Darius Build Guide : Darius - Jungle Above All :: League of Legends Strategy Builds

Introduction

Welcome to my Darius jungle guide.

PANTH?My summoner name is ApocalypteK and I've been maining jungle since I started playing in Pre-Season 3. This will be my second guide on the site and it is about jungling with . I don't expect jungle to be picked up in diamond ranked play, but you could definitely dominate normal games with minimal knowledge of what to do.

Darius Jungle - Why?

PANTH?When somebody plays they are almost certain to be top. As someone who mains jungler, I find that playing him in the jungle is just as viable. His ganks are almost guaranteed to give a kill if you properly land , and you are very likely to get double kills if you countergank at the right time. He can outduel majority of jungles and quickly take the enemy over the wall providing great buff control. With early kills either in a lane or the enemy jungle, he can quickly snowball out of control.

Pros vs Cons

Pros

+ Can deal incredible amounts of sustained damage while building tank
+ Has a true damage execute that gets stronger the longer you fight
+ Extremely powerful counterganks and buff control

Cons

- Ganks automatically fail if misses
- Must use a summoner spell to escape as his abilities provide no mobility
- His only gap closer has a considerably long cooldown

Summoner Spells

Main Spells

SPACEA must have for any jungler. operates at a low cooldown of 40 seconds, and grants a free and instant damage based on your level. If you plan on stealing the enemy buff, you should always be certain that is ready to be used. Make sure to use it to secure your buffs, dragon, and baron as well. I would never consider jungling without it unless I'm a .

SPACEI choose as a safe pick. You can use it to escape over a wall, dodge ultimates like and , chase down fleeing enemies, or even gank with it. It is one of the most versatile summoner spells in the game and I often take this.

Optional

SPACE would have to be my second choice to replace . Sometimes it's better to run ghost, notably for chasing and escaping. I'm more likely to use it to run across the map and save my tower than flashing slightly closer to my destination. There is nothing wrong with taking it over , it's a matter of choice.

Runes

As of patch 4.5, the runes are changed heavily, but armor seals are still the best for the early clears. are a good alternative.

You're free to take alternatives, notably . I find flat CDR along with 5% from to be most optimal to clear camps quicker.

Flat AD is the strongest choice and seriously helps with every aspect of jungling. If you must take an alternative greater mark of armor penetration is a solid choice.

Same situation as the marks, but even if you use armor pen marks I'd keep these.

Masteries

This is my go to AD jungling 21/9/0 page. I find it, in my opinion, the most optimal for general builds.

Optional

These masteries may be the safer choice if you are new to jungling or need to tank for you team.

Ability Explanation

Darius' basic attacks and damaging abilities cause enemies to bleed for (9 + 3 per level) (+ 30% bonus AD) magic damage over 5 seconds. This stacks up to 5 times for a maximum of (45 + 15 per level) (+ 150% bonus AD) magic damage over the duration.

Darius gains 5% movement speed for each bleeding enemy champion.

8===DAn iconic passive that will provide you many kills you didn't expect to get otherwise. It helps immensely in sustained fights as well as sticking power with the movement speed buff.

Darius swings his axe, dealing physical damage to all enemies within a 425-radius area around him. Champions more than 270 units away from him are hit by his axe's blade, and will take 50% additional damage.

8===D AoE raw damage, great for clearing camps quickly and sustaining damage to enemy champions. It is very important to get the damage increase on enemy champions, but if they're running away you can happily take the free damage increase.

Darius' next basic attack deals bonus physical damage and slows the target's movement and attack speed for 2 seconds.

Crippling Strike's cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.

8===DMore damage, AS buff, attack timer reset, and an enemy slow. Couldn't ask for anymore myself.

Passive: Darius gains (5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25%) armor penetration.

Active: After a brief delay, Darius pulls in all enemies in front of him.

8===DThe passive provides a good amount of late game armor penetration, think of it as a mini . It's another reason I go flat AD marks and quints.

8===DAs for the active, learn and know the range and delay of the pull. It's tricky to get off correctly, so practice until you master it. There's no worse feeling than missing your pull in a gank.

Darius leaps to an enemy champion and strikes a devastating blow, dealing true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage.

When Noxian Guillotine kills the target, it can be recast within the next 20 seconds. This can occur multiple times in succession.

8===DExcellent execute ultimate, try to secure as many kills as possible with this. Always try to get a few stacks of to increase the true damage you deal, and make sure you can get the timer reset if there's multiple enemies. Remember this is a small dash too.

Skill Sequence

Skill Priority

R > Q > W > E

Recommended Build Order

Always start out with these, as a jungler there really is no exception.

Take these two as soon as possible, rushing to increase your clear times. Take if there's heavy CC or peel, if there's heavy AD on the enemy team, otherwise so your ganks and map presence are deadly.

Farm enough large monster kills and you'll get this beauty. Since destroys enemy champions, you'll be able to stack this item indefinitely increasing strength even further. Take the route if you need to go tankier earlier in the game.

A solid mid game choice to help with your sticking power and survivability. Builds into later on.

Great item to have on a . It helps your clear speed and survivability in the jungle along with ganks and counterjungling. Of course if you're against an entirely AP team, take MR instead of this.

For the next few items, choose based on your situation. Damage, magic resistance, and armor respectively. If you're not sure what to choose first build in the order put.

Finishing will grab you a great balance of stats. Apart from wasted AP stats, you're now dealing more damage, taking more damage, and sticking to enemies harder. You're free to take another item over / to your liking, such as or .

This is a great item that will give you a spell shield so you're not as easily kited. The health and magic resist are great too as you'll only be harder to kill.

We get excellent survivability with . It's generally a great item, and the slow active will help chase and initiate. The AS debuff is great for fighting AD carries and AS junglers.

Items & Alternatives

Starting Item

Standard start for most junglers. Very cost efficient and allows you to get 5 s. Builds into two of the best options for junglers, into or and into .

Core Item

Although the few times people have jungled before have taken , I find that allows you to deal much more sustained damage and clear camps faster with the attack speed. With the free wards too you can switch out for a .

Offensive Items

I choose this as my main damage item besides as it gives you all the stats and passives needed to deal enough damage to be a threat yet enough to allow you to go straight tank after building it. You get the and passives which grant you the ability to stick to your target and deal even more instant AA damage.

This is the damage item I used to build in older patches. Usually you get early on for better clearing, as well as sustain with the health regen. The AoE attack passive is very useful for damage bursts and later on teamfights/splitpushes. It's still a great item if you don't like

Excellent item to own. The active helps immensely with chases and ganks, as well as counter jungling. I don't build it on because I can't justify taking this over a which can arguably allow to chase better.

35% armor penetration plus some AD is great at destroying both the AD carry and the tank. Generally you'll never need to build this as your provides enough armor penetration late game but if the other team is seriously stacking armor it's a valid option.

A better alternative to the , as it benefits your entire team. Gives a good amount of AD, CDR, and some health as well. With this item, you get a flat amount of 10 armor penetration, and the ability to stack armor reduction up to 25% by dealing physical damage.

A situational offensive item. If the enemy team is heavy on AP and you need to deal more damage, this is my item of choice. Magic resistance as well as a magic shield when you're low health that couples with 's other passive which gives more AD at lower health. If you don't need another armor item, this is great with a .

Defensive Items

I build this very often. It's gives great early armor and health, and extra clearing damage. With this alone you're hard to kill and still dealing out huge amounts of damage. If you're against a team with absolutely no AD, take a magic resist item.

Mix of health and armor as well as an attack speed reduction aura. If you are hit by their basic attack they are slightly slowed, so kiting you will be difficult. 's active can be used to chase or initiate team fights. I often build this against most teams.

I like to build this when I'm facing a team with at least one AP champ or a poke comp. Plenty of MR and some health. I would build this over a if I find that my team can't initiate or all in that well.

What's worse than one ? TWO! You also get some armor and magic resist to help survivability. If you're the initiator for your team it's a pretty good item to have, as you can come back and dunk the carries again.

Health, the one counter to all types of damage. If you're taking lots of both physical and magic damage, is generally a good choice. The passive also gives a nice sustain for in between team fights and any damage you soaked from dragon or baron. I recommend on poke heavy comps.

Jungling Route

1.

Start at on purple side, if on blue. Ask for a light leash from your bot (top if blue) and watch out for ganks. the / immediately and have your teammates help out, but ping them away when it's about 30% health. You'll get more exp that way. If you're worried you might be invaded, or just don't trust your team mates, smite at 390< health.

2.

Take the / next, but if the enemy jungle is someone who likes to counter jungle (think , , etc.) skip this step.

3.

Now it's time for the next buff camp. If you took the warding trinket, ward the bush on the opposite side of the camp (if you are at ward the river bush). If you took the red triket, scan the bush next to the buff. Either way, check all bushes around the buff, just to be certain the enemy jungler isn't around. the when it is at or under 430 health, so it can't be stolen with a blind spell or a headstrong enemy jungler.

4.

Look for ganking opportunities, you should be near top so try to gank there first. The next section will explain your options from here.

Farming, Counterjungling, Ganking, Team Fighting, and Warding

Farming

PANTH!You're the jungler. You won't have constant waves of minions coming for you to last hit. In order to not fall behind you must properly farm your jungle. It's not difficult to do, basically you can follow the same route above to farm, after your first jungle run it gets much easier.

PANTH!When you are jungling you should always be doing something. The only time you should be sitting still is when you're waiting for an allies abilities to come off cooldown in order to gank. Otherwise, always clear jungle camps when you have no other priorities. A lot of the time, especially in solo queue, you'll find that all the lanes are pushed to the enemy tower. That's okay, you don't have to gank every five seconds, especially since you need to farm 25 large monsters to upgrade to a .

One final note, always ditch the camp you're at if a lane nearby is in distress, whether they have to recall or they were just ganked themselves and the tower is in danger. Just remember that if you kill some jungle creeps but leave at least one alive they don't respawn, so make haste to clear the last of a camp before moving on.

Farming

PANTH!You're the jungler. You won't have constant waves of minions coming for you to last hit. In order to not fall behind you must properly farm your jungle. It's not difficult to do, basically you can follow the same route above to farm, after your first jungle run it gets much easier.

PANTH!When you are jungling you should always be doing something. The only time you should be sitting still is when you're waiting for an allies abilities to come off cooldown in order to gank. Otherwise, always clear jungle camps when you have no other priorities. A lot of the time, especially in solo queue, you'll find that all the lanes are pushed to the enemy tower. That's okay, you don't have to gank every five seconds, especially since you need to farm 25 large monsters to upgrade to a .

One final note, always ditch the camp you're at if a lane nearby is in distress, whether they have to recall or they were just ganked themselves and the tower is in danger. Just remember that if you kill some jungle creeps but leave at least one alive they don't respawn, so make haste to clear the last of a camp before moving on.

Counterjungling

PANTH!Counterjungling is pretty big on . He's known as a top lane bully, so why not bully the jungler? You can accomplish counterjungling in two basic ways: stealing camps and killing the jungler.

PANTH!When you go to steal camps, you usually do this to deny enemy XP and gold as well as stack your faster. You really don't want to be caught doing this at the wrong time, so if you're unsure if you can fight the enemy jungler don't think about invading. Another thing to note is the lanes around the jungler. Are you stealing wolves and your top and mid laners are pushed to their towers with enemy laners MIA? You're probably going to die. Here's a quick list to know when to invade the enemy jungle.

You are aware of every enemy champions position, or have a good idea where they are.
Your laners are pushing or harassing the enemy laner.
You are stronger than the enemy jungler in a 1v1, or know they are across the map and can't find you.

PANTH!When you want to surprise the enemy jungler, follow the same guidelines as above but you absolutely need to be sure you'll find them in their jungle or at a buff, because otherwise you're sitting around doing nothing. If you try to find them at their wolves and it's gone, they're either farming the big wraith, ganking a lane, or at their wraith camp now. React accordingly, be smart and figure out a plan. You know they're no longer in the top part of the jungle? Gank the top lane because you know they can't stop you.

Ganking

PANTH!Ganking lanes is just as important as farming the jungle. A gank can change your bottom lane from being pressured under the tower into giving your AD carry a double kill and taking the enemy tower in return. A misconception is that when you don't get a kill while ganking makes it not worth your time, but blowing someones summoner spell or forcing them to recall is almost as good as a kill. You still deny farm to them for that duration while letting your laner CS hassle free.

PANTH!You can gank through lane by sneak into the bush by the map boundaries or the river bushes, or by simply calculating the enemy zed leveling up to 6 and diving your squishy mid. The only time you should gank is when you are certain to cause destruction and inconvenience to the other team. When ganking, you should ping the ally in that lane that you are coming. Often you must run in instead of waiting in bush, and your ally may not have noticed in time. I tend to give the kill to whoever is in lane at the time but don't be afraid to take the kill, it's better to get it than let someone get away with ten health.

PANTH!Now that you gank is done, you have a couple options. You may have taken damage in the middle of the gank and must recall, which is fine. You could hold the lane if your ally is low on health, pushing the lane is fine as long as you deny farm to the enemy. Don't hesitate to take some farm while in lane. One or two CS that would have gone to waste won't cause too much damage. But sometimes, the enemy gets away. In this case, you can go back to farming if they are now extremely cautious, or you can wait in the bush and surprise them again. The most important rule during a gank is to not feed a kill to the enemy laner. Try not to gank if you think you'll just die and piss of your laners.

Team Fighting

PANTH!Now the laning phase is over, team fights start breaking out, what do you do? First of all, make sure your team actually is incorporating teamwork. If you jump on the AD carry and your team starts running away, bad events are about to unfold. Unless there's a on your team it is likely you are the one initiating.
Unfortunately you have no ranged skill shot so you can't poke or harass around an objective, so try your best to peel if the other team initiates and pull the other team to you if they get too close. You should chase down anyone who is low and trying to escape, you can easily kill them.

PANTH!You could also splitpush and roam the map, flanking the enemy team from behind as you ping your team to go in. By splitpushing you're added pressure to the side lanes, forcing the enemy team to send somebody to stop a huge wave of your minions from crashing into a tower. Always know when to go splitpush, and when to stick around your team because they can't hold off 4v5.

Warding

Spoiler: Click to view

PANTH!Warding is a huge aspect to the game. The image above shows common spots where wards should be place. As a jungler, you should always keep a few wards on you. Prioritize them at your buff camps in case the enemy jungler feels thrifty. You can also feel generous and throw a ward down near someones lane, but usually that's up to the laners to place them, especially with the season 4 changes. Always try to keep dragon warded, and later in the game baron. Placing a ward could mean avoiding that brush later on with the whole rival team hidden in it.

PANTH!Wards can also hinder you, especially with the new trinkets, which is why I try to ping that I am ganking and go straight in. If you try to set up a gank by standing in a river bush and see the enemy champions suddenly double back under the tower, chances are there's a ward at your feet. Don't be disgruntled, head back to farming. No need to force a gank. If you really want to gank with surprise, you can use the red trinket to destroy enemy wards, leave, and come back later to surprise them.

PANTH!You can also aggressively ward, such as throwing a pink or even a regular ward in the bush opposite the camp of the red buff, so you can see the jungler walk by and know their exact location at the time. As , I try to ward deep in the enemy jungle as often as possible.

Summary

FINAL!Thanks for taking the time to read my jungle guide. As only one person and the creator of the guide, I'm not fully keen on the mistakes I've done and information I left out. So, if you have any criticism or suggestions for me, please leave a comment and let me know. Other than that I hope you had an enjoyable time and wish you good luck on trying this build out.

Darius - Jungle Above All

Darius - Jungle Above All

Recommended Items

Spells:

Smite

Flash

Items

Ability Order

Hemorrhage (PASSIVE)

Decimate (Q)

Crippling Strike (W)

Apprehend (E)

Noxian Guillotine (R)

Introduction

Welcome to my Darius jungle guide.

Darius Jungle - Why?

Pros vs Cons

Summoner Spells

Main Spells

Optional

Runes

Masteries

Masteries

Optional

Ability Explanation

Skill Sequence

Recommended Build Order

Items & Alternatives

Starting Item

Core Item

Offensive Items

Defensive Items

Jungling Route

Farming, Counterjungling, Ganking, Team Fighting, and Warding

Farming

Farming

Counterjungling

Ganking

Team Fighting

Warding

Summary

League of Legends Champions: