Cassiopeia Humor Guide by Linde

Introduction

Hello there! My name is Linde and I have been playing League for quite some time now. And now I wanted to try to pass some of my knowledge too other League players.

Cassiopeia is an underplayed champion for no apparent reason. Her laning phase is strong due to her good range, low cooldowns, low manacost nukes. Cassiopeia doesn’t have the greatest burst but very good DoT. She is one of the strongest picks for mid + she is my favorite AP champion.

Pros / Cons

Pros:

+ Great farming
+ Good harras
+ Strong AoE
+ Decent CC
+ Strong team fight


Cons:

- Very squishy
- 3 out of 4 abilities are skill shots (making her hard to play for new players)
- Spell shield and Banshee's Veil counters her combo
- Not the greatest burst

Summoner Spells

Flash: Since Cassiopeia don't have a quick escape mechanism, I choose flash so i can escape quickly or secure a kill

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Ignite: Ignite + Poison = A LOT OF DAMAGE

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Exhaust: It can be good but let your AD carry, support or solo top take it. AP casters usually benefit more from Ignite than Exhaust

Clarity: Don't take this. Only if you really have problems running out off mana all the time, otherwise don't take this. I think it's a waste

space Heal: You're not really gonna need this. You can potentially take it if you're newer to the game otherwise don't. You'll be better off with ignite.

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Masteries

I'm using standard AP mana masteries. Nothing too out of the ordinary. But it works.

I see some people going 9-0-21, but I don't think that it’s as effective. I like having the high early game damage with the 21-0-9 masteries. So I stick too them.

Runes

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

I choose these, because they give me really good early game damage and is without a doubt THE
best choice for Marks on any AP champion!

Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration

I choose these Seals, because Cassiopeia quickly runs out of mana even with her passive.
So too compensate I use these Seals.

Greater Glyph of Ability Power

Again I'm aiming for that high early game damage which these Glyphs provide me.
You can also switch them too AP per level Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power. But I prefer the
flat AP.


Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

These are the best Quintessence's for AP carries. It gives a lot off early AP and is in my
opinion the best choice for Quints. You can also go Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration
for more spell penetration.

Skill Sequence

I choose to max her Q Noxious Blast first because it gives me great harras damage and it's an excellent farming tool.

You can also max her E Twin Fang first for more burst damage. You're gonna have a harder time farming but you have a higher kill potential. And as many other AP carries Cassiopeia needs lots of farm and that's harder to get when maxing E Twin Fang first. So I choose the safe laning phase, which I find is more important, than early killing potential. You can off course still get kill maxing Q Noxious Blast first and get lots off farm maxing E Twin Fang first. It just depend how good off a player you are.

Abilities

After casting a spell, any subsequent spellcasts will cost 10% less Mana for 5 seconds (effect stacks up to 5 times).

This is a very fitting passive for Cassiopeia due to her high mana use and with the Mana regen runes and reasonable use off mana you're not gonna run out of mana.
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Cassiopeia blasts an area with a delayed high damage poison, granting her increased Movement Speed if she hits a champion.
Cassiopeia blasts an area with a delayed high damaging poison, dealing 75/115/155/195/235 (+0.8) magic damage over 3 seconds and granting her 15/17.5/20/22.5/25% Movement Speed for 3 seconds if she hits a champion.
Cost
35/45/55/65/75 Mana
Range
850

Cassiopeia's damage comes mainly from poison and is DoT. This one is the strongest one. It works like Karthus's Lay Waste, after your press Q there is a little delay and targets in the area will get poisoned.
It's your main harrasing tool as it has little cooldown and good damage and it's a very effective farming tool.
It's not very hard to land and after some practice you will get the hang off it.
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Cassiopeia releases a cloud of poison, lightly damaging and slowing any enemy that happens to pass through it.
Cassiopeia releases a growing cloud of poison that lasts for 7 seconds. Any enemy that passes through it is poisoned for 2 seconds, dealing 25/35/45/55/65 (+0.15) magic damage each second and slowing them by 15/20/25/30/35%. Continual exposure renews this poison.
Cost
70/80/90/100/110 Mana
Range
850

Miasma also works great as a farming tool it effects a larger area than Noxious Blastand combined with Noxious Blast (Q+W) clears a minion very quickly.
Miasma has a very effective slow. Hitting Miasma to slow them makes it a lot easier to land Noxious Blast.
You can also use it to scout bushes, never face check when you have a spell that gives you vision or if you’re a squishy champion.
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Cassiopeia lets loose a damaging attack at her target. If the target is poisoned the cooldown of this spell is refreshed.
Cassiopeia deals 50/85/120/155/190 (+0.55) magic damage to her target. If the target is poisoned then Twin Fang's cooldown is reduced to 0.5 seconds.
Cost
50/60/70/80/90 Mana
Range
700

Twin Fang is you're main burst damage ability. Make sure you ALWAYS have your opponent poisoned before using it, as it lowers the cooldown from 4 sec to 0.5 sec.
I use smart cast on every off Cassiopeia's skills and Twin Fang works very well with smart cast. But it's up to your preference if you want to use it with or without smart cast. I think personally smart cast makes it a lot easier to hit Twin Fang and I can fire it faster with smart cast.
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Cassiopeia releases a swirl of magical energy from her eyes, stunning any enemies in front of her that are facing her and slowing any others with their back turned.
Cassiopeia deals 200/325/450 (+0.6) magic damage to all enemies in front of her. Enemies facing her are stunned for 2 seconds while enemies facing away are slowed by 60%.
Cost
120/160/200 Mana
Range
750

Petrifying Gaze is amazing! It has great damage and a chance to stun the entire enemy team. This is what makes you amazing in team fights. You can turn around the team fight with a well-placed ultimate.
It can also be used as an escape tool. First Petrifying Gaze, then Miasma for slow and Noxious Blast for increased movement speed and then you should be safe.
Use Petrifying Gaze wisely but don't just use it when you can stun the whole team. You can turn a 1v3 around with it. Don't just search for the perfect 5 man stun. Use it consistently throughout the game.

Items

Core:

• : Sorcerer's Shoes is always my choice, because you don't really need the cd from Ionian Boots of Lucidity as you already have low cd on your spells and it's nice with the spell penetration.
  
• : I get two off these simple because it's the best item for early lane dominance. It provides good health, AP and very useful Mana regen.
  
• : I have grown to love this item. I use it on almost all my AP champions. Simply because the Spell vamp is very useful in the lane to sustain you. Better sustain -> more minions.
  
• : This item synergizes very well with Cassiopeia skills. Since almost all off your spells are AoE, is the 15% slow very useful.
  If you miss the stun from Petrifying Gaze it slows them extra, which is very useful as well.
  
• : This item is the best AP item in the game. It gives you SO much AP. This is essential on every AP champ.
  You can get Rabadon's Deathcap before Rylai's Crystal Scepter but then I recommend that you buy a Giant's Belt first because you're very squishy and can easily get bursted down.
  
• : Upgrade your Hextech Revolver to this late game. It's very good if you have another AP on your team as the passive stacks. You can buy this earlier if you want too. It depends on how the game progresses.

The last two items is up to you.
I tend to buy either a Void Staff or a Abyssal Scepter. Void Staff if they have more than 100 MR and Abyssal Scepter if they have less than 100 MR. Never both off them.
Then I either buy a Banshee's Veil, Quicksilver Sash or a Zhonya's hourglas. Banshee's Veil or Quicksilver Sash if they have lots off AP or you are getting focused by Malzahar's or Warwick's ult. You can also get Quicksilver Sash earlier if you are getting focused with stuns. Zhonya's Hourglass if they're stacking AD.

Laning

Start off with Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potion. Focus on last hitting. It’s very important that you get lots off farm. Try only to last hit with your auto attacks and harras your opponent with your Noxious Blast. On your first back buy 1 or 2 Doran's Ring's and a Sight Ward. Ward one side of the lane and stick to that side. It minimizes the chances off you getting killed. Not only does the ward help you but also the rest of your team, as it gives them vision where the enemy jungler is.

Now you’re getting strong. You're having lots off farm and good items. It's now the team fights are starting and dragon control is crucial. Your team should have very good team fight potential with you. Get the dragon and continue farming. If you are dominating your lane, you can steal the enemy wraiths and ask your jungler, if you may take your own wraiths and wolves. It's a great way to get even further ahead from the enemy mid or catch up to the other AP if you're behind. You can also do this in the early game.

Rest of the game you should have good map control and dragon/baron pressure. In the team fights you wanna position yourself behind your tank. Don't just rush in the middle off the team fight to use your ult and get stunned and die. It's a mistake made by many Cassiopeia players. Stand back, poke them with your abilities and pick the right moment for your ult and then just hammer away with Noxious Blast and Twin fangs.

Summary

This is my guide for Cassiopeia I hoped you found it useful. I'd like to see more Cassiopeia out there so save up some IP or buy some RP and get Cassiopeia she won't disappoint you!



Thanks to jhoijhoi for the awesome guide for making a guide!
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