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Vayne, The Shadow Stalker

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17 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Smokenewport

Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (17) More Guides

Spells:

Flash

Ghost

Ability Order

Vayne Passive Ability

Changelog

5/15 - Changed title to cause less confusion on what this build actually is
5/15 - Added an optional items section

Lore

The world is not always as civilized as people might think. There are still those who would follow the blackest paths of magic and become corrupted by the darker powers that flow through Runeterra. Shauna Vayne knows this fact well. As a young privileged girl in the heart of Demacias elite, her father tried to convince her of the constabularys ever-vigilant eye. Young and nave, she truly believed that her world was one of perfect safety¦ until one night, when a twisted witch took interest in her father. The malevolent woman overcame her fathers conciliar guard, then tortured her family before murdering them. The young Shauna escaped only by hiding herself and then fleeing once the hag had departed, plagued by the screams of her loved ones as she ran. A burning hatred was born in her that day, one that could never be denied.

Vayne was able to take care of herself using her fathers money, and she began to train as soon as an instructor would have her as a student. By the time she was a fully grown woman, she had become a grim warrior. However, the fields of battle were not to be her home. Demacia needed a protector, one who hunted those lost to the darkness. Shauna used her familys contacts to become the first Night Hunter, and now her prowess is the stuff of legends. It is said that those who practice the black arts quake when they hear that the Night Hunter is on the prowl. Despite her crusade, Shauna has looked at the League of Legends in horror. There are champions who have clearly lost themselves to the blackest of magics, and who have been embraced within the League even though they should be put down for the safety of all. The time has come for the Night Hunter to execute her secret mission to purge the League of Legends.

Not all shadows are to be feared. At least, if Vayne has her way.

Introduction

I want to start by saying that this is my first guide, and I appreciate any feedback people have to give me, and I hope that others have the same success I've had with this build. This is a guide to the way that I play Vayne, and it is the most effective build for MY play style, don't be afraid to make changes to the build.

I've been playing Vayne since her release and I'm writing this to help new Vayne players get an idea of how to play her, and to help people who have played Vayne before try out a new build/strategy. This build is primarily meant for solo mid, as Vayne is a great solo champ, and has great early game ganking abilities. She also excels at taking down tanks and tanky dps, because of her 8% true damage with every 3rd auto attack, so she is a great addition to any team.

I will be adding more content and updating this guide daily, but I'm going to publish it right away just so that people can try out the basic build. I will be adding a full guide, including strategies and everything you need to know to be a successful Vayne player. If you have any ideas or suggestions on things I could put in the full guide, please let me know.

Runes

I go with Greater Mark of Desolation x9 because they help to increase your damage output throughout the game, and make your early laning game and harassing even better.

For Seals I go with either x9 or x9 to give you some increased survivability, which Vayne is really lacking. The reason I take the flat seals is because early game is when she needs the most survivability, once you get to late game if you play carefully you should have no problem getting in and out of team fights without taking too much damage, but you could always take per level seals if you feel they would benefit your play style more, or if your lacking late game survivability.

Then for glyphs I go with x9 once again to improve your early laning game, and the increased attack speed does wonders for Vayne until she finishes her core build.

For Quints I go with x3 to once again improve your early game until you finish your core build.

Masteries

I take a 21/8/1 mastery page with Vayne to increase her damage output, and give her some increased survivability which she really needs.

If you feel like you have enough survivability with her, and think that the utility tree would benefit you more than defensive, then put those last 8 points into utility instead, but dont change the offensive tree

Items

Always remember that all item choices should always be 100% situational! Make changes according to the enemy team, and how to counter them. You should never follow a build item for item if you feel something else would benefit you more.

My item choices on Vayne are mostly to increase her damage output, because if played right, she should be able to get in and out of team fights without taking too much damage. Don't be afraid to build more defensively if it suits your play style better, or if you simply feel like your dying too quickly. I start her off with a to give her some early game survivability, and to increase her damage output a bit. is also a viable starting item if you would rather have the extra armor since vayne has a mere 8 base armor.

I rush to help increase her harassing ability, and allow you to continue to poke your enemy. Once you hit level 6 and get your you should have enough movespeed to chase anyone, and enough to run away from most champions. Continue using your roll, and keep harassing the enemy team.

Finish up your as quickly as possible, and your core build is finished. Depending on the enemy team you can start building defensive items for some extra survivability. Banshees veil feels extremely effective as a core defensive item on Vayne, because CC is one of her worst enemies, and this allows you to avoid being CC'd and focused quickly. If you feel your okay with survivability you can begin building your or .

Optional Items

In this section I will be adding other items that I commonly use on Vayne, and find to work well on her. I'll be updating the section very often, and adding to it every time I find something else I think works well on her. Let me know if you have any item ideas that you find to work well.

Wriggles lantern is one of my favorite items on all AD champs. The increased damage, armor, and lifesteal are all great bonuses, and the chance on hit to deal 500 increased bonus damage to minions really helps Vayne farm, since she has no aoe's. Where this item really shines is the free wards every 3 minutes. This is so useful for every game you play, and allows you to always have a ward ready for baron, dragon, or other key points of the map. I always consider grabbing this, especially if my teammates aren't using any wards.

This is another great item for any squishy. It has the highest magic resistance out of any item in the game, some nice health regen, and an amazing 8% movespeed. That increased movespeed makes this feel very useful on Vayne, and allows her to get in and out of team fights even faster. Consider this against AP heavy teams.

Stark's is another item that feels very effective on Vayne, all of the stats on it help her and her team tremendously. AS to proc your some nice aura's to help out your teammates, and an aura to reduce the enemy teams armor. Consider grabbing this late game if you feel you are okay on survivability, and if nobody on your team is going to get it.

Gives you everything you need on Vayne, I tend to pick this up if I have the extra gold. I have been using this more often, and it really does work wonders. Consider picking this up if the enemy team is stacking armor.

Skill Sequence

The skill sequence I use allows you to harass your opponent as often as possible, and deal the most damage to them. Maxing Q first is the best option in my opinion because without a lot of attack speed, its hard to get 3 hits off on someone to proc your w, and your e is best used as a cc, which is possible with 1 point in it. I strongly recommend keeping this skill sequence, but if you insist on changing it, you should still level your E last, because as I said it is really only meant to be a cc, and a knockback/peel.

Summoner Spells

I go with and This is the normal squishy survival kit, and it allows you to get out of any sticky situations you may get into. Since Vayne lacks so much survivability, being fast is her best chance at escaping, and ultimately surviving. These summoner spells also allow you to chase people even faster than you already can, making it impossible for anyone to run from you. In my opinion there are really not any other summoner spells that make a lot of sense on Vayne, the only other summoner spells I would even consider using on her are mostly for defensive purposes or possibly obviously to break cc and escape death. Anything else just seems like a waste. I've seen some people suggesting as a possible summoner spell on Vayne, and to be completely honest I feel with your chasing ability and damage output, there is no reason anyone would be able to get away if they were low enough for ignite to kill them anyways

Pros / Cons

Pros
- High damage output
- Great at 1v1
- Can take down tanks very quickly due to true damage
- Good chaser
- Advantage in the jungle due to her E

Cons
- Extremely squishy
- Focused in team fights
- No AoE, cannot farm minions quickly
- Has to stay on one target to maximize her damage output

Summary

As I said in my introduction I will be adding much more to this guide, and updating it daily going more in depth into the way I play Vayne. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know. I'll try and respond to everyone as quickly as possible. Please leave me comments letting me know what you think, and please don't downvote without first giving me a chance to improve my build. Thanks and I hope everyone has the same success I've had with this build.