Darius Build Guide by

[Season 12] Darius Guide - by Der Bestimmer

5,642 Views

2 Comments

Darius Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (2) More Darius Guides

Runes: CQ + Resolve 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Precision

Conqueror

Triumph

Legend: Tenacity

Last Stand

Resolve

Bone Plating

Unflinching

Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor

Spells:

1 2 3

Flash + Ghost

Flash

Ghost

Items

General Item Choices

Start / Consumables / Vision

Jungle Start

Boots

Sheen Builds

Triforce Build 1 [L]

Sunderer Build 1 [L]

Whip Builds

Stridebreaker Build 1 [L] + [J]

Goredrinker Build 1 [L]

Ability Order W Start - Q-E-W

1 2

Darius Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Quinn

Extreme

Blind and Kite for days

Seraphine

Ideal

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Seraphine

Ideal

Champion Build Guide

Intro

Hello everyone!

This is my Season 12 Guide on Darius Top, as well as his off Meta Jungle Role.
I focus mainly on Builds and Runes to show Synergies between them.
Let me know if you need clarification on certain things!

Darius is a strong Carry Juggernaut, that works in many Situations.
Although he is a Raid Boss Juggernaut Champion, with the right Runes and Items he can almost reach Mobility Levels of Freight Train Juggernauts like Volibear.

My Builds are following 2 Philosophies in this Guide - Dueling=D and Mobility=M:

D = Dueling Path - uses Conqueror for AD Stacking and shorter Trades to max Passive Damage as well as Sustain as well as Lethal Tempo for all in Trades.
It will make you a Duelist with good DPS and Sustain as well as measures like Armor Shred / Anti Heal against Melee Enemies
M = Mobility Path - uses Phase Rush
This path is against ranged and high Mobility Targets - it gives you the highest Amount of Sticking Power and Anti-Kiting Capabilities to apply your Damage over the longest time possible.

For an Overview of the Champion have a look at this Guide by DaveyX3:

Another quick Overview by Wickd:

You can follow me on Twitter, Reddit and Youtube for regular Content Updates!

General Abbreviations

General Abbrevations:
- CQ = Conqueror
- FF = Fleet Footwork
- PTA = Press the Attack
- LT = Lethal Tempo
- PR = Phase Rush
- D = Dueling Build
- TD = Takedown Build
- M = Mobility Build
- MS = Movement Speed
- LS = Lifesteal
- AD = Attack Damage
- AS = Attack Speed
- AP = Ability Power
- HP = Health Points
- AR = Armor
- MR = Magical Restistance
- Res = Resistances
- AdD = Adaptive Damage
- AA = Auto Attack
- AoE = Area of Effect
- DoT = Damage over Time

General Resources

List:

The best Introduction to Basic League Concepts I know is made by Phroxzon from UNSWLOLSOC (the makers of the original Leaguecraft 101).
If you want to learn League in the most efficient way, check out his great Content HERE.
Darius Wiki Page
Darius LoLAlytics Page
RhokuTV - Darius High Elo Main with great educational Content on his YT Channel. Have a look at his great Darius Masterclass and his MOBAFire Guide!
Channel by Dreadvisage - another Darius Main.
Darius Content by Neace: Link 1 + Link 2.
Darius high Elo Replays:
- domisumReplay
- KoreanProReplays
- leagueofgraphs.com
My own Darius YT Playlist with lots of Content.
Have a look at my ULTIMATE Link List for League of Legends, with many more resources like Builds, Guides, Ingame Apps, Matchups / Counters, Training Tools etc.!

Abilities & Combos

Abilities:

Have a look at Darius' Abilities:

P: Hemorrhage
Q: Decimate
His Q Ability gives him good Sustain, more so the more Enemy Champions he hits. It also works on Big Jungle Monsters. It can be unreliable at times, especially against mobile enemies.

Q Interactions:
- Q is disabled while E is pulling in. I like playing Darius with Quick Cast in Release to still being able to kind of buffering Q while E
- You can Cancel Q Animation at the very end with R
- You can cancel W Animation with Q
- You can reposition with Flash while in Q Animation
W: Crippling Strike
His W Ability is an Auto-Attack Reset. It cannot be canceled, gains Bonus Range and applies a Slow along with the Bleed Stack.

W Interactions
- W can be buffered during Q, E and R and during Flash for Right Click - Flash Executions
E: Apprehend
He has a Grab Ability in his E, like Sett or Mordekaiser, that can be fatal for immobile Champions. It also suppresses Dashes and Flash, while Champions are in the Pull. E into Q gives you a good Chance to hit the outer Q Circle, since the hooked Enemy will slightly bounce back from you.
R: Noxian Guillotine
His True Damage Execution Ult with inbuilt Reset Mechanic gives him great Teamfight as well as Comeback Mechanics.

R Interactions:
- R can be buffered in Flash
- R can not Animation Cancel W like Q does with W
- R is a Q Animation Cancel in the very last Moment of Q
Ult works in Conjunction with his Passive Bleed Stacks, which Cap at 5 Stacks. At max. Stacks Darius gains AD and applies 5 Passive Stacks on any Enemy he hits. Every Stack of his Passive increases his Ult Damage too.

Nice Guide by Retz on Darius' Abilities:

General Mechanics Concepts:

For more insights into League's Micro Mechanics have a look at my YT Micro Playlist HERE!

For Basic Movement Concepts for Melee Champions look at the Mechanics Section of my Udyr Phoenix Guide HERE.

Darius' Combos:

Darius' Moves

Sticking correctly, together with Darius' Combos and Abilities (see below) is extremely Important.
You don't want to just right click an opponent and let Darius walk after him.
You want to combine Attack Commands and Movement Commands as well as your Combos for maximum Efficiency.

The Foundation of all Combos: The Animation Cancel

An Auto Attack consists of 3 Parts:

Wind Up
[==========] Attack Hit
[==========] Wind down
[==========]

- NOW, if you just right click or Attack Move onto an Opponent, even if you reach him and start hitting, your Champion will go through all Phases of the Auto Attack.

- BUT - as you can see - the Wind Down does nothing for us. It has no Damage!
It is wasting Time.
How can we use this time better? ... YES - by moving in between Attacks or using an Auto Attack Resert / an Ability.

- So - to correctly Kite as a Ranged Champion or Stick as a Melee Champion you input a Movement Command right after your Attack hits the opponent (that means your Hand, Hammer, Sword smacks the Enemy etc. or, in case of Ranged Champs - your Projectile leaves your Weapone - )
- and therefore deny the Wind down its time!

You CANCEL THE ANIMATION!

- Have a look at this AA Analysis by LoL Analyst for insights into the Concept:

- I would advise you to turn on Damage Numbers in League, so you get a Visual Feedback when your Attack has dealt its Damage.
Click here for a Screenshot of the needed Option.
The Next Step: Darius' Combos

Darius Combo Overview on Mobalytics.
1. Your Standard Trade Combo:
  - Run onto or grab an Enemy with E
  - AA + W Reset
  - 2x AA
  - Q (applies Passive Stack 5)
  - R
2. Your Fast Trade Combo:
  - Run onto or grab an Enemy with E
  - AA + W Reset
  - W Animation Cancel with Q
3. Your Full Stack Assassination Ult Combo:
  
  (This allows you to stack your Passive on the Frontline, then Flash Execute a Priority Target)
  - Run onto or grab an Enemy with E
  - AA + W Reset
  - 2x AA
  - Q (applies Passive Stack 5)
  - Optional: Ult the primary Target if in Kill Range
  - Now Buffer 1 AA on the Priority Assassination Target and Flash onto it to reposition
  - AA Target (applies instant Full Passive Stacks)
  - Animation Cancel AA with R
  More Combo Resources:
  - For a basic Combo Overview watch this Video by Bav Bros:
  - Another Combo Guide by DevProgamer:
  - For more Combos have a look at these Guides by RhokuTV:
  - Another Guide by LoL Dobby:

Items

Item Philosophy

These are the main Items for the two Paths.

Stridebreaker

Stridebreaker is your Utility Item for Dueling / Mobility Builds. It will help you stick to targets and not let them slip out to get Passive Stacks on them and get Conqueror Stacks. Also works nicely with stacking up .

Don't use your Slows at the same time though, but rather in Sequence, because Slow Amounts do not stack.
As long as you can hit an Enemy Stridebreaker will give you extra MS, so the extra MS from your Q synergizes well with it.
You can stack the Passive up on Minions, Monsters and Plants, then engage an enemy Champion with more MS on your Approach.

Trinity Force

Trinity Force is your high DPS Mythic. It Scales up your AS, AD and Movement Speed, making you a threatening Force against Squishier Targets.
In Lane you can get Triforce for Split Push and 1v1 Dueling together with Hullbreaker, BorK, Sterak's and Demolish. Since the Triforce Passive also stacks on Towers, you will melt Towers in Mid to Late Game.
Trinity Force has great Synergy with Sterak's Gage since Triforce gives you Base-AD, from which Sterak's pulls its Bonus-AD Increse!

Dead Man's Plate

Armor Item for Mobility. Improves your Approach Qualities a lot and gives you more Impact Damage, especially with Sheen / W.
It will not give you Dueling Stats like Randuin's or Thornmail once you reach your target.

The Impact Damage Scales with Base AD, so you can't enhance it directly other than with levels and Triforce.
Try to dodge CC with its MS to not lose Momentum Stacks.

Force of Nature

Your goto MR Itema and a great Item for Mobility, Gives you MS when getting hit by Magic Damage or CC, something that will happen to Darius a lot. Each instance stacks up the Passive. At 6 Stacks Magic Damage also gets reduced by 25% on you. If you get kited a lot, this item will beat Spirit Visage.
is kind of the Alternative here. It also replaces
It is also a Consideration when stacking HP is bad - against Vayne / Gnar etc.

Thornmail

Item for Dueling against strong Sustain Champions. Your E will trigger the 40% Grievous Wounds. Another Armor Item will benefit the Return Damage a lot.
If you need Heal Reduction against Casters like Aatrox, that can chose not to AA you, aggressive Items like are in general better options.

Randuin's Omen

Another Item for Dueling against Hypercarries / Crit Users. You reduce their Damage on you through the Passive as well as the Active and it gives you a Slow on Top for more Sticking Power.
Try not to stack your Slows though since they will not Stack! Use them in Sequence as much as possible!

Spirit Visage

Another tanky Item Choice - it will Synergize with Conqueror and Q. It will boost any Shields and Healing Sources you get and interacts with Revitalize. It will also boost Regeneration and Vamp Effects as well as Lifesteal.
It will not make you more mobile though!

Boots

Berserker's Greaves

They are Garen's current Meta - Shoes. Great for Scaling up your E early on and for Dueling and stacking Conqueror in general. They will not make you thougher though. So if you are dealing with a lot of Poke / CC in Lane, consider another Choice early on.

Mercury Treads

These are your Anti CC Option. You will not need them when taking Sunfire Aegis + 1 of the Tenacity Runes Legend: Tenacity or Unflinching.

Boots of Swiftness

They are great if the Enemy Team has mostly Slows to kite you or are very mobile with MS Buffs or Dashes. Swifties will give you the most Speed in a very reliable Manner.
Remember, that they will reduce the Amount of Slow you receive (meaning you are not slowed down as much), while Treads above will reduce the Duration of the Slow.

Plated Steelcaps

They are great against all Sorts of Autoattackers, Ranged and Melee. They will also reduce the Damage Monsters deal to you.
Because the Reduction is fixed at 12% they will stay valuable throughout the game. Together with Randuins / Frozen Heart you can cut off a huge portion of a Hypercarries damage potential on you.
Remember, that they don't work on Tower Shots though!

Runes

You can download my premade Rune-Book File for LoL Rune Changer HERE.
To import the Item Sets after you downloaded them:
- Go to the extracted LoL Rune Changer Folder - be Sure the App is closed!
- Backup your old "RuneChangerRuneBook.dat"
- Paste my Rune Book File you downloaded above into the Rune Changer Folder
- Start the App again - my Runes are now available.
- Click on the Plus Signs right to the rune Pages to import them into your LoL Client
- for more information about LoL Rune Changer look at their Wiki

Rune Philosophy:

As mentioned in the Intro Section these Builds follow 2 Philosophies:

D - Dueling:
- Conqueror
- Lethal Tempo
Mobility
- Phase Rush

Main Runes:

Dueling Runes:

- Precision:
- Conqueror / Lethal Tempo
- Triumph
- Legend: Alacrity / Legend: Tenacity
- Last Stand

- Secondary Dueling Runes:

- Domination:
- Cheap Shot - even better with Item Slows
- Eyeball Collection, Zombie Ward [J]
- Sorcery:
- Gathering Storm, Scorch
- Nimbus Cloak, Waterwalking + Absolute Focus [J]
- Resolve:
- Second Wind + Revitalize / Overgrowth / Unflinching
- Bone Plating against Combos
Anti-Kite Runes:

- Phase Rush
- Nimbus Cloak
- Celerity / Transcendence
- Gathering Storm / Scorch

Alt.: Waterwalking + Absolute Focus [J]

- Secondary Kite Runes:

- Precision:
- Legend: Tenacity, Last Stand
- Resolve:
- Second Wind + Unflinching / Revitalize
- ( Conditioning + Overgrowth) (Nieche)

General Rune Advice:
- for sustained Trades, Heal Synergy with / Omnivamp like / Damage Buffs. Conqueror will give you more Damage in short Trades than LT and Sustain in longer Trades
- for faster Bleed Stacks in all-in Trades
- / + for Mobility

- against Squishy Teams.
- for Damage increase when getting low - good for Dueling with Conqueror and Mobility Pages to deal increased Damage after taking Damage while approaching a Target.
- against Dueling Matchups for non Lethal Tempo Pages
- for extra Trading DoT with your Passive
- / for Anti CC / Anti Kite
- against Poke
- against Burst Combos
- / for Ability Uptime
- / / for Late Game Scaling
- + for Split pushing [L] - good with Triforce
- / / / Relentless Hunter for Mobility Builds

Builds

You can download my premade Build Files for the LoL Client HERE.
To import the Item Sets after you downloaded them:
- Go to your Collection
- Click on Items
- Click on the Downward Arrow Button called "Import Item Sets" left of the Search
- Select my Build File on your Hard-Drive Location and click OK.
- The Build is now available in your Client and In-Game

I collect Off-Meta Build Ideas for my Champion Roster in my Experimental Builds Guide! Have a look!

Build Philosophy:

As explained in the Intro Chapter, I categorize the Builds into the Categories:

Dueling
Mobility

Table of Contents:

General Hints
Triforce Builds
Sunderer Builds
Stridebreaker Builds
Goredrinker Builds

General Hints:

Starting Items:
- Doran's Shield with Second Wind against Poke Lanes / Ranged
- Doran's Blade for Melee Trades with Revitalize / Bone Plating against Combos.
- Take Red Smite against Close Range Burst and Melee Damage Dealers. Take Blue Smite against Ranged or for Nimbus Cloak Synergy.

Boots:
- Boots in all Builds are situational.
- Be aware, that Boots of Swiftness and Unflinching decrease the Amount of Slow you receive, while Tenacity reduces the Duration of Slows.

Anti Heal:
- get Bramble + Steelcaps against Enemies that Autoattack you a lot, get Executioner's against Enemies that avoid you / you want to all in.
Be aware, that the Thornmail Return Damage will also give you a Phase Rush Stack and feeds into Omnivamp!

CC / Kite:
- get Quicksilver against Suppression Ults (Morde, WW...) or high CC amounts.
- Your Options against high Mobility / Kiting are:

Items: Stridebreaker, Triforce, Black Cleaver, Force of Nature, Dead Man's Plate, Randuin's Omen
Boots: Mercury's Treads, Boots of Swiftness
Runes:
- Anti Slow / CC: Legend: Tenacity, Unflinching
- Speed Buff: Phase Rush, Nimbus Cloak, Celerity, Waterwalking [J]
- Sustain: Second Wind, Revitallize (with D-Shield)
Spells: Blue Smite, Ghost

Build Paths:
- You can always go full Tank after your Mythic Item and or . In General you want to avoid dying as much as possible when ahead, while going for some more damage for Comeback Plays when behind.
Stridebreaker is safer than Triforce, because it gives you Utility for Comebacks together with your Team when behind.
- You want to build against Enemies you go toe to toe with for Passive. You want to build against Enemies that kite you or if you build for more immediate Damage, Omnivamp and Sustain.
- Against strong AP Damage, replaces
- Look for Synergies for Mobility / Anti Kite in Mobility oriented Builds and Sustain / De-Buff / Damage Synergies in Dueling Builds.

The Builds:

Sheen Builds

Triforce Build 1 [L]

Primary Runes:

Dueling 1

Dueling 2

Secondary Runes:

Resolve Tree:
+ for late Game Scaling / TF Mobility
+ against Ranged
+ against Combo Damage
+ for Late Game Scaling
+ for Split Pushing [L]

Sorcery Tree:
+
+

Item Builds

Damage Options:

Defense Options:

-
-

Sunderer Build 1 [L]

Runes:

- CQ as above

Item Builds

(better vs. Enemies with Sustain, that don't Auto-Attack you (Aatrox, Gwen...)

Damage Options:

Defense Options:

-
-

Whip Builds

- these Builds are safer than Triforce Builds, since they give you Utility / Sustain to compensate better if you should fall behind. Stridebreaker Builds into Phase Rush work very well against Ranged targets or in Jgl against mobile Teams.

Stridebreaker Build 1 [L]+[J]

- get Death's Dance vs. Ranged / Burst, Sterak's for Dueling / Trading

Primary Runes:

Dueling 1

Dueling 2

Mobility

Resolve Tree:
+ for late Game Scaling / TF Mobility
+ against Ranged
+ against Combo Damage
+ for Late Game Scaling
+ for Split Pushing [L]

Sorcery Tree:
+
+
[J]

Precision Tree:

Item Builds

Damage Options:

-

Defense Options:

Goredrinker Build 1 [L] (Dueling)

Runes:

- CQ / LT as above

Item Builds

Damage Options:

Defense Options:

-

Matchups

Matchup Specific Example Build:

- Now that we learned the usage of Builds and Runes, let's go through an Example.

Example: Vayne

Build Option

Runes:
- Full Mobility against Kiting / for Positioning / Approach
- Phase Rush
- Nimbus Cloak
- Celerity
- Gathering Storm
  
  Secondary Options:
- Second Wind
- Revitalize
  - more Heal from Pots / Runes
- Alt.: Unflinching
  - against Vayne's Stun (will not affect Knockback though)
Items: Utility / Slow / Mobility
- ! Bramble Vest will give a Phase Rush Stack on Hit
- Start Items: Doran's Shield + Health Potion
  - HP, Sustain
- 1st Back: Boots + Cloth Armor + Refillable Potion
  - MS, Armor, Sustain
- 2nd Back: Plated Steelcaps + Bramble Vest + Hearthbound Axe
  - Mitigation, Damage, PR Stacking
- Mythic: Stridebreaker
  - Slow + MS
- Dead Man's Plate
  - Slow + MS
- Sterak's Gage
  - AD + Anti Burst
- Thornmail
  - more Armor and Anti Heal + PR Stacks from Return Damage
- Force of Nature
  - more MS for Teamfights, MR when needed.
- Alt.: Wit's End
  - MS, MR, AD, AS (no HP Stacking against Vayne)

General Matchup Tips:

- For specific Matchup Guides have a look at the enemy Champion's Mobalytics Page and Counterstats.net Page for Advise.

- You can also use the LoLAlytics Matchup Stats via their Search Engine from Darius' Main Page.
Just go to his page there and then enter your enemy champion matchup into the Search bar in the upper right corner. On the right side of the list you can click on the "vs." Matchup result.
For example against Dr. Mundo:

- Another great Resource is Solokill. It offers 1v1 Clips for all Champion Matchups.

- You can find even more Matchup Statistics Sites on my ULTIMATE Link List for League of Legends.

- It is also always a good Idea to watch some High Elo Games of the Matchup you are interested in via Youtube.
Here is a Search Example for Dr. Mundo.

Matchup Lists on Reddit:

Thread 1
Thread 2 (Spread Sheet)

Great Video Guide for all Top Lane Matchups for Darius by RhokuTV:

Short Overview for his Matchup List on Reddit.

Nice Quick Video about Darius' general Mechanics and their Strenghts / Weaknesses by Sakeios:

Top Lane Basics

Top Lane Guide:

The best Introduction to Basic League Concepts I know is made by Phroxzon from UNSWLOLSOC (the makers of the original Leaguecraft 101).
If you want to learn League in the most efficient way, check out his great Content HERE.
For a quick Guide on Darius Top, have a look at his Mobalytics Guide Page!
My own Darius YT Playlist with lots of Content.
For general Top Lane Guides / Macro have a look at my own Youtube Top Lane Playlist and Youtube Macro Playlist!

Coaching Video from Glacierr:

Coaching Videos from RhokuTV:

Coaching Videos from Neace:

Jungle Basics

Jungle Guide:

Darius Jungle Guide with Clear by Mobalytics: LINK
My own Darius YT Playlist with lots of Content.
For general Jungle Guides / Macro have a look at my own Youtube Jungle Playlist and Youtube Macro Playlist!

Have a look at this Darius Jungle Guide by Virkayu:

The Jungle Clear:

Basics:

Most Times you want to full Clear and reach Level 6 as fast as possible!
Do my Ward Swap Trick in the beginning to get Sweeper rdy for Ganks and protect your Buff from Invades.

Video from my Youtube Channel on how to do it:
Always try to spot the Enemy Jungler's Starting Point from paying attention to which Enemy Lane is late to Lane after their Leash.

For a Guide about Basic Tracking watch this Video by ProGuides:
While you clear, train yourself to always move the camera to your closest lane while moving from one Camp to the other (in your downtime so to say).
In General, look at the Minimap every 10 seconds.
You can use a Metronome at 6 bpm for that. Look here for an Online Version: LINK.

For a little Guide about Map awareness, have a look at this Video from my Youtube Channel:
Whenever you are not behind, get a Pink Ward on every Back to protect your Jungle / Lanes. You also want to get Sweeper early on for ganking / Clearing Enemy Vision in your Jungle. Only swap back to Trinket Wards if your Team gets very behind and you need the Vision Protection.
Practice to always do "Cross Map Actions" - Whenever you spot the Enemy Jungler doing something on the other side of the map condition yourself to do sth too.
Invade his Camps, Gank, get Tower / Herald / Drake etc.
To not lose Aggro while kiting Camps, have a look at Phylaris' Jungle Monster Patience Guide:
For optimal Camp Kiting for time and HP efficiency study these Phylaris Guides:
- Standard Kiting:
- Advanced Kiting:

Now to Darius' Clear Routes:

For Jungle Full Clears level Q-W-Q-E for the first 4 Levels.

Blue Start - Full Clear by Zen'Kih:
Red Start - Full Clear by Phylaris:

Outro

That's it for now folks!

Thank you for reading my guide and I hope you got something out of it.

If you want sth added to the guide, let me know too! I will see what I can do :).