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Shaco Build Guide by

[7.12 IN-DEPTH] THE NEW ONE-SHOT AP SHACO

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Shaco Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (21) More Shaco Guides

Choose Champion Build:

ONE SHOT DELETION
The Tank Bank One Shot
Not A One Shot, But Sustained

Spells:

Ignite

Smite

Items

Start Items

Rush Items

Pure Offense Items

Tanky Offense

Defense Is Offense

Typical Full Build < 30min

30 - 39min Build

Consumables

Ability Order

Shaco Passive Ability

Threats & Synergies

Threats

Synergies

Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny

Show All

None Low Ok Strong Ideal

Extreme Threats

Ideal Synergies

Evelynn

Extreme

Dangerous due to largely being unable to know her position. Early invades are generally safe, but after level 6 it is best to avoid 1v1's against her. When counter ganking, try not to be too near your laners and do not use ult until she uses hers, as it gives her a bigger shield.

Synergies

Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Change Log

4/14/2017 - Fixed some grammatical errors in various sections of the guide to increase ease of comprehension for readers.

5/9/2017 - Updated the build slightly due to the recent item changes.

6/16/2017 - THIS GUIDE WILL BE ARCHIVED UPON THE LAUNCH OF PATCH 6.13 DUE TO THE REMOVAL OF MANY OF 's AP RATIOS AND HIS MAGIC DAMAGE FROM CHANGING TO PHYSICAL DAMAGE

Runes

REDS

Magic Penetration - Allows for your magic damage to ignore some of the enemies' magic resist when you gank them or skirmish the enemy jungler.

YELLOWS

Scaling Armor - is fine with either Scaling or Flat Armor, I prefer scaling because I mix in Scaling Health for more late game survivability.

Scaling Health - doesn't build much Max Health, so putting some in his runes is a good way to increase survivability in the late game. The longer you stay alive in fights, the more chance you have to out play the other team.

BLUES

Ability Power - This is your damage stat with this build, so you want as much of this as you can get.

QUINTS

Ability Power - This is your damage stat with this build, so you want as much of this as you can get.

Masteries

These are the masteries you want to take. is the best key stone for the AP build, as it allows for maximum burst potential and leaves little room for counter play. It also heals you once you have .

Pros / Cons

Pros

+ Lots of Vision
+ Has a Fear Mechanic
+ Does Not Need so he can use an offensive spell instead.
+ is an execute.
+ Highly Mobile
+ Hybrid Scaling, making him highly versatile.
+ Great Split Pusher with High Burst Damage
+ Strong Early Game and 1v1 Power.

is a great solo queue pick. With the known lack of communication in solo queue, and the the tendency for solo queue players to tilt when the enemy team makes strong plays in the early game, can be used to abuse those facts and decimate the morale of the enemy team and gain a psychological advantage for his team. His high mobility and burst damage, along with his ability to take and allow for unparalleled early ganks and 1v1 power, almost guaranteeing his team First Blood. His mobility also allows him to counter jungle consistently to put the enemy jungler behind, not to mention he can kill most enemy junglers in a 1v1 if they try to contest the camp.

Cons

- Poor late-game
- Susceptible to CC
- Fairly Squishy
- High Learning Curve
- Has a Bad Rep in the Community
- Most of Play is Mind Games

As per all champions, has his strengths and weaknesses. Compared to other junglers, has one of the most dangerous early games in League of Legends. This is typically offset by by a slightly bad Late Game, but due to changes that isn't nearly as bad of a late game as it used to be, and no longer starts around the 20 minute mark. He is however quite squishy and doesn't tend to build a lot of tank items, as he is a damage focused champion. Burst champs like , or can easily kill if he gets caught out or doesn't time his stealth from properly. In the right hands, these weaknesses can be overcome and can be a highly effective carry throughout the game. 1111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111 1111111111111111111111

Summoner Spells

FLASH

is actually an optional spell for . He is one of the few champs in the game who doesn't actually need it for mobility. If you're uncomfortable on you can take this just to have it for safety, but most people who know how works will perceive you as new to the champ, but hey, maybe that's part of your mind game.

IGNITE

is an extremely useful, offensive Summoner Spell that allows you to inflict massive damage on an enemy even if they get away from you before you can ensure a final blow. is what I take most often because it allows for more kill pressure and faster, easy snowballing.

EXHAUST

is a go-to for me on if I feel won't be necessary for whatever reason. The attack speed and movement speed slow, as well as the damage reduction is extremely helpful since is fairly squishy, and even though is considered a defensive summoner, it can provide a lot of kill pressure for you as well.

Jungling

The Season 7 jungle is a rough place to be, but Shaco is still VERY good at clearing it out. Here are some ways to navigate the jungle in your early game.

The Aggressive Start

This is the order you want to clear in if you're looking to be a little bit aggressive in the early game. Just go to each camp in the order listed by its number, and it's worth looking to gank any time you're crossing the river, particularly if you have double buffs when it happens. This is how you will best maximize the kill potential when you gank. I recommend this path if you feel at all comfortable on as it lets you regularly deny the enemy jungler his camps. If you feel safe enough to do it, you can take more than just the buff camps too. Also, when you go into the enemy jungle, even if they already took the camps, be sure to ward if you have one so that you can see if/when they come back. Best times to recall are after camps 5 and 10, unless you had a gank/skirmish before then and deem it necessary.

The Passive/Safe Start

This path is much safer and can actually be used to confuse the enemy jungler early on, as they will expect you to take camps, but you won't. So if they attempt to take your red because they expect you to take theirs, your red won't be there. You can also mix the two paths together (i.E. Your Red, your Blue, your Gromp, their Red because you saw them at yours) to maximize on that unusual start. You may also encounter them invading your jungle and be able to collapse on them with your nearby laner(s). But if you only follow this route, just go by the numbers. Recall after camps 5 and 8 unless you had a gank/skirmish before then and deem it necessary.

Counter Jungling

Counter jungling is largely based on your own self confidence as a jungler and as the champ you're playing, in this case . Some keys to counter jungling are vision control, map awareness, communication, and knowing the jungle timers. I'll go ahead and address each of these.

Vision Control

Counter jungling is always best done when you can ensure your safety in the enemy jungle. The best way to do that is to ward, usually with a or with a , and sweep with / to eliminate enemy vision. If you see the enemy jungler at his Blue buff and you're near his Red side jungle, then you can safely assume you'll get away with taking a camp or 2 from his Red side. Likewise, if you see the enemy jungler at his Blue buff and notice he's low HP, you can typically get a kill and take the buff if you're nearby. So anytime you venture into the enemy jungle, try to put out some sort of vision.

Map Awareness

So how do you know it's safe if you don't have vision in the enemy jungle yet? Part of it is knowing the typical route of the enemy jungle champ, but if you don't know that, then you can wait for them to show on the map. If they show bot lane for a gank, you can assume safely that his top side is open for invasion and vice-versa. If you see the enemy jungler gank mid from the top side, you can assume he's going to head to his bot side after the gank and you can then ward his top side to gain vision control. You can also counter gank if you're nearby the lane the enemy is ganking, and then if you kill the enemy jungler, his entire jungle is open for business until about 12 seconds after his respawn timer. You can also get a good look at the enemy jungler's HP if they show on the map, and if they're low you can likely invade them for a kill and a free camp.

Communication

If you want to invade and you're unsure about it, but you have a laner who could use a buff, especially if their enemy laner is dead, communicate for them to come with you and try for an invade on the buff of choice. This will give you a 2v1 advantage if you encounter the enemy jungler and even if you don't get the buff or a kill/assist, you can at least get some vision down so you can keep an eye on that spot. You can also communicate with your team to learn the location of the enemy laners. For example, if you notice the mid went missing, find out if she backed and what her HP/Mana was like. If she had a good amount of either and she didn't recall, she's likely getting Blue from her jungler, meaning red side is free.

Know Your Jungle Timers

Knowing jungle timers is very important when you're thinking about counter jungling, especially since it can play into the other tips I've talked about. First buff will usually respawn around the 7 minute mark. If you know what buff they took first, you can use that knowledge to your advantage. Example: The enemy took Red buff first. It's 6:53 on the timer and he's ganking bot lane by his Blue buff. This means in about 7 seconds, his Red buff is gonna be yours for the taking. Likewise, if it's 6:53 on the game clock and you don't see , it's safe to assume he's on his red side, so you can probably take or a non-buff camp from his blue side. If you're super sneaky and already have vision of his Red, you can move to it as it's about to spawn and cheese him out of his red buff.

Ganking

Shaco is one of the most versatile "Gank Junglers" in the game, as he is able to use Q - Deceive to get over terrain, run directly through a lane to a bush, or rush down an enemy laner directly from an allied tower. It is important to try to make your ganks as unpredictable as possible. Do your best not to gank from the same place repeatedly, and try not to gank lanes more than 2 or 3 times in a row, as the enemy will begin to expect you to be there.

Here's A Chart To Show Possible Gank Options Before Outer Towers Are Gone:

Here's A Chart To Show Possible Gank Options After Outer Towers Are Gone:

Some Situational Gank Ideas

The Double Gank

The way this works is under a few conditions:

How it's done:

Why should I do this?

The Clone Dive

Situation Where This Works:

A single enemy laner is under their tower, at low health. (below 50% with no heal ability other than a potion is optimal)
Your ally laner(s) are pushed close to the enemy tower.
You have off cool down.
Your ally laner(s) know this is happening.

How it's done:

From a bush in the jungle behind the enemy tower, use and send your clone out alone, just outside of tower range.
Ping that you're going in, or if you have voice communication just say it, and then send in the clone as your laner(s) collapse in with it under the tower.
The clone will die, and so should the enemy laner, as long as nothing unexpected happens.
Be sure to keep your clone towards your enemy laner's escape route so that when it dies, the boxes will fear the enemy back toward your allies.
If the enemy laner starts to get too far away, use and finish them off.

Why should I do this?

Vision Is Important!

Below Is A Vision Chart To Show Good Ideas Of Where To Ward/Sweep:

Team Fighting

Despite what everyone seems to believe, Shaco is not useless in late game team fights. You just have to know how to use him in those fights. So here are some tips.

Be near your team, but not seen by the enemy team. You can do this by hanging a couple character models behind your team as they're grouped, or by hanging out over a wall in the Jungle.
Wait for the engage, You're not an Initiator. Wait for the fight to start, and then use your Q - Deceive to stealth through or around the enemy team and take out the high priority squishies. (ADC, Mid Lane Mage, etc)
Join with your team only after the high priority enemies are dead. At that point you can help take out the tank, support, etc. and then push for towers or take objectives.

As AP , you're very good at the hit and run tactic in team fights. Charge up your and hit someone with an who has low health. and run to the back of the enemy team and place a a few paces behind them. E the closest enemy towards you and run away, using if you have it off cool down. Then go in and delete another squishy target or help burst down a tank. to get out if you get low, but keep charging and using it with your .

As the Hybrid Build, you're better off deleting 1-2 squishy targets and then running to another lane to split push. You'll be very hard to 1v1 and you can take towers extremely fast, especially utilizing your . Try to go in and delete the highest threat, squishy champs and then push another lane as hard as you can. Regroup with your team in the event of an Ace favoring your team.

Ranked Tips

Please, for your benefit and the benefit of others, do not take this guide and immediately go into ranked without practicing this build and this champion first. That said, here are some tips for Ranked:

Look to invade early. Take your Blue or Red and then take your Q second and go after their buffs. If you can take a buff with no conflict, do it, or if you can get a 1v1 opportunity on their jungler, do it.
Gank your losing solo lane as early as possible, once you know you can get the kill. This gives them an advantage and makes them feel like you will be there.
Actively look to get First Blood as you need your power spike as early as possible to avoid falling off.
Do not be afraid to tax your laners. If you get the kill on a gank, it's okay to walk away, but if you only get an assist or there was no kill, take the CS to avoid getting behind.
As with any Jungler, if you see the enemy Jungler show themselves on the other side of the map, look to counter jungle the side you're on. This puts them behind if they do not get kills/assists on the gank attempt, and keeps you from getting behind if they do.
Gank winning lanes, this will press their advantage further and force the enemy laners to pay attention to your winning laners, allowing your losing laners to catch up (hopefully).
Ward everything. Your jungle, their jungle, and river. Your boxes act like small-range wards.

Summary

Phew that was a lot of information. I hope this guide can be helpful. You'll notice I didn't go into much detail about the Hybrid On Hit build. That's because that build is more of a fun build to play with your friends than it is a build to use on a regular basis. The guide is focused on the AP builds, because those are the ones you'll likely use most often. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to comment. Happy jungling. <3