Hello guys it's me messketchup from EUW.Today I want show you how to play Darius.
I've been a League of Legends player ever since the beginning of the 3rd Season, with me maining and learning the game through Darius.I hope you learn how to build Darius properly and play him effectively.

Darius and his brother Draven grew up as orphans in the port city of Basilich. Darius struggled to provide for them both, constantly fighting with gangs of older urchins and anyone else who threatened his little brother—even the city guard. Every day on the streets was a battle for survival, and Darius earned more scars by his twelfth summer than some soldiers do in a lifetime.

After Basilich was seized by the expanding Noxian empire, the victorious commander Cyrus saw the strength in these defiant brothers, and they found a home within the ranks of his warhost. Over the years, they fought in many grueling campaigns of conquest from one end of the known world to the other, as well as crushing a number of rebellions against the throne.

Within the empire, anyone could rise to power, no matter their birth, culture, or background, and none embraced this ideal more fervently than Darius. From humble beginnings, he rose steadily through the ranks, always putting duty before all else, and garnering great respect for his aggression, discipline, and refusal to ever take a backward step. On the bloodsoaked fields of Dalamor Plain, he even beheaded a Noxian general after the coward ordered a retreat. Roaring in defiance and hefting his bloodied axe overhead, Darius rallied the scattered warbands and won a great and unexpected victory against a far more numerous foe.

He was rewarded with a senior command of his own, attracting many thousands of eager recruits from across the empire. Darius turned the majority away, accepting only the strongest, the most disciplined and iron-willed. Such was his fearsome notoriety, even in the lands beyond Noxus, that it was not uncommon for entire cities to surrender at the first sight of his banners.

After a grinding victory against the cloud-fortresses of the Varju, a proud warrior people who had resisted decades of Noxian aggression, Darius was named the Hand of Noxus by Emperor Boram Darkwill himself. Those who knew Darius best knew he craved neither power nor adulation—he wished merely to see Noxus triumph over all—so Darkwill ordered him and his warhosts far north into the Freljord, to finally bring the barbarian tribes to heel.

The campaign dragged on for years, ending in a bitter, icy stalemate. Darius narrowly survived assassination attempts, ambushes, and even capture by the vicious Winter’s Claw. He was growing weary of endless wars of attrition, and returned to Noxus to demand a reconsolidation of the military.

He marched his veterans into the capital, only to find that the emperor was dead, killed in a coup led by Jericho Swain. The act had been supported by many allies, including Darius’s own brother, Draven.

This was a difficult position. As Hand, many of the noble houses would expect Darius to avenge Darkwill, but he had known and greatly respected the disgraced general Swain, and had spoken against his discharge after the botched offensive in Ionia some years earlier. The oaths of the Hand were to Noxus, not any particular ruler, and Swain was a man who spoke honestly of his new vision for the empire. Darius realized this was a leader he was prepared to follow... but Swain had other ideas.

With the establishment of the Trifarix, three individuals would rule Noxus together, each embodying one principle of strength: Vision, Might, and Guile. Darius gladly accepted his place on this council, and pledged to raise a new, elite force—the Trifarian Legion, the most loyal and prestigious warriors the empire could produce—and lead the armies of Noxus into a glorious new age of conques

PROS + Ultimate allows him to make a comeback if he starts out poorly. + His pull is deceptively helpful despite it's short range. + Good sustain. + Lane bully + Bleed helps ensure champions can't run with just 50 or so health left. Helps stop narrow escapes. + High snowball. Darius is a champion that has some relatively high damage and he doesn't even need a lot of damage items to accomplish this. He's got some great sustain which comes from him Q ability and he is one of the best Lane bullies in the top lane. Darius is even a champion that has some very high snowball potential and if he does get to a very big point in the game he can even 1v2 targets rather easily. If he gets to that point he might not even care about getting ganked because if he does it's just a free 2 kills anyways.

CONS - Low mobility. - Fairly easy to kite. - Falls of late game. - Very hard matchups. - Mediocre peeler. Darius has very low mobility. What this means is that you can easily be kited by anyone.It also means that you will be much more prone to ganks than the average toplaner. A big trade off for his oppressive early and mid-game power is that late game when everyone is fullbuild, it's VERY easy to just feel useless and unable to do anything. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that Darius has a lot counters that can screw you over in lane.

Passive- HemorrhageDarius aims his attacks strategically, causing his target to bleed for 12 (+1 per champion level) (+0.3 per bonus attack damage) physical damage over 5 seconds. This effect stacks up to five times. Reaching 5 stacks or killing an enemy champion with Noxian Guillotine activates Noxian Might for 5 seconds. During Noxian Might, Darius gains 30-230 (based on level) bonus Attack Damage and applies max Hemorrhage stacks to enemies with basic attacks or Decimate's Blade. This is an innate ability that make your basic attacks and your abilities bleed the enemy for 5 seconds and it can stack upto 5 times as long as there's 5 stacks this will do between 65 and 150 based on level +150% bonus AD physical Damage over that duration.Whenever you get 5 stacks on a target you'll then get Noxian Might and this will give you between 30 and 230 based on level bonus attack damage and instantly applies full Hemorrhage through his usual means.So this here is a really really strong ability because it will give you some extra harassment and makes you really strong in the lane phase and a big time lane bully.

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Q- DecimateAfter a 0.75 second delay, Darius swings his axe in a wide circle. Enemies struck by the blade take 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+1.0 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4 per attack damage) physical damage and receive a stack of Hemorrhage. Enemies struck by the shaft take 35% damage and do not receive a stack of Hemorrhage. Darius also heals himself for 15% of his missing Health for each enemy champion hit by Decimate's blade, up to a maximum of 45%." Range:425 Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 Cost: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 If the enemy gets hit by the shaft of his axe it will not apply Hemorrhage stacks or heal Darius.So therefore, of course you will want to try to hit people with the blade of the axe and not the shaft so you can acutally apply your hemorrhage do a lot more damage than usual and also sustain yourself. Decimate is an amazing ability for farming throughout the lane phase,it'll do a lot of damage to the enemy champion and it's great harassment. In teamfights you want to hit as many targets as possible with Decimate because you can get a massive amount of health back.

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W- Crippling Strike Darius's next attack severs a crucial artery, dealing 150 / 155 / 160 / 165 / 170% of his total attack damage as physical damage and slowing his target by 90% for 1 second. If the target dies, the mana cost of Crippling Strike is refunded and the cooldown is halved. Range:200 Cooldown: 7 / 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5 Cost:30 This ability also resets your auto attack timer.Since it does this it's a pretty great way to stack your bleeds on the target really quickly.Of course this is also a really strong slow so it's a great way to help you stick onto a target.Also keep in mind Crippling Strike is decent for last hitting as well because if there is 2 low minions you can auto attack one to finish it off W to reset your auto attack timer and attack the next one to get both last hits.

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E- Apprehend Passive: Darius hones his axe, granting him 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% armor penetration. Active: Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook, pulling them to him while briefly granting vision in the area around the pull. Enemies pulled by Apprehend are slowed by 40% for 1 second. Range:550 Cooldown: 24 / 21 / 18 / 15 / 12 Cost:45 So this here yet again is another really solid ability because it gives your armour penetration at scales with the points in the ability and it's a great way to pull a target into yourself so you can kill them.

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R- Noxian GuillotineDarius leaps to an enemy Champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing 100 / 200 / 300 (+0.75 per bonus attack damage) true damage. This damage increases by 20% for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target up to a maximum of 200 / 400 / 600 (+1.5 per bonus attack damage) true damage. If Noxian Guillotine is a killing blow, Darius causes all nearby minions and monsters to flee in terror and he can recast the ability for free within the next 20 seconds. This can occur multiple times in succession. At maximum rank, the cooldown will completely reset on kill. Range: 460 Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 Cost: 100 / 0 This here is why Darius is known as the dunk master.It is a really strong execute ability and you will want to try to have Hemorrhage stacks on your target so it will do a ton of damage.You will want to make sure that the enemy will die from this ability so it comes off cooldown and you can dunk multiple targets over and over again if there is a bunch of low enemies.

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Auto Attack Reset with Crippling Strike
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- Auto Attack -> Crippling Strike- This is one of the most important parts of Darius to master,and it’s a very simple Auto Attack Reset. Auto Attacking then immediately using Crippling Strike is a very fast 2 stacks of Hemorrhage. Any time you use Crippling Strike, try to use it after an AA like this.

Crippling Strike Animation Cancel
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- Crippling Strike -> Decimate- Using your Crippling Strike on a target and using Decimate as the Crippling Strike starts to hit will give you an Animation Cancel, which means the time spent casting an ability is canceled out by the use of another ability. Doing this will give you more time to deal more damage. Another benefit of this is that you will slow the enemy as your Decimatecomes out, making it easier to hit.

Disengage Combo with Apprehend into Decimate
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- Apprehend -> Decimate - This is a combo used to disengage and heal. Anytime you get ganked and both of the enemies are stacked up, grabbing then with Apprehend then landing Decimate will typically get you out pretty safely, as well as healing you from the damage you take escaping.

Example Combo
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- Auto Attack -> Crippling Strike -> Auto Attack -> Apprehend -> Auto Attack -> Decimate - A basic 5-stack combo. It’s a very strong trading combo, and if you manage to get them low enough, you may be able to execute with Noxian Guillotine.

During the lane phase farming is the first that's important to focus on generally you will just be using your auto attacks but if you do need to you can always use your Decimate or Crippling Strike because with Crippling Strike if you kill the target it refunds your mana and halves the cooldown of it.
The other part that is important about your lane phase is tradingyou are known as a really strong lane bully and you should try to get and advantage over the enemy laner. Try to hit the enemy and sustain yourself with Decimateand also stack your bleeds on that enemy as well for it's nice harassment.

In the Mid Game keep your wave shoved out by AoE wave clearing with your Decimate. Once you get Trinity Force Your Q is strong enough to clear the casters or (with the additional bleed damage)Letting you quickly shove your wave. Compared to laning phase it's about 10 times more important to trigger your Noxian Might even if it requires flashing on the enemy team to apply the 5th stack or kill stealing someone with your ult.Unlike a 1vs1 or 1vs2 a teamfight is gonna have a lot more damage being thrown around which is why you want to choose the most immobile targets to get your 5 stacks on ASAP.That's why you typically want to get a tank item immediately after Trinity Force or Black Cleaver. If you hook an immobile target with Apprehend start moving to the direction they are likely to retreat to to keep you in auto attack range so you can trigger Noxian Might more reliably. However if the enemy laner is very mobile tell your team to leave someone low for you to ult.Before you ult check if the enemy laner has heal or barrier, the worst thing that can completely shut down Darius' burst in a teamfight is if his ult doesn't reset properly.

In the late game it's about 10 billion more times important to trigger your Noxian Might as soon as possible since having 200 more attack damage and being able to apply 5 stacks instantly makes it dangerous to even stand around Darius.You're far more likely to trigger Noxian Might from kill stealing with your Noxian Guillotine because late game teamfights are going to end much faster than the ones in mid game and no-one's going to give you time to apply 5 stacks. Other than praying and sacrificing enough ghosts, activating Noxian Might is a lot more difficult but if you can hook 3 or 4 people with your Apprehend instead that should be game over since the slow from the hook and the additional slow from your Crippling Strike onto the enemy carry is a sufficient engage for your carries to wipe the enemy team.

When teamfighting on Darius you have to main options:You can either fight on the frontline and try to kill the enemy frontline and peel for your carries or you can always go on the enemy bot line and try to delete the squishy targets instead. You want to use your Decimate to hit as many targets as you can to start stacking your bleeds,deal AoE damage and give yourself a lot of sustain.When you can try to pull in squishy targets with your Apprehend and use your Crippling Strike as an auto attack reset and slow.Of course when targets start getting low make sure to delete them with your Noxian Guillotine and if you can delete multiple over and over again.

Congratulations! You have learnt how to play Darius top lane. Thank you for taking your time to read this guide it means a lot to me, since it's the first guide I have ever created. I would really appreciate it if you give me some feedback or somethings I have missed out/things I have to add. Again I thank you for viewing this guide and I hope you get to the elo you want to get this season as one of us. A Darius main!