Hey everyone, thank you for reading this guide! My name is LePlay and I'm a Jungle main currently playing on the EUW server. If you are interested in unusual and off-meta Jungle picks, you might have already read my Poppy Jungle Guide (and if not, that's ok. I'm not taking it personally :3). I've been maining Ekko in the Jungle since mid-season 8, and it has been one of the most refreshing and fun experiences I've had in this game in months. Despite Ekko being a rather hard champ to play for beginners, this guide features basic information regarding Items, fighting and jungling as well as advanced techniques for the more experienced players out there. There should be something for everyone in this guide! Please don't forget to leave a like and a comment if you enjoyed reading this guide! Feel free to correct me if you find any mistakes, I really appreciate feedback!

Playing and fighting as Ekko is so weirdly entertaining, its quite hard to describe. Imagine a champ with the ridiculous burst damage of an Assassin combined with a control mage's CC, high mobility and a built-in auto-escape/pentakill ultimate. That's Ekko. But there is so much more to this champ than meets the eye: Ekko finds himself in a weird spot, as he's a teamfight-oriented Assassin with great carrying potential. Don't make the mistake of avoiding teamfights while playing as Ekko! Despite being an Assassin , his AOE-focused kit enables Ekko to effectively deal with larger enemy crowds. Not only does his W Parallel Convergence bear the potential to incapacitate the entire enemy team, Ekko's Q Timewinder combined with a well-timed Chronobreak is able to burst down even the toughest teamfighters. Another often disregarded aspect of playing Ekko is his ridiculously low pick and ban rate (both well below 1%), which almost always guarantees that you are able to play him! So whenever your team is lacking either AP-Champs (looking at you, Yasuo mid!) or carries (because your teammates prefer a safer playstyle), you should seriously consider playing Ekko in the Jungle! "Won this fight already - doing it again for fun."

Pros + Incredible early/mid game strength + Huge carry potential + Loads of CC + Decent jungle clear speed + Strong ganks + Great teamfighter + Amazing at stealing objectives + Numerous escape mechanics + Immensely versatile ultimate While being a strong off-meta pick, you shouldn't pick Ekko solely because of his burst damage. Although he is mostly known to be a mid lane Assassin , he bears all the qualitites of an excellent Jungler as well as great teamfighting potential. The enormous amounts of CC that come with his kit enable Ekko to both engage and disengage fights effectively, making him the driving force of game-changing plays. In addition, Ekko's ultimate Chronobreak allows him to safely steal objectives like Baron Nashor or to quickly pull out of unfavorable situations.

Cons - Falls off late game - Has a hard time once behind - Mana dependant early on - Risky first jungle clear - Relies on ultimate in teamfights - Slow solo drakes - Doesn't fit every team comp - Steep learning curve Noone is perfect, and this is also true for Mr. Timebreaker! While Ekko certainly has a fair amount of strengths, there are also some drawbacks of playing him. First and foremost, you won't have a great late game with Ekko. At all. By the time the late game starts, most enemy champions will have sufficient resistances and health to survive almost all of your attempts to burst them down. Secondly, your first Jungle clear is everything but safe; you lose a relatively high amount of health and if the enemy Jungler decides to invade you, chances are that you end up dying and losing your Crest of Insight, which makes subsequent farming and ganking even harder!

DOMINATION

Electrocute (Domination): This keystone is definitely the right choice when it comes to damage-oriented builds. Predator is quite weird on Ekko, not only because it's speed boost is redundant (as you already have enough mobility and CC), but also due to it's relatively high initial damage not making up for a 150 second long cooldown. Back when Dark Harvest worked like Thresh's Damnation, it was actually viable on Jungle champs. However, after Patch 8.23 only a few scenarios allowed for the use of this Rune in the game. Just like Dark Harvest, Hail of Blades makes you miss out on a lot of potential damage. Conqueror vs. Electrocute While the changes to Conqueror in Patch 9.4 might make this Rune viable for some Mages ( Cassiopeia being the most popular), Ekko isn't among them. During a standard combo, you'll usually be able to proc 3, sometimes even 4 stacks of Conqueror (if you get lucky). The whole purpose of taking this Rune, however, is to get the 5th proc in order to (quite literally) unlock Conqueror's true damage potential, making it viable only during extended duels and teamfights. Electrocute is a lot more reliable and enables a rather fast-paced playstyle, which greatly complements your role as a Jungler. That being said, keep in mind that Electrocute is a single-target Rune and comes with a cooldown, which makes teamfighting harder.

Sudden Impact (Domination): This is a simple yet effective Rune on Ekko, as it can be triggered by a single Phase Dive and grants both Lethality and Magic Penetration for 5 seconds. This is especially convenient since Ekko usually uses his E to initiate fights, meaning that the rest of his combo will profit from the increased Magic Penetration. If you'd rather play more early-game focused, you might want to use Cheap Shot instead. However, keep in mind that you can't proc the true damage bonus with a single Timewinder (even if it hits multiple times), as the target has to be already immobilized before your ability hits. Taste of Blood is certainly the least appealing of the 3 options but might come in handy if you expect invades or heavy counter jungling.

Eyeball Collection (Domination): I personally prefer using Eyeball Collection, simply because gaining stacks during the early game is easier compared to Zombie Ward and Ghost Poro. Depending on your playstyle, you might want to consider Ghost Poro (for counter jungling) or Zombie Ward (if you buy an Oracle Lens early) instead.

Ravenous Hunter (Domination): The best thing about Ravenous Hunter is that all of Ekko's abilities - even his passive Z-Drive Resonance - heal him with this Rune, based on how much damage you deal. This does not only work on enemy champions but also on Monsters, granting you a bit of extra sustain in the Jungle and enabling you to solo Drakes and Baron Nashor earlier and safer. The only real drawback is Ravenous Hunter's reduced healing from AOE-Abilities, Ekko's main source of damage during teamfights (bear in mind that this is easily compensated by damaging mulitple enemies). Ingenious Hunter is by far the least effective Domination Rune on Ekko; by the time you get to use your first active item ( Hextech Gunblade or Zhonya's Hourglass), you could've already profited from increased healing or movement speed. The latter is granted by Relentless Hunter, which makes it ideal for ganks and counter jungling. Ultimate Hunter is a beginner-friendly option that allows for a safer playstyle and - combined with CDR gained through items - effectively halves Chronobreak's cooldown!

PRECISION

Triumph (Precision): Triumph is a nice addition to your Runes, as it allows you to stay longer in teamfights and to continue jungling after a successful gank. Triumph also grants 20 Gold for every takedown, which might sound irrelevant at first but quickly adds up to significant amounts of extra money (especially after teamfights). There's a reason why you barely see anyone use Overheal. Is it because you don't get any advantage from a built-in Bloodthirster passive? Or are there simply better alternatives you would miss out on? Perhaps it's the sheer embarrassment of using Overheal itself. Maybe it's a combination of these things. Who knows? Presence of Mind is rather similar to Ultimate Hunter as both allow you to use Chronobreak more often, so if you really want to play safe (or struggle with low Mana), take this Rune.

Legend: Alacrity (Precision): None of the Runes here really fit an AP Ekko's playstyle, Legend: Tenacity might be viable for a tank Ekko build. However, neither of those playstyles rely on auto attacks, which makes both Legend: Alacrity and Legend: Bloodline useless for the most part.

Coup de Grace (Precision): Both Coup de Grace and Last Stand increase your damage output significantly, yet in different ways. Coup de Grace's bonus damage is based on the enemy's missing health, Last Stand offers damage based on your own missing health - as a squishy Assassin , you certainly want to choose Coup de Grace here. In the unlikely case that the enemy team consists of more than a few Tanks or bruisers, you could also resort to Cut Down.

SORCERY

Nimbus Cloak (Sorcery): Nimbus Cloak grants you a Ghost-like speed boost 1.5 seconds after casting your ultimate, which makes escaping via Chronobreak (or chasing down enemies after ulting) even easier! Nullifying Orb could be used as an anti-burst measure against AP-heavy enemy teams, as it scales well into the mid game. Personally, I would only take Manaflow Band if you really struggle with Mana early on, as this Rune is made (more or less) redundant by Hunter's Talisman.

Absolute Focus (Sorcery): Absolute Focus is basically a more risky and less rewarding version of Coup de Grace, as it becomes useless while below 70% health and the flat increase in AP is arguably worse than a 8% overall damage increase. It's quite a challenge to exceed the 40% CDR limit with your standard build, and even if you'd be able to do it regularly, Transcendence's bonus AP is too miniscule for something that's unlocked in the late game. Just like Transcendence, Celerity doesn't offer any real benefits for your playstyle.

Waterwalking (Sorcery): Waterwalking is actually a pretty decent Rune for a Jungler, as it grants both movement speed and AP while in the river. This might seem rather limited at first glance, but keep in mind that numerous important fights in the early and mid game take place in the river - Drake and Baron Nashor, to name a few. Scorch offers hardly any benefit, as it's early and late game bonus damage are both subpar. Gathering Storm is an interesting choice, yet far from an optimal one; Eyeball Collection grants 30 AP sooner, and Gathering Storm's immense late game boost is negligible, as Ekko's win rate plummets after 30 minutes. You could argue that this Rune compensates for Ekko's poor late game performance, but it would be more effective to focus on the early and mid game, ending the game sooner in order to prevent the massive late game fall-off in the first place.

RESOLVE

Shield Bash (Resolve): As you are using Parallel Convergence while ganking, Shield Bash's bonus armor, magic resist and damage offer a nice advantage (especially in the mid game, as Shield Bash's damage is based on the shield amount and Parallel Convergence's shield has a 150% scaling with AP). Demolish is clearly a Rune designed for laners, you hardly get enough opportunities to use it as a Jungler. Also, bear in mind that both Demolish and Font of Life scale exclusively with health, which makes them viable on a tank Ekko build, but not on AP Ekko.

Bone Plating (Resolve): WORK IN PROGRESS

Unflinching (Resolve): Unflinching is a nice option for teamfights, since you can easily proc it by using Smite on an enemy champ or an objective, such as Baron Nashor or a Drake. The gain in tenacity is notable and could easily save your life in a teamfight. Overgrowth is a great choice whenever you want to massively stack HP on your tank Ekko. Revitalize isn't necessarily great, but could benefit you in combination with Ravenous Hunter's heal.

INSPIRATION

Magical Footwear (Inspiration): WORK IN PROGRESS

Future's Market (Inspiration): The only case in which taking this Rune makes sense would be when you are matched against a hyper-carry Jungler and don't want the risk of falling behind item-wise. My only issue is, that taking proper Runes might actually prevent this scenario more effectively. Just like Future's Market, Minion Dematerializer and Biscuit Delivery are equally redundant in the Jungle.

Approach Velocity (Inspiration): WORK IN PROGRESS

STARTING ITEMS

350 GOLD

Hunter's Machete (Starting Item): Out of your two possible choices for a Jungle starting item, Hunter's Machete is probably the worst. Not only does a champion like Ekko - who heavily relies on abilities - not profit from the increased basic attack damage and Life Steal, you also lack crucial amounts of Mana Regeneration. I can't imagine a single scenario where you would take this item over Hunter's Talisman.

350 GOLD

Hunter's Talisman (Starting Item): Your go-to starting item for jungling. Hunter's Talisman provides a handful of benefits. First off (and most importantly) it offers a significant amount of Mana Regeneration. While a maximum of 40 Mana per 5 seconds doesn't seem like much at first, it really contributes a lot to Ekko's early Jungle clears - you spend over 2 minutes on your first clear, which culminates in a whopping 1080 extra Mana from this item alone! While you do miss out on Hunter's Machete's 10% Lifesteal against Monsters, Hunter's Talisman also offers healing to some extent.

50 GOLD

Health Potion (Starting Item): There is hardly any reason nowadays to not buy Health Potions as a Jungler. Basically, you get everything you need at the cheapest possible price. Only a few Jungler (namely Warwick and Shaco) are able to survive the Jungle without potions, and because you (hopefully) don't want to end up dying 2 times in your first minute jungling, you should buy some health juice. Your only real alternative to Health Potions - Refillable Potions - offer you significantly less healing at the same price point (3 Health Potions restore 450 health for 150 Gold, 2 Refillable Potions restore 250 health for 150 Gold).

150 GOLD

Refillable Potion (Starting Item): Over the course of the past year, I've noticed a growing reluctance to buying Refillable Potions in the Jungle. The removal of Hunter's Potion - which is the upgraded version of Refillable Potion - after Patch 9.9 was probably the final nail in it's coffin. Admittedly, while not being the optimal starting item, Refillable Potion still is somehow viable, depending on your situation. Especially beginners that find themselves going back to base often could profit from this potion. So whenever you find yourself in difficult matchups against either champions that are notorious for invading your Jungle ( Lee Sin, Shaco, Trundle, Xin Zhao, etc.) or champs that usually gank early on and force you to defend the corresponding lane ( Lee Sin, Twitch, Xin Zhao, Jarvan IV), you should consider buying Refillable Potion (generally speaking whenever you have to fight early and retreat before you are able to clear your entire Jungle).

CORE ITEMS

2500 GOLD

Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes (Core Item): To begin with, you should definetely take Stalker's Blade aka. Blue Smite! A teamfight oriented build like this one doesn't really profit from higher dueling power that comes with Skirmisher's Sabre. What's more important is the fact that you would lack lots of utility from Chilling Smite. You can use this spell both offensively to catch up to an enemy who's kiting you and defensively to quickly get away from them. Runic Echoes is obviously the build path you want to take here! While the ability damage, cooldown reduction and Mana it grants are nice additions to your kit, Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes' unique passive is what makes this early game item stand out. Just like Fleet Footwork and Kircheis Shard, you charge your item whenever you move or attack. Upon reaching 100 charges, your next ability damages multiple targets, deals bonus damage and even restores 25% of your missing Mana, if the target is a large monster.

3400 GOLD

Hextech Gunblade (Core Item): I truly adore this item! Hextech Gunblade offers more survivability through it's passive, a slowing active which makes chasing and kiting people easier, and decent amounts of AP and AD - basically everything you need! Hextech Gunblade improves nearly every aspect of Ekko's playstyle, which is why it is a must-have, regardless of the enemy team's choice of champs or the game's lenght. As soon as you acquiere this item, you'll notice the difference!

3200 GOLD

Lich Bane (Core Item): Once you buy this item, you unlock Ekko's true damage potential! Lich Bane's stats are not bad to begin with, offering damage and Mana as well as CDR and even some extra movement speed - everything you need in the mid game. However, the real reason to buy this item is it's passive, spellblade: every 1.5 seconds, your next basic attack after using an ability is greatly enhanced, dealing more than triple its regular damage. Keep in mind that this ability scales with 50% of your AP, making it increasingly powerful throughout the game. What's more is that the entire effect can be triggered by a single Phase Dive and it even affects Turrets, making this item ideal on Ekko.

2900 GOLD

Zhonya's Hourglass (Core Item): Zhonya's Hourglass is not only great against AD-heavy teams, but also a nice tool in teamfights, which helps you to nullify the attacks of 5 angry enemy players raining down on you. This item also proves to be great in combination with Chronobreak, as it enables you to withstand the enemy team's Crowd Control in teamfights. Once their attacks are on cooldown and Zhonya's stasis ends, you can safely ult away. You can use Zhonya's Hourglass in a similiar manner to bypass the time Chronobreak needs to be positioned ontop of the enemy team, while being amidst said team.

SITUATIONAL OFFENSIVE ITEMS

1400 GOLD

Mejai's Soulstealer (Situational Offensive Item): From a purely ekkonomical standpoint, Mejai's Soulstealer outclasses every other item available. This high risk/high rewards item bears the potential to decide the game's outcome, depending on how you use it. If you find yourself in a game that's both champ- and performance-wise in your favor and decide to invest early in Mejai's Soulstealer, chances are you will snowball into madness and beyond - until you are killed.

2400 GOLD

Twin Shadows (Situational Offensive Item): Let's be honest: You definetely won't buy Twin Shadows because of it's great stats or because of how much it reminds you of your beloved Frost Queen's Claim. Instead, buying this item grants you access to an immensely useful active ability: spectral persuit. You can utilize this ability as a scouting tool, for example, to find the enemies closest to Baron Nashor. Moreover, you can track stealthed enemies like Shaco, Rengar, Pyke and Twitch with your spooky companions, as they follow champs even after they become invisible. However, if the enemy was already stealthed before you used Twin Shadows' active, it doesn't work. Last but not least, Twin Shadows can be used to catch enemies who are running away from you by slowing them down considerably. And most importantly, you find the item by searching for "spooky" in the shop...

2900 GOLD

Spellbinder (Situational Offensive Item): If you find yourself often in teamfights or simply feel like you need that tiny bit of extra AP, you should buy Spellbinder.

3200 GOLD

Luden's Echo (Situational Offensive Item): Although Luden's Tempest boasts incredible stats - 90 AP and 600 Mana, to name some - I rarely build it on Ekko. This is probably the case because once Luden's Tempest becomes available in the mid/late game, Ekko rarely has any Mana problems, and Rabadon's Deathcap offers significantly more AP. Additionally, Ekko's cooldowns are low enough already, a lack of Luden's Tempest in your inventory doesn't limit your ability to deal damage. Don't forget that Luden's passive is basically identical to Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes' one. However, I could imagine that Luden's Tempest makes for a great replacement for Stalker's Blade - Runic Echoes in the late game - as long as you don't mind losing Chilling Smite and lifesteal in the Jungle.

3600 GOLD

Rabadon's Deathcap (Situational Offensive Item): Oh come on, you know what this item is for! It's called Deathcap!

SITUATIONAL DEFENSIVE ITEMS

3100 GOLD

Liandry's Torment (Situational Defensive Item): I know it's weird to put an item like Liandry's Torment in the "Defensive Items" category, as it is known for increasing your damage output and dealing percent health damage over time. However, I mainly buy Liandry's Torment whenever I am behind and lacking survivability, simply because this item still allows you to deal decent amounts of damage in teamfights. This enables you to effectively impact the game and somewhat compensates for your lack of 1vs1 strength in this scenario.

2600 GOLD

Rylai's Crystal Scepter (Situational Defensive Item): Rylai's Crystal Scepter is an amazing defensive and offensive item, as it features bonus health stats and the ability to slow enemy champs down, as well as high amounts of extra AP and... the ability to slow enemy champs down! You see, the greatest aspect of this item is not it's low price point (although that's great, too), but the sheer versatility of Rylai's Crystal Scepter's passive ability. It helps with both getting away from enemies and peeling them off your carries, but also catching enemies and once you have an enemy in your combo, they'll have a hard time escaping, since this passive ability doesn't come with a cooldown!

3000 GOLD

Morellonomicon (Situational Defensive Item): Morellonomicon is a great choice whenever you deal with an enemy building Spirit Visage ( Darius, Vladimir, Nasus, Dr. Mundo), as it tackles 2 problems at once: Morellonomicon's bonus Magic Penetration somewhat counteracts Spirit Visage's increased magic resistance, and the passive, cursed strike, applies grievous wounds - basically Ignite minus the damage, as it decreases healing by 40%. Feel free to also use Morellonomicon's passive against perma-healing ADCs like Vayne or Draven!

3000 GOLD

Banshee's Veil (Situational Defensive Item): Sadly, Banshee's Veil is currently the only available AP-focused item to feature magic resistance in the shop. What makes this item particularly interesting while fighting AP-heavy teams is not only the whopping 60 bonus magic resist, but also it's spell-blocking passive ability. Just like Sivir's Spell Shield and Nocturne's Shroud of Darkness, this ability allows you to ignore an enemy's ability, making Banshee's Veil quite powerful in 1vs1 scenarios.

BOOTS

1100 GOLD

Sorcerer's Shoes (Boots): These are your go-to boots, as they grant you enough Magic Penetration to cancel out most early and mid game magic resist items, allowing you to snowball even faster!

1100 GOLD

Mercury's Treads (Boots): Mercury's Treads reduce the effects of immobilizes, the extra magic resist is convenient, too. Whenever you face a bunch of AP champs or want to avoid a 5 minute long stun in teamfights, buy this item. That being said, keep in mind that just because the enemy has some Crowd Control, doesn't always mean that you should buy Mercury's Treads: stuns, for example, have a minimum duration and can't be shortened below that.

1100 GOLD

Ninja Tabi (Boots): You will find yourself buying this item rarely as Ekko, yet when you do, you probably won't solely because of the bonus armor it grants. Instead, the ability to block 12% of all incoming damage caused by basic attacks makes this pair of boots quite effective against Master Yi, Yasuo and of course most ADCs.

PASSIVE ABILITY

Z-Drive Resonance (Passive): This ability is one of the reasons why Ekko makes such a good Jungler: after Patch 7.21, the damage of Z-Drive Resonance was doubled against Monsters, enabling Ekko to clear camps faster and safer. Similar to Vi's Denting Blows, Z-Drive Resonance deals significant bonus damage on every third attack against the same enemy - the difference being that Z-Drive Resonance can be stacked with abilities, too! So whenever you hit an enemy with your Timewinder, you already apply 2 stacks of Z-Drive Resonance. Furthermore, applying 3 stacks to an enemy champ grants you a massive speed boost, which can be utilized to catch up on fleeing enemies during ganks. Keep in mind that this passive ability has a 5 second cooldown on each target, meaning that you can't continue building up stacks on an enemy you've already damaged with Z-Drive Resonance in the last 5 seconds. However, there is nothing keeping you from procing this ability on other enemies! Tips & Tricks A valid tactic is to attack the enemy while being chased, in order to proc Z-Drive Resonance's third stack and get a speed boost. This can be achieved by throwing Timewinder towards an enemy champ, auto-attacking them while they are slowed and immediately running away from them. If your (still active) Timewinder is lined up correctly, it will rush towards you, damaging the enemy in the process and granting you a speed boost. Ability Info Cooldown: 5 Ekko's Zero-Drive charges his spells and attacks with temporal energy, making him build up Resonance stacks on enemies which last up to 4 seconds. Every third stack deals 30-140 bonus magic damage (200% damage vs monsters). If the target is a champion, Ekko also gains 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% movement speed for the duration. Z-Drive Resonance cannot affect the same target twice within 5 seconds.

Q

Timewinder (Q): There really isn't much to discuss about this ability: Timewinder is Ekko's main source of damage, and while the whole concept of "your Q comes flying back towards you" may seem awkward at first, it really isn't too hard to understand once you played Ekko a few times. Although your initial Q deals more damage in the early game, the further the game progresses (and the more AP you get), the more important it becomes to hit your retracting Timewinder, as it has higher AP scaling and deals more damage. Tips & Tricks Using Timewinder in the Jungle near walls proves to be risky, since the ability passes right through terrain. Because nearby enemies are able to spot your weird, glowing time disk through walls, stealing your enemy's Crimson Raptor or Gromp often results in the corresponding laner rushing towards you. To minimize the risk of giving away your position in the Jungle, always make sure to either cast Timewinder away from nearby lanes or to lure the Monster towards the center of the Jungle first. You can cast your Q while dashing with Phase Dive or shortly after, in order to prevent enemies from dodging Timewinder. Using this technique, you can proc Z-Drive Resonance's stacks faster and more reliably. By far the easiest way to escape a fight is by casting Timewinder behind you while running away to slow enemies, followed by a Phase Dive dash forward. Last but not least, when approaching the Wolves, make sure you cast Timewinder not in front of them, but when you are besides the camp, allowing you to hit all 3 Wolves at once while they are lined up. Ability Info Range: 1075 Cooldown: 9 / 8.5 / 8 / 7.5 / 7 Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 Ekko throws a device in a target direction, dealing 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 130 (+30% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies along its path. At maximum range or if it hits an enemy champion, the device slows to a stop and expands, creating a slowing field which slows enemies inside it by 32 / 39 / 46 / 53 / 60%. After a short delay, the device contracts and rushes back to Ekko, dealing 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+60% of ability power) additional magic damage to all enemies along its path.

W

Parallel Convergence (W): Parallel Convergence is by far one of the game's strongest non-ultimate abilities! It's versatility stems from the combination of the passive - basically a built-in Coup de Grace that also works on Jungle camps - and the active AOE-stun/massive shield combination. This ability bears not only great potential for ganks and teamfights, but also as defensive means to peel off enemies with Parallel Convergence's slow, by placing it behind yourself or a vulnerable carry. When it comes to Parallel Convergence's passive, there are also some things to bear in mind: The bonus damage is only active once the target has less than 30% health. This is also true for Jungle monsters, meaning that you'll clear camps faster the sooner you reach that amount of health on a Monster. So instead of using Smite in the very last moment to finish off the Monster, you should Smite earlier while jungling with Ekko to reach the pivotal 30% health mark sooner. While this doesn't seem like much, it will save you some important seconds early in the game, allowing you to gank sooner! Tips & Tricks Casting this ability while unseen by the enemy allows you to surprise them, as they can't see Parallel Convergence's animation or target position until it's too late. A great way to push Turrets in teamfights is to place your W directly underneath the enemy's tower (where the enemy team most likely stands to defend it), followed by a Phase Dive through the chronosphere, dashing to the Turret itself. This will most likely catch the enemy team off-guard and allows you to stun them, without being targetet by the Turret. The reason why you want to skill Parallel Convergence first is not only to make use of the passive bonus damage, but also to impress your team! If you time your W correctly and place it on the Blue Sentinel's camp exactly 3 seconds before it spawns, it will detonate just as the Sentinel jumps into the camp, freezing it in time mid-air. Ability Info Range: 1600 Cooldown: 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 Passive: Ekko's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage to enemies under 30% Health equal to 3% (+1% per 33 ability power) of their missing Health (min 15 and max 400 damage vs. minions and monsters). Active: After a 3 second delay, Ekko creates a short-lived chronosphere at the target location that slows enemies who enter by 40%. If Ekko enters the sphere, he will detonate it, gaining a shield that absorbs 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+150% of ability power) damage for 2 seconds. Enemies caught inside are also stunned for 1.75 seconds.

E

Phase Dive (E): This ability is truly a Jungler's dream! Phase Dive combines the qualities of a powerful ganking tool with a gap closer - not only granting you bonus damage (which is further enhanced by items like Lich Bane and Hextech Gunblade) and range on your next basic attack, but also giving you the ability to approach objectives like Baron Nashor or Drakes from virtually any direction. The latter makes stealing Drakes a breeze for Ekko! Tips & Tricks While escaping, you can make use of Phase Dive's mini-teleport by either attacking Minions or Jungle Plants. This will carry you forward, giving you a slight edge in a chase - this can of course also be done while chasing someone. You can also use Phase Dive's mini-teleport to circumvent a Drake's annoying knock back at the start of the fight. Simply trigger the fight by using Timewinder on the Drake, dash away with Phase Dive and blink back into the fight by auto-attacking the Drake afterwards. Ability Info Range: 325 Cooldown: 9 / 8.5 / 8 / 7.5 / 7 Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 Ekko dashes a short distance in the targeted direction. He gains 300 bonus attack range on his next attack, which deals 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+40% of ability power) bonus magic damage and teleports him to his target.

R

Chronobreak (R): good ability. Tips & Tricks The great thing about Chronobreak is it's ridiculous versatility. This Swiss Army Knife Timemachine can be utilized to quickly retreat from a fight, to heal and attempt another attack or to finally get your well-deserved pentakill! Both the heal and damage scale well with AP, the latter easily reaching over 1000 magic damage in the late game! Probably the most important aspect of using Chronobreak to it's full potential is to always keep an eye on the target position. This guarantees that you won't accidentally ult behind enemy lines when you actually just want to get out of a fight. I've noticed that unexperienced Ekko players - junglers and mid laners alike - tend to use Chronobreak more defensively, to get to safety after tower diving or to get out of the baron's pit after stealing Baron Nashor. People that are more familiar with this ability often use it as a powerful surprise attack or even to teleport back into a fight from spawn (this can be done by recalling near a fight, regenerating health at the spawn for less than 4 seconds and activating Chronobreak afterwards). In order to align your ult correctly and maximize it's potential damage, you can either lure an unsuspecting enemy onto your "been here 4 seconds ago"-mark by running away from them, or by dashing (or flashing) into the enemy team and narrowly escaping them, only to ult back into their team to nuke 'em down. However, don't risk dying and use Chronobreak sooner than you might want! It has happened more than just a few times that I was certain to avoid death by using Chronobreak, only to be stunned in the very last moment, preventing me from ulting away. Ability Info Cooldown: 110 / 90 / 70 Cost: 100 Ekko shatters his timeline, becoming untargetable and teleporting him back to wherever he was 4 seconds ago. Ekko heals himself for 100 / 150 / 200 (+60% of ability power) (+20% of the damage taken over the last 4 seconds), and deals 150 / 300 / 450 (+150% of ability power) magic damage to all nearby enemies on arrival. Chronobreak's heal is increased by 3% for each 1% of maximum health lost in the last 4 seconds. Chronobreaking through Parallel Convergence will trigger the stun and shield.

90s CD

Smite (Primary Spell): You definetely need Smite if you want to jungle - there is no way around this. This spell enables you to buy necessary starting Items ( Hunter's Machete & Hunter's Talisman), clear the Jungle faster and healthier, contest objectives like Baron Nashor or the Elder Dragon and it also applies different effects to enemy champions ( Chilling Smite and Challenging Smite). Due to it's fairly short cooldown it truly is a powerful tool you shouldn't miss out on. Please don't try to jungle without it. Please.

300s CD

Flash (Secondary Spell): This is usually the standard secondary spell for every champion in the Jungle (except Hecarim, Olaf and Shaco) and Ekko is no different, simply because of how versatile Flash is! You can easily use it to traverse the Jungle to get away from an enemy by flashing over impassable terrain, but also to flash towards an enemy who's trying to get away from you followed by your E-Q-combo - a guaranteed kill. Long story short: You can't make something wrong by taking Flash.

180s CD

Ghost (Secondary Spell): Ghost is compared to the alternatives a rather experimental summoner spell, but that doesn't make it any less viable. Whenever you want to focus on an aggressive playstyle with lots of ganks, you should consider taking Ghost. Compared to Flash, it bears a significantly lower cooldown (3 minutes instead of 5 minutes), allowing you to use it more often. The only downside is your lack of escape mechanics, which could be somewhat compensated by your Phase Dive's dash.

JUNGLE CAMPS

LARGE MONSTERS

1:30

Blue Sentinel (Respawns in 5:00): Grants Crest of Insight & 100 Gold

1:30

Red Brambleback (Respawns in 5:00): Grants Crest of Cinders & 100 Gold

1:30

Greater Murk Wolf (Respawns in 2:30): Grants 100 Gold

1:30

Crimson Raptor (formerly Razorbeaks) (Respawns in 2:30): Grants 112 Gold

1:42

Gromp (Respawns in 2:30): Grants 86 Gold

1:42

Ancient Krug (Respawns in 2:30): Grants 160 Gold

3:15

Rift Scuttler (Respawns in 2:30): Grants Speed Shrine & 70 - 140 Gold

EPIC MONSTERS

5:00

Elemental Drakes (Respawn in 5:00): Grant Dragon Slayer & 100 Gold

35:00

Elder Dragon (Respawns in 6:00): Grants Aspect of the Dragon & 350 Gold

9:50

Rift Herald (Despawns at 19:45): Grants Eye of the Herald & 100 Gold

20:00

Baron Nashor (Respawns in 7:00): Grants Hand of Baron & 325 Gold

JUNGLE ROUTES

Let's get into jungling, arguably the most important part of... well, being a Jungler! Ever since the Patch 9.9 changes to the Jungle, playing Ekko has been notably easier, as he doesn't need to contest the Rift Scuttler at minute 2:00 anymore, leaving him less fragile and vulnerable to duels early on. You should start at your Blue Sentinel whenever possible because you heavily rely on the Mana Regeneration for your first clear. The alternative - Red Brambleback - doesn't enhance your Jungle clear speed noticeably, ultimately because Ekko can't quite make use of Crest of Cinders in the Jungle. Another advantage of starting at the blue buff is that Gromp and Wolves - the Jungle camps right next to the Blue Sentinel - are easier and safer to clear than the Raptors. Your focus early on should be map control, which can be achieved by placing Wards in the river, the enemy Jungle and near objectives (like the Drake's pit). This allows you to track the enemy Jungler, prevent their ganks and at the same time initiate safe ganks yourself, as you will know where the enemy Jungler is , thus preventing counterganks. Ekko isn't exactly great at regularly taking Drakes himself, but easily outclasses most other champs in terms of stealing them! Don't waste time preparing and taking them yourself (unless you just won a teamfight and your whole team helps you taking down the Drake). Phase Dive enables you to quickly get in and out of the Drake's pit and a well-placed Parallel Convergence is able to stun the entire enemy team, keeping their Jungler from using Smite.

1

Route 1 (Medium): Classic Jungling Ends at ~3:45 with player level 3, 850 Gold, Crest of Cinders, a Speed Shrine in the river and enough health for a gank

1:30

Blue Sentinel (Finished at ~1:45): Grants Crest of Insight and player level 2 Info: Use a Health Potion here!

1:48

Gromp (Finished at ~2:00) Info: Use Smite here!

2:05

Greater Murk Wolf (Finished at ~2:30) Info: Use a Health Potion here!

2:40

Red Brambleback (Finished at ~3:02): Grants Crest of Cinders and player level 3 Info: Use a Health Potion here!

3:05

Crimson Raptor (Finished at ~3:20) Info: Use Smite here!

3:25

Rift Scuttler (Finished at ~3:45): Grants instant health and mana and a Speed Shrine

2

Route 2 (Medium/Hard): Vertical Jungling Ends at ~3:45 with player level 3, 900 Gold, a stolen enemy Crest of Cinders, a second Crest of Cinders (or a Speed Shrine in the river) and enough health for a gank

1:30

Blue Sentinel (Finished at ~1:45): Grants Crest of Insight and player level 2 Info: Use a Health Potion here!

2:02

Enemy Red Brambleback (Finished at ~2:22): Grants Crest of Cinders Info: Use Smite here!

2:40

Gromp (Finished at ~2:52) Info: Use a Health Potion here!

2:57

Greater Murk Wolf (Finished at ~3:15): Grants player level 3

3:25

Rift Scuttler (Finished at ~3:45): Grants instant health and mana and a Speed Shrine Info: Use Smite here!

OR

3:25

Ally Red Brambleback (Finished at ~3:40): Grants Crest of Cinders Info: Use a Health Potion here!

GANKING

While jungling, you should help your teammates whenever necessary by either keeping the enemy from killing them or by actively trying to kill the enemy. Keep in mind, however, that the latter can be quite challenging before you reach level 3 (as you lack Phase Dive), which is why you should try to finish your first Jungle clear. In contrast, preventing the enemy from killing your laners in the early game can be done rather effectively even without using your abilities, by simply being present: You can often prohibit the enemy from bursting down your low-life mid laner by walking up to them without actually being able to kill them - this can be done as soon as level 2! The same goes for tower diving enemies: Just place yourself between your recalling ally and the enemy, and they will most likely not even consider attacking!
You should definetely try to capitalize on your enemy's mistakes whenever you gank, overstaying with little health to get the last minion wave before recalling is the most common one. Always make use of your Parallel Convergence and it's immense 1.75 seconds stun! This becomes substantially less difficult when the enemy can only escape via a single route, since you can place Parallel Convergence directly in their path. This is why you should try to gank near choke points or walls, for instance on top and bot lane. If you, for example, catch the enemy top laner off-guard while ganking, chances are that they will automatically try to escape by running through the brushes (positioned at the top of the lane) towards their Turret. Ideally, placing Parallel Convergence where the enemy will exit the third brush leads to a kill. This is of course also true for bot lane. The mid lane turns out to be slightly more difficult to gank, mainly because of it's central position on the map; Depending on where you approach from, the enemy is able to simply walk in the opposite direction (if you gank from the bot-side river, they'll most likely escape through the top-side river or Jungle).
You'll reach your power spike after acquiring Lich Bane, which happens somewhere around the mid game. This is where you should fully unleash your ganking power and push the corresponing lane whenever you are able to get a kill. Don't hesitate to help your allies push a Turret, since Lich Bane - in combination with Hextech Gunblade's bonus AD - empowers your Phase Dive's basic attack even more and makes pushing pretty easy. Patch 8.23 shifted the meta slightly in favor of a more aggressive, early game push-focused playstyle, as it introduced turret plating - basically bonus Gold you get whenever you damage a Turret enough. This is yet another reason to push lanes if possible, however, keep in mind that attacking Turrets during the first 5 minutes of the game yields only little results, as their fortification blocks 50% of all damage.
Also, don't be afraid to tax a lane if your gank is unsuccessful! Taxing (taking a few Minions from a lane) helps you to compensate for the camps you couldn't clear while ganking. This prevents you from falling behind and becoming useless and no, taxing doesn't "mess up your lane, bro". Just make sure to not exaggerate and you'll be fine!

Champion: The character a player is using in League of Legends (e.g. Ekko)

Jungle: The Jungle is the area between the lanes, where monsters spawn

Objectives: An objective is an object that provides an advantage to the team that controls it (e.g. Baron Nashor, Drake, Turret)

CC: Crowd Control (short CC) refers to effects that impair a players ability to control a champ (e.g. slows, stuns, fears)

Cooldowns: Each active ability (and some passive ones) need some time to recharge before they can be activated again, called cooldown

Kiting: If you are running away from an enemy while you simultaneously damage them, you are kiting them

9.16

E - Phase Dive BONUS DAMAGE 40/65/90/115/140 ⇒ 50/75/100/125/150 R - Chronobreak COOLDOWN 110/90/70 seconds ⇒ 110/80/50 seconds

9.18

W - Parallel Convergence COST 50/55/60/65/70 mana ⇒ 30/35/40/45/50 mana STUN DURATION 1.75 seconds ⇒ 2.25 seconds

12. July

Guide created

4. August

Version 0.9 released (Patch 9.15)

5. August

Version 1.0 released (Patch 9.15)

14. August

Version 1.1 released (Patch 9.16): Patch History added

Coming soon

Version 1.2 released: Tank Ekko build added