Kha'Zix Build Guide by Mathmos2

Introduction

Hi, I'm Mathmos and this is my second guide on Mobafire. It focuses on one of the recent additions to the League, Kha'Zix the Voidreaver. Kha'Zix is a melee assassin, and one of the best duelers in the game. This guide is unfinished and will soon include a jungle guide and more information. Please do not downvote this guide without leaving a reason. Now, without further ado, my Kha'Zix guide!

Also, I know I published another Kha'Zix guide that was exactly the same as this, but it didn't show up in the new guides page or the Kha'Zix guide page. So, I had to republish.

Pros/Cons

spaaaaaaace

Pros + // Great dueler. (1v1er) + // Decent lane sustain. + // Flexible. + // Great running away power. + // Is good at all stages of the game. + // Cool in-game appearance.

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Cons - // Requires good positioning. - // Teamfights can be hard. - // Hard to play. - // Focused . - // Rengar wants your blood.

Getting to Know Kha'Zix

A vicious Void predator, Kha'Zix infiltrated Valoran to devour the land's most promising creatures. With each kill he absorbs his prey's strength, evolving to grow more powerful. Kha'Zix hungers most to conquer and consume Rengar, the one beast he considers his equal.
When Kha'Zix crossed over into this world, he was fragile and ravenous. The animals he first encountered were too small to fuel the rapid evolution he craved. Kha'Zix focused his hunger on the most dangerous creatures he could find, risking his life to satisfy his need. With each kill he feasted and changed, becoming a stronger, faster predator. Kha'Zix soon chased his prey with unrestrained aggression, believing he was unstoppable. One day, while savoring a fresh kill, the predator became the prey. From cover a creature pounced in a blur of fangs and steel, tackling him to the ground. It roared in his face slashing and clawing, and Kha'Zix felt his blood spill for the first time. Screeching in fury, he sliced at the brute's eye driving it back. They fought from sunset to sunrise. Finally, near death, they reluctantly separated. As his wounds closed, Kha'Zix burned with anticipation at the idea of devouring one who could match the Void's strength. He resumed his search for powerful prey with renewed vigor. Someday, Kha'Zix will feast on Rengar.

Masteries

• Summoner's Wrath : With this guide you will be taking Ignite and the extra 5 AD early game will help out tons with your ability damage and last hitting powers. If you do not take Ignite, this will still improve Exhaust and Ghost. If you take none of these, put a point into Butcher to improve your last hitting.
• Brute Force : More damage, essential for any AD champion. Once again, the extra 3 AD will really help out with last hits and spell damage.
• Alacrity : Attack speed is another essential for AD champions. While this build doesn't focus on attack speed, it's still a nice thing to have.
• Weapon Expertise : This is one of the best masteries in the game. Most people don't really notice how much armor is reducing their damage output and this nullifies some of that.
• Deadliness : Ahh, more precious AD. In the end this gives you 9 extra AD. It doesn't look like much but in a close fight it can really make the difference. (Assuming you have Ignite down, that is 17 extra AD of masteries).
• Sunder : This isn't nearly as good as Weapon Expertise but early game 6 armor is quite a bit and this will make a difference. And winning the lane or not can effect the rest of your game.
• Sorcery : Kha'Zix is quite dependent on his abilities and CDR will help you gteatly when combined with your 9 Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction. You could replace these 4 points with Havoc / Vampirism and Butcher / Demolitionist .
• Executioner : That extra 6% damage on low health targets will really help your assassinating powers and last hitting. Also good in duels.

• Hardiness : The extra 6 armor can easily save your life early game, and in some cases even late game. If you are in draft pick and you see that the enemy top is AP, put 1 point in this and 3 in Resistance instead.
• Resistance : The 2 magic resist will help to slightly reduce the damage of any of your enemy top's magic damage abilities (if they have them) and the damage of ganks from mid or an AP jungler.
• Durability : The extra 6 health per level will help you out quite a bit, well as far as masteries go. You also need this to unlock Veteran's Scars which is a truly awesome mastery.
• Veteran's Scars : An extra 30 hp. Early game this will help tremendously with taking minion aggro. And I can't count how many times I escape with under 30 health. This thing is a real lifesaver.

Runes

• Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: Due to Kha'Zix's awesome AD scaling, I find that flat AD works better than armor penetration on him. And if the enemies armor is really becoming a problem, just get Last Whisper earlier. You can swap either these or your marks for armor penetration if you really want it.
  
• Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Once again, flat AD is better on Kha'Zix. Because of all the extra AD you will have off masteries and runes, (at level 18 with Ignite down) you will have an extra 32 AD!.
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: Most of the enemies you will be against at top are AD champions, and the extra 12.69 armor will really help reduce their poke. Even if they aren't AD, this will reduce their auto-attack harassment and minion aggro.
  
• Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction: As I mentioned earlier, CDR is really effective on Kha'Zix. These, combined with Sorcery , should really help you kill your opponents with your abilities and to escape with Leap and Void Assault. These, like Sorcery , are very flexible. Feel free to get MR per level or flat MR runes over this.

Summoner Spells

Ignite is an awesome ability at finishing low health targets that would otherwise escape. As an assassin, killing low health champions is one of your jobs. This spell cannot be swapped if you see someone like Sion or Dr. Mundo on the enemy team. Flash is great for escaping or covering long distances to kill escapees when combined with Leap. If you leap into a fight, this can be used if things get hairy and you need to make your escape. A smart player will not need this much and it can be swapped with Exhaust. If you do this, make sure to be careful where you leap and try to get into a fight with Void Assault when possible. Exhaust makes you virtually impossible to escape. In addition, you have to remember that it will lower its target's damage output and their armor, so don't just use it on fleeing enemies. Replace this with Flash if you think you can handle it.

(Note: After you evolve (if you evolve) Leap, Flash won't be necessary as you can Leap in, kill your target, and Leap out again. If you are jungling, this spell is essential for clearing camps faster while retaining health. When you start getting into mid and late game, you will also need Smite to secure monsters for your team, like dragon . This guide does not yet include jungling, but I thought I would put this here anyway.

Ghost is a great spell for chasing fleeing enemies, especially seeing as you already have an inbuilt Flash in the form of Leap. This is also quite the good spell for running for your life, but you shouldn't be doing to much of that. If you do get this, do not get it with Flash. Cleanse is a good spell for heavy CC teams. I do not recommend getting this in blind pick and only get it in draft pick when they have some major CC. Make sure to wait for the right moment to use this and don't use it when you can still secure a kill/run away. I would only suggest getting Teleport when you are against a hard lane. Its only other uses are to backdoor and counter backdoor and that isn't really worth it when you can have things like Exhaust and Ignite.

This thing is only good for tower baiting early game. Late game it isn't even worth an ADC auto-attack and if used in a life or death situation, you will still die. If you had any of the Beast Summoner Spells, you could possibly survive. This stupid spell gives you a pitiful amount of attack speed, which this build doesn't focus on, and a tiny amount of AP, which Kha'Zix barely uses. Please no! Barrier is an awesome spell in Proving Grounds and I would always recommend getting it on the Proving Grounds. However, this guide focuses on Summoner's Rift, and you can't get it.

Skill Explanation and Sequence

• Unseen Threat: Proper use of this spell can seperate good Kha'Zix players from bad Kha'Zix players. As far as passives go, it's one of the best, a good damage increase and an awesome slow. When harrasing the enemy with auto-attacks, only do so when this is active. When fighting people, weave in and out of bushes to continually proc this. You can also use Void Assault while fighting to get this active.
  
• Taste Their Fear (Q): This is your bread and butter and one of the most powerful basic abilities in the game. It scales massively of bonus AD, so getting lots of AD is very important. The ratio against isolated targets is higher, along with the base damage. Try and use this on isolated targets as much as possible, but still use it on targets that aren't. Try and only harass isolated enemies with this. This is also what makes Kha'Zix very good against long ranged champions. You should max this first for the massive damage.
  
• Void Spike (W): This is your only ranged harass and it can hit rather hard. If you want to use it to hurt your enemy, but don't need range to do so, use this up close for the heal effect, even though it scales with AP. This should be maxed second because its damage is second to Taste Their Fear and it can't be used as much anyway.
  
• Leap (E): This is Kha'Zix's utility spell and as a result should be maxed last. It can be used to close the gap between you and an enemy, or to run away like a boss. As it still does deal damage, try and land on your enemies when you are using Leap to reach them.
  
• Void Assault (R): Ahh, your ultimate. It gives you stealth for 1 second and an extra 40$ move speed for this time. Void Assault has many more uses aside from running away and, from personal experience, not many people use them. It Its first use is, as I said, to run away when the going gets too tough, using stealth and speed to evade your enemies. As you will usually engage with Leap, this will be needed to get out if you can't beat your opponent. It can also be used to trigger Unseen Threat so that you can damage and slow your enemies more. It's third use is to engage on a fight, keeping Leap open for running away. This won't be needed as much if you evolve Leap. Note that it can be used again within 10 seconds for free. Level it up whenever possible and remember to not use your evolution point in combat.

Evolutions Explained

(No alliteration intended)

• Evolved Enlarged Claws (Q): This is Kha'Zix's best evolution for people who like killing stuff, like me. You will deal 12% of isolated targets health in bonus damage. On top of Taste Their Fear's insane isolated damage, this evolution will utterly destroy low health targets. As an assasin, you will be killing the low health guys first and this will help heaps. This can take out squishes that are on around 1/4 health in one shot. It will also increase the spells range and your attack range. In an ideal game, evolve this first. However, if you are getting pushes around lots, this isn't a very wise thing to evolve first. Remember to always evolve it at some point, no matter the situation.
  
• Evolved Spike Racks (W): This is pretty much Kha'Zix's worst evolution, and is usually the one I don't evolve. All it does is send 2 more spikes off the sides of the original one and apply Unseen Threat. I find that I don't need the extra 2 spikes or the ranged application of Unseen Threat. However, if you are in a tough game, you may want to get this first to farm from far away. I must say, it is awesome at clearing minion waves.
  
• Evolved Wings (E): Firstly, this will increase the range of Leap. This means you are way harder to chase and that you can easily get up close to your chosen victim. Secondly, it turns your Leap into Tristana's Rocket Jump without the slow, that is that it refreshes on kills and assists. I usually evolve this second, after Taste Their Fear for the greater defensive and offensive power it gives you.
  
• Evolved Active Camoflage (R): Evolving this allows you to enter stealth for a third time and makes you take 40% reduces damage in stealth. It may not seem like much, but it gives Void Assault a fourth use, reducing the damage from otherwise fatal projectiles. When you think about it, lots of champions have abilities that will take a while to reach you, and using this can save your life. I usually evolve this third.

NOTE: There are rumous going around that scoring a pentakill will grant you a fourth evolution point. Unless you have to do this on level 18, these rumous are false because I got a pentakill on level 17 and nothing happened.

Item Build

• : Great boots for an enemy team with some deadly AP and/or CC, which would be almost all teams. The CC reduction is especially important because if you are CCed during a team fight, it might give the enemy team the chance they need to take you out.
  
• : You get the 2nd highest damage in the game off a fully farmed The Bloodthirster and you definitely need it. After you get this bad boy, you can start bursting down lone squishies so fast they shout "OP" in all chat.
  
• : After you get your Giant's Belt people will start to have quite a bit of armor, and we don't want that. In combination with Weapon Expertise , you will have 50% armor penetration after getting this.
  
• : By now you can be bursted down by focus fire in a worryingly short time, even with Giant's Belt. It is necessary that you turn it into a Warmog's Armor so the enemy can rage at you for having more health and damage than them.
  
• : Throughout the game you may have noticed people escaping you. It's true that the slow from Unseen Threat isn't always enough. Frozen Mallet to the rescue! As well as greatly increasing your health, (therefore damage from Atma's Impaler), this will also give you a bit of AD and the awesome slow that will make escape near impossible. What more could you want? If you want the slow earlier, get Phage sometime after Last Whisper.
  
• : This thing is full of goodness. With your high health, this thing will be giving you massive 65 AD. (Assuming you have the Elixir of Fortitude) It also gives you some armor which is nice and some crit chance, which isn't too good but can still help.

Why no Youmuu's Ghostblade????

I have said that CDR is really helpful on Kha'Zix many times, so you might be wondering why I don't get a Youmuu's Ghostblade. In this chapter, I will explain why. Take note that there is also a Youmuu's Ghostblade build below and it is a situational item.

First, lets break down the stats we get of Youmuu's Ghostblade, and see whether we need them as Kha'Zix or not. First, we have 30 AD. This is good on Kha'Zix but if we look more closely, we see that it is only 10 more AD than what you get off Frozen Mallet. And yet, Frozen Mallet gives you tons of health and an awesome slow. As far as other items go, the only one that Youmuu's Ghostblade gives you more damage than is Warmog's Armor, and we need that for health. (Note if you want to sub Youmuu's Ghostblade into this build, you would actually replace Warmog's Armor. However, I don't suggest doing this).

Secondly, it gives you 15% critical strike chance. This is not a crit chance build and the only exception to this is Atma's Impaler, but it gives you armor and loads of AD. I have said enough.

Next we have 20 armor penetration. This is actually reduced to 10 armor penetration because of your Last Whisper and Weapon Expertise . that is that is halved by your % armor penetration.

Now we have the CDR that makes Youmuu's Ghostblade so attractive. Lets think about it. With masteries and runes, we have 10% CDR before the game starts. Now, when you start getting lots of kills, you are bound to pick up a blue buff. This will give you 20% CDR so thats 30% CDR in total. Youmuu's Ghostblade gives 15% CDR so we have already wasted some. Now, in late game you will also be able to get Elixir of Brilliance. That gives you 10% CDR. That's 40% on the dot, no Youmuu's Ghostblade required.

The active also gives you move speed and attack speed which you don't need.

Situational Items

Keep in mind that you don't have to replace the item I say here, it is just the recommended.

• : Get these when the enemy team is extremely AD heavy, the enemy top is AD and is punishing you or when the enemy team has a fed ADC.
• : Get these when you don't need the survivability that other boots offer, though I would only suggest getting these in normal games.
• : Ahh the true boots of the assassin. Only get these if you are roaming alot. And I do mean alot!

• : I know I said you can get 40% CDR without this, but you won't have it quite as soon and you can't have it forever. You will be missing out on lots of health if you do this so do it at your own risk.
• : If you don't need health but do need armor, this item is golden. Gives you armor health and even CDR! It also makes you much harder to kite, and that was already hard!
• : This is a good item if you are snowballing. Make sure to NEVER get this if you aren't completely annihilating your enemies.

• : I have found that Trinity Force is mostly wasted on Kha'Zix. The Zeal component is worthless and the Phage, isn't as good as Frozen Mallet. That just leaves Sheen, which kinda works but isn't worth it for the massive price. I suppose you could get this if you were getting really fed, but don't try and aim for it normally.
• : You will be giving up that slow, but if you want to be a bit more safe, this is the item for you. Not only does it discourage enemies from hitting you, it also allows you to dive into fights and take out high priority targets. If they target you, you will just go into revive invincibility. Meanwhile your team has killed the enemy team.

• : If the enemy AD is really wiping you out, getting this is way more important than Atma's Impaler. But remember, this is when they are really fed. If not, you can simply assassinate them and get out before anyone knows what is happening.
• : Another snowballing item. This one, on full stacks, will give you 10 more AD than a fully farmed The Bloodthirster. As a result, only get this if you are absolutely crushing the enemy team. NEVER get this item and Leviathan. Dying will crush you too hard.
• : If you are feeling strong but not quite immortal, a second The Bloodthirster is the thing for you. This will consistently keep your AD up higher.
• : If the enemy AP is really destroying you, take this. The 400 damage magic shield is really helpful, as is the 55 AD. You also get an extra 1 AD for every 2.5% of your health missing which is pretty cool. (Get the Hexdrinker after your Warmog's Armor or Warmog's Armor substitute).

Alternative Builds

There are some alternative builds I have been thinking about, and I may include them properly and add descriptions later, but for now I just have the finished builds down here. I will add more based on my own experiments and any good suggestions I get.

Not many are there?

Early Game

Grab your Boots of Speed and 3 Health Potions and make your way to top. If you are on blue team, help leash your jungle's wolves and blue or guard the blue if they start at red. The same goes for purple team but the other way round.

When the minions reach the lane, focus on last hitting. NEVER push your lane, either by using spells on the minions or battering away with multiple auto-attacks. Hit your opponent with a few Void Spikes to discourage them from attacking you, or even last hitting. Don't harass them with regular auto-attacks unless you have Unseen Threat active. If you see that they are isolated, use Taste Their Fear on them.

If the enemy jungler ganks you, quickly leap out unless they are both on quite low health and you think you have the health and damage to burst them down. If you are on purple team and the enemy jungler starts on blue, I suggest getting Leap first or second to escape in case you are level 2 ganked.

If you are zoned or getting killed lots, make sure to buy gold gain items and get your jungler to gank top frequently. If the enemy is isolated and you think you can beat them, use the 1v1 combo mentioned in the next chapter.

Combo

There is 1 main combo for fighting 1v1s with Kha'Zix. It can be shortened or lengthened based on how strong your target is. (Remember to try and fight while the target is isolated).

Add Ignite/ Exhaust at the end if the target is still alive. If you have Youmuu's Ghostblade, use it after Void Spike. Keep repeating this combo if required. You can also use Void Assault to engange the fight or to keep getting Unseen Threat up.

Lane Opponents & How to Beat Them (A-H)

Note that these are not set in stone and are just general difficulty levels. Don't feel invincible against champions I marked as 1 and don't feel hopeless against ones I marked as 5. When it comes down to it, it's mostly based on your skill level compared to your opponents.

Lane Opponents & How to Beat Them (I-P)

Lane Opponents & How to Beat Them (Q-Z)

Soon to be completed.

Mid Game & Teamfights

By now the first few towers are down, and some teamfights are happening. If the enemy top remains in the lane, you should also stay to prevent them from pushing your towers and/or getting fed on CS. Make sure to ward the river and be aware if the enemy team is MIA. Try and kill the enemy top as much as possible if you have even the slightest advantage over them and make sure to not fight them with their minions if possible.

If the enemy top has joined their team you can either push the top towers (I suggest doing this if you haven't yet taken the Outer Turret) or also join your team. Make sure to ward possible routes the enemy may take to reach you and kill you. If you join your team and a teamfight erupts, you have to be ready.



There are 2 main teamfight combos. These combos should be executed on the biggest, isolated damage threat. If no damage threats are isolated, go for the squishiest damage threat. The first combo is for when you have not evolved Leap and the second is for when you have.


Remember to flick on Youmuu's Ghostblade and add Ignite/ Exhaust if required. After doing this, you can either Void Assault out or move onto the next damage threat, either with Void Assault or without.

If you have evolved Leap, you can use it to engage instead. Then follow the combo and Leap to your next target or use it for an easy escape. This also leaves Void Assault open for running away. If you take down your second target without needing to run away, your team should have won the fight by now. If they haven't, clean up any stragglers or use Void Assault to retreat and defend your base.

Late Game

At this point, most towers are gone and baron nashor has probably been slain. You can almost never go anywhere alone, the 2 exceptions been when the enemy team are all dead or all faraway from you. Unless the enemy ADC sucks really bad/is completely underfed, go for them. In Late Game, the ADC will almost always have the highest damage output and need to be shutdown fast. Even if you die killing them, your team's ADC can then slaughter the enemy team relatively unchecked. Late game Kha'Zix can also backdoor if the situation calls because of his good escaping abilities, but try and do this while the enemy are far away. When backdooring, you should almost always retreat if you have just killed a tower/inhib as the enemy team will come running. If you see an enemey that is away from their team, feel free to assassinate them. Remember that late game Kha'Zix is very hard to 1v1 if you play right.

Closing Statements

I hope you enjoyed my guide on Kha'Zix and learnt how to play him better. Always remember that this is a guide not a build. So if you don't like my build, leave me a comment explaining why and don't just downvote me. Perhaps list a few items you would like to see included. If you didn't like the information in the guide or felt it was missing something, tell me what it is.

I will continue to expand this guide, adding alternative top builds and a jungle section, as well as finishing the "How to Beat" sections.

I would like to thank jhoijhoi for the guide on making guides (found here) the dividers, and some of the template.

Change Log

• 2/10/2012: Guide is released.