MOBAFire's first Mini Guide Contest of Season 14 is here! Create or update guides for the 30 featured champions and compete for up to $200 in prizes! 🏆

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

Kog'Maw Build Guide by

Kog'Maw (On-Hit): Let's Get This Party Started

72 30

304,716 Views

67 Comments

Kog'Maw Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (67) More Kog'Maw Guides

Spells:

Flash

Surge

Ability Order

Kog'Maw Passive Ability

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my hybrid Kog'Maw build. This build focuses on carrying with magic damage and On-Hit effects such as in synchronization with high attack speed. I'll explain my choices of items and such in the guide as detailed as i can.

In order to carry effectively against a good team, you'll need survivability. Good teams will target you in teamfights and do everything to bring you down. That's why my above item build consists of 2 defensive items. Still i can carry effectively with my 3 offensive core items and my abilities.

Welcome!

space
space

My name is Klarry300 and i've been playing LoL since the start of 2011. I first came across Kog'Maw when we needed a ranged carry in our ranked team. I tried a lot of them, and i thought some were better than others. But my favourite became . After trying various builds i discovered a way of building him that i really liked and thought were the most efficient. After that, i always builded him the same way and now i wanted to share the way i build him with the community here. Hope you like it :)

Changelog:

29/11 guide released
1/12 up to 71% guide rating
2/12 added laning partners and TL::DR maths section

Pros / Cons - Why Hybrid Kog?

Pros / Cons

Pros

+ Sick carry with massive damage, huge range, AoE slow and health-percent per hit, can tear the other team apart in seconds.
+ Both physical and magical damage makes you harder to counter than most carrys, though we focus on magical damage with this build (I'll explain why later).
+ Almost unmatched late-game carry potential, if left to farm in lane, Kog'Maw usually trashes the other team later on. With around 2 Attacks per second and 10% health bonus damage per hit you are a force to be reckoned with.
+ Long range bush-checker and finisher with .

space

Cons

- SO squishy! If only focused on offensive attributes, you die very easily. This is Kog'Maws biggest flaw, as you are a carry and should stay alive and crash the party for the other team. Counter with some defensive items and runes, i'll explain later.
- No natural escape-ability, relies on and slow from your to get away.
- 2 abilities are skill-shots that take time to master, but are relatively easy to use.

Masteries - What I Use

Explanation

So my masteries consist mostly of the offense tree, and a bit in the defensive tree. Basically i try to maximize my damage, and go for both Armor Pen and Magic Pen, aswell as attack speed. Since Kog both does magic and physical damage with his autoattacks, he benefits from them both, but mainly we will do magic damage with this build. Remember, this isn't a AP Kog build, it's an On-Hit Effect/Attack Speed/AP hybrid build, and we need AS.

I put 9 points in defensive masteries because of his squishy early game, i need extra hp, armor and MR. As a carry i need to stay alive and still deal damage, it's really important.

Runes - The Viable Ones

Runes

**NOTE** IF YOU HAVE HYBRID RUNES THEY ARE A VERY GOOD CHOICE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THOSE ROLL WITH THESE INSTEAD:

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: The choice of this runes is easily undestandable, as you deal mainly magical damage you want to compensate for your otherwise low magic penetration.
SPACE
Greater Seal of Attack Speed: In order to counter your relatively low AS early on and since later you will need AS to increase your damage output you could take these. They give more AS than the glyph ones too. It is very viable to switch these for Greater Seal of Armor if you experience having trouble with physical damage.
SPACE
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Mainly i take a lot of magic damage as a ranged carry, and these glyphs helps me a lot. You could swap these for AS or mana-reg, but i really recommend these.
SPACE
Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration: For the same reason as the marks, this boosts your damage and your damage is the most important as a carry. Simply put. But if you are willing to swap damage for survivability, go for Greater Quintessence of Health as they help your squishy early game.

Summoner Spells - New & Old

SPACE

: This summoner spell is just a must for every ranged carry, it was nerfed recently, but it's still OP and the must-have. Use to escape sticky situations, flash over walls, reposition yourself in fights or to secure a kill from afar. If you are about to die, + is great for escaping.

SPACE

: This new spell is just awesome for ! Suddenly you turn into a huge monster ready to roll, and get some well-needed AS and AP. Use this when in teamfights, it synergizes extremely well with your and . Don't forget the little AP boost if you think you'll need the extra damage for finishing someone off with your Q,E or R.

SPACE

: A viable choice on Kog, a nice slow and damage-remover, but you already have a slow and gives you much more damage potential. I don't pick this one simply because the other choices are too good to pass on.

SPACE

: Good for getting around the map, but this isn't as crucial to Kog'Maw as Flash or Surge. Good if your not sure how to play Kog and might get outharrased so you can help your team more by getting back fast, otherwise this is only semi-viable.

SPACE

Obvious Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence Order

> > >

The sequence is pretty obvious. Take at level one to easier escape/get first blood, it covers almost the whole bush if placed right. I then take to harrass and deal damage with, and i complete my set with right after. Then i max my W first in order to get as long range and much %health as possible. They will hate you for constantly poking them with this. I then max my Q cause it's AS and debuff + damage is well needed. If you feel like you want more short-range burst and AS, spec this one first.

Obviously, grab at 6, 11 and 16.

Items - Explanations

SPA

Okay so now we've come to the items section, and here i'll explain my choices of items and why i choose them.

SPA

First of all you want to get a Doran's Blade. It gives you 100 hp, damage and a tiny bit of lifesteal. Well, you might wonder why i grab this? I simply feel that this is the best counter to Kog'Maws squishy early-game, since the HP is very important as well as the damage. The lifesteal is just meh, you barely notice it but it's there. Some might say boots or Doran's Ring would be better, but in the start of the game, if an enemy has 500 hp your ability might only cover around 70-100 hp, while the rest comes from auto-attacks. So attack damage is necessary to start with.

SPA

Since early game you mainly need AD in order to keep up with other players damage, i usually get Madred's Razors. Obtaining these let's you farm more easily to become the force These synchronizes well with your AS seals and passive Q to give a decent output. They also help when you try to obtain red buff. Also you don't have that much armor early, and these usually solves the problem a bit.

SPA

The next item you get is Malady. You probably have achieved a kill or two, or farmed well with your bot babysitter so you can get this. Early on Kog'Maws attack speed is quite low, even though he got a buff from his Q. In order to deal more damage with , we must get AS. Malady fits perfectly, it's a cheap and great item to buy early. You get a AS raise as well as some well needed AP + a great debuff-stacking on-hit effect! This will let you deal more magic damage through the game and helps you against high MR.

SPA

Around this time in the game, everyone buys their pair of boots. This includes you. The best choice for Kog'Maw as a carry in my opinion is Ol' Mercurys. These helps you against magic damage, which almost every champion got a bit of, and also it gives Tenacity to avoid CC. Kog'Maw is very vurnable to CC, you can't carry if your stunned, blinded, feared or debuffed by slows like . Feel free to swap this depending on what you like, but believe me when i say these are the ones that you should get most of the time. and are also great choices.

SPA

Ah, my favorite item, the item that will turn you into the scariest carry in the game. From the earlier Madred's Razors you still get AD and armor, as well as some attack speed and an amazing on-hit effect consisting of 4% of your target's maximum health! But, wait! I already have 6% of my target's health? So now i do 10% per hit??? Yes! That's correct, you deal 10% max health per hit with your W as magical damage. This is the reason for you magic pen and other item-choices. Tanks stacking health will fear you, and Cho'Gath will run at the first sign of you. The armor also helps against physical threats, and balances your resistances better.

SPA

Okay, so now we've got roughly 10% health per hit, we want even more attack speed as it is what will raise you damage the most. Wit's End provides us with a little attack speed, and guess what, ANOTHER great on-hit effect!!! 42 magic damage per hit, that's great with your high attack speed and magic penetration effects! Now your damage is REALLY high, and you'll spit everyone into little pieces. But wait, you also get a stacking MR buff! Now those casters will think twice before attacking you! Since you most likely will get anti-carried this helps a lot more than you might think.

SPA

Now you have all the items you need in order to carry effectively, so you need more defense. But also you got the problem that people run away from you. Frozen Mallet is a great item, with lots of hp, a bit AD and a great slow! Now your enemies can't escape for real! Once you enemies come in range, just keep on bringing the heat on them, and if they turn to focus you, slow & kite them to death! The health contributes, as mentioned before to provide you with enough survivability to carry effectively.

SPA

With the largest damage output, everyone will see you as the largest threat. To stay alive, you need resistances and health. Frozen Mallet gave us a chunk of health, and we have a bit of resistances from items like Wit's End and Madred's. But it ain't a lot, and that's why i get a Guardian Angel. It benefits both resistances, great overall item. Plus it gives you a nice passive that revives you, so if you get killed in a teamfight, you buy time for your team and might survive because of that. This item is the one that you should switch most often, since you might not need both resistances.

Builds & Cores

CORE:

Ok so this is the core of the build, and how your build should look almost every game. These on-hit effect items are what makes you so deadly, and pretty hard to counter. All items give attack speed, which benefits and . I cannot stress that enough, you need AS if you build like this. Wit's End and Madred's gives you well needed resistances and synergizes perfectly together.

BOOTS:

Your choice of boots should differ depending on what you face and how well your game is going. Mainly you should grab Mercury's against a balanced team with CC's and such. However, sometimes you might face teams that don't have any magic damage or CC. Then i recommend you choosing depending on what you need. If your enemies are stacking MR, Sorcerer's would do better, and Berserker's Greaves AS isn't very needed since we get so much from other items.

DEFENSIVE ITEMS:

With all you offensive items you need to survive in order to deal damage, obviously. That's why i usually get 2 defensive items after my core, since i already have so much damage i don't need anymore. I almost ALWAYS get . It's health really helps you against all damage and the slow is just awesome. But the last item, well i usually get as i said before but if your having trouble with other kinds of damage, swap it with Banshees or Thornmail.

Some maths (TL::DR)

Ok, so the reason i build like this is to deal as much damage as possible and still stay alive as i explained earlier. So let's calculate around how much damage we will deal;

You

150 AD
10% health per hit
On-hit 40 dmg (Wit's End)
On-hit 20 dmg + stack debuff(Malady)

SPA

Lee Sin

3000 health
100 armor (around 40%)
70 magic resist (around 30%)

Results

150 AD vs. 100 armor = around 100 physical damage
10% of 3000health vs. 70 magic resist = 220 - 240 magic damage
Total of 60 magic damage per hit vs. 70 magic resist = 42 - 50 magic damage

Total DPS with 2 attacks per second = 720 - 780 damage

Analysis: ZOMG! Around 740 damage per second!? That's enough to devastate a team during a teamfight. Great so then we have full carry capability! And we probably got red-buff, magic pen and skills so our DPS is even higher! 740 damage just from auto-attacks!

But what about your defenses? Ok, let's say Lee Sin has an AD of 250 +. You have an armor of 170 with this build(!) and you remove 50% of his damage. Without your you would only remove about 30% maybe. Also you remove about 40 - 45% magic damage! Plus that you have an extra 700hp from .

Conclusion: With this build you have a very high DPS and still are very durable. In other words, a great asset for your team. This is the main reason why i build like this, and i've tried to balance it as good as possible. Also keep in mind that you got a and will slow your opponents into living targets.

Optional Items

SPA

Sometimes there are times when you don't need any defensive items, because no one is targeting you in teamfights (idiotic team). Well, then feel free to grab a . This beaty gives the highest AS in the game, and brings you up to the maximum 2.5 hits per second (!). It also has a stacking nice magic damage, which makes it fit very good in the build. I usually don't grab this because the magic damage is not as high as others. Also great if you'r facing , but they'll remove dodge soon anyway.

Grab this one if: No one is targeting you or you are facing .
Grab this instead of:

SPA

If you notice yourself only taking magical damage, grab this item. It's passive is just awesome, it breaks casters combos and let's you get away with that little health from .

Grab this one if: Your only taking/facing magical damage
Grab this instead of:

SPA

Sometimes you only face physical damage instead. In order to prevent that from raping you constantly, grab a Thornmail. It's cheap, pure armor that also returns damage, so they will think twice before attacking you.

Grab this one if: Your only taking/facing physical damage
Grab this instead of:

SPA

As you might have noticed, most of your damage comes from magical sources and if the enemy is stacking LOTS of heavy MR in order to counter you, and by that i mean a few hundred. Then this item is great to grab, it boosts your abilities Q and E by about 50 dmg and penetrates 40% of their magic resist.

Grab this one if: Your enemies are stacking MR
Grab this instead of:

Gameplay

General

As a carry, your goal is to deal as much damage as possible. To achieve this there are some various things you need to know. Below i will list some skill-usage to use in lane:

Harrass

+

I usually harrass with my W because of it's range. With this you can stay behind minions and launch auto-attacks on melee's who try to keep up with your farm. When you hit 6, your ultimate is of great value in terms of harrassment. Just don't spam it to much, and wait for the mana-increasing debuff to go off before you launch it again.

Damage Poke

+

This combo is great if you are in medium-range so you can use your Q and unload a few auto-attacks with your W.

Finisher

+ + + + Finish with

This is your nuke combination, slow with Void Ooze, debuff with Spittle and unload auto-attacks with the extra speed from Surge. Great to do from a bush, this is also your ganking combo. Remember that Surge increases your AP but also reveals that you will attack.

Teamfights

Your role in teamfights are very important. You are the carry. Here's a list of what you should do:

Deal as much damage as possible. Switch target fast if your target either is dead or is getting chased by someone else on your team. Don't run after a flashing enemy in the start of a teamfight, switch target instead and let your assassin handle it.

SPACE
Kill tanks when they expose themselves. This might sound odd, but a tanks job is to grab your attention and by doing so he runs in first and puts himself in bad positions. With your high %health on-hit effects you'll rip him to little pieces while sitting back in safety.

SPACE
Prefer melees over ranged. You can easier kill them without getting killed yourself.
SPACE
Wait for your tank to initiate. Don't EVER start a fight by running and hitting their tank or carry. Your role is to wait for him to start the fight, then start activating your abilities and bring the heat from afar.

Preferred Laning

The optimal lane for most ranged carry's is bot + support. Let your AP carry handle mid, because if you go bot + support you will get much more farm and will be able to deal damage fast.

Laning partners

This fabulous support champion is a perfect match for you. His stuns and heals are just amazing. His ultimate also boosts your AD and AP now. Not many champs can stand the harassment of stun + + auto attacks and .

Another great support champ, the queen of babysitting. She boosts your AD and got loads of CC to help you. Also her ultimate and Q blows them away, great when facing melee's since you are so long range.

Yes, a tank. Even though she might not have any heal, her CC and passive remains awesome. She's proably gonna give you a lot more kills than supports, but you will probably have a harder time farming without the heals and shields.

Tips & Tricks

A little summary of what to remember:

Activate Surge to maximize damage
Build Madred's Razors early so you can farm better
Remember to get defensive items
Stay and communicate with your team
Check bushes with your Living Artillery
Use your passive to grab some kills to make up for it
Grab red buff often. Amazing on Kog'Maw.
Farm well but be in teamfights
Smoking is bad for your health

Videos and Scores

So in this section i thought i would post some scores, here's one i got today 29/7, non-ranked but the score was good so i'd post it anyway. Their Leona was so bad, look at her items!

I will upload more soon, and you are free to send me pictures if you want to.

I will also add videos

Credits

I couldn't make this guide without help from other people. Big thanks to:

All my friends and teammates in my ranked team WMO. Wouldn't write this guide if we never had started playing LoL together :)
SPACE
JhoiJhoi for her amazing guide on how to make guides. It helped me very much on how to create and edit guides, and i've used parts of her layout and build ideas. Here's a link to her guide: Guide on how to make Guides.
SPACE
Other guides that have inspired me, personally i love these two great guides: Spin to Crit by Palthios & Ferrovial's Teemo Guide

Summary - Last Words

Thanks for reading!

SPACE

So now you have come to the final chapter, and i hoped you enjoyed reading my guide and that you will try out the build and evaluate what i have wrote, so you can have a better experience when playing Kog'Maw!

I did this build and guide for fun, and by the fact that i feel i wanted to share how i play Kog and by that i really think building him this way is very efficient. Hopefully you can leave a comment on what you think should be improved and what is good. I realise i might get downvotes from people who have other opinions on how to play him, but this is only an optional way of playing him and it is how i do it.

To do: