Click to open network menu
Join or Log In
Mobafire logo

Join the leading League of Legends community. Create and share Champion Guides and Builds.

Create an MFN Account






Or

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

x
Shaco Build Guide by Cathroes

Shaco the glass cannon

Shaco the glass cannon

Updated on November 8, 2011
New Guide
Vote Vote
League of Legends Build Guide Author Cathroes Build Guide By Cathroes 5,433 Views 3 Comments
5,433 Views 3 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Cathroes Shaco Build Guide By Cathroes Updated on November 8, 2011
x
Did this guide help you? If so please give them a vote or leave a comment. You can even win prizes by doing so!
Vote
Comment

You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.

I liked this Guide
I didn't like this Guide
Commenting is required to vote!
Would you like to add a comment to your vote?

Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.

UPDATE 11/8/11

Recently, Shaco has been tweeked a lil•Deceive will now still critically strike even if you break stealth (ie: to cast Jack in the Box)
•Jack in the Box
◦Base damage reduced to 35/50/65/80/95 from 35/55/75/95/115
◦Ability power ratio reduced to 0.2 from 0.25
◦Activation range reduced to 300 from 350
◦Cast range increased to 425 from 400
•Hallucinate
◦Fixed a bug where Shaco's clone wouldn't trigger Two-Shiv Poison's passive



The Jack in the Box is the big nerf here, affecting the damage output by a tiny bit, primarily affecting AP shaco, BUT i tested a little bit after the update, Jack in the Box "Bombs" work just as well. Some statements below were made before this update, disregaurd some that contradict these changes.
Back to Top

Intro

High Crits, hits fast, in and out. This is my build for shaco, its a mutated version of something a saw a while back. This is sort of an unbalanced build, in the sense you are a glass cannon, or simply put, you hit hard, fast and you crit over 1k by mid game (more like 3/4 of the game). it gets to the point were you cant be soloed, 1v1 you dominate, 1v2 depends on what you are up against but u can still do pretty well, team fights; as long as your alive you smash face. THIS IS NOT A JUNGLING BUILD
Back to Top

Why not AP?

Now i know alot of you are thinking, "Why not AP shaco?"
and i know what you mean, ability power increases the damage of his Jack in the Boxes, and the Upon Death damage of your clone.
BUT, it makes you completely reliant on your abilities, sure if you do it right on AP, your jack in the boxes can solo champs early on, even into mid game, but if you are caught while your abilties are on CD, typically you are doomed, dont get me wrong, i played AP shaco, i got a good amount of kills, but your non ability attacks are practically useless.
With this build, your normal attacks are extremely deadly and effective from mid game +, making your abilities extremely deadly.
Back to Top

Pros/Cons

Pros
-high damage output (the whole game as long as you arnt constantly put down)
-crit hard and often (like every other hit)
-great at running away
-you can solo other champs well (except for the random unkillables like jax with a ton of health)
-fun to play

Cons
-squishy (but his damage output outweighs it
-focused alot
-early game you are useless without mana
Back to Top

Skills

Well i probably messed up the skill sequence, but simply put, Q-E-R-W, focus on your Q (Decieve)then your E (two shiv-poision), and of course your ult. your W (jack in the box) is very useful, but only needs 1 point in the begining.


Shaco's passive "Backstab"
-Deals 20% extra damage when attacking from behind
This is very useful, because your Q works with it very well, and destroys people when they run away. basicly try to always be behind your target, (THIS WORKS ON ALL MOBS)


Q "Decieve"
- This is your bread and butter of shaco, and is very versatile in its many uses.
"Shaco Teleports himself and instantly teleports to his target location, his next attack is garenteed to crit"
basicly its flash without being seen, no lil flash animation either so nobody can spot it if you do this out of a bush.
now this is the first abilty you want to use to engage your target, again this works well with your passive, 20% more damage plus garenteed crit, now you get a cross hairs when you press the button, your next click will cause u to stealth and telport to where you click, now if u click out of range, schaco will still teleport, but just in that general direction at its max range, ergo its not cross map or great distances. But its just enough to teleport over walls or into a bush. now after teleporting u are stealthed for only a few seconds, so do this when the oppertunity comes up, not before.
Thanks to the cooldown, by mid game you can use this multilple times during combat (depending on how long the fight is) not as often as u think, but as in you can use it once to engage, maybe even a second time to get that extra crit, BUT basicly youll end up using that second time (or third) to escape. your Q not only is a great enager, but great for escaping, like i said earlier, a stealthed flash, so if you know how to use flash, you know how to use this, and use your imagination, use it to jump over walls, get around crowds, champions etc.

W "Jack in the Box"
-"Shaco creates an animated jack in the box at his target location, which will wait, stealthed to fear and attack enemies when some comes by."
another one of his abillites that can be used for mulitple occasions. basiclly its like teemo's shroom, only it will attack anything that walks by it and fears them. With this build, it does not do too much damage, but is primarily used for its fear and its minor damage to get those last few bits of damage.
now you can set up to 4 i think, im not to sure ive never tested its max, but they are individual and can be even clumped together and do quite a bit of damage to ppl that walk by, but the cooldown limits this and takes awhile to set up in groups, so just set them down as you go.
now the key to using them is puting them in important places, such as bushes to detect incoming enemies, it has great view range for its size and not only allows u to clearly see the enemy on the map but also fears them a bit to slow em down, giving you time to react.
Lets say your the only one at a tower, and youve got multiple champions pushing on it, now as a precaution to keep them from diving, or to help counter their dive, place as many as u can just barely behind the tower, so if somebody decides to get a lil friendly, the jack in the boxes will attack and fear them while in tower range, and if your enemy got a hit on you already before getting feared, than the tower will be helping you as well.
its always useful when you are pushing lanes, use them to spot enemy champs coming to intercept you. You can also use these to run away, if you got a good amount of distance u can place one and continue to run, slowing them down even more, now when shaco places one he stops for less than a second, so u cant just run and place at the same time, using the ability will stop your movement, but only for a qaurter of a second, also the jack in the box will not react instantly after placement, so you have to wait a second after placement for them to react. Btw, its always smart when engaging to set up an escape root, lets say things aren't going the way you want, before the fight set up one down a nearby path that you can quickly get to, stealth away, and your enemies that pursue will have to run through ur fearing jack in the box first :D


E "Two shiv-poision"
-"Shaco's shivs passively poision targets on hit, slowing them and applying a miss chance to the minions."
This is a sort of ranged attack, and your second ability you want to use while engaging, this not only posions your target, causing damage over time, but slows them down, helping you keep up or catch up with your target, a great counter for those who flash. Now you can use this as a poke, but early game it uses up too much mana, early game save it for when you actually engage, dont poke with it because youll lose the cd for a lil bit and mana that could save your life later (without refilling it). Now lets say you are chasing somebody down a great combo to do is, Q, which teleports you, and if you are close enough you can use your E to slow themm down going in for the kill.

R "Hallucinate"
-"Shaco creates an illusion of himself near him, which can attack nearby enemies. Upon death it explodes, dealing damage to nearby enemies."
Now this is the coolest part about shaco, so the clone looks the same as you, but to you and your team he is green, to the enemy he looks just like you. The clone shares a percentage of your damage and stats, and does quite a bit of damage auto attacking on its own, you can control this clone just like any other mob within your control (like morde's ult ghosts)
simply by holding down alt and clicking, your clone will attack and move to your target location. now you can use this to your advantage, finish off somebody in their tower, use it as a distraction, hiding in a bush and sending your clone out without the enemy even seeing u pull your ult, they will think its you and waste their abilties to finish "you" off. TIP: when running into a fight with your clone already out, alt click him infront of you to make it look like he is you and you are the clone, because the clone naturally follows you and attacks your target if not deliberatly controlled. Basiclly this adds an extra source of damage and confuses your enemies. AND you share damage, one way, you take damage, only half of it effects you the other half goes to your clone, but dont worry, no damage transfers from your clone :) But the way you want to pull it is, when u engage you, stealth in, shiv to slow them, pull your ult, and set a box down if there are multiple enemies.
Back to Top

Items

-As you can see, i pick up a Doran's Blade, not pots, its pretty good damage and health amount to start out with, and the 3% lifesteall is only good for farming a lil bit to get tiny bits of your health up slowly, not enough during a champ fight.
-Second i pick up my boots, its debateable, but i prefer the mobility, its great for getting around, roaming, and saving towers.
-Third, i build a Cloak and Dagger the attack speed and crit help alot, plus the tenacity is great for getting out of those stuns and slows, helping to escape or pursue.
-Fourth, i built the obvious pick Infinity Edge the abosolute need for ALL AD damage champs, this greatly increases your damage and helps dominate those 1v1 moments
-Fifth, i grab a Recurve Bow the increased attack speed gives your auto attacks the advantage, making you useful even without mana.
-Sixth, Bloodthirster obviously the damage is pretty useful, and the lifesteal greatly increases your survivablitiy, not to mention is great for refilling your health in those off times without going back to base, simply by killing minions or mobs in the jungle.
-Seventh, that recurve bow becomes a Madred's Bloodrazer, greatly increasing your crit and attack speed, plus 4% extra damage based on your enemy's max health (MORE HEALTH MORE DAMAGE)-Finally, i sell that doran's blade to get something more shiny, now i usually buy a Frozen Mallet to increase my health, therefore makeing me less squishy and giving me a longer window to take out the enemy in team fights, and making it possible to 1v3 (variances on who you are attacking)
BUT you can add another AD, crit, lifesteal or attack speed, item if you want
Back to Top

Summoner spells

Now as shaco, i prefer "Ignite" and "Ghost"


-Ignite, for that last bit of damage, its great for when ppl dive and get away with barely any health, if u ignite them, and the tower does its job, even if they get away, with just the right amount of health, you will get that kill. also just a lil extra damage to ensure your kills.

-Ghost, to help get away, or pursue your enemies, especially early game, it is very useful, or even just getting around faster to save a tower or a team-mate


WHY NOT?!!
-why not flash? Simply put, your Q ability is a flash, now double flash sounds pretty tempting, but youll find ignite is worth its slot
-why not exhaust? Well, your two shiv poision, is your exhaust, sure its not as long or not as much speed reduction, but it fits the bill, so why bother double exhausting?
Now for the others, well they either are useless for shaco, or are for varied gameplay, cleanse can be useful, but dont always bet your money that they will have heavy stuns (even though EVERYBODY uses a champ that can stun or slow) clarity is great early game, but you wont need it end game, heal is for scrubs (imo ;P) telport, ehhhh its up to you really! :3
Back to Top

KNOW YOUR PLACE

now depending on your team, and the point in the game, you are NOT the engager, typically there is somebody else on your team that can take more damage and can pop in, if the enemy targets somebody else first, gives you more time to rape some faces. now end game, if you do it right, it wont matter, you pop in kill some ppl can still get away easily :D
During the game, if your partner can handle it, you can roam between lanes and gank, shaco is an excellent ganker, and great for chasing people down or getting that last bit of damage while they are in tower range and then teleporting out. depending on who you are up against, ranged can destroy you, or be your 3 course meal ;p but if you get up close and personal against a ranged, that doesnt have to much for getting away or doesnt do rediculous damage (like caitlyn -.-) you can destroy them easily
Back to Top

Misc.

-End game shaco is a decent farmer, hiting and criting each minion like they are nothing, early game make sure to set down a jack in the box to help, dont get caught in a pile of enemy minions without any of your minions at your back, together they can do a ton of damage and leave you open to attack.

-incase you havent figured out, jack in the boxes, can be used like mini free wards
-you can use your Q to get our of the way of ults, such as pantheon's leap, kat's ult, lux's lazor etc
-dont be afraid to jump in unfair fights when team mates are in trouble, you can ward off the enemy sometimes or at least slow down pursuers, and get away with your Q
Back to Top

In Conclusion

I just wanted to share what info ive gathered on shaco while playing him, i enjoy playing him, i hope you do too, i hope you have enjoyed this guide, please leave a comment, if you have any questions about things i forgot to put into this guide just ask in the comments




Thanks :)
Download the Porofessor App for Windows
League of Legends Build Guide Author Cathroes
Cathroes Shaco Guide
Vote Vote
Shaco the glass cannon

League of Legends Champions:

Teamfight Tactics Guide