Darius Build Guide by Joxuu

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League of Legends Build Guide Author Joxuu

Darius - The Noxian Symbol

Last updated on March 2, 2013

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Build 1 (Cheat Sheet)

Champion Build: Darius

Recommended Runes

Name

Ability Sequence

Masteries

Offense: 9

Defense: 21

Utility: 0

Guide Table of Contents

Introduction

Pro's and Con's

Masteries (Basic)

Masteries (Jungle)

Runes

Summoner Spells

Abilities

Ability Sequence

Core Items (Jungle and Lane)

Situational items

Match-Up

Jungling

Laning

Team Fights

Pictures & Screenshots

Changelog

Closing

Introduction

Hello guys!
It's my third build and it's about The Hand of Noxus.
I had a build earlier, but it just got heavily trollvoted down by 2 different trollvoters with 2 second accounts and the rating just fell down to under 50% in 5 minutes. The reasons for upvotes were like "...." and I wish that wouldn't happen for the second time. I can take the downvotes, but please come up with critic that can help me improve the guide. Anyways, this guide is basic, quite aggressive I guess, but there's plenty of situational items and it's really up to you how you build him.
Now I'm publishing the edited and hopefully better version of my build.

Champion spotlight

Darius Syndrome - Credits to GFTDvideos

Pro's and Con's

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Pros

+ Really fun to play
+ Good Tanky-Dps
+ One of the best ultimates
+ Great overall as the game goes on

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Cons

- Needs quite a bit mana
- Silence destroys
- No escape abilities
- Somehow item independant

Masteries (Basic)

Mastery Explanations

Masteries

My mastery set-up are for damage for early game and some defensive for some early-game defense, not much of it, but they do help. Those will relief the early-game damage from possible long-range attacks for example.

OFFENSE TREE

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Tier 1: I choose as regular pick of course. Necessary for the summoner spell bonuses. Then I pick for few attack damage.

Tier 2: I only choose to pick from tier 2 just for some attack speed. I don't find good god

Tier 3: I pick and for some attack damage and especially for the 10 % armor penetration. Simply a must have from Tier 3.

Tier 4: I pick and for some sustain and for the 10% critical damage, which is not a must tough, but I decide to pick it, because it's more useful than other picks.

Tier 5: From here, I take for the amazing flat armor penetration. Now you have bunch of early tank counters, because of that armor penetration from possible runes/masteries/.

Tier 6: Simply must have for every offensive champion. 6& more damage for enemies under 40% health is just amazing pick.

DEFENSE TREE

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Tier 1: I only chose and , but based on how you like and what summoner spells you use, you can go for also and remove 1 point somewhere.

Tier 2 - 3: Go for , because then I can go for and I go for them for the extra health, which they give.

Tier 5 - 6: I don't have these, because I rather go for 21-9 instead of 9-21, but here you could choose and and remember to choose and finally . The movement speed will help you chasing and escaping of course. is just for some early defense form minions, but you can spend the 2 points in different picks also. Finally gives some health once again and it's a small tenacity item against CC.

Masteries (Jungle)

Mastery Explanations

Masteries

The mastery set-up is the same, but I will explain possible picks for the jungle, if you wish to use them over my current masteries. Below I will only explain the changes you can make, so I won't be repeating myself over and over. You can see the same reasons above.
NOTE: I use same masteries as above, but I have already explained them. I decide not to take jungling masteries, because they don't benefit that much at all. I will explain possible picks!

OFFENSE TREE

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Tier 1: Here the only difference is the pick. It doesn't do much, but it's a good choice for Tier 1. It will help you clear the camps little bit faster.

Tier 3: Here I choose for some extra damage and It's just better to spend the 3 points here, than anywhere else for the jungling way. That's pretty much it. I couldn't go to the left side of the tree.

I removed some picks from tiers 3-4 and they were Lehtality and . I couldnt pick them, because firstly I didn't have any points to spend there since I wanted to go for 9 points for defense.

I find the most useful for the 3 points that are needed to spend for the 21 points total, so it's basically replacing the critical strike and percentage of damage.

DEFENSE TREE

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Tier 1: I choose and for easier jungling and clearing those camps faster once again.

Tier 3: From here, I choose for some damage when the minions hit me in the jungle.

Here I made also just few minor changes. I took points from + and I put them into + . I made those changes for more efficient jungling. Especially helps you whole lot more than picks meantioned above.

Runes

Runes

Runes

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: This will give you a lot of damage kinda self explaining.
Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Pick this simply, because it gives much more damage early.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: Same as below. Will give you sustain, especially against team with a lots of AP carries and it helps against those minions also.
Greater Seal of Armor: This will help you lane and get those minion kills, also helps later on, at late game.

Situational Runes

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed: Quintessence worth of considering, if you like to be able to chase / escape little bit easier. Also gives you faster movement speed, which you may spot especially early-mid game, where you have same amount of movement speed giving boots. There you are able to catch him, maybe enough to basic attack him or cast Apprehend on him.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: If you prefer the late game magic resistance, rather than flat magic resistance, these fit better for you.
Greater Mark of Desolation: Really helpful mark, which are not seen in AD, but it's clearly seen as damage in-game. Consider these over the AD marks, or you can change the quintessences to armor penetration instead.

Summoner Spells

-Well I guess it's not even needed to explain this spell, certainly must have for a jungling build. It's the bread and butter of jungling. You may want to cast it for the last hit, especially if you're getting "hard" pull. can also be used very effectively to counter-jungle your enemies possible jungler and why not even help you at lane if you need a fast minion kill for some reason.

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-This really blackouts enemies during duels and helps chasing enemies a lot and lets you stack on your opponent, for your ultimate finish off, if you are going 2vs2 at bottom lane with AD carry possibly, will deffinately help you guys out and hopefully pick-up the first blood.

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-Really good choice for , because he doesn't have any escape abilities, so this will save your life several times. can be used over walls and small obstacles, but remember that it will only teleport you to your cursor location or towards it, if you're out of range.

Vialable Summoner Spells

-I think it's worth of mentioning this summoner spell, tough in my opinion, it's only good for solo top. You don't have to worry that much about leaving your lane and leaving your turret under an attack, because with you can get back to your turret really quickly and I doubt the enemy team will get to do much harm to it. This can aslo be used for ganking, because you can target for example; a ward insade a bush.

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-Really helpful for especially ganking and escaping, but why not for chasing also of course. I usually take this summoner spell for my other jungling champions, but it's very effective for also, because you need those basic attacks & abilities to stop the enemy from escaping and stacking your .

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-I'm not really fan of this spell, but it's incredibly often seen in PvP and in ranked games. is your life saver, just like . You don't need to worry if you're low on hp and opponent is trying to tower-dive you, just use this spell and you are given quite a lot hp, to counter your enemy and maybe even save your life while picking the kill!

Abilities

Ability Explanation

PASSIVE: Darius' basic attacks and damaging abilities cause enemies to bleed for 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 / 36 (+0.4 per bonus attack damage) magic damage over 5 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
Darius gains 5% movement speed for each bleeding enemy champion.

This is one heck of a passive! You can also consider it as extra attack damage making hes base attack over 100 early-game!
Amazing passive, that reduces cooldown on Crippling Strike and it's the bread and butter of your ultimate Noxian Guillotine. Try to always keep your enemies bleeding, just by landing your Decimate activates this passive

Decimate (Q): Darius deals physical damage to all nearby enemies in a circle around him. Champions in the outer half of the ability are struck by the blade, taking 50% additional damage.

Again really good ability. This is your main damaging ability early and late game. Try to stack your passive by landing this ability as often as possible early-game, because they will not only take the damage, but also get damaged by Hemorrhage. It's Also excellent ability to farm minions with your passive of course.

Tips & Tricks

- Use this for harassing and to stack Hermorrhage.
- to push lane, land it to all minions
- Try to get the extra 50% damage on people on range of outer circle

Crippling Strike (W): Darius' next basic attack deals additional damage and slows the target's movement and attack speed for 2 seconds.
Crippling Strike's base cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.

Yet again ability that's awesome! This will slow your enemies, making your chase much more easier and efficient. The damage is also really nice later on, since this is quite aggressive build. Try to land this ability, when you have many stacks of your passive, because it reduces the cooldown of it based on the stacks. Also once you have hit a basic attack and use Crippling Strike it's like hitting twice in a row.

Tips & Tricks

- Use it as first ability when surprising enemy for slow.
- Use it with full stack if possible, for reduced cooldown
- Activate this before Apprehend for almost insta slow.

Apprehend (E): (Passive): Darius gains armor penetration. (Active): Darius pulls in all enemies in front of him.

Well, not much to say here really. It's really good ability, to stop the enemy from escaping or several opponents, because this drags all the enemies in a cone. Really useful while chasing enemies or just saving your teammate. Unfortunately, it doesn't do any damage, but this gives you a nice passive armour penetration.

Tips & Tricks

- Use it as a gap closer
- You can use this to pull enemies behind walls
- Remember it's passive while facing tank, you shall not be outran!

Noxian Guillotine (R): Darius leaps to target enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage.
The cooldown is refreshed if Noxian Guillotine kills the target.

This is so far, in my opinion, the best ultimate in the game for several reasons! It does true damage up to over 800, if you have AD build. Try to have as many stacks of passive as possible, before you use this ability, because it's just waste to use it without the stacks. Each stacks gives 20% more damage, so up to 100% more damage! This is really awesome to finish off and against tanks and remember, that the cooldown refreshes, if you land the killing blow with this ability. Imagine 5x800 dmg.

Tips & Tricks

- Use it when you have full stacks of Hemorrhage.
- You deal true damage, remember that if facing a tank.
- Try to land it as a last hitter, but remember not to take all kills. It's not your role.

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Ability Sequence

Ability Sequence Order

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

I will briefly explain my ability sequence choices;

I choose to max first, because it's your main damaging ability, harassing skill and you benefit from it the most. It's damage is just amazing while leveling it up and it's cooldown isn't terrifying. Then I choose to max out of course. It's your second damaging ability and leveling it up gives you the extra slow for movement speed, if you hit the enemy and it's damage output is also increased quite a bit. For the third, but not the least I choose to max our . I don't find it necessary to level it up, just for the cooldown and armor penetration %, but of course they do help you, but not as much as or . As always, choose always when you can, because it is what makes you "The Hand of Noxus"! I can't see any champion except maybe few, where ultimate is not leveled up always when possible. Usually ultimate is chosen every time you can and isn't exception.

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Core Items (Jungle and Lane)

Items

Item Sequence

: Best boots for Darius, because hes vialable to CC. These boots also give the early magic resistance, which lacks a bit mid game. Boots of Speed and the 4 Health Potion's are core items. It's for chasing the enemy down, if you are and for most likely you are going to dominate the lane. Health Potion gives you the sustain to stay longer in the lane and harass your opponent more without having to think that much about minion aggression.
: (JUNGLE) I prefer this item over Madred's Bloodrazor, because it's cheaper item and you won't really need the attack speed which it provides. Also I like the active in Wriggle's Lantern, which allows you to set up wards. These can be either set up in lane to help your teammates or in jungle to counter your enemies. I will possibly make possible warding section, so stay tuned.
: Excellent item, which you can choose over or under Trinity Force, again it's matter of your own opinion. Frozen Mallet gives you sustain and some attack damage, but I pick this for it's movement speed reduction while you attack on enemies. This again helps you stack those passives. Trinity Force is more like a offensive item and you can choose it over this item, if you prefer it more.
: If you decide to choose this, also go for Atma's Impaler, no question about that. These will not only give you sustain, but also the attack damage, which atma's gives. 1.5 % is 38 attack damage from 3700 hp, which is almost just as good as B. F. Sword

Situational items

Situational Items

: Really awesome counter against AD focusing team, who are stacking attack speed. Champions like Tryndamere, Xin Zhao, Vayne etc. really hate this item, because it debuffs their attack speed quite a lot. Really useful item on Darius
: If you really want to charge in the fights and you're facing AD-AP team, without lot's of sustain. The passive which can save your life many times is very useful and if enemy team is targetting you, the better it is for your team, because this gives your team bunch of time to kill your opponents while they're smacking you without grabbing a kill.
: Awesome item against ap carries, just like Force of Nature, but this item also gives you attack damage and a shield that takes up to 400 damage magic damage. This will really save your life!

Other Situational Items (Briefly)

: If you prefer this over Wriggle's Lantern, choose this instead. It's mainly to counter a tanky team, but don't choose it, unless you are really facing almost a full tank team.
: Really good item against AD carry team, they will find themselves taking lot's of damage from it's passive.
: Same reason as Randuin's Omen, but you don't need to activate it. 20% Attack speed reduction is really nice counter against AD carries stacking attack speed like Tryndamere. It will also give you mana and 99 armor.
: Really awesome defensive item against AP focusing team. Deffinately a item you want to have, if you're facing heavy AP carries who deal a lot damage like Veigar, LeBlanc. It's movement speed bonus is not bad either, it really is helpful and that health regeneration is also quite useful.
: Nice item which gives you attack speed, which is effective against AP carries and nice amount of damage.
: You can buy these boots instead of [[Mercury's Treads, if you are facing AD focusing team, but not otherwise. They're just not worth it.
: Awesome early-game item, buy this really early, for the nice armor penetration and cooldown reduction. Also consider, if you're facing tank in your lane.
NOTE: This is a laning item, I don't see it useful for jungler.
: Really nice item, which gives you some lifesteal that helps you stay longer in fights, but it's mostly for it's damage.

Match-Up

I will explain few of the possible enemies you may face at top lane, if you are soloer. NOTE: These rating are based on my opinion. Ratings can change between users quite a lot. 10/10 may be 5/10 for someone. So it's just based on opinion. At this point I'd like to credit jhoihoi for the line divider and OTGBionicArm's awesome Darius guide for the inspiration, which has way too low rating than he should have. Build can be found here ---> OTGBionicArm's Darius Guide

Akali

Difficulty 2/10

is really squishy early-game and she simply doesn't stand a chance against you. She shouldn't be able to do almost any damage to you, until she hits level 6 and gets her ultimate. She has quite low health and defense and your can easily destroy her, because it's hard for her even to escape to her , because has range over her shroud and you can easily pull her with your , if she tries to escape. You can also buy to counter her. Once she is dangerous enough or even if she is dangerouse anymore after possibly dieng and loosing so many levels while facing you, it's mid game and lane phase is over.

Caitlyn

Difficulty 3/10

Not really often seen as soloer, but she deffinately can do so. I can say even now, that you won't have any problems to bring her down. She is ranged, which is huge advantage over already, but that's pretty much it. She doesn't do much of damage and she is a glasscannon, meaning that you can easily take over 50% healths with 1 and , but you may have to use before to close the gap.

Cho'Gath

Difficulty 3/10

This guy is hilariouse, however not so dangerouse against . He can't really do much of a damage towards you, except for hes and , if it hits. It's really easy to dodge that and doesn't do any seriouse damage. Should be easy job to kill him, hes late game champion and can't really do anything, before he gets level 6 for and stacks from it's passive which grants him health every time he kills something with it. As I said, easy job just land your maybe pull him towards you, land and few basic attacks.

Darius

Difficulty 9/10

I don't know exactly how to explain this one, but if you have read this guide you should have some kind of overall of ' pro's and con's. It's just the matter who is better in the lane. Difficulty is based on how I would feel to go against other , but it's really just the matter of whose better.

Dr. Mundo

Difficulty 6/10

He's not really a threat, but he sure is annoying. He can just throw axes from far distance and they deal some seriouse damage in every stage of the game, but it's really hard to hit it and you can just stay behind minions. I doubt any players will rush trough the minions and start whacking you, because the result would be 1-0 for you, tough you would take bunch of damage for sure.

Fiora

Difficulty 5/10

is quite squishy enemy and you shouldn't have much problems to poke her down with , but she can use her ability to parry it, so I prefer wasting her parry first with basic attack for example, then either or pull her with and start basic attacking or activate , if you have it. Don't try to 1v1 her at the very beginning, if she gets to parry your , because her gives her a lot attack speed, so I advice you to just poke her constantly. She will take a lot of damage from for example so it shouldn't be that hard after all to grab a kill or two on her, but just look out for parry and that attack speed.

Gangplank

Difficulty 4/10

Again a champion, which can be very annoying. can shoot from far distance, but it won't do much of damage, unless it critcal strikes on you. He can also heal himself with and that's good for solo champion, but here is the trick; He's attacks cost REALLY much mana and he will be oomed after 3-5 ability usages making him almost useless and easy target for you. He either must go back to the tower or recall for mana, but I doubt any soloer would leave lane like that, so he must go to the tower and try to get the few last hits. This will make him fall behind with minion kills and you can harass him with your or pull him with , if he tries to get greedy with the minion kills.

Garen

Difficulty 7/10

Once again annoying solo champion. can regenerate health back quite fast, with hes passive . Another danger about him is he's which will silence you, making your abilities useless and while you are silenced he can use Judgement on you or just run away and come back after the cooldown has reseted. Those attacks won't do really much damage tough and you can stop he's passive by landing a hit, when it's activated. Don't let him regenerate he's health. He has quite high damage for such tankiness and at about 6 lvl and he will get he's ultimate, which is really similiar to yours and can cause you grey hair. However keep on pushing him and get advantage over him really early-game.

Irelia

Difficulty 7/10

is almost just like . She can regenerate her healths back with , so she has quite good sustain and has really good chasing skill and stun. She can take the hits quite well, won't harm her too much, but it sure hurts. Keep on pushing her away from the minions, deniying health regeneration or force her to use very often and sooner or later she will be oomed and then you strike! Don't dive to the turret tough, because she has that stun and it's her only escape mechanism and She should be quite easy to gank, because of that, so keep ur jungler busy and don't push the lane, if you are able to get ganks.

Jarvan IV

Difficulty 1.5/10

He has some cool harass abilities, but that's pretty much it. He can't do anything 1v1, unless he has near you, just look out for that. Should be easy job for you to dominate the lane can poke you for sure, but will run out of mana in no time and you can dodge the attacks quite easily after all. Just keep on using as always, he doesn't really have escape mechanism or defense early-game, so again you can call for ganks, but it's not really that necessary after all, but you would get a easy kill on him tough.

Jax

Difficulty 7/10

is really annoying once again, he has really nice escape mechanism and gap closer , along with he's dodge/stun and harass ability . He can really nuke you with that combo, but that's pretty much it once again. He will run out of mana quickly. After that you shouldn't have much problems with him anymore, but you may have hard times of killing him, because of hes escape mechanism and that stun/dodge. You can call ganks, to make him fall behind in levels to get your ultimate before he's, because after that he is quite dangerouse. gives him armor and magic resistance with extra damage every 3rd attack, so he can basically combo all hes abilities without taking lot's of damage from counter-attacks.

Kennen

Difficulty 8/10

is really annoying champion against pretty much everyone. He doesn't need to be close, he can just throw he's shurikens and abilities from far distance like and if he is close, he will just use and finally . All that without possibly even loosing hp. So you have to be on your toes all the time, especially when he gets ultimte, but that's about the time when lane phase is ending. Only thing you can do is hope that you get to pull him and do some damage with , but is heck of a escaper, so it's not guranteed that you can get kill on him anytime. It's also hard to get proper gank on him, but you can try.

Lee Sin

Difficulty 9/10

Now we came to one of my favourite champion, which is also very hard opponent at top. He has everything what it takes to be good soloer. Sustain, armour, damage, ranged attacks, harass abilities, escape & chase abilities. Your only way is to deny he's access to minions, so he canno't get hes healths back and stay behind minions so he can't harass you either. Keep on pulling him towards you, quickly use and , because he can escape easily.

Malphite

Difficulty 3/10

Once again really annoying champion, Malhptie can also just throw and then run away with the movement speed it gives, but the ability is very costly and he can do max 3-4 before oom. After that he will possibly just sit by the turret and get last hits, which is really annoying. Only thing you can do is to prevent him getting hes passive by using on him. Beware of ganks! has really good abilities to shut you down and let jungler do all the work.

Maokai

Difficulty 5/10

I don't really know much about , but he is really good soloer, because he has sustain from he's passive and he has entangle, which is really good CC and helps hes team jungler in possible ganks. He can't really do much of damage to you except with , but yeah can't really give much information about him, sorry. I give him neutral 5 rating, because lack of my own knowledge, but please educate me, if you have read this.

Master Yi

Difficulty 8.5/10

This guy is one of the best solo tops i'd say. AP build is much more efficient while soloing, because it gives a lot more damage to and much more healing to , but AD build gives him much more damage for basic attacks, but overall he can use for easy damage of few hundred and then heal himself back up. He also has really nice ultimate which acts as escaping and chasing tool. Your only hope of killing him is ganks or getting him out of mana.

Mordekaiser

Difficulty 3/10

is really late-game champion and therefore it's not a huge thing, if you dominate then lane or even grab few kills on him. He basically can't do much. All he can do is to use hes , which doesn't deal that much damage. I'd suggest you not to push the lane by that I mean just get last hits and deny hes experience by pushing him away. You will find yourself dominating the lane in just few minutes. Call up couple ganks, because he doesn't have escape abilities and if you get even that 1 kill on him, he will fall behind which is really good late-game.

Morgana

Difficulty 2/10

a Champion which is not often seen in solo top. is more likely in mid, but is seen as soloer from time to time. She has skillshot abilities and they're quite easy to avoid and if her doesn't hit, she can't really do damage with and leaving her with nothing to do for over 10 seconds. Keep on harassing her and don't push the lane too much, because the trap traps you for about 2 seconds leaving their possible jungler lot's of time to do seriouse damage. My tip is to stay behind minions and you're fine.

Nasus

Difficulty 7/10

If you get in the same lane, I predirict that it's going to be quite passive lane. He has really good lifesteal from he's passive . He will just more likely get last hits by using and each minion kill buffs the ability. He has also awesome slow, I think it's the best slow at the moment. When is maxed, it slows you down for 95%, making possible ganks really effective. He may also bait you by staying in the lane with low hp near the turret, but don't dive in if he has ultimate , because it gives him insta hp. Ultimate + slow near the turret = Dead . Keep on poking him and denying minion kills and experience, but don't push the lane.

Nidalee

Difficulty 5/10

is not really dangerouse early-game, but the more the game goes on the more dangerouse she gets. AD build shouldn't cause you lot's of trouble until she hits levle 6 and gets . AP build is more dangerouse early-game, but still quite weak after all. She does have good damage from her after leveling it up few levels and she gains good amount of health from making her more sustain and can stay in the lane. She can also escape quite effectively with either her passive or as cougar once she gets one. Your should deal lot's of damage to her and her javelin is quite easily dodged and she will run out of mana quite soon, so no real danger there.

Nunu

Difficulty 4/10

has really good sustain, because of hes ability and he is really good harasser and poker with hes , but that's pretty much it once again. He has quite good escaping ability , but it's not often even leveled up that much in early-game. will run out of mana really fast, unless he has blue and damn if he gets that buff, then he is some kind of match-up for you, but without it.. just keep on harassing him with forcing him to run out of mana quickly. When laning phase is about to end, he should be about level 6-8 and has ultimate Absoulute Zero already and that deals one of the highest damage in the game. 625 + 250% ability power at level 1, if it gets to channel full time and hits enemies inside the area it creates. If you find yourself in the middle of it and there is no way of escape, use to take minimal damage from it.

Olaf

Difficulty 9/10

This viking is really good soloer. He has quite good lifesteal and extra damage from and deals true damage with ability and that's just one heck of a ability and really bad counter against . Other counter is hes ultimate which removes all CC and is immune against disables while gaining quite bit armor and magic resistance. He also has harassing ability , but it doesn't do much after few levels and it's slow is not that good either. It will deffinately be a tough for you to win, but keep on using your abilities to harass, but don't trade against , because you will loose that trade. Try to lane at least 1 more basic attacks and/or .

Pantheon

Difficulty 5.5/10

Once again a enemy, that shouldn't be much of a threat, but you must be on your toes. He can do quite well against poking abilities with hes forcing you to deal at least 1 basic attack on him, before you can start using your abilities and meanwhile he can stun with and gain hes shield again and throw a at you. Trades of damage will end up quite even, but if you time your attacks right, you will be winning those damage trades. Also doesn't have much of a chance to escape so call in ganks after him. Overall you should be fine against him. He has actually really low sustain so just keep on making those damage trades against him.

Renekton

Difficulty 9/10

Now we have came to my favourite champion, which really bad enemy against you in top, but he is also really good partnet for you to bottom lane for example. Anyways I will start off by telling what is good about him. He has really good sustain with hes , which deals damage and heals % of it to him, but the real danger is in hes , which can deal HUGE 230 damage early game with hes fury over 50%, because of hes passive , which gives extra buffs if he has fury over 50%. He can also escape & close the gap with and has really nice combo with it. He can deal +300 damage without taking any damage in return. You must try to harass him, when he has abilities on cooldown, becaue they all have quite big cooldowns. Strike when he has used hes abilities and attack when he doesn't have lot's of fury, because he's abilities won't do that much damage. He's counter is tanks, so you may want to buy some armour.

Riven

Difficulty 10/10

One of the best solo top champions again. She has the same kind of combo as has. She can deal lots of damage while shield absorbs the damage or she will just stun you with , followed up by 3 staged ability . She is also quite dangerouse, because of her basic attack buff from her passive and ultimate which is last hitter and long-ranged tool. is early-game champion just like and you will have lots of troubles with this girl. You can use to harass her from some kind of distance, I suggest you not to go 1vs1. Call EARLY GANKS! You will shut her down and makes rest of her game really bad by causing her some early-game deaths.

Rumble

Difficulty 1.5/10

is not often seen in solo top, because you need quite a bit skill to dominate your lane. He doesn't do much of a damage and he really can't do anything 1vs1. He will loose every single damage trade with i'd say. He has ranged advantage over you tough with abilities like and , but they're skillshots. Just use to deal lots of damage and since doesn't have lot's of sustain, he will have to fall back or otherwise he would die.

Shen

Difficulty 4/10

Really passive solo-top champion. He can't do much of a damage and he is actually quite tanky really early. He can only deal like 50 damage from basic attacks or from , which actually gives him the sustain to stay in the lane. So you will do some damage to him, but he will just regenerate healths back with Vorpal Vlade and he can't deal much of damage to you either, so the junglers are in really important role and I'd say has better abilities for your jungler. He can shield himself with and then taunt you with causing you to attack him, while he's jungler is attacking on you.

Shyvana

Difficulty 2/10

is really bad early-game and she can't do much of a damage until she gets her . She is really dependant on her ultimate. She has good escaping ability which can also work as a minion farming tool. She uses no mana so she can just activate her abilities without sweat on the forehead. Not much to say I guess, just keep on harassing her and don't push the lane, so she is forced to take some damage if she wants the last hits on minions.

Singed

Difficulty 3/10

Really tanky, even early-game. He doesn't have any damaging abilities, well I mean of course he can deal damage, but just so izzy bizzy that they're not a big deal. He is mostly supporting a AD carry in bottom lane for example, but while soloing hes only way of getting kill is to throw you to turret with and then deal some damage with which is quite easy to dodge. Hes dangerouse is because of he's abilities to support your jungler to get the kill. As said, to toss you over and good slow with .

Sion

Difficulty 6/10

Again a champion which can go AP or AD build. Hes dangerouse is based on hes stun and then a shield Deayj's caress which will explode dealing damage. I'd say AP is more dangerouse, because stun and that shield deal damage based on he's AP. if he goes AD build, he has quite a lot of base attack with hes ability so you don't want to go 1vs1 early-game. Harass & Poke with your if he stuns you and tries to explode the shield at you. Destroy it by dealing damage to it.

Swain

Difficulty 5.5/10

isn't a huge thread in laning phase, but hes dangerousity is based on he's ultimate , which gives him sustain and quite a bit damage and he can tank the attacks with that ultimate. Other than that he has bunch of harassing skills like and plus Nevermore, to help hes jungler to gank. He is quite vulnarable to damage, he has no sustain at all so start harassing him early already with .

Talon

Difficulty 1.5/10

Really easy champion, unless he is really fed, but I guess there are no bad fed champions, haha. Anyways he doesn't do much of damage and hes only way of dealing damage is to use he's . He can combo you with and , but that would make him appear behind you and that's just good for you. He is very vulnerable to damage and has no sustain, so 1 and and hes at half hp's.

Tryndamere

Difficulty 5/10

Quite good solo top, but isn't much of a early-game champion. He has good sustain from , but it requires fury to be effective. He is able to chase you with which doesn't only decrease your movement speed, but it also decreases your attack damage, but you can go 1vs1 easily against him. He's only damaging ability is and it's not used for damage, mainly to escape, but as said you can go 1vs1, because you have several damaging abilities. Keep on poking and harassing him, but look out for ganks and tryndamere's ultimate which also allows him to tower dive.

Volibear

Difficulty 6,5/10

is also good solo top. He doesn't have much of sustain, except for he's passive . He can't do much of a damage, expect for he's ability called , but it has really huge cooldown as all of he's abilities. You should be fine, just keep on poking him. I don't find him that dangerouse, but straight 1vs1 it could be tough. Beware of ganks again, has and he can leap you over him and then slow you down with and activate / ultimate , which isn't that good as you would think.

Wukong

Difficulty 8/10

is one of those combo champions again, who can nuke 3 abilities straight without taking any damage. Main thing you can do is to avoid 1vs1 situations until you are powerful enough to take him down. Meanwhile just poke and harass him with . He doesn't have sustain, so damage taken is not easily recovered, but as said beware of he's combo. He can activate dive with and finally escape with , but the trick is that you must predirict where he is going and use at him when hes visible again and then it's the moment to deal damage.

Xin Zhao

Difficulty 4.5/10

has some sustain from , so once again you can prevent hes health regeneration by not allowing him to get minions. Don't push, just don't let him touch the minions or atleast take minions without taking damage. He can dive in with Audicious Charge followed with and Three Talon Strikes, but you can avoid that by just moving a bit backwards. Keep on poking and harassing once again, he is melee champion.

Jungling

Jungling

is better laner in my opinion, but he can jungle and is quite good at it and it's really nice to have a alternative style of playing.

-Wolves ( Do first hit so minions don't start running with right after basic attack. Try to get pull )
-Blue ( Get a pull, use your , level up )
-Wraiths( Possibly gank before or after, in that case pick , but you can go for lvl 2 .
-Tiny Golems
-Red
-You can gank when you get your and after finishing all the camps, either go for second round or start ganking.
-Try to spread the damage around the camps evenly, causing every minion to bleed and clearing the camps faster.

Jungling Route & Basic Ganks

Laning

Laning-Early

Is able to go solo top, 2vs1 or 2vs2. I don't see him as well mid champion, but why not. Basically you can go quite aggressive or wait until you get your level 3 and get all abilities. You can pull the enemy towards you, land your slow followed by and you can start chasing them with / without your teammate. s will allow you to stay long in the lane. Try to harass your enemy as often as you can with your and recover your health with lifesteal from possible items like . Also since you have , feel free to gank often, if you have the possibilities for it, but it's not recommended while soloing, if you are laning bottom or top 2vs2 or top 1vs1, you can check out above for my tips how to solo or lane with your partner. Basically you won't have almost any troubles with any champion, which is just great with . Other champions are somehow dependant on what they get on their lane, but is not one of them. Doesn't really matter who you get, you should do fine with any of them. There are few expections of course, but just few.

Lane Phase Ending

Once the lane phase has ended and people are starting to go mid or top etc. Starting to gang-up as whole team and try to get results by killing the other team completly (ace). I find it necessary to level up to 11 really quickly, before starting to jump in or backdooring the enemies (Going behind the enemy lines), because it gives your ultimate so much more damage. Try to search for opportunities to use so your team can nuke the champion down. Try to go for Dragon as often as possible for the nice amount of cash for your whole team. Most kills by now are made trough ganks i'd say. 5 champions - 1 bush. Ask your team or ward the bushes by yourself and try to get your team and few friends to gank enemies extending their lanes.

Late Game

This is the time when you are reaching max levels and you should be around 4 items at least by now. You will do fine late game also, especially at level 16 when you can max . You have the armor and magic resistance to tank and the damage to be feared. Search for opportunities to go baron with your team and remember to ask your team to ward it, so enemies can't take it either unless they got few kills on your team. As said, try to get the baron buff at this time. It can really turn the game around and you have the extra something to finish the game. Try to push mid mostly and get the inhibitor down, then you can start focusing on other lanes turrets or if you ahve the opportunity, take down the nexus turrets.

Team Fights

Since you are not a full tank, you're not really supposed to take the focus, but you will more likely be focused anyways, but try to get your team's real tank dive in first.
Try to land as many Decimates as possible on the squishiest targets and slow escaping enemies with Crippling Strike and finish off with Noxian Guillotine or simply just pull the enemies back with Apprehend and let your team do the rest, while you seek second opponent and start damaging him. You are easily able to do 2vs1 with some feeds as long as you are facing squishy targets, but usually 2vs1 is not recommended unless you are 100% sure, that you are able to take on them both. Darius has really good potential in team fights, because either enemies target you and since you're quite tanky, it won't be a fast kill or the enemies will not target you and you can really do tons of damage! Not much to add, your role is quite simple in team fights, just target the squishiest target first as always and kill him/her first. After the target has ded move to the second squishiest target and doesn't matter if you are targetted or you aren't. Both ways are really good for your team.

Pictures & Screenshots

Not lot's of them yet, but feel free to post your gloriouse stats / victories and I will certainly post them here!

Changelog

7.6

More in-depth information
Cleared up some sections
Added Changelog

9.6

Masteries re-make
Working on "Jungle Masteries"

10.6

Working on Match-ups
Working on adding more images.
Creating partner set-ups

Closing

Thanks to jhoihoi's templates once again.

Please give it a try and I hope you will vote & leave constructive comments.
I wish not to see votes without something in return, for example: How to improve this guide. Also I hope you will not judge by 1 item choice you're not happy about, because it's quite original build after all, read situational items for the items, which may fit for you the best, but really It's just up to you :)

There are many guides over there, because he's new champion, so I already appreciate if you have bothered to read this guide.
Thank you.

Guide Discussion (167)

The Hand of Noxus

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