing up my inbox.

Introduction

Hello Mobafire! I've made this guide to share how I personally play Ahri. With that said, please keep in mind that I don't play ranked (yet), and this build has room for changes. I believe that Ahri can be built multiple ways, but this guide will high light my favorite way to play. I'm not a professional gamer, I'm just a girl who loves league of legends.

Ahri is an awesome assassin type mage who has cunning and fast abilities. The point to Ahri is to be like a fox, tricky, sneaky and misleading. You make your enemies think they are safe, and when they least expect it.. woosh! They are dead.

Expect to take time and practice, as with most champions. Very few people can pick up a new champion right way. If at first you don't succeed, try again!

Anyways, my name is Bree. Enjoy my guide.

Enjoy Some Music?
Yeah.. I know its girly. What can I say?
"I'm going to feed those foxes...." *sing*

Positives and Negatives

+ Awesome mobility.
+ She can be a good ganker.
+ She has a CC.
+ Her damage is great.
+ Secure kills easily.
+ Ult allows her to turret dive.

- Early game mana management.
- Hard to dodge when ult is on CD.
- Squishy!
- Needs farm and early kills to do well.
- Takes a bit of practice.
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Masteries

Since I take , I put a point in here. It will give me 5 AP when is on cool down. It is not a lot, but it is still AP.

4% Cool Down Reduction. Cool down reduction helps a lot!

I take blast to get . Little bit more AP as well.

Magic pen is great. It equals more damage.

Increases your damage dealt by 2%.

2/3. Sacraficing 2AP for 5AP that you'll get with . (Also to allow you to get another utility point. Well worth it)

I'm currently testing this out. It sounds good, I'm not sure if it really helps you last hit in the end. I can see this wrecking on a Lux with Lichbane. Not sure about Ahri. Will update soon.

Increases your ability power by 5%! Nice boost there.

Increases damage dealt by 5% to targets below 50% health. That just screams assassin :p Haha. More damage! yey!

I take this because I use .

Itsy bitsy boost of mana per 5.

180 mana at lvl 18. Its not a whole bunch but it counts.

due to being an amazing item now, this is a good pick. I think. Lol.

This has to be my favorite. Blue buff is great on ahri. (Well any mage :p) and this gives you more time with blue. The more time, the better!

A note:
Most of the time, masteries are about personal preference. Especially the ones in utility. If you feel like mixing it up, go ahead. :3

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

My runes are pretty much the normal "AP" runes. Since I normally play AP champions, this is sort of my "cookie cutter" rune build that just happens to be great on Ahri too.

I go all out on AP for Ahri. I don't go defensive on her because I find that my enemies don't last long enough to do much damage to me.

- These will give you some nice burst damage early game and help break trough magic resist items late game.

- Ahri can be mana hungry and this is an awesome choice for her. I chose this item because I'm not a stacker.

- Ability Power will always be lovely on Ahri. Eventually, these will have more AP than the flat ability power runes , which makes up for the lack of in the beginning of your game.

- & Even more Ability Power! I love these runes because they will give you an edge in early game.

You can switch it up with different runes if you want. Runes are sometimes about personal preference. Some people like to go more defensively.

Here are some other runes you can think about using. Runes are all up to you and your play style.

- Health/survivability

Greater Seal of Replenishment - More mana regen
Greater Seal of Vitality - Health/survivability

- Cool down reduction.
- Magic resist
Greater Glyph of Desolation - Armor

You can switch it up with different runes if you want. Runes are sometimes about personal preference.

Summoner Spells

As for Summoner Spells I like to use and .

is great for when your is on cool down and you need to get away from an enemy. It can also be a good tool for getting closer to your enemy! Save yourself from blowing a spirit rush.

Because we have put mastery points in , you will get 5AP when this is in cool down. I normally use this after I've spirit rushed and the enemy is still running away, or in team fights to help secure a kill, which can turn a team fight around.

Is another good on if you're mid, it will let you get to your turret faster if you need to B home.

Although with your ultimate, you may not need this.. Its okay to take. Like I said its all about personal preference.

I can understand rocking this summoner spell, it has a shorter cool down than flash and helps you catch up to your enemy without having to blow a spirit dash.

Champion Spells

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Essence Theft- (Passive) - Ahri gains a charge of Soul Eater whenever one of her spells hits an enemy (max: 3 charges per spell). Upon reaching 9 charges, Ahri's next spell has 35% Spell Vamp.

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// Makes midding a breeze. You'll out heal and out last some damage.
// Paired with , this passive is beast when utilized.
// Use to charge this.
// Your ball will turn a pretty green color once this passive is active.
// Depending on the situation, there are two ways to heal yourself idealy, use on minions to heal (AoE) and on champions (Single target).

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Orb Of Deception - Ahri sends out her orb, dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+33% AP) magic damage, and pulls it back dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+33% AP) True damage.
Base CD: 7 sec
Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 Mana
Range: 880

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// Does true damage, so this will be your main damage and harass.
// When laning, unless you are charging her passive, try to hit just your enemy.
// This has nice range, so you should be able to harass anyone, even other ranged.
// Do not underestimate the damage you can do sigle target. You can finish off a low enemy.. even if they are turet hugging!

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Fox Fire - Ahri releases three fox-fires. After a short delay they lock on to nearby enemies (prioritizes champions), dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP) magic damage. Additional fox-fires that hit the same target deal 50% damage [max damage: 80/130/180/230/280 (+80% AP)]
Base CD: 9/8/7/6/5 sec
Cost: 60 Mana
Range: 800

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// A bit tricky to figure out, but pretty simple to use.
// This will prioritize enemy champions over minions.
// Love to use them when I use Spirt Rush or in team fights.
// Do not underestimate the damage! Ever! !

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Charm - Ahri blows a kiss dealing 60/90/120/150/180 (+35% AP) magic damage and charming the first enemy it hits, causing them to walk harmlessly towards her for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 second(s).
Base CD: 12 sec
Cost: 50/65/80/95/110 Mana
Range: 975

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// This will not go through minions!
// A beautiful CC, that can change a game.
// Use charm to lure your enemy to your team.
// You can use this to lure an enemy to your turet.
// Use charm to check bushes. :)

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Spirit Rush - Ahri dashes forward and fires essence bolts at 3 nearby enemies (prioritizes champions), dealing 85/125/165 (+35% AP) magic damage. Spirit Rush can be cast up to three times within 10 seconds before going on cooldown.
Base CD: 110/95/80 sec
Cost: 100 Mana
Range: 450

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// Use it to chase down a low enemy, and get a killing blow.
// You can also use it to run away if it is completely nessessary.
// This will make you an awesome turet diver!
// Paired with , you'll be dishing out some awesome damage.
// This works like flash, you can juke your enemy by dashing over walls and back.

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Skill Priority and Rotation

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

My skill priority goes like this:

over , over , and at 6,11,16.

Is a great farm/harass. I choose it first over charm and fox-fire at level 1 to help me get more minion kills and harass my opponent. I will max this out by level 9.

I get this at level 2 and finish maxing it out after Fox Fire. The damage falls off compared to Fox-Fire, its mostly used as a CC anyways.

you pick this ability up at 3 and max it out over Charm, there will be a point where you can just spam it when you're around a champion and it will do some decent damage. +=beast.

, take this at 6,11, and 16. Its you're survival, your nuke, and how you chase your prey. This is a great and fun ability.

IMPORTANT! Depending on who you are laining against it may be smart to get at 2 instead and at three, following the normal priority after. This is because if the person is in melee who will be in with the minions you can pop Fox-Fire and deal some damage to them and harass. Since you're most likely in mid though, you'll be against a range. This is why I choose Charm at lvl two. To pull them in and land an orb on them.

In the start I like to use my and hit my opponent as much as possible. Due to mana issues in the start, don't use it on just minions. Watch your , because if your opponent is doing some damage to you, you can easily heal yourself if you use as as many minions as possibly when you have x9 (This is the reason why I get a First. The spell vamp makes laning almost endless). Make sure you last hit minions. You want to farm as much as you can!

Once you get , you can start to pull your opponent to you and hit them with an right on. At level 3, you would hit them with , , and then . You may or may not get your first kill here, but at level 6.. that is where it is almost guaranteed.

At level 6 you'll have . This is where the fun begins. Pull them in with , hit you on them, +x3 and they are dead. If not they are darn close to it and you can hit them with your again. Then they should be dead for sure.

Highlights of level 1-6
+ Harass with (Try to avoid the minions and just hit your enemy champion)

+ Farm! Don't push your minion wave, allow your minions to battle each other and just get the last shot on them when their health is low. It takes practice, but soon you won't even have to think about it.

+ Try to land a kill with + and after you have harassed your enemy a bit.

+ Ward your bushes on the right and left to prevent ganks from enemy jungler.

This is pretty much simple. +. Those are awesome together because they will target champions over minions. Use to interrupt enemies or lure them into aoes (like 's stun or 's ult. Toss out your in clusters and for last kills. Heal yourself at x9 with the waves of minions.

For one on one fights start off with then throw your , pop and orb again if they are still around. If they are low you can and pop again.

When you get comfortable with Ahri, she can be pretty simple. Be smart about where you Spirit Rush and about where you're standing. Most of the time you can get away if things get too heavy or your team is not doing well in a team fight.

Highlights of level 6+
+ Help your team mates if they need it.

+ When team fight happens try to nuke down their carries. Never focus a tank!

+ Try to get the blue buff in the jungle.

+ Never go in first in team fights, stay back and harass!

Tips and Tricks

+ Use to check bushes!

+ Can also be used to help you escape a gank, if you toss it at some one who is close to you like a melee, it will stop them from harming you and then you can just away.

+ Always try to get (Blue Buff). This will help you with your mana. Its really great since you've picked up . I also will pick up when I b-home if I have some gold left over from an item (or don't have enough for much).

+ Sight Ward is always good to help you foresee any ganking. (Even more so if your team is horrible at calling MIA.

+ As with almost all champions while laning, try to get the last kills on the minions. The more gold you get the faster you get your build. Sometimes when I try to let the other person push a bit more (so I can land a sneaky kill), I let my minions do the work and make sure to last hit the enemy ones that are low. I still have to remind myself to do it sometimes. Using the Orb of deception is a great way to get last kills if there are a lot of them low at a time. I'm sure most people know this, I just wanted to get it out there for the newer players.

Items

My item build is just that, mine. Each and every build is customisable. I tell you this a million times in my guide, but here it is again; It is about personal preference. There are items that you'll always build, like the death cap, and then there are items you'll want to try, like lich bane. If I don't have it in my main build, it does not mean its not a good or valuable choice. I sincerely hope you go though this section thoroughly.

For my build, I focus on heavy AP, with Spell Vamp to help complement my passive , cool down reduction and mana regen to help spam my spells. The faster they go down the better, burst assassin!

You have 3 different choices here:

with three s is my new favorite choice. Since the nerf to Doran'a ring and what not, I've tried using boots more and I find it to be more effective in helping me dodge, and I like having the health pots to curve me over till I can get my hextech.

Is a nice choice. It gives you health, AP, and mana regen. Everything you really need. Some people will stack rings, I don't. I find that my next item is affordable enough for me to buy my first home. If you are having issues getting CS and such, you can buy this on your first teleport home (or death, whichever comes first).

with one is something I sometimes do if I feel like I can dominate a lane. The reason why I get this sometimes, is to rush my . The extra spell vamp between your nine stacks of your passive is good enough to keep you up longer in mid.

I go for my first because I enjoy the AP and Spell Vamp. If I get harassed in the beginning, all I do is toss my ball out hitting as many minions as possible and I've almost healed myself though the enemy damage. Yes, I know her passive heals too, but why not add a bit of a boost with it? You can't lose. It is pretty cheap to upgrade into . I suggest you do this when you can.

are really nice. I like to go for these over the cool down reduction because I get more damage out of these. The CD reduction comes from , and I'll just stick with that. If your game goes on long enough and you have all of your items, you may switch over to , but most of the time, your game will end before that.

is in every mage build, so like the others - I include this deathcap. It is an all around good item. If I die, or go home before I have enough to buy the item all together I shoot for my first. If I don't have the 1600 gold for that than the . The more damage the better.

, people normally go for this or . The reason why I choose this is because of the slow cc. This can be really nice when your chasing some one down when is on cool down or to help land that charm. Its a beautiful thing when you hit your charm on them and they are slowed, very easy to pop and . Some people have asked why use this item when your charm is a 2 second CC, well.. after they have been charmed they normally still try to run away right? That is when the slow will help you the most.

I used to build this before . With the nerfs to Ahri's AP, I decided to try to make up for that in the beginning and go for more AP over survivability (Health). So, the first item you will buy to help build this will be to make up for getting your death cap first.

Is good is your team has a lot of AP. (This has some good spell vamp also and will use your to complete. I almost always get this item. I get this item when it feels needed. Sometimes I get it before my deathcap, it is pretty cheap, so if you have the gold for it - go for it.

The End items are sorta situational and you may swap them for something you personally think would be better depending on your play style, your team, and the enemy team.

is now a beautiful item since season three. There is no way you can pass this up. If you're not used to on use items it can be difficult at first for you to utilize. I like to use it on the carry before I ult in on a team fight. The extra damage dealt to them will be super effective. I suggest you key-bind your first item slot so it can be easier for you to use. (I personally use my extra mouse button by my thumb).

is a great item, the 100AP is hard to beat. Most of the time your enemy team will have an AD carry and by the time you get this item you'll be doing team fights vrs. them. If the enemy team does not have an AD champion that is being a pain in your arse you can get instead. (read next item for more info on Athene's) Example of the on use ability: 's ult, 's ult, 's ult, and during a situation that you would want to be un-targetable, save your self a couple seconds then flash out or unload your vengeance.

, is what I use when I solo que, and I'm not getting blue buff like I should. If you are able to control blue buff, you can swap this item for something else, I suggest or (although Athene's has more AP resist, Banshee's Shield can be nice), something defensive, depending on the majority of your enemy team and if their AD or AP carry is kicking your toosh. If you decide to go this route, I would suggest getting the first, so you can benefit from the AP resist.

Is another great option, magic pen is always a good thing especially if the people are building against you. Can't really go wrong here. I normally end up with this item. Some people will tell you to go , but that item is only really good when the enemy team has less than 100 MR, and they have an AP carry that is doing well. With the recent range nerf, you'll only benefit from in when you're super close, not when you're harassing. Harassing is a big part of being Ahri, not just her ultimate. Always get or .

I will list some other items you may use, although some of them are not recommended. Again, it all depends on how YOU want to play.

Is another okay item. I don't use it because I don't find myself auto attacking a lot late game. By the time late game comes around with my Blue Buff I can basically spam the hell out of my abilities.. so not much auto attacking going on there. A lot of people like this. I suggest you try it and see how you like it.

can actually be better than . Only swap out for when the enemy team has less than 100 magic resist and an AP carry that is doing better than you, if they don't have magic resistance or an amazing awesome AP carry would be more ideal. **PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE ON ABYSAL SCEPTER VRS VOID STAFF**

This can be good if you want to fix your mana issue at the start - but the lack of cool down reduction and spell vamp, will make you less valuable in mid. This would be an "okay" item for some one who is laning with a partner.

would not be something I would use. Yeah, it gives magic pen and health but, you get the magic pen from , and better AP. This is normally a early game item that is swapped out for something later, I personally would not waste the gold on something like this when your build is already quite expensive.

This is a good item, but not for Ahri. I don't take it because I prefer to get my . The scepter's slow is more appealing due to the fact that her like AoEs are considered single target.

If stacked to 20 you can get some really nice AP. But, you would have to be doing really well. Therefor, I hardly risk another item for this and if I do it would be an item with cooldown reduction. I don't suggest this unless you really, truly believe you can pull it off.

Is a lovely defensive item. It can be good when the enemy team has some one like Annie, Morganna, or Lux. Like CasterMaster said, "As Ahri dashes about, accidents are bound to happen. If you get too close and get hit by a stun in a team fight, it could really be all over for you." :)

used to be the item I chose to top off my build but after the release of it feels like it doesn't belong anymore. You don't miss the 5 CDR, and the only reason I would take this over Athene's is for the passive against some one who heals a bunch, even then its iffy due to .

are awesome for team fights but in the beginning of the game you'll want the for the early magic pen. If you end up with all your items before the game ends you can most certainly swap boots for these.

Match Ups

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

{ Champion Navigation }
Click on the links for a specific champion.

» Ahri
» Akali
» Anivia
» Annie
» Brand
» Cassiopeia
» Diana
» Elise
» Evelynn
» Fiddlesticks

» Fizz
» Galio
» Gragas
» Heimerdinger
» Karthus
» Kassadin
» Katarina
» Kog'Maw
» Kennen
» LeBlanc

» Lux
» Malzahar
» Mordekaiser
» Morgana
» Nidalee
» Orianna
» Ryze
» Swain
» Syndra
» Talon

» Teemo
» Twisted Fate
» Veigar
» Viktor
» Vladimir
» Xerath
» Ziggs
» Zyra
»
»

Facing another can be tricky. Most of the time you'll be clashing spells, ing each other and doing about the same cs. The only true way to win vrs. another is to actually out play the other . You know what her spells do, so make sure to dodge her and stay behind minions to avoid . You should never be in range of her . At level six try to avoid a fight unless you have the upper hand and an off cool down.

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should not be much of an issue for you. She is a melee champion (besides her ). Stay out of range of her and out harass her. The only time she becomes a threat is at level six when she gets . The best thing you can do is to shut her farming down. Harass her and you're golden.

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Anivia is not a threat, she is kind of low on the AP carry ladder today. As long as you stay out of range of her and farm, you can defiantly out play her. Never go in for a kill unless you have the mana and the time to kill her egg. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is thinking you can get a kill on her egg when shes under her tower or when the enemy jungler is haning around.

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Annie has a lot of burst and no skill shots (technically her ult is one though)). A good can kick your *** if you don't watch your step. The most important time to back off is when her is up, you'll see a grey/white swirl around her, this means her next ability can stun, and if you get close enough you can kiss 3/4th of your health away, and that's just before level six! So, in conclusion just stay back and farm. Only harass if is making mistakes or vulnerable.

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High Scores

Thank you to everyone who submitted your screen shots!!

I'm sorry I didn't title everyone's names and what not. A lot of these are out dated but people really wanted me to use them and show off the scores. This is just a thank you to my readers. Reddit can go kiss my butt <3

Ending Note and Change Log

Thank you for reading my guide and I hope you find it some what useful. If you have any screen caps of good games that you have played using this build I'll post them up here. Please leave a positive and/or constructive comment. I appreciate it.

UPDATES INCOMING
12/6/12 \\ 2:42PM - Updated masteries & items since season 3. Added match up section. Change graphics.

7/6/12 \\ 2:42PM - Major update with items, and changed the spells that were nerfed. Added Athene's Unholy Grain. Added screen shots from submitters.

3/6/12 \\ 5:09AM - Updated some stuff.

1/24/12 \\ 12:29PM - Changed some items around (After some more testing, found the I now prefer Doran's ring over the tome. Changed some masterties. Updated the masteries section.

1/14/12 \\ 5:00PM - Added some images and stuff. Officially purdified.

12/16/11 \\ 10:00AM - Changed my spell priority. (Thanks to Cellestial who's guide made me lean towards fox-fire. You can find his guide Here.

12/15/11 \\ 4:00PM - Added some option items.

Thank you for all your support, I've made it to the top!

Ahri (아리) - The Fox in the Middle (still testing for S3)

Ahri (아리) - The Fox in the Middle (still testing for S3)

Recommended Items

Spells:

Flash

Ignite

Items

Ability Order

Essence Theft (PASSIVE)

Orb of Deception (Q)

Fox-Fire (W)

Charm (E)

Spirit Rush (R)

Seriously, I need a break

PLEASE READ

Introduction

Positives and Negatives

Masteries

Runes

Runes

Summoner Spells

Champion Spells

Skill Priority and Rotation

Tips and Tricks

Items

Match Ups

High Scores

Ending Note and Change Log

League of Legends Champions: