Hello everyone out there! My name is "ZygZyg" or "Zygrazor" depending on where you're looking. I've been playing League of Legends on and off for a little over a year now. Although I own over 35 champions, there are only 15 or so that I would play in Ranked/Normals. This is my first guide, so please, by all means feel free to mention ways I could improve it or make it better.

In my opinion, Darius is one of the most interesting and "tough guy" champions out there right now. I enjoy his play style. I like how he appears in the game and his lore. He also is relativity easy to pick up, and pretty average to master. Although he has his shortcomings, flaws, and weaknesses, he is still my favorite champion and my main.

Darius can be extremely tanky, and at the same time, deal a large amount of damage. If built and played properly, he can become an unstoppable force. There are very few champions, at least in my opinion, that stand a fair chance again this guy. Darius is mostly played either solo top lane or in the jungle. This guide covers him in the top lane.

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Pros
Extremely tanky and difficult to damage effectively.
Has a powerful "nuke" once bleeds are sacked to five.
Can be build with a large amount of armor, magic resistance, health, or a combination of them.
Not many champions can hold their own 1v1 against him, if played properly.
Item dependent champion, as all others, but not nearly as reliant on them as other top laners.

Cons
No form of escape.
Pretty slow overall.
Can quickly run out of mana.
May be focused down, especially in early game, while he is still vulnerable and weak.
Has trouble farming against ranged or poke based champions.

1 - Your "Q" is your standard and main damage ability. You need to max it first, it only makes sense. In addition, remember to try to utilize its extra damage output by hitting your opponents with the outside of the weapon.

2 - Your "W" should be taken up second and also maxed out second. My reasoning behind this is that it deals a bit of extra damage, but its major use, is the slowing crowd control. This makes it very useful for catching up, dealing a tad extra damage output, but keeping your opponent slowed for increases punishment.

3 - Third to be taken, but last to be maxed, is your "E" ability. This is an excellent tool because not only are you able to have great armor penetration, but if you time and aim it right, you are able to pull in your opponent. This adds to the utility and crowd control aspect of Darius. This ability is extremely useful for also pulling enemies away from your teammates or even neutral monsters as someone takes the kill instead.

4 - Your ultimate "R" as Darius is most likely one of the most powerful, at least in my opinion, ultimates in the game. Try to maximize your bleed stacks, to five if possible, and then simply dunk. It's an amazing amount of damage, and if you kill someone, it is refreshed! One thing to note though about this ability. Even if your dunk doesn't kill them, you should still use it if they're low, since the bleeding may finish the job. A lot of newer Darius players don't know that.

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Why Flash & Ignite?
Flash is the best summoner spell, especially for champions with mobility issues such as Darius. In addition, the uses and utilities provided by this summoner spell can either land you a quick easy or make for a safe escape. For ignite on the other hand, this goes perfectly with your damage output. Although exhaust or teleport seem like a good choice, I suggest taking ignite. There have been many times where I was able to finish off an opponent simply by igniting them as the ran away.

Other Summoner Spells?
You can choose to take heal or ghost as well. Both are pretty useful on Darius. The problem with heal though is that it prevents you from having another offensive tool, such as ignite. Ghost can be a good choice, in replacement to flash, since it provides a burst of extra movement speed. As we all know, Darius is a bit slow, especially before getting boots.

Why 9/21/0 Masteries?
The cooldown reduction is so your abilities for poking and damage output are available more often. The extra attack damage and armor penetration is simply a necessary for a melee (physical damage dealing) champion. The points in my defensive tree are for both lane sustain and also significant extra damage reduction and absorption.

Other Mastery Page Builds?
One could change to 21/9/0 for Darius, but in my opinion, that would leave him a bit squishy.

Why Mixed Runes?
Your marks are standard for the attack damage. Don't get armor penetration marks. Just do not! They don't scale as well on your attacks, especially ultimate, as attack damage marks. For seals, armor is standard and a given. You're going to be top, solo top, and your opponent 99% of the time will be doing PHYSICAL damage. Now, why do I take flat magic penetration glyphs? At least to me, more often than not, the enemy jungler seems to have AP based damage. Whether it's Alistar, Amumu, Kayle, or Cho'Gath, they seem to often deal magic damage. Now the extra quints I have are for personal preference. I enjoy the extra bit of flat armor and magic resist along with the movement speed bonus. To me, that fits my style well. You can have all three movement speed quints though or attack damage, but no others.

Other Rune Sets?
No other choices or variations for this, what I have is pretty standard meta for top ranked play. The quints can be changed around for additional movement speed or attack damage, or possibly even armor. All personal preference though. The marks, glyphs, and seals should remain the same though.

I start with boots and three health potions. Then, depending on whether I get first blood or how my farm is, I try to rush either Phage or upgraded boots. From there, just follow the mid/late/core builds. It all depends on the enemy team though and how much you're fed and with farm. As long as your mid-game items are those listed at the top, and you have gold for upgrading them, you should be fine. :)

Clearly all fed champions are dangerous, no doubt, but a fed Morgana AP-Carry is more dangerous than a fed Janna support right? Darius is item dependent, like all champions, but not as much as many more common top laners. Just remember though, if you're fed or ahead, never get cocky. This can lead to a fail or loss.

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Darius, as with other more powerful or easier champions, is banned often in ranked.

Poke with your "Q" as often as you can, especially with the tip.

As always, as we all know, make sure to last hit. Try to avoid pushing your lane too far, especially with stealth based or fast junglers on the prowl.

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Remember to look at the "Cheat Sheet" for his outline and always remember to utilize the reach of your "Q" ability. Try to get five bleed stacks before your dunk. Build tanky but also with decent attack damage. Thank you so much for reading my guide! :D