Hello Summoners,
this is my second build guide on MobaFire. My first build was for Lulu. Click Here for my Lulu guide! You can check it out if you want and maaaaybe upvote?
OK, in this guide I'm gonna be showing you how to build a successful Darius and carry the game. To begin with, Darius is an Off-Tank champion. I prefer playing him Top lane but he can also be played as a Jungler. In this build, I am going to be explaining how to play him as a solo top champion and provide a build that suits him for jungle.
If you found this Build useful, PLEASE upvote it :)

So, the question is: WHY Darius??
Here is a list of Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good Survivability.
- Helpful in teamfights.
- Ranged Skills.
- Can deal TONS of damage.
- Very low mana cost on ALL of his abilities.
- Decimate deals massive damage if enemy is hit properly.
- Noxian Guillotine refreshed after a successful kill with it.
- HE IS MADE FOR A PENTAKILL!!


Cons
- Relies on farm.
- If you fail at laning phase, you are propably going to fail late game.
- Noxian Guillotine steals.

Obviously, the Pros outweigh the Cons so, let's get going.

1st Build - Solo Off-Tank
This is the build I recommend the most. This a Solo Top guide that not only emphasises on the damage output, but it focuses on survivability too. Use this build if you want to play him as an off-tank DPS champion.

2nd Build - Solo DPS
This is a Solo Top alternative to my first build. Use it when you only want to have damage output and low Health/MR/Armor. Using this build will make you squishy. However, your Damage is going to be at max.

3rd Build - Jungle
Not much to say on that one. Use it if you are going to Jungle.

As for Sommoner Spells, I strongly recommend Ghost and Ignite.
Ghost Will let you keep up with your enemies and keep dealing damage, especially with Decimate. Ignite will let you secure kills and deal some usefull extra damage over time.

Other choices may be Teleport, Exhaust, or maybe Flash. However, Ghost and Ignite are far better than them.

WARNING: Don't even think about these:
Promote - Useless
Clarity - Just don't waste your mana and you're not gonna need that.
Clarivoyance - This is a Support Spell only. Never take it unless you go support (lol)
Heal - I don't consider this a "Noob Spell" as most summoners do. It just doesn't suit Darius.
Smite - Never take this unless you are jungling.
Revive - Useless unless you are trolling (you will be called a troll if you pick this).
Cleanse - Not that good for Darius.
Surge - Not good on Darius either.

Hemorrhage (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.

In Short: Applies a stacking DoT to enemies and give bonus move speed for each bleeding champion.
Decimate (Q)
Deals (70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210) (+(0.7 per attack damage point)) physical damage to all nearby enemies in a circle. Champions in the outer half of the ability are struck by the blade, taking 50% additional damage.

In Short: Deals damage in a small circle around Darius, does more to enemies hit by the blade.

Uses: Great farming tool, once you get used to the range, it can be used to great effect, jump in a group of enemies, and swing for lots of damage and movespeed.
Crippling Strike (W)
The next basic attack deals (12 / 59 / 106 / 153 / 200) % damage and slows the target's movement and attack speed by (20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40)% for 2 seconds. Crippling strike's base cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.

In Short: Deals bonus damage and slows the target.

Uses: This has two uses, first is a single target nuke, second is a slowing attack.
Apprehend (E)
Passive: Darius gains (5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25)% armor penetration.
Active: Darius pulls in all enemies in front of him.

In Short: Cant get much shorter.

Uses: Only use is as a grab spell, can be used to pull them to you, or away from allies.
Noxian Guillotine (R)
Leaps to target enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing (160 / 250 / 340) (+(0.75 per attack damage point)) true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage, (320 / 575 / 830) Maximum Damage . The cooldown is refreshed if Noxian Guillotine kills the target.

In Short: Does a huge burst of true damage to the target, increased by the amount of Hemorrhage stacks on the target, cooldown is reset if the killing blow is scored with it.

Uses: This has one real use, hitting somebody like a truck on steriods. Best used as a finisher, and if you time it right, can score an easy Penta .

1st Build (Off Tank):
Starting Items:
Start with Boots and 3 Health Potions.

Laning Items:
Pick a Long Sword. Next, start building a Zeal, then Phage and then go straight for a Trinity Force. The Trinity Force will provide you with all you need (30 Attack Damage, 30 Attack Speed, 30 Ability Power (the only useless), 15 Critical Chance, 250 Health, 250 Mana & 12 Movement Speed. Then go for a Maw of Malmortius and finally take your Boots. You can either take Mercury's Treads, or Ninja Tabi if your enemies are more DPS based - OR if your lane opponent is an op DPS champion that you can't deal with.

Mid/Late Game:
Go straight to a Zeal and make it a Phantom Dancer imediatelly. After your Phantom Dancer, pick up a Bloodthirster starting with a B. F. Sword, if possible. Your last item is going to be a Frozen Mallet. It will give you a good Health Boost, plus it will Improve the slow you apply to your enemies. Another good item instead of Frozen Mallet is a Warmog's Armor. However, if the game is still not over, you may want to sell your Boots and take an Atma's Impaler or a Phantom Dancer. Your movement speed will still be good, as the Phantom Dancer offers a 12 Movement Speed Boost.

There might be some questions, like: ''Why so late build of boots??''. The answer is: ''With the Movement Speed Quintessenses and the Zeal that becomes a Trinity BEFORE the Boots with Movement 2, your Movement Speed will be as if you had Movement Speed 2 Boots. So...''

2nd Build (Less Tank, More DPS):
-Under Development

Farming depends on your Lane opponent. If you are dealing with Champions like Yorick, a good way would be "stay behind and wait for gang". Your opponent will push, if you don't push. Try to exploit that and wait till your jungler comes for gang (remind him that you need a gang).

If you have an opponent that relies on his normal hits so as to farm, like Tryndamere, you can exploit that too. Last-hit his creeps and whenever he goes in to last-hit yours, scare him by attacking him with a spell. Next time, he will think about it twice before going for a last-hit.

If you are dealing with a Singed, then you may find laning with him difficult. Well, don't get discouraged. Ask for an early gang from your jungler and wait. It's important to kill Singed early, before level 6. The earlier you kill him, the better your lane phase will be. Remember that your overall performance relies on how well you did at lane phase.

As a support champion, it usually falls to you or the jungler to assist your team in the purchase of wards - wards are game changing. They allow you to see an incoming attack, or a vulnerable target.
Wards can mean the difference between a kill and death - a win or a loss. Learning how to effectively use wards is a staple of a successful team.

For an extremely detailed guide on warding, I suggest: Panglot's ward guide

Wards

How effective a ward is depends entirely where it is place, no ward is wasted - but placing a ward in the most effective way can change the tide of the match.

There are two types of conventional wards (excluding champion abilities) those are:

Sight Wards


Vision Wards

Using the right ward for the situation is important, as a Vision Ward can shut down cloaked assassins before they ever begin.

In the image below, here are the most typical locations wards are place - that does not mean wards cannot be placed in other areas such as high traffic bushes and ect. but you can use this as a reference:

I scored a Penta on that one. Very easy with Noxian Guillotine.

+ 19/5/2012 - Build was Started
+ 24/5/2012 - Build was Finished
+ 24/5/2012 - Darius is Oficially Out!!
+ 24/5/2012 - Added more details under "Farming" section
+ 24/5/2012 - Overall Improvement
+ 25/5/2012 - Added a ''Match Histories'' Section
+ 26/5/2012 - Build was Published - First Darius Build on MobaFire
+ 26/5/2012 - Added a Jungle Build
+ 26/5/2012 - Added a Warding Guide Section
+ 26/5/2012 - Switched Warmog's Armor with Frozen Mallet and Phantom Dancer with Atma's Impaler
+ 26/5/2012 - Added a ''Skills'' Section where his Skills are explained.
+ 27/5/2012 - Added Summoner Spells for build 2 that I forgot, which made the guide a "Build-Only". Now it's recognized as a "Full-Guide" again. Thanks to "Lugignaf" for responding to my question!!
+ 27/5/2012 - Added a Section explaining what each build is.