[01/March/2011 - 05:36] Date of Release
[14/March/2011 - 10:28] Added 2nd Akali Build Type - Vampiric Ninja -
[15/March/2011 - 09:45] Added Vampiric Ninja Build in -Item Build and Their Reasons-, also included a Hybrid section explain the Hybrid items that Akali can get.

Akali, The Fist of Shadows is an Assassin Hybrid that can fill many roles and execute them very well depending on the situation. There are many ways to play Akali but the main ways you see are with AP based items such as Rabadon's Deathcap Rylai's Crystal Scepter Lich Bane or Hybrid based items such as Guinsoo's Rageblade Hextech Gunblade Mejai's Soulstealer+ Sword of the Occultcombo. Either way, depending on the team composition, using Akali to the fullest takes alot of practice and knowledge and once learned she becomes one of the deadliest champions in the game. Akali's laning phase is pretty decent with her extreme damage output at level 1 against most champions. I have seen people jungle with Akali but her ability to farm and control a lane is way to great of an asset for the team to throw away by jungling. Her main damage output is her Mark of the Assassin and Shadow Dance combo because of the Bonus you get from Mark of the Assassin when you auto attack while they hold your Mark and your Shadow Dance can really help you land that auto attack on your target or get you in range so that you can Mark of the Assassin and auto attack.

Twin Disciplines
Akali's Passive where she activates based on her amount of Attack Damage and Ability Power. To activate her passive, you simply have to have 20 Ability Power and 10 Attack Damage above her base stats which in this Build with the Runes and Masteries and your first item, you obtain both very easily. 8.5 Attack Damage from Runes and 2 Attack Damage from Masteries giving you the Attack Damage passive, while grabbing an Amplifying Tome will give you the 20 Ability Power you need to get her other passive. Very good for her laning phase and makes her very hard to kill 1v1 till Level 6 where she dominates.

When to Use:By activating these Passives you get extra Magic Damage with your attaks and Bonus Spell Vamp, meaning everytime you use an ability, you gain 10% of the damage done, life Life Steal but with your Abilities.

Mark of the Assassin
Akali's extreme damage output and that allows her to total destroy the enemy team when used right. Mark of the Assassin is her "Q Ability" that she uses to last hit minions, harass enemy opponents, or nuke your target down with extreme damage. How Mark of the Assassin works is by targeting a target with your skill and will place a Mark above their head for 6 seconds. The first dish of damage is pretty small, around 100 HP damage too 300 HP Damage basing on it's Level and your AP. But what makes it HURT so bad is its bonus passive, when you Mark a target and within that 6 seconds trigger that mark [By simply auto attacking them] it will then explode and deal Double the amount of damage of its original amount with your attack. Basically using Mark of the Assassin and triggering it will be like dealing 3 in one shot and if it was dealing 300 at first then triggering it will be 900 all together not including your AD. It's cooldown reduces to 4 seconds at level 5 and is based off of 40% of your AP.

When to Use:When you are in laning phase or going after your target to harass or kill them. Between Level 1 - 5 your main goal is to use this ability to last hit minions that get to 100 HP health or if there are no minions to last hit, then harass your enemy since you run on energy you can spam it all day. Level 6 and above is when you use it to burst down your targets with your Shadow Dance

Twilight Shroud
Akali's way of escape and pain, Twilight Shroud can be used for many different things depending on your goal at that very moment, you will be getting this at level 4 but won't be adding anymore points to it till last. Twilight Shroud lasts for 8 seconds on all level and when Akali is in it, it allows you to go invisible to your enemies and gives you extrage Armor and Magic Resist, not much but its noticable. Though if you attack while in the shroud, you will come out of stealth for a second before you go back into stealth. This is her "W Ability" and is used for many different things which I will soon explain.

When to UseUse this ability for 3 different scenerios. 1. When you are in need to juke your opponent, it is very good to place the shroud at the edge of a bush in the direction you are heading, walking into the shroud and out will give you a brief .5 seconds of stealth outside the shroud in the direction your heading so placing the shroud a bit away from a bush will allow you to walk in that bush unnoticed while the enemy thinks your still in the shroud. 2.To engage on a target or multiple targets, placing the shroud dead around them gives you the element of surprise for 8 seconds while they aimlessly wonder around in your shroud giving you an opportunity to attack your target. 3. To help your team mates escape, the shroud gives a speed reduction to the enemy, so placing it down for your ally will help slow your chasers down and give you a successful get away for you and your ally.

Crescent Slash
Akali's AOE skill that she uses in order to deal damage to multiple target around her mainly for warming a whole minion wave or dish damage in the middle of multiple enemy champions.

When to Use: Use this to deal damage to multiple enemy champions by being in the center of them or you can enter the center of a minion wave and use this skill to deal damage to the minions in the radius.

Shadow Dance
What makes Akali, AKALI ... lol this is her ultimate and is considered to be the most OP in the game and in some situations with the right items like a Ryali's Crystal Scepter then yes it is a bit OP and the range is redic. At Level 16 her ultimate deals 250 Magic Damage plus (50% of her ability power). A nice little nuke combined with your Mark of the Assassin
When to Use:Use this to initiate on a target from long distance if you know they will run and not allow you to place your Mark on them before hand. Also can be used as an escape mechnism by shadowing to a monster away from your opponent to gain distance.

Here is the Youtube Video of the Champion Spotlight made when she was released. Granted since then she has been changed alot but the video does cover some good visual tricks that you can pull off that a new Akali needs to know.
Play Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8UjQ_hYfh4

My Masteries and Runes are based upon gaining both of her Passive at level 1 with 1 core item for your build Amplyfing Tome Taking the 8.5 in Marks and 2 in Masteries giving her the 10 AD she needs to gain spell vamp and then the 20 from the tome to give her bonus AP damage in her attacks, makes her extremely deadly at Level 1. I have found this way to be best as your laning becomes a breeze with the spell vamp and more money gone to items you will need to start your core.
Greater Mark of Strength +8.5 Flat AD
Greater Seal of Vitality Greater Seal of Vitality +19.5 Health (1.08 per level) = 175 Health at level 18
Greater Glyph of Force +3.06 (0.17 per Level) = 27.5 AP at Level 18
Greater Quintessence of Force +7,74 (0.43 Per Level) = 23.22 AP at level 18

The Reason why I use per Level runes over Flat runes is because Akali shines mid to late game, and with per level runes, you will have just about the same amount as flat runes at level 6 :x so and some of the per level runes are cheaper then the flat ones so WHY NOT? makes more since

Grabbing Magic Pen runes instead of Ability Power runes are an option but pretty much a waste because if you really need Mag Pen then just grab a Void Staff

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END GAME ITEM BUILD
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THE STACKED NINJA


THE VAMPIRIC NINJA

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Mobility
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Boots of Swiftness is the main boots that I grab on Akali mainly because of the movement speed is essential for her early game to get that Mark and Shadow dance to proc together, Akali is a chaser, so getting boots to out run your target will make life easier on you, also great to use to quickly Juke your opponent in and out of brush.

Mercury Treads are boots i get if they have a High CC team, mainly people like Rammus / Sion / Fiddlesticks / Taric / Evelyn .. mainly if they have a stun that lasts 2 seconds or more, they are a threat and if there is 3 of them, then these boots are a must.

Boots of Mobility are boots you use if they have a jungler and you are up for the task for Ganking all 3 lanes and farming your own jungle after level 6 while scouting for theirs. These boots will help you get around the map much quicker and make you threat to all lanes 24/7.

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AD Items
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Sword of the Occult is an item I get every game right after my Mejai's. This item gives you extra AD everytime you assist or kill an enemy, which adds to your passive of more Spell Vamp for your abilities giving you more survivalbility against enemy champions. I believe this a way better item them early game for that purpose. At 20 stacks it gives you 100 AD and Movement Speed.

The BloodThirster is an item I would trade for my Occult late game if I'am having trouble keeping it above 16 stacks. Gives 100 AD and 20% Life steal when fully used after farming the minions for it.

The Black Cleaver I recommend this item only if your going against a very tankish team and need some armor penetration and AS to help your team take them down. This is a very good team item as it reduces their armor every hit, allowing your AD carry to hit them even harder then they would if you didn't have this item. Gives 55 AD and 30% Attack Speed with Armor Reduction.

NOTE: You only need 1 AD item to increase your passive, i recommend Sword of the Occult but if you are not comfortable that you can keep stacks, then get a BF Sword instead and turn it into something late game. But never should akali go straight AD, as her abilities are all AP scaled.

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AP ItemsD
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Mejai's Soulstealer is my first and main AP item I grab first early in the game to give me some nuking Early and Mid game. Always gank lanes to feed this up, this will make you very OP by Level 13 if you have over 14 stacks with it.
Ryali's Crystal Scepter is a must have AP item on Akali, gives you extra AP and Health for more damage output and survivalbility Mid and Late game and allows all your abilities to deal slow effects making chasing down your enemy a breeze.
Rabadon's Deathcap is another must have AP item for a Hybrid/AP Akali with its 30% passive that increases all your AP items extremly. 155 Ability power, can't beat it.
Lich Bane is an item that turns your AP into your auto attack, making it bonus damage when you proc it with an Ability. Very good to have when you have over 400 Ability Power and need some extra kick in your bursting combo. Also very good to use on towers, just hit your E over and over to active the proc when you can.

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HYBRID Items
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Hextech Gunblade is an all around great AP/AD item that gives 20% Spell Vamp and 20% Life Steal with an Active passive that deals 300 damage and slows your target. Very nice to have when you run out of uses on your Shadow Dance. I would usually grab 2 of these to replace my Mejai's and Occult to give the pretty much the same amount of AP and AD and 40% Spell Vamp & Life Steal. Though the price on this item is pretty expensive ranging around 4,000 Gold, so I will usually save this as my last item choice.

Guinsoo's Rageblade I preferrably do not life this item on my Akali but I know people like it as an Item choice just because of its passive. Giving you a good amount of AP and AD that increases as you chain your Abilities and Auto Attacks together. The main use I see this item for is for taking down towers early game faster with the Attack Speed Increase. I would advize getting this if your starting out very slow early game and can't find yourself dealing out much damage in team fights. So grab 2 of these and BackDoor, to increase your farm and global gold.

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Survivability Items
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Banshee's Veil a very good item to get when you the enemy has alot of CC or hard hitting nukes that they wait to use on you when team fights initiate.
Frozen Heart grab this item if the enemy team has hard hitting mellees doing most of their damage.
Randuin's Omen grab this item if you see yourself 2v1ing melee the entire game. Activating it's passive will give you an edge or allowing you escape much easier.
Zhonya's Hourglass is a very good item to counter then hard hitting Mage Nukes that use their abilities or combo to finish you off like Vladimir or Karthus or Nunu.

Usually I always save my 6th slot for one of these to help me surive better against their hard hitters, mainly if the fight is going either way and each team is equally fed.

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Different Builds
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**ABILITY POWER NUKE

**HYBRID AKALI**

**MAG PEN HEAVY NEEDED**

**THEY GOT CC? NO WORRIES**

Some people ask how do you fully initiate a fully combo on a target? well it's quite simple that some people do tend to forget and rush.
wait for the cooldown which is 4 seconds when Maxed. , auto attack to trigger first mark then + and auto attack again to trigger 2nd mark ... by then they should be running or almost dead, and you can just + + them down to death.

-> -> -> -> FINISH/CHASE DOWN -> ->

Here is my friend Shellshoque using my Sword of the Occult and Mejai's build idea and scored a Penta Kill....

Thank You for taking the time to read my guide on Akali, I hope you enjoyed and learned something new about her that I have explained here. Fill free to Vote base on the the Guide's Content and Value. So Pluses or Minuses, make sure to have a good reason why and maybe some thoughts that could help me improve this guide.

Thanks Good Luck on the Field of Justice