Disclaimer: This guide will not make you a super awesome Darius player, you still have to put in effort and no how to handle a top lane. This guide should simply help you get used to a new champion.


Who Am I And Why Am I Making This Guide

My name is TehSkrunch, i am an average LoL player living the UK, Playing on the US servers (Dont ask why). Usually play Top lane or the AD carry in Bot Lane. I have always fancied making a guide but never found the right champion to do it one. But as Darius was just released, a champion i have picked up and enjoyed, i figured now would be a good time to do it.

Who Is Darius

Darius is a melee/bruiser champion released on the 23-May-2012. He has excellent Burst Damage and Sustained Damage. Mostly used in a solo top lane, He can easily intimidate the enemy champ and force them to miss minion kills with his suprising amounts of early game damage.

Lore

There is no greater symbol of Noxian might than Darius, the nation's most feared and battle-hardened warrior. Orphaned at a young age, Darius had to fight to keep himself and his younger brother alive. By the time he joined the military, he had already developed the strength and discipline of a veteran soldier. The first true test of Darius's resolve occurred in a crucial battle against Demacia, where the Noxian forces were exhausted and outnumbered. Darius's captain called for his troops to retreat, but Darius refused to accept such an act of cowardice. Breaking formation, Darius strode towards the captain and decapitated him with one sweep of his gigantic axe. Both terrified and inspired, the soldiers followed Darius into battle and fought with incredible strength and fervor. After a long and grueling battle, they ultimately emerged victorious.

Seizing momentum from this victory, Darius led his now fiercely loyal troops in a devastating campaign against Demacia. After proving his power on the battlefield, Darius turned his gaze homeward. He saw a Noxus riddled with weakness, where greedy, complacent nobles drained the nation's strength. Seeking to restore his country to greatness, Darius took it upon himself to reshape the Noxian leadership. He identified weak figureheads and violently removed them from their positions of power. Many in Noxus saw Darius's cull as an attempt to seize power, but he had a different plan for the throne. He had been watching the rise of Jericho Swain with keen interest. In Swain, Darius saw a leader with the mind and determination to bring Noxus to glory. Now allied with the Master Tactician, Darius works to unite the nation behind his vision of true Noxian strength.

"A united Noxus could control the world - and would deserve to." - Darius

Game Updates

23-May-2012: Darius Patch

Guide Updates

26-May-2012 #1
26-May-2012 #2
27-May-2012 #3

Pros

- Does AoE and Single Target Damage
- Passive applies DoT Bleed (Has finished off escaping enemies whilst i have been playing)
- Gap Closing ability with his E
- Ult's Cooldown resets of it kills a target
- Ult deals True Damage
- Durable
- E can be used in a number different ways.
- Has the potential to come back from a bad start with a good team fight or two

Cons

- Short Range
- No built in Sustain or Regen
- No Escape abilities
- Can have a hard time against ranged champs

The runes i use are a standard Attack Damage based set up, Usually used by anything that deals phsyical damage or auto attacks.

Stats:

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage x3 = 6.75 Attack Damage
Greater Mark of Attack Damage x9 = 8.55
Greater Seal of Armor x9 = 12.69
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist x9 = 12.06

The masteries i use are focused around defense, with a few points in offense. Unlike the masteries Phreak suggests, i choose to go skip

Tough Skin
Indomitable

for

Initiator
Enlightenment


Breakdown:

The key masteries in the defensive tree are: Vigor , Initiator and Enlightenment .

Vigor : This is chosen because it gives a boost to his sustain. As he has no natural sustain, i feel any boost to sustain, be it HP Per 5 or Life Steal is worth it.
Initiator : This is chosen to combat his sluggish feel. Most of the time (if used right) you should be able to stay around the 70% mark as you are in a fight to do damage not tank stuff.
Enlightenment : This is chosen for the simple reason of i feel CDR is better that any of the other options at this point.

In the Offensive tree, the only worth while talent to get is the Armor Pen from Weapon Expertise

What To Use

Ghost

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Flash

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Ignite

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Exhaust

Why these, and why not the others?

Summoners should be fairly obvious in choice, he is an AD bruiser, so they should be picked around that. The other spells just dont seem to work well with him.

Ghost: Lets you chase down opponents easier
Flash: Its Flash, becareful not to waste it though, if you flash, make sure you can keep them in range.
Ignite: Adds a True damage DoT to the target, and reduces healing on the target. Great against an AP Master Yi or a Volibear
Exhaust: Slows targets down, and reduces damage dealt

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Hemorrhage (Passive) Darius' basic attacks and damaging abilities cause enemies to bleed for 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 / 36 (+0.4 per bonus attack damage) magic damage over 5 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Darius gains 5% movement speed for each bleeding enemy champion. In Short: Applies a stacking DoT to enemies and give bonus move speed for each bleeding champion.

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Decimate (Q) Deals (70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210) (+(0.7 per attack damage point)) physical damage to all nearby enemies in a circle. Champions in the outer half of the ability are struck by the blade, taking 50% additional damage. In Short: Deals damage in a small circle around Darius, does more to enemies hit by the blade. Uses: Great farming tool, once you get used to the range, it can be used to great effect, jump in a group of enemies, and swing for lots of damage and movespeed.

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Crippling Strike (W) The next basic attack deals (12 / 59 / 106 / 153 / 200) % damage and slows the target's movement and attack speed by (20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40)% for 2 seconds. Crippling strike's base cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target. In Short: Deals bonus damage and slows the target. Uses: This has two uses, first is a single target nuke, second is a slowing attack

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Apprehend (E) Passive: Darius gains (5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25)% armor penetration. Active: Darius pulls in all enemies in front of him. In Short: Cant get much shorter. Uses: Only use is as a grab spell, can be used to pull them to you, or away from allies.

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Noxian Guillotine (R) Leaps to target enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing (160 / 250 / 340) (+(0.75 per attack damage point)) true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage, (320 / 575 / 830) Maximum Damage . The cooldown is refreshed if Noxian Guillotine kills the target. In Short: Does a huge burst of true damage to the target, increased by the amount of Hemorrhage stacks on the target, cooldown is reset if the killing blow is scored with it. Uses: This has one real use, hitting somebody like a truck on steriods. Best used as a finisher, and if you time it right, can score an easy Penta

Level One Skill Info, The skill you pick at level one should change based around what is happening at level one. You have have a level one gank coming, take E, If you are invading, take W, if you are laning normally then stick with Q.

Please Note: These are the items that i build, but you should change the order if you feel you must depending on lane opponent.

Standard Build

By end game this is what i am for. I know there are 7 items on the list, that because if you get far enough into the game where you have the first 6, sell the wriggles for a Bloodthirster.


Breakdown of The Build

Starter:

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Boots of Speed Typical first item, gives you enough movement to outrun skillshots

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Health Potion x3 Pretty standard choice, gives you sustain to stay in lane for a while.

Another alternative to start with, is Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potion,

If you get a good kill or two really early, Doran's Blade x2 will give you an advatage over your enemies.

Early Game:

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Wriggle's Lantern Good early game item, small boost's to damage and armor. Also give life steal for added sustain.

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Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads level 2 boots should be built about now, but remember to build these based on your opponent.

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Phage Good boost to health, can be built into Frozen Mallet and has a chance to slow

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Hexdrinker Small boost to damage and magic resistance. The passive shield is nice too, could be saving your life against a pesky Karthus Ultimate

Mid Game:

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Frozen Mallet Good item, Nice HP boost, small damage boost and makes sticking to people that much easier.

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Maw of Malmortius Good amount of damage and magic resistance. The shield passive is an upgraded version of the Hexdrinker

Endgame:

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Randuin's Omen Good item for bruisers, adds a little more HP to the mix, decent boost in armour. The passive and active both work in Darius' favour as they help slow targets down. Note: I am currently testing out this against the Frozen Heart to see which is most effective, check back to see if it changes

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Force of Nature Good defensive item nice amount of HP regen to add to the Warmog's Armor and some decent Magic Resistance. Also grants 8% bonus move speed.

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The Bloodthirster This is a really got offensive item, give a flat boost of 60AD and 12% Life Steal, this can stack to 100AD and 20% Life Steal with minion kills, but some stacks are lost on death. Note: This should be built when you have built all the other items, sell Wriggle's Lantern and replace with this. This can also be built inplace of a Maw of Malmortius if they have little to no magic damage.

Once you are fully built, buy all 4 Elixirs: Elixir of Fortitude give Health and AD, Elixir of Agility Gives Attack Speed and Crit (Not primary stats, but ok when you got nothing else to buy), Elixir of Brilliance Gives AP and Cooldown Reduction, AP isn't needed at all, but CDR still good. Finally, Oracle's Elixir Always good, lets you de-ward the map and see champs like Teemo and Twitch

Other Potential Items:

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Frozen Heart This is a good item to get if you've got alot of auto attack champs on the enemy team. 20% attack speed reduction can make a difference.

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Quicksilver Sash Good item to get if the enemies have alot of CC. Such as Warwick's Ult, Malzahar's Ult and Amumu to worry about.

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Guardian Angel Good defensive item, nice magic resistance and armor. Passive revive is ok, but can just get you killed again. Not many uses in the current Meta-game. Figured it needed a mention.

Laning
During your laning phase, obviously you want to get as much farm as possible. However, Similar you what Phreak said in Darius' champion spotlight, you should try and establish yourself as a bully. by standing in between your minions and the enemy.

You should use Decimate in the center of the enemy minions to deal some damage then auto attack to finish them off. Dont spam it though or you will be OOM and leave your self open.

Fights

During a fight, remember that you are not a tank, you may have high hp and good resistances, but if you try to tank things, you will fail. This doesn't mean you cant charge one person, if you know your gonna win, Just be cautious.

Always aim for the squishy targets that do the most damage first, people such as Graves, Ashe, Morgana, Lux etc. with these gone, your team will stand a better chance of winning a fight. Remember that this does not mean you WILL win a fight.

Try and avoid fighting near towers, these do a suprising amount of damage to you. If you find your target running on low hp and your are confident you can catch him without dying to the tower first then attempt it. Just dont run back through the tower when you are done.

Try to land Crippling Strike after an auto attack when it is off Cooldown, even if the target doesn't need slowing. It deals good damage and is very usefull as a single target nuke.

If an ally is retreating on low hp and an enemy is chasing them, getting into a position where you can pull them away with Apprehend can save their life.

Warding is an important part of gameplay, poor map control can lose a game for you. The following is a map of the decent places to ward.



Breakdown:

Green Numbers are for Sight Ward
Pink numbers are for Vision Ward

Green Wards
1, 2: These wards are placed in the bushes at the end of a river, can save a lane from a gank if you pay attention.
3, 4: These wards are for the same reason as 1 & 2, these can protect the lane from a gank.
5, 6: The tri-bush is another good place to ward if possible, sometimes people will come in for a gank of you from here.
7, 10: These are placed in the bushes by the Ancient Golem to let you keep an eye out if people are going for them.
8, 9: These are here to give the ability to keep an eye on the Lizard Elder.

Pink Wards
1: Help with the contol of Baron Nashor, using a pink ward alows you to see wards placed by the other team.
2: This is here to help in the control of Dragon, while it is not a game changer to kill drake, it can give a team a small edge early game

In all, Darius is an extremely rewarding champion to play, he is a very high risk/high reward champion. So if you like champions that have to got balls deep and balls to the wall then you should pick him up. However if you want a champion that can be a bit passive in lane and still turn out good, dont pick him.

Please remember to Upvote if you like it, Downvote if you have to, but please leave a comment explaining why you downvoted. That way i can work on correcting it.

Thanks to: