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Wukong Build Guide by grimlockt

Wukong, destruction incarnate

Wukong, destruction incarnate

Updated on December 10, 2011
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League of Legends Build Guide Author grimlockt Build Guide By grimlockt 7,776 Views 2 Comments
7,776 Views 2 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author grimlockt Wukong Build Guide By grimlockt Updated on December 10, 2011
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Wukong
  • LoL Champion: Wukong

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

LoL Summoner Spell: Exhaust

Exhaust

Introduction

Hi there,

This guide will cover how to use Wukong effectively in all three phases of any league of legends game. Wukong is a very powerful dueling champion. His innate attack damage, coupled with the right items, make him a very dangerous and ultimately daunting opponent. His decoy ability gives this champion a high survive ability, in addition too increased dueling ability. You will find that this build scales well into late game, but also gives you unparalleled early game dominance if used right.

I build Wukong as a pseudo tank. So, if you are looking for a damage build, I have included a second build, along with this one, but the secondary build I recommend as something to use if you are going against a very squishy team.

Wukong is the anti-Carry and a hunter. You are not a full fledged assassin, but you can surprise enemies with your nimbus strike. He can effectively deal with either AD or AP carries with relative ease, all the way up, until the late game. Then, you fulfill a tank role and can continue to hunt down the damage dealers of the other team.

So, this guide is broken up into these section:
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Runes and talents

I build Wukong as a fully specialized tank, with some attack runes and some attack talents.

Greater Mark of Desolation and Greater Quintessence of Desolation and Weapon Expertise , coupled with a Last Whisper are the armor penetration you will ever need. These provide your early game and late game damage. Coupled with the 30% armor penetration from Crushing Blow , you will likely bypass most champion's armor entirely. I find that these runes provide a very good boost for your early game and in the pre-minion spawn phase, you can destroy an enemy champion and likely get a first blood.

Specializing into the defense tree and grabbing Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist and Greater Seal of Armor runes will give you the ability to sustain through most one on one and even one on two fights.

I cannot stress this enough, you will die very easily if you specialize into the attack tree. Do not specialize farther into the attack tree or you will become a poor AD carry. Wukong is not a carry, he is a very dangerous fighter. I have played around with other runes and specializing into the attack tree, but I find the results to be less effective.
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summoner spells

I run with Ignite and Exhaust , but these are not the only summoners I would suggest. Ghost is also a viable choice, as is Teleport

Ignite this is for taking down AD carries and adding a much needed damage boost. Using this at the right time will allow you to destroy most opponents. Especially in conjunction with Exhaust

Exhaust this is a great chasing ability for Wukong and also great for destroying AD carries. Wukong gets most of his damage from his abilities and not from his gear. Where as AD carries get their damage from their items. Using Exhaust will allow you to effectively negate their items on you.

Teleport Teleport is great for getting around the map quickly, but if you are smart in your laning phase, it will not be very useful for you. I would suggest this for newer players who die a bit more than they would like. It is useful in the early game for grabbing items and getting back quickly. Late game it will help you to save turrets.

Ghost I love this summoner. I ran with it for quite a while, since it allows you to chase and on Dominion I run with it exclusively. You can also use it for escapes.

I do not suggest any other summoners for this build, but you can experiment.
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Abilities and their uses

As I said before, Wukong gets almost all his damage from Trinity Force Last Whisper , his armor penetration runes and talents, and his abilities. Trinity force scales with his Crushing Blow , so adding a crushing blow onto a Nimbus Strike is very helpful.

When Phreak introduced Wukong, he maxed Nimbus Strike first. I do not agree with this choice. Scaling up your Crushing Blow early game, will give you that much needed burst of power. I find that Nimbus Strike does not do enough damage too warrant maxing first.

Your first ability should be Nimbus Strike in the early game, the attack speed bonus is amazing in the pre-minion phase for grabbing a first blood.

Nimbus Strike : This is your diving ability. You should use this to initiate fights and then chase opponents. The attack speed bonus from Nimbus strike is great for one on one duels.

Crushing Blow This ability is where Wukong gets his damage. It is important to max this along with Nimbus strike, since augments a basic attack and scales up with a Sheen and later a Trinity Force

Warrior Trickster this ability should be maxed last. But, it is amazing! You only need one rank in it and you will be able to dive in on champions, deal a crushing blow and a Nimbus Strike, then get out without taking any damage.

Cyclone : This ability is awesome! It is great for just about everything. One on one team fights, getting away from sticky situations, and duels.

Make sure that you activate your Crushing Blow during your Nimbus Strike and not before. There are some instances where you might decide not too dive in and Wukong's biggest weakness early game is his mana conservation. Essentially, you might waste mana that you will need later.

After level 6, you can dive in on champions and tag on a Cyclone after your initial burst. It will give you an added few moments of damage and then you can transition into a Warrior Trickster and by the time you are done with both actions, your Nimbus Strike and Crushing Blow will be off cool down.
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Items

I should stress, Wukong is not an AD carry. He is an amazing pseudo tank/chaser/fighter. You are a hybrid damage dealer, who scales into a tank role.

Doran's Blade I highly suggest this item for the early game. It gives everything that you need in the early laning phase. Plus, the damage buff from the item is useful for your initial duel with any champion.

Phage : You should go for this item first, since you can chase with it and it provides a simple damage amplification for this champion.

Vampiric Scepter : This item is great for early game, but you should sell it when you buy your Force of Nature. If you find that the enemy team is either incredibly squishy or downright terrible, you can turn this into a Blood Thirster and forgo your defense items. But, for most match ups I would not suggest that.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity : Oh my god...these boots are a god send for Wukong. This champion relies on his abilities for his damage, so grabbing these boots should provide all the cool down reduction that you need. I used to grab Berserker's Greaves But, I found that I was staying and banging with champions less often and diving in more often.

Sheen and Trinity Force : The 100% buff to a basic attack scales with your Crushing Blow . I cannot stress that this item should be at the core of any Wukong build and that it should be grabbed first.

Last Whisper : After you get your Trinity Force, Last Whisper is your last damage item. Its armor penetration will provide all the damage that this champion needs to be dangerous.

Thorn Mail : This item is a great all around tank item. It gives you the much needed armor boost and also provides you with a slight passive damage boost as well. Essentially, you get super tanky versus any AD carry, who are the ones you are amazing at killing.

Force of Nature : This should replace your Vampiric Scepter . There is absolutely no need for life steal, once you have this item. your health will come back so fast, that you should be able to tank an entire minion wave, without worrying about losing any health. Later, you will also be able to destroy casters, due to this item. Essentially, you neutralize their effectiveness and the innate damage that this character already does, gives him the ability to duel with high damage dealing caster characters.

Warmog's Armor : This is your last item. The final health boost makes you fully realize your role as a tank and you should be able to ignore most enemies and just focus primarily on hunting down the AD and AP carries in team fights.
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Pre-minion phase

At level one, Wukong can kill any character in the game in a one on one duel. You should be going to the bottom lane and striving too engage in a duel at the start of the game, before minions spawn. Your enemies will not have much armor, versus your armor penetration, so you get a metric ton of damage versus any character, except maybe Garen. I would suggest avoiding Garen at all possible points. That champion can neutralize Wukong with ease in a one on one duel at level 1. But, this is the only champion that I would suggest that you avoid.

You want to go to the bottom lane. This is generally where the most fighting happens, before minions spawn and you want Wukong in the thick of it. His passive, coupled with your armor runes and your armor penetration runes, make you very dangerous.

Strategy: You actually want to go to the closest bush to your tower and wait. This gives your enemy a farther to run, which they most certainly will. Most enemy champions seem to face check bushes and this is to your advantage. The initial surprise of your first hit, coupled with your Nimbus Strike attack speed bonus, will effectively burst down the first hero. Focus one the character with the least health. Ignite and Exhaust them, then keep hitting them, until they die. If they run, you can chase with nimbus strike when it comes off cool down and get the last hit. In 90% of all normal games that I play with Wukong, I either get a first blood or an assist. Sometimes, I even get a double kill. This makes you a godly beast in lane and your enemies will have a hard time recovering.
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Laning

In the laning phase, once you grab decoy, you can jump in and harass. I would suggest waiting until level 3, so you can conserve mana and burst with Crushing Blow at the same time. You want to run around, just behind your minions for protection and grab last hits. But, your primary goal is too not die and gather minion kills.

As you progress, your enemies will initiate duels and you can also harass your opponents down. Once an opponent is down to half or a third of their life, dive in and try to kill them. If you have ignite and/or exhaust up, use these and you will likely snag a kill.

If you get ambushed, don't use Warrior Trickster immediately. Instead, try to get back to your tower, without useing it. But, if you have to, do not hesitate. Often, I find that in both duels and in ambushes, I can trick an enemy into using a summoner on my copy.

If you find yourself in a lane with a support and a tank, do not ever engage them. This is the bane of Wukong. Your harass does not do lasting damage and your mana will dwindle, until you don't have enough for Warrior Trickster if you get ambushed. Give them plenty of room. instead, try to get last hits and avoid confrontations.

If you get dived on a turret, use your Cyclone if it is up and then use Decoy if your opponent persists. The knock up, followed by your inevitable disappearance will allow you to survive a tower dive by AD carries or tanks.

Whenever you go back, try to pick up 2 Health Potion No matter what is going on, these will allow you to sustain in lane.
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Dueling

I have no problem stating that I believe that Wukong is the best dueling champion in the game, bar none. He excels at one on one combat, beyond any other champion, since he can burst twice, while any other champion should only get the chance to burst once.

Dueling: In a Duel, you should burst with crushing blow and a Nimbus strike, then bang with the champion for a second or two, then Decoy. The most effective way to use this ability is too allow your other two bursting abilities too come off cool down. Essentially, you will be able to get two bursts on an opponent and they will get one. Use Ignite and Exhaust on your opponent too negate their initial damage burst and then tag on extra damage, additionally preventing them from life stealing back their health.

Don't duel tanks, since you will likely not snag a kill, though I have been able to duel against tanks in the past and kill them. However, I would not suggest it.

The reason why I suggest that you avoid Garen, is because though he cannot normally kill you, he can sustain against you and continue to damage you, while you Warrior Trickster with his Judgment. The biggest problem here, is that you cannot burst him down, unlike other characters. I state that Wukong is the best Dueler, but suggest you avoid Garen. The reason, Garen has more bad match ups than Wukong.
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Team fights

Your only job is to hunt carries. Since, Wukong can follow them around a fight and can withstand their damage.

Stay away from tanks, since you get your damage from burst and it is better used on squishy characters.

Cyclone is a good, but not a great team fighting ability. It should be used in conjunction with other area of effect/crowd control abilities, either before or after.

Wukong should not lead the charge. He is tanky, but not tanky enough. Instead, you should be the second champion to go into any fight, following your tank as a secondary tank.
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Thanks

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy using this build and I wish you the best of luck.
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