This is my first guide on MOBAfire. I will update this guide very frequently and will make it very up-to-date. Feel free to leave constructive criticism in the comments section below. Akali is one of my favorite champs. Everyone thinks she got nerfed so hard shes unplayable, right? WRONG! She will make the others rage and wonder how they died so quickly. She will dash through the air like shes flying. She can take a 1 vs 5 with all that lifesteal and spell vamp. She cannot be beaten at a 1 v 1. She will catch you by surprise while ur just walking by. Now with that, enjoy the guide.

There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness -- all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Akali is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Pruning the Tree - eliminating those who threaten the equilibrium of Valoran.

A prodigal martial artist, Akali began training with her mother as soon as she could make a fist. Her mother's discipline was relentless and unforgiving, but predicated on the fundamental principle: ''We do that which must be done.'' When the Kinkou inducted her into the order at the age of fourteen, she could slice a dangling chain with a chop of her hand. There was no question - she would succeed her mother as the Fist of Shadow. She has had to do much in this role which others might find morally questionable, but to her it is in service of her mother's inviolable doctrine. She now works with her fellows Shen and Kennen to enforce the balance of Valoran. This hallowed pursuit has unsurprisingly led the triumvirate to the Fields of Justice.

''The Fist of Shadow strikes from the cover of death itself. Do not impede the balance.''

Pros

-Can do amazing damage through out the whole game.
-Can pick off squishys so easily it's like nothing.
-A great chaser
-Practically has an 8 second Zhonya's with Twilight Shroud
-You can guarantee the kills for yourself (if you like kills) pretty easily

Cons

-Is somewhat difficult to play early game
-Can get focused if they have an oracle
-Difficult to master(many champions are)

With Akali I choose to go 21-9-0 for that increased damage and slightly more tankiness.
I pick up Magic Penetration which is one of the best masteries you can get on Ability Power champs. Some people will prefer the 9-21-0 masteries so they can have more durability, but I prefer to do more damage and kill them before they kill you.

Alright. Runes. With these runes you can start with both passives and some tankiness.
7 Greater Marks of Strength This will give you 7 Attack Damage. Then your masteries will give you the other 3 Attack Damage.
2 Greater Marks of Insight This will give you some extra Magic Penetration.
9 Greater Seals of Resilience These will give a nice amount of armor.
5 Glyphs of Potency These with your Quintessences will give you 20 AP at the beginning which is enough to proc your passive.
4 Glyphs of Warding Now these will give you some more tankiness. More magic resist is good.
3 Greater Quintessence of Potency These will give a nice boost of damage early game and will allow you to proc both passives so you have that increased spell vamp and bonus auto attack damage.

Alright here is a rundown of Akali's deadly abilities.

Q

Mark of the Assassin

Akali spins her kama at a target enemy to deal 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 additional damage and restore Energy.Akali throws her kama at a target enemy to deal 45/70/95/120/145 (+0.4) magic damage and mark the target for 6 seconds.Akali's melee attacks against a marked target will consume the mark to cause 45/70/95/120/145 (+0.4) magic damage and restore 15/20/25/30/35 Energy.

This is youre main damage ability. It's cooldown is also very low. At level 5 it is only 4 seconds. You will be spamming this ability all the time. It is also the way you will harass in lane(I will explain more later). It kinda has a low scale ratio but in total it is 0.8 which is decent.

W

Twilight Shroud

Akali throws down a cover of smoke. While inside the area, Akali gains Armor and Magic Resist and becomes stealthed. Attacking or using abilities will briefly reveal her. Enemies inside the smoke have their Movement Speed reduced.
Akali throws down a cover of smoke that lasts for 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 are slowed by 14/18/22/26/30%
Alright, I like this skill because it will give you more tankiness and is like a portable bush. You can juke people out with it, stop getting focused, and just stay in the fight longer.

E

Crescent Slash

Akali flourishes her kamas, dealing damage based on her Attack Damage and Ability Power.
Akali flourishes her kamas, slicing nearby enemy units for 30/55/80/105/130 (+0.6) (+0.3) physical damage.
Now this skill. I do like it, it gets damage from both ability power and attack damage. However it is not as strong as her Q. It is a good source of AOE damage. It also helps out for farming. It does a decent amount of damage.

R

Shadow Dance

Akali moves through shadows to quickly strike her target, dealing damage and consuming an Essence of Shadow charge. Akali recharges Essence of Shadow charges both periodically and upon kills and assists, max 3 stacks.
Akali moves through shadows to quickly strike her target, dealing 100/175/250 (+0.5) magic damage.
Akali stores an Essence of Shadow on kills and assists as well as every 25/20/15 seconds up to 3 total.
Ahhhh... this skill. Her chasing move, her juking move, her burst people down like butter move. This is my favorite ultimate. It does a lot of damage and will help you get to the enemy to hit your auto attack them after your proc your Q. The only thing that is sad is that you cannot dash to allies. So it is somewhat difficult to plan out your juking.

With Akali you should begin by taking a point in your Q. This will help you last hit and harass. Feel free to use your Q on minions becuase you don't need mana, you're Akali and you use energy. At level 2 you can choose to take either your W or your E. I prefer to take my E so you can have more damage output. By level 9 you should have 5 points in your Q skill. This skill does very good damage and has a low cooldown so can be very deadly when spammed. Next you can choose if you want to max your W or E. It really depends on if you are getting focused and need the extra armor/ magic resist from your W or if you just want that extra damage.

Most common spells

Flash is very good on Akali because it will allow you to flash and then ult to catch up to people very far away. It will also allow you to escape over the wall. You can use flash after you used your Twilight Shroud to juke people out.

Ignite is also a good spell because it will stop an enemy champion from lifestealing/spell vamping tons of HP. It will also catch those people that get away with 100 hp.

This is also a good spell as it will help you get back to your lane so you don't miss out on Experience and it will help you get into the fights that you are missing out on.

Ghost is a good spell to catch up to people but I prefer flash over this.

Akali's role is as an assassin that can (and will) burst down pretty much anyone. You would want to go mid or top with Akali. If you go top remember to either protect your blue or gank theirs. I personally prefer top with Akali. Now, Akali is a very good ganker because her Ultimate range is so far. If you go mid you can gank top or bot much easier. So it is up to you and your team comp to decide that.

Begin the game with Boots of Speed . and 3 Health Potions. Keep farming and try to get 1200 gold ( which should be easy because you should've easily picked up First Blood and maybe even another kill )before recalling and grab a Hextech Revolver . This will give you good lane sustain as well as some more damage. When you go B again you can choose to get either Mercury Treads or Sorceror's Shoes I suggest Mercury's Treads if you are getting CC'ed and focused. If you know they don't have that much CC and want to do more damage then grab Sorcerer's Shoes. By now you should be ganking and killing more. You will start getting more gold. Next time you recall if you have enough grab a Rylai's Crystal Scepter if not get a Giant's Belt and maybe a Blasting Wand Now you will have a slow with all of your abilities. Now you will not really need your Twilight Shroud for its slow but mainly for its armor and magic resist increase and the stealth. Now laning phase will probably be over by now. You will begin getting into more teamfights. Remember to get those dragons for your team. The global gold will put you ahead. From here on out its pretty simple. Just keep killing the enemies and you will gain more gold. Simple. After Rylai's you can choose to either get Rabadon's Deathcap or a Hextech Gunblade Get Rabadon's if you feel like you need more damage and have enough sustain in fights. Or get a Hextech Gunblade if you need that extra spell vamp and lifesteal. Next grab a Sheen this will increase your damage output. Your Q will proc sheen and your Mark of the Assassin and so once you hit that auto attack you will do a lot of damage. Next turn that sheen into a deadly Lich Bane Now instead of the Sheen adding your Attack Damage to your next auto attack it will add your Ability Power, which you will have more of. It will also give you bonus Magic Resist. Now the sixth item. If you haven't won the game already ( which you probably should have by now ) it is time to get a Void Staff Now this is one of my favorite items. It will shred through their Magic Resist like it's nothing. It gives you 40% Magic Penetration which is A LOT. Alright now I am going to explain why i chose these items.

Sorcerer's Shoes +20 Magic Penetration UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2 (does not stack with other Boots) These will increase your damage early game. Since most champs only have about 40-60 magic resist at the beggining you are almost cutting that in half. Which means- MORE DAMAGE!

Mercury's Treads +25 Magic Resist UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement 2 (does not stack with other Boots) UNIQUE Passive: +35 Tenacity (Tenacity reduces the duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, silences, blinds and immobilizes. Does not stack with other Tenacity items.) Now these will help you if you are getting CC'ed to death. And will give you some Magic Resist.

Hextech Revolver +40 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: +12% Spell VampNow this is really good during laning phase because, since you do not use mana, you will be able to sustain yourself almost as well as Vladimir, Tryndamere, and Garen. It will also add some little Ability Power.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter +500 Health +80 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: Dealing spell damage slows the target's Movement Speed by 35% for 1.5 seconds (15% for multi-target and damage-over-time spells. This item is great for Akali. It adds Health which is great for staying in the fights, Ability Power to do more damage, and a slow for every one of your abilitys. Its the Frozen Mallet for Ability Power champions.

Rabadon's Deathcap +140 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: Increases Ability Power by 30%. More damage. That's all I can say.

Hextech Gunblade +40 Attack Damage +70 Ability Power +15% Life Steal UNIQUE Passive: +20% Spell Vamp UNIQUE Active: Deals 300 magic damage and slows the target champion's Movement Speed by 50% for 3 seconds (60 second cooldown). A great hybrid item. Attack Damage, Ability Power, lifesteal, spell-vamp, and an active. The Attack Damage will give some nice damage to her E. The ability power helps out all her damaging skills. The lifesteal is for her auto attacks and the Spell-Vamp will give her even more sustain. And the passive. Its a pretty good passive. A slow and some bonus damage. A great all around item. The only thing I would say about it is that it's a very costy item.

Lich Bane +350 Mana +80 Ability Power +30 Magic Resist +7% Movement Speed UNIQUE Passive: After using an ability, your next basic attack gains bonus physical damage equal to your Ability Power (2 second cooldown). Does not stack with Sheen or Trinity Force. Ahhh this item... The Trinity Force for Ability Power champs. It works very well on Akali. Since her Q adds a mark and procs Lich Bane her next auto attack will do a huge burst of damage.

Void Staff +70 Ability Power UNIQUE Passive: +40% Magic Penetration. Even more damage. The Magic Penetration is very strong. You will definitely see more damage against tanks after this item. It is also pretty cheap.

Situational Items

Zhonyas Hourglass +100 Ability Power +50 Armor UNIQUE Active: Places your champion into Stasis for 2 seconds, rendering you invulnerable and untargetable but unable to take any action (90 second cooldown). This item is good for survivability and damage. It will give some nice armor and ability power. Theres also a passive that will help if you get focused.

Abyssal Scepter +70 Ability Power +57 Magic Resist UNIQUE Aura: Reduces the Magic Resist of nearby enemy champions by 20. This item will give some nice magic resist and ability power. It will also reduce the enemy champions magic resist so your team will do more damage.

Other Items that are not as good

Deathfire Grasp +60 Ability Power +10 Mana Regen per 5 seconds UNIQUE Passive: +15% Cooldown Reduction UNIQUE Active: Deals magic damage to target champion equal to 30% of their current Health (+3.5% per 100 Ability Power) with a minimum of 200 damage (60 second cooldown). You could get this item but it gives mana regen... which is a waste of money.

Note- You can change around the order of the items. But I do suggest you get boots and then Hextech Revolver and then level 2 boots and then Rylai's. From there you can switch the item order to whatever you need at the moment.

Early Game is somewhat difficult for Akali. Just start with boots and 3 health potions. You can choose to head mid or top, depending on what your team needs. You should just focus on farming from level 1-5. Don't be too aggresive. Just harass by throwing your Q. You do not have to walk up and auto attack them for the extra proc damage. Once you grab your Hextech Revolver you should be able to stay in lane until you want. Don't forget to buy wards so you don't get ganked and the wards will allow you to see where the champion in your lane is going. And by then you will probably have your ultimate. Once you get your ultimate you can play more aggresively by throwing your Q, dashing to them, auto attacking, throwing your Q and auto attacking again. Or you could just throw your Q, dash, and auto attack. You can also use your ultimate to juke people out by dashing to enemy minions. It will also help you catch up to people by dashing to a minion and then dashing to the enemy champion. However, remember to watch those stacks. Later in the game you should have no trouble keeping your stacks up. Early game is when it takes longer to regain your stacks though. You should also use your ultimate to try to help out your teamates by ganking their lane. By about 12-15 minutes you should have level 2 boots and your Hextech Revolver.

Mid game is when Akali shines. She will have her ult and you can do some real damage. She will burst people so easily. Mid game will begin around 20 minutes. And by 25-30 minutes you should have level 2 boots, Hextech Revolver, and Rylai's. You shouhld start ganking more because you will have your slow. It will help you catch up to people. Remember- be careful if the enemy gets an oracle because then, they can see you while you are in your Twilight SHroud. If you are running away with half hp and the enemy has full hp don't be afraid to turn around and fight them because her damage output is more than many other champions. By the end of mid game you will have at least 3 core items. Boots, Rylai's, and Rabadon's.

Now... this is where the fun starts. You will be getting into teamfights much more. And you remember Akali's role. Burst down the squishies before they can even hit your team. Make sure your tank(s) initiate first. Then you dash to the back and assassinate the squishys. It will change the teamfights so much because they wont have as much damage output. If you ace the enemy team go ahead and grab Baron Nashor or Dragon. It will give 300 global gold and a buff. Remember Baron Nashor spawns every 8 minutes and dragon spawns every 7 minutes so grab those two right when theyre up.

So, Akali the Fist of Shadow is one of the best bursty Ability Power champions. She brings a bunch of damage to the team. I will be updating constantly when I have the time to. I hope you enjoyed my guide and I alsho hope it will help you get your ELO higher and rape those enemy teams.