Darius Build Guide by Flu0stift

Introduction

Hello, welcome to my guide on how to play Darius, The Hand Of Noxus. Darius is a High-Damage Tank wich can carry a team hard lategame. Such as Garen he doesnt really need damage items to make kills, but if u get some it will be easyer. So without further talking lets move on to the reason ur here, the guide.

Spells

Ignite is an amazing spell for Darius. Combined with his passive Hemorrhage he can destroy an enemy early game, but i pick this to secure kills because Darius really needs them.


Take Flash to escape situations u dont want to be in, or to chase down an opponent with an Flash - Apprehend combo.

Runes

For Runes, the same as masteries below. The Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage instead of health helps for early lane harass and better farming.

Runes
Greater Seal of Armor 9	Greater Mark of Attack Damage 9	Greater Glyph of Magic Resist 9	Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage 3

Masteries

My masteries for Darius are not so tanky as you would expect. I personally prefer to have damage masteries, but also a little bit of health to.

Masteries

1/5

3/1

1/1

3/5

1/1

1/1

3/5

1/1

3/1

1/

2/

1/

2/5

2/1

1/1

3/5

1/1

Skill Sequence

For maxing your abilities, i recommend taking Decimate first, then Crippling Strike and last Apprehend. Of course Noxian Guillotine whenever u can. Maxing Decimate first is because this is Darius' main damage spell, and does serious damage when maxed out. Crippling Strike is maxed second because of the high damage and low cooldown it has when rank 5. I max Apprehend last, because i see no point in maxing this early.

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Ability Explanation

Darius aims his attacks strategically, causing his target to bleed for 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 / 36 (+0.3 per bonus attack damage) magic damage over 5 seconds. The bleed damage is increased every 2 levels, except for the last one which is increased at level 18. This effect stacks up to five times. 5 Stacks of Hemorrhage deal the same damage as Ignite

Darius gains 5% movement speed for each bleeding enemy champion.

Darius swings his axe in a wide circle. Enemies struck by the shaft take 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+0.7 per bonus attack damage) physical damage. Champions struck by the blade take 105 / 157.5 / 210 / 262.5 / 315 (+1.05 per bonus attack damage) physical damage.

Darius' next attack severs a crucial artery, dealing 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 % additional physical damage. As the target bleeds out, their movement and attack speeds are slowed by 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 % for 2 seconds. Crippling Strike's cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.

Darius hones his axe, granting him 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 % passive armor penetration. When activated, Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook and pulls them to him.

Darius leaps to an enemy Champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing 160 / 250 / 340 (+0.75 per bonus attack damage) true damage. This damage increases by 20% for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target up to a maximum of 320 / 500 / 680 (+1.5 per bonus attack damage) true damage. If Noxian Guillotine is a killing blow, it can be recast within the next 20 seconds. This can occur multiple times in succession.

Items

Starting Items

5X

OR

For starting items, i prefer a Doran's Shield and a Health Potion, or Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions. This is all dependant on ur lane enemy.

First Back

->

When i first go back, i start building into my Ravenous Hydra. Start by picking up a Long Sword or Vampiric Scepter. If you have enough money to afford it, take a Pickaxe and Boots of Speed. Of course each time u go back take 3 Health Potions and 1 Mana Potion for safety.

Boots

This is all dependant on your lane. When having a more AD lane, take Ninja Tabi for the bonus armor, but when ur having a more AP lane, take Mercury's Treads for the bonus magic resistance.

Offensive Choices

This is all personal. Even though i do not like Blade of the Ruined King on Darius, i see much people do this so maybe its worth buying it. Take Last Whisper if ur enemy starts stacking armor. The Ravenous Hydra is actually a sort of Core item for Darius, so i recommend taking this right away.

Defensive Choices

Ok, take Randuin's Omen if ur enemy has high mobility/attack speed, or if the adc isnt AFK (:P). If enemys keep escaping u, i recommend taking Frozen Mallet, or just taking it as a Core item if u play Darius.

PERSONALLY Favorite Final Build

I prefer to build Darius as a tank with a little bit of damage, as he already does enough damage without building him as a AD Carry.

Ability Combo

Easy Lane

When you are not countered in ur lane, the basic combo for Darius is Apprehend, Crippling Strike and Decimate. BUT when ur going for a kill, make sure u have all ur abilities and summoner spells up, and Apprehend ur enemy, use Crippling Strike to slow him/her, Decimate for MORE damage and another Hemorrhage stack, keep using basic attacks to add Hemorrhage and if ur enemy has 5 stacks and he wont die from basic attacks or the bleeding anymore, deal the killing blow with Noxian Guillotine.

Hard Lane

Darius can faceroll his enemy when played well in a hard lane. Ur only objective is to move away from ur target and use Decimate, but make sure they are hit by the outside, to deal bonus damage. If you are low on health but ur enemy is around half, BUT is ready to dive, run to ur tower and start spamming abilitys on him. If he runs, use Apprehend and Noxian Guillotine if already lvl 6 to make them regret diving you ever again.

Match-Ups

If i made any mistakes, please tell me and i will change this ASAP!

Very Hard
Very Hard
Very Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard
Hard - Moderate
Hard - Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate - Easy
Moderate - Easy
Moderate - Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy
Easy

Wall Of Fame

Darius Champion Spotlight

My Darius game scores:

Scores/Videos posted by other ppl:

The End

Thanks for reading my guide, i hope you enjoyed it. This is my, in my opinion, best guide so far and the mosth work went into this guide. BUT i also hope you learned something about Darius and can maybe learn me something that i didnt know in the discuss section? Feel free to PM me or post a comment with any nice things you have done with Darius and i will add them to 'Wall Of Fame' with ur name above it.