Hi guys this is my 2nd guide shortly followed after my first guide for Garen (you can also check that out if you want). Im not that good at editing and stuff like that I just want to give you guys some advice how to play better with Darius and I want to keep it as short as possible (in all of my guides), so pls dont just dislike this guide only because of the structure, it still takes some time and effort to make guides. (Instead of disliking my guide you could just leave a comment and tell me what I could do better or just give me your opinions).
Btw im not english so my writing language might not be that good :P

Darius is a champ which many ppl call an OP "noob champ" because of his incredibly high damage output starting in early game till mid or even late game. His mobility is rather low but he can still slow you or grab you with his spells.
Darius has one of the most damaging ultimates in the game if used correctely and it gives Darius a high multikill potential.

Start off with Boots, 3 HP pots and 1 mana pot or just buy crystalline flask (for early harassing + long durability). Select the trinket which you like best.

If you face an AP champ in laning phase you should go for a Hexdrinker first.
If you face a full tank like Shen you should go for an early The Brutalizer because he will be harder to kill the longer the game takes.
Otherwise just go for an early Pickaxe.

Later on you can get [mercury's treads]] for bonus magic resist and movement speed.

Then you should get a Frozen Mallet because combined with your Crippling Strike your enemies will be slowed enormously and bonus HP is always good.

Follow up with a Sunfire Aegis which grants you armor and HP and deals damage to nearby enemies. Also its a good combination with Frozen Mallet and Crippling Strike too because enemy champs cant get away so easy.

The next item is pretty good against magic resistance. It is the Maw of Malmortius it gives you AD + magic resistance and additionally you will receive a spell shield if you drop low and you AD also increases the lower your HP are.

Guardian Angel will be the last item. It makes you tankier and can revive you which is pretty usefull because Darius is often focused in teamfights and if you die your enemies will start to focus other champs. After you are revived you will have low HP but still you will be able to deal a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
Be aware though Darius isnt a very effective tank in late game!!!

For Darius i rly just recommend Ignite and Flash as your summoner spells.
Ignite combined with your passive Hemorrhage it is a very effective way to finish up wounded enemies.
Flash you should use for escaping because Darius has low mobility. Of course you can use it for the offense too.
Ghost is also an option but I think its more effective if you are jungling with him.

Darius' spells are pretty much all used for the offense and can be used as a high damaging burst combo which I will tell you more about later.

Starting of with his Q ability Decimate. This is his main damaging ability and if used correctly you can deal an incredible amount of damage early on. But BE AWRARE! dont spam it too much or you might run out of mana and will have trouble against tankier champs in your lane.

Moving on to his W Crippling Strike. This is basically your cc skill to slow down your foe's movement speed and as already said you can combine it with a Frozen Mallet to make it much harder for your enemies to escape from you.

Apprehend is his E ability which allowes you to grab enemies + minions ( be aware you might grab a lot of minions with the enemy champ and in early stages of the game this could be deadly for yourself). As soon as you hit lvl to and you obtain this skill you are able to do so much damage in short amount of time. Between lvl 2 and 6 you are a deadly monster who is already capable of getting an easy double kill but avoid 2 vs 1 situations in general until your ult is up because this is were you start to get very dangerous.

Darius got one of the most damaging ultimates if you have 5 stacks on your enemy. It is the Noxian Guillotine. This ultimate deals massive damage and if you kill someone with it the cooldown is reseted to 0 for the next 12 seconds. That means you can easily get multiple kills with him if you have enough mana.

Here are the BURST COMBOS you can do with him:

This is the combo for you if you have to grab your enemy to you(1 enemy): E-W-AA-Q-AA-W-R
What i also want to tell you is that many people use their Q as soon as they grab. Id only recommend this if you have multiple enemies around you. Why? Its simple if you use your Q when your enemy is to close to you you wont be able to put the maximum amount of damage. I recommend to rather slow him with your W (be careful you might hit a minion if you dont press on the enemy with your mouse) and put 1 autoattack on him to get 1 bonus stack so your W's cooldown reduces faster. Now your enemy should have get a bit of distance so you Q him to get a high amount of damage on him. Now your W should be reseted so you slow him again, do a AA and then you have 5 stacks on him to ultimate.

Combo in middle of the teamfight: Q-E-W-AA-AA-Q-(W)-R
This is basically the combo youll use in the teamfights. Q as many foes you can then pull your target/targets slow 1 of them down AA till your Q is available then finish him of with your R and straight focus the next 1 otherwise your ult will run out.

These are just some recommended combos. Of course you dont have to use them. It also depends on your playstyle so experiment a bit and you may find out your own combos for a certain situation.

PROS:


--> massive damage from early-mid game

--> high multi-kill potential

--> pretty tanky

--> very high damaging ult + passive

--> decent cc

--> strong aa


CONS:


--> low mobility; bad at escaping

--> loses effective tankyness and damage in late game

--> low durability in early game (mana runs out very fast)

--> often focused in teamfight because his very high damage output


In short: CLOSE COMBAT MONSTER

Here are some Tricks which may come in handy for you guys.

--> use Flash-Grab combo if you want to surprise your enemies in case of a gank for example

--> if your allies are getting chased and you are running their way, just wait until the enemy goes past you and then grab them back to you

--> dont get too cocky and run in first in a teamfight because you will become the primary focus of the enemy team, play like an assassin

--> dont get stressed if you are in a fight against multiple enemies you might be able to kill them all if you keep calm and use your ultimate correctely

Darius can also be played in the jungle but it can be challenging. I would go with rather defensive masteries for the sustain in the jungle and he also isnt the fastest jungle clearer.
The good thing is that you can spam your W after getting the BLUE BUFF and if you want to make an early gank you should get the RED BUFF first. In jungle i like to play him as a tank but get a Ravenous Hydra for faster jungle clearing it and its a good combo with your passive. You should start of with your W and if you dont plan an early gank you should lvl your E after hitting lvl 4 which you will hit after clearing the whole jungle 1 once.

Here is my prefered jungle route for season 4:
Start blue and Smite it just as it spawns so the cooldown is reseted faster.(Now you should be lvl 2)
Continue with the wolves so your Smite will be up for the big wraith which you will do straight after wolves and also smite it early. (If you want an early gank you should do blue smiteless and then instantly go for red so you hit lvl 3)
After the 1st half of the jungle is clear you can move on to the small wraith camp and clear that which will lead you to lvl 3.
Now your Smite should be ready again and you can get the red buff.
Finally finish the golems to hit lvl 4 and be ready to try your first gank.
Be careful though it is possible that you will have no pots when fighting the golems and you can drop dangerously low if you have wrong masteries so you will be forced to go back and lose your buffs for a more effective gank.

My final recommendation is to use Ghost instead of Flash but you dont have to. And for runes+masteries just take what you think is best (depends on your playstyle)

So basically Darius is a very high damage dealing offtank. If played correctely you can easily get a PENTAKILL with him but be aware you will get focused often if you are outpositioned.

This is my 2nd guide and pls dont hate on it just because it isnt structured that good.
It still takes tons of time and I put in much effort to do it as good and short as possible.

Also I want to say that you dont have to buy all items which i recommended, it also depends on the situation and thats why i didnt make multiple item choices because there are so many diffrent situations that can happen in game (enemy has high armor, no ad/ap damage,...)
Same thing goes for my Garen guide check it out if you want to and pls give me a rating or some feedback.

So guys remember: if you like NOXUS, then Darius is your perfect champ and also...
DUNK'EM DOWN!!!