Caitlyn Build Guide by

[14.8] My Straightforward Guide to Crit Caitlyn

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League of Legends Build Guide Author Amberdragon

Caitlyn Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (6) More Caitlyn Guides

Runes: Lane Presence

1 2 3

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Presence of Mind

Legend: Bloodline

Coup de Grace

Sorcery

Absolute Focus

Gathering Storm

Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health

Spells:

1 2 3 4

Standard

Flash

Heal

Items

essentials

starting items - standard

boots (1st or 2nd back)

ideal first back

high elo

Items breakdown

1st item options

best 2nd item

3rd item options

survivability

situational items

full build examples

squishy enemy

abuse your range

Ability Order Standard

Caitlyn Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Sivir

Extreme

Sivir is a rough matchup for Caitlyn, despite her much lower range compared to yours. Sivir can clear waves very fast to prevent Caitlyn from pressuring her. Traps are free HP for Sivir and she can spell-shield all of Caitlyn's abilities, making her combo much less effective. Caitlyn ult is also useless if Sivir E is up. It is hard for Cait to shut down Sivir in lane when she is the weakest, so she gets a free pass to scaling into the late game.

Blitzcrank

Ideal

Blitzcrank poses a great threat to the enemy ADC under normal circumstances, so if he is allowed to have bush control you two can zone the enemy bot lane from farm and harass them under tower pretty hard. When he hooks someone just put a trap under them and perform full combo for easy kill.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Blitzcrank

Ideal

Champion Build Guide

1.
Introduction

All about me and my Caitlyn

2.
Pros & Cons

Champion strengths & weaknesses

3.
Summoner Spells

Best summoner spells

4.
Runes

Best runes

5.
Itemization

Best items

6.
Abilities & Tips

Abilities and tips on how to use them

7.
Winning the Game

How you should play Caitlyn to win the game

8.
ADC 101

Fundamentals to every ADC in a nutshell

9.
Matchups

Foes and how to deal with them

10.
Synergies

Allies and how to work with them

I am an ADC main in the BR server, and I mostly play Xayah and Kai'Sa. But I also play a bunch of other champions including ADCs, mid laners and junglers! My weak lane is Top though.

My relationship with Caitlyn has been a love/hate one. I have a lot of fun playing her, but I also hate playing against her! In fact I didn't even start playing her until I decided that the best way to learn how to play against her was by playing with her.

Turns out I actually ended up enjoying myself more than I thought I would and after many rough games I actually started doing really well with her.

This guide is meant to be straight to the point and beginner-friendly, since many people like picking up Caitlyn for the first time. But at the end of the guide there is more advanced information and I plan on expanding on that in the future!

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+ Long Range

Caitlyn has the highest base range in the game, and her abilities allow her to hit enemies from ever further away. This is why a good Caitlyn can be so annoying to play against.

+ Sieging & Zoning

Caitlyn is really good at zoning enemies, contesting objectives and sieging towers - This is thanks to her passive, poke and . Late game she is great to have in your team especially if she has buff.

+ Strong Early-Mid Game

Thanks to her good range and zoning she is an annoying laner to go against and can often get lane priority if you manage your wave properly. This gives her more agency in the mid game and in contesting objectives.

+ Burst Damage

Caitlyn has really good single target damage. In the late game even a single , without your full combo, can destroy the health bars of squishy enemy champions. Early on you are indeed more reliant on hitting your abilities for burst, but later on your autos can cause a hefty amount of damage too.

- Squishy

You are an ADC - thus you are squishy. This is the price you pay for your long range and damage.

- Vulnerable to Divers

Caitlyn is a safe ADC in general, but if an enemy gets right up on her face she is pretty vulnerable. Her is often not enough against champions with enough mobility to get to the backline.

- ”Falls Off”

Don’t get me wrong, Caitlyn is good at all stages of the game and is never “useless” because she still deals a lot of damage to towers and has some utility in her kit, but she is definitely stronger in the mid game and in lane. Other ADCs scale better or hypercarry in the late game, while Caitlyn stays strong in her single target damage (especially to squishy champions) and sieging.

- ”Bad” Into Tanks

Caitlyn basically only deals physical damage, in the day and age of ADCs carrying hybrid damage. Having no significant hybrid damage or damage based on max % HP means she may struggle more than some other ADCs to shred heavy tanks in the late game. With no significant AoE damage either, teamfights against a strong frontline can be a huge pain unless you fully itemize for it.

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Flash

This is a must have for most champions in the game - Always take it. Use it to dodge important enemy abilities and if needed you can also use it to combo or get in range to kill enemy.

Heal

In lane Caitlyn likes to play for trades and health advantage over oponents, this is why I feel like Heal is the best standard summoner spell for her and her support. Ideally you want to use it before enemy applies , but it can also be used for the burst of movement speed.

Exhaust

Imagine you are against a , , , , , or the enemy has dangerous assassins - all these champions want to get on your face and burst you. This is where Exhaust usually becomes the best option. While your support can take it, most of the times I find it best for you as the ADC to take Exhaust, since you are likely to be the main target and your support will not always be nearby. Aside from reducing burst, the slow can also help you kite or run away.

Cleanse

Enemy has hard CC champions, like , , or ? Take cleanse. If you get caught use it before it's too late. It's also a good summoner to remove and .

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Lethal Tempo

Lethal Tempo is great for as it increases Caitlyn's range and procs passive faster. Great for trading and late game teamfights, especially if enemy doesn't have a lot of range. Also good when you have to auto a lot, like when the enemy is a bit more on the tankier side.

Fleet Foortwork

Fleet Footwork is a really good rune when you need sustain, I like taking it paired with other sustain runes like Taste of Blood and Legend: Bloodline. Good for lanes where the enemy has a lot of poke. It is also great in short trades and offers a little bit of peel and chase potential from its movement speed.

Presence of Mind

Presence of Mind is the best option most times. Caitlyn's abilities cost a decent amount of mana and you want to trade a lot a lane, so by taking PoM you will be able to sustain mana while you poke enemies and get a much-needed mana restore for teamfights and skirmishes.

Legend: Bloodline

Legend: Bloodline will give you sustain so you can stay in lane and in late game fights for longer. The alternative rune, Legend: Alacrity, is not really needed if you are going for normal crit build. You will benefit a lot more from Bloodline's sustain and extra HP.

Coup de Grace/Cut Down

If enemy has a bit of a beefy team, beefy support or if you start the game with a , you will want to take Cut Down. Otherwise, take Coup de Grace, it synergizes really well with Caitlyn.

Absolute Focus

Absolute Focus is the best among its peers. As Caitlyn you usually want and can rather easily have an HP advantage over your opponent, throughout the game. This is thanks to your range, zoning and poke. Absolute focus is the perfect rune for Caitlyn unless the enemy has strong long-range poke.

Gathering Storm

Gathering Storm helps you pack a punch in the late game. Caitlyn is not a weak late game champion, but she is not a hyperscaler either. This rune helps you stay relevant even if you did kinda bad in lane.

Taste of Blood

Taste of Blood is perfect when combined with and for more lane sustain. Really good if enemy has meaningful poke.

Treasure Hunter

Treasure Hunter is a snowball rune, really good for Caitlyn if you think you can snowball early game. It gives you more gold for being ahead and thus helps you reach your core items faster.

Alternative runes in the domination tree: for hunting

Magical Footwear

Magical Footwear is a really good rune for its gold efficiency. Free boots means that you will not spend extra 300g, and when you in a losing matchup knowing you will likely be behind, this helps a lot.

Cosmic Insight

In lane Caitlyn likes to play for trades and health advantage over opponents, this is why I feel like Heal is the best standard summoner spell for her and her support. Ideally you want to use it before enemy applies , but it can also be used for the burst of movement speed.

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Abuse your Range

Big Damage

I would like to point out that late game items are pretty much the same for both builds and that the last two items are situational. What actually differentiates the builds is that your core items can change.

is great for game where you are against squishy champions. Aside from Stormrazor and boots, you don’t really get attack speed so this is an AD-heavy build focusing mainly on damage.

as your third item and then going survivability is an overall safer and generally good build for your standard game. You get the speed from and having a item, you get the extra range, and you get survivability and extra damage from keeping high HP with .

Doran's Blade

Many ADCs can choose between a and a start, but for Caitlyn I usually find that Doran's Blade feels the best. She has low base HP, and DB paired with sustain runes is a great combination to keep you healthy throughout the laning phase.

Long Sword

Starting with a + 3 is good if you need a lot of sustain in lane. However, you will be squishier.

Noonquiver

This is the ideal first back in most cases. It is a strong early game item and helps you farm.

Kircheis Shard

If you don’t have enough gold for then a is the best second choice for raw AD. You may also choose this if you feel the need to purchase early or .

Boots

If you have an awkward amount of gold are a decent purchase for your first back. I also highly recommend this if the enemy has champions with strong engage, catch potential or poke. Also good if you are getting ganked a lot or spending a lot of time near the enemy turret.

Berserker's Greaves

This is a good first buy if you need to maintain pressure in lane - maybe the enemy has a lot of poke or strong wave clear. Also good for champions with strong trading and for taking turrets. It carries the same benefits of the initial boots but obviously better.

Stormrazor (1st)

Item with good stats for early game and the mobility from the energize effect feels really good to have regardless of your build. Still, while it’s the most popular first item for most ADCs, I do feel you have the option to go .

Infinity Edge (2nd)

Huge damage powerspike for you. No other items really fit as well as IE for a second item.

Rapid Firecannon (3rd)

This item gives you extra range, so it helps you kite and poke with your . Really strong item on Caitlyn, that’s why I put it as a “core” item – even if it isn’t mandatory for every game, it feels really good to have. It is ideal to build it as a third item, however, you can also go for another item like or if the game really calls for it.

Lord Dominik's Regards

Ideal late game item if the enemy has champions that stack both Armor and HP. It is also a generally good item if your team has other strong AD champions, like , , , , or - this is because enemies are more likely to build armor items, and Caitlyn doesn’t scale that well nor does a lot of damage against tanky champions in the late game.

Bloodthirster

Caitlyn is a great Bloodthirster user because of her range – more range means it’s easier to hit enemies without retaliation, which means you can more easily use BT’s extra AD passive. Despite its sustain it’s actually an aggressive item choice for when you are ahead and managing to stay healthy.

Executioner's Calling

This is a must-have if the enemy builds a lot of healing and for some reason your own team is not building Grievous Wounds items. Must-have in laning phase against , , and if your support does not buy early or if your lane has no .

Mortal Reminder

Upgrading your into a Mortal Reminder in the late game is a really good choice if enemy has champions that Heal and that build Armor - so bruisers like , , . It can be a decent choice for tanks like , and if they are the only tanks and your team a strong AP carry. If your team has more AD damage or you are against more than one beefy tank, sometimes it is best to get and either hold on to a , or ask nicely for your team to get the anti-heal instead.

Immortal Shieldbow

I find this to be a situational item. It’s really good to have when the enemy has a lot of burst, assassins or divers – better than Bloodthirster in these cases. If the enemy has an AP assassin or burst mage is better because of its MR though.

Guardian Angel

This is a good option if you are carrying the game and if you are positioning yourself well in teamfights. For this item to be worth it is important for you to not die all the time. It is very good to get this when your death in the late game could mean game over!

Hexdrinker

If the enemy has a lot of AP damage or a fed AP carry like , , or Hexdrinker is often a really good mid-late game choice. You might get this really early if you are against strong AP champions in the bot lane as well. You can sit on it for a while and finish another item, or build .

Maw of Malmortius

Ideally build this only after your and if enemy AP carries are fed or if enemy has 2+ strong AP carries. It might save your life.

Quicksilver Sash

This is a good item when you are getting focused by a champion with strong CC or Supression, like , or . You can sit on it for a while before finishing it.

Mercurial Scimitar

Let’s say you bought a because the enemy was focusing you but you needed to finish another item, one with higher priority for your game - like (because you dealt no damage to Morde and he was wrecking your team). You finally manage to finish your Mortal Reminder and that Quicksilver Sash is still looking at you from your inventory - it is finally time to build a .

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Galeforce

Inifnity Edge

Strong mythic, decent choice for most games. Galeforce gives Caitlyn mobility to be an even greater nuisance and harder to catch. It is also great to use in combos for more burst.

Infinity Edge is the one to go if you are looking for raw damage and you’re willing to sacrifice some safety. Be careful about your lack of mobility though.

Every few basic attacks, or against a target she has trapped or netted, Caitlyn will fire a headshot dealing bonus damage that scales with her critical strike chance. On trapped or netted targets, Caitlyn's Headshot attack range is doubled.

Use bushes to your advantage! If you are farming jungle or leashing from red side use the bushes to get headshots faster. Same thing applies to lane, if you want to push faster or threaten your enemies abuse vision control and the headshot passive.

Caitlyn revs up her rifle for 1 second to unleash a penetrating shot that deals physical damage (deals less damage to subsequent targets).

When enemy wave is small/thin and they are far from the minions, you can try to Q from nearby bush to poke them and deal full damage.

If enemy steps on a trap, auto + Q for fast burst trade.

Caitlyn sets a trap that, when sprung, reveals and immobilizes the enemy champion for 1.5 seconds, granting Caitlyn an empowered Headshot.

Tip number 1 I can give you is to always save at least 1 trap in case you need it or in case you see a good opportunity.

And here are some tips on placing good traps:

+ Place them under a CC'ed enemy
+ Place them under an enemy during stasis (from Zhonya's Hourglass), or the revive animation from Guardian Angel and Zac/ Anivia passive
+ Place them in choke points and narrow passages for zoning
+ Place them at the edge of bushes
+ Place them slightly ahead or behind enemies coming after you or running away from you
+ Place them under your minions if enemy can dash to them
+ Place traps under yourself or an ally who is getting engaged on by melee champion
+ (Advanced) try to predict where enemies will walk to and place a trap

Caitlyn fires a heavy net to slow her target. The recoil knocks Caitlyn back. The target triggers the passive.

Use it to dodge abilities and disengage from enemies coming too close to you. Using it on a CC'ed enemy with full combo is an important part of your burst damage.

You can also use it to jump over thin walls.

Caitlyn takes time to line up the perfect shot, dealing massive damage to a single target at a huge range. Enemy champions can intercept the bullet for their ally. Targeted enemy is revealed.

There is no need to hold on to your R until enemy is really low HP, at least not all the time. Sometimes using R when enemy is mid-low HP is worth it even if you know it will not kill them, because you may be able to force them out of the fight, zone them, make them panic and use an important ability, or force them to recall in lane. And if you are too far away to join a skirmish the damage of your ult can still translate into a kill for your team, even if you did not get the last hit.

Get the blue ward at level 9 so that you can snipe far-away enemies in fog of war. This is especially useful if you have to cancel enemy recall.

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Caitlyn is a strong laner and winning the lane can often translate into winning the game.

However, if you think you are winning lane just because you are killing your oponent, you are mistaken! Caitlyn's core strength comes from getting lane priority in order to shove waves, take turret platings, force enemies out of lane and contest objectives. Kills are a plus that come naturally and help you take control over the lane, but not getting kills does not equal not being ahead.

First factor to take into account is matchup - does the enemy have strong wave clear? Do they have decent range? Do they have an engage support or an enchanter support?

Caitlyn generally does well into bot lanes that have short range and poor wave clear. You will want to poke with + and zone enemies with traps and HP advantage so you can have complete control over wave - create a slow push and crash a huge wave. Then you get gold from turret platings and harass enemies under tower.

The next thing to take into account is runes, and that ties to matchups. If enemy has strong poke you will want to take sustain runes and early so you can compete for wave control, if the enemy is more about all-in and winning extended fights you will want to take to trade with them and come on top.

When you manage to successfully pressure your enemy and get an advantage you will want to not throw that lead.

Keep river warded for ganks. With lane prio you should be able to defend your wards or punish enemies for trying to remove them.

Don't take bad trades. Be careful to not draw too much minion aggro and don't step up into a 1v2 - watch your support's positioning and try to match it. If both enemies can focus you at the same time and your support is too far, you will lose the trade and your advantage.

Harass enemies under tower to zone them from farm and get turret platings. Don't be too greedy for platings though, if enemy jungler is missing back off, and if your own jungler needs help make sure you are rotating. Be present for objectives when you are ahead.

If your lane is even you have to be more careful. Make sure you are keeping track of enemy summoner spells and jungler, and make sure you are taking good trades. If you are unable to pressure enemy too hard, just farm and be on the lookout for any nearby skirmishes.

When you are behind or enemy has a lot of kill threat over you, you will probably have to stay close to your turret. If possible try to keep the enemy wave thin and farm as well as you can. Use to zone them if possible.

Avoid dying as much as possible, even if it means you will lose cs. Depending on circumstances your team might gank you and you will be able to maybe get a kill/assist and a good recall.

Your focus should be on not falling further behind so you can get your core 2 items. So farm, stay safe, when you see a good skirmish you can roam or use your R to help your team out. When contesting for objectives, your traps can be useful even if you do not have a lot of damage.

You will want to keep farming and getting items but at this point you should already have your core 2-3 items, meaning that under usual circumstances you will be able to deal decent single-target damage in your combo and your auto attacks will be very strong.

You will play similarly to the early game: poke if you can, farm, rotate if needed, pressure turret, zone enemy from objectives and wave.

Remember to try staying at max range and well-positioned against diver champions and flanks. Keep an eye out for the champions on the enemy team that pose the greatest threat to you and your team. Itemize properly for your game.

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If you are familiar with my other ADC guides you’ll find that I usually have a section just to go in depth into “ADCing” – how to farm, wave management and tips for ADC survival. I wasn’t sure I would add it to this guide since it’s meant to be a more “straight to the point” thing, but I decided to challenge myself and make something that is informative, beginner-friendly and simpler than what I’m used to making.

So I present to you “ADCing” in a nutshell!

First, here are some general tips to keep in mind.

Get yourself familiarized with your champion’s limits and respect them (if you want to stay alive)
There’s no shame in admitting you’re tilted and performing poorly. Respect yourself.
Start listing what has the potential to kill you (or counter you) in champion select and figure out what you can do about it
Beware of your positioning and practice better positioning, both in lane and during teamfights
Don’t use wards randomly, use them in a way they can actually save you from getting collapsed on
Ba careful with greeting for kills and waves, it will get you killed one day
Try to have matching recalls with your support and keep a good recall tempo in general. You don’t want to be late to an important objective or to your wave

ADCs as a whole don’t have cheap itemization, yet they are very reliant on items. Plus, most are weak in the early game, which means getting kills and snowballing (and not falling behind) is harder when compared to a mid or top laner that scales fine with a few levels and their core item.

Basically this translates into: farm well and stay alive until you’re strong. To find success in this role you need to keep high income, that means practicing those last hits and knowing when to give up cs to maintain your HP.

EXTRA TIPS:

Be mindful of your abilities. Using them at the wrong moments can make you lose cs
Practice last hitting under turret. Melee minions usually need 1 auto after 2 tower shots, and ranged minions need 2 autos and 1 tower shot at lower levels.
Use abilities to farm minions that are dangerous to get close to
Avoid being in range to get harassed 1 v 2
Farm waves and jungle in the mid to late game, even if you are ahead.
Choose your fights wisely. Ask yourself how much gold and xp you might lose if you rotate

The state of the minion wave dictates if you should fight or retreat during the entire laning phase.

In the early game minions deal a lot of damage so getting aggro can make you hard lose a trade. On top of that, they also dictate who is going to get levels 2 and 3 first – in the bot lane, if you are level 1 you usually have only 2 abilities (1 yours, 1 from your support), but if you are level 2 you have 4 abilities and that can quickly turn into a kill.

Because of that it’s very important to know how to manage your wave properly. Here are the basics you need to know.

FAST PUSHING = constantly attacking the wave, making minions die faster. This is good when you want to get level 2 and 3 first, when you need to recall really quickly, when you need to get lane priority to rotate and when you have a huge minion wave.

SLOW PUSHING = last hitting minions, allowing the wave to grow slowly and stack. This is especially good when you can zone the enemy away from your wave, the minion advantage gives you an edge in fights and by letting this huge wave crash into the enemy turret you can more easily poke, get plates or set up a dive. When you create a slow push and crash it the enemy ADC will be pressured into trying to farm.

FREEZING = keeping the wave in the same place. You can use this defensively, by freezing near your turret and making it riskier for the enemy to engage on you, and you can use it aggressively to deny enemy farm. Freezing at the wrong place and at the wrong times can make you vulnerable to ganks and engages, as well as make you lose gold and xp.

To make a freeze in the middle of the lane you need to have the same amount of minions on both sides, with similar HP. To freeze near your turret you need the enemy to have around +2 caster minions. To freeze near enemy turret (generally a bad idea) you need your wave to have more casters.

EXTRA TIPS:

If enemy is going to get level 2 before you, it’s wise to retreat. Especially if they have an engage support.
Avoid fighting enemies in a huge enemy minion wave. If your wave is bigger, you can look to fight.
You need big waves to pull off good dives, in most cases.
Dying but losing a few minions is better than dying and losing 2 whole waves
Be careful to not pull a bad freeze on yourself. If you want to recall, try to get your wave to fully crash under enemy turret, otherwise it can freeze or slow push.

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Bot lane matchups - what are the best, what are the worst? This is what I will cover in this section! I will not go in depth into every single champion individually, but I categorized your most common foes by their types/playstyle and how you can play into them.

Do keep in mind some champions fall into more than one category and some have builds that give them a specific playstyle - like for example, , who has good poke overall and can build for more burst/poke when going lethality and more DPS/all-in when going crit. It is also worth noting that in bot lane support matchup often matters more than ADC matchups, especially in higher elos.

Most of them, especially , and can be difficult matchups. You cannot out-damage them in an all-in and they are usually accompanied by aggressive engage supports - one wrong move, one bad trade, and you cannot fight back. and are champions Caitlyn generally does well against though.

The best you can do in these matchups is to not give them any kills and manage your wave correctly. You definitely do not want your wave to be frozen near their turret or over-extend without vision. Focus on farming and poking them when it’s safe, but be careful about taking bad trades – if you lose too much HP they can go all-in and quickly kill you, then snowball. is very good against them.

They can be challenging matchups because of their late game and high range – which makes it harder for you to punish them in lane. In my opinion, , and are generally the worst. is a matchup you can generally do well against.

While they tend to be weaker in the early game, if they have good peel and are allowed to play safe they will just farm and outscale you. Having good enough synergy with your support to pressure the enemy away from farm and get a gold lead is what will win you lane. If you can shut them down early and close the game it’s great! If you let the game go on for too long you’ll be in trouble. is very good against them in the late game, while is good for early game trading.

Overall, these champions will try to poke you using their abilities or get good trades – they essentially have a playstyle similar to yours. I find them to be mostly skill matchups, whoever trades better, has a better support synergy and wave control will have lane priority. has rather poor wave clear, which gives you an edge against him in lane. I consider the most dangerous one to be .

Like you they prefer short burst trades and deal decent damage in the early game. Make sure to trade when they are on cooldown and if possible don’t face tank all their combo. Capitalize on their mistakes. is very good against them.

These matchups are generally easier – while they win in all-ins if they can get on your face, their short range makes them highly susceptible to getting poked. Having a support who can poke them or peel against engage makes the lane very hard for them. and are the worst all-in ADCs in my opinion, since they can easily get on top of you and burst you. Kai’sa can only do that after 6 though, which means you have until then to make her life miserable and set her behind. The others are only an issue in the late game or when they get fed. is an annoying matchup even though she has short range.

Against all-in champions you have to play for your strengths and not theirs. Poke whenever you can, pressure them away from farm, harass them under turret, take platings and try to always keep your range advantage. Beware of their gimmicks - like ’s ; ’s ++ proc. is very good against them.

Caitlyn can do fairly okay against mages thanks to her high range, it makes it harder for them to poke you. As an AD champion you will have stronger wave clear early on, so it should be easy to get wave control and force them to farm under tower, where they are likely to miss a lot of minions.

If you are in range you can harass them whenever they use an ability or miss their CC. You’ll want to get a lead early on because they will scale and even if you set them super behind they’ll usually still be able to bring a lot of utility to their team.

You do not want to get overconfident and allow yourself to get caught – you’re still a squishy ADC and their combos still hurt. It can be really good to get early so that you can try to dodge their combos. Respect their damage especially after a few levels, core items and . and are generally good against them.

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Bot lane synergies - what are the best, what are the worst? This is what I will cover in this section! I will not go in depth into every single champion individually, but I categorized the most common supports by their types/playstyle and how you can work together to win.

Do keep in mind some champions fall into more than one class (like , who is both a warden and an enchanter), some can fall into two categories (like , who is an enchanter with soft poke) and some are just “weird” - very unique or specialized, like , or who is like a carry support that plays a bit like an enchanter.

Most of them have an okay synergy with Caitlyn, the strongest being in my opinion. They make it even harder for enemies to get to you an kill you. Some have stronger early game trading, like and , which can making laning phase really good for you. Some of them can buff you really hard and increase your kill potential, like ’s giving extra range.

When playing with enchanters into an enemy lane with low kill threat, you generally want to try pressuring the enemy really hard and taking turret plates. Look for poke whenever possible and harass them under turret.

When the enemy has high kill threat on you or your support is into a bad matchup you will generally look to play a bit more carefully, not forcing trades too hard and only taking the fights you know you can actually win or outplay the enemy.

They are generally great supports for Caitlyn because they make it very easy for you to land your traps. You might need some trap-placing practice with any supports that pull enemies, such as , and . Blitz and are the best for Cait in my opinion though.

These supports can be great at zoning the enemy ADCs, which in turn makes it easier for you to get wave control and get plates. Harassing them under their turret is also really powerful… One wrong step and they can easily die.

Do be careful if the enemy has a tank support though – if they get too close to you they can completely ruin everything. Have smart trap placement and use E wisely.

These supports are generally very fun to play with. Mage supports especially, they usually have a lot of damage in their combos, poke and CC – their playstyle matches yours pretty well. You and your poke support should use your range advantage and catch potential (if they have any) to get lane priority and leave enemies so low they’ll be forced to leave lane or die to .

Try to win early, get lane prio and harass enemies under their turret. Just make sure you proper vision setup to avoid dying to ganks.

They work very similarly to catcher supports and often overlap, but I find them to have less synergy with Caitlyn. If your support is very much based on engages like , they are great in the late game especially if your team has no other tanks. The downside to them is that they pretty much like going for all-ins or more extended trades, while Caitlyn wants to poke and have short burst trades. It can all work out, but your lane will work better if you manage to get the enemy to be lower HP than you and generally keep high HP yourself.

A lane of Caitlyn/Nautilus x Draven/Leona will still be in favor of the Draven/Leona – they have better all in, and better synergy. Even if you can chunk Draven pretty hard at first, if you can’t fall back he will out-trade you. And as with most tank supports, if they go win they’re usually not looking to come back.

Keeping the wave frozen in the middle of the lane or near your turret also makes it easier for your support to engage or zone enemies from farm, which can translate into a gold lead for you. But if the enemy bot lane has stronger all-in, it might be best to ask your support to just chill a bit, maybe ping jungler to gank or just wait until you can use your range to chunk the enemy an leave them low HP.

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That's all I have for this guide. Thank you for taking interest in it! I hope it was helpful.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with it. I wanted to go for a theme (Valentine’s and Caitlyn’s Heartthrob Skin) and try my hand at making better-looking guides. I daresay my coding has improved (a little bit) and it has inspired me to do something similar for some of my other guides.

If you have any suggestions or feedback, please let me know. I will keep updating this guide and keep adding things to it.

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[14.8] My Straightforward Guide to Crit Caitlyn

Introduction & Table of Contents

Runes

Winning the Game as Caitlyn

ADC 101

Matchups

Synergies

Conclusion

[14.8] My Straightforward Guide to Crit Caitlyn

[14.8] My Straightforward Guide to Crit Caitlyn

Recommended Items

Runes: Lane Presence

Spells:

Flash

Heal

Exhaust

Flash

Cleanse

Flash

Flash

Ghost

Items

Ability Order Standard

Headshot (PASSIVE)

Piltover Peacemaker (Q)

Yordle Snap Trap (W)

90 Caliber Net (E)

Ace in the Hole (R)

Threats & Synergies

Sivir

Draven

Jhin

Jinx

Ashe

Samira

Tristana

Miss Fortune

Kai'Sa

Lucian

Smolder

Ezreal

Xayah

Vayne

Nilah

Zeri

Aphelios

Blitzcrank

Lux

Morgana

Xerath

Zyra

Vel'Koz

Zilean

Karma

Ashe

Heimerdinger

Bard

Milio

Pyke

Brand

Thresh

Nami

Rakan

Soraka

Leona

Janna

Taric

Nautilus

Renata Glasc

Yuumi

Lulu

Sona

Braum

Alistar

Senna

Blitzcrank

Lux

Morgana

Xerath

Zyra

Vel'Koz

Zilean

Karma

Ashe

Heimerdinger

Bard

Milio

Pyke