Hello, it's me, Misterfirstblood from EUW.

Caitlyn is a long-ranged AD-Carry who excels at poking and sieging enemies from a distance. With her exceptional range and powerful auto-attacks, she can dominate the laning phase and secure objectives effortlessly. Her skill set allows for great zoning, crowd control, and burst damage, making her a formidable force in both team fights and solo engagements. Mastering her abilities and positioning will turn you into a sharpshooting threat on the Rift!

Today, I want to show you how I play Caitlyn because there's a lot to discuss.

P: Headshot
SPEED: 3000
Headshot
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.

Q: Piltover Peacemaker


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

W: Yordle Snap Trap


Caitlyn sets a trap to find sneaky yordles. When sprung, the trap reveals and immobilizes the enemy champion for 1.5 seconds, granting Caitlyn an empowered Headshot.

E: 90 Caliber Net


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

R: Ace in the Hole


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.

My recommendation for your rune setup has remained the same for a while. I suggest going for Fleet Footwork, Presence of Mind, Coup de Grace, and Legend: Bloodline. This grants you a bit of sustain for your laning phase, as well as a little damage boost.

The secondary tree doesn't offer a lot of "game-changing" runes in my opinion, but I personally like to use the Sorcery tree, specifically the Gathering Storm and Absolute Focus runes to maximize your execution damage from your ultimate ability in the later minutes of the game.
If you want more sustain, you can choose inspiration and take some cookies and free boots; that's totally up to you.

You have the option to start your game with either The Collector or Infinity Edge. While The Collector provides a slightly better early game, Infinity Edge is essential nonetheless.

If you opt for Infinity Edge first, it's wise to prioritize Rapid Firecannon second and Lord Dominik's Regards third to achieve at least a 75% Critical Strike Chance. Caitlyn benefits greatly from these stats, but if you're struggling to survive long enough to deal damage, consider investing in utility and survivability items.

To complete your build, consider items like Mercurial Scimitar, Bloodthirster, Immortal Shieldbow, Runaan's Hurricane, or Statikk Shiv, depending on your specific needs.

- Try to always attack enemies when going for last hits and move out of their attack range afterward.
- Give your jungler a good pull to stack your Headshot and harass your enemies.
- Try to Headshot enemies instead of minions while laning. Even if they auto-attack back, you should be able to win the trade.
- You can jump over walls with your 90 Caliber Net.
- You can achieve a double headshot by stacking your Headshot and using 90 Caliber Net afterward.
- When being chased, place some Yordle Snap Traps between you and your enemy. Remember, they need some time to activate, but if your enemy is slowed or CC'ed, you'll have enough time to escape safely or turn the fight.
- The amount of stacks gained from attacking an enemy out of a brush is doubled, so keep that in mind and, if a brush is warded anyway, attack from it instead of from the lane.
- If you're not laning against a tank support, feel free to use your Ace in the Hole to poke. Otherwise, just use it to execute enemies. Don't use it in a trade because the animation takes too much time.
- In the late game, don't use your Piltover Peacemaker/ Ace in the Hole in teamfights. Your DPS from auto-attacking should be better.
- Place some Yordle Snap Traps in bot-side brushes to avoid ganks. You can also grant vision in brushes by placing a trap in them.
- At level 18, set as many traps as possible since the cooldown will be very short.
- Avoid using abilities in the late game since your auto-attacks output higher DPS.
- If you don't have vision to land your Ace in the Hole, use the Farsight Alteration to make them visible for a short time. Even if they hide in a brush again, the ultimate won't be canceled.
- RED BUFF!! If anyone really needs red buff, it's Caitlyn. I really love this hit effect on her. If you have Runaan's Hurricane, you can AOE slow your enemies by auto-attacking. It will also improve your kiting potential.

- Low-ranged ADCs like Vayne or Kai'Sa (early game)
- Kiteable tanks/bruisers without hard CC like Garen
- Weak early game champions like
- Champions without waveclear like

Caitlyn is extremely punishing in the early game when played correctly. She can frequently trade and push hard. Your job is to deny enemies farm and push towers to gain advantages for your team early on. If Caitlyn can't snowball a lane, she isn't as effective as other ADCs, although her range remains useful in the later stages of the game.

- Assassins with multiple gap closers like Zed and LeBlanc
- Unavoidable hard CC like Malphite, Nautilus, and Sejuani
- Hypercarry late-game ADCs like Vayne and Twitch who can kill you within a second before you can even shoot back

Even though you can't do fancy invisibility tricks like Twitch or Vayne, your crit multipliers on headshots have amazing scaling and allow you to carry teamfights on your own. If your frontline peels for you and you play correctly at your maximum attack range, this is still a super solid late-game pick.

- Poke supporters like Vel'Koz or Brand
- Tank supporters with engages like Leona, Braum, Thresh, or Blitzcrank

Caitlyn needs a support that can play offensively with her. It's her job to apply as much lane pressure as possible. While I don't prefer Sona, Nami, or Janna as supports for Caitlyn, they aren't bad choices since they provide damage buffs at least. Just avoid Soraka.

I recommend tanks with crowd control like Leona or Braum.

Sustain isn't really needed, so unless your Nami or Bard can out-trade your enemies on their own, I wouldn't recommend picking Soraka alongside you because you'll most likely outsustain your enemies anyway due to your poke abilities.

+++ Range
++ Waveclear
++ Kiting
++ Early game
+ Escape
+ Lane bully
+ Easy to play

-- No base stat steroids (except Headshots)
- Spells are useless in the late game (lower DPS)
- Weaker late game overall

Caitlyn is an incredibly versatile and strong AD Carry, known for her exceptional range and zoning capabilities. One of the most significant disadvantages of Caitlyn is that she doesn't have any inherent steroids to buff her stats, except for her passive. This can sometimes make her less effective in 1v1 situations against hypercarries like Vayne or Tristana. However, this doesn't mean that she can't win these duels. It largely depends on factors such as the player's skill, Caitlyn's passive stacks, the first hit, critical strikes (luck), and summoner spells.

For instance, if a fully built Caitlyn places a pink ward to reveal Vayne during her ultimate and lands a first hit (thanks to her higher range) that critically hits for about 500-700 damage, she can definitely win the 1v1. Nonetheless, it's generally advisable to avoid direct duels and instead leverage her high range, particularly during the early to mid-game, to poke and harass enemies from a safe distance.

At her core, Caitlyn is a very fun and strong AD Carry. Her kit allows for great plays with her E (90 Caliber Net) and W (Yordle Snap Trap) when used correctly. Her auto-attack animation is one of the best in the game, making last-hitting more straightforward and efficient. This makes her an excellent choice for both inexperienced players and those in competitive play.

Additionally, Caitlyn excels in controlling the battlefield and setting up traps to catch opponents off-guard. Her ultimate, Ace in the Hole, provides a long-range execute that can secure kills on fleeing enemies. Her ability to zone and pressure opponents in lane makes her a valuable asset to any team composition.

In summary, while Caitlyn may lack built-in steroids, her strengths lie in her range, zoning potential, and utility. She requires strategic positioning and smart play to maximize her effectiveness, but when mastered, she can be a dominating presence on the Rift. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, Caitlyn offers a rewarding and engaging gameplay experience.

If you enjoyed my guide, I would appreciate a vote. Also, if you want to see more of my content, check out my other ADC guides.

Here are links to my other guides:


Caitlyn
Ezreal
Jinx
Xayah
Miss Fortune
Draven
Ashe
Jhin
Kalista
Kog'Maw
Lucian
Sivir
Tristana
Twitch
Varus
Vayne
Kaisa
Zeri
Samira
Aphelios
Senna
Nilah
Smolder