Darius General Guide by ironboy32

Introduction

Hi, My name is Ironboy99, and I main Darius on the SG/MY servers. Sadly, this means that OP.GG or other sites cannot be used to see my elo, but my winrate on Darius is constantly around 65%. I have 174K mastery points on him so yeah...I might not be challenger(I'm only silver), but I know what I'm talking about.

Hello and welcome to my guide on Darius, the Hand of Noxus. Better known as the Dunkmaster. The point of this build is to be a brick wall of death, forcing the enemies to focus you while your team murders them, or focus your team and get pentadunked. That's why so much armor is in the build. Do watch out for Batman, she still murders you.

Pros / Cons

alright. If someone could send me a PM on how to put the pros and cons side by side would be great. also adding champion portraits next to names too, as well as abilities and items would be awesome. adding some colour to the background is also sorely needed
PROS

extremely tanky if built right
brick wall of death
extremely manly
ridiculous damage
early aggression can zone enemy laner out completely
strong laner
DUNKING!!!!

Very binary( does well or does ****)
melee
weak to S6 ADCs(very very powerful right now)
needs to stack or kill someone to get max damage on ult.
not as easy as people think
easy to lose yourself and think you're invincible

Farming

This is where Darius, if played right, can be oppressive as hell. Stand in the wave and don't take minion aggro. Last hit as normal. If they come up for CS, E-AA-W-AA-Q to quickly get 4 stacks of bleed on them and chunk them hard. From there you can either go all-in if they're low enough, or just walk into a bush to clear aggro and reset. You will have to ward carefully so the enemy jungler doesn't successfully gank you, although post-6, a gank can easily be a doublekill for you if they mess up. Shove the wave hard into the tower often to make them lose CS, then go back. NEVER GO BACK WITHOUT PUSHING THE WAVE INTO THE ENEMY TOWER! If you do this right, at the end of the laning phase(after the second tower falls in bronze and silver games, or after the first in higher elo), the opposing laner should be at least 30 CS behind you.

First Few Backs

Ask yourself a few questions and look at your score, as well as the champion the enemy laner is playing. What do they benefit from, and what is the most common meta build for them? Will they stack resistances or damage? Are you behind in CS or kills? If the enemy laner has got a kill, you should at least be slightly ahead in CS because of your aggressive early pressure. Prioritize the Ruby Crystal and Boots of Speed ahead of Long Sword if this is the case. consider acquiring a early Cloth Armor if your enemy laner is going to build full AD. If you are ahead(in both CS and kills) go nuts. Get both components of the Phage, or even finish it if you have the gold. Or if they do not benefit from armor, and do not build much of it, consider going Tiamat for the better shoving potential and eventual titanic hydra

Build path and specific playstyles

While I have 2 Build Paths set up further up for standard games,sometimes you must accommodate for your team's situation and react accordingly. This next phrase will get you out of bronze and low silver. Ready?
IF YOU ARE BEHIND, BUILD TANK! It's as simple as that. Too many times I have seen Darius players that are 0/5 focusing of finishing their The Black Cleaver. If you are 2 kills behind, leave your damage items and start building tank as a priority. That way even if you are behind you'll still be useful as a brick wall, and you may even get some kills to allow you to finish your items. This is what I call 'playing from behind'
Next is the 'juggernaut playstyle' and is what I prefer. This requires a The Black Cleaver and a Dead Man's Plate to be effective, and involves diving into the enemy backline, 1 vs 3, turning the area behind you into a zone where the enemy tank and midlaner is stuck without the support, ADC, or jungler to help, making it a 4v2. While you do need a ton of armor and a '**** it, if I die my teammates will clean up' mentality, it works great if you position yourself right and chunk them out hard enough, possibly allowing you to survive.
The third playstyle is the assassin Darius playstyle, which can be done with a The Bloodthirster and Dead Man's Plate. Hide in a bush after pushing a lane, and when someone squishy goes to clear it, drag them over the wall and insta-gib them, before running. It works surprisingly well in a 'pick' team composition.

On the further topic of alternative items, banshee's veil is a very good alternative to spirit visage if the enemy has not enough cc to justify a mercurials but enough to kill you. Also, against some AP laners, getting a Hexdrinker, while not as good as it was on old Darius, can help. However, you should only get this if the enemy team has at least 2 heavy AP champions(e.g Vlad top and Brand sp. Trust me, Brand sp does a lot of damage in teamights, you'll need the shield to do the Darius things.) The eventual Maw of Malmortius will replace your damage item though, so choose wisely if you decide on building this.