Corki Build Guide by Nunnsta

Introduction

Hey everyone, Corki is my favorite champion and I enjoy playing him more than any other. Because of this I'll try to to show you guys how I play Corki, and hopefully you have a great time playing him. My build focuses on dealing a lot of damage through both basic attacks and abilities, by building Corki with a heavy focus on attack damage items. This is my first build so any helpful information you could give me about my guide would be greatly appreciated. Let's Begin :)

Pros / Cons

PROS

+ All of his abilities are AoE
+ Ability to shred enemy armor
+ Spammable long range harass
+ Built in escape ability
+ Ability to face check brush
+ Basic attacks deal true damage
+ Great at farming minions

CONS

- Mana dependent & mana hungry
- Short basic attack range (550)
- No crowd control whatsoever
- Slow base movement speed
- Harder than most AD carries

Abilites

Corki's Passive, Hextech Shrapnel Shells, is one of the best in the game for any AD carry. This means that throughout the entire game, your basic attacks will be dealing an extra 10% true damage (bypass** armor and magic resist) every shot.



I take Phosphorus Bomb at levels 1, 8, 10, 12 and 13 because although it gives a nice nuke which is good for harassing early game, it has a pretty bad AP ratio (0.5), thus it scales really badly into late game and in an actual fight, isn't as beneficial as Gatling Gun would be due to it's armor reduction and constant damage. A handy use of Phosphorus Bomb is face checking brush (which is why I take it at level 1), it doesn't reveal stealthed units ( Twitch/ Evelynn), but does reveal an area of the map for 6 seconds which may contain enemies.



I take Gatling Gun at levels 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 because since the rework, there's no reason not to. It's Corki's only AD scaling ability apart from his ultimate, and my build is focused around playing him as an AD carry, so it makes sense to max it first and utilize it. Gatling Gun is best used when you're about to commit to a fight due to it's continuous damage (other abilities can be used whilst it's activated), and the armor reduction. There's no point in activating this and then running away because Gatling Gun only damages enemies in front of you thus not dealing any damage to them.



I take Valkyrie at levels 2, 14, 15, 17 and 18 because all it's really good for is to escape sticky situations or engage/chase. The damage and ratio on this ability (0.4) are terrible which is why I strongly recommend against ever using this ability for damage purposes. The best thing about Valkyrie is its ability to pass through walls meaning you can make a lot of quick escapes by simply activating this over a wall, thus acting somewhat like a built in Flash.



I take Missile Barrage at levels 6, 11 and 16 because it is what makes Corki an amazing harasser. If you've ever laned against a Corki after level 6 you'd understand. This ability gives you a spammable, long range, AoE skillshot with a 1.2 second cooldown, making this a great ability for poking/harassing. This is what makes Trinity Force such a great item on Corki because he can spam his ultimate triggering it's passive and dealing 150% every 2 seconds on his basic attacks.

Items

On many champions I like to start with a Doran's item ( , , ) depending on the champion, because of the cost efficiency, and high early game bonuses. Corki is no different, which is why I like to take a Doran's Blade to start my build. The extra 10 helps massively in level 1 team fights/skirmishes, the extra 100 health provides much needed bulk and the minor sustain provided by the 3% lifesteal is nice.



I like to get Berserker's Greaves because a cheap 25% attack speed bonus is too good to ignore. This greatly increases your early game DPS and helps the speed of farming. After I complete my build, I usually sell these for a pair of Mercury's Treads, because by that stage in the game, the survivability provided by the CC reduction outweighs 25% speed bonus from Berserker's Greaves.



I take The Bloodthirster after I've built my Trinity Force and Infinity Edge because these items provide more reliable damage, and my sustain is covered with the two Doran's Blades. This is a great item for Corki because of his great farming capabilities, and he can take advantage of the extra 40 attack damage and lifesteal, if farmed well.



I take Trinity Force on Corki because of how well it synergizes with his ultimate. The all round great stats are also helpful, and the 25% chance to apply a slow comes in handy numerous times throughout a match whether you're chasing or kiting. Also, the movement speed this item grants is more than enough for an AD carry to chase and escape making it also a great item for utility.



I take Infinity Edge because it's possibly the best item for any AD carry. It provides a high attack bonus of 80, much needed critical hit chance and an amazing passive which makes all of your critical hits hit 50% harder. By taking this item right after Trinity Force, I get a large increase in my basic attack damage and the extra critical hits will enable Corki's passive, Hextech Shrapnel Shells, to potentially deal double damage.



I take Last Whisper towards late game because that is when the 40% armor penetration is most noticeable. If with the correct masteries this totals 50% armor penetration. This shreds any enemy champions armor in half and increases any form of attack damage dealt to them significantly, making short works of any armor stacking tanks or super squishy carrys.



I take Banshee's Veil because by this stage of the game you (being the AD carry) dying can be the difference between victory and defeat. By taking a Banshee's Veil, it provides you with a 45 second cooldown shield which has saved my life numerous times through blocking that ultimate/hard CC. By having this shield, you will always brush off the first hostile ability that hits you which is very helpful. This can render Karthus' ultimate and other annoying abilities useless as long as the shield is up.

SITUATIONAL ITEMS

I take Mercury's Treads over Berserker's Greaves if the enemy team has a lot of heavy crowd control. Most of the time you won't need these early game, but take them if you're constantly getting focused down by an Alistar, Amumu, Leona or anyone else with hard CC, then it's best to take these because what's the point in getting the 25% attack speed bonus from Berserker's Greaves if you're not alive to utilize it. By late game, it's best to swap out your Berserker's Greaves and take a pair of Mercury's Treads for the added survivability from the CC reduction.



I only take Maw of Malmortius instead of Banshee's Veil when the enemy team hasn't got too much CC but enough to still look out for. The main counter to any AD carry is an AP carry who can burst them down. This item does well to stop that with it's helpful 400 magic damage shield which is activated once the user, in this case Corki, is dropped to below 30% health, thus protecting you from their ability combo which would normally kill you. This item also provides much needed magic resist to help with the aforementioned AP carries, and a helpful passive which makes you deadlier the closer you come to death.



I only take Guardian Angel over Banshee's Veil when the enemy team has little to or no CC. This is because the main reason I take a Banshee's Veil is the protective shield it grants every 45 seconds, and it's most helpful purpose is that it can deflect any CC and stop me from being focused. If the enemy team doesn't have many or any abilities that can do that then your item slot is being wasted. This is why the revive ability granted from Guardian Angel would be more beneficial to Corki in these circumstances.



I take Madred's Bloodrazor when the enemy team is chock-a-block with champions who stack Warmog's Armor such as Dr. Mundo or Volibear. Being able to deal 4% of the target enemy's health on top of the damage Corki already deals per basic attack can devastate these health stacking champs and the best thing about this item is it's not bias! It does not discriminate against any champ, it will deal 4% of the targets health no matter who they are or how much health they have.



I only take Phantom Dancer when I want to deal more damage through my basic attacks. Because it significantly increases any AD carry's DPS, this item can take down squishies and tanks alike due to the high attack speed it provides. The movement speed it provides is also very helpful because of Corki's low base movement speed, by taking this chasing and fleeing becomes much easier for you and much harder for your adversaries.

Runes

Greater Mark of Desolation

I take Greater Mark of Desolation's because they're easily the best marks in the game for any AD carry due to the fantastic armor penetration. They also synergize really well with Galting Gun because of the added armor penetration resulting in more damage dealt to anyone caught in its range.



I take the Greater Seal of Armor's to help combat any opposing AD on the enemy team, to make up for Corki's general frailness and because every champion's armor increases per level automatically it's best to get flat armor for an early game advantage.



I take Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist's because Corki's squishy and needs some magic resist to combat this. It's best to take magic resist per level because Corki is not one of the champions who's magic resist increases per level like armor, so to make up for this we take these runes to help make him less susceptible to AP casters.



I take Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage's because not only does it synergize really well with Corki's passive and Gatling Gun, it also helps with the damage he causes with basic attacks to dish out a lot of early game destruction.

VIABLE RUNES

If you don't like this rune set up or don't have any of the selected runes, don't worry there are plenty of other viable runes for Corki.

Good replacements for Greater Mark of Desolation's are Greater Mark of Attack Damage's which give extra flat attack damage making farming easier.

The best replacements for Greater Seal of Armor's are Greater Seal of Replenishment's which help with Corki's mana addiction.

If you don't have any Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist's, then I'd suggest a set of Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction to help with Corki's cooldowns.

Easily the best replacements for Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage's are Greater Quintessence of Desolation's which shred enemy armor throughout the game making every target squishier.

Masteries

The mastery set up I use is 21 points in offense, 9 points in defense and 0 points in utility. This setup gives me strong damaging capabilities whilst making me less squishy throughout the game. Even though I run 21/9/0, so long as Corki has 21 points in offense, the other points are really up to you, experiment, see what suits you best.

OFFENSE

I take Summoner's Wrath to boost the effectiveness of my 2 summoner spells greatly and I put 3 points in Brute Force to help with my basic attack damage.

I put 4 points in Alacrity to increase the rate in which I can basic attack and I put a point in Weapon Expertise reduce as much enemy armor as possible.

I take Havoc instead of Vampirism , because it's a helpful damage boost which applies to every kind of damage you do, whilst Vampirism applies a small amount of self-healing which is not needed due to my early Doran's Blades.

I put 4 points in Deadliness to increase my damage output throughout the game and a point in Lethality to boost my critical hit damage.

I take 3 points in Sunder to shred even more enemy armor and a point in Executioner to help with damage against targets with low health.

DEFENSE

I take 1 point in Summoner's Resolve to improve the amount of healing done by Heal for extra survivability and 3 points in Hardiness to help against early game AD carries.

I take 4 points in Durability to make me less squishy throughout the game and 1 point in Veteran's Scars to give myself a bit more early game endurance.

Summoner Spells

I take Ghost over Flash because Corki already has a 'built in Flash' ( Valkyrie) and Ghost acts as a much better sustained chasing tool because of it's long duration and shorter cooldown. This enables you to hunt down enemies out of position or escape if you find yourself in a similar situation. If intending on using ghost offensively, be careful not to activate ghost unless you're going to commit to a kill because there's nothing worse than knowing you could have survived a fight if you'd had your escape ability.



I take Cleanse when the enemy team is full of hard crowd control. Cleanse will remove all CC from yourself and reduces any more of it for another 3 seconds afterwards, which can be boosted up to 4 seconds with Summoner's Resolve . This will be most effective in team fights/skirmishes when you may be focused and can save your hide.

VIABLE SUMMONER SPELLS

I would take Flash because it is one of the most versatile summoner spells in the game. Although it doesn't have the sustained escapability or chasing ability of Ghost, it does grant you the ability to go over walls. This can make you very hard to catch when combined with Corki's Valkyrie. This spell has become slightly less viable since the nerfs to its range and cooldown in Season 2.



I would take Heal when no one else on the team is because it can be a real pain for the enemy team in a team fight when all of a sudden my entire team sprouts back up half their health. Unless you are paired with a lane partner with heavy CC and are preparing to 'heal-bait' under your tower or something along those lines, I would recommend your team's support take it instead.



I would take Ignite when the enemy team has a lot of healing capability such as Dr. Mundo, Volibear, Alistar, Soraka, Taric, or anyone taking Heal. By using this on a champion like the ones aforementioned, you essentially cut their healing power in half. This can be the difference in a 1v1 or in a 5v5 team fight.



I would take Exhaust because by using it on a fleeing enemy or a pursuer you severely cripple both their damage output and their movement speed which can which is best taken if no one else on the team grabbed it. It's very handy in team fights as you can exhaust the enemy carry making their damage an overall effectiveness in a fight negligible for 2.5 seconds, which can make all the difference late game.

Summary

Coming soon: Ranked Section. Thanks for reading my guide and hopefully it helped you find how you like to play my favorite champion and wasn't too painful to read. I hope you all enjoy yourselves playing Corki and I look forward to some feedback about my first guide ever. Best of luck to all of you Corki players, I just hope you have as much fun playing him as I do :)