Hello guys, my summoner name is Juni0rBlack and I am a diamond elo player in EUNE. This is my first Mobafire guide. I am really good with a big range of champions and my best position is toplane. There are a lot of picks that I feel comfort with at toplane, but arguably Darius is by far my best pick. I have played with him over 250 RANKED games (LEL) so you can understand why. He is a fairly simple and easy champ to learn, a bit harder to master and even harder to be played in high elo ranked games. However, I really believe his potential is great in specific situations and knowing how to play him good might help you get a lot of LP. I hope this guide help you and maybe change your opinion about this champ who is being characterized as useless by many people of the community.

Darius shouldn't be picked before the enemy toplane champion is seen. There are some champions that will make his life pretty hard in lane and deny his early game potential (take a look at Vs. Champions section). Junglers that are awesome gankers (e.g. Vi, Jarvan IV, Lee Sin) pose a big threat on him because he has no escape. This is getting even more serious if the enemy toplaner has a lot of CC to set up good ganks or there is an enemy champ on mid who can roam easily and help their team (e.g. Twisted Fate, Katarina, Akali). So, if you don't know how to ward properly, watch the map and know when to expect enemy ganks do not pick Darius. Yours and enemy team's composition matters as well. If you feel that their late game is really strong for example and your team will be outscaled, choose a late game champ because Darius falls off after mid game. If they have a lot of CC and kiting potential, choose a more mobile champ. These are the main reasons that you should not always lock Darius in ranked games.

Pros

+ Lane bully + Mid game carry + Hard for enemies to itemize + True damage nuke + Pentakill machine + Great duelist

So what makes Darius special? Firstly, he bullies nearly everyone if he played correctly and his mid game is one of the best due to his insane damage output. Moreover, his skillset makes it hard for the enemy team to itemize against him properly because he actually deals magic damage (and only that) as well. In addition to the mixed reductionable damage he deals, his best weapon in his arsenal is the almighty Noxian Guillotine he is mostly known for. TONS of damage -> Pentadunk. Lastly, his Crippling Strike help him duel a lot of scary AD champions especially mid-late game.

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Cons

+ No escape + No natural tankiness + Falls off late game + Kiteable and CC hurts

His only mobility given is the bonus movement speed from his passive and it's not enough. Except his high armor stats early game he is really squishy (he might not seems to be, but he is) and late game he is pretty bad, although not as bad as other champs. CC hurts of course and because of his short range skills and lack of mobility he is kiteable.

These are in my opinion the best runes for Darius because they buff his already strong early game by making him tanky and increasing his AD. They are the most common for AD bruisers at top lane anyways.

AND READ THIS: Do not laugh at the 1% critical chance mark that I put there because you never know, it might win you a marginal fight that you would lose. Many Korean challengers choose to have that 1% crit. chance mark, too. And I am talking to you seriously, one time I was playing Graves (love this champ) at botlane and crit 2 out of 5 consecutive auto attacks with that 1% crit. LOL!!

As solo top bruiser Darius there are 5 viable summoner spells.
1. Flash as an escape or chase tool through walls. Also for avoiding deadly abilities, making outplays and positioning for an Apprehend.
2. Ghost mostly for being able to chase and all-in champions who are prone to kite you in lane. Pretty good spell for Darius.
3. Ignite works incredibly well with your passive and ultimate, securing kills and dealing massive true damage accordingly. It also reduces healing on which rely a lot of toplane champions to escape or win all-in fights (e.g. Volibear, Dr. Mundo, Vladimir).
4. Teleport allows you to get back to lane fast if you are getting harassed or ganked often and roam. Roaming after you get some items will help your team get objectives and gold.
5. Exhaust for being able to duel dangerous top lane champions or later in need of protecting your carries.

Your primary spells are Flash and Ignite which you are going to choose most of the time. However, the other three spells are useful in some matchups as well.

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Hemorrhage: Your basic attacks and damaging abilities each time apply one Hemorrhage stack, stacking up to 5 times. Enemies affected by Hemorrhage are dealt magic damage every 1.25 seconds for 5 seconds depending on the number of stacks, Darius's AD and level. For every bleeding champion, Darius gains 5% bonus movementspeed.

This passive is pretty strong. It will finish off low hp opponents, improve your damage output and it is the key for winning the lane. Try to apply as many stacks as possible and refresh the time that your targets bleed.

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Decimate: Darius swings his axe dealing physical damage to all enemies within a 425-range area. Champions more than 270 units away from him are hit by the blade and take 50% additional damage.

• Always hitting with the blade of the axe to maximise your damage output.
• Decimate is a good harassing tool but be careful not to push the lane and get ganked.
• In teamfights, land it on as many enemy champions as possible to increase your movementspeed through Hemorrhage.

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Crippling strike : Darius' next basic attack deals bonus physical damage and slows the target's movementspeed and attack speed for 2 seconds. Crippling Strike's base cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.

• It resets your autoattack timer, so use it right after you land an auto attack.
• Try to apply at least 2 stacks of Hemorrhage before using it in order to reduce its CD.
• Do not forget to use it on turrets.

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Apprehend: Darius passively gains armor penentration and upon activation he pulls all enemies in front of him.

• Keep in mind that Apprehend has the best range of all Darius' abilities (550).
• Try to be unpredictable - grab them when they do not expect it.
• You can also use this ability to interrupt channels and attack animations.

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Noxian Guillotine: Darius leaps to an enemy champion at 460 range and strikes a devastating blow, dealing massive true damage. For each Hemorrhage stack on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals 20% bonus damage. If Noxian Guillotine kills the target, it can be recast within the next 20 seconds. This can occur multiple times.

• Apply as many Hemorrhage stacks as possible for maximum damage.
• Do not try to steal all kills with Noxian Guillotine, just don't.
• 20 seconds are enough to recast your dunk, but keep a look at the remaining time.

Early game: In the early game aka laning phase you must be really observant, exploiting your opponent's weaknesses and mistakes as well as watching out for enemy ganks. Do not forget to buy wards at least 1 out of 2 times you go b. Build and play properly depending on your enemy and scale as well as you can into mid-game.

Mid game: The stage of the game that you should be considered as a high priority target for the enemy team. Carry your team to victory by helping them achieve objectives like dragons, turrets and kills. Focus the enemy carries and do not steal all the kills because if you do not finish the game fast enough, you will put your team behind. Remember to stay back at first and let your tank engage because while you are very strong, enemy team is able to take you down.

Late game: You are now becoming weak, but there are still champions that you outscale. Stay close to your carries and protect them, especially from enemy assassins, by using Apprehend and Crippling Strike. If you trust them a lot, you could even tank some damage for them in order to do their job.

I really hope you liked my guide guys. Encourage me making more by giving a like to the guide or commenting. Remember that it was my first one, so if you can give me some advice I would be grateful. Good luck on the rift!