Build Guide by Ippytraxx

Introduction

Last updated: 24/03/2011

About this build

I decided to write this build because i felt that all the Jungling Shacos i have played with really have no idea how to effectively jungle. When i went onto Mobafire to see whether there were any guides, i found that there were some but none were very comprehensive and not the way i would play Shaco. So anyways here is my version of how to play Shaco. Hopefully you learn something from this build and manage to become a better Shaco player. I am always open to critique and suggestions but please do not start flaming as your comments will be ignored.

Why Shaco?

Shaco is a great champion and is often used in games as a assasin type champion to come and attack when they least expect it.

Pros
Assasin
Great pusher
Insane damage both early and late game
Can stealth to gank and escape
Farms like a crazy
Tanks aren't a problem
Cons
Squishy
Can be hit while stealthed (ex. Mundo's cleaver)
Low mana pool

Acknowledgements

☆Juggernaughty for helping with runes
☆StaticFX for helping with runes, creatively coming up with masteries and coming up with a better name :P
☆Mobafire for the awesome website
☆Ideas for the guide, scheme and layout, inspired by Apotheosis' Tryndamere guide (Guide here) and Restrictines Udyr guide (Guide here)
☆All of your positive feedback which i am really grateful for!

Patch Notes

v.1-0.0.1013
* Banshee's Veil refresh time increased to 45 seconds from 30 seconds.
v.1-0.0.1012
* Ghost duration decreased to 10 from 14
v.1-0.0.1010
* Greater Quintessence of Health reduced in effectiveness by about 20%
v.1-0.0.108
* Phantom Dancer
Attack speed increased to 55% from 50%
* The Black Cleaver
Damage reduced to 55 from 75
Now adds 30% increased attack speed
Unique Passive - Now shreds 15 armor per stack from 12 but has a maximum of 3 stacks from 5.
v.1-0.0.107
* Last Whisper
Combine path changed: now requires Pickaxe and Long Sword, instead of Recurve Bow and Long Sword. Upgrade cost increased to 700 from 500. Now provides +40 Attack Damage and 40% Armor Penetration
* Infinity Edge
Attack damage reduced to 75 from 80
* Phantom Dancer
Upgrade cost reduced to 400 from 900. No longer provides Dodge Chance

Changelog

29/12 New item and skill pathing
25/12 Added an acknowledgements section
25/12 Added an achievements section
24/12 Added some christmas spirit
22/12 Fixed broken links to the patch notes (you can't use periods and numbers so that it looks like and ip address)
22/12 Added quick links to the table of contents and to every chapter to come back to the table of contents
22/12 Changed color scheme from yellow and orange to cyan and orange
22/12 Changed Masteries
22/12 Changed Runes back to my original set up
20/12 Added a Patch Notes section to make it easier to keep up with patches that affect this build
20/12 Removed Last Whisper Last Whisper from the situational items because of it's nerf in patch v.1-0.0.107
17/12 Added an embed to my stream.
26/11 Removed standard DPS build (might put it in later)
15/11 Greater Quintessence of Health to Greater Quintessence of Critical Chance
15/11 Greater Glyph of Critical Chance to Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction
15/11 Greater Seal of Critical Chance to Greater Seal of Health

Achievements

☑92% rating (18/2/2011)
☑90% rating (30/1/2011)
☑100,000 views (15/01/2011)
☑70,000 views (06/01/2011)
☑60,000 views (02/01/2011)
☑50,000 views (29/12/2010)
☑40,000 views (26/12/2010)
☑80% rating (19/12/2010)
☑30,000 views (4/12/2010)
☑20,000 views (30/11/2010)
☑10,000 views (22/11/2010

Acronyms

JiTB = Jack in The Box
Shiv = Two Shiv Poison
NPC = Non Player Creature/Character (Creeps in the jungle)
Buff = Aura from an NPC (ex. Lizard Elder, Baron Nashor)
Clone = Hallucinate
Pot = Potion (ex. Health pot = Health potion)
Tele = Teleport
Critting = Critical Striking
Regen = Regeneration (ex. Health regen = Health regeneration)
CDR = Cool Down Reduction
Pen = Penetration (ex. Armor pen = Armor penetration)
Squishy = Low Health
Gank = To gang up on 1 or 2 enemy champions (ex. 1 vs.5)

Summoner Spells

Smite: An absolute must for any jungler. Great damage on NPC's early game
Heal: Great for all kinds of things like; luring enemies in, towerdiving, jungling
Exhaust: If you like 1v1 alot this is awesome. Applies a slow and 100% miss chance
Teleport: Meh. Not so good for jungling but it still works. Tele to boxes :D
Flash: Pretty good for escapes and get into place for teamfights. Deceive+flash = GTFO
Ghost: Good for escapes and getting back to your lane (wait you're jungling!?)
Revive: Just no. You shouldn't be dieing and you shouldn't be laning -_-
Clarity: A mana pot and golem buff does the job
Fortify: Leave this to the tanks/supports
Rally: Better for teamfights and not so important
Ignite: My Shaco build is not made for damage over time so unnecessary
Cleanse: Deceive will get you out alright

Masteries

Deadliness 3/3 (2% crtitcal strike chance): Who dosn't want extra crit chance?
Archmage's Savvy 3/3 (0.6 ability power per level): Not that much of a gamechanger but it's better than nothing
Sorcery 4/4 (reduces cooldown by 3%): You can get offensive mastery instead but i find that kind of a waste
Archaic Knowledge 1/1 (magic spells penetrate 15% of targets magic resist): I've actually discovered this to be a wonderful mastery in combination with JiTB.
Alacrity 3/3 (4% increased attack speed): Great for taking down NPC's slighlty quicker
Sunder 3/3 (ignores 6 of your enemies armor): Works wonders when attacking those low armor minions
Brute Force 1/3 (1 increased base damage): Nice early game for some extra damage but not necessary. You can trade this for Offensive Mastery for more damage against minions
Lethality 3/3 (10% increased critical damage): Absolutely awesome early game as you will do so much more damage
Havoc 1/1 (5% increased attack and magic damage): Another awesome one as it keeps its usefulness throughout the game *Optional* Mender's Faith (+75 health when used and 15 seconds less cooldown): This spell is good if you don't mind sacrificing Havoc Good Hands 1/3 (reduces time spent dead by 3.33%): Nothing else to get
Preserverence 3/3 (increases total mana and health regen by 4%): Great for jungling
Awareness 3/3 (increases experience gained by 5%): Another amazing jungling tool so that you can level faster
Utility Master 1/2 (increases buff duration by 15%): The most important mastery as your buffs will last longer
*Optional* Utility Master 2/2 (increases buff duration by 30%): If your don't mind giving up Havoc this is great for longer jungle's

Runes

When picking my runes i used this fan made rune guide which is very usefull and informative: Rune Guide - Mobafire

greater mark of desolation: Armor pen is great for damaging squishy champions and low armor minions
: Will help you keep more of your health early game
: Nothing else really and CDR is always good
: This extra health boost is perfect early game

Build

Boots of Mobility 【cost: 1000】 - These are just perfect for ganking and will help you get from point 'A' to point 'B' a lot quicker

Madred's Bloodrazor 【cost: 3800】- This items works in perfect synergy with Shaco and it's his main source of damage. Attack damage and armor and great but the main points with this item is the awesome attack speed and passive. Seriously the passive is just jaw-dropping with shaco. If the enemy champion has roughly 2k health that means on each attack you will do an extra 80 damage. Couple that with attack speed and you can be doing upwards of 400 damage on each strike.

The Bloodthirster 【cost: 3200】 - This item is the best of the B. F. Sword items. It gives the most amount of base attack damage and lifesteal in LoL. Just make sure that when you get this item not to die because you will lose all those stacks on it (40 damage and 10% lifesteal).

Phantom Dancer 【cost: 2895】 - This item is another great all round item. Attack speed, crit chance and movement speed. The attack speed will help you let lose alot more damage with your madred's. Crit chance is always nice but this build does not focus on 100% crit, but still useful. Lastly the movement speed is so good on Shaco. No one can catch up to you if you have that and deceive.

Infinity Edge 【cost: 4080】 - The single most expensive item in the entire game. I've been really unsure about this item. I mean yeah it gives you 250% crit damage which procs your deceive, but is it really worth it?. The damage is not all that amazing and the crit chance is pretty low as well. I will almost always switch this item out for one of the situational items.

Frozen Mallet 【cost: 3250】 - The only downside with Shaco is that he is so squishy! This items fixes that and brings him up to almost 3k health. The added attack damage is cool but the main feature is the slow. Your movement speed + lizard buff + frozen mallet = them not getting away!

Banshee's Veil 【cost: 2715】 - This item is a must if you feel you are to squishy or they have lots of mages. It provides at decent amount of health and magic resist but it's passive is the real bonus here. It might just save your from that one spell that will kill you ex. crystal arrow, blitzcrank grab etc.

Thornmail 【cost: 2000】 - If the enemy team has a tryndamere or a high damage based champion this item is a must. The armor is great all round but like banshee's veil it's got an awesome passive. 30% of the physical damage you take is returned back. Another sweetener is the price, with it coming in at only 2000 gold.

Trinity Force 【cost: 4070】 - The second most expensive item in the entire game. I've seen a lot of Shaco's use this item, but i think it's kind of worthless. zeal > phantom dancer and phage > frozen mallet. What's the point of combining them to create a hybrid item that I think should be left to either a hybrid or ap Shaco.

The Black Cleaver 【cost: 3065】 - This item should only be used if they have an armor stacking champ like Malphite or Shen. A common miss belief with this item is that it gives armor reduction! Armor reduction is different to armor penetration and can go under 0. Meaning that you can stack black cleavers so that their armor goes under 0 and you do extra damage. This item is even more viable now as it provides attack speed as well! Highly recommended.

Zeke's Herald 【cost:1850】 - This item works great with Shaco, but i think it's kind of a waste. The extra attack speed should really be replaced by damage as you already have over 2000 attack speed. The lifesteal and health regen aura is still sweet though.

Youmuu's Ghostblade 【cost: 2272】 - This item is great if you want to build a more of a high critting build. Couple this with Infinity edge and you got some awesome damage going out. The only problem is that it is easily countered so i usually try to avoid crit build with Shaco (unless their whole team is stupid and only picks squishies :P). The passive is nice for running away and 1v1.

How to play

This route is by far the safest. It is very unlikely for you to get ganked in the beginning because you are very close to your own turrets and far away from their base it's also a lot faster. If you're playing premade then you can get your friends to help guard the two entrances from the river (highlighted as yellow on the map.

To start off you want to buy a Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion and head off to the double golem camp (#1) straight away. Place 2 JiTB at the white flowers (see professional placement of JiTB). After that go up to the red lizard (#2)and place 3 JiTB half way between the bush's edge and the blue flowers there (see professional placement of JiTB). The next step is to go to the wraith's camp (#3) and when they spawn smite the big, blue wraith and then run away. Do not kill the other ones as your JiTB will disappear! Run down to the double golem camp (#1) and agro both of them into you JiTB. Shortly after that place another JiTB behind them. After this pop a health pot. Try to aim on the golem that the JiTB are attacking as it is smarter to kill one golem fast then to only take away half health from both golems. Once you have killed head over to red lizard (#2). You should be level 2 so level two shiv poison so that the NPC's miss against you. Do the same thing here again. Aggro the lizard into your JiTB, then several seconds later put another JiTB behind him and pop a health pot.Go to the wraith camp (#3) and place a JiTB behind them. Don't forget to use a health pot if you need to. After this you should be level 3 so level deceive. Go to the wolf camp (#4). Put 1 JiTB behind them and then start attacking them. If needed chuck a two shiv poison into one of them. Don't forget to use a health pot if needed. AT last you should just enough mana for the blue golem. Put 1 JiTB behind him and start attacking. Pop a health pot and then at around 560 health smite him to stop a counter jungler from stealing it. That is the #1 rule with junglers, is to smite the NPC when they have low health to make sure a counter jungler will not steal it. There's nothing worse than having to take all the health away from an NPC and then have someone smite it from the bush :(. Now you should head straight away to one of the lanes (preferably the one that is most pushed) deceive in, chuck a two shiv poison and exhaust if needed. Red buff will also most certainly kepp them from getting away. Well done you got first blood and maybe even a double kill! No recall and move into mid game.

This route unlike the first one, is not as safe. You start further away from your turrets so it's easier for their team to gank you. Luckily I go some countermeasures to this. If you don't have any runes this one is the easiest and requires less of your health.
'


So like the first route, grab a Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion. Head over to Blue Golem and place a JiTB on the other side of the wall (if you don't understand just look at the Professional placement of JiTB or watch Jungle Route #2 under Jungle Route #2. This JiTB will help you check for incoming ganks and if nobody comes it will fear the golem to! Two in one :D. After that place 2 JiTB inside but far enough up so it only fears the golem and not the little NPC's. After that goto the wolf camp and place 2 JiTB on the purple flower. After that run back to the Blue Golem and start attacking it. At around 600 health you should smite it. Chug a health pot if needed and then move on. At the wolf camp it's the same thing. Fear them into your JiTB, place one behind and keep on attacking. The good thing with this route is that you can spam your shiv because your mana regen is insane so it doesn't matter. Once that is done head ove to the wraith camp. This is probably the hardest part of this jungle route. Place a JiTB behind the blue wraith and hopefully it will attack that one. Kill the blue wraith. Take a health pot and move onto the red lizard. Place JiTB in the usual spot and then have one ready. Fear it into your JiTB, place one behind and don't forget to spam you shiv. Double golems is next although this shouldn't be to hard. Even when I did this route without runes like in the vid, I still had 2 Health Potion at the end which meant I could stay out even longer :D

One of the main responsibilities of a jungler is to ward the jungle! I can't stress this enough one or two wards in the bush somewhere might just save your teammates from an unfair gank.During mid game your main goal is to rush Madred's Bloodrazor. This is your main damage item and will help you not only jungle quicker but kill enemies a lot faster. The real sweet spot with Madred's Bloodrazor is that it dosn't matter how much health they have because it will always take 4% of their max health. You should now be starting to move into their jungle. Be wary for their junglers like Warwick which unfortunately has a lot more damage output early game compared to you. A nice trick with Shaco is to deceive in while their jungler is killing one of the NPC's and smite their buff. They won't even know you were there :D. Around 6 or 7 you should be trying to get dragon. Dragon might not seem so important, but it is. It provides roughly the same experience and gold as 2 champion kills. If you're lucky a teammate will come and help you but otherwise place a box and pop your ult to kill it quicker and without the risk of dying because the dragon will automatically target your clone. Another tip when ganking is to always place a JiTB in the most likely escape route for you, so that if things don't go your way you've always got something to cover you, in this case the fear from your JiTB. You should upgrade your boots just like any other champion and start saving for giant's belt. I've recently changed the item pathing in order to get giant's belt as early as possible. Shaco is so damn squishy and giant's belt is a must! After that a vampiric scepter is nice to lifesteal from NPC's so you don't have to recall all the time. After that you will have a decent amount of damage output and survivability. Get a zeal for some extra attack speed and movement speed. If you start getting cash left over after a recall you should buy and Elixir of Agility. Don't use it straight away, wait and use it when you get out into the field. Late game is where Shaco really shines. Now you want to work on The Bloodthirster and Phantom Dancer the most. The Bloodthirster will give you insane damage and survivability while Phantom Dancer while give you the maneuverability and attack speed you need. Once you got these items it's time to pick your situational item. Infinity edge is just a suggestion but you most likely need some health. Banshee's veil is great but really any other items works just as well (except for Warmog's Armor please this item is just unnecessary for Shaco!). One thing to remember is that even late game the buffs are not underrated! They are always helpful so keep on getting them! I read this in another Shaco build and i find that it is so true: "The only thing that can kill you as Shaco is your own stupidity.". Seriously, Shaco is not superman and cannot go 1v5. Sure he has a lot of damage but whats the point of damage is they just cc you to the ground?

Using your tools

]

Heal is a great summoner spell, that has many uses.
1. Heal can be used when jungling and things go wrong. Like in my video (uploading soon) when i attack blue golem i was on the edge of dying because i placed my JiTB a little bit to late. Luckily for me i had heal and it saved my life. Heal will make jungling a lot more secure.
2. Heal can also be used to tower dive. If an enemy has low health go in and kill them, but on your way out you can use heal to save you from their turret.
3. Heal can also be used to save dying allies. If they are running away you can always heal them to save them from ex. ignite. Likewise it can also be used in teamfights if your team is on the losing side of one.
4. Luring in enemies is another great use of heal. For example; pretend to recall when you have low health just outside your turrets range. Then when they come pop your heal and kill them. Simple and easy.
]

Deceive is one of the most important spells on Shaco. Not only does he flash a fair distance, but he also becomes stealthed for 3.5 seconds and gets extra damage when he attacks and enemy while stealthed. Deceive has two uses; Using deceive to gank is epic! You want to do it straight away after you have finished you jungle route. As you can see in my video (uploading soon) after i finish my jungle route i head to mid and gank Veigar. Without deceive he would have seen me and would have most likely run away. But thanks to deceive i got my automatic crit and with the help of ezreal i got him down to pretty low health. Unfortunately for me he stunned me and got away. But that's not the end of it. After the stun wared off i managed to deceive over the otherwise impassable terrain and get the kill. There is another use for deceive when ganking and escaping; deceiving over impassable terrain. Like is said in ganking, deceive can be used to flash over impassable terrain. This can be useful as your enemies will also have to have a type of flash (ex. Tryndamere's spin) or flash the summoner spell. But even if they get over you will still be stealthed and will most likely be able to get away.

Double golem down: Place your JiTB at the flowers that are circled.

Double golem up: Place your JiTB at the flowers that are circled.

Red lizard down: Place your JiTB half way between the edge of the bush and the blue
flowers.

Red lizard up: Place your JiTB half way between the edge of the bush and the blue flowers.

Controlling your clone properly is an important part of Shaco. But the only way to control your clone properly is to know how to send it to places.
Alt + Right click: Holding Alt and right clicking will send your clone to where you click. This is really useful as you can do many things with it. The most basic one is just attack with both yourself and your clone so they become confused. Another one is that when your running away you can send your clone in a different direction so that they become confused and either run after the wrong Shaco or split up. Another more advance use of Shaco's clone which i use quite often is to hallucinate before i go into battle and send in my clone first. One thing to remember is that after the clone dies it explodes dealing a fair amount of damage. So i send in my clone on a suicide mission to do initial damage and then explode in their face. After that i deceive in and deal the finishing blow. Don't forget! That after a certain range your clone will automatically teleport back to you so don't send him to far!

Extra videos

Jungle Route
Stream: Offline