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Cho'Gath Build Guide by Aeroxi

Cho'Gath - Up You Go! (AP Carry Cho'Gath)

Cho'Gath - Up You Go! (AP Carry Cho'Gath)

Updated on March 27, 2012
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Aeroxi Build Guide By Aeroxi 10 2 40,595 Views 14 Comments
10 2 40,595 Views 14 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Aeroxi Cho'Gath Build Guide By Aeroxi Updated on March 27, 2012
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

LoL Summoner Spell: Exhaust

Exhaust

Introduction


Before we begin, I would like to explain why you would want to play Cho'Gath.

  • Long Range, Aoe CC ability
  • Naturally tanky, much more so than most AP Carries.
  • Amazing lane pusher...until you get to towers, anyhow.
  • AoE Silence
  • Able to grab blue or red buff quickly after level 6, due to 1k(1,000) True damage ultimate.
  • Ultimate deals true damage. True damage cuts through all armor, resistances, and the like.


Hello, and thanks for reading my Cho'Gath guide! This is my first guide here on Mobafire as well. This guide took me the better part of my weekend to write, and I would appreciate some constructive criticism. I plan on keeping this guide updated, as I play Cho'Gath on a daily basis.

Abbreviations

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Pros and Cons

Pros / Cons

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Pros


+ Long Ranged, AoE CC.
+ Great AoE And Single Target Damage.
+ Naturally more tanky than other carries.
+ Able to grab buffs quickly, or steal them from the enemy after level 6.
+ Has amazing farming ability.
+ Ultimate does True damage.
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Cons


- Very slow.
- Item dependant as an AP Carry.
- Many people expect you to tank.
- Vulnerable to ganking without wards.
- Can easily overpush lanes.
- You get annoyingly large at level 16+ with full stacks.
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Masteries

21/9/0 on Cho'Gath. That is the point, honestly. Cho'Gath is not normally played as an AP carry, therefore, most other builds won't have this set up. Most builds are bruisers, tanks, or just...not very good.


Green: Change if you want.
Yellow: Change to fit your play style.
Orange: Seriously think before changing these masteries.
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Runes

Main rune set

Greater Mark of Insight
Cho'Gath's original purpose was, obviously, not meant to be an AP carry, this means we have to work around his weaknesses, one of them being the fact that he has very little magic penetration. These are helpful all the way up to level 18, as any AP carry will always need magic penetration.

Greater Seal of Force
This is pretty self explanatory. AP carries need AP. I take the per level runes over the flat runes, because once you reach mid/late game, they start topping out.
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Greater Glyph of Force
This is pretty self explanatory. AP carries need AP. I take the per level runes over the flat runes, because once you reach mid/late game, they start topping out.

Greater Quintessence of Fortitude
As I previously stated, Cho'Gath is a tanky champion by nature. These Quints just make him a bit more tanky, so that you can survive early game and do some serious damage.
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Summoner Spells


Ignite
While I'm sure many people will find this odd, I don't take flash. Ignite, in combination with Exhaust, can completely devastate an opponent early to mid game. Being fed pre-late game is a huge part of being AP Cho'Gath.


Exhaust
Exhaust is a great choice for AP Cho'Gath. If you had to replace either of the spells, I would choose ignite. There are multiple benefits to this. One being an easier target to hit with your Rupture. This can make a huge difference in a gank.
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Flash
The cookie cutter summoner spell. Has defensive and offensive uses. Usually to initiate or escape ganks. Replace ignite with this if you would like to.
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Skilling Sequence


This skilling sequence gives Cho'Gath great early damage from and , as well as decent farming and harassing capabilities with .
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Cho'Gath's Spells, and how to use them.





Rupture

This is your bread and butter spell. It deals massive damage, is AoE, has a knock-up, and has quite a long range.

I've seen many comments about not maxing Rupture first. Here, and on every other Cho'Gath guide. There is a chapter on it later on.
Tips and tricks:
  • Try to aim where your target will be after the delay, otherwise, its a waste of mana, a cooldown, and if you're firing from the bush, the element of surprise.

  • Try to place the centerpoint of this spell under a minion, tower, creep, wall, tree, hell, even another champion! Just don't let the "dust" be seen, as it is an obvious indicator to move.


Feral Scream

AoE Silence. Basically, you can use this while running away, running in for a gank, or just for extra damage. In teamfights, save it for a support!

Tips and tricks:
  • Try to get creeps and Champions in its radius, as to be most effective.

  • In a teamfight, try to use this on the enemy healer/AP Carry.


Vorpal Spikes

Your farming and pushing tool. This can decimate minions in mere seconds late game. Can also make your auto attacks very punishing to other champions. (This basically is what makes you scary. As an AP carry, this gives your auto attacks power, and your spells power.)

Tips and tricks:
  • Turn it off near turrets, otherwise you may hit a champion and get unwanted turret aggro.

  • Be careful not to overextend when you use this, otherwise you may find their jungler sitting behind you!


Feast

This is your ultimate. Note how it deals true damage, which breaks through shields, armor, magic resistance, etc. This will hit HARD.

Tips and tricks:
  • You can use this on blue or red buff (After they drop to 999 hp please, if it is even at 1001 on a minion, you still won't get a stack! Nothing more annoying than a wasted ultimate.

  • Use this when enemy champions are at about 1/4 health, and you're guaranteed a kill.

  • This should always be on cooldown until you have 6 stacks. If you don't, use it on minions in the lane. It may seem like a waste, but the 900 extra hp at level 16 is worth it.
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Starter Items


Doran's Ring
Provides health, Ability Power, and mp5s. One of the most common starter items, and in my opinion, the best for Ap Cho'Gath.


Sapphire Crystal
Another option, in case you find yourself spamming your spells a lot more than usual.
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Amplifying Tome
If you feel like you need more power in the start, or you just want to build into Hextrech Revolver faster, you can go with this option. Make sure you also get a Health Potion!


Doran's Shield
You can grab this if you want to be more tanky, although, I recommend visiting another guide if you want to go tank.
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Core Items

These items are what Cho'Gath needs in order to be able to deal damage on par with other AP Carries.

Sorcerer's Shoes
As I stated earlier, Cho'Gath isn't naturally made as an AP carry, so we must work around his weaknesses, and get some magic penetration.


Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Provides the power and slows you need to deal damage, as well as the health you need to survive. You could essentially replace this with Rod of Ages if you wanted to.
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Will of the Ancients
This is where you start to shine. This item will make you much harder to kill, and well as much harder to withstand. Your Rupture should be hitting for 4-5 bars of their health at this point.


Rabadon's Deathcap
The cookie cutter item for any and all AP carries, provides the damage you need to transition into late game while staying with the game. If you aren't fed at this point, you're doing something wrong.
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Early Game

Level 1-7

During the early laning phase, try to stay behind your minions, while getting ruptures off on your enemies. You should either be on bottom with a babysitter, or on solo top. Once the enemy is low enough, Rupture -> Exhaust -> Feral Scream -> Ignite. This should kill them.
  • Last hit minions
  • Harass Enemy
  • Get your jungler to gank, your skill set is centered toward ganks.
  • Grab blue buff once you hit 7 if your jungler is okay with it.
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Mid Game

Levels 7-13

At this point, people have killed towers and are starting to roam. Make sure you have your wards set up at this point, otherwise you may find yourself ganked. If you got a kill or two while in you lane, you should have 1 or 2 core items by now. If so, you should start ganking lanes that overextend.
  • Safety Wards
  • Gank if slightly fed
  • Continue to last hit minions!
  • Grab blue buff at all possible moments.
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Teamfights

In teamfights, you have two roles. One being to kill their carries, and the other being to crowc control, and possibly initiate with Rupture. (If you have no tank)

Try to open with rupture on their AP carries, and always, ALWAYS, auto attack. Your vorpal spikes hurt. A lot. Use them. Also, try to use feast on enemy champions at 1/2 health or lower. With your Rabadon's, Feast kills.
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LoLReplays


Download the latest version of LoLReplays here

______// Your LoLReplay (Using this Guide) Here. You have to have LoLReplay to watch these replays. Download LoLReplay Here. The program, LoLReply, allows you to record your own games and replay them at any time. An hour of gameplay is about 7 MB; 100x smaller than an average quality video, so don't worry about the files taking up space :)
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Note: All credit for this section goes to Jhoijhoi. I appreciate her work, and you can find all of here guides here!
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Why Max Rupture First?

All of this is assuming you last hit as much as reasonably possible, and that you have at least one kill at level 9.

Rupture Damage at level 9: 305 + 100% of Ability Power.

Ability Power at 9: 115-160 if you last hit correctly.

Average Ability Power: 137.5

Rupture Damage: 443

Most Champions will average 1,000-1,500 health around level 9.

1,250 / 443 = 3 hits to kill an enemy champion with 1250 hp.

Now we need to factor in Magic Resistance. Average at this level is about 40 mr.

So, if we do that math, it takes roughly 5 Rupture hits to kill an enemy champion, with no other attacks, including Auto Attacks. This is amazing.



The fact that we take Exhaust for ganking, is that it makes it much easier to hit an "exhausted" champion with Rupture.
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Final Words and Credits

Thanks for reading my very first guide here on mobafire. Quite a bit of time went into the making of this guide, and I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to getting some comments on how to update my guide.

Until next time.

~Aeroxi



Credit to Jhoijhoi for her awesome Guide to making a guide!

Credits to Searz for the awesome guide format! You can find it here.

Credits to Jhoijhoi for the entire "LoLReplays" Section as well!
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