Kassadin Build Guide : Excellence Is Null ~ A Comprehensive Kassadin Guide

Introduction ~ An In-Depth Guide

DISCLAIMER

Before you vote, I STRONGLY suggest you try out this guide. Yes, GUIDE, not build. This is a guide that has a build in it, but just because the cheat sheet may not look pretty doesn't mean that it's the build you will use 100% of the time. For absolutely full information, read the ENTIRE guide. Oh right, by the way:

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A BIG THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS GUIDE SUCCESSFUL AND FEATURED! <3

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Ahh, it's Spring 2012, and what's not better than to completely start a FRESH guide? For those who do not know, Hi, my name is CasterMaster, and this is my first guide of the official season (making it the 3rd official guide in total) and it's for, you guessed correctly, . Unlike any other guide, this one will BLOW YOUR MIND (in a good way), and I'll make this guide every bit to the last detail. This guide will be unlike any other you've seen me write. Now, PREPARE TO BATHE YOURSELF IN THE GLORIOUS POWER OF THE VOID.

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is a melee caster-typed anti-caster, making him extremely powerful against AP carries. He's able to jump into a team fight, quickly assassinate his target, and jump out unscathed. His laning skills are mediocre, but provide that his hurts like a truck, you can usually trade damage against an enemy. He is EASILY countered in lane pre-6, but after that you should have no problem. His specialty is , being a short cool-down ultimate that offers extremely mobility, damage, juking potential, and of course, skill. is not an easy champion to play, and not even easy to master. However, this guide will make you become that pro player you've always wanted to be (and probably exceed Ocelote). So prepare to enter the void!

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I saved this best song for awesomeness only, so jump in the void!

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(Credits to TubeMastah for this video, song by Two Steps from Hell, song called "Jump!")

Why Play Kassadin and When?

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Right... Did I forget to mention this? NO. This section here will provide reasoning for why you would want to play and when to play him as well. Let's start off with WHY you would want to play :

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WHY PLAY HIM?

Arguably one of the strongest Anti-casters in the game
Short cool-down ultimate
Powerful nuking potentials mid~late game
Good skins
Null Sphere great harass/damaging tool in lane
At level 6, enemies go from fearless to crying in corner
Hard to gank
Extreme mobility
Very fun to play
He just looks so BADASS!

With that said, now we can take a look at some reasons WHEN you should play him. There are tons of times when you can play him (and if you're one of those instalockers, you can play him WHENVER), but for the sake of this guide, let's assume ranked position (and you're not trolling) =D.

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WHEN TO PLAY

You need (or want to play) a strong anti-caster
Mid lane champion required (or carry)
You have a champion on the enemy team you want to counter
Low CC on the enemy team (stuns, silences, suppresses, knock-up)

Yeah, I'm sure there are more reasons, but you can say that yourself. makes an extremely good assassin as well, so there are just so many reasons why you would play him.

Statistics

At Level 1

Health: 433 (+78 per level)
Mana: 230 (+45 per level)
AD: 52.3 (+3.9 per level)
AS: 0.64 (+0.0235 per level)
MS: 315 (365 tier 1, 385 tier 2)
Armor: 14 (+3.2 per level)
MRes: 30

These stats aren't bad at all. With a good 511 health at level 1, he can take some hits (champions that are melee have more health then ranged champions for those who do not know). Move-speed isn't a huge issue either but if you want to move faster, then take . I just don't think he needs a lot of move speed because he already has his which covers a larger distance than Flash now.

At Level 18

Health: 1837
Mana: 1040
AD: 122.5
AS: 1.063
MS: 315 (365 tier 1, 385 tier 2)
Armor: 71.6
MRes: 30

First thing you're going to notice is exactly, "How on earth is his base AD so high at level 18?". Well, the answer is that behind all the burst he does, he still has a back-up plan. If his burst fails to kill someone, then he can retort to + his AA and to finish the job easily. His health isn't bad either, but since you're an assassin, you're going to have to jump into a fight and survive. Simply put, 1837 health will NOT help you make it alive. Like I said, assassin's are very powerful, but they're also good at exiting the fight. We'll learn more about this later.

Pros / Cons and Description

Before we can simply learn and understand , we need to know his strengths and weaknesses. All champions have strengths and weaknesses. Some have more than others, while some have hardly any weaknesses its unnoticeable. However, let us not get off-track. Here are some of 's powerful pros and deathly cons:

Extremely mobile and versatile: With Riftwalk as a free low cool-down Flash, and just many ways to build him, it makes playing Kassadin fun and surprising every game!
Huge bursts and constant DPS: Using Riftwalk, Null Sphere and Force Pulse can quickly shoot an enemy's health down while providing constant DPS with Nether Blade.

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Extremely scary post-6: They could once look at you and say you are no problem. Once you hit level 6 however, it will turn your lane opponents world into a nightmare for the void...
Not extremely item dependant early game: Kassadin is not very item dependant. Late game however, he is. Luckily, with a strong early game, you'll get a good late game.

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Very weak early game: Being a melee champion, Kassadin will have a hard time farming minions without taking a lot of damage. Get a jungler to help you out.
Riftwalk's cool-down is quite high: Once you use it to get into a fight, it'll take a while before you can use it again to get out. Choose your decisions wisely!

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Requires a large amount of mana control: Many Kassadin players are not good at controlling their mana, especially with Riftwalk stacks. You'll learn how to solve that in this guide.
Item dependent late game: Kassadin needs a good build for late game. Most of the time you won't be running the exact same build. Your item choices DO matter, don't think its just meh.

I can teach you a lot about , but most of the stuff you have to apply yourself. This is what makes up a strong player. It revolves around these key terms: COMMON SENSE, SPEED, AND SKILL. If you have these three traits (or maybe 2), then you'll become a pro player simply by reading. Otherwise, you may need to practice a bit. Remember, practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent!

Rune Setup

Here is my rune page set-up for AP carries and I use it for as well. Let me explain:

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

Pretty self explanatory here. The ONLY perfectly viable runes for casters. They're primary and give a great boost to your damage throughout the game. It may seem unnoticeable, but it'll give you a great deal of increased magic damage.

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Greater Seal of Scaling Health

At level 18, it's almost a free that doesn't take up inventory space. Very useful and helps you take some additional hits and raise your effective health. It's especially important as you're melee and you need to escape after making your entrance.

Greater Glyph of Scaling AP

A primary rune for more damage as you level. They surpass at level 6 which makes these runes superior. I find these to be just powerful, and it'll make even the slightest difference.

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Greater Quintessence of AP

Gives an amazing boost to your early game damage. It's like getting the as a starting item for damage output. Just very useful, and I find it to be fantastic for harassment.

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Marks: None
Seals: ,
Glyphs: , ,
Quints: ,

First off, if you aren't even level 20, do not consider buying runes. It's just a waste of your Influence Points and they can be used for more important things. Those who already have a decent caster rune page can use that. There are tons of different combinations you can use but this is the best set-up that I've found. It provides a good balance between early and late game which is something you really need.

Masteries

Here is my masteries for . As there are many ways you can run masteries for him, it's usually standard to run the new 21/0/9. I'll quickly explain them here:

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TIER 1 ~ I decided to put 1 point to as I am taking for my masteries. Upon using I will gain +5 AP and AD which is quite beneficial. Your next option here is , since you don't need attack speed. can be taken here if you aren't taking because you're having a hard time last-hit.
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TIER 2 ~ I take for scaling AP, which will continually make me stronger in lane as the skills are continued to be leveled up.
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TIER 3 ~ After tier 2 I take and . I take them for slightly increased damage to enemies and to advance the tier.
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TIER 4 ~ I take for a stroner early game. is very useful after casting a skill, allows you to deal significantly more damage on your next basic attack. Don't underestimate it.
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TIER 5 and 6 ~ Now I take for obvious reasons. Increased AP the more I get is quite worth spending 4 points into. I finish with for massive increased damage to lower health targets as a finisher.

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TIER 1 ~ Choice is extremely preferable in this tier. If you have , then take to decrease the cool-down on it. I also take a point in , as 1 second difference for every recall could make a difference (especially if it's after a fight and you really need to get out of there). is good for increased mana regeneration in lane, but you could take instead if you don't plan on spending a lot of time in lane.
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TIER 2~3 ~ Most of the masteries here aren't very helpful. The ones that ARE helpful are the ones we're taking. will greatly help if you've burned a or early and continue to be useful later into the game. You don't really need the small amount of lifesteal or spellvamp from , so we get for increased duration of blue-buff. You could also take if you want, but that's optional.

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Summoner Spells

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Flash

Your get-out-of-jail card. One of my favorite summoner spells of all time, I would take this on almost ANY champion except for some special circumstances. Anyway, here are the main purposes of :

To escape the clutches of enemies and to avoid death
To set yourself up at a safe (if not safer) location away from enemies and start skill spamming
To chase enemies -.-

I mean I probably don't need to go over this skill anyways. You should know how to use it, and if you don't, read the above. It's mostly common sense. If you throw yourself into a team fight, make sure you have off cool-down so you can escape if the heat turns up.

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Ignite

It's your finisher spell. I usually take this spell on almost ALL casters, and why not on ?. Usually your nuke will NOT kill someone. In that case, you're going to need to wack them a few times with . Quickly kill them by putting on them to amplify your damage output. Just an amazing skill.

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Teleport

If you aren't taking and you love traveling across locations, you could also take this skill. It's very good for ganking the side lanes or finishing up enemies from a disastrous team fight. Getting this skill also encourages buying s / s. An excellent skill itself and also good against heavy-harass champions like .

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Cleanse

It's as an item, but this spell also reduces the effects of the next incoming CC by a portion. If the enemy has tons of CC that prevents you from using your skills, you could take this skill (or just buy ). It's especially important on because if you in and get stunned immediately, you're done.

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Exhaust

This skill is just devastating. It can really completely disable a single target. Since that's your role and your job, you just want to finish your enemy off. It's an alright spell though I don't think you should be the one to take it.

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Ghost

If you hate because you either don't like it or you've had enough with Wall Flashing, then you could also take this spell over . Personally, DOES take a higher skill level to perfect, but sometimes you just want to move really fast. Of course, always an option, and I'm not limiting you or anything =P.

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Barrier

This skill shines out in the fact that it can save lives better than , although very self-centered. Another quick fix it provides is its low cool-down. Against any good player, they probably won't touch you once you've activated it, so it's quite a situational skill. Unless you know you're going to get bullied pretty hard in lane and later on, this might not be an amazing choice, but still not bad if you're looking for a safer lane.

Skills Summary & Explanation

Void Stone

Kassadin takes 15% reduced magic damage and transforms this damage into bonus attack speed.

This is one of the reasons he's such a powerful anti-caster. His innate ability to reduce incoming magic damage by 15% and turn it into attack speed isn't bad at all. Most people only take advantage of the 15% magic damage reduction. It's extremely powerful against casters which usually deal 95% of their damage as spell damage. But what are we going to use the left over attack speed for? It'll be useful to attack the enemy with , since you're going to have a lot of AP and it now scales. Otherwise, the 15% magical damage reduction is just fine.

Null Sphere

Kassadin fires a void bolt, dealing 80/130/180/230/280 (+0.7) magic damage and silencing the target for 1/1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6 second(s).

Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 Mana
Range: 650
Cool-Down: 9 seconds

Your bread and butter skill. It's on a relatively long cool-down, and in a team fight you basically got one shot. It DOES have some nuking potentials, but the main point of this skill is the silence that continually gets longer every time you level it up. It's also a very good skill to harass the enemy. That's why I take at level 2. It's so I can gain that mana regen to spam more 's against my lane opponent. It's also possible to completely ZONE your enemy with this skill. It just shows you how deadly it is. You may even want to save this spell for when the enemy has channeling spells like 's or 's . Since it's on a relatively high cool-down, choose the best time to use it. 7 seconds without cool-down reduction is quite painful. Getting blue buff and or cool-down reduction items like or even may not be a bad idea.

Here's me firing Null Sphere against this Malzahar. Early on it's not going to deal that much damage but later on its potentials are unlocked.

The same picture as above, except MUCH later into the game. With only an extra two Doran's Ring and an Amplifying Tome, my damage went from low to moderately good.

Nether Blade

Passive: Kassadin's basic attacks draw energy from the void, restoring 8/11/14/17/20 Mana each hit. If the target is an enemy champion, the Mana restored is tripled to 24/33/42/51/60.Active: Kassadin charges his nether blade for 5 seconds causing his basic attacks to deal an additional 30/45/60/75/90 (+0.15) magic damage.

Cost: 25 Mana
Range: 1(derp)
Cool-Down: 12 seconds

A lot of people say this is a **** skill. You know I remember when this gave ARMOR PENETRATION, so I wouldn't be talking too much. Now it gives increased magic damage based on your AP (so it scales). A lot of people underestimate this skill, but its actually really strong. I dare you to get this at level 2 and walk up to your lane enemy, use the active, and hit them a few times. You'd be surprised how much damage you deal. However, I take one point in this early MAINLY for the mana regeneration I desperately need to fire more s and to attempt to zone the enemy. Basically, you can use to amplify your auto-attack's damage and gain a charge on and makes last hitting minions at your turret a LOT easier.

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Using Nether Blade here will help you last-hit minions you normally wouldn't be able to. Extremely well when the minions are at your turret.

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Damage test with level 1 Nether Blade. I dealt nearly double the damage with my auto-attacks with the skill being just level 1. The damage is noticeable.

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Force Pulse

Kassadin draws energy from spells cast in his vicinity, gaining a charge whenever a spell is cast near him. Upon reaching 6 charges, Kassadin can use Force Pulse to deal 80/130/180/230/280 (+0.7) magic damage and slow enemies by 30/35/40/45/50% for 3 seconds in a cone in front of him.

Cost: 80 Mana
Range: 400
Cool-Down: 6 seconds

I love how this skill requires charges, and yet is on the lowest cool-down in 's kit (inb4 rank 3 ). I take this a lot later than most people do. I will explain why in a second. The main thing about this skill is it's an AoE charge BURST that slows. In low levels, this skill will deal about no damage (just like ). In fact, and do the exact same amount of damage. Take this at level 2 if you know your jungler is ganking for you. It'll help secure a kill/ by adding a slow. Beware of using this skill when up close as they may be able to juke it by turning around or moving the other direction. This is common especially after using . Make sure you hit them!

This just shows how much burst you can do with Null Sphere and Force Pulse.

Riftwalk

Kassadin teleports to a nearby location dealing 60/70/80 (+0.8) magic damage to surrounding enemy units. Additionally, each subsequent Riftwalk within the next 7 seconds costs 100 additional Mana and deals 60/70/80 additional damage, stacks up to 10 times.

Cost: 100 Mana
Range: 700
Cool-Down: 7/6/5 seconds

Once you get this skill, your lane opponent should be real scared. You can pop out anytime and spell disaster to them in a quickly. They won't have time to react because your will keep them pinned down. Anyways, back on topic. This skill has a higher teleport range than after its nerf. There are just so many ways you can use this skill that there's just no way I could describe them. Whether just for damage, juking, or escaping a dangerous situation, this skill will serve you happiness. 90% of the time you get ganked, you'll escape, and 90% of your own ganks should be successful (unless it's ). It's actually possible to leave this skill at 1 point, since putting extra points into it will increase its base damage by 10. Put these points instead in Force Pulse for extra nukes.

Skills Sequence and Combos

This is how I run my about 75% of the time. Take at level 1 because there really isn't a better skill to take. I take at level 2 because let's face it. The only time you'd need to use at this early of the game is if your jungler is ganking for you (basically the 25%). If you arranged with your jungler and is going to gank mid really early, then take at level 2 instead and at level 4. You really don't need any more points in because the main thing we use it for is to regain mana and to last hit some minions at your turret that you normally wouldn't be able to get, so after maxing out , you max . Once they're both maxed out, you should be really threatening to your enemy. Obviously take whenever possible.

Now we're going to learn some combos you can pull off with . Whether it be sick or just plain simple, they're usually the ones you'll use in a game. Well, why not I show you them?

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The standard assassin's combo. With being the lowest cool-down, use that first so that you can use it again if the combo fails. Follow with and to ensure the enemies escape is nullified. If your burst didn't kill them, then at them! Use if its available. If you have , auto-attack between each skill use to maximize damage. You could ALSO use before , but that depends on the situation.

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-->-->-->-->The Assassin's Combo

This is a very devastating combo. It's so powerful that if you fail it, the chances of you dieing are REALLY high. This is the ultimate gap closing combo that can rip your enemy into many pieces. This is mainly used:

to tower dive
to chase low-health victims (gap closing)
Surprise attacking massive burst combo

The risks are VERY high. Don't attempt this if you are not 100% sure you can kill your target (and get away alive). Sometimes, things in life aren't worth it, and this is usually one of them. However, when perfectly used and can escape without a death, this is the strongest combo you can pull off (as well as its juking and escape potentials as well).

Items

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Well, I have to say, if you survived that much of the guide, then congratulations! Hope you actually READ the whole thing as it provides a good lot of information. The exciting part just starts now! As is a caster (and if you're familiar with casters you should already know how to build him) there are a few ways you can build him. Each have their own style and can lead a game to victory. Before we get into builds, I need to tell you some items! Just stick around a bit longer:

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Boots and Pots

Pretty self explanatory here. to dodge skill shots/escape ganks and s to help you sustain (especially since you're melee).

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Amp Tome + Pot

This set-up gears towards early game damage. This'll help your harass but decrease your ability to sustain the lane (which is probably more important). If you have a strong ganking jungler, more damage may be needed to kill your target, so this is an option for that case. This also encourages an early or .

Doran's Ring

A good amount of health, ability power and mana regen is given. However, it gives the LEAST lane sustain due to absolutely no s. Personally, I would not start this item but would build a few on my first back. If you absolutely love this item however and want to start with it, I suggest taking .

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Mana and Pots

If your lane opponent doesn't have a lot of skill shots, this may be a good option as well. This encourages either early or , which is EXTREMELY important to finish your quick and get it charging. Always a viable choice and provides good lane sustain.

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Tier 2/3 Boots

With the nerf to boots and the increased base movement speed of all champions, getting tier 2/3 boots are extremely situational. Not a great focus, but is viable in some cases. Focus either on or .

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Double Dorans

After getting some farm, you can pick up a few s. They'll add to your damage, mana regeneration and effective health. You should also pick up some s too, they don't bite. You'll start dealing a bit more damage once you get this. Always a good early game start.

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Lots of Potions

#Yoloswag. Or in this case, never die and never leave lane. Great for people who harass you into oblivion. Allows you to regenerate mana back as well, so more s in peoples faces.

Catalyst the Protector

If you're getting destroyed in lane (or want to get a quick ), then this is the item you want to get. Prior to getting , you want an early so you can charge it up faster. It's also viable to get your first before getting your tier 2 shoes or even double s. As well as this item will increase your lane sustain to the max.

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Sheen/Guise

If you aren't rushing a and are opting for increased damage and **** the mid game, then go for either of these items. If you started , you should aim to a for . Else, grab and turn that into a . These are both optional items to get after as well, before your tier 2/3 boots.

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Sage's Rod

An absolute must for . He needs that mana to use his ultimate more, the health as an assassin would need to survive, the lane sustain that a melee champion REALLY needs, and a moderate amount of AP for damage. Just perfect item for .

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MageBlades

The strongest item when you can use its passive. After a , you'll be in range for its increased damage on your next basic attack. Not to mention the stats you get from this item are amazing, and everything it gives benefits . This items puts you into assassin mode, striking targets from the back with increased movement speed and with 's passive combined with , even your basic attacks will hurt like multiple trucks.

The Cap of Death

This item received a couple of nerfs in Season 3, however still one of the mage's best damage output as an item. It makes your skills pack a wallop and makes your damage skyrocket beyond anything imaginable. Just don't pretend you can't die, you're still a squishy mofo.

Delightful Invincibility

A perfect defense item and gives a LARGE amount of AP and some decent armor. Mainly the passive is just DEVASTATING and can really save your life. Just when you want to out but its on cool-down, you can use its active to shorten your cool-downs as well. Just a really great defensive and offensive item for .

Staff of Blasphemy

This item got major buffs in Season 3. It now gives 100 AP and is on par with , but continues to give its amazing cool-down reduction. Its new active puts a lot of danger onto your target, dealing wondrous amounts of damage AND amplifying all damage you deal onto them! This makes you an amazing assassin, allowing you to kill any target you focus with ease.

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Banshee's Veil

An alternative item. If there's just a lot of poking going around, you should think about getting this item. However, it's not that great anymore due to the changes, but it's still an optimal defense item at your wish.

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Athene's Unholy Grail

If you get this item, then use it to replace . A very strong item for as it allows you to be able to spam in team fights. You also gain additional magic resistance, a standard amount of AP and cool-down reduction, a few can definitely help . Get if you have enough defenses and replace or something else with it.

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Guardian Angel

If death should be defied, then this item is your best friend. Gives a good amount of armor with a small amount of magic resistance to go along with your anti-mage abilities. Not to mention the ability to have a ultimate on you at all times, until you die and use it, then you wait 5 minutes until you defy death again once more. Perfect defense item, if isn't enough.

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Archangel's Staff/Seraph's Embrace

This item is still kind of iffy. Honestly, charging it up is already painful enough, covers everything this item already does. However, recent buffs has allowed me to "Consider" this item, even though it makes your bad early game even worst. Not a bad idea, but if you aren't literally dominating your lane, this item shouldn't be worth investing.

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Quicksilver Sash

It's as an item, enough said. Get this if you're constantly getting hit by powerful crowd controls (ex. if the opposing team have a and/or that are going to hunt you until you are dead). If it's not a lot of CC, you can just get , but just another option. Best not to get this item too early however, as you'll lose a lot of your damage output. Just this or for these situations (you could also upgrade it to for the lols or if you have completed your build).

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Liandry's Torment

The Mask of Death is a viable option if you want some magic penetration. Although you will be focusing carries with little magic resistance, this item helps you deal increased damage like most other items. The health it gives isn't shabby and the AP it provides isn't that bad. The magic penetration is fantastic with its own passive that allows you to deal small s per spell damage. If you aren't assassinating players, grab this item over . Overall a very well-rounded item and not a bad choice for .

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Void Staff

It's +35% magic penetration. I see little reasoning on getting this item as you should be focusing the carries. If the carries REALLY have that much magical resistance you could go for a instead. If they have over 140 magic resistance (which on carries I think is very rare), then blow them up and get this item. Still very glass cannon imo and no defenses offered for an assassin. Not the best choice, but is good at the right hands.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter

A strong item indeed, it'll make and slow (and I also believe will slow as well). For me, I just think there are more important items, You already have as a slow, and is more important for . If your team has very little crowd control, then consider this item maybe after your .

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Abyssal Scepter

A great item for . You can read more in the " vs vs later. These 3 are usually your last items of the game, and depending on what you need you get them. offers both AP and magic resistance AND top off with mres reduction aura. Just a very powerful item and I would gladly replace for it when I need more damage.

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Will of the Ancients

Not the best item for . It gives him more sustain but in a team fight, you usually are able to use all your sklils before taking a lot of damage. If best, let someone else take this item for you and your team. Otherwise, this item is viable for you to take as well.

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Damage:

,,, , , , , , , , ,

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Health:

,, ,

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Armor:

, , <<lol

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Magic Resistance:

, (), , ,

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Unfortunately, very little choices in the armor section for . This means a powerful team of AD champions can really tear you down. However, is a perfect defense item for all cases (as well as that can block a physical damaging spell). Don't forget will be there to help you as always if you choose to take it. You have quite a bit of options for magic resistance (and usually you won't get more then 1 of these items) because already your will decrease incoming magic damage for you. Of course, tons of options for damage so we have no problem there. Health isn't a big issue either unless the enemy team has a , but that's nothing you can really do.

Item Explanation

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Mercury's Treads

is still up there for boots. Same with . With the introduction of , we start seeing less of . It also got nerfed, so technically for the price you're getting and how long the game will last, will have a better outcome. is fine, it still takes up 1/3 of all the cool-down reduction you need. These are your other only options. Attach for increased speeds when beating down your foes, or you could run any other enchantment that you think fits your situation. Try not to grab Tier 3s too early, as you should always take into account what's most important. Example:I prefer Enchantment: Furor or Enchantment: Distortion for most standard games, although other choices are somewhat fine. Like I'd take Enchantment: Homeguard if it was a defensive game.

Other Options: Sorcerer's Shoes, Ionian Boots of Lucidity

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Rod of Ages

An absolute must for . Full charged, it gives 650 mana and 650 health and 80 ability power. As charges up, you'll need that mana to deal more damage. The health to make you more tankier and survive fights and skirmishes. The AP you get isn't bad at all. I even forgot to mention that it provides excellent lane sustain as it still procs even once you evolved it. Just a fantastic item, glad that it was hardly changed in season 3.

Other Options: Seraph's Embrace

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Lich Bane

Gives a good amount of mana, movement speed, AP and has a great passive. An amazing item that benefits in all ways as long as use its passive. The damage it'll help you deal will allow your basic attacks to rock your opposing players after your . As long as you can take advantage of its spellblade passive, this item is definitely worth the buy. Works great with .

Other Options: Liandry's Torment, Abyssal Scepter

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Deathfire Grasp

The damage you deal will only go higher and higher. With 15% cool-down reduction, you grant yourself faster access to your skills that are on cool-down. Not only that, but the 100 AP you get will kick tons of ***. Lastly, add that active to allow you to strike down any carry at ease. Simply launch this item's active onto a squishy opposing champion, then follow up with your standard beat-down combos and they'll be dead in no time. Works like a charm.

Other Options: Guardian Angel, Void Staff, Abyssal Scepter

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Zhonya's Hourglass

Gives you 100 AP (which will literally give you a lot of damage) and a fair amount of armor. It's also good to save yourself because just cause you're an assassin doesn't mean that you'll get out alive. You can use this item to also wait for cool-downs while saving you some trouble for not doing anything and taking unnecessary damage. Unnecessary damage must not be taken!

Other Options: Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Will of the Ancients

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Rabadon's Deathcap

This item is no longer a core item, but it still amplifies your ridiculous damage into overdrive. Of course, if you aren't killing them fast enough, then this item will crush your opposing players whether they are squishy or not. would be recommended for higher magic resistance champions and if you are already 2-Shotting their carries. If you find yourself squishy, grab some defenses instead. The price for having such high damage is such low resistances, and your opposing team will be sure to take that into account in the next fight.

Other Options: Abyssal Scepter, Banshee's Veil, Quicksilver Sash( Mercurial Scimitar), Guardian Angel

Gameplay

In this section I will cover Laning, Team Fighting, and Ganking. This'll help you against your lane opponent with neat tricks, taking easy steps to dominate your lane, succeed and perfect ganking, and focusing down the right target in a team fight. Whatever it is, it'll help you become better at 's gameplay and style. If you feel like I left something out, tell me and I may put it in the guide!

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Your early game should consist of a few things. The most important thing you need to do in your early game is GRABBING THE CS! For , this is very hard. Your lane opponent will constantly harass you and weaken your early game so that you can't get a lot of gold from killing minions, hurting your late game. Use s on your lane opponent and be wary for ganks. Grabbing at level 2 will allow you to regain mana when attacking the minions. ONLY LAST HIT THE MINIONS SO THAT YOU CAN KILL THEM AT YOUR TURRET. THIS WILL MAKE IT VERY SAFE FOR YOU AND HARD TO THE ENEMY TO SUCCESSFULLY HARASS YOU! Try to get all the CS. When warrior minions are at your turret, they usually take 3 shots to kill. At the second shot, activate and you'll be able to kill that minion. Same for caster minions, except with only 1 shot from the turret.

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This is the area where you want to fight your minions. Near the proximity of the turret, making it very safe for you and the enemy jungler unable to gank you without tower diving.

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Once you get , you can now zone your opponent. Zoning means to force your opponent to hug their turret and lose EXP and CS because they're too scared to fight you. Fire s at your lane enemy to harass them and continually regain mana through last hitting minions with . If you want you can buy a to monitor the bushes and be more certain against ganks. With in your arsenal of skills, it'll be very difficult for enemy to gank you unless they have a stun. Do as you would normally in your early game, but you can be more aggressive now with . If you're at your turret fighting minions, you can use the assassin's combo to heavily damage your enemy. Doing so can really bring down their health to about 50% (if not more). If you're zoning the enemy, you can also use the time they're at their turret to go and gank a lane (or even the enemy jungler if you know where they are).

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Here's me zoning the enemy Malzahar as he hides in the fog of war near his turret, too afraid to attempt to attack back as I'm quite farmed.

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Eventually he decides to fight back with bravery but only causes his own death as I use the assassin's combo to kill him.

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After a major fight at bottom, I come to clean up a kill against a running Caitlyn with the brick breaker combo. There was simply no escape.

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At this point, laning hardly matters (it still does). The main focus turns to dragon and baron. Keep these areas warded. Try to pick off lone enemies with your team (or if you're fed, yourself). Make sure you have an escape skill up so that you can make quick getaways if needed, unless you're doing the brick breaker combo. Otherwise, you can apply the same steps as the first one. Depending on you or your lane opponent, you may want to play even more aggressive or less aggressive depending on who's more farmed and who'll be stronger in that situation.

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For ganking, it's quite easy. You just have to either use one of the two combos and you can usually get a kill if your damage output is high enough. I'll use images to describe how a good gank should look like:

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Step 1: Get yourself (and your team) in position to set-up the gank.

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Step 2: Once step 1 is complete, follow up by Riftwalking in to lead the charge!

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Step 3: Follow up with Null Sphere and Force Pulse to ensure the enemy cannot escape for that amount of time they're silenced and slowed.

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Step 4: You've just scored a kill for your team. Success!

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For team fights, you DO NOT want to be initiating. In fact, hide behind your tanks. You do not want to die. Once the fight has started, get to the enemy AP carry as fast as possible and so that the AP carry will not be able to use skills. Kill the main focus as quickly as possible and destroy all the enemy carries FAST. If the enemy focuses you and you get low, use to furtherly corrupt the enemy team by being unable to focus you. Once the active wears out, jump out of the fight. Stick around however, for enemies that exit the fight with bare health, you can easily finish them off with the assassin's combo and that's about it! You don't have to jump into the fight immediately, just make sure the enemy AP carry doesn't get to use their skills on your team. It's best to effectively take them out AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This way your job is fulfilled and you can switch to another target (like the AD carry or the support). If the enemy AP carry isn't a big threat but the AD carry is, then perhaps you can the AP carry and use the rest of your skills on the AD carry. This way the AD carry will suffer extreme amounts of damage while the AP carry is unable to help due to his skills being locked by your silence.

Warding

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75g for a and 125g for a . For a simple ward you pay very little for a chance to raise your own awareness of the map AND makes ganking a lot harder. s won't prevent ganks, but they'll make you aware that one may be happening. Getting s will allow you to kill the enemy s/s. They'll also help you detect enemy invisible champions like , and the oh so deadly . GET THEM!. They're your best defensive tool out there.

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These are some locations where you would ward in the middle lane:

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Here are some wards you can place down. The top bush and purple team's tri-path are covered here.

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The bottom bush and blue team's tri-path are covered here.

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You can also ward outside the blue buff location. This will work for both blue and purple team and will help you notice incoming ganks from the back. This is extremely common for champions like and , but as well as many other junglers as well. Be on the look out, and constantly analyze the map to see where the enemy jungler is. For example, it's a good idea to fight your lane opponent if you notice the enemy jungler is at bottom lane.

Conclusion

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I spent very few days on this guide, but that's because I probably spent about 5 hours a day (and going off-task as well). However, I REALLY hope you enjoyed reading that and take these skills to the future. They'll definitely make you a better player no doubt. And that's my word. For your word, I would love to have you comment on guide. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like. If you're going to downvote, at least give a good reason why, and try out the guide first. PLEASE, I'M WILLING TO TAKE ALL INFORMATION INTO ACCOUNT. And maybe, you could help out with this guide and make it reach the stars =) But that's all I have to say. Hope you have fun playing (and owning), and JUMP IN THE VOID!

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jhoijhoi, for the "Making a Guide" guide

Moonedge, for support and encouragement

Searzocom, for support and inviting me to join the Mobafire community

RuminatingWin, for pointing out some suggestions

Neoreborn, for helping me out with some pictures

Albableat, for the epic outro banner

FAQs and More Facts

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Questions often asked will usually be here. If there is a question in your mind and you want to ask me, stop here first and see if your question is here. Usually there are some weird questions I tend to avoid, but leave a comment or a question and I'll answer it. I check my guides very often and will notice if someone comments on my guide, so I'd rush to answer the question or read the comment as I go online. That way I will usually answer your questions quickly and you can check for a response once a day. Anyways, lets get to some frequently asked questions shall we?

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Not Going To Auto-Attack; Too Dangerous!

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Well, there will be times when going into a team fight at melee range just means death. This is quite common especially with hard CC on enemy teams or AoE high-damage champions. Let's take an example to be easier. Let's say the enemy team had a , and . These 3 champions alone will be able to quickly crush you down. with double stun and with his own stun and armor reduction, if you were to jump into a team fight, their team could strike you down quickly. Even if you have , , and , things like this will indeed happen. In these situations, would not be very as you can't go up to slash them. A proper way to exchange is to replace it with either or , depending on situation. Also wouldn't be a bad idea to get as well. Delaying your entrance is also a good. Either that or make a detour and end up behind their team to really nuke them down.

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Abyssal VS BVeil VS DFG

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Here's one of your choices for your 6th item. Obviously they might not even be your last item and you can get them whenever you want. However, one of the spaces in your build should probably include one of the following items ( is also part of it, but is quite situational so I didn't follow up with that item here). Regardless, the following items will be in your build, but we're going to notice some quick trends here. Depending on the game, you want to have one of these solid items, and they'll really have a HUGE impact to you, your team, and of course, the chances of winning. Let's do a quick run-down. If you're using my build and anything related, fighting the enemy carries shouldn't be a problem and you'll have all the damage you need. This is why I get . It's the most powerful defense item for carries, and really helps as all the stats it gives will benefit you and you'll become an even deadlier anti-caster. Let's take in another fact. For , it gives more magic resistance and even ability power (not to mention the aura will almost always effect their whole team). It doesn't block a single spell (which could end up being a stun and you'd die instantly) but it has a good contrast of both offense and defense. For , you're just laying down defenses and going for a total offensive 6th item (as for being a complete defensive item). If the enemy really has low damage or your team hasn't got enough damage, you could sacrifice some huge defenses for . It gives less AP than , but that cool-down reduction and unique active is enough to say it'll be more effective for damage. For a basic rundown, full defense is Banshee's Veil, defense and offense is Abyssal Scepter, full offense is Deathfire Grasp and full CC is Quicksilver Sash.

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I Don't See A Mejai's

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is not a bad item, but for it simply means blackmail. Charge this thing to around maybe 15 and you'll enter a team fight and lose a large amount of stacks. It doesn't charge fast enough and as a melee assassin, you'll get focused instantly and lose a lot of your stacks. Therefore its quite a bit of waste in money and can be further spent on more important items like . It'll work on low-levels, but after a certain point snowballing will not achieve victory. It's like the old . Every time you die, you had to recharge that thing to become powerful again. It still is, just you only lose half as much stacks so it makes it a bit more viable to die. However, for , you gain stacks through KILLS, not simple farming. Get anywhere over 10 stacks and the enemy team will make sure you lose all those stacks in the next fight. It's better to have items that will continually benefit instead of just quickly losing all its benefits later on and having to sell it. It'll be a waste of money, and you might have been able to finish a more important item. No one is stopping you from getting this item, but for , having yourself on the black list as a melee champion certainly means you'll either lose those stacks or not be able to attend those extremely important team fights without getting slaughtered.

Guide History

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This section is optional. This is just the history of the guide. I also have when I last updated this guide at the end of this section, so you'll know when the last time I checked/fixed up this guide. I usually update/check my guides quite frequently. Anyways, here's what my guide has been through:

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Guide released on March 8, 2012. Fresh template and images first used!

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Hatsune Miku's "Tell Your World" =)

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My guide is #1 most popular after a week since release!

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My first scout point in the first page!

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After 4 mysterious random down-votes, my guide has come back to the top stronger than ever!

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It's been 2 and a half weeks since release, and looks like a new Kassadin guide is at the top!

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Benchmark = 93% hopefully it'll get back there some time

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Currently sitting at...O_O?

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May 6, 2012: My Kassadin guide becomes featured!

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LAST UPDATE: DECEMBER 26, 2012

LOG

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March 8, 2012 / Guide officially released
March 10, 2012 / Fixed "Pros/Cons and Description" chapter and added the LOG
March 14, 2012 / Added the "Guide History" chapter
March 26, 2012 / Added the "FAQs and More Facts" chapter and updated a bit more
March 27, 2012 / Added the "Warding" chapter and vamped up the "Sample Build" section
March 28, 2012 / Added more pictures
March 29, 2012 / Gained the top spot! Updated some more.
March 31, 2012 / Fixed some bugs
September 22, 2012 / Update
Decemeber 26, 2012 / S3 Update

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I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL MY FRIENDS AND EVERYONE WHO HAS UP-VOTED MY GUIDE. IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE MAKING THIS GUIDE AND I HOPE THAT IT HAS HELPED EVERYONE POSITIVELY BY PLAYING KASSADIN TO A NEW LEVEL! ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU EVERYONE! <3

	Excellence Is Null ~ A Comprehensive Kassadin Guide By CasterMaster
	GrandmistressD's Kassadin - Your Lack Of Faith Is Disturbing By GrandmasterD
	Submit to the Void - InDepth Kassadin By LiLStormcloaK
	Chaotic Kassadin S3 By eddie199

	MOBAFire Community Cup EUW June Registration Open
	MOBAFire Community Cup NA May Registration Open
	Dominate Dominion #58 Running
	Dominate TT #11 Finished

Kassadin Build Guide by CasterMaster

Excellence Is Null ~ A Comprehensive Kassadin Guide

Champion Build: Kassadin

Recommended Runes + Notes

Standard + Notes

Ability Sequence

Masteries + Notes

Offense: 21

Defense: 0

Utility: 9

Introduction ~ An In-Depth Guide

**DISCLAIMER**

A BIG THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS GUIDE SUCCESSFUL AND FEATURED! <3

Why Play Kassadin and When?

Statistics

At Level 1

At Level 18

Pros / Cons and Description

Rune Setup

Masteries

Summoner Spells

Skills Summary & Explanation

Skills Sequence and Combos

Items

Item Explanation

Gameplay

Warding

Conclusion

FAQs and More Facts

Guide History

LAST UPDATE: DECEMBER 26, 2012

LOG

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL MY FRIENDS AND EVERYONE WHO HAS UP-VOTED MY GUIDE. IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE MAKING THIS GUIDE AND I HOPE THAT IT HAS HELPED EVERYONE POSITIVELY BY PLAYING KASSADIN TO A NEW LEVEL! ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU EVERYONE! <3

used to be in top 10 too =(

Kassadin

The Void Walker

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