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You outrange her, have more damage and stronger poke. Stay behind minions to dodge Volley and post-6 be careful not to get initiated with her ultimate.
Corki
Abuse your range advantage and harass from safe range. Play around his cooldowns and have in mind that he is very mana hungry. Don't let him get in your face because he has stronger all-in potential than you. Post level 6 you will be fine as long as you can sidestep his ultimate.
Draven
Again he has more damage than you in all-in fights but you should abuse your range advantage and poke him whenever possible. A good time to do this is when he is about to catch his axe or while he is heading towards it.
Ezreal
He can kind of make up for his range disadvantage by last hitting and trying to harass with his Q. However, you can still stay behind your minions, attack him whenever he gets close, freeze the lane and zone him. Make sure this doesn't end up in a kitefest for him because he has good all-in fights.
Graves
His has great burst but he shouldn't be able to get in your face. Just poke him with basic attacks whenever possible. When trading with in a 2vs2 fight or so do not get close to him and just kite him from distance until he falls low on hp. He deals more damage when you're close to his Q and R.
Jinx
Jinx can return the damage thanks to her Q and she can also trade much more effectively in an all-out fight. The right time to attack is when she is using her Minigun since there is a cast time until she swaps to the rocket launcher. Abuse her lack of mobility by asking for ganks and initiating trades when she is out of position and/or has wasted one of her CC spells. If you get low on hp, recall immediately as her ultimate is ridiculous.
Lucian
After the nerfs on his AA and Q range it's much easier for you to zone him by poking him with AA. Just make sure he doesn't get in your face with his damage and mobility. Disengage immediately with E.
Miss Fortune
She has some good, long range damage with her combo and her ultimate but you can easily avoid taking all that damage by using your E and not staying right behind minions. Use your basic attacks and Q to harass her and put your traps in the lane. Attack her frequently and abuse the AA range advantage so that she doesn't get the MS boost.
Quinn
Poke her do not stay close or in front of you creeps so that you don't get blinded and if she starts a trade disengage with your E. You can easily zone or kill Quinn pre 6. If she ults on you disengage with E and kite her as much as possible since she is now melee.
Sivir
Not as hard as you may imagine. She can block your spells but her shield has a long cooldown and there is enough room for you to use your Q. You can also intentionally sacrifise your W/E for a good Q/ult. Post 6 she can get in your face with her ultimate but if you dodge the Boomerang you will be fine. Also remember that you have an insane range advantage so poke her with AA at any opportunity.
Tristana
Go very aggressive in levels 1-4 and try to zone her or at least to get a remarkable advantage because otherwise she will be able to easily beat you post 6. It's all about that start.
Twitch
Shouldn't be much trouble. Just attack him when he is going to last hit and when he turns invisible. If gets in your face with his Q, disengage with E. Same yields for when he is aiming you with his ultimate.
Varus
Varus can cause you some trouble as he has good trading potential and good harass. Keep in mind though that he needs to first land 2-3 attack to deal maximum damage and that you still have more range than him. Poke him whenever he is about to last hit and dodge his skillshots with your E. Shouldn't cause you much trouble as long as you avoid extended trades and getting caught in his ultimate.
Vayne
Very easy matchup where the only thing you have to do is harass her whenever possible. However, you should really zone her or kill her pre 6. Vayne powerspikes once she gets her ultimate and might attempt an 1vs1 or 2vs2 fight. Disengage with E, create distance, kite and come back once the effect is off.
Kog'Maw
Kog'maw has the slight edge in this matchup because he can return most of the harass pre 6 thanks to his long range from W. Post 6 he completely outdamages you. You should try to sidestep his skillshot and poke him when his W is on cd. Having your jungler gank also works wonder because Kog'Maw is very immobile.
Hello ladies and gentlemen! I am TROLLing1999 and I am really happy to welcome you to the second and improved version of my Caitlyn guide. I archived my previous 4 Guides on a whim because I felt it was really hard to keep the updated and at a good state, especially after Patch 4.10. Now I remade my Caitlyn guide and intend to keep it public at least until the end of the season.
Just like in the first version of the guide, I will attempt to share with you all my knowledge on Caitlyn. However, my experience in the game has improved a lot since the 1st version, meaning that this piece will include more in-depth information and advanced tips about The Sheriff of Piltover.
Without further ado...Welcome to A Guide to Headshooting as Caitlyn!
I am TROLLing1999(IGN: theWarchief13) and I play on the EUNE server. I've been playing League of Legends since late Season 1(I started when Orianna was released). I started playing ranked in Season 2 with disappointing results. Currently I am sitting in Silver 1 and hopefully I will be at least gold by the end of the season. In ranked queues I am playing almost exclusively as an ADC/ marksman. Caitlyn has been one of my top and most successful picks and after having really positive results with her, the time felt right for me to make guide.
A marksman is a ranged attacker who sacrifices defensive power and utility to focus on dealing strong, continuous damage to individual targets. Typically focused on using their basic attacks more than their abilities, marksmen have the capability to scale and deal out devastating levels of damage in the late phase of any game.
An AD Carry Marksman is defined by a champion who deals most of its damage by auto-attacks and therefore needs the most offensive items to be successful. AD Carries are normally found in the Bottom Lane of Summoner's Rift. They farm as long and as much as possible in order to buy offensive items to become stronger. A Support should be at their side, supporting them through the laning phase. Early on, the AD Carry must be helped by the team in order to become powerful enough to start carrying the team themselves.
Long Range: Caitlyn's Auto Attack and Spell Range are both quite high. They allow her to harass in lane, kite late game, apply pressure, zone and siege.
Area control with Yordle Snap Trap: Few abilities are more suitable for limiting an enemy's actions in lane and zoning them.
Escape mechanism thanks to 90 Caliber Net: That's one more reason why Caitlyn is a very safe pick.
General zoning and sieging potential + raw DPS: Caitlyn's kit is desired in almost any team comp because of her ability to zone enemies(early), siege turrets(mid-late) and of course be dangerous in teamfights(late).
Weaknesses
Attracts Ganks: Caitlyn's aggressive playstyle can easily attract the enemy jungler if you're not very careful. Shouldn't be much of a problem though as long as the river is warded and 90 Caliber Net is off cooldown.
Average in all-out fights: Unlike Lucian or Graves Caitlyn hasn't got much power in extended/ all-out fights before Infinity Edge. Her power lies in constant harassment and not in all-ins.
Falls off mid game: Not that big an issue as long as you have got a lead early. However, if you're not careful now, you might see a Vayne or Draven snowballing at your face.
High mana costs/ High Cooldowns: Unfortunately, you can't spam your spells as much as you'd like to and you have to manage your mana pool well. Otherwise you can find yourself in unpleasant situations.
Caitlyn in the right Team Composition
As mentioned above, Caitlyn is an all-round carry. She has elements suited for about any team composition. In other words, Caitlyn theoretically works with whatever champions your allies decided to pick. However, there are some team comps whighlight these strenghts best and as a consequence, this is where Caitlyn functions best. Let's have a quick look at them.
This is clearly a team composition centered around poking, clearing waves and sieging. Caitlyn can easily play at the side of the most popular harassers in the game like Ziggs, Jayce and Karma and with her long range physical damage and zoning potential she could help poking down opponents and taking down turrets. The addition of Elise in this team comp is absolutely legit, as Elise has insane turret dives and ok-ish engage/ disengage potential in teamfights, while being very tanky.
This the team that best suits Caitlyn since it is allows her to use all her advantages to the full. There is a considerable amount of poke in there with the combination of Orianna( Lux and Lulu also come to mind), Nami and Caitlyn. Shyvana is kind of ann odd choice but she is actually a nice addition. She can completely zone enemies in teamfights with her tankiness and she deals a considerable amount of AoE damage. Lee Sin could be replaced with Vi or Elise, the only thing neccessary is a jungler with snowballing potential early-mid game.
If you haven't yet noticed the great thing about the team composition above, allow me to give you the answer. The quadraple combination of poke, waveclear, potential to make easy engages via CC and the ability of each individual to protect and directly help Caitlyn are the reasons that this composition is just amazing for sieging and teamfighting.
These are the one and only choice for Caitlyn. The extra AD will help you last hit more fluently(ArPen doesn't help much because minions have already low base armor) and will also boost your damage in trades.
5
After the rune changes in Patch 4.5 these runes were buffed and now they provide you with a lot of defense. Combined with Armor Seals they give the most durability for marksmen who are not running Armor Quints.
4
After the rune changes in Patch 4.5 these runes were nerfed and there is no reason to run more than 4 or 5 of them. Combined with Health Seals they give the most durability for marksmen who are not running Armor Quints.
9
Most supports deal magic damage and this is the best way to ensure that they don't harm you too much. Many marksmen or junglers have abilities that deal magic damage as well. You can use Scaling MRes if you feel safe.
2
Caitlyn benefits a lot from these runes. You can land more AA's when trading, charge Headshot faster, last hit easier and of course apply the on-hit sustain from Doran's Blade more frequently.
1
You need the extra AD Quint. It will help you last hit with much more efficiency, especially under your turret and at levels 1 to 3. Furthermore, the reasons are more or less the same as AD marks.
This is my core mastery setup. 21/9/0 is the best way to go when playing marksmen. Some like to throw in some point in the ultility tree BUT I find the stats of the defense tree very important for trading early. This can also be proven by the fact that every pro ADC runs 21/9/0.
In offense you want to get points that increase your DPS via AA. Thus you leave out Spell Weaving and Blade Weaving . After my most recent tests I do not recommend getting Double-Edged Sword anymore, as the sustain from Feast seems much more efficient, even on a champion that shouldn't receive much damage early. Finally, it's worth skipping one point in Warlord in order to put in Dangerous Game , which is great for making clutch plays lategame, while it can also save your *** after early all-ins.
As mentioned earlier, the best way to spend the remaining 9 points is to invest them in the defense tree. They allow you to trade with slightly more efficiency and on top of this they guarantee you a longer stay in lane thanks to sustain and tankiness.
Flash is a must-have on every marksman. Even the ones with built-in escape tools such as Caitlyn or Corki should get it. It can get you out of sticky situations, it can help you chase, while you can also use it to reposition yourself in teamfights.
Heal is my go-to secondary summoner spell most of the time. It heals both you and your support and can really turn fights arround. Additionally, gives you a MS boost, which is useful for chasing and mainly escaping.
Only get Cleanse against hard CC team comps/lanes such as Ashe+ Leona or Morgana+ Jinx. Even then Heal might be the better choice if you can't activate cleanse within these 2 seconds when you are CC'ed. Note though that it does not remove suppressions such as Warwick's ultimate.
I take Barrier only in case my support chooses Heal because double Heal lanes are not that efficient. You you can heal only half when they're both used in a timewindow of 35 seconds. Another situation, in which Barrier might be stronger than Heal is when you face champions with healing reductions effects at lane such as Tristana or Miss Fortune.
The bread and butter start for every marksman. It outclasses the Long Sword +3 Health Potions starter as it actually provides equal sustain, more tankiness(the HP) and the damage difference is negligible. This start gives you all the neccessary early stats for farming and trading and can almost guarantee you a long stay in lane. It synergizes well with the rune and mastery setups, too.
Core Build
Infinity Edge is your main damage item. Rushing it will give you a huge powerspike and will greatly boost your general damage output. The AD amplifies your scalings on your passive, Q and R, while the Crit Chance and the Crit Damage make kiting much more effective. Berserker's Greaves is the one and only choice for DPS marksmen because of the MS/ AS boost. Phantom Dancer is my AS/ Crit item in 90% of my games. It has great synergy with Infinity Edge and increases your single target damage output especially during late game. The unit collision is also very useful.
After Core
After finishing your core item set you'll generally want to go for Bloodthirster. It provides you with a great bunch of AD to boost your attacks, double the life steal from BotRK, while the shied is extremely useful against 100-0 burst assassins and/or heavy poke compositions, as it can soak up quite a lot of damage if you keep the shield up. Then I generally buy Last Whisper, as it allows me to shred through the enemies' armor. As a consequence you will be able to hurt any target, even the tanks. Out of all the defensive items, I prefer Banshee's Veil as it gives the most MR in the game and a good deal of HP. Finally, the shield is great versus unavoidable CC abilities such as Vi's ultimate or combo reliant champions such as LeBlanc.
Alternatives
Guardian Angel is an item that provides you with both Armor and Magic Resist, while the passive can truly turn a fight around if your team is well coordinated. However, its popularity has fallen off because it is quite unreliable, especially in solo queue. Mercurial Scimitar is worth the value against hard CC teams. Usually, I buy Quicksilver Sash around mid game and upgrade it into Scimitar late game. Statikk Shiv is a really decent replacement for Phantom Dancer. It doesn't provide as much dps but it helps you hit your powerspike earlier and provides you with some valuable wave clear during mid game. I do not really like Blade of the Ruined King but it is indeed a very situational substitute for Bloodthirster. It boosts your kiting and dueling potential and it is particularly effectice against heavy bruiser frontlines. With the rise of the AP top laners though, it is not that worth the value.
Boot Upgrades
In most cases you want to get Enchantment: Homeguard as it is can help you join your team and secure/ defend objectives. However, you can also take Enchantment: Furor as it synergizes really well with your range and allows you to kite with even more efficiency. Enchantment: Distortion is a defensive-minded choice. Having Flash at lower cooldown can be proven vital in a teamfight.
Get Zephyr when you have your full build and are able to buy the item instantly. You will lose out on 20-30 MS but gain considerable stats.
Trinket Upgrades
Usually you should get Greater Stealth Totem for better vision, however, as Sightstone is very popular right now, not only among supports, but also for some junglers, you should probably take Greater Vision Totem. Oracle's Lens is a must have against stealth opponents such as Twitch, Vayne or Talon. Scrying Orb is actually viable and begins to have some popularity. You can use it to detect your enemies if you don't have vision on them or to set up your ultimate in case you suddenly loose vision of your target. With it you can also avoid face-checking bushes and scout the baron/dragon area.
Headshot (Passive)
//This is a great passive since it makes up for your lack of a typical steroid. It scales both with AS and AD and that's one of the reasons it's so effective. After charging it try to attack an enemy to proc the extra damage. Attacking from the bushes gives you 2 stacks but do not force this if it's not possible; neither auto-attack minions all the time for the sake of stacks.
Piltover Peacemaker (Q)
// This ability is your main damage source beside your auto attacks. However, you should not spam it because of the high mana cost and learn how to use it effectively. In the laning phase, use it to harass the enemy adc/support. Later in the game it is not as useful for fighting but can be used to poke or after 90 Caliber Net. Remember that there is a short delay before the shot is fired, so try to predict the enemies' movement. Another possible use of it is pushing and clearing minion waves.
Yordle Snap Trap (W)
// Placing Yordle Snap Trap correctly is a skill that separates great Caitlyn players from good Caitlyn players. Early game you can put them a cone or next to another(with a gap between each) in order to increase your zoning chances or in the edge of the bushes. Mid-Late game you should try to block the escape routes of enemies, ensure your and your team's safety and if you're a bit lucky secure kills.
90 Caliber Net (E)
// Despite not being the most reliable one, 90 Caliber Net is still an okay escape tool. Fire it to save yourself from a gank during the laning phase or to get away from an assasin later in the game. Always try to have it off cooldown during big fights and do not use for no reason. It passes through walls. There is a very interesting combination of 90 Caliber Net+ Piltover Peacemaker. The first one completely cancels the cast time animation of the other making it very useful for trading and kiting.
Ace in the Hole (R)
// Great for excecuting enemies! During the laning phase you can use your Auto-Attacks and your skills to poke the both enemies hard and then use Ace in the Hole on one of them. Kill secured! Another use of it in lane is zoning. Once the enemy adc comes back you can instantly use your ultimate on them and force them to back off. Late game it is much more likely for enemies to block it so make smart use of it. Do not activate Ace in the Hole if there are many enemy melees around and always have a quick look at the enemies HP and Armor. Avoid using it in the middle of teamfights. During the cast time you would be able to deal more damage with your auto attacks. You can't move during the cast time either, leaving you very vulnerable to enemies. It's much better to activate it to clear out a fight or force a carry out of it. A couple of things to note:
If your target dies while the bullet is mid-air you won't be rewarded with an assist and your ultimate will go on full cooldown.
If the target dies while you are channeling the bullet your ulti will go on 5 seconds cooldown.
As you can understand timing your ultimate correctly is crucial.
Skill Sequence
At level 1 always get Piltover Peacemaker. It is your primary damage source and landing one good Q at levels 1-2 can be a deciding factor when it comes to winning the lane. At level 2 put a point into 90 Caliber Net. The combo of E+Q deals quite a lot of damage early on and you also are in need of the escape just in case you don't position yourself well and the enemy support initiates you or the enemy jungler makes an early gank(which is something uncommon).
Max Piltover Peacemaker at level 9(first) as it is your primary damage source. 90 Caliber Net comes second(level 13). Every extra point in E reduces the cooldown. Having your escape on low cooldown is vital especially late game. Yordle Snap Trap comes last as maxing it doesn't have much impact mid-late game and you only need the early point for lane control.
Once the game starts and you make your first purchases you should help your jungler by guarding his buff for possible invasions. Then you should leash for him. How big a leash you're going to depends on what route you're going to take to reach your lane. The first melee minion dies at 2:13-2:17, which means that you should be in lane at most at 2:05 so that you don't get pushed. For the purple side the safe route takes around 14s to complete while the unsafe route takes around 11s. For the blue side the safe route takes around 16s while the unsafe route takes 12s, so this is what you should base your leash time on.
Wave Control and Trading
How do I control minion waves? How do I zone? How do I harass the enemy laners?
[Level Advantage] The winner of the lane is often decided already from the start. Whoever reaches level 2 first has a huge advantage over the enemy. Both the adc and the support have 1 more ability than their enemies. Forcing a trade at this point will give you a huge advantage in terms of zoning out the enemy in the future. Anyway, the way to manage this is to start pushing a bit once you arrive in lane. The exact amount of minion neccessary to earn level 2 is the first wave and the 3 melee minions from the 2nd wave. Once you reach level 2 either ask your support to initiate or AA-> 90 Caliber Net -> Piltover Peacemaker the enemy adc. Ideally you want the AA to be a Headshot but this is not very easy to time.
[Zoning] If you managed to land your combo or your support made a good initiaton, you have a great opportunity to zone out your enemy and deny him farm and experience. Keeping your enemy zoned for some time will give a huge advantage gold- and experiencewise.
How to Zone
1.
Be able to win trades: You can't really attempt zoning your enemy if you are behind.
2.
Control the Brush: Your support should ward/get in the brush that is closer to enemy turret and keep control of it or you can use your trinket or your traps.
3.
Freeze the Lane: 'Lane freezing' refers to keeping the minion wave at the point you wish. This is accomplished simply by tanking(ideally your support) the minion wave and then keep last hitting at the very last moment. This might be a risky move if your enemies are close and have the opportunity to harass you.
4.
Limit your enemies' actions: Easily achieved by placing yourself between your opponent and the minion wave and/or by putting down the traps as illustrated here.
[Freezing and Last Hitting] If you didn't manage to get level 2 first or did not manage to land your combo on your enemy, then you should follow a more passive strategy focused on farming and equalizing the disadvantage for the time being. The most effective and safest way to farm is to last hit minions. This means that you wait until the enemy minions fall low on hp and then you make only the killing blow. This way you won't push the lane much and still earn the gold and experience. Last hitting is clearly a matter of practice and after some time you should be able to have ~100 cs in min 10-11. Between last hits, it's adviseable to harass the enemy with AA or even Piltover Peacemaker. A good time to do this is when he is about to last hit. Then you can abuse your range and land 2-3 AA without taking any damage in return. Good poke can easily bully the enemy adc away from farming.
[Pushing] A strategy that many people tend to disrespect is pushing. Pushing allows you to win trades due to the minion advantage and you also get more opportunities to harass with AA and Piltover Peacemaker. Additionally, you can get damage on the enemy turret and deny the enemy's farm even under turret by constantly harassing. Pushing perfectly fits Caitlyn's aggressive playstyle. Place Yordle Snap Trap near the enemy turret to limit their actions or at the edge of the bushes so that they can't initiate a fight without getting noticed. Picking the right time to push is a very important aspect. Generally, you want to have some kill potential on the enemy so it's wise to start pushin after level 6 when your Ace in the Hole can offer you kills or can force an enemy out of the lane. Make sure that you have map awareness and don't spam 90 Caliber Net just in case the enemy jungler ganks your lane. Warding the river is also crucial.
2v2 Bot Lane Fights
How do I win fights in the bot lane?
[Overview] Unlike Lucian or Graves, Caitlyn doesn't have much power in sudden all-in 2vs2 fights because she lacks that early burst. Her power lies in constantly harassing the lane opponent and gaining an advantage over him. However, after B. F. Sword and with some practice at cancelling animations and kiting you can easily win these fights.
[During the Fight] If your support is the one to initiate, then land Piltover Peacemaker just after they used their CC. Make some AA while he is CC'ed and then try to stay away from damage as much as possible but keep damaging the enemies. Cancel your animations by moving just at the time your AA is fired. Moving between attacks makes it much harder for enemies to reach you. Focus the most dangerous target(most of the times the adc). Getting a spot in the bush will increase your damage output in the long period because you will proc Headshot faster. If you are the one to be initiated, use 90 Caliber Net to disengage and do what was mentioned above. Always remember to move between attacks and cancel your animations.
[After the Fight] Provided you won a fight and have remained at high HP you can push and take down the turret or attempt dragon together with your jungler. Note though, that taking down the turret is not always the best choice. Sometimes it's just better to postpone the laning phase as much as possible and snowball your lead.
If you are low on health, just push the minion wave towards the enemy turret as fast as possible. and recall. The enemy won't get any XP or Gold when he comes back to lane.
Extra Information
What are the other things I need to know in laning?
[Last Hitting Under the Turret] As Caitlyn you generally don't want to be pushed to your turret. However, if this happens you must be able to last hit the minions. Caster Minions need 2 turret hits to die, while Melee minions need 3 turret hits to die. Balance your attacks before and after the turret hits to make the last hit.
[Breaking a Freeze] The enemy marksman might attempt to freeze the land and zone you. You shouldn't allow this and you should try to break the freeze. If you are stronger than your enemy you can force a trade but this won't be the case in various situations. When you want to break a freeze you should push the minion wave as much as possible to the enemy turret. The next wave will be in the middle of the lane.
[Defensive Use of Lane Freezing]
Lane freezing is not just a way to zone out your enemies. It's also a sure method to avoid being zoned. Freeze the lane just out of the range of your turret as illustrated in this image. It will be very hard for the enemy jungler to make a successful gank, whereas your jungler has enough room to operate really well.
I only recommend this in lanes where you are way behind as it doesn't encourage aggressive play, which is Caitlyn's bread and butter.
[Informing your Jungler] Another important thing to remember when playing at the bottom lane is that you should inform your jungler whenever you see your lane recalling as this often creates an opportunity to take dragon while the enemy team is undermanned in the bottom half of the map. Additionally, you should mention that keeping your jungler informed about your opponents ward placements as well as which summoner spells they have used is extremely important.
Nami and Caitlyn are a great pair. Nami's Tidecaller's Blessing synergizes really well with Caitlyn's long range, while her general ability to lock down opponents with CC and increase your own mobility allows Caitlyn to kite harder than ever. Nami can protect Caitlyn early to late game but she is really prone to heavy engages and relies on you to deal damage.
Zyra works incredibly well with Caitlyn. She has insane poke, good CC and offers engage/disengage. She can play very aggressively in lane and back up a lane push of yours but she is very squishy and thus vulnerable to hard CC and heavy burst.
Lulu+ Caitlyn is another strong poke-oriented combination. Lulu has good poke, some burst, while she can assist you and save you with shields, buffs and of course her ultimate, that can even be game changing.
Karma offers great poke and disengage potential. A good Karma can easily zone the enemies or help you push towards the enemy turret. The problem with Karma is that she can't do much in a 2vs2 fight except for disengaging and kiting and gives no real kill potential. Karma, though, has an expiration date which around mid-late game, as she can't offer as much in teamfights.
Braum is a great choice for Caitlyn. He offers poke with his Q and great protection with his W and E. Post 6 his ultimate can easily secure kills in a 2vs2 fight or help you disengage after an enemy gank. Most importantly, though, your range synergizes well with his passive, as you will be able to trigger this very often and maximize your damage in trades. After the stun you can also follow up with a sure Piltover Peacemaker.
Morgana excels at protecting you from heavy CC engages with Black Shield and then follow up with her own initiaton with her Q and ultimate. She also brings a considerabe amount of harassment. She is a very good choice against kill lanes like Leona and Blitzcrank.
[Synthesis] This chapter describes what you should be doing as Caitlyn once the laning phase is over and mid-late game starts. This chapter does not involve teamfights (next section). The laning phase is over once several turrets start to go down. Roaming becomes much more intense and teams are forced to come together in order to secure objectives.
[Options] Caitlyn is really weak during this stage of the game and you must be careful not to find the enemies' snowballing at your face. You should play cautiously but still take advantage of your siege potential. In general you have two options; Grouping Up with Your Team or Staying Bot Lane.
[Grouping Up with Your Team]
Caitlyn is really versatile when it comes to team compositions. She can cooperate with most champions, poke, siege and contest objectives. Abuse your long range and kite your opponents, while cooperating with your team to waveclear and and harass the enemies as much as possible. To do this always move between your attacks. Use your abilities to zone out your enemies and push the minion wave together with your team towards the enemy mid turret. This will create huge pressure allowing you to land several shots on the enemy turret, do not overextend however and let the enemy team engage on you. A very important skill to master for mid-late game is kiting. Kiting refers to damaging the enemies with ranged attacks while maintaining a safe distance.
Once some of the members of the enemy team are missing or forced to recall you can attempt to take down dragon for a global gold and XP boost.
Always keep an eye on bot lane for large minion waves. They will give you lots of gold.
[Staying Bot Lane]
When Ahead: If you, and in some cases you and your support, can try to split push the bottom lane. Split pushing refers to pushing the lane as much as possible in order to take down turrets. This will force the enemy team to send people bot lane creating thus gaps in other places of the map. Split pushing is not really recommended as Caitlyn because at that stage you lack the DPS and duelling potential and you completely throw your siege power.
When Behind: If you are behind, the best way to catch up in gold is to farm as much as possible without exposing yourself to the enemies. To achieve this you should freeze the lane near your turret but outside of its range. As I mentioned earlier, this is done by tanking the next minion wave and then last hitting the minion at the very last moment before they die. After some time the lane will eventually push to the enemy base but then you can freeze the lane again.
Always keep an eye on your team. They might need your help to take down dragon or a teamfight might errupt.
Caitlyn is a pretty safe pick when it comes to teamfighting because of her long range and the fact that she has a built-in escape with 90 Caliber Net. However, this doesn't mean that it will be easy-peasy.
The most important aspect of teamfighting as a marksman is positioning. You need to stay in your team's backline, avoid taking damage but still be able to deal damage. Kiting well is also crucial and you should always be moving between your attacks in order to become less vulnerable.
Generally, you should be attacking enemies that are within your range, which means that they're directly or indirectly dangerous. If this target is a Malphite or a Dr. Mundo, so be it. Hopefully, you have enough damage and can shred through their tankiness. The case where you will have the opportunity to take down a priority target of the enemy team is pretty rare.
During the fight it is highly likely that an assassin or bruiser will jump on your face and try to melt you with his damage. It's wise to keep 90 Caliber Net just for these cases. Use Blade of the Ruined King's active if available and kite him down from long range. If neccessary burning your summonner spells to survive the fight is worth the value. Your first priority is to stay alive so that you deal continuous damage to enemies.
If you are on the winning side you can also use your ultimate after the fight to take down any fleeing enemies.
Below there is a somewhat recent game winning-pentakill by Genja as Caitlyn. Note how he is staying away from damage in the beginning of the fight, kites the closest targets and then chases the enemies down to clear out the fight. Enjoy!
On a side note, below is a full game of mine as Caitlyn. The laning phase was a bit poor from my side. However, I could make the comeback later and kited them down to death. However, we ended up loosing.
The second video was spectated, recorded and uploaded by an IRL friend of mine. Help him grow his channel!
This chapter gives information about things that counter Caitlyn and will indicate how to deal with them. It will not include lane matchups. I have already given all the neccessary information in the mathcups section of the cheatsheet.
Caitlyn's drawbacks are very minor, minimizing possible counterplay. However, some enemies still have the ability/elements to counter her to some extent.
Randuin's Omen, Thornmail, Frozen Heart
These three items are the terror of every marksman. Not only do they provide tons of armor but they also have other effects that decrease your damage. You will deal considerably less damage to enemies equipped with these items.
The solution to these items is first of all Last Whisper. It will shred a respectable amount of armor and thus will increase your damage output. Keep kiting(That will be even harder when facing an Omen. Do not hesitate to use your E or BotRK.) the enemies that own these items because it's highly likely that you will loose in an even fight.
Once you have completed the damaging parts of your build and they haven't bought lots of armor apart from these items you will be able to take them down with more ease.
Caitlyn has great DPS and is great at kiting BUT just like any marksman she is susceptible to assassins and bruisers who often have a combination of Mobility, Burst and CC.
The best you can do against as assassins/bruisers is to avoid them as much as possible and prevent them from getting in your face. Do not face them 1on1 and always have someone to peel for you if there is a very threatening Zed or LeBlanc on the enemy team.
If they get in your face, disengage with 90 Caliber Net and do not hesitate to burn your summoner spells. They are generally combo reliant and if you can get away in the first place and kite them from range they will probably fall down.
Bloodthirster's shield won't have much impact on that amount of burst but it might help you in some situations.
Enemy Support synchronising Poke with Enemy ADC
To make you understand this better we will suppose you are facing a Vayne+ Lulu lane. Vayne is farming just at the edge of her range so that you take more damage from minions if you are going to harass her. In addition to that, Lulu can attack you while your bullet is mid-air. This means that you could actually loose the trade.
In order to avoid such situations you should first of all synergise with your support as well. Keeping the enemy support busy and poking down the enemy duo can easily give you time and space to perform your own moves. On top of this you should simply be a bit more careful. After attacking, cancel your attack animation so that you can leave quickly.
All in all, this is not something you should be afraid of if you do not overextend. That's why you should get 9 points in defense and some defensive runes though.
All in all, Caitlyn is a very strong pick; one of the strongest among marksmen actually. I hope that my guide was helpful and that you now know Caitlyn inside out.
Before I officially finish this I would like to credit those people for making the graphics I used in the guide.
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