Kassadin Build Guide by CRD38

Introduction

YO

After watching probably about 90% of the last three League tournaments, I've come to realize something...Kassadin can be boss. However, no guide on Mobafire really did it just right. SO, I'm here to share with you a solid, consistent, and boss build for Kass. I have just started playing ranked solo queue with this build. Kassadin is a very 'snowball-y; champion and if you get a some kills in mid or ganking lanes, you can easily carry solo queue games. Elementz has Kass in his tier 1 list for a reason. A secret of Kassadin that can really improve your overall gameplay is learning to farm. In this guide I will go over how to play the perfect Kassadin, as well as my thoughts on farming with Kassadin, and how to skill him to be effective through the entire game.

Runes

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For reds I run Greater Mark of Magic Penetration reds. This is a no brainer, gives you more overall damage throughout the game, best red runes for any caster.

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For zee blues I love Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration. The per-level runes exceed the flat mp5 by level 4 or 5 so these are great for laning mind and spamming your Q

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Personally, I run CDR runes for all my mid casters Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction. Some would run flat AP or even magic resist, but I love being able to spam my spell whenever possible and these synergyze with the mp5 runes. Feel free to put whatever you like here.

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Greater Quintessence of Ability Power gives you a nice little extra pop on your q's early game and make your harass much stronger. I also like Greater Quintessence of Health for some extra beef early game as well.

Masteries

Standard caster masteries, nothing much to see here. Cooldown reduction, mana and health regen, and faster summoner spells; with the magic penetration in the offensive tree. If you really wanted to not be as squishy you could throw points in defense but I wouldn't recommend it. The cool down reduction is much needed for Kass..the more the merrier.

Items

Skill Sequence

This skill sequence may seem a little weird at first buttrust me, it will help you set up for a strong mid game and get a lot of kills AND facilitate many for your team too.

*NOTE* If you do not need any help farming DO NOT LEVEL W UNTIL YOU HAVE TO. Taking the point in W is needed when you really have to work to farm, and helps you farm on the tower. Try it out for yourself.


This is the bread and butter of Kassadin. You shoot a homing ball that silences and damages, in a pretty large range. This skill gets maxed ASAP. So much lane bullying especially when you get Riftwalk. Just warp up, Q, E, and walk away. This is sooooo OP early-mid game, it hits casters for a quater of their hp if they haven't build any health.
Use this spell to silence the AP caster in team fights and even to last hit a minion from a distance.


Nether Blade is made just for farming with Kass. Gives you mana regen from auto attacking and a magic damage boost on your auto attacks. I think farming is what separates a great Kassadin from an okay one. If you don't get many kills, Kassadin can fall off in midgame; especially if you don't farm. The problem is that Kassadin is REALLY hard to farm with. He's squishy early game and his range is very small, so he is really vulnerable when he goes up to the creep wave to last hit. Nether blade gives you an extra boost of damage on your auto attack which really helps you just get up to the minion, get the last hit, and get away when you need to. This boost also helps you get cs on your tower. Get one point in it second to start your farm game off right. FARMING IS EVERYTHING



This spell KICK ***. Force Pulse Nukes and slows in a cone in front of you. Don't stress about not having many points in pulse early game. It costs a whole lot of mana; harassing with your q early game is way more affective. As you get more ranks in it and you start getting higher level, do a r, q, e burst and run away, its soooo OP. But for early game, take q and one point in w. Learn this spells range, and learn it well.


Riftwalk is what makes Kassadin the "badass rift ninja". It's why he's tier 1, and it's why he never dies and is badass in general. You can teleport to a position in a large range, dealing damage in a circle where you land. This can be used to espace over walls or maybe gain distance from a person chasing you, AND/OR a part of your burst!! (It actually has a decent amount of damage once you get farmed!!)


R > Q > E > W essentially with a few tweaks in between.

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Another Kass Skill sequence is Q,E,Q,E,Q,R,Q,E,W,Q,R,E,W,W

This is if you think you dont need Nether Blade to farm.

Summoner Spells

Flash is the GOD TIERsummoner spell. EVERY champion should have flash in my opinion, it's almost a guaranteed escape from any gank, and combined with Riftwalk Kassadin has ridiculous mobility.


Ignite complements Kassadin so nicely in my opinion. It really helps you just finish a champion in that last second as they're running towards their tower. I can't tell you how many times I've secured kills with Ignite. Sometimes your burst just isn't quite enough and ignite will always be there for you. Also late game it lowers healing done, which is useful against lifesteal, champs with healing abilities, and support

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Other Summoner Spells?

I really dont see any merit in any other spells.


Cleanse IS a viable choice, but I find Catalyst is enough to keep you alive early and late game Quicksilver Sash and Hourglass will help you out of those sticky situations.

Farming

FARMING

Farming with Kassadin is a skill that needs to be developed. Farming in general is one of the most fundamental and basic skills of this game. Kassadin has an extremely small melee range and doesn't have much base damage, and can easily be denied by a lot of champs like Gragas, who can just throw a barrel near the creep wave and zone you all day. YOU CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU. An under-farmed Kass is weak and squishy, and doesn't contribute much to the team except maybe cleaning up a kill or two. You need to be farming, and my strategy to doing so is upgrading Nether Blade early. Your w gives you a MUCH needed punch to your auto attack, which lets you get in and get that sweet, sweet farm. As I've discussed, Force Pulse isn't needed as dearly early game as is your farm. Focus on learning how much damage you do, your range, and which champs hurt your farm. Having a decent farm on top of a few kills will really send you into the rape zone of Kassadin, which is bursting a squishy to a quarter health in .025 seconds, running away, then rifting back in and finishing the job. FARM FARM FARM FARM FARM. This is what's gonna take you to the top level of Kass. If you watched the tournament, you saw Bigfatjiji get shut down on his farm as Kassadin, and he was completely useless until late game and CLG lost anyway...practice your farm folks.

Unique Skills

Kassadin has a couple tricks up his sleeve. He's a ******* rift ninja, man.

There are a couple champs that Kassdain just dominates in lane.

Karthus has low mobility, relies completely on his spells for damage, and Kassadin can pretty much just shut him down mid. Just keep harassing him till he's low, then go in for the final burst.



Annie can be shut down by Kassadin if played correctly. Wait till she comes up to Q a minion. Right after she casts, silence her and get a few auto attacks and maybe a force pulse. After a couple of these you're either gonna get a kill or force her to b.


Anivia, again, has low mobility and relies on her spells. If you see an Anivia on the other team, just smile and know you're gonna have a good game.


Xerath, just like the other casters listed here, has extremely low mobility and you can literally run around him and own. It's too easy.

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DON'T FORGET
You can use your W to charge your force pulse

Be weary of champions that can sustain mid. If you're losing your lane, switch with top if you think you can actually get some farm or kills.


Be careful with your rift walking. I don't build Archangel's Staff (which some prefer), I go for higher damage mid game so that means less mana pool. Rift walking multiple times in a short period of time can REALLYdeplete your mana throughout the game. So keep your eye on the little stack count above your spells and if you're trying to conserve mana, don't rift walk when you have over 1 stack.

Smart Casting

Smart casting is a MUST LEARN for Kassadin!!!!!
It makes your burst so much quicker and crisper, your harass unavoidable, and your rift walk unfollowable. Learn it.

Start by learning your Null Sphere and your Force Pulse's range. Know this well will make you unstoppable.

Summary

I just typed soooo much wow..Anyway, the build is tried and true. The strategies in here are guidelines to go by, experiment and play a lot. Kassadin is a little sneaky bastard, use this your advantage, BE AND *******..even steal some kills every once in a while. Come in half way through the team fight, disintegrate their squishy or anyone on the outskirts of the team fight, then teleport away.

Kassadin is extremely fun to play, which is the reason I like him and why I felt compelled to write the guide. Have fun, and tell me what you think of my guide, it's my first one.

-Colin