Hey there!

I'm Toxyfoxy and welcome to my very first champ guide!

I started maining Rakan since he was released and I would like to share some tips and tricks on this kinda still new champion, that can turn the tide of battle within a flash.

As every champion, even Rakan has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Pros:

• very useful in teamfights
  
• when teamed up with Xayah it's nearly unstoppable
  
• lot of CC
  
• extremely slippery
  
• can theoretically carry a bad team
  
• pushing monster with Xayah
  
• fun to play
  
• amazing voicelines

Cons:

• hard to master
  
• combo reliant
  
• very squishy at the beggining
  
• diver without a proper damage reduction

Let's talk about runes first.

This preseason Santa Rito gave us a whole new set of runes (and masteries at once), so most of the people still have no idea what to build.

Resolve path

• If you want to play him more tanky (which is much better imho), just stick to the Resolve path with the Guardian or Aftershock keystone (taking Aftershock is probably a better idea if you aim to be aggressive in the laning phase, for example when teamed with Caitlyn, Draven or a similar lane bully)
  
• The next mastery we want to take is Font of Life. Rakan is all about hitting his W and R which are a really hard CC, so taking Font of Life seems like the best choice here. You can always take Demolish mastery when teamed up with Xayah to have even stronger pushing potencial.
  
• The third rune is completely situational. If the enemy has for example Syndra, taking Mirror Shell is considerable, as well as taking Iron Skin against heavy AD team.
  
• The last mastery in the Resolve path seems pretty obvious, unless you want to be as tanky as possible. Taking Revitalize boosts your early healing and shields and goes very well with Redemption as it now benefits from heal and shield power.

Sorcery path

• For the secondary path I chose Sorcery as it gives reduced cooldown on Rakan's ult, which is the tide-turner we want to use as much as possible. That means taking The Ultimate Hat is a must.
  
• The last rune is situational as well. Rakan does not benefit that much from any of these runes so taking Celerity can be used to be a swift birdy, or take Transcendence to be a CC machinegun a bit earlier.

As a support champ, you'll be starting with an Ancient Coin, Refillable Potion/3x Health Potion and a Stealth Ward. I usually start with the Refillable Potion because I don't have to bother with buying additional pots during laning phase and it is probably more gold efficient. As Rakan you won't need much potions during laning phase, as you'll get some healing in lane from your Gleaming Quill, which you should use whenever it's off cooldown to poke and tilt the enemy laners :>

The first item you want to complete is Ardent Censer. I know, it's not Ardent meta anymore, but Rakan's kit allows you to proc Ardent so easily it would be a shame not to buy it. It goes pretty pretty well with Xayah when pushing turrets and it can help your ADC with farming. But most importantly, you raise your allies' damage output by clicking on them, granting a shield in the process and that is at least satisfying.

After your rush your beloved Ardent Censer, it's time to build your Ancient Coin into talisman of ascension (don't forget to buy Boots in the process), as it gives a getaway solution while chased or an advantage while chasing.

Your third item should be Redemption. This is the most basic support item that heals aliies, steals Barons, Drakes, Heralds, kills unaware ADC's and overall acts as Super Mega Death Rocket!'s little bro if placed correctly. But seriously this is a must on most support champs, including Rakan.

As usual, choosing the right boots is mainly situational, for example buying Mercury's Treads against full AD team is completely useless.

After you completed first four items, it's time to go looking for some protection for your carry as by now almost everyone (unless being 0/10/2) has the ability to delete your ADC. Knight's Vow may be the solution to keep you and your certainly-not-braindead-crybaby marksman alive. It's kinda a double edged sword, as you redirect THEIR damage towards YOU (how big-hearted must every Rakan player be :c) so watch your health bar.

The last item is again highly situational. You can take Warmog's Armor to heal up between fights, or Randuin's Omen against very fed Yasuo, Mikael's Blessing to tilt enemy Morgana etc...

Possibilities are limitless :>

So Rakan's passive is Fey Feathers and Lover's Leap. First one's pretty straightforward, it gives you 33 - 254 (based on level) (+ 90% AP) shield every 40 - 16 (based on level) seconds. Hitting champions with basic attacks or abilities reduce its cooldown by 1 second. It can serve as Kled's Skaarl the Cowardly Lizard passive, giving you some additional hp when fighting. But don't rely on that as it happened like once or twice ever since I started playing him. The second one is just a nice detail when playing with Xayah so you can recall together.

Gleaming Quill

Rakan throws an enchanted feather that deals 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 50% AP) magic damage to the first enemy hit. If it hits an epic monster or a champion, the feather returns and marks a small area around him. After 3 seconds or when an ally enters the marked area Rakan heals all allies within the marked area, including himself.
This is another simple ability. Use it whenever it's off cooldown to poke, heal the damage of bad trades and to trigger Ardent Censer to the entire team. The heal radius is actually much wider than the marked area so even if your ADC runs away from your heal, there is no escape. It works on drakes, so spam it to negate some of the damage dealt by it.

Grand Entrance

Rakan dashes forward, landing stylishly at his destination. After dramatically pausing for 1 second, he leaps into the air, dealing 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 50% AP) magic damage and knocking enemies up into the air for another second.
The most important engage and utility tool. This is how you want to start fights, run away from fed Draven, making a "surprise **********er" attack on an empty bush, etc. You often want to chain it into a E>W>Q>E combo to quickly get to the fight, apply proper CC, accidentally kill someone with your Q and get back to safety. Learning how to W means mastering Rakan.

Battle Dance

Rakan dashes to a target ally, shielding them from 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+ 80% AP)damage. After the first cast, Rakan can recast the ability at no extra cost.
It's used to get to safety or to better position yourself when casting W Grand Entrance. This is another great way how to proc Ardent Censer on two allies. Use it when in trouble or just to help pushing or farming with the ardent proc.

The Quickness

And finally, the ultimate.
Rakan breaks into a captivating sprint for 4 seconds, gaining 50% bonus movement speed for the duration. During this, his base attack range is reduced to 50, and collision with an enemy champion deals 100 / 200 / 300 (+ 50% AP) magic damage and charms them for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5. This may only occur once per enemy champion. Also, when Rakan collides with his first enemy champion he gains an additional 150% bonus movement speed, decaying over 1.5 seconds.
It can be a little tricky to master this ability due to many possible combos and interactions. Just remember that this ability is not worth using on only one enemy, unless you're 100% sure it'll give your team a kill. But this is overall the tide-turning ability I was talking about. Very useful in teamfights, but remember you're not invincible nor CC immune when channeling it, so rushing into the middle of the enemy team can result in a quick delete. Also it is possible to accidentally kill someone as it has a relatively high base damage. You can cast other abilities while channeling The Quickness, so pressing R before trying to land W can prevent enemies from dashing/flashing out of the zone thanks to the charm.

Let's talk about summoner's spells!

Taking Flash is a must only because the utility if offers. It's the most useful spell in League and you should take it every time.

This is commonly taken spell on supports as it lowers damage output as well as movement speed, but can be replaced by Heal when ADC takes barrier, Ignite to have some kill pressure or against healing supports like Taric, Soraka, Sona etc., or Cleanse when the enemy has hard CC like Morgana's Dark Binding

During laning phase, Rakan's main source of poke is his Gleaming Quill. Use it whenever it's off cooldown to tilt them and restore health lost in previous trades. As your main engage tool, try to save Grand Entrance to start trades and give your ADC an advantage. The most effective combo is to stay behind as far as possible from the enemy, then chain Battle Dance with Grand Entrance to fly to an ally and right after that go for the knockup. They will think you're just playing safe and they won't expect an engage. Right after you CC someone with Grand Entrance, you have two options. Either throw your Gleaming Quill on the enemy, or use The Quickness for much longer CC. Well, you know, do both. And right after that, recast Battle Dance to get to safety. Your job is done and you won't do any more good except basic attacks. Use it whenever it's off cooldown as Rakan's abilities become nearly spammable starting on levels 11-12.