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Akali Build Guide by

.Akali. Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ .The Anti-Carry.

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Akali Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (15) More Akali Guides

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Ability Order

Akali Passive Ability

Introduction

UPDATED *

( ﾟヮﾟ)ﾉ ohai guise, it's TasiaTae~.

This is my first guide ever and I decided to do one since I've won like 600 games with Akali or something crazy like that. I figured I was experienced enough! But this guide is simple and basic. I see some good-okay guides on her but I wanted to add more suggestions that I think are more beneficial.

Art by Me :D

Runes

Quints* One Greater Quintessence of Fortitude just because I like extra health, but if you really want you cant just get 3 All Greater Quintessence of Potency so you'll have it at level 1. With two Quints when Akali hits level 2, her Discipline of force will be activated and have a little extra health.

Marks* Greater Mark of Insight because Akali's burst is flippin' amazing and that magic penetration enhance adds so much to her burst abilities, all her major damage is magic damage. So it's pretty self explanatory.

Glyphs* This is really up to you... The Greater Glyph of Potency to help work towards that 20 ability power for her Discipline of Force passive. You can also get Greater Glyph of Warding instead for magic resist since Akali is pretty squishy. However, if you do decide to not get the Ability runes remember that Discipline of Force won't be activated at level 2, it won't be activated at all until you get 20 ability power, so just get like an Amplifying Tome asap.

Special Note for Seals* Okay, I know you've probably noticed the cliche' dodge Seals I listed and those are fine, so are health per level but the seals I prefer aren't there for some ungodly reason. The Greater Seal of Lucidity which gives the effect of 0.064 Energy regen/5 sec per level (+1.15 at champion level 18). Now, I suggest this because all the times I've played Akali, energy is something you may run out of quickly, it's kinda situational but it helps, especially when an enemy is escaping or when you need W to escape yourself/slow. It tends to happen at the most indecent of times. It's very helpful throughout the entire game.

Summoner Spells

I like Ignite always on Akali, not only because you can get the extra 10 Ability power for the point on Burning Embers but because it's great for finishing off those fools who wanna flash away and DPS healers who wanna try to 1v1 you like Yi, Mundo and Warwick.

I prefer Flash just because you can shroud, blink out when you're getting dangerously low and they won't know where the heck you went. I also use flash to save a teammate if they're getting chased and immediately cast Q > R to scare them off or even kill them if they're persistent. Even if someone decides to still stay in lane when they're low. But it's also useful for getting out of some AOE ultimates, so flash out and then see if it's a good idea to go back in low or not.

Oh. And Ghost is great, too.

Masteries

So for offensive masteries, I put points all the way up to Sunder all 3. Doran's Blade or a Sword immediately activates Discipline of Might so you dont need 2 extra attack points. I don't put 21 points because it's honestly unnecessary, Akali already does insane amounts of damage and it's better to have more defense than offense.

And then... I put 14 or 16 into defensive masteries because she's a melee champ and melee champs are prone to getting hit more frequently. So you can either go for Veteran's Scars for more health or leave the points in Sunder, up to you. The less vulnerable she is, the better even if you're not supposed be initiating first, it's smart to have.

And lastly, in utility, I put 3 points to Perseverance which adds to her healing passive and spell vamp early game, especially when she gets the Hextech Revolver, it's just so helpful for early game survivability in general. Just make sure to Q and hit for some health.

Skill Sequence

Of course Q > hit > W > Q > hit > E>Q > R if they're trying to escape.

Q > R > W > hit (repeat above) when you're initiating on a low/squishy target who you know will try to run.

Seeing as Q: Mark of the Assassin is your main skill, always max it first and don't forget to hit the creep/champ it lands on if you can for that extra damage and energy return. But harass as much as you can, get them low. Use the W: Twilight Shroud to harass, too. Keep your enemies second guessing especially when they're trying to hide in the brush. Don't forget it's also a slow, so if they're trying to escape, cast that sucker. You can always juke in W, whether you're in battle or trying to get away from one, don't stay in one place, try confuse the enemy.

You want to have least points W though, max it last because you want to finish putting points to E: Crescent Slash. But even so, please DON'T spam E EVER or use it often in a fight or battle. It drains an unnecessary amount of energy for the minimal damage it does. It's great for last hit farming and it returns some health with the hex-tech revolver. I suggest you use it at least once or twice maybe after a hit but NOT for trying to spam in fights.

With her R: Shadow Dance it should really only be used when the enemy is trying to escape so don't spam it, don't use it unless you cast your Q. The only time I think you should use R without casting Q is if they're already out of range of the Q. Of course, you can use R to escape from champ by propelling yourself to a minion but I rarely find myself in a situation where a creep or minion is readily available for my escape and it sucks if your chaser has flash when yours is on CD. Just make the best of those types of situations.

Words of Advice

I don't suggest boots and 3 pots as your very first items. Running back and forth spamming a low damaged Q without Magic Penetration Marks replaced with AD marks is almost pointless. Sure, you'll have both of her passives active at level 1, but you'll be lacking survivability and more damage. If the lane has CC, then what? You're pretty much screwed. It's not giving Akali her full potential either, the enemy champs can easily heal it back, the auto-attack after the Q with the Magic Pen really scares off the enemy champs you lane against when you have that extra Magic Pen. With all the Akali's that I have played against going the way of the boots, I've only seen it utilized to escape.

( If you'd like to prove me wrong, I'll gladly play against your Akali with mine because I'm not going to post a video of every game I have owning those types of Akali's. )

In cases where you're laning against a ranged lane like a DPS or Caster, play defensive because Akali is fragile but Q when you can and only when you know their high damaged range abilities are on CD. Strike when an opportunity opens up but for the most part, focus on farming it up with last hits and just don't over extend, especially when you're solo laning against two champions.

Once you get R, ranged champs aren't that much of a threat, you just have to be good at judging whether you can kill them or not. They can harass you much more and do way more damage if you hesitate, so try to be sure of yourself. Just toss Q and try to get them as low as possible. Utilize W as much as possible, if you're low, try to bait them into it just, make them think you're retreating and land a Q > hit and Repeat.

People get greedy, a lot, and there have been so many times where I've been low and managed to kill a champion with more health than I for making them think I was vulnerable once I was able to juke within my W. Take advantage of their greediness, make them think they can kill you, turn the tides.

Also, I don't think Sheen should be rushed after the Hextech Revolver or even before. During the laning phase, getting the Sheen does increase damage output, but also leaves you without extra regeneration. Harrassing with a Sheen will give you one proc that you may not even be able to use; and in the process, you may be damaged as well. With the Sheen, you won't have decent regeneration or healing, so getting whittled down in lane is not what you want.

And rushing a Sheen after isn't that good an idea either because you need that extra health and the CC slow ASAP from Rylai's Scepter, so just get the Sheen right after to build into Lich Bane.

I'd also like the mention that rushing a full out Hextech Gunblade isn't the smartest thing to do, on any champ really. It's a good item, but not that great to build FIRST. I see the argument that it replaces the slow the Rylai's Scepter gives you but it DOES NOT, Gunblade has a 3 minute Cooldown on a slow you have to actively push where as Rylai's has a percentage that you can rely on without a cooldown. PLUS it gives you a much needed health boost because Akali is already a squishy champ that gets focused down easily. It also gives you enough ability power to nuke down carries. You can't fully rely on just Spell Vamp that early on when there are CC's and nukers like Malzahar to worry about. Akali is a great chaser, so get the Rylai's Scepter to help out you and your team.

Soloing mid as Akali is such a good idea and very helpful for the team because of her great chasing abilities and anti-carry damage. Getting fed or even being a higher level because as mid makes her a very formidable foe against most champions. And she's hard to gank because of shroud and flash/ghost combo when the other team has a jungler. But don't allow the game to drag out too long, because she is not actually a late game carry. Being an AP carry, her strength comes in the mid game, but when dragged on too long can get shut down easily if you don't play it safe and if you dont have a tank to protect you.

Oh, and please don't waste gold on Elixers until late game; final push, final defense or all your items are maxed. You can't rely on Elixers because you could either Die right after you purchase them or not even use them as time runs out because you'll be too busy farming or you're not readily engaged in a team fight. It's a waste of gold when you can just easily save up for something more valuable.

Items

Doran's Blade It's pretty essential in my opinion, extra health and % lifesteal so if you get low just Q > hit a minion and health is returned.

Boots and if you farm enough rush a Hextech Revolver if not rush a Blasting Wand. It's really up to you.

Hextech Revolver Yes, just the revolver for now because the extra spell vamp on this item gives an essential amount of health regeneration during the laning faze and adds to her discipline of Might.

Rylai's Scepter I usually rush this item as soon as possible, even before the second stage of boots because Akali lacks CC and with this item, you can basically chase anyone with that slow. It's so helpful in team fights and slowing a champ trying to escape so your team can also catch up. Also the health boost makes her tankier, if she gets fed with it early game, she's pretty much unbeatable. She can nuke down any carry since it is her role as an anti-carry.

Sorcerer's Boots Adds to that magic pen, you could also get Merc Treads but I think it's pointless honestly, once you get caught as Akali in bad positioning or CC'ed, you're dead or out of battle like 80% of the time. Just make sure not to go in first, analyze the battle a bit and search the group for vulnerable pray, like a lion seeking out the weakest buffalo in the herd.

Lich Bane This item is amazing, it adds 100% of your ability power to your next attack, basically after you use Q > hit, your enemy will be like, "WTF, BRO". But seriously, its like a must have.

Rabadon's Deathcap If you have this, it should like already be game. Haha, you can pretty much two shot any squishy DPS, caster or carry because you'll have like 500 AP by this point.

Sometimes I get the Guinsoos Rageblade so I can sell the Dorans and still have the Discipline Passive. I don't think you can go wrong with any AP based item after you build Rylai's and Lich Bane, though.

Hextech Gunblade This is to finish off what you started earlier with the revolver, and the spell vamp late game helps quite a lot, once you get this you can sell Doran's blade since you'll have a pickaxe and get something else.

Basically . . .If the game is still going on, I get a GA, or a Abyssal Scepter, or a Banshees Veil... it just depends really. Just ADAPT to the team you're facing. If they're heavy on magic, get a banshees after Rylais. If they have like a fed Tryndamere or any heavy DPS, get a thornmail instead. If they have heavy magic defense, get a Void Staff. Just remember to adapt to your situation because those items I listed are her core if you just want to focus on all her damage potential.

Also...

I'll probably update this later, post videos and stuff, elaborate where there needs to be more understading. I'm willing to answer questions but please don't vote down this guide without a justifiable reason, explain yourself so that I may explain myself. Thanks.
I hope this helps all of you.

Remember: "Hesitation is the Seed of Defeat."

Bai Bai.( ﾟヮﾟ)ﾉ