WHO AM I

I am zwartebliksem, I reached Emerald in Season 13, but unfortunately ended up in Platinum at the end of the season. In season 14, I reached Emerald with a 70% winrate and a 14 win streak, after being hard stuck in Platinum. Now I know that is not contestable with the Challenger players out there. However, these are my experiences in playing Kled in Low/Mid ELO. For my stats see leagueofgraphs

I have played Kled since mid/late 2022. This was when Goredrinker was the only viable item for Kled. After Goredrinker you went into Black Cleaver, Death's Dance and finish off with Maw of Malmortius. I got used to playing with a bruiser version of Kled, so when the meta started shifting towards lethality/damage Kled, it was hard to adapt. You would build Ravenous Hydra into Eclipse and Mortal Reminder. This way, you would have wave clear, some sustain and a lot of damage.

Now in Season 14 there are upsides and downsides to each playstyle. However, Kled can be played however you like. Read the next chapter to see all Kled's pro's and con's.

If you want to learn Kled, I recommend going into a bruiser variation first. If you want to master Kled, try building more lethality, test your limits.

Kled has a very unique kit, when you see Kled for the first time you might be confused with the two health bars. This is an indication of his mounted and demounted state. The left healthbar belongs to Kled and the right health bar belongs to Skaarl the Cowardly Lizard.

When mounted you have the following abilities:

Passize - Skaarl, the Cowarly Lizard (mounted)

Innate: Kled rides his semi-trusty mount, Skaarl. While Mounted, all damage dealt to the duo is suffered by Skaarl, who has 810 − 3258 (based on level) (+ 100% bonus health) base health. Effects based on percentage health consider Kled and Skaarl's combined maximum health.

Q - Bear trap on a rope

Active: Kled throws a bear trap in the target direction that deals physical damage to enemies hit, increased by 50% against minions and small monsters. The bear trap collides against the first enemy Champion or large monster hit, forming a tether between Kled and the target for 1.75 seconds, during which they are revealed.

The tether's radius shrinks over its duration, and if it is not broken before then, Kled pulls the target 100 units toward him, deals physical damage, inflicts Grievous Wounds for 5 seconds, and slows them for 1.5 seconds.

Bear Trap on a Rope can be cast while E - Jousting.

W - Violent Tendencies

Passive: Kled periodically gains Violent Tendencies, which starts expiring upon his next basic attack.

Violent Tendencies: Kled gains 150% bonus attack speed on his next 4 basic attacks within 4 seconds. The fourth attack deals bonus physical damage, capped against monsters.

Turrets are only affected by the base damage.

E - Jousting

Active: Skaarl dashes in the target direction, though not through terrain, dealing physical damage to enemies he passes through and pulling minions and small monsters hit towards them.

Upon hitting an enemy champion or large monster, Skaarl dashes 200 units through them, marking them for 3 seconds, during which they are revealed. After the dash ends, the duo gain 50% bonus movement speed for 1 second. Jousting can be recast after 0.5 seconds of the first dash ending while the target is marked.

Recast: Skaarl consumes the mark to dash through the marked target, applying the same effects as the first cast.

The mark will remain even if the target dies, and ends prematurely if the duo are too far away or Kled dismounts.

Q - Bear Trap on a Rope and R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!! can be cast during either of the dashes.

R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!!

Active: Kled & Skaarl charge toward the target location, automatically navigating terrain along the way, during which they're ghosted and immune to crowd control. If the charge does not complete within 15 seconds, it will end prematurely. The charge is interrupted instantly if Kled dismounts during it.

While charging, the duo gain bonus movement speed and a shield for every 0.25 seconds of traveling, up to 950 total movement speed over 3 seconds and 10% − 100% (based on time traveling) of the maximum shield amount over 2.25 seconds respectively. The shield lasts for 2 seconds upon finishing the charge. The duo trails a directional draft in their wake, lasting 9 seconds. Allied champions following the draft gain Mr. Kled's Wild Ride.

Mr. Kled's Wild Ride: Gain 650 total movement speed.

Skaarl dashes toward the first enemy champion in range, colliding with the first visible enemy champion in his path to deal physical damage, increased by 0% − 200% (based on time traveling), and knock them back 100 units, though not through terrain.

When dismounted you have the following abilities:

Passive - Skaarl the Cowardly Lizard

Being reduced to 0 health causes Skaarl to flee, forcing Kled to be Dismounted, with all damage in excess of Skaarl's health being ignored. Upon dismounting, Kled dashes in the direction of the allied Nexus, though not through terrain, cleanses himself of all crowd control and becomes unable to act, untargetable, and immune to crowd control for 0.5 seconds, during which he also reduces all incoming damage received by 100%.

While Kled is Dismounted, his base health and base movement speed are reduced, his base attack range is increased, bear trap on a rope Q - Bear Trap on a Rope is replaced with Q - Pocket Pistol, and E - Jousting and R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!! become unusable.

Q - Pocket Pistol

Active: Kled sprays a cone of five pellets in the target direction while recoiling 300 units in the opposite direction, dealing physical damage to enemies hit.

Kled periodically stocks a Q - Pocket Pistol charge, up to a maximum of 2. He will store charges even while mounted.

Pellets collide with the first enemy champion they hit, and deal 20% damage per pellet beyond the first. Each pellet that hits an enemy champion or epic monster restores Courage, by 5 and 2.5 respectively.

			Passive - Skaarl the Cowardly Lizard will cleanse all Crowd Control applied to you upon dismounting. Passive - Skaarl the Cowardly Lizard takes about 1 second to remount you when dismounted. In this time, enemies could still kill you.
			Q - Bear trap on a rope will create a circle around the enemy hit. The zone will shrink for 1.75 seconds before yanking out. Q - Bear trap on a rope will reveal the enemy. Q - Bear trap on a rope applies 40% grevious wounds. Great into matchups like Aatrox. Q - Bear trap on a rope can still yank untargatable enemies if the first Q was hit when they were targatable. A few examples would be Fizz's E - Playful, Master Yi's Q - Alpha Strike, Maokai's W - Twisted Advance, Vladimir's W - Sanguine Pool.
			W - Violent Tendencies is a uncontrollable ability. You can't activate it by pressing it, instead, it activated upon auto attacking an enemy. W - Violent Tendencies will have max health damage on the last strike. Be sure to hit all 4 auto attacks for maximum damage. W - Violent Tendencies will make Kled's Axe glow. If enemies are aware of this, they can play safer when this ability is up.
			E - Jousting will give you 50% bonus movement speed for 1 second on both casts. Great tool to create a gap between you and an enemy. E - Jousting second recast can travel over walls. Don't waste your recast when you know an enemy is trying to escape over the wall. E - Jousting mark has a range limit. Don't wander too far off. E - Jousting mark will remain 3 seconds from the moment the mark is placed. If the target dies, the mark remains in the spot they died. E - Jousting will reveal the enemy. E - Jousting mark will start flashing slightly for 1 second before it dissapears.
			R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!! will always knock enemies back 100 units. No matter the distance. R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!! will count as Crowd Control. For instance, you can cancel Nunu & Willump ultimate and the Teleport summoner spell. R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!! will keep following the target once it's locked on until the target is hit. If the target hasn't been hit and and dashes, blinks or flashes, you will still follow the target. R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!! can travel over walls if the target is close enough. An example is shown in the Combo's video.
			Q - Pocket Pistol will restore 5 courage per pellet hit. Kled fires 5 pellets at a time, this means a full hit will restore 25 courage. Q - Pocket Pistol can be used to travel over small walls. This can be tricky to use, be sure to practice this in the practice tool. Point away from the wall and fire!

		FlashFlash is a location-targeted summoner spell that causes your champion to blink to the location in range of your cursor. Using Flash on Kled can vary on matchup and the enemy team. If the answer to 2 of the 3 questions is yes, use Flash: 1. Is your matchup ranged? 2. Does your matchup / 3 or more champions on enemy team have high mobility? 3. Does the enemy team have 3 or more champions with dodgable heavy CC?
		TeleportTeleport is a unit-targeted summoner spell that blinks your champion to the target allied unit after a few seconds of channeling. This is what I pick in 95% of my matchups in the toplane, just because it gives you so much tempo and can snowball you much harder than any other summoner spell. The only time I won't pick Teleport, is when I have to take flash and the enemy team has 2 or more healers. Teleport is pretty much useless when played midlane.
		IgniteIgnite is a unit-targeted summoner spell that burns an enemy champion for a few seconds, dealing periodic true damage, applying healing reduction, and revealing the target over the duration. Ignite is very strong in the laning phase, but could fall of in teamfights if not used properly. Even against non-healing champions, Ignite can be brutal. Personally I like to take Ignite over Flash, but if I have to take Flash, I take Teleport over Ignite. I only replace Teleport for Ignite if I'm up against a heavy healing opponent (e.g. Aatrox, Darius or Vladimir) or when I play midlane
		BarrierBarrier is a self-targeted summoner spell that shields your champion from damage for a few seconds. Barrier is so fun to play with, but it is always outclassed by the other summoner spells. There are quite a few conditions to be met if you want to play Barrier, since all of the other summoner spells should be ruled out. High mobility matchup? No Barrier. High CC enemy team? No Barrier. Healing matchup? Take Ignite with Barrier LESGOOO Very fun to mess around with, I highly recommend trying it in some normals and see where it gets you.

Eclipse Max health damage, shield, CDR and flat AD

Eclipse is the best item to start your core, it has many upsides and very few downsides in my opinion.

Pro's

• It only costs 2800, so your powerspike will come much sooner
• Works well into tanks with it's max health damage
• Good for laning phase, it's an item made for duelling
• Clutch potential with shield

Con's

• No wave clear
• Falls off when behind, especially against tanks

If you're going equal/ losing against a tank, I would recommend going Black Cleaver. In the early phase of Season 14, I built Profane Hydra consistently. However, it never matched the snowballing and damage potential Eclipse has. There are very few instances where I would build something other than Eclipse. I would strongly suggest to try building both these items, and see what you prefer. Since the Profane Hydra build has a 3% higher winrate as of 22nd of April, there must be a reason for the 3% increase.

				Profane Hydra Wave clear, lethality, active ability , CDR

Once I finish my Profane Hydra, I allow myself to teamfight. The damage, AOE and burst this item gives, is absurd. You could build this item first, as told in the Why do I build Eclipse chapter. Profane Hydra also comes with it's up- and downsides.

Pro's

• Teamfight potential skyrockets
• Insane waveclear
• Strong into duels and teamfights
• You will now burst squishy champions

Con's

• It costs 3300, which makes it one of the more expensive items
• Nearly impossible to freeze waves
• Tiamat doesn't add any AD, it gives you an 'meh' active ability for 500 coins
• Hitting the active ability does not give courage

				Voltaic Cyclosword Good when you're ahead or against squishy/ high mobility comps
				Serpents Fang Perfect item against high shield champios e.g. Sett, Mordekaiser and Yuumi
				Sundered Sky Best item against bruisers, usually built when splitpushing
				Axiom Arc When you're the only engage in your team and are lacking damage
				Serylda's Grudge Bust against tanks when there's no healers on enemy team
				Mortal Reminder Burst against tanky healers e.g. Aatrox
				Youmuu's Ghostblade Good against high mobility comps
				Edge of Night Only against hight CC comps

Titanic Hydra On-Hit Shockwave, Bonus AD with Health, Auto Attack Reset

The damage from Titanic Hydra can be frightning for some bruisers. It doesn't nearly have as much burst as Eclipse, but with the Auto Attack reset, it can come in very clutch.

Pro's

• Great waveclear, especially with the active
• Gives 550 health, which is a lot for the early game
• Auto Attack reset
• Shockwave deals a ton of damage

Con's

• It costs 3300, which gives you your early powerspike much later
• If you don't have a lead, this item will be useless
• Only deals damage behind the hit target, not around them

In terms of Tank/Bruiser Kled, there isn't a good alternative to a first item. You could consider rushing Black Cleaver if you are facing a tank, but that would be the only alternative in my opinion. At the start of season 14, bruiser Kled was meta, this is where all bruiser items were experimented a lot. Even then, Titanic Hydra always stood above the other builds with 4% more wins.

				Black Cleaver Armor Shred, Movement Speed, CDR

Black Cleaver is a Must-Buy when going Titanic Hydra first. This gives you the exact stats you need for becoming a Tank/Bruiser machine. You still get the armor shred you would usually get from the assassin build, but with a lot more health.

Pro's

• 25% Armor Reduction
• Best item against tanks
• Will still reduce armor when opponents don't take damage e.g. Tryndamere R
• Their total armor count will be reduced rather than ignoring it, so it's very strong against Rammus or with other AD champions on your team

Con's

• Only after damaging an enemy, their armor will be recuded
• Value is decreased with every AP champion on your team
• You need to hit the enemy at least 5 times for the buff to take full effect

				Steraks Gage Default 3rd item, best pick in my opinion. Only reason not to pick this is when the enemy has no CC and no burst
				Death's Dance Default 4th item, very strong against burst but weak against AP comps
				Sundered Sky If you have enough sustain, this can be your 3rd item
				Hullbreaker Only build this when you are permanently split pushing
				Guardian Angel Must-have when you are the carry, 4th or 5th item Does not revive you with Skaarl, unless you die while remounting
				Maw of Malmortius Good against heavy AP comps, swap for Sterak's Gage
				Chempunk Chainsword Against heavy healing comp when you don't need armor or are lacking damage
				Thornmail Against heavy healing comp when you need armor

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