Hi, I am a fairly experienced Darius player. My real name is Kareem, but my summoner name is Warwick the OP. I play in EU West. If you want some help on playing darius you can send me a friend request and we can talk about it. I am level 6 Darius right now because I don't have enough essence to be 7 ( RIP ). My Discord: Karim #8018 (Kha'zix Icon) My IGN: Warwick the OP Pros & Cons Runes Masteries Summoner Spells Abilities / Ability Sequence Items Gameplay Match-ups Conclusion & Thx

+ Very Strong Early Game + Up to a thousand true damage from Noxian Guillotine + Has a Greataxe + Can Dunk + Built-in Armor Pen from Apprehend passive + Insane healing from Decimate + Is the incarnation of Micheal Jordan + Low skill floor + 99% of melee match-ups are free wins for you. + Free DPS from passive

- Very Slow - Gets countered HARD by range/mobility - Hard to master - Punished hard for making mistakes - Wave control is hard due to Decimate

Great Mark of Attack Damage
Self Explanatory, you do physical damage, and these are the most stat-efficient runes that Darius can have in the early game. Greater Mark of Attack Speed is just giving up so much damage early on.
Greater Seal of Armor
Self explanatory for toplane, If you don't have these you will take a lot of damage from the enemy, especially against Quinn and Pantheon.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
Once again, self explanatory. Extremely useful against people like Lissandra and Heimerdinger
Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed
Not so self explanatory, you see Steve, you get these because it allows you to stack your Hemorrhage much faster, making it indirectly have more damage, because Hemorrhage does a lot of damage when fully stacked, and these big boys will get the job done.

TIER 1: Fury vs. Sorcery : Personal preference, both are amazing on Darius, so pick your own. More damage on Decimate and Noxian Guillotine or stacking your Hemorrhage a little bit faster. Personally I take fury due to Darius gaining no attack-speed per level. TIER 2: Fresh Blood vs. Feast : I take fresh blood for more damage, but I take feast when I am against a champion that can poke me down from a distance an not allow me to retaliate such as Vayne, Quinn, Jayce, Teemo, etc. TIER 3: Vampirism vs. Natural Talent : Personal preference, both are great, you either pick more sustain early on or more damage later in the game. Both have a minimal effect anyways. TIER 4: Bounty Hunter vs. Battle Trance : We are looking for early game aren't we? So obviously Double Edged Sword would be the best, right? Well not really for 2 reasons. first of all, you are a ****ing juggernaut. You do not want to take more damage, quite the opposite actually. Second of all, when we take Battle Trance we are guaranteeing the extra damage, because fights with Darius usually last a long time, because as we all know, extended fights with Darius will get ugly, but not for him. And there is never a 100% chance that you will stack Bounty Hunter enough for it to matchup to Battle Trance TIER 5: Battering Blows vs. Piercing Thoughts : Darius doesn't do magic damage. Take Battering Blows KEYSTONE MASTERY Fervor of Battle : It gives you more AD after each consecutive basic attack, great!. You know what else benefits off of this? that's right! Hemorrhage, Decimate, and Crippling Strike! It basically just makes you do a **** ton of damage Steve.

TIER 1: Recovery vs. Unyielding : I take Unyielding Because Darius Generally build quite a bit of Armor and Magic Resist. TIER 2: Tough Skin vs. Siegemaster : Take Tough Skin When against matchups difficulty 1-7 and Siegemaster When in any matchup listed in difficulty 8-10. TIER 3: Runic Armor vs. Veteran's Scars : I take Runic Armor For 2 reasons: first off all, your Decimate healing, and secondly Darius has the highest base health regen in the game. TIER 4: Insight vs. Fearless : I take Insight for more Teleports but both are good on Darius.

Flash

The most important and best summoner spell in the game. It's a gap closer, escape, and can be used to initiate for 5 man Decimates. Simply Amazing.

Teleport

Third Best Summoner Spell for Darius I wouldn't take this over ghost, but take this if you are a beginner with Darius. It helps you back more often and get to lane quickly if you **** up. The more experienced you become, the less you will use tp

Ignite

Ignite is the most wasteful summoner on darius. I mean, if you wanted it for damage just stack your Hemorrhage lol.

Ghost

This is the second best spell for Darius. Remember how Darius's biggest weakness is getting kited? well fear no more! Ghost is here to help!

DO NOT TAKE: Any other spells

Hemorrhage: Darius aims his attacks strategically, causing his target to bleed. This effect stacks up to five times. Enemies that reach max Hemorrhage cause Darius to gain Noxian Might, greatly increasing his damage.

First up, your overpowered passive. So essentially whenever you do physical damage to an enemy via Decimate, Crippling Strike, or from Basic Attacks, you apply a stack of Hemorrhage. Hemorrhage Damages enemies every second for 5 seconds. Once you reach 5 stacks of Hemorrhage you become insanely manly. You get 40-200 AD ( Based on level ) and your ult Noxian Guillotine does 200% more damage to people who have 5 stacks of Hemorrhage, making it do up to ONE THOUSAND TRUE UNMITIGATED DAMAGE. So yeah, this is one the main reasons Darius is such a lane bully and will always be relevant in the game. which is why comebacks as Darius are amazing to watch. Also it's so funny watching people bleed to death lol.

Decimate: After a short delay, Darius swings his axe around himself, striking enemies in its path. Enemies hit by the axe's blade take 40/70/100/130/160 (+105% bonus Attack Damage) physical damage. Enemies hit by the handle take 50% damage (does not apply Hemorrhage). Darius heals for 12% of his missing Health per enemy champion hit by the blade (max: 36%).

Your bread and butter ability as they say. Decimate is your main damaging ability. Hitting this on the blade of the axe has so many benefits. Hitting it on the blade heals you 12% OF YOUR MISSING HEALTH PER CHAMPION HIT. And this only becomes better with Spirit Visage. Also, hitting it on the handle WILL NOT APPLY Hemorrhage. It also does less damage when hitting by the handle. Just hit it on the outer rim Steve.

Crippling Strike: Darius's next attack severs a crucial artery, dealing 40% additional physical damage and slowing his target by 90% for 1 second. If the target dies, the mana cost of Crippling Strike is refunded and the cooldown is halved.

This is an auto attack that does 40% more damage. It does decent damage, applies a slow, is a basic attack reset, and it increases next auto range. Pretty decent overall. Similar to Ruthless Predator, Bladework, Precision Protocol, and Empower if you play those champions. Allows you to apply more Hemorrhage stacks because of the slow. Useful when combined with Apprehend. Use it as an auto attack reset Steve.

Apprehend: Darius hones his axe, passively causing his physical damage to ignore a percentage of his target's Armor. When activated, Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook and pulls them to him. Passive: Darius gains 5/10/15/20/25% Armor Penetration. Active: Pulls in all enemies in front of Darius and slows them by 40% for 1 second.

Use Apprehend to initiate a gank, get enemies close for an >AA>>AA>>AA> combo on the enemy laner, or to get him in for a trade/kill. Remember when I said you shred tanks? this is why. Combined with The Black Cleaver that's a total of approximately 55% armor penetration.

Noxian Guillotine: Darius leaps to target enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing 100/200/300 (+75% bonus Attack Damage) true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage.

If Noxian Guillotine kills the target, it may be re-cast at no cost within 20 seconds.At rank 3, Noxian Guillotine unlocks - its cool-down resets entirely on kills and it no longer has a Mana cost.
My favorite ability in the game. Getting pentakills as darius is the most satisfying feeling I have ever felt, and its REALLY easy if they are grouped up and you are smacking someone to 5 stacks of Hemorrhage and then dunking them with Noxian Guillotine again and again and again. DO NOT USE THIS WITHOUT HAVING 4-5 STACKS OR ELSE IT WILL DO PEANUT DAMAGE! JUST DON'T DO IT STEVE!

Your best ability, its self-explanatory why we max this first. Just max this first Steve.

Max this last because the only thing you get from leveling it is 1 second cool-down. 1 second cool-down is so not worth it Steve.

We max this second because you get 2 second cool-down and 5% more armor penetration PER RANK. PER RANK STEVE!

As with all ultimates, you put a point in R every time you are able. Level 6, 11 and then 16.

Not the best item for him but definitely viable. I get this against weak laners with no sustain

I get this in like 98% of all my games. Its overall a great item. If you are not experienced at Darius, get this every single game.

Get against the lanes that are in 8-10 difficulty. People like Pantheon, Jayce, Quinn.

Always rush this with no exceptions there is jut no better item for Darius.

Just get this if you have the extra 300 gold after buying your essentials.

The synergy Darius has with The Black Cleaver is insane. Let's break it down. 400 health, great for a bruiser. 40 Attack damage, that's amazing. 20% cool-down reduction, that's manly. That's Excluding its passives.

UNIQUE – RAGE: Dealing physical damage grants 20 movement speed for 2 seconds. Assists on Cleaved enemy champions or kills on any unit grant 60 movement speed for 2 seconds instead. This movement speed bonus is halved for ranged champions. Allows you to stick to melee range as soon as someone gets close to you. UNIQUE: Dealing physical damage to an enemy champion Cleaves them, reducing their armor by 5% for 6 seconds, stacking up to 6 times for a maximum of 30%. This. This is unbelievable. Every single tick of Hemorrhage applies armor shred. Yes, you read it right, EVERY SINGLE TICK. SO yeah, just another reason you shred tanks.

This is completely personal preference in my opinion. You get Ravenous Hydra if snowballing or you want more damage, or if you are like me you prefer the extra bulkiness and auto reset in Titanic Hydra.

You will be getting these 90% of the time.Its passive is just too good.

You only get this if you are against an AP opponent and they have loads of CC.

Buy against and AD opponent. Your main armor item. Only time you would not get this is if they were a full AP team. That doesn't happen, at least not anymore. I gives you mobility and a slow in team-fights. also allows you to chase people who don't kite.

Always buy no matter what. if they have no AP then get it after your armor items. I don't care if they have a full assassin and ADC team. Get. This. Every. Single. Game. You have the highest base health regen, and if you have pots of any kind you basically wont die. and never forget increasing the 36% of missing health heal from Decimate by 25%. You don't need a ****ing healer.

I get this item a lot personally, as it allows you to **** on assassins. But, unfortunately you can't pop a Maw of Malmortius shield and a Sterak's Gage in the same time. RIP. Both are good, but if you are against AP toplaner, don't get this. AD? Buy this and dunk them for ever installing this game.

I don't get this item a lot, but it helps a lot against people like Hecarim, Yasuo Quinn and Vayne. You only really get this item if you are getting kited way too much, or you just want to keep people in your range while you are smacking them.

Buy against tanks. Upgrade as your last item. If they have healing, get Mortal Reminder. If not, get Lord Dominik's Regards.

Rush a Hexdrinker before anything else if against an AP or partly AP opponent such as Teemo Lissandra Rumble Heimerdinger and Ekko.

You get this as a last item or a fifth item if you are carrying. Pretty much it. You won't die with this item. Enough said.

This is the easiest part not to screw up. You can do these even with 400 ping (yes, that is my average). Anyway, lets get right to it Steve.

You obviously utilise this combo after level 6 when you're aiming to kill someone. This combo should be enough to kill them instantly, or at least burn their summoner spells.


This combo will probably not kill your enemy, but it should decimate at least 40% of their health unless they're very tanky. You should use this combo in top lane pre level 6 in order to deny your enemy farm or to get him lower so you can kill him.


As Darius early game you want to start building a lead and building it quickly. The 2 ways I do this is by zoning my enemy laner off of CS, and continuously being a threat to him by Decimate harass and going all in whenever I can. Very few people can withstand a level 3 Darius all-in due to Hemorrhage Bleeding them continuously and the amount of damage Decimate does with Noxian Might is to-die for (haha). Get ahead Steve.


Ahead: The Ideal situation you should be in at around level 11 is ahead of your enemy in CS, kills, XP, and gold. Aim to destroy your enemy's turret and then start roaming and team-fighting. Keep pushing the lead. Force Dragons and Baron Nashor. Take towers if you can. Focus objectives Steve.
Behind: It's understandable if you are behind against a ranged match-up or against Renekton, so if you are behind you are gonna want to ward up and start pushing your lane like crazy. If you can, sneak a drake somewhere and if your team isn't behind focus team-fights. Just farm and push Steve.

Unfortunately, the Dunkmaster falls off from being the penta-kill god to an ADC peeler. Stick to your team and aim to end the game fast. Many people out-scale you, and you don't want to be 50 minutes in and full build, because as I said, you fall off. End the game fast or else you will get ****ed Steve.
This is kinda easy. You get 5 stacks of Hemorrhage on someone, dunk their ***, hit someone else, dunk their nooby ***, and repeat. Aim is to get a penta-kill. Steal all the kills. Get a penta Steve. On a serious note though, you want to aim your q on as many people as possible, pull and slow the right people, and destroy the enemy team. Darius is such a mid-game monster. Like seriously though, 1k damage on Noxian Guillotine.
AS Darius, split-pushing should be a last resort to ending a game, usually used between the transition from mid-late game. You tell your team to start going ham in mid, but to not start a team fight, then you start causing trouble in one of the side lanes. In order to splitpush successfully you need to be able to 1v1 anybody on their team, usually the jungler/toplaner. And you need to have one of the hydras/good wave-clear. Titanic Hydra helps a lot here. Then you go ham on their tower, hopefully taking it, and the going to the other side lane and doing the same. rinse and repeat to have a successful splitpush.

Jayce 5/5

FF @ 20 too op pls nerf. No really he is your hardest counter. Strong early damage, poke, range, and he can kick you away and do %health damage. You cant win this if he has a functional brain. Start cloth armor 4 pots and try to farm it out. Rush ninja tabi and then Phage

Teemo 4/5

Teemo will be annoying as **** if he gets ahead/even. His blind will render your w and autos useless with his blind and his e will slowly kill you. Get merc treads and then specters cowl

Pantheon3/5

Ahh good old panth. The early game beast everyone fears. Honestly you can fight him level 1-2 but after that it gets harder if the panth is good. A good panth will not engage on to you if you are above 50% hp. A good panth will not get hit by the hook and use Spear Shot after you miss it. But, even good pantheon players fall off late game, which makes it easy to duel him once you get some armor and AD. The longer the game lasts, the worse it is for him, and the better it is for you

tryndamere2/5

Don't face tank him. move while you are fighting him. you can kill him easy its jsut that most darius players like so stand still and fight. well so does trynda. ult when his ult has like 0.5 seconds left to surprise trynda players. their reactions are priceless when they inta-die after their ult ends.

Renekton1/5

Renekton isn't that hard if you are not a beginner Darius player. Renekton is an ad caster with high cooldowns, so he is very vunderable if he has no w or q. his damage is highly coutnerable by getting ninja tabi or chaint vest early on, which then makes the matchup a piece of cake. he is most dangerous at level 6-11, where his damage is higher that most other toplaners. But, any time he is not in that xp range, he is pretty weak when fighting Darius, so you can reck him.

In conclusion, Darius is a monster if played right, and can destroy entire teams solo if played right. You can make it to insanely high elo with Darius, and yes there are high elo Darius players.

I would like to thank MissMaw, for making my guide look as good as it does now, without her half of this guide wouldn't be possible. Check her guides out here!

PS: If this guide helped you, it would really help me out if you upvoted and commented, it would really make my day. If you disagree with anything or have any questions feel free to comment and I will reply as soon as possible. Thanks for reading my guide! :)