Ahri Build Guide by Apfeljack
This build has been archived and is for historical display only.
PLEASE NOTE: This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.
Champion Build: Ahri
| Health | 2654.96 |
| Health Regen | 16.3 |
| Mana | 1130 |
| Mana Regen | 23.05 |
| Armor | 124 |
| Magic Resist | 87.06 |
| Dodge | 0 |
| Tenacity | 0 |
| Movement Speed | 400 |
| Gold Bonus | 4 |
| Attack Damage | 104 |
| Attack Speed | 0.895 |
| Crit Chance | 0%S |
| Crit Damage | 0% |
| Ability Power | 579.85 |
| Life Steal | 0% |
| Spell Vamp | 0 |
| Armor Penetration | 0 |
| Magic Penetration | 22.83 |
| Cooldown Reduction | 10% |
Recommended Runes
Ability Sequence





Mastery Tree Is Outdated
WARNING: These masteries are still using the old tree and have not been updated to the new tree by the guide author. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Introduction
Thank you for making this guide a Featured Guide on MOBAFire!

____Hello, I'm Apfeljack. I have been maining
____This guide is not just another standard AP carry build copied and pasted onto
A lot of thought, calculations and experiments were put into the item choices and they get the best out of our favorite Fox Lady!
____IMPORTANT: You shouldn't follow the build seen on the cheat sheet blindly, because it often proves to be better to make situational changes to it (mainly depending on team setups and how well your enemy is doing).
By the time you've mastered
____ Good luck and
Have fun!
Pros and Cons

| _____ |
Pros
+ Good cleanup champ / kill securer + Good tower-diver + Has one of the best CC skills of all AP casters + Great escape mechanisms + Strong in all game phases, rocks late game |
space |
Cons
- Many skillshots - Weak to CC - Requires practice - Nerf squad pays frequent visits |
Runes

Recommended
|
_ |
9 x Magic penetration marks are the most effective damage runes for mages. Picking nine of them gives your spells a nice amount of burst damage. |
| greater seal of vitality | _ |
9 x greater seal of vitality HP/level seals add a big amount of health. They are especially good on |
|
_ |
9 x I pick magic resistance glyphs instead of AP glyphs because |
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_ |
3 x Flat AP Quints are especially helpful in early game when you're trying to harass and pressure (or even kill) your opponent. |

Alternatives
____Some additional AP for
greater seal of replenishment
____Many people like these and, yes,
You will notice that your mana problems are gone once you've bought your
____I believe that utility is sometimes underrated but more movement speed can aid certain playstyles. If you like to kite and roam a lot, then these are amazing.
Masteries

Investing 21 points in the offense tree (picking the masteries useful for AP carries) is a good choice for
The remaining 9 points go into the utility tree for some great enhancements to your build.
Some explanations
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Especially good when you're using |
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Additional 3 AD from
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Summoner Spells

Recommended
Ignite has many great uses
Because of the mastery
For example: initiate with
Don't hesitate to use
Keep using
Why
Flash?
Even though
Sometimes
It even works offensively.
Alternatives
Passive Spell: Essence Theft

Ahri's standard combo is ...
__
__
__
__
__
__
The following chapters focus on the skills and describe more ways to use them.

| _ |
Essence Theft - (Passive) - |
The only problem with
When
Multi-target spells like
Use
Champion Skill: Orb of Deception

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_ |
Orb of Deception - (Active Q) - ____Cooldown: 7 seconds ____Range: 880 |
This is her main damage skill and a great harass tool.
The true damage output on its way back is amazing, so always try to make it hit!
Don't forget that
Cast your spell and instantly back off after its first hit to get out of turret range before it can damage you.
Don't forget that it only works when your minions are tanking the tower before you initiate.
Champion Skill: Fox-Fire

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_ |
Fox-Fire - (Active W) - ____Cost: 60 mana ____Range: 800 |
This skill deals a nice amount of damage but is a bit trickier to use since you can't directly control the flames.
The spell's flames attack your enemies one after another (with a tiny delay in between).
Every
Each circle shows each
If the enemy stands in the clear area, all three fires will hit them. If they stand in one of the other areas, only 1-2 flames will hit them.
In a nutshell: Stand close to your target to make sure that all three
This spell is great in combination with
Champion Skill: Charm

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_ |
Charm - (Active E) - ____Cooldown: 12 seconds ____Range: 975 |
When there are no obstacles in the way, initiate with
It's also great to keep your enemy away while running. Cast
In team fights, use
Ultimate: Spirit Rush

After you've harassed your enemy down to critical health, use
If
Sometimes, it's hard to initiate with
When you're having trouble reducing their life like this, try to initiate with
It's risky to initiate with
Of course, you can also use the dashes to escape.
You can jump over walls with
I always cast
Skilling Order

Playing
Of course, skilling
I prefer skilling
Early Game / Laning Phase

In current meta game, there's usually a solo top lane, a solo mid lane, a duo bot lane and one jungler in early game.
Ranged AP Casters are preferably going solo mid lane so that's where
Ahri belongs.
Start out with
Boots of Speed +
Health Potions (or alternatively
Doran's Ring) to get ready for mid lane. Further explanations on choosing the right starting item further down in this guide.
Pulling/Leashing
Many junglers need help in the beginning (they usually start at Blue Buff which spawns at 01:55). Do so by attacking their targeted monster with your
Good junglers will start at the Wolf camp, which spawns at 1:40, close to the Blue Buff. In this case they will need you to deal some additional damage to the wolves.
Wait for the jungler to make the first hit and throw an
Then pull Blue Buff as explained above.
Last Hitting
Do not auto-attack the enemy's minions. Only last hit them to collect the gold before they die.
Pushing your lane is bad because it'll get you closer to the enemy tower and make you much more vulnerable to ganks. Your jungler is going to hate you for pushing the lane, since it makes it much harder for them to gank your lane.
Consider warding the enemy Wraiths camp and steal them when you have the opportunity. Kill your own jungle's wraiths camp when your jungler is not around to kill them.
Harassing
Harass your enemy from a safe distance with
Missing your skillshot often results in loads of wasted mana. So observe your enemy well: How are they moving?
If your enemy is dumb enough, it won't be hard to kill them even before you get
Early game with
Recall for shopping
Try to stay in lane as long as possible - even when your opponent recalls or dies. (Don't forget to call M.I.A./SS when they are nowhere to be seen.) While they might buy an item or two, you'll farm loads of EXP and gold.
A good time to recall is when your own tower's safe from any harm and when you have farmed enough gold to buy a new item - either
When to start pushing the lane?
It depends ... sometimes you just go back and forth between your tower and the enemy's tower without any kills or chances to attack their tower. You'll have to endure this phase and wait for a turning point. It's best when a team member comes to gank your lane.
Some enemies will push you back into your tower on purpose which is bad.
Killing creeps under your turret is a lot harder and it will keep you busy while the opponent leaves to gank other lanes. Immediately push back in these situations!
If you want to roam a lot and gank other lanes, you should be the one pushing instead.
Warding
Do yourself and your team a big favor by buying 1 or better 2
Buying
Ganking other lanes
It's good to leave your lane for ganks when you already have your two Doran's Rings and
A successful gank is great but even when you didn't get a kill it's still good. Let the enemy team know, that they have to look out for you and force them to play defensively.
Ganking needs some practice because you need to land your
Always leave for your mid lane immediately when your turret is (or is about to be) in danger.
Mid Game / Late Game

The laning phase is over, several outer turrets destroyed and team fights are ringing in the start of mid game.
Team Fights
Even though
You shouldn't leave the team fight or die until the very end. So play it safe!
The enemy will try to retreat as soon as your team is about to win the team fight. This is where your
Double/triple kills ahead! :D
Blue buff
Crest of the Ancient Golem (20% cooldown reduction and tons of mana regen), commonly known as Blue Buff or just Blue, is great for almost anyone - especially AP casters.
- You can spam your skills without having to worry about mana at all
- Since you're smashing all your spells into the enemy team's faces, they'll be perma-slowed through
Rylai's Crystal Scepter - Even more sustain in combination with
Will of the Ancients
Killing neutral monsters is a bit of a pain for AP Casters in early levels so rather ask for help when you want to get it. Many junglers need the blue buff themselves in the beginning but a good jungler will give it to their team members, when they don't need it anymore.
A very nice jungler will give it to you constantly from level 4 onwards which wins you the upper hand in lane and surely pisses off the opposing mid laner.
Consider stealing the enemy's blue buff in their jungle if it's available. It's very risky though, so don't go alone when you don't know the exact location of all enemy champs.
Practice your skillshots
Seriously, do that! Mid and late game offer the best opportunities to practice skillshots and clever positioning. Landing skillshots isn't easy but you'll only get better if you keep trying.
-
Here are some tips:
- Watch where your enemy is running and cast your skill shot a little ahead of their way to catch them.
- Learn how the enemy moves, observe them well so it's easier for you to predict where they're gonna run next
- Be creative and experimental! Shoot into Fog of War, over Walls, etc. You'll soon feel as though you're having full control over your skillshots.
Defending towers/base
Keep an eye on your remaining towers and keep pushing your lanes when there's no team fight.
If you see enemies targeting your tower, go there immediately but hug the tower as long as it stands. Don't go in alone,
Mid and late game is all about teamwork. There isn't much that a single champion can do alone, it's more about moving together and using good team strategies.
Gain as much experience as possible during these phases and keep using your skills the way you've learned before.
Recommended Starter and Early Game Items

Step one: Starter set
Starting with these is never wrong, that's why they are in the standard item build. Early mobility makes dodging spells, kiting and farming a bit easier and the
Health Potions help you stay in lane long enough.
The only downside is that you lack damage and mana regen but that's not as bad as it sounds because harassing or killing is not your top priority in early game! Can't say that often enough.
Step two: Stacking
Doran's Rings
This method is very underrated in lower ranks but a standard procedure in higher level games.
Doran's Rings have the full kit for laning phase: damage, mana regen and HP. And they are cheap! Stacking them makes you so beefy that it easily turns around the situation in mid lane.
So here's the rule:
Whenever you have the feeling that you're not winning the lane, buy a
Doran's Ring. If one is not enough, buy another. Repeat. Sell them all in mid/late game.
However, in some games, I just don't buy any
Doran's Rings at all. When ...
- The enemy is not very harmful and you dominate easily
- The jungler always gives blue buff to you
- You have enough gold for another item
In a nutshell. No need for stacking when your enemy sucks!
_Sorcerer's Shoes
These shoes are the key to early burst damage and also provide the needed mobility for dodging and roaming/ganking.
Every champion starts out with a natural 30 Magic Resistance = 23% reduced damage from magical damage. The 8.55 Magic Penetration from
These shoes stack well with
_Kage's Lucky Pick
This item is needed for building
I like to buy the the
The longer you have this item the more gold will it collect for you so it's good to have it around for a while before you eventually turn it into a
It is possible to buy
Recommended Final Item Build
Abyssal Scepter
This item used to be extremely underestimated but many players have finally found its full potential.
In the past, almost all AP carry players would choose to buy magic penetration relatively late (usually a
There are some mages like
Since
In fact, all of
Then why is this item still good on
It is true that harassing your opponent from long range will most likely not trigger the +20 magic penetration. Still, the +70 AP and the +57 magic resistance are not part of the AURA so they are a permanent enhancement!
Also, when you're out for a kill, you would usually make use of
Once you've jumped to their face, the UNIQUE aura with +20 magic penetration will take effect.
In a nutshell: Theoretically, most of

_Deathfire Grasp
Here goes formerly underestimated item number two.
This item's UNIQUE active is good for initiating a fight and works miracles when used against tanks and other characters with a lot of health.
When you have

Rabadon's Deathcap
You need this item because it will boost your damage output immensely!

Zhonya's Hourglass
This item is not so popular with beginners (I'm not sure why ... maybe they underestimate the active) but it is in fact a true lifesaver! Oh yeah, and once again, additional AP.
Also, additional armor which is sweet because normally AD carrys will be pretty deadly in late game.
Using
Being immune at the right time can not only save your life but it can also completely turn around the situation.
There are a lot of clever ways to use the stasis like making your enemies waste all their ultimates on you while you simply don't give a ****. Afterwards you can either kill them or escape.
For starters, I'd say that you should just keep experimenting. Use this when you're about to be focused or about to die and you will soon get the feeling for the right time to go into stasis.

_Rylai's Crystal Scepter
+500 Health is a great bonus for even more survivability and +80 Ability Power for more damage.
The best thing about
Take a look at the video to see how much of a difference it makes!
However, do not always build
The Situational Items section will help you choose the right alternative items!
Situational Items

Make use of the TAB button on your keyboard as often as possible and check each champion's items. Which items are your team mates building? And more importantly: which items are your enemies aiming for? Then, adjust your item build to the situation.
Mercury's Treads
Why they are good:
- Magic resistance in early game makes laning phase less hurtful
- Tenacity helps against CC
- Mobility is good for roaming/ganking
When to buy:
- When laning against
LeBlanc so her immense burst becomes less effective. - After buying void stuff - sell your
Sorcerer's Shoes and get these instead

Guardian Angel
Why it's good:
- Provides armor and magic resistance for a balanced enhanced defense
- Revives you after death
When to buy:
- Replace either
Zhonya's Hourglass or
Rylai's Crystal Scepter with this item when you need both: magic resistance and armor - When you're being focused by the enemy team a lot

Will Of The Ancients
Why it's good:
- Permanent spellvamp for endless sustain
- Also improves your damage
When to buy:
- When you feel like you could need more spellvamp
- When you have another player in your team who uses
Will of the Ancients to get the double effect for both of you

Should I replace the
Good question! Let's have a look at each item's stats:
____
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____
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We have 28.55 MPen from 9 x
Resist reduction and resist penetration are applied in this order:
____1. Percent reduction
____2. Flat reduction (
____3. Flat penetration (
____4. Percent penetration (
Let's assume that our enemy is your typical squishy champion with natural 30 MRes and a
1. 20 Magic Resistance (flat) reduction through
2. 28.55 (flat) Magic Penetration through
3. 10% Magic Penetration through
1. 28.55 Magic Penetration through
2. 46% Magic Penetration through
Soooo 28.31 MRes vs. 27.78 MRes ... that's pretty much the same result for two different items. But what are we missing?
Abyssal Scepter has a MRes reduction AURA = all your team mates benefit from this
Abyssal Scepter grants 57 Magic Resistance. FIFTY-SEVEN MAGIC RESISTANCE, yup!
THE RULE: Only consider replacing
In case you are getting a
I'll explain this much: Since percent MPen is being applied after flat MPen,

Not recommended items
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Compared to other AP casters |
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I'll be straight forward: This is a noob friendly item because it's easy to use (spam ALL the spells!). It's not useless but there are other items which exceed the damage output reached through |
Useful Links
This is a collection of links I find very useful. Check them out!
- Warding helper: More than your eyes can see
- 3 ways to become a better LOL player
- Smart Gaming Mindset: Basics
- QQing and Game Etiquette
Closing Words
____I've worked on this for a very long time and put a LOT of effort into it. If you like this guide, please vote it up and/or leave a comment. Would be awesome.
____Please don't downvote my guide because you don't agree with some of the skilling/item choices I made. I'm not voting down other guides for that reason either because I know that there are many ways to build a champion (but instead discuss their choices with them).
Don't hesitate to ask questions or give suggestions/corrections instead.
____Enough with the wall of texts.
Have fun rocking with
Ahri! :D
Special thanks to the following MOBAFire members for their suggestions to my guide: Bryun, PsiGuard and MiamiHurricane!
Patch History
V1.0.0.141:
Fox-Fire:
Damage reduced at later ranks to 40/65/90/115/140 from 40/70/100/130/160.
Ability power ratio increased to 0.4 from 0.375.
Spirit Rush:
Damage reduced to 85/125/165 from 100/140/180.
Ability power ration increased to 0.35 from 0.3.
V1.0.0.134:
Spirit Rush:
The allied HUD indicator will now remain green until all 3 spell casts are used.
Cooldown between casts increased to 1 second from 0.75.
Cooldown increased to 110/95/80 seconds from 90/80/70.
V1.0.0.132:
Orb of Deception mana cost increased to 70/75/80/85/90 from 60/65/70/75/80.
Spirit Rush cooldown increased to 90/80/70 from 80/70/60.
Change Log
2012/02/15
- Updated
Spirit Rush after nerf.
2012/05/21
- Updated 6th item slot in the standard build to
Void Staff and some descriptions along with this change.
2012/06/06
- Now picked
Brute Force
instead of
Mental Force
in offensive mastery tree. Updated inormation in Masteries section.
- Changed standard starter items from
Doran's Ring to boots +
Health Potions. Updating starting item explanations.
- Added patch history.
2012/06/07
- Guide had a complete makeover with new graphics and some colours for extra pwettiness~~ Brb, puking rainbows.
- Corrected some typos and wrong grammar.
- Minor changes in the descriptions.
2012/08/21
- Recommending
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist now and moving
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power to the alternative picks.
- added
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed to the alternative runes.
2012/08/31
- FINALLY updated the whole build
- A lot of new explanations in the Items sections
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