Hello to all. This is my first build, so please be gentle!

This build is not meant to be the all in one, single stop, bible for playing Kassadin, because there are already tones of those kinds of builds out there. My personal favorite is Killraven's Bad *** Rift Ninja that has a 92% appreciation rate.

So then, what is this build about?

Well, I just wanted to add a little of my own touch to the item build and game play style. Give me your thoughts on this build, all non-racial and non-political comments are welcome! ;)

A little Item building intro before I reveal my core item build... In my comprehension of the game, item building is probably the most "game impacting" strategy, and for this reason, it is key to master this.

After surfing many guides on Mobafire, I've come to realize that lots of guides have 4 or 5 and even 6 core items... In my mind, how can that make any sense? Since opponents, situations, teammates, turrets, junglers are all variables that change from one encounter to another.

So, without further wait, here is my item build strategy for you.

Starting Items:

OR

I will take the Boots and 3x Health Potion if I am likely to go mid. This gives me enough health regen and more speed than my regular mid adversary. This will allow me to harass with Null Sphere and retreat if need be.

On the other hand, I will take Amplifying Tome and Health Potion when I am in a lane, which allows me to faster obtain my Mejai's Soulstealer.

Core Items:

These three items explain clearly what the core item build represents;
- Mana
- Mana regen/5 sec
- Ability Power
- Cooldown Reduction

And when you think about it, this really is the core of Kassadin.

is an absolute must! It's Kassadin's main item by far. 1400 mana, 25mp5s, 45 AP and 3% total mana converted into AP. Your honor, I rest my case. This item allows Kass to multi- Riftwalk and multi-combo the **** out of enemies.

is the best AP item in the game, of course when you go AP all the way. If your thinking of going AD for some kind of twisted DPS Kass then don't bother with this item. For all the others, this is AP to the bone. Full item build, this item will give you over 400 AP.

is somewhat debatable. I will always buy this first (after my initial Boots and 3x Health Potion). When maxed out, you get 180 AP and 15% CDR... not bad for 1200 Gold item! Of course, here come the snowball critics... What I say, is this: Buy it early in game, be careful not to die like crazy and when at level 16, if you haven't reached 10 stacks and you are not doing so well, then sell and buy non-snowbally items.

In early and mid game, you will reap the benefits of kills and assists immediately as 1 kill = 16AP and 1 assist = 8AP. Figure 2 ganks that go right and 1 team fight can give you easily 48AP at level 10. This becomes a major advantage while you still purchase your other core items in the meanwhile.

Lets just combine all three items and calculate what our total benefits are from there powers combined:
a) 1400 mana
b) 25 MP5S
c) 15% CDR
d) 180AP(Mejai)
+ 45AP(pure Archangel)
+ 42AP(3% mana Archangel)
+ 155AP(pure Rabadon)
+ 127AP(30% AP Rabadon)
550AP (That means +385dmg to Null Sphere, +440dmg to Force Pulse and +220dmg to Riftwalk)
e) For a total price of 7690 Gold

Boots:

OR

Your final boots should not be purchased before having at least Mejai's Soulstealer and Tear of the Goddess. By that time, you should have a good idea of your adversaries and what they have purchased. I've given two choices here, though you could technically go for Mercury's Treads if there are too many CC and AP champs. You could even go for Boots of Swiftness or Mobility Boots for moving through the jungle and surprising and escaping swiftly. But personally, I think the biggest benefits are from Sorcerer's Shoes for Magic Penetration (since MP is more beneficial than pure AP) and Ionian Boots of Lucidity to get that extra CDR (one second can make the difference between life or death). There are no real definite answers for when to purchase which.

Personally, I will go for Sorcerer's Shoes because enemies will go for a minimum of MR and this item will counter that extra MR. If there are no MR items on the enemy team and things are relatively smooth, then I will purchase the Ionian Boots of Lucidity.

(What? Why? and When?) to purchase additional items

Here's my extra item purchase section. I'll give you a simple but complete list of what not and what to purchase according to different situations. Keep in mind that there are so many determining factors in a game that it is difficult to think of all of them and also that decisions are maid within seconds. So take what you want from these tips and do what you can with the rest!

Lots of Magic Resist items on enemy team

or

In my mind there are 3 determining factors when choosing between these two items:

1) Is my *** numb from getting it kicked by enemy casters?
2) Do I have more than one buddy caster?
3) Are there annoying heavy MR item carrying enemies?

With these 3 factors, you should be able to determine which is best for your situation. In the end, Abyssal Mask is an overall better item as it gives you heavy MR (57 to be exact) and AOE MR reduction by 20 to enemies which is very good if you have at least another caster or AP champ in your team.

On the other hand Void Staff gives you 40% magic penetration which is excellent for dealing damage to enemies who have stacked MR items against you.

Kassadin has low HP and is a squishy champ!

or or

Yes, don't argue with me... Kassadin is a very squishy champ. Without items at level 18 he's got a little over 1800 HP... which basically means for or or or... so many other scary carries that you are top of their Christmas list!

In the life of an AP Kassadin, standoffs against heavy DPS champs will result in death after life situations. The idea behind these items are not to boost armor or MR and tough it out... it's simply to get a little extra so that your Rift Walk cooldown will have ended and you can flash the hell out of there. Extra MR or armor items will only slow down your item build and ultimately, instead of doing more damage and chasing, the enemy will do more damage and you'll be retreating like crazy.

In the realm of acceptable HP items for casters, there are really only 3 items.

My pick if dominating is Rod of Ages because it combos well with Archangel's Staff. It gives you lots of HP, extra Mana and lots of AP combined with the Archangel. If in no need for MR, go for this baby.

My second pick is Banshee's Veil because it gives a little HP, Mana and has a nice passive (negates one spell every 30 seconds), but gives out no AP...

Lastly, in my opinion is the Rylai's Crystal Scepter because it costs much for an extra passive slowing ability which is less effective than your Force Pulse.

What to and not to take

Here you get a taste of my personal choices in summoner spells. This is nothing out of the ordinary, so I won't elaborate much.

The what to's

Allows you to recall during laning phase and come back quickly before getting your turret thumped down or your partner killed... or worse: Both! A good spell overall during mid and end game as well. You can use it to teleport in bushes (with wards or mushrooms) and gank or simply catch up to your team fights or turret bashing.



This is a life saver or all flavors. What gets Kassadin killed is CCs (Crowd Control). If there are no CCs on Kassadin, he just Rifts away and back again, but when CCd (ex: Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow, Malzahar's Nether Grasp, Mundo's Infected Bonesaw...) Kassadin becomes Dog food in a can. Cleanse allows you to remove all CCs and reduces incoming new CCs. So I say Cleanse and get the hell out of there!


Its a good enemy finisher and stops radically healing and regen. So it's not a bad spell, just not as good as Cleanse.


You can use this spell into tricking your enemy to think you are low health and taunt his mind for an easy kill, then pop that baby and combo the **** out of him... It's been done and it works! I just find that the taunting will work once in a game or twice if the enemy is dumb, while Cleanse will work all the time.


Shuts down carries during team fights, when chasing you can slow down your prey and finish them off, you can use it to escape... Overall a great spell, only when CCd from everywhere with multiple enemies up your ***, Exhaust will not save you from death.

The what not to's

All the other spells! :)

x9

It's only normal to focus Magic Penetration as it is what you do!

x9

This is my answer to any Rune page... Just love the Cooldown reduction runes, they are great in any case.

x3

Same as the marks.

x9

Ok... I know what you're gonna say: "Those runes are ****"/"64 mana is gay"/"Why not take mana regen is much better"... blablabla. My say in this is simple, the puny 10 mana regen at level 18 will change practically nothing in your end game because of your item choices. I go for instant level 1 extra 64 mana which allows me an extra Null Sphere or Force Pulse which can actually have an impact on my game. Since all other Seals are basically **** for Kassadin, this one is the least ****piest of them.

Thank you.

9/21/0 The defense tree

My choices are simple, Defense tree offers 1% of max mana in health regen, 48 extra HP, 4% increase attack speed and ability power, 4% decrease on all damage (combines well with Kass passive Void Stone), reduces 20 seconds off Cleanse and Armor and MR... So very good stuff for a weak Kassadin.

The Offense part is simply additional AP, CDR and 15% magic penetration.

Going 21 Offense I find is risky because Kass is so fragile and is already very powerful. And going 21 Utility I find is the worst of 3 options.

I hope you've appreciated my first ever build. As mentioned first hand, this was simply to give out my Kassadin comments and not to recreate a full all in one stop to Kassadin. All comments are welcome.

Hope to get your feedback in my next builds!

Drakk The Survivor
(Vive le Quebec Sacrament de calice!)