Kennen Build Guide by Vitigam

Preseason!

I will be updating this guide for the PRESEASON! Patch is just out, I will be running vairous tests!


Look forward to it!!!

Introduction

Update Log

I'm still working on this guide, so I'm not finished yet:

2/19/2012: Added Mid and Late Game Sections. And a tips section.
2/20/2012: Laning Against Other Champs Section & How to Stun Section.
3/2/2012: Edited Item Sequence
3/5/2012: Renovating Design:
3/6/2012: Masteries Re-Done, Runes Redone, Kennen's Skilset Redone, Battle Rotation Redone, Farming Redone
3/7/2012: Core Items Re-Done, Added "Idealistic Full Build" section.
3/8/2012: Early Game Re-Done, Mid-Game Re-Done, Late-Game Re-Done, Added "Game-Play Tips" Section. Whole Guide Re-Done!
3/14/2012: Too Much Chapters, Merged Chapters Together and came forth "How To Roll With Kennen" section. (Thanks to Arcana3)
3/15/2012: Added Starting-Items and Merged it in to "Item Build" section.
3/17/2012: Updated Runes Section
3/21/2012: Updated Items
3/27/2012: Updated Runes
3/28/2012: Changed Items Build, Changed Runes
4/3/2012: Deleted "Lore" and "Acronyms" Sections. Finished Summoner Spells
5/20/2012: Added more champs to "What Enemies Bring to the Table" and some minor changes.
5/25/2012: More champs added to 'What Enemies Bring to the Table" section.
6/3/2012: Minor Changes.
8/23/2012: Minor Changes.
12/6/2012: Changed Masteries!

MORE CHANGES FOR PRESEASON COMING!!!!

Varus Patch:

Well, Will of the Ancients has been nerfed. Total cost has been increased to 2500 from 2100. It did need it though, it still is a great first item on Kennen. It was way too strong for 2100, considering if you had a AP Top like Vladimir or Rumble.

It is not worth rushing it anymore. Getting Boots Lvl 2 is much better after Hectech Revolver. And then building Rylai's Crystal Scepter. After that I get my Will of the Ancients. The only time getting Will of the Ancients before Rylai's would be if you have another AP on your team.

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Jayce Patch:

Attack Range now decreased to 550 from 575. This really decreased Kennen's harras potential in lane. I will be honest, Kennen needed and deserved that nerf. The harrass potential from Electrical Surge with its passive was pretty crazy. This has shaken top lane Kennen and is not that popular anymore. But in the midlane, hasn't affected him that much.

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Season 3 PRESEASON!

I will be updating this guide after I test out the new items!

Look forward to it!!

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Season 3 Starts!

It's been a bit since I updated this guide. So I am gonna do it again. Just a few things to mention thought. With the current patch and meta, Health is better than Armor and MR. So Rylai's is gonna be better than Abyssal Scepter now.

Powerful Pros & Cynical Cons

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Pros + Amazing Harraser + AOE Stuns + Heavy CC + Low Cds + Easy & Quick Movement + Laning: Energy User + He is a Flipping Ninja!

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Cons - Relatively Squishy - Needs to be in melee range to use Slicing Maelstrom - Team Fights: Energy User - Kennen is afflicted by the Law of Inverse Ninja Strength

During the laning phase, being an energy user is very helpfull, you can harras as much as you wan't wihtout ever be afraid of running out of energy. This gives Kennen an advantage over other AP Mid Champs.

But during team fights, Kennen runs out of energy really fast.

Magnificent Masteries

In Season 2, the best way, in my opinion, was 9/0/21, but with the new mastery changes, I beleive 21/9/0 is the best way for Kennen to go. Look for further details in the masteries after I update it!

Look forward for more updates and changes soon!

Recommended Runes

• Greater Quintessence of Health: 78 Health early game will help amazingly. If you know you will be against spammy characthers like Karthus, this would be your best choice. Combine this with Boots of Speed and Health Potion, good amount of sustain!
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: This is my personal preference. Kennen has so much harras, combine this with Thundering Shuriken, and you will get a very good ammount of damage early game. These bad-boys are amazing.
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration: No need for these runes really. You already have 30 Magic Pen with your marks and Sorcerer's Shoes, you don't need this one.
  
  
• Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp: Due to some recommendations, I decided to add this too. I know Spell Vamp is very amazing on Kennen. I would like to get these runes ASAP.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: You need Magic Pen for almost any mage. These are the only Marks worth getting. Starting with 8.5 Magic Pen is very nice, considering your enemies start out with a good amount MR to begin with. Combined with Sorcerer's Shoes, you will be hitting for true damage early on!

• Greater Seal of Armor: Really good seal on Kennen. The 12.69 armor early game will be very helpful early game, especially against those early Jungle Gankers ( Lee Sin, Shyvana, Nocturne). This is what I am currently using.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Vitality: Another amazing seal on Kennen. 174 Health will help, more than you think it will.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Meditation: Probably the best seals for Kennen combines with Greater Seal of Lucidity. Solves energy regen issues. Unfortunately, I can't always have these on my AP Rune Page, cause I only have 2 Rune Pages. I don't always go in a game knowing if I am going to play Kennen. But these are definitively the best Seals for Kennen.
  
  
• greater seal of lucidity:^ As stated above.

• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: This is my personal preference for glyphs. Early game, Greater Shield of Warding is much better, but at end game, the Mr/lv is much better.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: This would be my second choice, the extra 24 AP end game is really nice. But I prefer MR over this.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: If you want early game MR, this is for you.

Sexy Summoner Spells

Keenfull Kennen's Skillset

• Use the passive of Electrical Surge whenever you can. It will give you an extra MOS, this will differentiate a Good Kennen or a Bad Kennen.
• Use Thundering Shuriken to check a bush and use this, they will come out of the bush.
• In early levels, the 5th proc does tons of damage.
• If you already have a MOS on someone , and they are stealth characters. Use Electrical Surge to pin-point their location. Then use Thundering Shuriken to get a stun on them.
• When you Auto-Attack with the passive enabled, the AA moves faster.
• Whenever you have the 5th proc, use it on the enemy. But remember, not at the cost of losing even one CS! [/color]

Lightning Rush (E) - This is a really good spell for Kennen's kit. It is hard to get ganked while you have this up. So don't randomly use it and DON'T use it to harras. Plus, it give's you more MR and Armor.





Slicing Maelstrom (R) - An amazing Ultimate. Can be used in so many different ways.


An Important Note: Kennen's ult when it has 1 point in it, only hits 6 times, that means only 2 enemy champs can be stunned. Make sure you remember how much hits your ult has at different levels. You don't want to use your ult against 3 enemy champs when it can hit 6 times only, you might give some damage, but you won't stun any of them! Remember, Kennen needs Skill, you need to make quick decissions while playing him, like any other skilled champ. You can't just jam QWER and hope to get a stun. Got to play smart :)



Maxing Electrical Surge should be done in most situations. Only in some rare situations do you max Q. Electrical Surge gives so much more at Level 1 and early game. When you max W, you can play much more aggressive and harras much more. None the less, maxing W is certainly better on Kennen in most situations, if not all.

Kennen is very different form other AP Mages. First, he uses energy. In the Laning-Phase this is to your damage. Constant harrass and easy farming makes him a strong and top pick. He has high dueling abilities as well. His MR from Lightning Rush and his Kit is very strong for 1 vs 1 dueling.

But in team-fights, having energy is a slight disatvantage. But still, Kennen has high team-fighting capabilities. If you win a team-fight or lose it, can all be based on how you position and play yourself. He has one of the highest team-fighting skills as an AP Carry. His Slicing Maelstrom hits and stuns multiple targets. This is absolutely fatal for your enemy team. Stuns are probably the best CC in the game right now. Stunning the whole team for 1 second is absoluty amazing! But the major downfall is he has to be in the middle of the fight. That is why my item build is meant to solve that.

Kennen is meant to be played aggressive, and that is how I play him. But, I build him more sustain over damage, because Kennen needs to be in the middle of the team-fight to wreck. I consider Kennen a very strong champion because of his kit and his traits.

So depending on the enemy champion, which of the two skills maxing first varies.

How To Roll With Kennen

Now, this is very important. Farming with Kennen is very easy. Thundering Shuriken is on a very low cool-down and you generate energy really fast. So use it to "last-hit."

Remember, last hit, not just auto-attack minions. Try to get gold out of every enemy minion. Try to zone them close to your turret, but not close enough that the turret gets the last-hits. It's hard to zone in mid (cause there is not that much space in mid), but if your in solo top, it's much easier. If your enemy champ tries to come close enough to farm, just push him back with Thundering Shuriken

How to Stun

Now, this is where you can tell if you are an bad Kennen or an Amazing Kenen :D

Basic:
This is the easiest stun, at level 2. But I don't really recommend it tho, as I said in this guide, I don't want to initiate before level 6 unless he or she is really low.

W Passive + W Active + Q Active = Stun (You can flip the order around if you like, but this is the basic one)

Charge your W passive up and get that first MOS on him and then follow the Combo.

Fastest Stun:
Easiest, but energy expensive. Though it's ok, becuase you will regen fast, good for ganks, but not good for team fights like 4v4 or 5v5. You will regenerate it in the next 10-15 secs, but a lot can happen in that time frame.

Q Active + E Actove + W Active

Ult Simple Double Stuns:
If you are using this stun combo, you are going for the kill. So get ready.

E Active + Q Active + W Active = Stun (Wait about 1 second and AA) Ult = Stun*
Now your Q should be ready, use it to get the kill.

Ult Triple Stun:
This will give you three stuns:

W Passive + Q Active + W Active = Stun Ult = Stun E Active + Q Active + W Active = Stun



You can always switch around some of the moves, remember go with the flow and the situation. The key is to use all your moves including W Passive.

Initiating Tips (1v1)

Yes, I told you before not to initiate first, but that's in team fights. This is when you are in your lane.

Remember these Questions:
1. How many Mark of the Storm does my enemy have?
2. Will my next auto-attack give a Mark of the Storm and a Stun?
3. How much energy do I have?
4. Is my ult up & ready?

I wouldn't recommend going for a kill until you are level 6. Just last-hit & farm until level 6. Remember these questions and use the battle rotation to go for the kill.
Make sure you have full energy when you initiate, even tho you regen energy really fast, you will run out if you are below 100 energy. Play it smart!

Item Build

Your core build should be attained in the first 20-30 minutes. There are different core builds depending on the situation. THIS PART IS FOR VS AP ONLY.

- Nuetral Lane Build VS:
If you are not losing your lane, or winning your lane, go with this build.


After that, finish your Liandry's Torment or get a Giant's Belt.

- Winning Lane Build:
If you are winning your lane by a good advantage, go with this build:



If you feel you are a bit squishy in teamfights, then get an Rylai's Crystal Scepter first, or Zhonya's Hourglass, if not, then go for Liandry's Tornment.

-Losing Lane Build:
If you are losing your lane, just farm, and build these items.




In all of the above builds, finish it with a Rabadon's Deathcap.

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This section is gonna be for against AD Bruisers.

Nuetral Lane Build:

Finish with Zhonya's Hourglass or get Haunting Guise.

Losing Lane Build:
/[icon=Ninja Tabi size=45seeker's
Rush Seeker's Armguard, then Hextech Revolver. Right after, rush Zhonya's Hourglass and then get a Rylai's Crystal Scepter or Abyssal Scepter.

Winning Lane Build:

If you are destroying your lane, get a Liandry's Tornment after the above items. Depending on your situation in teamfights, it might be better to get Zhonya's Hourlgass right after Lieandry's.

Idealistic Full Build

The idea of this build is e things: A) Kennen does constant damage and he can stun very fast, you need AP for him to be deadly and scary. 2) A dead Kennen ain't scary :P

Depending on the situation, the order of these items should be switched. Read the above section for more details.


20 Magic PenI prefer these boots over Mercury's Treads in most situations. You need that Magic Pen early on in the game. Early game, AP Carries don't have too much MR, so having MPen gets you closer to dealing True Damage early on.


50 AP, Aura: +30 AP & 20% Spell Vamp. It was one of the best items for Kennen to get early on. But since due to the price increase, it is better to save it for much later in the game. Never the less, it is still a great item on Kennen.
Both items are great. But it depends on the situation. If there is more AP on the other team and you have another AP Champ on your team, Abyssal is better. But if there are more AD champs on the enemy team, Rylai's is better.




50 Armour, 100 AP, 2 Second Invulnerability. Massive AP boost and a good amount of Armour. And the 2 second invulnerability with Slicing Maelstrom is godly! Get this before Rabadon's Deathcap so you can use your ult without getting destroyed by the AD Carries and the others as well. Rush this right after your Abbysal Scepter.


140 AP, 30% AP Increase. This is the biggest gain in AP in your whole build. An important part of your build. One note,it is better to get this after Zhonya's Hourlgass. Having AP but dying before you can damage is not too great :P

70 Ability Power, 200 Health, 15 Magic Pen, Burns target when dealt with Spell Damage:
This a great item for Kennen. The health, AP and Magic Pen. And the Uniqe Passive of Burning target when they are dealt with spell damage, and is doubled if their movement is impaired. This works well with Rylai's Crystal Scepter




Remember, after the core build, the other items can be switched depending on the situation.
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Gameplay

Kennen is an amazing mid, Most champs won't give you any trouble at all.
Anyways, get a Doran's Shield or Boots and 3 pots if you are up against a heavy skill-shot based Champ like Ahri.

Use your Thundering Shuriken last hit if needed. Use your Electrical Surge to harras withe its passive proc. Try to stay in your lane until Level 7 or 8, to get enought gold to buys boots and Hextech Revolver.

Remember, don't get too cocky, but don't be too scared either to stay in your lane. If you are less that 1/4th health, push to enemy turret and fall back.

Whith you first recall, get the Hextech Revolver and boots. If you got some extra gold, buy 2 green wards and 2 health pots. Place the wards in both sides of the river. If enemy team doesn't have a jungler, just hold on to them and place one in dragon and hold on to the other one.
^ (Thanks Jhoijho for letting me use the pic)

Be wary, it is early game. Remember that pic, dont' get too close, you have range. Just try to farm and when your Jungler comes, make sure your enemy is at least in the "Be Wary" area. Kennen is a strong solo mid champion. There won't be to much trouble if you learn to master him. If you get ganked, just use to get away and throw Thundering Shuriken just to mock them :)

The first turret went down! Woot! By this point, you should have your Rylai's Crystal Scepter, final boots and working on Will of the Ancients. At this point, you should be around level 10-12 with at least 100 CS (Creep Score). You should start engaging and getting a couple of kills, but every time enemy champ recalls, just push to turret, give it some damage or go behind and get some minions. Remember to stop pushing creep wave a good 5-10 seconds before enemy champ comes back to lane.

Remember, at this point, your team should be protecting dragon and be ready for a dragon-fight. Here is some info on Dragon if you already don't know:

Dragon Initial Spawn: 2:30
Dragon Respawns in 6 minutes
Total XP: 900
Total Gold: 190 Global Gold per Person
At this point you should have your Zhonya's Hourglass and be working on your Void Staff, Abyssal Scepter or Rabadon's Deathcap. You should be around lv 15-17. You should be pretty farmed at this point, and you should be doing team fights. Remember don't engage, you will be focused first and die. Let your tank engage, then run in use ult, stun them, fall back behind your tank and do damage! If it's a stalemate, just harass with his Q. Whenever you have some time, clear some minions waves and counter jungle cause it's probably going to be open anyways.


If everything went well, you should be level 18, finished your last item, most turrets in lane should be down and a couple of inhibs. Usually the game doesn't go that far cause of a surrender. Good Game :D


What is Kennen's role in team-fights? To distrutp the enemyies. As soon as your tank engages, Flash + Slicing Maelstrom + Zhonya's Hourglass. At first they will focus you a bit, but as soon as you pop the active of Zhonaya's, you will be safe. They will lose focus and focus others instead. Now, find the enemy AP carry, and focus him with your team. Now you should back away from the team-fight and wait for you energy to rengen and you CDs to come back up. This should take about 5-10 secs. At this point, depending on who won the team-fight, all there is left to do is clean-up. Kennen's ult does "tons of damage" and stuns your opponents. If placed right, I can guarantee you, that you won the team-fight, unless your enemies are super fed. I will upload some pictures when I can.



As Kennen, early game you really don't need the Blue Buff. But around Mid - Late game, it is preferably better if you can get it. If no one else desperately needs it, take it.


Warding is a very important aspect of Leuage of Legends. If you want an in-depth guide on warding, click here.

Always get wards, whenever I go back for the first recall and every recall after that, I usually always buy two wards. I place them in the following places.


This above ward prevents ganks from the jungler. I have vision of him doing his wraiths, so I can take his wraiths whenever he isn't around as well.



I place this ward for blue-buff vision and trying to contest it. Also prevents ganks from that side as well. I usually place it a bit to the lower end of the brush, but I couldn't find a picture like that.

But with these two places covered. I can push my lane and do whatever I please, I usually go any other lanes that are either pushed to our side or the enemy champ is low on health. Try to coordinate ganks with your junger. But remember, two wards isn't really enough to fully to protect you. You actually need 4 wards to be completely safe. But I usually don't do that, because my jungler usually has his jungle entrances covered. But if I have a spare ward, I ward my junlger's wraith and blue buff camps.

Tips!

1. Harass, Harass and Harras! Doensn't matter if you are in lane or a team fight, Harass! But remember, when you are in lane, giving a 100 damage isn't worth even losing 1 CS. Farming is much more important, get your last hits.

2. Don't be a fool and rush in and get focused and die.

3. You're role is to stun, interrupt, and let your enemies fear you! Btw, you can use your stun defensively: If you see your comrade is low and is getting chased, use your combo, stun him and run!

4. Look out for CC, you will get cc'd easily, that's why Merc Threads on Kennen is nice :)

5. Most importantly, Have Fun :D

What Enemies Bring to the Table! (Still Updating)

Hall of Fame!

Summary

Kennen is an amazing and hell of fun to play Champion. He does have his counters, but you can deal with them. Remember to have fun!

Here is An AD Kennen Guide by Temzilla.

And please comment and vote it up!

Also, I would like to thank jhoijhoi for the borders and banners! Check her guides and works out: Jhoijhoi

And, I want to thank Ego Ignaxio for having the best Kennen guide over at the TSM Website. Runes are his set up, all credits for that go to him.

This is the end of: Kennen of the Lightning! Thanks for Reading!