Elise Build Guide by Airzel

Introduction

Hey everyone and welcome to my guide on Elise! This guide is a laning guide which consists of both a pure AP build and a nuking build. My guide differs from others on here considering most of them aren't in-depth due to everyone just wanting to put a guide on the new champ out there and also, my skill sequence is different to there's too and funnily enough, it's better. The build is situational but the majority of it is core.
If this guide helped you, or you use the build, please up-vote it! It won't be long before MOBAfire is flooding with Elise Guides xD

Pros / Cons

Runes

This is my personal setup because it provides me with more AP to win trades, mana regen for more lane sustain and allows me to farm with my spells more and magic penetration for harass.

Alternatives

The only runes I recommend changing, if you dislike this setup, are seals. Elise doesn't suffer from mana problems but its mainly for early harass and farm yet still, if you want to change the mana regen runes, feel free to try these alternatives.

If you are an aggressive player then, by all means, take some extra AP - it'll help you grab that First Blood!

Greater Seal of Vigor

If you play a little too aggressive and tend to nearly get yourself killed every time you dive for first blood, take some health regen seals. It will increase your lane sustain and will get you ready for the next trade before your opponent even thinks about it!

If you just want to be ready for when you get ganked or just attacked in general, grab either or both of these runes.

Masteries

**UPDATES REQUIRED**

Utility over Offense?

I assume most of you will ask, why not take Offense for the extra punch? Why take stupid Utility? The Utility Tree isn’t something I usually use but I think it works quite well with Elise. By using the Utility Tree, you get CDR (cooldown reduction) and extra XP meaning you don’t have to build any CDR and you can out level your opponent when laning. This also grants you movement speed, mana regeneration, increased buff duration (for when your jungler gives you blue or you decide to pick up a buff later on), Spell Vamp and finally Summoner Spell CDR so you can pop your ignite more frequently than your opponent. I prefer this but of course, like I said in the introduction, this is just a guide and will not always be effective because your build will change as your opponent’s does. Of course, masteries can’t be changed mid-game so it’s not really the same but, change masteries to match YOUR preferences.

Items

**UPDATES REQUIRED**

Starting Items

Build Up to...

By the time you've farmed enough, or have been fed enough, you should have this build. This provides mobility, ability power, mana, mana regen and health alongside Sheen's amazing passive which lets your auto-attacks hit harder after using an ability.After starting like this you will want to start to buy your full build. After getting your Rylai's Crystal Scepter, you will have to selling off your Doran's Rings to make space for your other items.

This items provides magic penetration, and Movement Speed Bonus 2. Period.

Provides both health, AP and a decent chance to slow – Rylai’s makes chasing down enemies 35% of the time. So, gun them down and they won’t escape!

This makes your abilities and auto-attacks more deadly when in your spider form as it will reduce the target’s magic resist meaning you can dish out even more damage.

A no brainer? 140 AP + a whopping 30% bonus. This is an item that you can’t avoid… if you do, then you must be brainless. ;)

This item provides you with cooldown reduction along with armour and mana. The mana isn't really necessary since [Elise] doesn't suffer from mana problems. It also reduces the attack speed of your enemies around you so they're not as deadly!

Whenever you go out on a killing spree, you are bound to get focused in the next team fight so you can pop this item and your team can gun them down and you can get out, hopefully, alive.

Skill Set

INNATE: When Elise's Human Form spells hit an enemy, she readies a Spiderling. When Elise transforms, she summons Spiderlings to attack nearby foes. The maximum number of spiderlings increases with Spider Form's level.

Neaurotoxin: ACTIVE: Deals magic damage equal to a base amount plus a percentage of the target's current health. Damage is capped against monsters. Venemous Bite: ACTIVE: Elise lunges to a target with a poisonous bite that deals magic damage equal to a base amount plus a percentage of the target's missing health. Damage is capped against monsters.

Volatile Spiderling: ACTIVE: Summons a venom-gorged Spiderling that moves to target location and explodes, dealing magic damage to nearby enemies when it nears an enemy unit or after 3 seconds. The Spiderling will chase down enemy Champions, if it does not hit an enemy at target location. Skittering Frenzy: PASSIVE: Spiderlings gain bonus attack speed. ACTIVE: Increases the attack speed of Elise and her Spiderlings for 3 seconds. While active, Elise is healed for a small amount when she or her spiderlings attack.

Cocoon: ACTIVE: Elise fires a web that stuns the first enemy hit for 1.5 seconds. Rappel: ACTIVE (ON ENEMY CAST): Elise reveals nearby enemy targets, while she and her Spiderlings lift up into the air, and then descend upon the target enemy. ACTIVE (ON GROUND CAST): Elise reveals nearby enemy targets while she and her Spiderlings lift up into the air, becoming untargetable for 2 seconds. During that time she can cast Rappel again to descend upon a nearby enemy.

Spider Form: ACTIVE: Elise transforms into a menacing spider, granting access to arachnid abilities. While in Spider Form, Elise deals bonus magic damage with her autoattacks and gains 10 movement speed as well as bonus armor and magic resistance. SPIDERLINGS: Spiderlings deal physical damage and take reduced damage from multi-target abilities. The maximum number of spiderlings is increased with Spider Form's level. Human Form: ACTIVE: Elise transforms into her human form, granting access to regular abilities.

Skill Explanations

This passive isn't too bad. People ar like "They don't do any damage anyway" - you won't be saying that when they run off with 10 HP just because you had no spiderlings left. They do contribute to the damage even if it is slightly. They also shield you from any skillshots that hit only one enemy (like Ezreal's Mystic Shot).

This is your main source of damage - in both Human and Spider form! Neaurotoxin: When above half health, this spell will absolutely demolish your opponent. This allows you to take out half of a full tanks helath in a matter of seconds - it all depends on your cooldowns. The more you can throw this out the more harassing you can do. Venemous Bite: So they've just dropped below half health... **Hits R --> Q** "An enemy has been slain!" This allows you to secure the majority of your kills. This is the reason I max this before Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy - it will f*** your opponents up!

Volatile Spiderling: A heat-seeking missile - automatically nuking whoever dares to go near it. This is your second source of damage, sometimes your primary - depending on what you build, and it allows you to nuke down your enemy. Skittering Frenzy: So you just fought a team fight and you're pretty low on health but have barely any gold so there's not much point in returning. You walk into the jungle attack the Wolves, or Wraiths, and use this ability. Oh hey, I just got like a third of my health back. Now you're healthy enough to take on the Ancient Golem or the Elder Lizard so you go do that, using this ability again - wow, your almost full health. This ability allows you to keep out their and you get some gold for killing the creeps.

Cocoon: The key to unlocking your full potential as a Spider Queen. Landing this allows you to execute a full combo and execute your foe. It can help you chase down or escape a foe too. Rappel: It's like Zhonya's Hourglass's passive... but longer. It holds you up in the air long enough for your team to either chase the enemy away or kill him. Its also like Akali's Shadow Kick but without the damage - it lets you chase down your enemy from a ridiculous range.

Spider Form: This allows you to travel faster making roaming easier. Human Form: Returning you to a... human/spider form xD

Skill Sequence

When playing most champions, I save my first point so that whatever the situation I can respond to it in the correct way. Usually, you’ll be helping out your jungler so taking W is the best choice. Even if your not helping him, you should take it for farming BUT if you get caught in a gank (before pulling the jungle camp), spend your first point on your E so you can stun whoevers chasing you down or assist your teammate’s escape. Then, by level 2 and 3, you should be back in lane so grab your Q followed by E (or if you took E, then grab W > then Q) and eventually max Q first then W and E finally, upgrading your ultimate whenever possible.

Maxing Neurotoxin/Venomous Bite over Volatile Spiderling/Skittering Frenzy?

I'm pretty sure you will be asking, why do you max Q ( Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite) over W ( Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy)? W deals more damage! W is AoE! So... why?

I max Q over E because Neurotoxin and Venomous Bite are the deadly duo. Neurotoxin allows you to gun down even tanks and anyone at full HP. Then, when they're below half HP, switch to Spider Form, auto-attack and Q the f*** out of them! This combo got me a penta on my first online game with Elise so I honestly prefer this over Volatile Spiderling. Besides, you max Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy second anyway so it'll still do damage.

If you're using "The Nuke", the alternative build I provided, then maxing Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first is more viable. The reasons are explained with the build. If you prefer using Volatile Spiderling for damage then I recommend using "The Nuke" instead.

Smart-Casting

Smart-Casting is a great tool and I recommend you use it with every champion! If you don't use it then learn it!

So, what is it?

Smartcasting allows you to cast a spell and it will cast it in the direction of your mouse.
For example, Ezreal's Mystic Shot, Essence Flux and Trueshot Barrage, which are all skillshots, will fire towards your mouse. Also his Arcane Shift will work like Flash does - teleporting you towards your mouse.

Spells like Morgana's Black Shield, Nunu's Blood Boil or even Elise's Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite, which all require you to select a target, will require you to scroll over the target and then activate the ability.

Skill Combos

The idea of throwing out a combo is to deal as much damage as possible in a short amount of time. I put this section after the Smartcasting one for a reason so make sure you don't skip it. Smart casting allows you to execute your combos quicker and with more ease.

The majority of the time your combos will begin with your E, Cocoon / Rappel, as it stuns your opponent; allowing you to get close enough to execute a full combination.

YOu must read the combos, not just look at the pictures because Elise's Human and Spider Forms share ability icons.

Now that you're in Spider Form you shall use: Whenever your opponent is going to get away, just use your Rappel on them to catch up.

When you transform into Spider Form you should have at least 3 spiderlings with you because the combo in human form hits 3 spells giving you 3 Spiderlings.

Farming and Pushing

Farming as Elise is ridiculously easy! Use Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy in either Human or Spider Form and farming is the easiest thing ever!

Don't be afraid to push the minion waves when farming because once you take out your opponent, your passive comes in handy when taking down the turrets allowing you to push the lane easily too!

Harassing ;)

Harassing is extremely easy! Just hit them with Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite in Human Form when they're above half health and use Volatile Spider / Skittering Frenzy. Whenever they're below half health just whip into Spider Form and spam Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite and Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy.

Roaming and Ganking

Since Elise is considered a jungler, she was given the ability to roam easily. She obviously can't roam like Evelynn or gank like Skarner but she's still pretty damn good at it.. Once you take out your tower your going to want to roam around and gank whichever lane your jungler isn't closest to. Also, if your not going to well then you can always roam and gank a lane for the XP/gold.

Roaming

When roaming, always be sure to flick into Spider Form as the movement speed bonus helps a lot! Lich Bane increases your movement speed too so roaming shouldn't be a problem.

Ganking

When ganking, you should start by using your E to either stun them or land on them in spider form. Then use your combo to deal as much damage as possible.

Summoner Spells

Best choices

Flashing into battle, out of battle, over walls, away from turrets, stealing baron and flashing outta there… this spell is the most wonderful summoner spell in the game xD always take it… Well, take it MOST of the time.

Burn baby burn! This lets you grab those early game kills as they cannot escape DoT… unless they pack health pots.

For chasing or escaping, you could take this over ignite if you want. It helps out a lot in a 1v1 considering it reduces your opponent's AD and AP.

Alternatives

If you aren’t level 12, or just prefer this spell, take it over Flash.

If you don’t play mid, then you might wanna take teleport for more laning.

For those over aggressive players who usually end up killing htemselves before their opponents or if you enjoy heal-baiting people considering it is hilarious

Maybe...

If you somehow manage to have mana problems with every AP champion then fine, take it but I may slightly disrespect you for it.

Its not a bad choice. 10-78 AP along with attack speed - this makes your spider form scary but... there are better choices - so I say no! but you can take it if you want

NO! Just, no!

This is not a jungling guide so I'm afraid I will have to say no to this one. Maybe later I will incorporate jungling and it's Smiteiness.

Targeted by Crowd-Control? Get Quicksilver Sash, not Cleanse. Period.

If you just died and your opponent has 1HP and your Ezreal and Trueshot Barrage is off cooldown, then sure go ahead but your not and this spell is practically worthless... so no!

Are you f***ing kidding me?

Stealing Baron / Dragon

Objective like these can save a team from losing or increase the rate a team wins at. Either way you most likely want to prevent your opponents from taking these. So, lets get into it.

Stealing Baron Nashor

Stealing Baron requires 2 things - A spare Flash and your Cocoon / Rappel. You could bring a Sight Ward, too. First up, you need to be in spider form so you can use Rappel to check the area - this clears the fog of war for you and checks bushes for any enemies. This way you can check Baron Nashor's HP. You will then need to land on him using Rappel so, alternatively, you could use a Sight Ward to check Mr Nashor's health because if you use Rappel to early, you'll have to wait for it to come off CD abut they mmight've killed it by then. Then, like I said, use Rappel to jump on him and then use Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy and Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite (still in Spider Form) and thanks to Baron having a lot of health, your Venomous Bite should do A LOT OF DAMAGE! Then approach the wall of Baron Nashor's hideout and Flash over it. Then run to your tower since they WILL BE AFTER YOU!

Stealing Dragon

Stealing Dragon is practically the same as stealing Baron. Use either a Sight Ward or Cocoon / Rappel (in Spider Form) to check it's HP, then dive on it using Rappel and use Skittering Frenzy and Venomous Bite and then run away or Flash over the wall.
You might be able run away from dragon as its usually the Jungler, ADC and Support but if you can't then Flash over the wall.

Mid-Lane Matchups (A-F)

You build and skill sequence may vary when facing different opponents.

Ahri Type: Mage / Assassin Lane Difficulty: Easy

Ahri is a champion who excels in taking out anyone whose range is anything shorter than the range on her Charm's. When Ahri hits a champion with Charm the enemy is officially f***ed. Ahri lets out a full combo of her abilities usually bursting you down to 0 HP.

How to Counter: When laning with Ahri it can either be easy or hard. There are some really bad Ahri's and some good ones but the point is you can counter her. When she lets out her Charm, you can let out your Cocoon / Rappel (in either form) to either stun her too, or jump up and avoid it. Since Ahri is squishy there is no need to use Neurotoxin all the time so I recommend maxing Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first just to nuke her down first. Also, when in Spider Form, your Spiderlings may block her Charm making her unable to do pretty much any damage to you.

Akali Type: AP Hybrid, Melee-based Assassin. Lane Difficulty: Medium

Akali isn't too much early game but as soon as she hits level 6... boy will you be mad! Her Shadow Kick is hated by all opponents - it can change her lane drastically.

How to Counter: Akali usually builds a Rylai's Crystal Scepter so Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite will be her doom. After taking a significant amount of damage she will try to hide in her Twilight Shroud giving her bonus armour, magic-resist and invisibility. Whenever she does enter it, don't run throw it trying to chase her - throw your Volatile Spiderling into it so that when she's revealed she will have a heat-seeking missile crawling towards her! The lane can be difficult as soon as she hits level 6 so play carefully and try to stun her with Cocoon as much as possible.

Anivia Type: Lane Difficulty: Easy

Anivia's passive, Rebirth is incredibly annoying for most Mid-Laners because they don't have the AD to take it out. Fortunately, before level 6, her combos lack power and her ability to combo is terrible.

How to Counter: You are are a hybrid and your attacks, in Spider Form, deal magic damage so taking out her Rebirth is no problem. The main thing you want to do is hunt her down before level 6. Dodging her Flash Frost is easy because its an extremely slow skillshot. Also, keep out of her Glacial Storm this way you can't be chilled by either of the 2 abilities (since they're the only ones that chill you). She can easily block you off with her Crystalize and hit you hard with her Frostbite but as long as you're not affected by the "Chilled" debuff it will not do double damage. She mainly builds damage and not health although she does normally get a Rod of Ages so maxing Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite first might be a bit better than maxing Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy.

Annie Type: Short-ranged mage Lane Difficulty: Easy

Annie is a short-ranged mage who deals a lot of damage but not enough to burst you down. She can only unleash a full damage combo when she stuns you with her passive.

How to Counter: She has an incredibly short range so you are majorly superior to her. In human form, you have an extremely large range so you can easily get to her without over-extending. She's amazingly squishy so once you land your stun you can unleash your combo and nuke her down.
I recommend maxing Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first as it deals the most amount of damage considering she doesn't have much health at all.

Brand Type: Extremely high-powered, long-ranged Mage Lane Difficulty: Easy

Brand is a long-rnaged, high-power mage who can shut people down in a full combo of his 4 abilities. He mainly used his Conflagration to set his target ablaze (due to his passive, Blaze) and then uses Sear to stun them. Then he unleashes his two remaining spells, Pillar of Flame and Pyroclasm to finish you off and demolish you.

How to Counter: The more health you have the more he drops off so make sure you grab a Rylai's Crystal Scepter first and an Abyssal Scepter next for the Magic Resist. Despite taking these as precautions, you do have a superior range to his Sear (his stun) so he most likely won't be able to unleash a full combo on you. Your stun has a much larger range than his so you will be able to unleash your full combo right before him. He's a low-healthed mage who prioritizes damage so maxing Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first is the smartest thing to do. When laning, Brand will use his Pillar of Flame then Conflagration to farm so when he has done so... harass him to high hell!

Cassiopeia Type: Mage, Ranged Lane Difficulty:Medium

Cassiopeia is a ranged mage who utilises poison to unleash an endless amount of Twin Fangs also utilising the poison for movement speed bonuses,with Noxious Blast , and reducing your own - using Miasma. She can stun an entire team using her amazing ultimate - Petrifying Gaze.

How to Counter: Its hard to harass but still stay out of range when laning against Cassiopeia. For that reason, I recommend you stay back and just farm with your Volatile Spiderling and also stay away from your minions since that's where she'll throw down her Noxious Blast. Whenever she goes past her minions get her with your ridiculously long-ranged stun and unleash a Neurotoxin and Volatile Spiderling. Do this to harass and do no't dive in unless she's seriously low or you are going to fall victim to Petrifying Gaze, possion ( Noxious Blast and [[Miasma) and an endless stream of Twin Fangs.

Diana Type: AP Hybrid, Mage Lane Difficulty: Easy

Diana is an annoying mage who runs around Crescent Strike-ing everyone she sees and then Lunar Rushing to them followed by Moonfall so you can't escape and Pale Cascade so you can just take damage and she can shield herself from it. She builds pretty tanky and it p***es everyone off.

How to Counter: Oh, s***. It's that tanky b***h and she's in my lane. Ooooooh wait... Neurotoxin. She falls victim to Neurotoxin incredibly - gun her down with it and she will be of no use to anyone. Max Neurotoxin / Skittering Frenzy first to maximise damage output in your lane.

Elise Type: AP Hybrid, Long/Short-ranged, Mage/Fighter Lane Difficulty: Easy / Medium / Hard

This lane can be anywhere from Easy to Hard but it all depends on both of your skill levels. If your skill level is superior to the enemy Elise then you will be able to easily win the lane. There's no point writing a description of her playstyle when you have just, hopefully, read an entire guide on her! xD

How to Counter: Learn Elise and play better than the enemy Elise!

Evelynn Type: Melee-based Hybrid (AP-based when playing mid), Assassin, Stealth Lane Difficulty: Medium

Evelynn is an extremely underrated champion which makes her more destructive. She has possibly one of the best, or the best, kits for chasing and escaping. She can stealth with her passive, Shadow Walk, and gank her own lane only to proceed to r*pe you with her Ravage and Hate Spike. She can slow you with her ultimate, Agony's Embrace, and thanks to passive of Dark Frenzy, every time she hits you with a spell her speed increases (and yes, it is limited) but if that's not enough, she can activate Dark Frenzy to chase or escape you. Absolutely f***ing great!

How to Counter: She is somewhat your counter but you cans tun her with Coccon and nuke her down since she's pretty damn squishy although pretty damn annoying too. She will escape you whenever you don't land your stun so land it every single time! Do not think you have her if you slow her with Exhaust or using Rylai's Crystal Scepter because her Dark Frenzy removes ALL slows from her - "just great".
When ;aning against Evelynn I recommend you max Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy so you can nuke her down before she gets racked up with kills and eventually builds a Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

Fiddlesticks Type: Ranged, Mage Lane Difficulty: Medium

Fiddles is an incredibly annoying lane because, this being the reason he is a Medium lane, is because he will Drain you, or your minions, to high hell! He is always present in lane and his annoying Terrify will kindly fear you and Dark Wind will silence you whenever it bounces off of your minions to you. Whenever you see fiddles channeling... RUN! Get stuck in his [[Crowstorm}} and you are absolutely fudged.

How to Counter: When laning against fiddles, make sure you harass him early to make him lose his mana as he'll Drain your minions to stay in lane but he'll just be left with no mana and then... ATTACK!!!! Stay away from him when he's not stunned from your cocoon as he'll just fear, silence and Drain you! Stun him and unleash a full combo.

Fizz Type: Assassin, AP-based Hybrid, Melee/Fighter. Lane Difficulty: Hard

Fizz is incredibly annoying, using his Playful / Trickster to avoid the majority of your attacks or hiding behind minions to do so, since he has no unit collision due to his passive, Nimble Fighter. He can also quickly gun you down when he catches you in his ultimate, Chum the Waters followed by an Urchin Strike and Seastone Trident.

How to Counter: Stay away from him! Fizz is bad at pushing lanes so if you usse Volatile Spiderling to push your creep waves right back then he'll have a hard time trying to get you and he can't avoid all of your abilities, just one - with Playful / Trickster. Whenever he approaches you stun him with Cocoon and unleash your "Human Form" combo and then, if he is low enough, finish him in Spider Form.
Max your Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first so you can have an early, high-damage AoE spell to push the wave and do damage on squishy targets, ;ike Fizz, when you need to.

Mid-Lane Matchups (G-L) [Under Construction]

Galio Type: Lane Difficulty: Hard

What a lane! Galios passive, Runic Skin, lets him build against you with Magic Resist and receive ability power from it! So he can counter you and slap you... at the same time!!!

How to Counter: Your heat-seeking spider-bombs will be of no use if its high damage is resisted but your Neurotoxin will do a lot of damage even if it is resisted. Make sure you grab a Void Staff over your Zhonya's Hourglass. This will provide you with a percentage over magic penetration on top of the flat magic penetration from your Abyssal Scepter. Unleash your full combo whenever possible and remember... dodge his skillshots!
Max Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite to deal more damage when laning with him.

Gragas Type: Long-ranged/Mage, Melee/Fighter Lane Difficulty: Medium

Gragas can be a tough lane to play against due to the fact that his barrels are incredibly annoying. If you stay back, dodge his Barrel Roll then you'll be fine then you'll be fine but beware if it hits you... your fudged. His Drunken Rage gives him free mana and extra AD for farming along with some damage reduction so you should only attempt to kill him after he no longer has this effect active (also, whilst its on CD). He can chase or escape using Body Slam or knock you away or towards him, or even into a tower, using his ultimate: Explosive Cask.

How to Counter: As I said, avoid his Barrel Roll and only attempt to kill him when his damage reduction from Drunken Rage has expired. Although, try to harass as much as possible as he will try to harass you a lot using his Barrel Roll. Do not tower dive as his Explosive Cask or Body Slam can knock you back into the turret so you cannot escape it's fire and eventually kill you. When he overextends after pushing a wave and throws his barrel at you ( Barrel Roll) use your Cocoon / Rappel, in Spider Form, to avoid his Barrel and then jump on top of him. From there, switch back into Human Form and hit him with Cocoon / Rappel, Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite and Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy (all in human form) and if, and only if, he is below 1/4 health then witch back into Spider Form and slaughter him with Skittering Frenzy and Venomous Bite.
When laning against Gragas, max Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite first as he is rather tanky and you can use it to gun him down!

Heimerdinger Type: Mmage, Pusher, Ranged Lane Difficulty: Easy

Heimerdinger uses turrets to burst down the player although they can easily be avoided by letting your minions tank them or simply just completely avoid them. He is very squishy and will most likely be bursted down with a full combo using a maxed Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy.

How to Counter: Avoid the turrets and take any oppurtunity you get to kill him. He's extremely squishy and will die after executing a full combo.
Max Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first to provide a ot of damage.

Karthus Type: Mage, Ranged Lane Difficulty: Easy

His damage is weak and his ult is annoying. He excels in kill-stealnig and nothing more. As long as he doens't farm you are fine so kill him and have fun with free ELO (or just wins).

How to Counter: So Karthus is chilling at his tower and decided to begin channeling his ult... Throws a cocoon at him, he gets stunned - channeling interrupted! Teammates saved! Great success! He has low health so gun him down with your full combo, maxing Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy first.

Kassadin Type: Lane Difficulty: Easy

/ Medium[/columns] / Hard[/columns]

Silencing, slowing, teleporting and mana restoring... that little b***h! A silenced mage is like having the Wraith camp play mid lane for you. You can do... nothing. The slow makes it impossible to escape and his teleport... WOW!

How to Counter: Ban him in draft pick or don't play a mage... simples! If you do get stuck with him I would honestly say swap with your solo top (considering he's a melee). Either that or build AD and a bit of AP. Trinity force and stuff as being silenced can, and will, kill you!

Katarina Type: High-power Mage, Assassin, Melee-range. Lane Difficulty: Medium

Her damage is incredible... absolutely incredible. Whenever she Shunpos in and pops her Bouncing Blades, Sinister Steel and Death Lotus you are naturally f***ed... or are you?

How to Counter: When she jumps in with her ultimate you can simply use Cocoon / Rappel - in either form! It will either let you jump up and avoid the damage or stun her, cancelling her ult because it requires her to channel. Just unleash your Volatile Spiderling on her - she won't know what hit her... until she builds Rylai's Crystal Scepter so what to max first? Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite so you can gun her high and gun her low. If your Cocoon and Rappel are on cooldown then RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!! Just, whatever you do, DO NOT FEED KATA!

Kennen Type: Mage, Ranged Lane Difficulty: Easy

/ Medium[/columns] / Hard[/columns]

-Text-

How to Counter:

Credits

• I worked on this guide by myself.
• Elise's skill set descriptions are taken directly from the game.
• The dividers used are created by "jhoijhoi" so thanks to him!

Update Log

[27 Oct 2012 / 22:53]
I noticed that the icons only worked if I copied and pasted their names even though they were all spelt correctly, with space and punctuation. Weird xD **Fixed icons**[28 Oct 2012 / 10:32]
I feel rather stupid. I forgot to add Summoner SPells to the build so it didn't go onto Elise's page. Well problem solved xD **Flash and Ignite set as summoner spells**[28 Oct 2012 / 15:12]
Added dividers by "jhoijhoi" and updated the Runes section adding alternatives for Seals.[28 Oct 2012 / 15:50]
Added both a "Smart-Casting" and a "Skill Combo" section.[28 Oct 2012 / 16:38]
Added more detail to the Summoner Spell section and added the remaining Summoner Spells to it.[28 Oct 2012 / 17:45]

• Added "Pros / Cons" section.
• Added a Starting Items sub-section under the Items section.
• Added the " Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite over Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy" section.
• Added the roaming and Ganking section

[28 Oct 2012 / 21:14]

• Updated the Introduction
• Added the Alternate Builds section

[28 Oct 2012 / 23:00]

• Removed the Alternate Builds section
• Added "the Nuke", a second build on the cheat sheet.
• Added a section on "The Nuke" explaining it.
• Moved Exhaust up from "Maybe" to "Best Choices" in the Summoner Spells section.
• Updated the "Neurotoxin over Volatile Spiderling" section considering "The Nuke" uses Volatile Spiderling over Neurotoxin.
• Added the "Farming and pushing the lane!" section.

[31 Oct 2012 / 18:58]

• Added the "Skill Explanation" section
• Added the "Harassing" section

[03 Nov 2012 / 13:12]

• Added the "Stealing Baron / Dragon" section
• Added a skill explanation for Spider Swarm since I missed it out. Woops!
• Added the "Mid-Lane Matchups" section yet it will be a while before it's actually released.

[05 Nov 2012 / 07:56]

• Completed the "Mid-lane Matchups" for Champions A-F.
• Started working on "Mid-Lane Matchups" for Champions G-L.

[08 Nov 2012 / 18:40]

• Added a Jungling Build but it may be awhile before a "Jungling" section is added to the actual guide since I'm still working on the Lane Matchups.
• Swapped Lich Bane for Frozen Heart in the original build.
• Added an "Other Items" section... its the "Alternative Items" section reborn. Not too detailed but its just there if people ask questions about a few items!