Hello and welcome to my comprehensive guide on Darius, the blood thirsty, meat-headed, butcher of the Noxian army. The object of this build is to be able to dish out as much sustained punishment as possible without getting killed in the process.
Hopefully this guide will give you an idea of how I play Darius, and why I made some of the item choices I have.

Pros

+ mid game monster
+ pretty tanky thanks to q heals
+ lane dominance
+ easy to pick up
+ true dmg from R (ult)

Cons

- slow
- hard to master
- late the game is not the best
- Weak against mobile champions
- Hard to freeze

Hemorrhage (PASSIVE): This passive is insanely powerful and should be abused as much as possible when laning. The damage ramps up extremely fast, and with attackspeed runes and careful use of Decimate and Crippling Strike, you will stack it extremely quickly as well. The passive deals physical damage since the rework, so it will apply The Black Cleaver's stacks very quickly.

Remember that the damage of Noxian Guillotine is tied to how many stacks you have on an opponent. Casting your ultimate with less than 4/5 stacks will result in subpar damage, so do your best to get it stacked up fully before ulting so you get the reset. Every ability Darius has applies one stack, with the exception of Apprehend. (Noxian guillotine applies 1 stack, but it applies only after the true damage is applied.)

Decimate (Q): This is your bread and butter damaging spell. Try to learn the range and cast time of it well, landing a max damage Decimate or several of them can quickly turn a lane, even when behind. Take careful note of the aoe when casting it in teamfights, as hitting 2 or 3 champions with it in a fight for the heal can easily save you long enough to get extra ultimate casts off, especially if you have Spirit Visage completed. It's also extremely strong at shoving waves with. One cast usually will kill caster creeps, the second will finish the wave. This should always be maxed first.

Make sure to remember that whenever you proc Noxian Might and hit someone with the edge of Decimate, you instantly apply 5 Hemorrhage stacks and can cast Noxian Guillotine on them for the maximum damage.

Crippling Strike (W): Crippling Strike is one of your two CC abilties, this one being the "soft" cc of the two, meaning it doesn't disable enemy controls, only hinder them. Crippling Strike does respectable damage at early levels and when maxed, to both towers and enemy champions. When in melee range always trade to land an auto attack followed by this spell, as it resets your auto attack animation, granting you a quick burst of damage and two Hemorrhage stacks on your opponent.

This spell no longer has reduced cooldown when used on bleeding targets, nor does it retain the attack speed slow it once had. It does give you a bit of extra auto attack range, (20 to be exact) so you can use it to try to finish someone off who is just out of your normal auto attack range, if you don't have Decimate available. Note that if it kills an enemy unit, you get half of the mana cost and cooldown back, so don't be afraid to lasthit with it in lane occasionally if you need it. Due to the fact that the only benefit to this ability is the reduced cooldown for leveling it, it is maxed last.

Apprehend (E): This is your hard CC of your two CCs built-in to Darius's kit. This is mainly used to catch people to kill them or force an engagement, engagements that Darius wins against almost everyone quite handily, especially if you have Courage of the Colossus available.

This spell has many uses being a hard CC, whether it be forcing teamfight engagements, putting carries in unfavorable positions, or cancelling channeled abilities such as a Katarina Death Lotus or a Nunu Absolute Zero. There is no "right" way to use this spell every game, it's something you need to make a judgment call with based on the situation you are presented. This is usually only up once per fight until you finish The Black Cleaver and occasionally Spirit Visage, depending on the fight.

This ability is maxed 2nd now instead of Crippling Strike since the only benefit you get out of leveling W now is reduced cooldown, which just isn't worth it when compared to the reduced cooldown as well as armor penetration that Apprehend gives.

Noxian Guillotine (R/ULT)
The famed "DARIUS DUNK." This ability is immensely powerful, dealing massive amounts of true damage throughout the game. Always use this as a "finisher" or execute type of move, as getting a kill with it gives you twenty seconds to use it again before it going on cooldown until level 16, when it "unlocks" and fully refreshes the cooldown. (The cooldown starts ticking from the first dunk, not when your twenty seconds run out.) If you dunk two people, lategame that is TWO-THOUSAND POINTS OF TRUE UNMITIGATED DAMAGE.

Always look to finish people off with this, the twenty seconds resets back to twenty if you score a kill with it. If there is nobody to kill and your time is almost up, just cast it on whoever it will do the most damage on before it goes on cooldown. This does max damage with five Hemorrhage stacks, refreshes the tick on Hemorrhage, and applies one stack of Hemorrhage itself. (Although if you have four stacks and dunk this will do damage of four stacks not five). This spell also shows its maximum damage when you hover over it, something to keep in mind if you need to do some quick math.

Make sure you always put a point into your ultimate at levels 6, 11, and 16. Starting Crippling Strike at level 1 is usually preferred since using Decimate to harass at level 1 pushes the wave heavily and opens you up to ganks. In a straight 1v1 vs a melee champion at level 1, Crippling Strike ends up being more useful anyway as it stacks your Hemorrhage more quickly. Make sure you still max Decimate first though. Apprehend is usually best skilled at level 3, but you can save it for level 4 if you want to put a second point in Decimate at level 3.

Darius' strenght lies in his ridiculous damage output while at the same time acting as a frontliner for his team,his sustain is greatly increased from the q heals that you should always couple with a even when the team doesnt really have that much ap dmg,when it comes to splitpushing you're not really that great although your pressure on the map is still always needed,once you gain a big lead you actively start joining team fights and look to stack that passive as fast as possible,it is an absolute neccesity to get the passive up as fast as possible meaning if you get a chance to quickly execute someone with your ultimate,don't hesitate to do so.The important part to mention is that you should usually always look to KS any kill you can see because if you kill some1 with Noxian Guillotine you will instantly get a fully stacked passive which you can use immediately.Mid game is as I said your most powerful time to act,up to late game things start getting tricky,for reasons.

Darius outscaled

It's no secret that Darius doesn't scale as good as lets say irelia or jax,but that doesn't mean he loses his tankiness or his damage potential,he is still very strong but you have to become more team reliant,and as always look to stack the passive as fast as possible,this is one of the reasons why teamwork is important later.Let's not forget is a big playmaker as it can be either really good or really bad,one of the tricks are that you can deny a gap closer from an enemy player if you correctly time your E,as in zac prepares to slingshot or is already airborne,if he gets into your pull range you can cancel his gap closer and pull him into your range,stuff like that you should practice in normals.

EARLY GAME

Another day,another typical ranked match.The match has started,your autofilled adc asked for jungle but your jungler refused him,later after some flame in the lobby you get into the game and the adc says ff 20,as they continue to flame each other you pull on your carry pantalones,unbox and strap your new Jordans, put on the noxus sweatshirt and start casually walking towards your tier 1 tower.The things have been heating up,jungler starts wishing your adc cancer,the adc then continues to verbally **** the junglers mom,while the support cries that it's his silver 2 promo and that friendship is magic,all the while your midlane Ahri is afk taking a piss while the minions have already rolled out.Your mindset is simple,piss on your laner to show dominance.Start either Decimate or Crippling Strike and look for lvl 1 cheese kill.Remember,Darius' kill potential is super big in early levels.Most low elo enemy's wont expect you to all in them at lvl 1,try hiding in the 3rd bush and as your enemy starts casually farming,go for an all in.Generally speaking,Darius can get camped pretty easily,so 1st back always snatch a Control Ward,anyways you should generally look to get 1st blood tower as soon as possible,as it wields massive cash for you to snowball off.When you get ganked,the general rule of 1v2'ing to stack the passive as fast as possible meaning that if you already are in an all-in vs some1 who already has 2 stacks,and a wild Lee Sin appears,finish the passive on that person who you already started stacking your passive and then determine who is the squishiet target to quickly rule out,this strategy is especially good post 6.You'll be guarenteed to get atleast 1 kill assuming you managed to land your q heals.Anyways,always be sure to abuse your trading potential and get as much farm as possible.


And heres one golden rule we higher elo toplaners have:
Whoever has the highest level controls the highest carry potential

It's no secret that having a higher level means you're overall stronger compared to any1 else meaning you can effectively carry and help gain your team a lead from that point.In my experiences I literally always manage to have the highest level in any stage of the game,I do that by trying not to roam as much but instead continue to farm post tier 1 enemy tower,this way I effectively snowball my lead even more and apply pressure on the map, Zz'Rot Portal is a preference item that helps keep the pressure on even more,although if you ask me,the lack of health bothers me alot,but yea as I mentioned it's preference.Top lane is an island,you won't exactly be running around with your teammates for the most part in that section of the map,and since Darius' mobility is kinda limited,I barely ever do roaming atleast in my elo since they ward midlane around every corner,roaming in lower elos is fine considering your jungler/midlaner cleared the wards for you,when it does come to a roam,don't Apprehend unless you have to,start q and as you get into range aa into a Crippling Strike and then as they try to run away Apprehend them back.

MID GAME

So lets assume you're the one who got 1st tower,at this point as mentioned,you have to snowball and get bulky as fast as possible,doing this,you'll be an unstoppable force in teamfights that'll break out during this stage.

Generally speaking you should look to get that juicy rift herald buff with your jungler to help you get even tankier when solo pushing / 1v3'ing.After that buff I generally apply pressure on the 2nd tier tower,assuming I've got wards backing me up at blue side and hoping your mid has the decency to call the enemy mid MIA,although since it's soloq I try to be on the safe side on watch map every 5 seconds.This way you can help your team secure objectives,meaning you'll force 2 or more people including your toplane enemy to try to stop you from applying extra pressure,and yes most of the times if you're really big 3 or even more people will try to take you down,that's the beauty of Darius,you're a friggin' monster in the mid game,this way 2 or more people are forced to be at top which means more breathing room for your team,and that means OBJECTIVES.If enemy jng / mid is MIA then obviously we'll GTFO from top and generally look to get some camps and / or go straight for a drake.Remember,always save your Teleport for objectives,don't waste it to come back to lane unless you've been camped (this also applies for early game).Remember that most of the outcome of the game will derive from the mid game,specifically because of objectives.


If you get **** on in the early game,the same strategy should still be used,apply pressure,UNLESS your team has the lead,then always look to group assuming the enemy toplane hasn't pressured you post tier 1 tower too much.Do not waste your time wandering like a headless fly around the map,if you do have a lead,including level,don't waste it away,either keep pressuring or help your team secure objectives / get kills for them or you.

LATE GAME

Assuming almost everybody is post 16 and got 4+ items,we're kinda leaping into late game at this point.Stuff to keep in mind is,Darius is not a late game monster the way he is in mid game,his scaling is still pretty okay but he's just not as good...At this point you just have to start grouping and effectively start looking to take down the carries in teamfights,as always,stacking your passive is the 1# golden rule of Darius.
A good Darius can look to get the passive up by ksing some1 on low hp,as Noxian Guillotine gains fully stacked passive if it kills someone,during the teamfight another thing worth noting is making sure you keep that passive up by either using abilites on w.e you can find (champs that is) or just aa'ing them.You can make plays such as a Flash > q w r combo on a squishy target,this way you can insta delete an adc and secure the upper hand in the TF.Baron has to be warded at all times,elder same,their buffs are way to good to pass down,generally you should look to do baron when 1 or more members of the enemy team are dead or if your minions have alot of pressure on the map forcing people to clear them out otherwise they'll destroy towers/inhibs.Another reason would be if your jungler has a higher level than the enemy jungler,this way if hes not fkn trash he'll secure that kill on baron ez.During the Baron / Elder , you should generally look to try zoning out as much as possible,as your dmg on creeps ain't all sunshine and rainbows the way adc's / midlaners' dmg is.You're a tank so it's common sense that it should be your job to zone out anyways,and the beauty of that is,you're a tank that deals big numbers and still does the tank job anyways,one of the many pros of the NBA superstar.Other things are,you still gotta be sure to apply pressure rotating top / bot,just be sure to have vision otherwise you could single-handedly lose the game by dying like a dumbass.

Other things to note are: your Apprehend synerges with other abilites such as Yasuo's Last Breath meaning that you have to value it and not waste it unless you have to,since it has a longer cd duration than q-e and is your only form of hard cc, especially if you're running with Courage of the Colossus .

Darius does have some pretty nice good to know combos for starters,lets dive right in.

The pull combo

> AA >>

aa'ing combo

AA >> > AA

The ult combo

> AA >> AA >> AA >