@xanplease: Mejai's Soulstealer can work on Akali, but you *must* have the restraint to only get it when you can feed it. If you are able to get 3-5 kills in a row without dying, especially if any of them has more than low health, it's worth considering.

Gunblade is nice (it is in the build, and fairly early), but until she does enough damage to get kills, it may not be enough. She does *not* have good sustain until she has both AP and MPen. Akali is gold-reliant. While gunblade is certainly an option, often times getting revolver early and delaying gunblade until a little later can be better.

Some opponents WILL have enough magic resistance in runes and masteries, and if not in those, then a simple Mercury's Treads can become a problem, particularly against melee champs. It only takes 50 MR for Void to give more MPen than Guise, and it scales to endgame unlike Guise. When Akali bursts and the enemy does not die, that is usually very bad for Akali.

Not taking shroud until level 8 is lunacy. If for no other reason, it slows, which makes it harder for your prey to escape. However, the stealth is invaluable against most enemies (though certainly not Fiddle, Talon, or Lee), and often allowing your skills to cooldown while they cannot attack you. They may run, but even if they don't, you may have gotten a free round of attacks, and that may be enough of an edge to finish them.

@Cha05:
Escaping ganks is certainly one very important reason for shroud, especially given that anyone who has faced a decently played Akali knows that if she gets fed, the game may be over. If you can out-harass your lane opponent, shroud may also be enough to pin them for an early kill. It does not make you unkillable, but it makes it more expensive and risky to try to kill.

Most importantly, adhering to a rigid skill order is not always reliable on Akali. I agree that having level 2 mark by 3 is a good idea: but it is not always the best option. She needs to adapt to conditions to make it to 6, and ideally farm enough for her shoes and more potions if she needs them. After that, she finds food and gets fed.

@xanplaease
I agree, that you should have 2 points in MoA by lvl 3, the shroud is also important...
I get it on lvl 2, cause its awesome to limit the enemys movements and escape ganks. While making you undieable in early lvls it can also help you to cs more easy...

(sorry for my bad english im german...)

Mejai's Soulstealer is not for someone as frail as Akali. I also would get hextech gunblade as your first upgraded item, as it ensures a decent amount of spell vamp and added AP damage to your attack. Why a void staff so early? They're not going to stack so much Magic resist that you actually need that so early. That's something you put towards the end of the build. Oh, and speaking about builds, those skills will make you worthless until level 3. And by level 3 you should have 2 points into MoA. You don't even need shroud until like level 4 or 8. Bad skill build.