Caitlyn Build Guide by MurderousNoob

Introduction to Caitlyn

If you don't know who this wonderful girl is, then you're missing out on one of the best carries in the game. Most people write her off because she's squishy and a little harder to play, but I assure you she's worth the time. I understand this isn't a normal build. I only intend to provide another outlook on how Caitlyn should be played.

Runes

My runes are flat attack speed seals and glyphs with armor penetration quints and marks.

As with any ad carry, you need the pen. I couple this with attack speed to ensure some quick last hitting early game(cuz I suck at this).

"Why not health quints?"
It's much more important to get that armor pen for early game damage. Caitlyn's early game is pretty weak, so enemies will be more aggressive once they learn you can't punish them as much as they punish you. Basically, health is nice when trying to escape or outlast, but damage freaks people out, and kills the enemy's will to continue.

"Why not flat AD?"
At level 1, with a full page of flat AD you have 21.69 extra AD. At level 1 with a full page of flat armor pen, you have 25 armor pen. Simply look at the numbers. MORE MORE MORE!!!

Masteries

Early game can be really harsh with a squishy like Caitlyn. The biggest deterrent against unwanted attention is to have even more damage. I max this out by throwing 22 pts in the attack tree with special attention to the lifesteal/armor pen specs. I chose the extra damage on minions and the point in Summoner's Wrath to ensure last hits and take a little more armor off enemy carries.

I have an extra 8 pts in the utility tree to get the extra move speed and reduction on the death timer. The more time you're up, the more opportunities you have to get farmed. Also important here is the extra pt to reduce the cooldown on flash by 15 sec. Staying out of reach is essential to playing a good Caitlyn. Flash adds to that mobility, and should be off cooldown before any suspected engagement.

Items

vw0.-tzen

"A stitch in time saves nine"

I love this saying. It emphasizes efficiency and forethought.

The first thing a carry needs is damage. A quick Pickaxe if you don't have the money for a B.F. Sword is the way to go. The damage with all the armor pen will keep people hurting. This is where I switch to building the infrastructure of the carry. Most people like to double up on doran's items and get tier 2 boots first. I say wait until you get the 1425 gold and get a pickaxe with your basic boots. You don't need tier 2 boots yet, as you haven't been in game longer than 7-10 minutes. Once you have to become more mobile, then and only then should you think about tier 2 boots.


***INFRASTRUCTURE***
The infrastructure of the build ie: lifesteal, health, attack speed is setup early to midgame. The enemy should be sending people to your lane to knock your farming off balance by now. Solve these problems and lay the ground work out for your build once you gather your next 1625.

[*] Vampiric Sceptre
[*] Zeal


This should help you move and attack a little faster with some lifesteal to keep you up.

Next grab a Phage for health and a little damage.

***PHAGE TACTIC***
Nobody expects the Phage when you first get it. I almost always catch someone who doesn't check my build ingame, and I avoid hitting enemies so I don't draw attention to the slow. First time I can bait someone into diving me, I deal loads of damage with my attacks+exhaust. I half health they are running, and with the Phage they won't get away. Be sneaky with it and you should have the same results.

Now continue working on your infrastructure by finishing your Phantom Dancer and then move into the Damage.

***DAMAGE***
Infinity Edge FIRST. It combos with your passive which will demoralize your foes when they see the red chunk disappear with their health.

The African American Cleaver is handy when you have heavily armored foes, but I much prefer to use the slot for a Madred's. Healthy champs seem to be the fad right now, but if you do encounter the randomly armored, go for this item. With everything included, you should be neutralizing about 100 armor after your third hit. For anyone with no armor, that's true damage.

Bloodthirster is a no brainer.

The Triforce instead of a Frozen Mallet or another Bloodthirster/Phantom Dancer is unusual I know. If you check the math, you will do more damage with that triforce/Madred's Combo than you will do stacking Phantom Dancers and Bloodthirsters.

I have done and always will out damage the enemy carry build with this beastly combo. Against a Caitlyn with three thirsters, 2 phantom dancers and an infinity edge with the same build, they will have 130 more AD. Never to fear though, as your massive item damage outweighs their damage by almost twice the damage NOT including the Madred's 4%.

***WARNING***
The only problem with this build, is that it costs a ton of money. Get practicing on last hitting.

***EXTRA***
Trade out your boots late game for a second Phantom Dancer to get 100% crit chance and an extra .2 atk spd. You only sacrifice 30 movement speed to do so.

Skill Sequence

Max Q first
Max W second
Max E third

Priorities for a carry go damage, initiative, then escapes.

The Q brings penetrating damage.

The W gives you either first shot, or an interruption to an enemy's ult thereby giving you the initiative in a fight.

The E is a great escape plan if Q and W aren't enough. Intelligent use coupled with forethought in execution will seemingly grant you nine lives.