Jax Build Guide by Tehlawlmiester

Introduction

Hello Mobafire. This is a guide to the lamppost wielding Jax. Now if you don't play Jax (and possibly if you do) the items/runes/masteries may make you say, "...What?!" They are like that because Jax is a Hybrid. Now journey with me into my build!

Why make Jax a Hybrid?

Wonderful question! You will notice that his Q scales off both bonus AD and AP. His W scales off of AP, his E scales off of AD and his R scales off of AP and AD. All in all Jax and his passive make him an utter nightmare for the enemy team if he builds a solid AD ASP Jax. His abilities scaling makes him a viable AP champion aswell. Unfortunately if they get a Thornmail and Ninja Tabi then you have been severely negated. Force of Nature and mercury treads Will shut down an AP Jax. So why not combine them? So if they want to counter you they have to get armor and mr which not many items provide both so they'll need to waste precious gold to counter you.Making their damage worthless, making your team pwn them all.

Pros / Cons

Protential Pros

His passive makes him an incredible auto-attacker with that delicious ASP
He flows very well with the hybrid build.
Nice Gap Closer with

Leap Strike

At low levels he is weak.
Requires a lot of farm.
In a 2v2 lane you need a competent lane ally.
Item Dependant.
Cooldowns can screw him out of a kill at lower levels.

Masteries

http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/mastery-tree-planner#&tree1=0-0-4-0-4-0-0-4-1-0-0-1-0-2-0-4-1&tree2=0-1-3-0-4-0-0-1-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&tree3=0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&v=2

Mental Force 4 AP isn't much but when your not getting any extra AP until you can grab Sheen then your abilities aren't much.

Alacrity "DERP YOU HAVE ASP WITH YOUR PASSIVE!!!" That's right but it's not enough! >=(

Weapon Expertise 10% extra armor pen? Heck yeah! Deadliness A hybrid still wants more damage so get maor damage!

Lethality More Crit damage? With Infinity Edge your doing 260% normal damage with a crit. And your getting crit chance items... Blast Maor AP plox!

Archmage + Rabadon's Deathcap = 35% of your AP. 'nuff said.

Executioner Do I really need to explain?

Hardiness Jax's starting armor is rather ****py even with the runes. More helps. Resistance You have an extra point and more MR isnt a point wasted.

Durability Each level you gain even more health? Yep.

Veteran's Scars 30 health may not be much, but instead of dieing that 30 health could let you live.

Runes

greater mark of desolation More armor pen + Greater Mark of Magic Penetration will help you punch through some armor and mr they may be building. Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration if you can afford them. They combine desolation and insight into one rune, smart. Greater Mark of Attack Damage if you want that extra bit of AD or Greater Mark of Attack Speed if you want extra ASP.

Greater Seal of Armor probably the best seals to get. More armor for Jax's weak starting armor.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power You need more AP and these are better than potency at roughly level 6 or 7. For this build something like Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist is viable but more AP is simply better.

Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed More ASP. With your passive + masteries and runes you can possibly breach the 1.000 ASP mark at level 1...level 1! Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed extra movement speed never hurt anyone. Greater Quintessence of Scaling Ability Power work in the terms of AP and Greater Quintessence of Scaling Attack Damage work in the terms of AD.

Items

Boots of Speed and health potions to start you off. Helps close the gap with Leap Strike. You'll want to quickly move into Phage as it's moderate health boost and damage boost as well as that auto attack slow is much needed. Whether or not you get Sheen or Zeal first is your choice. I choose Zeal first because of that 6% movement speed bonus is pretty nice with some ASP and crit chance you've got yourself a nice package. Finish your Trinity Force and move on to your boots. Berserker's Greaves for more ASP mercury treads if they have three or more AP Champs or their CC is getting you killed. Ninja Tabi if they have 3 or more AD champs.

It is most likely mid game by now and your heading for a Guinsoo's Rageblade as it's passive synergies well with your passive. Blue the bonus AD and AP is very helpful. Hextech Gunblade is your next choice, however it may already be late game by the time you get this...

Now for the Infinity Edge and Rabadon's Deathcap. These two items are the staple items of an AP champion and AD carry. And since you have all you need from your hybrid items going above and beyond only makes sense. However it is rare to find a game where you end with both of them, but it is possible for it to happen. whichever you pick to get first is based off of the course of the game. IF they have a lot of MR or melee champions then get Infinity Edge. If they have a lot of armor or ranged champions head for Rabadon's Deathcap

Now I do notice that my only defensive items is the phage part of the Trinity Force and the boots if you don't get berserker's... There are many defensive items you can get to replace infinity edge and rabadon's. As well as offensive. I consider those my situational spaces.

Skill Sequence

Leap Strike is your first pick, and the first to get maxed. The gap closing is pretty powerful, and it scales with bonus AD and AP, all the more reason to hit grab it.

Empower if what you max second, as it scales well with AP and your getting more AP by the time your through maxing it.

Counter Strike Grab it at level 4 and slap a point into it at level 10 so it does reasonable damage until you max it.

Grandmaster's Might The on hit effect is a slap in the face to an unexpecting enemy, unfortunately you don't have anything that tells you how many more hits it'll take until your doing that extra damage. The active is so amazing when your pushing a tower or tanking their team. A few swirling lines of amazing Armor and MR that scales off your bonus AD and AP gives you one more reason to go hybrid.

Summoner Spells

In my previous guide I said roughly the same as I will now. Summoner spells depend on the summoner. Don't let this random derp making a Jax guide change how you play. I choose Flash as it is an amazing utility spell which can let you hope over walls or chase. I also choose Exhaust because it makes it that much harder for an enemy to escape the lamppost. Ignite works well as a replacement for exhaust. and Ghost can replace Flash. Jax may be one of the very very few that work with Surge. As he works well with ASP and AP, he will do good with surge if you don't like any of the other options. Teleport is a good spell to grab as is Heal if your a lower level.

Smite is good for jungle jax, but this is lane jax, not jungle jax. Clairvoyance is for support champions, not off-tanks/bruisers. I once saw something that made me lol a bit concerning Revive... If you find yourself using revive often enough to make it useful then your playing the game wrong. Clarity is...a meh...there is simply to many better choices than this to make it worthwhile on Jax. Promote Yes, empower that uncontrollable siege minion who cant help secure a kill rather than light an enemy on fire, slow him down, speed yourself up, or teleport. Cleanse is a waste of a summoner spell space because if you really need it then go get a Quicksilver Sash

Summary

Phew you made it...thanks for reading! If this gets a lot of attention then you may see a few early-late game sections added to this guide. If you like then feel free to vote it up and comment. If you don't like it or see some flaw in my guide then let me know. I want to improve and be a better player, and just because I make a guide doesn't make me the almighty Jax player.

Peace!