Hey guys, here to bring you a darius guide. I won't be going into depth about who I am or what my rank is, but basically I'm a darius main since season 5 and he is the champ that got me to platinum. Let's begin!

Pros-
Good damage
Decently tanky
Snowballs well
Lane Dominance
Sustain
Tank Killer (Armorpen, true damage)
Cons-
Very easily kited
Long cooldowns early game
Very prone to being ganked because of no escapes
Binary play-style (simple, with little room to outplay enemies)
Being hated for playing Darius (not as much as being a Yasuo or Riven main, but still)
Large champion hitbox (difficult to dodge skillshots)

Darius's build is actually pretty simple.
You always want to get Black Cleaver, that item is literally perfect for Darius. Get it first if ahead, and 2nd if behind after a defensive item. Typically, you'd want to build 5 defensive items on Darius, at most you will have 2 offensive items. You need to be able to survive as long as possible, so always opt for tank items that counter the enemy's main damage.
His build is decently flexible, as his base damage AND ad ratios are very good. There are few items that flat out do not work as Darius, although an optimal build usually consists of the same items.

In Ranked, he'll most likely be banned as his ban rate is very high in low elo. If he's not banned, try not to firstpick him as he is easily countered, and he can't fit into a Full AD or squishy teamcomp. He works best with other tanks that can engage for him. If the enemy picks Darius, you should be able to beat him because you know how he works.

Passive- Hemorrhage: It's very useful for trading and all-inning enemies, the AD Ratio is very high and with a Black Cleaver, you can shred the enemies' armor fully with just one auto-attack or spell. Be careful when tower diving as the bleed may aggro the turret before you are ready. It might also mess up your csing, so keep that in mind. When you get 5 stacks of it on an enemy champion, you gain 40-200 AD based on your level and the bleed increases in damage. This is extremely important in 1v2s and teamfights, if you can apply it to the entire enemy team you're most likely to win.
Q- Decimate: This is your best ability, start it and max it always. It has a decent base damage, great scaling and a good heal too. Don't spam it in lane as it pushes the lane and you will be punished for 9s. Late game, with max CDR it's up every 3 seconds and the mana cost will be low so spam it.
W- Crippling Strike: This is a powerful 90% slow that lasts for 1 second. It also resets your auto-attack so always use that to get as many bleed stacks as possible.
E- Apprehend: An aoe pull that reveals an area and slows for 40%. Only use this to get picks, secure a kill, or cancel someone's spell to save yourself. Max second so that it's up more often.
R- Noxian Guillotine: A targeted unavoidable true damage execute. It's base damage is pitiful, so only use if the enemy is very low or has 4+ stacks on them. Very good for 1v2ing or cleaning up low enemies.

In lane, you act as a strong lane bully who wants to make the enemy top useless and then transfer that advantage to other lanes. A fed darius who took 2 towers a dragon and has 2 items is very scary and can crush the enemy morale. It's not uncommon to literally get 10 S's in a row with him. However, you have to realise he has his weakness and therefore shouldn't be blindly picked.
Alot of people consider him easy to play and overpowered. However, he's not that overpowered in this meta, and while he is easy to play against an average player you'll get crushed vs high elo players if you don't play careful.

Overall, Darius is a good champion to play in Bronze-Low Diamond if you want to have fun dominating lane, being tanky and getting pentakills.