Ahri Build Guide by Arthzil

Ahri, The 9 Tails Fox

Unlike other foxes that roamed the woods of southern Ionia, Ahri had always felt a strange connection to the magical world around her; a connection that was somehow incomplete. Deep inside, she felt the skin she had been born into was an ill fit for her and dreamt of one day becoming human. Her goal seemed forever out of reach, until she happened upon the wake of a human battle. It was a grisly scene, the land obscured by the forms of wounded and dying soldiers. She felt drawn to one: a robed man encircled by a waning field of magic whose life was quickly slipping away. She approached him and something deep inside of her triggered, reaching out to the man in a way she couldn't understand. His life essence poured into her, carried on invisible strands of magic. The sensation was intoxicating and overwhelming. As her reverie faded, she was delighted to discover that she had changed. Her sleek white fur had receded and her body was long and lithe…the shape of the humans who lay scattered about her.

However, though she appeared human, she knew that in truth the transformation was incomplete. A cunning creature, she adapted herself to the customs of human society and used her profound gift of beauty to attract unsuspecting men. She could consume their life essences when they were under the spell of her seductive charms. Feeding on their desires brought her closer to her dream, but as she took more lives, a strange sense of regret began to well within her. She had reservations about actions which never troubled her as a fox. She realized that she could not overcome the pangs of her evolving morality. In search of a solution, Ahri found the Institute of War, home of the most gifted mages on Runeterra. They offered her a chance to attain her humanity without further harm through service in the League of Legends.

"Mercy is a human luxury…and responsibility."
-Ahri

Pros / Cons

Pros: + Good ganker, + High mobility thanks to her ultimate, + Skills prioritizing Champions over minions, + Decent CC/Opener, + High damage.

SPACE

Cons: - Possible mana issues early game, - Easy to be ganked if silenced or if ultimate is not ready, - No target spells (2 skillshots, 2 auto-targets).

Base Stats

space

Damage 50 (+3 / per level) Health 380 (+80 / per level) Mana 230 (+50 / per level) Move Speed 305 Armor 11 (+3.5 / per level) Spell Block 30 (+0 / per level) Health Regen 1.1 (+0.12 / per level) Mana Regen 1.25 (+0.12 / per level)

Runes

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power - Edge early game, almost like having free Amplifying Tome,
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration - Standard AP carry marks, lowering your enemy Magic Resistance early game is the key to catching them off-guard,
Greater Seal of Replenishment - these will let you use your abilities more early game and will minimise mana issues,
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power - standard Glyps for AP carry, 28 AP @18 is well worth it.

Optional runes:

Greater Quintessence of Spell Vamp - the newest Quintessence added with Ahri patch, since she's one of Spell Vamp champions this may prove to be quite useful,
Greater Seal of Ability Power - if you really want to push her AP early game, it provides only 5 AP,
Greater Seal of Armor - bonus armor versus AD champions,
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - bonus resistance versus AP champions,

Masteries

Best build for assassin nuker. You will spare one point in Mental Force for Summoner's Wrath so you gain 5 AP if your Ignite is on cooldown. Rest of the choices in Offense tree is self-explanatory since there are no spare choices for pure AP carry. In Utility tree you will want to choose Expanded Mind and Meditation to lower mana issues even more. Summoner's Insight will reduce Flash cooldown, Improved Recall will shorten recall by whole second and Runic Affinity will keep buffs on you much longer.

Summoner Spells

Optional Summoner Spells:

Ghost - this one may prove to be even better spell for chasing enemies or running away from enemies wrath after ganking their mate, only experience will show,
Surge - Sudden raise of AP is always helpful... even may cause some enemies to run in fear...
Cleanse - good vs cc enemies that tend to lock you down

Don't bother using:

Promote
Clarity
Revive

Skill Descriptions

Essence Theft (Passive) - Ahri gains a charge of Soul Eater whenever one of her spells hits an enemy (max: 3 charges per spell). Upon reaching 9 charges, Ahri's next spell has 35% Spell Vamp.

Orb of Deception - Ahri sends out and pulls back her orb, dealing magic damage on the way out and True damage on the way back.
Ahri sends out her orb, dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+0.33) magic damage, and pulls it back dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+0.33) True damage.
Base CD: 7 sec
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
Range: 880

Fox-Fire - Ahri releases three fox-fires, which after a short delay lock on and attack nearby enemies.
Ahri releases three fox-fires. After a short delay they lock on to nearby enemies (prioritizes champions), dealing 40/70/100/130/160 (+0.38) magic damage. Additional fox-fires that hit the same target deal 50% damage [max damage: 80/140/200/260/320 (+0.75)].
Base CD: 9/8/7/6/5 sec
Cost: 60 Mana
Range: 800

Charm - Ahri blows a kiss that damages and charms an enemy it encounters, causing them to walk harmlessly towards her.
Ahri blows a kiss dealing 60/90/120/150/180 (+0.35) magic damage and charming the first enemy it hits, causing them to walk harmlessly towards her for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 second(s).
Base CD: 12 sec
Cost: 50/65/80/95/110 Mana
Range: 975

Spirit Rush - Ahri dashes forward and fires essence bolts, damaging 3 nearby champions. Spirit Rush can be cast up to three times before going on cooldown.
Ahri dashes forward and fires essence bolts at 3 nearby enemies (prioritizes champions), dealing 100/140/180 (+0.3) magic damage. Spirit Rush can be cast up to three times within 10 seconds before going on cooldown.
Base CD: 80/70/60 sec
Cost: 100 Mana
Range: 450

Skills

Orb of Deception is your most important skill and should be maxed out at level 9. It has multiple uses:
- it is best skill gathering stacks on Essence Theft, but don't spam it when you have close to full health since you will run out of mana instead,
- use with Charm to hold enemy champion and score double hit for bonus true damage,
- use on big group of minions when you get 9 stacks on Essence Theft for nice heal - you will get healed for ~11% of damage dealt to each target (Spell Vamp gets *1/3 modifier for multiple target spell).


Fox-Fire is your homing missile. It prioritizes champions over minions so it's a very good tool to harass enemy champions in lane. It can hit same target multiple times as long as it stays in it's range for damage that scales much better with AP. It needs some time to load and is not as useful as other base skill and thus should be maxed out last.


Charm is your only CC spell. You should max it second for longer duration on enemy. You will most often use it with Orb of Deception to score double hits. You will also want to use it to initiate team fights. It will make it easier for allies like Singed ( Fling) or Volibear ( Rolling Thunder) to pull enemy champion far away from his group.


Spirit Rush is Ahri's ultimate. You can use it 3 times before it goes to cooldown. Cost of 100 mana is linear among all level and is used only for first cast, remaining 2 are free so you shouldn't worry if you don't have over 300 mana. Spirit Rush is good for both chasing enemy champions and running away. After each dash Ahri will fire up to 3 bolts that prioritize enemy champions. She dashes towards your cursor, so keep it in mind when you use it.

Items sequence

Total cost: 14810
Item String for Yaric: 3020 3027 3089 3128 3152 3135

Get Sapphire Crystal as first item to double your starting mana pool. I also recommend taking 1 or 2 Health Potions. On your first trip back upgrade it to Catalyst the Protector and buy Boots of Speed if you have enough gold. To buy both you will need to have 1275g. As soon as you get 1700g recall back to upgrade Catalyst the Protector to Rod of Ages so it starts building up.

Upgrade Boots of Speed to Sorcerer's Shoes when you'll be able to for raised mobility. After the boots start building Rabadon's Deathcap for massive increase of damage.

Next partial item you should get when you have enough gold is Fiendish Codex mainly for 10% cooldown reduction (6 sec off Spirit Rush YEAY!).

Finish building your Deathfire Grasp and start building Will of the Ancients which with your current AP will heal for tons and tons of HP. Also, if you can, grab Blasting Wand which you will upgrade to your final item.

If your enemies are smart they've bought some Magic Resistance items. Get your Void Staff and show them who runs these forests. If enemies have barely any Magic Resistance or only tank stacked it it's better to get Lich Bane for that sweet passive that will melt their faces.

Item choice explanation

Sorcerer's Shoes - basic boots for AP champion with escape skill,
Rod of Ages - This item is quite a must for Ahri. Health with increase her early survivability, AP for damage of course but most important part of this item is the bonus mana and regen on leveling. Without it you will have to recharge mana twice as often.
Will of the Ancients - 80 AP for a good price and aura giving you 25% spell vamp on every skill. When your passive pops it sums up for 60% spell vamp which should heal you for quite a nice amount of health,
Rabadon's Deathcap - cherry on top of every AP build, I really don't think it needs explaining,
Void Staff - with Arcane Knowledge you get 46% Magic Penetration. Can you smell that? That's enemy face melting,
Deathfire Grasp - use some skills before you pop it because I'm quite sure he'll start running the second he looses that 45% health...

Optional Items

Mercury's Treads - THE boots to go if you find yourself fighting against enemy team with lots of CC,

Mejai's Soulstealer - great AP source and cooldown reducer... except no data on cooldown so will have to validate it later,

Abyssal Mask - keeps your AP high while providing both Magic Resistance which may save your life versus AP carries and gives another piece of Magic Penetration... which helps you kill them faster...

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - All-round good item for AP char. Provides additional HP so you survive bigger hits, gives tons of AP and slows those escaping rats,

Zhonya's Hourglass - like Abyssal Mask, it keeps your AP high but also gives you armor versus AD carries and almighty stasis shield,

Replays / Screenshots

You have to have LoLReplay to watch these replays. LOLReply allows you to automatically record your own games and replay them at any time or upload them with only 1 click! :) 20 min game is only 3MBs.

1) Mirror Mid

2) Duo Top - this match shows how flexible the item build order can be. Bought Hextech Revolver before starting Rabadon's Deathcap and finished it after buying Needlessly Large Rod. Most likely saved my *** couple of times.

Screenshots:
1) BEANTARD

Summary

This is a first revision of Ahri's build after release. There were many complains about previous one due to obvious fact that she wasn't out yet and part of the guide had to be based on guesses. Now it's not. Pure numbers.

Obviously she is out only few hours so there's still practice to be gained and the build may change because of that, but not as much as it did since yesterday.

Please be constructive on your comments and I'll be sure to read them and take into consideration any criticism or tips.

Changelog

17/12/2011: Added movies to Skill Descriptions. Added separators from jhoijhoi's guide.
16/12/2011: Added replay from mirror mid and messed up item sequence a bit. Improved template a bit.