Hey lads,

My name is PBN Cronix, playing this hellhole since season 2.
eSports Top Laner, played with many teams and have a hugh experience with MOBA games such as:

League of Legends
Smite
Heroes of The Storm
Heroes of Newerth

I used to be Diamond 1/2/3, quit after season 3 or well.. mid season 4.
Returned a week ago with a new account and decided to specialize in Top again but mainly in this sexy azz champion named Kayn.


What is Kayn?

Kayn is in my opinion a high mobility top/jungle/mid laner, this due to the fact that his assasin form combined perfectly with thunderlord and stormraiders surge, but his darkin form can be quite tanky, work well with colossus and fervor (also with stormraider but... megh).

Well, like every champion in League it has it's ups, downs and no-go's... down here a small list:

- Darkin Mode (The Tanky Ginger Guy)

Pro's:

High Sustain, can remain on lane for an incredible long time if required, this is because of his lifestealing abilities and his tanky influences on the assasin Kayn.

His W suddenly knocks stuff up, this is incredibly usefull if timed well in a team fight or when fighting 1v1 versus a champion.

In a 1v1 he is incredibly strong, this is both because of his lifestealing abilities, his tankiness and obviously his CC, mobilitity and damage scaling on both AD and max hp of opponents.


Con's:

Miss W = You're rip, literally as you are left with a Q... ult and an escape which are not really carrying your fights or stopping any casts etc. from opponents.

Not that tanky actually = They claim it's a tank, but no... it's just a bruiser-ish version of an assasin... it will die less fast but also deal less damage.


- Shadow Assasin (Sonic all over again)

Pro's:

High mobility, no need to explain.
Immense burst, no adc or mid laner is safe :C
Supreme escape, due to the fact that his E is not slowed down by dmg n **** now...
If properly built, you can also have a high sustain with this form due to it's high damage..


Con's:

Squishy a-f, it's an actual assasin form (like the title says, duuh) and therefore I would say it's about as squishy as talon.

Late-game you will need armor penetration otherwise you're worthless to your team.

Needs good positioning, as otherwise you're useless in a teamfight.

Main build path is Domination, this path gets the most potential out of the champion.

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Secondary build path is precision, this blends in well with the domination seen the abilities of the champion.

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Well, I honestly don't see how this has to be a part of the guide... but some silvers I coach asked me this so decided to add it to the guide.

1st Priorioty: The oh so... overpowered ultimate.
2nd Q: This is your main DMG source and a dash to keep up with your opponent.
3th W: Slow or Knock-up (depends on mode) and it deals quite a decent amount of damage in a fight!
4th E: You use this ability to escape or to travel through the map.. so the priority is incredibly blow.


But, as I stated in the skill tab up above: Versus a ranged comp the W is better as you can use it to poke and to slow the opponent and get close to them quickly by combining it with your Q.

Flash: Even though your E seems like "the ultimate" escape, flash can come in handy as it:

1. Activates instantly, your E has a small delay and then still requires you to walk away from your opponent which could eventually mean you're going to feking die.

2. It transports over walls etc. immediately and jumps away quite a far amount so you can pop your E after and make the ultimate escape in combnation with flash ;)


Ignite: As you're an assasin, ignite will always come in handy to either finish off your opponents or to simply have an advantage early-game on your opponents, the squishier the opponent the better ignite will work out for you.


Teleport: This one always works out well for a top laner, if you pick the assasin edition your sustain will be low and this way you can easily return to top... also very well for the early game.. you won't get behind on farm and if you outplay your opponent you could outscale him big-time if you want to.


Exhaust: Last but not least, in my opinion exhaust is a decent candidate on this champion, not in all situations... but versus a gnar for example.. you will play with stormraiders surge, reduce his damage and movement speed by using exhaust, you can slow him even more with your W and burst him with your basic hits, Q and ult.. what else would you want?

Alright, I will keep this one SHORT... as I personally hate plain copying builds from the internet... but I will tell you why I've picked these items and what the mindset behind it is.


First: The Black Cleaver...

Think about it, as Kayn you're an assasin who relies for a big part on his abilities... if you build this item it will reduce the cooldowns granting you:

More mobility due to the fact that you get your E faster.
More damage and dashes bcuz the Q can be reduced (with full CDR) to a stunning 3 seconds... insane.
And a faster slow/knock-up on your W.


2nd: Spirit Visage - Only Build on Darkin.

As Darkin has certain abilities that return HP this amplifies the healing effect and increases your ability to tank a lot.


3th: Youmuu & Duskblade (Only for Shadow Assasin)

The reason I can explain both of these in one tab is simple... as an assasin these items are incredibly usefull due to their "Lethality" stats... this scales into the end-game and provides incredible armor penetration... due to these items you have a great chance of shredding tanks as well.

Plus youmuu's active is always good to have <3

4th: The Boots (all)

1st Boots: Ninja Tabi

These boots are incredibly usefull versus AD opponent laners... if the rest of their team has low AP damage and not that much CC, these boots are a great option as you will gain a lot less damage from the AD opponent.


2nd Boots: Mercury's Thread's

Incredibly usefull when your opponent has AP(Magic) damage OR when the opposing teams has a lot of CC (Crowd-Control) abilities.
This will grant you more mobility and won't cause champions like Gnar to kite you this fast anymore.


3th Boots: Boots of Swiftness

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend this UNLESS you go for the Roamer Assasin role/type... this way you can reach other lanes incredibly fast and remain on a close distance with the opponent constantly...

This is/was my first guide.. it's still not entirely completed but if anyone has a suggestion on what to add please let me know.

I will soon be streaming as well: https://www.twitch.tv/pbncronix
Make sure to follow, I can give personal help/advice on guides and write guides on request!