Build Guide by BloodyNine

Introduction

Hi there,

in my first guide, I will show to you how to play a very funny champion, whos damage is above heaven!
Let me present to you:

Akali, the Fist of Shadow

I have played many games with her, and she is so fun to play.
I´d like you to also enjoy this superior Champion!

Pros/Cons

Pros:

- VERY high burst dmg
- Can take off squishys in half a second
- Nice harrasment with q spell
- very good chaser
- epic passive
- nice farmer

Cons:

- Squishy itself
- If underlvleld, very hard to deal good dmg
- susceptible on cc
- needs a lot of patience and a feeling of when to kill and when to go back
- high skill is required

Skills

Twin Disciplines

Upon obtaining 20 additional ability power, Akali's hits deal 10% bonus magic damage, increasing by 1% for every 5 ability power gained thereafter.

Upon obtaining 10 additional attack damage, Akali gains 10% Spell Vamp, increasing by an additional 1% for every 10 attack damage gained thereafter.

This is why we use flat AP runes. Getting both passives from only runes, masteries, and doran's blad is simply epic. The passives help alot at staying in lane, harrasssing, and farming. In late game one can get over 100% bonus dmg which will help your burst dmg alot.

Mark of the Assassin

Akali spins her kama at a target enemy to deal 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+40% of ability power) magic damage and mark the target for 6 seconds.

Akali's melee attacks against a marked target will trigger and consume the mark to cause 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+40% of ability power) magic damage and restore 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 energy.

Cost 60 Energy | Range 600

This is your main harras skill. While it doesnt make good dmg if only hitting once the autoattack on a marked target will crush it away. Ill come to this in the Chapter Strategys

Twilight Shroud

Akali throws down a cover of smoke that lasts for 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 seconds. While inside the area, Akali gains 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 armor and magic resist and becomes stealthed. Attacking or using abilities will briefly reveal her.

Enemies inside the smoke have their movement speed reduced by 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 / 30%.

Cost 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 Energy | Range 700

Just a nice escaping skill. Be aware that AoE still hits you, and when the enemys have invis wards/ oracles the shroued will be almost useless. The slow is nice when chasing or getting away.

Crescent Slash

Akali flourishes her kamas, hitting nearby units for 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 physical damage (+30% of ability power) + 60% Attack Damage.

Cost 60 Energy | Range 325

A very nice farming skill, although doesnt make that much dmg. Use it to proc lich bane and were fine

Shadow Dance

Akali moves through shadows to quickly strike her target, dealing 100 / 175 / 250 (+50% of ability power) magic damage.

Akali stores an Essence of Shadow on kills and assists as well as every 25 / 20 / 15 seconds up to 3 total.

Cost 1 Essence of Shadow | Range 800

Summoner Spells

Akali is a very versatile Champion. Therefore there are many possibilitys for Summoner Spells.

The ones that i prefer are

Flash for more mobility when chasing, escaping, or just to have fun ;)

and

Ignite Whilst having it skilled, it provides us with a bonus of 10 AP which is really nice early game. When games turn to mid/late game this will loose dmg, but it will still be good against Champs like Fiddlesticks and Dr. Mundo to cut down their heal, and for last hitting enemys

Other possibilitys:
Teleport is also nice for pushing/defending, killing lonely enemys or ganking.
Exhaust pretty nice earl game, but with Rylais we already have a slow.
Ghost another spell for more mobility, but i personally prefer Flash over Ghost
Cleanse sometimes very helpful, against a lot of CC.

Do not take:
Clarity hmm... Akali and mana? No way!
Revive Pretty sensless with Akali
Rally You are a chaser, so no use for that
Heal sometimes helpfull, but just not as good as the others, because we have spellvamp
Fortify & Clairvoyance Not your job
Smite we are not jungling...

Items

Boots of Speed should be obvious, but why as a first item? because they greatly help you in early game, and with the rest of the money, you can buy 3 Health Potion which also help you to stay in lane for a very long time.

Hextech Revolver is the 2nd item, it will provide you with about 25 spellvamp together with your passive. This is fantastic, casue you can heal yourself while farming and/or harrasing (which is very easy with Akali, as displayed later.

Boots of Swiftness are needed because almost every other champ will buy boots with a movement speed increase of 2, so you need more to do that AA after your Shadow Dance to proc the 2nd part of Mark of the Assassin. Also they help you travelling and positioning before them teamfight starts.

Hextech Gunblade is the item to go for! A ranged slow with nice damage and insane lifesteal/spellvamp. You will have 25% lifesteal from this item, combined with the 16% spellvamp of your passive, you will easily get about 40% lifesteal which is awesome! Think about doing 1000 damage (which is not much) and healing for over 400 HP!

Rylai's Crystal Scepter has everything Akali needs: Health, Ability Power and a fantastic slow. With the very short cooldown of Shadow Dance and Mark of the Assassin, you can always have a slow on your opponent, making it very hard for him to farm/harras. Also great for chasing (for obvious reasons)

Guinsoo's Rageblade is also a great item for Akali, because it provides you with attack speed, ability Power and damage! Makes you an amazing killer in 1on1 Situations and even a better killer in teamfights! Furthermore, this item aloows you to kill that tower amazingly fast! After Guinsoo's Rageblade you will finally reach about 50% spellvamp

Trinity Force - THE ITEM, you need everything from that guy but mana and critical chance, but the passive is just insane, it will increase your damage dramatically. The bonus HP will also help you to stay alive in teamfights and to make your way to the Pentakill!

Banshee's Veil - As you reach higher ELOs, this item is needed, cause they will propably know what you can do to their team, so they will try to stun you before you can use Twilight Shroud - Not with us! Also the HP and Magic resist are great to have!

Masteries

Till the latest Patch, it is possible to go for a 9/21/0

This may decrease your damage dealt, but also will increase the time you will be alive.
So more time alive --> more damage and less gold spent to the enemys.

I hope you agree on this fact, but i had real good games where i survived with about 50hp, due to Defence being skilled.

How to play

Early Game:

Nothing but harrasing! You need to control the minions waves, last hit the creeps and use Mark of the Assassin to harras your enemys. Make sure that you don´t loose much health, you will need it for your lethal
Mark of the Assassin-> wait -> flash -> Autoattack -> Mark of the Assassin -> Autoattack -> Ignite Combo.
This will easily guarantee First blood if done right. After FB play mroe defensive and focus on last hitting till you turn lvl6.

Mid Game:

Once you got Rylais, you can start ganking in the most efficient way. Try to keep up at least 2 essences for chasing down enemys. When going into combat just use the usual rotation:
Q-> R -> Auto -> Q -> Auto -> E, a.s.o.
If your slow is too weak set up an Twillight shroud to slow down your enemys. This is also recommended if you are loosing health to fast, to force the enemy to focus on other champ so you can chase their squishys down.
When i comes down to teamfights, make sure that you are not the fisrt one to go into. Then, if not focused just take the poor enemys out one by one.

Late Game:

This will almost only consist of team fights. If you got your stacks, you should easily take carries out. Be aware of AoE CC like Galio or massive AoE damage from Kennen for example. The only important thing in late game is, not to die ;)

Just a low example:


(ShadowAssass9 and AxeMaster99 are friends of mine)

Better one ;)
With thornmail against Trydna


Another 3v3 Match, again with AxeMaster99



My History:
(The free game was needed for getting lvl 30;))

Farming/Harrasing Strategys

Farming with Akali is pretty nice because she recovers Energy very fast and with the Spallvamp we gain little Health while farming.

Farming

When not Harrasing for whatever reasons, lasthit minions with Mark of the Assassin and Crush them down with Crescent Slash. Lasthitting with Mark of the Assassin is pretty easy and due to its low Energy cost nearly spammable. When it comes down to Harrasing, use Q for harras and Autoattack + E for Lasthitting

Harrasing

Akali is avery good harraser with Mark of the Assassin just throw it on the enemy and go back or try to get that Autoattack on him. Do so until the enemy only has about 350 hp left. Now you can do following:
If it does not put you under high risk, throw Mark of the Assassin on the enemy, wait till you have Mark of the Assassin again ready Flash toward the enemy Autoattack -> Q -> Autoattack -> Ignite (when not down go on with Q -> Autoattack). This is easy going First Blood.

Let Maths show you why:
lvl 1 Mark of the Assassin: 50(+13) Damage
Proc: 50(+13) Damage + Autoattack 65 Damage
Ignite: 70 Damge

So we have a total of theoretically 452 Damage, but we have to consider MR and Armor,
so just start at around 350 Health.

3v3 - How to

Try to get the top lane. Your team will benefit from that.
If you got your top lane focus on harrasing and last hittin. If possible also land fb with your Flash-Ignit combo. If not, just keep harrasing.
If you pushed your lane quite well, about little more than mid, go jungle.
Start with the low mobs and return to your lane again. This will give you more gold and maybe one or two lvls in earl game. If you did quite well, you will be able to gank bot and get 2 free kills.
Nothing more to say.

5v5 - How to

In 5v5, also focus on last hitting and harrasing. If possible do your combo to get firstblood. You may go mid or take the solo lane if you have a jungler. Explain your team why a good lvleld Akali eats the other team alive. Take care of the enemy jungler if you are alone.
If you have a partner who has lots of CC, first blood will be way more easier.
In ganks, focus on squishys and try to catch as many kills as you get.
In teamfight, also focus on carries and supporters, only kill the Tank if there are no other champs left ;)

Unique Skills

The Passive

This is so freaking EPIC.

When we have about 500 AP end game, our Autoattack hits doalmost 100% Bonus Damage.
We do Double Damage without doing anything. Isnt that Awesome??

Now the 2nd Passive:

We gain 15% Spellvamp out of this and together with the Gunblade we have a total of 35% Spellvamp. This does mean when doing only 1000 Damage we heal for 350 just because of ONE item and our Passive!

In my Opinion this is one of the greatest Passives to have.

Shadow Dance

This skill is also unique. It doesnt need mana or energy but a Essence which is created every 15 secs. Its so easy to chase with that and while it comes also with a decent amount of damage, it procs lichbane. When using Q -> R -> Autoattack -> Q -> Autoattack, the target will almost be done. This skill is also great for escaping as you can jump to enemy creeps which are in your way back to safety.

Team Work

Working in team:

This will eb going on Mid game. You will gank a lot, so you need reliable CC within your Friends. Champs like Amumu or Morgana are great, they improve your burst dmg a lot. If your team got a jungler, ganking will be very funny an will guarantee early game kills.

The champs which are your friends are your Worst enemys too.
For example Morgana can keep you at distance and damage you like hell. Also watch out for Ultis from Malzahar and Warwick, because one cannot interrupt them and you will definitely be down.

A word on Champions

Akali

No comment, may the best Akali win!

Alistar

Watch out for his Headbutt and Pulverize, which can easily put you into danger. However it is not your job to kill him.

Amumu

A lot of annoying CC. Still it´s not your job to kill bulky or tanky Champs.

Anivia

She does the hell out of damage and has a pretty nice stun. Kill her asap.

Annie

Same for Annie, will be a easy kill once she wasted her spells on your tank. But take care of the stun.

Ashe

Low HP, with almost no escape. Perfect kill. Try to not get hit by her Ultimate.

Blitzcrank

Bulky Damagedealer. If there are no carries alive, or he goes for a AP build, go kill him. His ulti does some nice damage on your team.

Caitlyn

Very good against single targets with a little escape skill. Just watch our for her 90 Caliber Net when chasing, because it´ll slow you down.

Cassiopeia

Nice Ulti. She is worth killing, she deals insane AoE damage.

Cho'Gath

Crazy health with good CC capabilitys. Not your job.

Corki

AD damage dealer with a nice escape skill. If he runs low on HP kill him!

Dr. Mundo

Against plenty of HP, just not worth trying it.

Evelynn

A very dangerous champ for your team! If you get her in sight, kick the *** out of her!!!

Ezreal

Nice damage with a very nice Ultimate. He´s also worth killing, but he got a nice escape skill

Fiddlesticks

He will use his ultimate. When he does so finish him ASAP, the ultimate will crush your whole team down.

Galio

Watch out for his AoE taunt, he was very high MR, so you better try to kill other champs.

Gangplank

Does nice damage with his Ultimate, but he is not that bulky, try to kill him after their main damage dealer are down.

Garen

Another bulky dd. You better get those squishys and finish him off right after them

Gragas

with his ultimate he can split your team, that's dangerous. But he also will be bulky and you will again choose other victims.

Heimerdinger

Try to get the teamfight out of the range of his cannons and you will be fine with him. Bluky too

Irelia

Will try to take out your squishys, but has decent HP too. If she is fed or just to good, focus her

Janna

She´s a supporter, so let her die!

Jarvan IV

Nice Ultimate, but he will be in front of team fights too, not your job.

Jax

Very dangerous Champ, try to get him down if he's too good. Else don't waste the burst on him.

Karma

Shield, Heal, Speed. All what they need with plenty HP. Try to kiss her ***.

Karthus

Incredible Damage! Kick his *** off!

Kassadin

Will take off your squishys, but don't hope to catch him. Your team just needs to focus him the moment he appears.

Katarina

Shut down her Ultimate ASAP, but you don´t have he skills to do that so,...

Kayle

Nice HP, heal, and a great Ultimate. Be aware of that when you kill their carrys.

Kennen

Will hit your team with very high damage. Try to burst him down when he uses his ultimate.

Kog'Maw

Nice dmg with great range. You may have problems with him.

LeBlanc

Just kill her, easy kill BUT when she uses her Port and her Ultimate right after, don´t chase her.

Lux

Be aware of her Stun. Though she is very easy kill.

Malphite

Again plenty of HP, not your job.

Malzahar

Don´t get him use his Ultimate on you, then it will be a easy kill.

Maokai

Get out of his Ultimate. Don't focus him, he's very bulky too.

Master Yi

Kill him, but don,´t chse him. Here we go.

Miss Fortune

Get rid of her very fast. 2AoE skills

Mordekaiser

Very annoying shield, but he also has too much HP for you

Morgana

She does also nice damage, try to get her out.

Nasus

Be aware of his slow to not hit you. Don't focus him.

Nidalee

Her spear does crazy damage, but she won´t survive your burst. If she get´s away do not chase her!

Nunu & Willump

Great damage with plenty of HP. Nice ultimate, try to get not hit by his slow.

Olaf

Great damage with against decent HP. Not your job.

Pantheon

The moment he comes with his Ultimate, just kill him. He deals high AoE damage.

Poppy

If you think you can kill her easily, do it! But when she uses ultimate and you are not "The Choosen One", get away from her.

Rammus

Too much HP, not your job]]

Renekton

Same with him

Ryze

Does very nice AoE damage, be aware of his Rune Prison, but you can kill him easily.

Shaco

Again would be an easy kill without his Epic escape skill.

Shen

Nice tank. Not your job.

Singed

Same for him

Sion

Again plenty of HP with nice damage. Avoid his stun.

Sivir

Easy kill, don,´t chse her if she uses ultimate.

Sona

Epic supporter with nice CC. She has to die!

Soraka

Against Epic supporter, let her feel your burst.

Swain

High damage with high HP. Don´t focus on him.

Taric

Tank again

Teemo

Very good damage, but also very low hp. If he get´s away, be aware of his Mushrooms.

Tristana

Easy kill.

Trundle

Decent HP, not your job.

Tryndamere

If he has no ultimate, just take him out. If he has, force him to activate and focus others right after.

Twisted Fate

Just kill him before he uses ultimate. Be aware of his stun/slow.

Twitch

The moment he appears he has to fall.

Udyr

Bulky DPS, not your job.

Urgot

Also nice damage, but you can take him off.

Veigar

If you manage to get out of his stun, he will not survive the next 2 seconds.

Vladimir

Since his nerf, he hasn't got that much HP anymore. Try it.

Warwick

Nice lifesteal, be aware of this. But not that much HP, easy going kill.

Xin Zhao

Nice damage, and he plays on tank don,´t focus him, else give him a try.

Zilean

Nice supporter, care for his ultimate. But not that much HP

Summary

Akali, the Fist of Shadow

is one off the Champs who need a high skill. Skill of when to use spells, and the skill to judge whether going in or not. Also Akali Provides your team with a lot of Damage. For me Akali is just what a team needs to win: A Champ who Comes, sees and kills!
For these Reasons I would everyone recommend playing at least once with Akali to see her true power.
Thank you for reading my guide.
Any Criticism is welcomed!
WILL BE IMPROVED SOON