Cassiopeia is a powerful champion that has a very hard learning curve. If you plan to learn playing a champion like Cassiopeia, you should have a fairly proficient skill in skill shots before attempting to learn this champion.

Unlike my other guides, this is a more serious guide that requires a lot of skill from the player because of the nature of Cassiopeia.

If you are new to mid lanes, start off with easier to learn champions like Annie, Ryze or Galio.

For me, it took me only three days to master Cassiopeia because of my mastery of Karthus. It took me about 6 months to truly master Karthus and play against any mid lane. However, without my preexisting skill of Karthus, learning Cassiopeia would have taken just as long as 6 months. Of course, Cassiopeia and Karthus are different champions, they are similar because of Cassiopeia's skill Noxious Blast and Karthus's skill Lay Waste. That skill took me about 2 months to master completely, then I had to learn how to be active in map awareness and learning efficient positioning for team fights. I started to play Karthus 5 months in after starting LoL.

Do not be disappointed if you can't handle Cassiopeia within the first few games. It takes time to learn a different style of play.

Good luck, have fun, and leave comments if you have any questions about Cassiopeia.

Deadly Cadence
This skill makes you a DPS caster, however to utilize this passive effectively, you need to build strong mana regeneration. Chalice of Harmony with a high mana item makes this passive OP.

Noxious Blast
This is your main source of harass. Great range at 850, low cool down, and good poison damage making this your main source of harass. There is a delay in this skill, so mastering this skill takes a lot of work. If you don't get the hang of this skill the first time, relax it takes time to master it.

Miasma
This ability is used to zone out enemies, brush check, cc, and of course damage.
When you want to zone out your enemies, use this skill. Being caught under Miasma makes them vulnerable to all of cassiopeia's attacks. You can can engage for a kill with this to make a combo like, Miasma --> Noxious Blast --> Twin Fang and just repeat the spam of Noxious Blast and Twin Fang.
This skill gives a small temporary vision of an area. Its only big enough to check small bushes or about a fourth of a long bush. When you are extending or jungling, check the bushes for potential threats.
The skill gives cc to any unfortunate champions. Use this to control teamfights, and with a 850 range, it would be easy to break formations with the skill. Chasing your enemies with this skill lets you zone in on them to engage for a kill. The same can be done when escaping. When you are escaping, place the skill in a location that will slow the champion down from chasing you.
This skill does decent damage. It is now strong as Noxious Blast but effective in many other ways.

Twin Fang
This skill is the kill skill. It makes you one of the most feared champions on a fight. When the target is poisoned, you get a 0.5 cool down making this a spamable skill. When you are receiving the 0.5 cool down, Deadly Cadence synergies with it and at full stack, you get a 50% mana cost reduction on your skills. Shoot to kill.

Petrifying Gaze
Use this skill to engage fights, or to cc the enemy. This skill gives one of the hardest cc effects of the game. Any enemy champion that faces towards you is vulnerable for a 2 second stun while taking magic damage. Any enemy champion that faces away from you receives a 60% slow and the same amount of magic damage as the stun. This skill has a hard learning curve to be efficient. A bad shot of the skill can prevent maximum damage that may potentially win team fights. Because the skill has a short range, it synergies well with Flash. You can flash in and stun the enemy to unleash your damage. However once you are zoned in, you have to dedicate yourself to the fight or else it would be a waist. Great for overpowering 2v1 fights and ambushes.

Start 1
2 Faerie Charms and 3 Health Potions. This opening is recomended for champions with weak harass. You can start with this opening against champions like Ryze, Annie, and other champions Cassiopeia can out range or win early trade.

Start 2
Crystalline Flask, sight ward, and Health Potion.
Start with this if you are going to take in harass from trade or the enemy jungler is very present in ganks. Champions with long reaches like Lux, Karthus, Ahri and junglers like Amumu, Shaco and Udyr may force you to start with this opening.

Chalice of Harmony, Sapphire Crystal, Hextech Revolver, and Boots are Cassiopeia's core items.

Chalice of Harmony
A must on all spell spamming champions. Gives good early magic resistance and regeneration.

Sapphire Crystal
Get this item and upgrade it to either Tear of the Goddess or catalyst the protector. Synergies with Chalice of Harmony making you able to spam your skills even longer.

Hextech Revolver
Any AP DPS champion should take this item. It is their main source of sustain.

Boots
Gives you mobility to zone into the enemy champion and kite with them as you spam Twin Fang.

The total base cost of the core set is 2830 gold. An extra 300 gold if you upgrade for Tear of the Goddess or an extra 800 gold for catalyst the protector.

Your main objective is to rush out Chalice of Harmony and Sapphire Crystal. Once you obtain these 2 items, you have sustain to spam out your spells to make farming easier and harass. Cassiopeia is not a nuker, so you should focus your energy on creating sustain for your DPS.

Buy sight wards to keep an eye out for the enemy junglers. If you can rush out Chalice of Harmony and Sapphire Crystal, you are able to laning without the second blue buff. If your jungler needs the second blue buff and you are able to hold the lane on your own, just give it.

Aim next on getting Boots to kite early game.

Once you have Sapphire Crystal, you need to make a decision what you are going to upgraded that item to. You can pick between, Tear of the Goddess or catalyst the protector.

Tear of the Goddess
This is the cheaper offensive option. You take this if you are not receiving harass. Take this if you are winning the lane. Upgrades into Archangel's Staff for massive amounts of damage.

catalyst the protector
This is the more defensive item for Cassiopeia. If you are struggling in your lane or in a competitive lane, take this item. During early laning phase, any mistake you make is more forgivable because of your HP and item passive to heal you for every level.

At this point, laning phase is coming to an end. Your goal is to find ganks through the river or giving hard harass in your lane.
Getting Hextech Revolver becomes your first priority because it allows you to be more aggressive in your lane. Once you have Hextech Revolver, you can heal yourself through the blue camp by leaving a Miasma at their camp over the wall. Very useful and take advantage of this skill.

Choosing your boots at this point maybe a bit tricky. You have three options to pick from, Mobility Boots, Sorcerer's Shoes, and Mercury's Treads.

Mobility Boots
Never a bad option for mid laners. Gives you fast travel time to go up and down the river to gank other lanes.

Sorcerer's Shoes
The offensive choice if you need extra damage depending on your situation. One of the more stable choices in your lane, however everything is situational.

Mercury's Treads
Take this item only if you are facing constant cc. Do not get this item just for the magic resist. It would be a waist of gold to invest just for that. Take this item only if you are facing hard CC.

After finishing your core set, upgraded your mana item to its complete form.

Upgrading Chalice of Harmony is very situational. The only reason why you would want to upgrade this item is because you need more magic resisance. A great way to upgrade and receive ability power at the same time. Other than that, you may want to upgrade this item last.

At this point of the game, keep a keen eye on your map. Where ever there is a teamfight or an ambush being set, be there. Your Petrifying Gaze and Miasma can change team fights. Even if you die, you can severely damage your enemies. If you can manage to land your stun, the enemy team will take a huge blow and be forced to retreat. In teamfights, your team will most likely be able to grab kills because of you. If you are planning to split push, stay near your teammates, and keep the map warded. Cassiopeia excels well in teamfights more than 1v1, so you really do not want to miss any opportunity for a team fight.

Spell Vamp
Spirit of the Spectral Wraith
This is the most cost effective spell vamp in the game at the moment. Just for 800 gold, you gain an additional 10 AP, 10 cool down reduction, 8% increased spell vamp and 10 mana regen per 5. I normally take this item just because it's so cheap, which allows me to spend my resources on other items.

Will of the Ancients
Now, if your doing great in the game, and you just need the extra AP or your team needs more AP, get this item. It offers utility for any nearby AP champions and 20% spell vamp. Not a bad item for utility, but the total upgrade cost is 1350 gold.

Offensive Options
Athene's Unholy Grail
A good offensive item with a nice touch of magic resistance. Upgrade this according to the current in-game meta. Offers 60 AP, 20% cool down reduction, 40 Magic resistance, 15 Mana regen per 5 seconds, and has the same passive as Chalice of Harmony. Do not get this item if you already have Mikael's Blessing.

Deathfire Grasp
This item is a burst tank killer. Deals 15% of the targets maximum health and increases all incoming damage by 20%. If you need an extra boost of damage in fights, not a bad option. Offers 10 cool down reduction and 120 ap for stats. This item can be situational to use.

Liandry's Torment
Another tank killing item. If your planing to shred away the enemies HP, this item will do the job. Thanks to its passive, you can see your enemies slowly burn away to a weaker state. This item offers 50 AP, 300 health, and 15 magic penetration. Has a nice touch of defensive and offensive stats.

Lich Bane
If you need more burst in your team fights, take this item. Because of Cassiopeia's low cool downs, this item offers more damage in your set. She has a good auto attack range which she can land the spellblade hits. Offers 80 AP, 250 mana, and 5% movement speed. Do not get this item if you have Iceborn Gauntlet.

Morellonomicon
This item keeps champions that just took a burst low on HP. If your having a hard time landing kills because of heal, or other health regeneration. You should consider taking this item. Any champion with less than 40% health, will receive 50% reduced healing. This item literally can guarantee they wont escape from a burst, unless they have something like Flash D:. It offers 75 AP, 20% cool down reduction and 15% mana reduction all for just 2200 gold! Very cost efficient with strong stats.

Rabadon's Deathcap
This item litterally gets too much hype. It does offer a huge ammount of AP, but sometimes you have to think, do I need more AP or other stats like armor, magic resist, movement, or just plain utility to win this game. This is a great item, but it just gets too much hype. What's the point of getting high amounts of AP, when you are just getting shut down in teamfights? Not a bad item, the passive brings insanely high AP into your champion.

Void Staff
If 3 or more enemy champions are getting magic resistance over 100, take this item or else you won't be doing damage in team fights. In this situation, it becomes very cost efficient because you get 70 AP, and at least 35 magic penetration on 3 champions.

Defensive Options
Iceborn Gauntlet
This item offers a wide range of abilities that Cassiopeia can use. This item offers 40 AP, 60 armor, 10% cool down reduction, and 500 mana. This item also has a spellblade which Cassiopeia can process just like Lich Bane. However it scales your base AD, does not include any AD you receive from items, runes, or masteries. When you launch the spellblade, you can give 30% slow on enemies in a small circle around them. This item also offers a high amount of mana that can be synergies with Chalice of Harmony and Archangel's Staff. If you have this item, do not take Rylai's Crystal Scepter or Lich Bane. If you started with Archangel's Staff make sure you grab an HP item so you won't be too squishy.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Personally, whenever I grab Archangel's Staff as my mana item, I take this item to give me a good amount of HP to work with. Offers slow, which lets you kite any champion. Do not take this item if have Iceborn Gauntlet and vice versa.

Zhonya's Hourglass
This item is great whenever you decide to engage with Petrifying Gaze. For example, lets say they have a champion like Blitzcrank. He grabs you in, however, you activate the active and get into a stasis. They dump their spells onto you which have no effect. Flash out once the stasis is over, activate Petrifying Gaze on them, and watch as your team counter attacks and wins the team fight. Offers 120 AP and 50 Armor. A good armor option for Cassiopeia.

Banshee's Veil
If the enemy team has a wide range of cc and poke, take this item. That spell shield refreshes if you don't take any champion damage for 25 seconds making it ideal. Offers 400 health, 45 magic resistance, and 300 mana. This item is viable.

Guardian Angel
Offers both armor and magic resistance. The key point of getting this item is because of the passive. After a death, this item revives you at 30% of your HP and mana. This can only happen once every 5 minutes, so if you are planning for a heavy offensive attack with your team, take it.

Mikael's Blessing
Only take this item after getting Banshee's Veil and your still taking a lot of CC. Do not get this item if you have Athene's Unholy Grail.

Standard 21-00-09 is the recommended masteries for Cassiopeia. Because your core items covers all of your utility, you really do not need to go 09-00-21 at all.

3 Quintessence of Magic Penetration
9 Mark of Magic Penetration
9 Seal of Armor or Seal of Scaling Armor
9 Glyph of Magic Resist or Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist


Currently, there isn't too many magic penetration for AP casters. Cassiopeia doesn't have a high AP ratio, so you need to get some magic penetration runes to balance out for efficient damage.

If you're enemy team is going to have an AP mid and AP jungler, you should take Seal of Scaling Armor because you don't need to worry too much early and mid game about physical damage. However, only in this situation are you allowed to take this option.

If you're enemy team is going to have an AD mid and AD jungler, you should take Glyph of Magic Resist because you don't need to worry about magic damage early and mid game. You should only take scaling magic resistance in this situation.

Must
Flash
Synergies too well with Cassiopeia, this skill is a must on her and it shouldn't be undervalued.

Recommended
Ignite
Great way to get burst and with the upgrade, you can reduce their healing with this spell.
Exhaust
Great for kiting and trying to secure your kill.
Clarity
This skill is only good for a select few champions. This lets you have an easier laning phase where you can burst your spells for an early kill. Late game, when you are constantly spamming skills and your team needs more mana, it can offer great utility.

Optional
Cleanse
Take this only if you know you are going to receive hard cc.
Teleport
Great for ganks, or short travel times to your tower.
Barrier
This skill helps you dive or acts as a life line to save you from dps, like poison, ignite, etc...

Pros
Offers wide range of CC to your team.
A strong damage dealer.
Long damage range.
stable from early to late.

Cons
Has a hard learning curve.
Early game is hard to master.
3 out of 4 spells are skill shots.
Very mana dependent.

Thanks for reading the guide.

I hope that you learn how to use Cassiopeia to the full extent of this guide.

The first digit is version number
The second digit is the LoL update
the third number is any new sections added or removed
the fourth number is for the grammar nazis

1/3.01/0/0 3/04/2013 Happy Birthday