Darius Build Guide by deepsorrow

LoL Champion Lore: Darius

There is no greater symbol of Noxian might than Darius, the nation's most feared and battle-hardened warrior. Orphaned at a young age, Darius had to fight to keep himself and his younger brother alive. By the time he joined the military, he had already developed the strength and discipline of a veteran soldier. The first true test of Darius's resolve occurred in a crucial battle against Demacia, where the Noxian forces were exhausted and outnumbered. Darius's captain called for his troops to retreat, but Darius refused to accept such an act of cowardice. Breaking formation, Darius strode towards the captain and decapitated him with one sweep of his gigantic axe. Both terrified and inspired, the soldiers followed Darius into battle and fought with incredible strength and fervor. After a long and grueling battle, they ultimately emerged victorious.

Seizing momentum from this victory, Darius led his now fiercely loyal troops in a devastating campaign against Demacia. After proving his power on the battlefield, Darius turned his gaze homeward. He saw a Noxus riddled with weakness, where greedy, complacent nobles drained the nation's strength. Seeking to restore his country to greatness, Darius took it upon himself to reshape the Noxian leadership. He identified weak figureheads and violently removed them from their positions of power. Many in Noxus saw Darius's cull as an attempt to seize power, but he had a different plan for the throne. He had been watching the rise of Jericho Swain with keen interest. In Swain, Darius saw a leader with the mind and determination to bring Noxus to glory. Now allied with the Master Tactician, Darius works to unite the nation behind his vision of true Noxian strength.

"A united Noxus could control the world - and would deserve to."
Darius

Introduction

I like to see Darius in a bit different role more like an assassin. He is not a tank nor he should try be one let the real tank go first then you go and just wipe the floor with enemy team. Yes you do insane dmg and yes that will get you focused but in worse case scenario you got GA.

EDIT: Decided to add more safe build for those who need more survivability.

Build 1 - Reaper build

Simple Glass Cannon build mainly focused on pure dmg output assassin/carry role play.

Build 2 - Safe/Pusy build

Somewhere in distant location in a small Inn Darius met our beloved Barbarian king Tryndamere and as Darius is man enough, he was asked to join Tryndamere for couple of ale's. After couple of these Darius accidentally told barbarian king how once he used a safe build in fields of justice. Tryndamere's face was turning red and blue he couldn't breath, almost chocked because he was laughing so hard. After he finished making all the jokes Darius left and on his way he took an oath - never to be humiliated like that again and use Safe/Pusy build only in extreme life or death situations, mainly only facing those nasty ranged AD/AP opponents on solo lane.

Pros / Cons

Runes

I use flat ad runes for marks and quints. Flat armor for seals and mr per lvl glyphs. You might also consider going for arp runes but I find that not that effective considering the fact that I drop in some early points in E.

Masteries

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24 6 0 Nothing more nothing less don’t really c any point going for def or utility trees unless you are a tank, support or a jungler.

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As you most likely will be just huging the tower and last hitting minions - meaning playing passively I take the points from Sunder and Vampirism trade them for Butcher and Sorcery

Skills

Hemorrhage Darius aims his attacks strategically, causing his target to bleed for 12/15/18/21/24/27/30/33/36(+0.4 per bonus attack damage) magic damage over 5 seconds.This effect stacks up to 5 times.Darius gains 5% movement speed for each bleeding enemy champion.

Decimate Darius swings his axe in a wide circle. Enemies struck by the shaft take 70/105/140/175/210(+0.7 per bonus attack damage) physical damage, while those that are struck by the blade take 105/157.5/210/262.5/315(+1.05 per bonus attack damage) physical damage.

Crippling Strike Darius's next attack severs a crucial artery, dealing 20/40/60/80/100% additional physical damage.As the target bleeds out, their movement and attack speeds are slowed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 2s.Cooldown is reduced by 1 s for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.

Apprehend Darius hones his axe, granting him 5/10/15/20/25 % passive armor penetration. When activated, Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook and pulls them to him.

Noxian Guillotine Darius leaps to an enemy Champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing 160/250/340(+0.75 per bonus ad) true damage.This damage increases by 20% for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target up to a maximum of 320/500/680(+1.5 per bonus ad) true damage.If Noxian Guillotine is a killing blow or the target dies within 0.5 s after use, its cooldown is refreshed.

Skill Sequence

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Now this is my personal sequence as expected I max Q first then W mixed with E now I like to get some points in E couse of early arp as I don’t take any runes and also early pen hurts more. And imo is more potent decision. But its optional if you face only squishy opponents in your lane you can max it last.

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Main combo--------–--– remember you have to mix some aa when your in range and only use as the finishing blow do not ever initiate with it. Also remember that resets the timer so use it wisely to add some extra dmg.

Skill explanations /tips & tricks

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One of the most powerful passives in game imo. Very good early to late mid game. IMO it gets powerful more from bonus AD then AS couse remember it can be stacked only 5 times and the damage applied for 5 s. Don't forget that not only your aa but also Decimate applies a stack

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Yuor No.1 ability until ulty of course, its AOE ability with huge damage output. It does 50% more damage to targets struck in the further area so you should make use of that. You can and should use it for haras every time you have a chance. also don't forget that it does apply 1 Hemorrhage stack. Most efficient usage would be in 2 phases(considering its still early game) 1'st using it before target gets in your melee range and 2'nd using it as he flees away. This way you will do massive dmg and apply at least 3-4 stacks of bleed. Also when in team fights do not waste it just on single target try hit as many opponents as possible.

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this skill is like 3 no 4 in 1: It does additional damage on next attack Slows movement Slows attack speed refreshes aa timer Refreshes faster by 1 s for each Hemorrhage stack on a target and has insane sinergy with Sheen and Trinity Force Usage - there is some situations you can use it as an opener, yet it will be on cd longer if no bleed applied, which might lead in a kill loss. Use this skill instantly after Apprehend and AA, this way youll get the most of it. It also must be used against towers for quick take down.

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Passive %armor penetration and active pull. some how people tend think about it as not very good. But imo its pretty cool I mean a gap closer and arp which can get to 33% with masteries(10%) without any penetration items. Use to: catch fleeing opponent for ganks pulling opponents over the walls pulling blue buff over the wall and stealing yet don't dismiss the passive if you need that pen better lvl up it earlier I will repeat my self again(some ppl repeated that to me until I was fully convinced :D) All the other arp items except Last Whisper wont stack well with this passive if that 33% some how not enough for you better take Last Whisper than items like The Black Cleaver Youmuu's Ghostblade

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Well well here is the last but sure as hell best ability of Darius kit. What to know about it: it does true damage so forget all the armor/magic resists and calculating will you do enough dmg to killing blow - you see enemy with less then 10 bars use it. it does more damage with each Hemorrhage stack applied on enemy killing blow refreshes the CD becomes even more devastating from bonus attack damage you have How and when to use: as finishing blow and mostly when 4-5 stacks of Hemorrhage applied to finish of those armor/magic resists stacking champs to secure the kill (I know I know ksing is bad but lost kill is even worse so if you see that this whiner team mate of yours wont get him in time - use it, Besides with this build you are carry anyway) How and when not to use: as an initiation move on not bleeding targets(unless its a finishing blow) to ks every single target on the field from under your team mate noses, ultys and ignites on any targets that have shields, Guardian Angel or any other revival spells or other possibilities up

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Items

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*NOTE : If you are against close range opponents rush Phage over Berserker's Greaves


*TIP : If doing good and not focused skip the Guardian Angeland rush Maw of Malmortius

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*NOTE: Facing ranged AP nukers Chain Vest change with Null-Magic Mantle building it into Hexdriner or go for Negatron Cloak if situation is really bad



*NOTE: If you started with early Negatron Cloak then Banshee's Veil should be finished before Atma's Impaler and Maw of Malmortius took out from your build

Items in depth

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if you against ranged ad and need that extra armor early, but trust me that wont help you much you still get kited

again the same if your up against ranged ap except these might be a bit more useful considering passive

Yet I choose BG as my main simply because early on you need : a) AS – to stack Hemorrhage on enemy and get the most use of your passive b) Speed – Darius is slow champion and as long as he can stick close to enemy he can output max of his damage.

Remember I’m not building a tank so when you get or I would recommend switching to couse items mentioned before gives the def stats you need and that extra AS will sure do you more good.


I recommend extra dmg extra hp and that slow is what you need for sure. Now after that I suggest not to rush instantly get some more dmg BF or or at least if you r hit by ap harder then expected. After this proceed with starting with yes you need that mana and now that you have decent damage that passive will hit like a TV frown from the 9’th floor (yes this happens some times when summoners get drunk and try to farm some minions from the “tower”)



is ether or considering which one you started building before and of course yet if enemy team is some how still not managed to focus you as main target in team fights skip it and go for pure damage glass cannon and make them rage even more. FFFFUUUUUUUU!!!!!

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I'll be short on this one as it is more or less self explanatory.

Starting with:

You will be farming under your tower and and need to counter those ranged harass.

counter the harras completely, now go for it before or after the Boots or Phage is your choice.

Late midgame

notice I finished Atma's Impaler first that's cause stacking Warmog's Armor later you will have a constant growth in your offensive power instead of just getting a spike after still period of stacking Warmog's Armor first.

Yes now is the time to go more offensive and make use of that extra beefy hp and all that crit chance you have. By this time you should have 1.4 AS and 33% crit chance. Now in this situation IE is really necessary and welcome taking into consideration your AS, HP pool and crit chance you can survive and take dmg long enough to make use of it and dish out some AA with decent crits

So this is ether your last or 5'th item depending on the way you started. So the last best option would be:

Taking into account your high hp pool and the extra MR plus cool passive. Yet stacked The Bloodthirstertops it out IMO, but you wanted more def stats so stop *****ing out and take it. :D

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Simply because they wont work that good with your passive (same case as using with items mentioned before)

Summoner Spells

Other choices

----Good for chasing down or escaping
----Also might be a life saver and might turn all the team fight to your advantage.
----Well this is my least favorite spell it’s mainly early to early midgame spell witch is practically useless late game. And as Darius your early game is really strong so that extra heal isn’t necessary.

Counters

Can be easily kited and if facing ranged champs can have pretty hard time in lane. So far faced Varus Lux Ashe Cait.

So farm under the tower or switch lane you are way better against close range opponents. Though be careful against snares and stuns.

Summary

So far that’s it gonna update ASAP