Thanks for the feedback! This is the best representation of the order in which I typically buy the items, but it really does change quite a bit depending on game. I'd hold firm to Boots -> Sheen/revolver -> Rylai's -> the other one from sheen/revolver, but after that the options open up.

Excellent guide. I would readjust build order a bit but keep pretty much exact same items

Thanks much for the feedback, I've got my own reasoning regarding both of those things, but I realized I barely mentioned each of them in the guide. Once I get some time on my hands I'll be editing those in. I ran Hextech Revolver as one of my first items for a long while, especially back when it was a full 20% spell vamp, and it was effective; the three most viable options for first trip back in my opinion, not counting getting fed and grabbing a mejai's right away, would be Sheen, my personal preference, Hextech, or even rushing straight into Rylai's, which you've probably noticed Westrice is a fan of doing pretty often. All of those are viable, and honestly, Sheen is not always the right answer. If you can tell you're playing against a very smart, very cautious, very map aware team, sometimes Sheen won't help you that much. If you're noticing both top and bottom are pushed back to the enemy tower, or for any other reason are consistently ungankable, hextech is better for lane sustainability. Sheen is for killing people. That being said, I nearly always have an opportunity for a kill, and while people know what Akali can do late game, especially when fed, no one anticipates quite the burst Sheen gives from an level 6-8 Akali with one or fewer kills.

As for solo top, I took her there rather often at first, before I changed a lot of my game into what it is now; I need to test this out, since I know she CAN do well there. I had a discussion with this about one of my good friends, and he said Akali can take mid or 1 v 1 top well, but in a 1 v 2, she has to have the right (or stupid) opponents to do well. I've experienced this before, as there are certainly worse champs for a 1 v 2, but there's also a lot better. A good combo 2 v 1 on on Akali can shut her down, zone the hell out of her, and give up like a dozen CS before level 6. I'd take solo top if it were one on one, but I would still definitely prefer mid, as it gives you access to both lanes for ganks. I'll make sure to detail this in the guide once I get a chance. Thanks once again for the feedback!

Yeah, you might wanna turn on vote to comment, the initial feedback helps a lot; I've experienced it first hand ;p

As for the guide it's very solid, I don't play akali myself but I plan on getting her(big westrice fanboy) and the info you provide I've seen used by all the good Akali players. You might want to change some sections to be shorter because some parts are kind of hard to read but I'll leave you to be the judge of that.

A few things I miss in your guide:
Hextech revolver during laning: I've seen players pick this up as first item in order to sustain better in a though lane I wonder what your opinion on it?

Akali on solo top: Even though akali is beast on mid she usually goes solo top, she does a great job shutting down certain champions top and has great control due to her kit. I wonder why there is no mention of akali top in your guide.

Other then that great guide, upvoted!

You forget, that Defense tree also increases your AP, which, to me, gives much more than all 11+points damage buffs in Offense tree, except 21p Mastery. Also, what's important, is early game survivability. Late game you can get as much of it as you want, early game you cannot.

As for Ignite, I guess you're right, it's question of your style;) But I tend to me overaggressive, so Exhaust saves my life as often as grants me a kill:) Especially when I'm underfed or simply overextend.

Still I don't like your thinking about getting fed. It's not something I'm gonna change, but even passive enemies can harras you and deny some gold/exp. By passively playing I don't mean they just hug the fuzzy turret, because in that case you'll really get fed. But some play passively enough for you to be unable to kill them, but actively enough to interrupt your farm (I think that's why I really like soloing top, especially 1v2. This leaves me in control and I'm not partner dependant).

Exhaust in many situations is just as useful if not more than Ignite, but I'm telling you from dozens of games of testing that I've found Ignite to be more useful, more often. I have a LOT of experience with passive opponents, and I STILL take Ignite over exhaust on her. It's a matter of personal preference on that, and there's a reason I listed it as basically the third summoner spell I'd take.

As for basing one's gameplay on getting fed, that's more or less the point of the game in general, but not in the typical sense of fed; kills are wonderful, but I've had games where I have an opponent playing passively enough (and a whole team, at that) that securing kills just isn't happening. That's what farm is for. I focus just as much on farm as harass and killing in mid, and I only gank other lanes when my lane is pushed up and I practically know I can secure a kill.

You mentioned survivability helping with the flow of team fights, and I can definitely see how those advantages seem superior to you. In what you said, however, I see a fundamental difference in the way the two of us think Akali should be played; yes, opponents typically save their CC and such for me, but if you're fast and wily enough, and you let your tank be a tank, the burst from your damage is enough to control especially mid game. As the game goes on, either I'm fed and I just crank more damage to be unstoppable, OR I'm doing mediocre to somewhat well, and that's when I build survivability. In games even more recent than when I wrote this guide, I nearly always get at least Merc Treads and Abyssal Scepter, as well as the 500 health from Rylai's and 170+ from runes. This is not a glass cannon build, and I entirely respect your opinion of building her with a bit to a lot more beef, but I have found this spread to be far more effective, seeing as I used to build her more on the defensive side. Thanks once again for the feedback!

Also I'd add to it, that lane you take should depend on your team's style. If they're passive, share lane with someone, at lvl 6 you will be able to freely gank with no fear of backdoor, while passively playing team will leave enemies open to gank.

If your team is aggressive and has jungler, take top (1v2 is really excellent for Akali:) and wait for them to get too close. Here's great usage for Exhaust. Open at tower, Exhaust+tower+you equals double kill if played right.

Mid is of course good idea, often played mid, tho' atm my team has decent Orianna who does incredibely good in mid lane;P Still I feel more comfortable at the top for no particular reason, maybe because it's easier to fight semi-passive enemies there...

Properly used Exhaust will help you get a kill. And what if you get passively playing enemy? You won't be able to get fed. Same if you get hard counter (for example Galio, with your build you don't have enough sustainability to compete for lane with him, unless he's bad). Early game as Akali is hell important, but you can't base your gameplay solely on that.

If enemy team plays passively you won't be able to get much ganks, this leaves you underfed for mid/late game and with no arguments to get fed in team fights - not much dmg from you (oh she's gear dependant, isn't she?) and very little survivability. And you WILL be focused the moment they see you, I'm not sure if you'll be able to faceroll their squishies so easily then.

You are right, I didn't mention Ignite's healing reduction. Surely it's great, still doesn't compare to Exhaust for me.

Back to being fed, you cannot base your gameplay on something like that. And if you are not fed, surely you can get some kills in team fight, if your team plays it right, but you're forgeting very important factor... What if enemy team plays it right too? Ok, Akali's main power is fear, fear of your squishies getting nuked. Enemies usually conserve their CC and cooldowns for you, as fight goes on they become weaker and weaker. But meanwhile someone more fed will get YOUR kills. If you get in too fast you're dead, if you get in too late, you are useless. More survivability lets you get in earlier, while more damage does not, and it won't help if you get in too late.

Survivability simply makes game easier for u. Akali does ****loads of damage even without Offense masteries, which by the way are waste of 11 points, so why waste points for some mediocre buff, if you can feel more comfortable and secure, making your game much funnier and easier;)

I played Akali for a long time with 9/21/0, and focusing a bit on survivability. I agree with her being labeled as a hypercarry, because this is truly where she thrives; I do want to point out that i built in greater seals of vitality and rylai's for EVERY game, as well as merc's treads and Abyssal scepter/zhonya's for situations where a bit more of either resistance is needed. The main build up top consists of the core of the build, but even more the core IDEA of the build. Even the core isn't set up as quite a glass cannon, but take a look at the situational items. There's a lot of defense there, depending on what's needed.

RosePhoenix said basically everything I would have said. Exhaust is useful, and if I could grab a third summoner spell, that'd be it. Yeah, it cripples an AD carry focusing you, but a huge part of playing Akali is getting ahead, early, and snowballing, whether that actually involves using snowball items or not. Ignite is better for that, especially when taking mid; half of my first kills happen just outside of turret range, where exhaust wouldn't even help, but ignite does. It's true, ignite does taper off in it's utility for damage endgame, but not even considering the healing reduction aspect is not doing the ability justice.

Akali's burst can take down even most AD carries if she's properly fed, to be honest, and even if she didn't get that early start, the stealth from twilight shroud + shadow dance + flash + the support of ANY decent team has been, in my experience, almost always enough to get away and succeed. If it isn't, nine times out of ten it's because I positioned myself poorly.

Thank you for the feedback, however. Half the point of this site is for people to discuss tactics, and I appreciate your viewpoint.

Decent build. Well written. Seems like a long wall of text though. Might wanna add some coding to sparkle it a bit.
Also might wanna turn on Comment to Vote.

You serious?
Akali's setup is a hypercarry. Building tanky on Akali brings nothing. I lol'd at your "well maybe against bad teams." Watch Westrice play akali, then talk about it. Ignite is more powerful on akali simply because she can pretty much 1v1 any carry in game, and she has so much slow with Rylai and her bubble.

Eeeh another glass-cannon Akali, thinking he can do good with just ****loads of damage... well maybe against bad teams:) I don't like your build lacks lotsa survivability.

I like you're going mid, tho' I prefer soloing top, especially 1v2, if enemy is little bit too aggressive, I get double kill before lvl 6, and another one past level 6;)

As for Ignite over Exhaust... Exhaust gives you way more than just slow. Try fighting 1v1 with AD heavy champ without it, especially with your total lack of survivability. Now use Exhaust, 70% less damage done! And late game ignite's damage is a bet... bad odds bet...

Won't vote.