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

MOBAFire's first Mini Guide Contest of Season 14 is here! Create or update guides for the 30 featured champions and compete for up to $200 in prizes! 🏆
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
Wukong Build Guide by lithybaer

Wukong, the Burst King

Wukong, the Burst King

Updated on August 2, 2011
6.4
4
Votes
2
Vote Vote
League of Legends Build Guide Author lithybaer Build Guide By lithybaer 4 2 14,235 Views 21 Comments
4 2 14,235 Views 21 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author lithybaer Wukong Build Guide By lithybaer Updated on August 2, 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.

Introduction

Hi everyone, and welcome to my build for wulong! From my experience with Wukong, he is a very fun to play burst AD champion with great survivability. He's a great 1 vs 1 champ, as well as being great in team fights. I will be updating this guide as I play him more, so leave any comment and feedback and I'll get back to you.

Update: July 29th, added pictures, reworked for new embed code, added a skill breakdown and pros/cons section, as well as more details on some base concepts.
Back to Top

Pros/Cons

Of course every champion has their pros and cons right?
Pros:
+Great burst damage output
+Ultimate can be fight changing
+Great 1 vs 1 fighter
+ Warrior Trickster is grat for juking
+Can double as an offtank to support your main tank
+ Crushing Blow's debuff can help team mates
+Passive gives insane resistance
SPACESPACESPACE Cons:
-Can be squishy early game
-Ultimate can be hard to place
-Combos can be hard to land
-Short ranged melee champ
-Gets CC'd easily in team fights
- Warrior Trickster can be tricky to use
-Knowing when to engage takes experience
Back to Top

Masteries

For masteries with Wukong, I take a 22-0-8 page, maximizing damage and ability cooldowns where I can, as well as specing for less time dead, and more experience gained.

Well, why not a 9-21-0 build, or a 0-21-9 build, or a chicken-turkey-turtle build? He is an offtank after all.


The reason I don't spec into the defensive mastery tree is because I find him tanky enough already. As well as having a great passive that helps him immensely, he also has Warrior Trickster which will help him out of tough situations. Yes, he is an offtank, but that doesn't mean that you need to go all out with his defensive masteries. The fact is that he's beefy enough, and I want to maximize the amount of burst he can get. I also take Good Hands for less time dead so you can be a better asset to your team, and Awareness to get my ultimate quicker.

Back to Top

Runes

For runes on Wukong, I get
greater mark of desolation greater quintessence of desolation

greater mark of desolation
These, for obvious reasons, are a must with Wukong, as pretty much all the damage you'll be doing is physical, and you don't want that pesky armor on the other team getting in your way.
SPACE
I take these for early game survivability, as Wukong is pretty squishy early game without any form of protection, and this beefs him up to be able to take some more damage, and stay in the lane longer.
SPACE
For glyphs, I take flat cooldown as well as cooldown/level runes so you can burst more often. I find the combination of some cool down early game, and more cooldown late game is quite effective, and suits my playstyle. You can go full 9 with either of them though. It's up to you.
greater quintessence of desolation
This is pretty much self explanatory, just like the marks. You can either roll with these, or Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed depending on your preference.

Here's a summary of the various runes you can use.

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush
Back to Top

Summoner Spells

Top spells


Ghost
Great spell for chasing people down, as well as escaping while Decoyed. Ghost is a great summoner spell that doesn't need a lot of explanation.


Flash
Flash can be used for engaging team fights (not recommended), chasing down enemies with Flash and Nimbus Strike combo, and running away. Most of the time, however, you should save Flash for when you know you're either going to have to chase, or run away, as this skill can often catch people off guard.

Viable spells



Cleanse
Should you choose to go for a slightly tankier approach to building Wukong (building a frozen hammer before the Last Whisper, I find that Cleanse is a very viable option. Using this, you can initiate in team fights to a degree where you can be a little more aggressive than without Cleanse, giving you a little more head room. Also good for tight situations. I recommend taking Flash with you if you take Cleanse because they synergize well.


Exhaust
This is an option for people who may have trouble chasing down opponents, or just hate their opponents, and can go hand in hand with either Flash or Ghost. You may also choose to grab the mastery for Exhaust to maximize effectiveness, seeing as that extra point in the first line isn't doing you much good anyway.


Ignite
Ignite is a pretty good summoner spell, but I wouldn't personally take it on Wukong because of his great ability to chase people down already, but you may want to pick this up should you want to play aggressively to pick up early game kills. Pick whatever spells you want to go with Ignite really, it all works pretty well. You can also spec the Ignite mastery if you wish.


Rally
Now, before you yell, "OMGWTFBBQ U TOOK RALLI U N00B", let me preface this with the fact that this is a burst damage build. Putting down a rally not only increases your AD, but your team's AD too. This little boost can give you just that little oomph that you need to get that kill, and sometimes multi-kills in team fights. Personally, I would never take this, but it's completely viable, and I personally think only idiots can't find a use for rally.

Meh. Summoner Spells


Clairvoyance
I think that Clairvoyance is a good spell, don't get me wrong, but it's better left to be used by more supportive characters like Janna. Wukong doesn't really have all that much of a use for it compared to spells like Ghost or Flash. Don't ever take this unless you're playing ULTIMATE BRAVVEERRRYYYYYYYYY.


Clarity
This is a spell that does not work very well at all with Wukong. Because of how low your mana costs for abilities already are, then there's really no reason why you should get it unless you for some reason can't manage your mana, and you need some kind of.. I don't know, mana diaper. So don't be a mana baby, and grow a pair of mana balls.


Fortify
Once again, a great spell, but not on Wukong. Better to let support or tank characters take it. If you do take it though, it'd be better to pair it with something like Teleport to go full on tanky support.


Heal
You could take this if you want to play slightly more aggressively and help your team mates with some extra health, but I don't see a use for this otherwise. No strategic synergy when it comes to ability pairing (ex. Tryndamere Undying Rage + Heal = most annoying thing ever).

Wait.. what, why?


Revive
Who even takes this? Seriously, this is like bringing a hand-gun to a nuclear arms race.


Smite
As of right now, there are no reasons why you would ever get this. I've tried this so called "jungling" with Wukong, and it doesn't work very well. I may be doing it wrong, but as far as I can tell, this is inefficient and useless. Will get back when I get more information.


Will update on Summoner Spells as I play more of him.
Back to Top

Skill Breakdown

Wukong has a set of skills that make him a well rounded fighter. He can initiate, gank, juke, and retreat very well. His ability to take damage also makes him a great offtank. Let's take a look at what makes him so great, shall we?


Stone Skin
Innate Passive
Wukong's armor and magic resistance are increased by 4 / 6 / 8 for each nearby enemy champion.
This is Wukong's passive, and I think it's one of the best defensive passive's in the game. For every champion near Wukong, his armor and magic resistance are increased by 4, 6, and 8, and the amount is increased at certain levels. So near late game, this gives Wukong a good extra 40 armor and magic resistance in full team fights. Awesome.



Crushing Blow
Wukong's next attack will deal additional physical damage and will reduce the enemy's armor by 30% for 3 seconds.
SPACE Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds, 40 mana SPACE Bonus Physical Damage: 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150

This is Wukong's multi-purpose damage skill. You can use it to harass, last hit, finish off champs, hit towers, lower defense of other champs.. the works. Because I felt that the overall damage scaling for this skill was a little low, I grabbed a Sheen and it made it instantly better. Use this often, as it's low mana cost and low cooldown with your CDR glyphs will make it a great farming and harass tool.



Decoy
Wukong becomes stealthed for 1.5 seconds and leaves an
uncontrollable decoy that doesn't attack or
move. The decoy will deal magic damage
to nearby enemies after 1.5 seconds.
SPACE Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 mana
Cooldown: 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 / 10 seconds
SPACE Magic Damage: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+0.6 per ability power)

Warrior Trickster is one of my favorite skills ever. You can use it to run away, creep up behind people without them knowing, and just piss people of in general. Warrior Trickster, in conjunction with Ghost or Flash is one of the most annoying things you can ever come in contact with. Flashing in while you lay a Warrior Trickster in a bush, or out of your enemies field of view and give you a lot of free kills on squishies, but it can also save your life in a lot of different situations. Juking is also very effective, as many people will confuse your decoy with the real you should you use it in a bush. I can't tell you how many times my decoy has been Exhausted, Igniteed, stunned, ulti'd, and just CC'd in general. This doesn't mean that this skill makes you immortal though, so use this power wisely!



Nimbus Strike
Wukong dashes on a cloud toward a target enemy and sends out images to attack up to 2 additional enemies near his target, dealing physical damage to each enemy struck. He also gains an attack speed bonus for 3 seconds after using this skill.
SPACE Cooldown: 8 seconds, Cost: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 mana SPACE Physical Damage: 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+0.8 per bonus attack damage), Attack Speed Bonus: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 %

Nimbus Strike is your bread and better for ganking, initiating, assassinating, and sometimes running away. Using this in conjunction with Crushing Blow and Sheen proc and yield devastating results. As well, Nimbus Strike will also hit your target, as well as two other enemy units in the area of it, making it an excellent farming tool. It gives you great mobility, as well as a nice increase in attack speed once you use it, making it ideal for ganking.



Cyclone, ULTIMATE
Wukong's staff grows outward and he spins it around for up to 4 seconds, dealing damage every second and knocking up enemies once per cast. Wukong gains 5% movement speed bonus every half second for the duration of the spell, with the bonus disappearing once he stops spinning.
SPACE Cost: 100 Mana, Cooldown: 120 / 105 / 90 seconds SPACE Physical DPS: 20 / 110 / 200 (+1.0 per AD)

Wukong's Ultimate will bring joyous times to you, as it's a multipurpose ultimate as well. It does damage per second at a flat rate, plus one for every point of attack damage you have. Every single ******** point. It does a ridiculous amount of damage, as well as knocks other champions in the air, making it good for a second initiate after your tank does the first. It's also got good chasing ability, as you spin faster and faster every half second and move quicker and quicker, allowing you to keep up with your enemy champs. This synergizes VERY well with you frozen hammer. Likewise, because you can move fast while in Cyclone, you can also use it to run away. Great ultimate.


Here is how I level up his skills.
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Back to Top

Skill Sequence

This build is quite dependent on your ability to execute your skills properly. With your Sheen, this is how you burst down enemy champs.

1 vs 1/Team fight focusing
->Auto-attack-> ->Auto-attack

NOTE: Because Sheen has a 2 second cooldown, you won't always be able to land the Sheenproc after activating your Q. This will result in a combo like Nimbus Strike Sheen->Auto-attack-> Crushing Blow->Auto-attack.


This is your basic layout for 1 vs 1 or singling out enemy champs in team fights. This does an immense amount of damage as long as you hit your skills properly. This takes quite a bit of work to get used to though, and it's easy to accidentally forget to auto-attack after Nimbus Strike. With practice, it'll get easier. You may also wish to go Auto Attack -> if your is on cool down for some extra harass.


Team fights
This when your ultimate starts to shine. As well as being able to knock up enemy champions, Cyclone deals a large amount of damage per second at a 1.0 ratio to your AD. Although I don't recommend it, to initiate in a team fight, my regular skill order would be


You may also choose to go -> so you aren't in danger of being CC'd.


Afterwards when your team rushes in to help and you're done spinning, you can then feel free to Nimbus Strike several champs and burst down their carry. Players who are on the ball will often kill you before your team can come in, so play it smart if you're going to engage. This is only a good idea when you know the other team can't kill you. Otherwise you should wait for someone beefier to initiate, and then go in with this, or your combo for 1 vs 1ing from before.

When playing Wukong, you should always be weary of getting too close to the other champions, as he's tanky, but not a tank. Play smart. Remember, you're not Raptor Jesus.


Decoy
Warrior Trickster is an ability that takes a lot of practice to become good at using. The 2 main uses of Warrior Trickster are juking, and surprise attacks. The basic principle of juking is to lead your pursuers in one direction, drop your Warrior Trickster, then run in a direction where they wouldn't think you would go. Let's go over some basic juking.

Juking 101


Let's say there are 3 jerks who are chasing you up the river, and you think you're screwed. But then you remember you're Wukong, and you're awesome at juking! The black guy here running towards the bush in the river is you, while the red jerks here are the people trying to kill you. You remember the basic principle of leading in one direction, and running in another as soon as you hit your Warrior Trickster.

Next, you run into the bush, and wait for the people on your tail to catch up to you in the bush, and immediately hit Warrior Trickster as soon as you can. Afterwards, you run the other direction, leaving your Warrior Trickster (the white circle) in the bush, possibly confusing your enemies, and making them waste mana, ultimates, summoner spells, etc.
You won't always be in a situation like this, and this technique isn't 100%, so just keep the basics of Juking 101 in your mind.
Lead people towards one direction, run towards another in a way that they won't suspect.
Ganking

This is where Warrior Trickster will start getting you kills instead of the other way around. This is where you stop being Wukong, the Monkey King, and you become Sam Fisher, the stealth assassin. Utilizing Warrior Trickster for ganking means 2 things:
  • Element of surprise, AKA as the "HOLY SMOKIN' CINNAMON" effect. This will often stun the opponent for a second and make them screw up their escape.
  • Having the dexterity to pull off your gank without letting the other person get away (eg. wasting stealth and alerting the champion getting ganked that you're there, causing them to run away).

    Will update when I can!
Back to Top

Items

For my build of Wukong, the core items in the build are the Frozen Mallet, the Sheen, and the Last Whisper.


Frozen Mallet
The Frozen Mallet is a great item for Wukong, as it gives plenty of health, some damage, and of course the chance to slow targets. This is a very important item, as it gives you survivability, as well as a slight damage boost. With the health boost you get, you can also segway into an Atma's Impaler right afterwards for added damage and armor. This is also a good choice because of your ultimate, as it deals damage per second, and is great for slowing down large groups of champions. Great item.


Sheen
Many people would definitely object to not rushing a Trinity Force because of all the great benefits it gives you for an all around character buff. For this guide however, we skip the Trinity Force and keep the Sheen for a while. The reason for this is that because a Trinity Force is more of a DPS item, the money for the extra 2810 Gold after getting a Sheen can be used elsewhere. The Sheen provides you with your main combo for the rest of the game with it's passive, allowing you to do massive burst damage when in 1 vs 1 fights, and singling out people in team fights.


Last Whisper
Again, many people would prefer the Black Cleaver to this, but as this is a burst damage guide, we are focused on doing as much damage as we can in small amounts of time. Amazing item for bursting with Wukong. The 40 damage, as well as the 40% armor penetration it gives you, along with your Sheen just DESTROYS squishies, and hits beefier champs pretty hard.

Other items

Atma's Impaler
I typically get this after I grab my Frozen Mallet, as the health I get from the Frozen Mallet is enough to give me a decent amount of damage from Atma's passive, as well as armor and crit chance. Great follow up items.


Guardian Angel
Good item for late in the game. You'll be twice as annoying with this item, and makes running into team fights with your ultimate a lot safer. Don't be too confident with this though, because being smart and playing it safe is a lot better than just running in thinking you're flying Raptor Jesus.


Trinity Force
Gives a nice all around beef up near the end of the game, and makes you a force to be reckoned with. Not as useful early game, as your damage output will be next to none without items like Last Whisper that give you AD and armor penetration. Nevertheless, quite a good item for late game, and can be considered should you have a large amount of gold.
NOTE: Never, EVER get this before any AD items, as your damage output will be next to none, and you'll have trouble catching up in damage. I've done the math people. Straight up rushing a Trinity Force will only net you an extra 68 damage on your Q versus getting just a Sheen Phage, and other items that will give you beefyness/attack damage.


Banshee's Veil
Viable option if the team is AP heavy. Because of the low amount of magic resist in the build, this may be a good choice depending on if the other team's AP champs hate you or not. Magic resist, health and mana, and a spell shield are great for survivability, as well as pissing off the other team. Great item.

The Shoes Issue
There's a very large spectrum when it comes to boots with Wukong.
I personally take for the tenacity, as well as magic resist which is lacking in this build. Other viable options are to get around the map quicker, or for further CDR.


Item Sequence

Mercury's Treads 1100
Phage 1100
Sheen 700
Last Whisper 1450
Frozen Mallet 3100
Atma's Impaler 2300
Guardian Angel 3200
Trinity Force 3333
Force of Nature 2800
Back to Top

Summary

In conclusion, Wukong is a great champion that excels in beating the **** out of people, and then vanishing into the shadows.

Here's a brief recap for those who are as anal as I am.
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush

Item Sequence

Mercury's Treads 1100
Phage 1100
Sheen 700
Last Whisper 1450
Frozen Mallet 3100
Atma's Impaler 2300


Learning to play Wukong means getting his skill order down, using them while minimizing damage done to you, and being an asset to your team. Will update when the time comes!
Below is a screen shot of match history to show the effectiveness of my runes, masteries, and build order. Have fun! If you want to play, my in game name on NA is Crimmm.

Download the Porofessor App for Windows
League of Legends Build Guide Author lithybaer
lithybaer Wukong Guide
Vote Vote
Wukong, the Burst King

League of Legends Champions:

Teamfight Tactics Guide