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Recommended Items
Spells:
Teleport
Flash
Items
Ability Order
Hemorrhage (PASSIVE)
Darius Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Vayne
Vayne embodies everything a Darius player hates. A knock away with a stun, high mobility and the ability to make it so you can't see her to AA or Dunk her. Vayne is one of if not your worst enemy as a darius player. If she's an adc and your bot lane feeds her, you're done. Do NOT fight a fed Vayne unless you have someone with you. You will not stand a chance.
Summary


Pros
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+ High physical damage + Has a pull and 90% Slow + Ultimate deals high amounts of true damage + Natural healing with his Q + Natural armor penetration on his E + High AD Steroid on his passive |
Darius is a solid top lane pick against anyone you can bully. I started to main him because he countered ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cons
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- Susceptible to Poke - No escapes - AD Steroid takes setup - Prone to being Kited - Ultimate damage relies on Hemorrhage - Heal relies on hitting with the blade |
The biggest weakness with Darius is his immobility. A good ![]() ![]() He also has no escapes, so if you're ganked and can't get out your only real choice is to try to fight which typically won't go well without ![]() ![]() ![]() |




Mixing this with a sheen passive lets you get massive damage on your next Auto. A trick I like to do when I get ganked is to W the jungler and spin as I run away, usually letting you get an easy heal on them. Plus with grasp of the undying, the AA wil also give you more health if it's proc'd. Despite all of this, I typically like to actually max it last as all it will do is lower the CD, which it inherently already does if you kill with it and CDR will already lower it. However, having an AA Cancel up faster is a fair enough excuse to max it second.


Despite me getting it second, I prefer to max this out first. It increases the AD scaling and damage while also lowering the cooldown. You get more damage and your heal comes up faster. Win-win. If you're low on health, focus on poking the enemy with it to get the heal, however be weary that they might engage on you while you're winding up so you can't get the heal. If you're good with flash, charging up the spin and flashing to a weak target can secure you a kill.
One of my favorite things to do is weaken the enemy top laner to low health and bait the gank. Cripple the Jungler when they come in and with them slowed you can get the jungler AND the top laner (if they choose to engage) caught in Decimates reach, healing you for 24% of your missing health and dealing a lot of damage to the enemy. This is the ability that can turn a 1v2 or even a 1v3 on its head. If you're at a disadvantage and can't run away, focus on spinning for heals and trying to out last your opponent. Let the bleed damage and heals do their work. If you can get 5 stacks odds are you suddenly become stronger than most champions in raw AD, but do not let that whistle fool you.Use this to keep you alive until you can secure a kill. AND REMEMBER, the more enemies you hit with the blade, the more heal you get. Sometimes getting 36% of your missing health back is better than securing that kill on the low ADC.


Apprehend is a great ability to force an enemy into fighting you or stopping someone from running away. Typically I prefer to use it for the latter, however early in the game using it as an initiator typically will allow you to win trades. HOWEVER, using your W to initiate if you can typically has more rewards. The slow is better and then you can save apprehend for when they're running away or to interrupt one of their abilities.
Something a lot of people I think overlook is that Apprehend makes it so the target is considered Airborne for 1 second. It can buy you that precious last second till your Q is up to heal, or temporarily stop the enemy from attacking you and interrupt other peoples abilities. This can interrupt a combo if you can time it just right, say you activate it in response to a Yasuo using the third attack of




- If you kill someone with it, you can use it again at no cost. At rank 3, it has no cooldown if you kill with it and no mana cost.
- It deals true damage, no amount of damage reduction stops true damage.
- Once activated, nothing can stop it except Darius' death.
Despite it getting that sweet reset is what you typically want to do, a random dunk can actually turn the tide of a battle. Do not be afraid to dunk early if it means you can possibly survive a fight. However, what you always want to try to do is dunk AFTER getting 5 stacks off of someone not only for the bonus damage from the ability itself, but for that AD Damage boost. More stacks, more damage. 5 stacks, even more damage.
Something you can do if you can survive enough is get 5 stacks off whatever front line the enemy has, then quickly

The Full Package
If someone tries to gank you, keep running around and focus on getting your heals up with grasp of the undying and healing 24-36% of your missing health with your Q. (MORE if you have a spirit visage) Your slow makes kiting champions surprisingly easy if they don't have a means to lock you down. Once you get your Noxian Might, odds are the damage of your Q and bleed have stacked up and you can dunk someone and turn the tide. Darius may be 'Brain Dead', but with proper skills a Brain Dead champion can do a hell of a lot.

*Max 8 stacks, stacks last 8 seconds. I'm using an old image.*



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What I build first depends on what I'm up against. Typically if you're against someone who has high AD like
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![]() ![]() ![]() If the Armor reduction triggers its maximum reduction, your ![]() Despite me singing praises for the Cleaver, I typically build it second. I find in lane and mid game I want to be tankier, so I typically will build whatever tank item I want based on the opponent I'm against then build the black cleaver. But if the enemy team is behind enough building it first isn't a bad idea. |
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If you're up against an assassin such as








If you're against someone Tankier like






Now say you're against a ranged champion like






Mid game is where Darius thrives. By this point you've gotten your Black Cleaver and hopefully have gotten a few kills on the enemy top or jungle. If you're going strong, keep the pressure on. If you can, don't be afraid to dive the enemy. Your sheer damage can kill them faster than a turret can kill you. If the Jungler still wants some of you, focus on whichever enemy you can consistently hit to get Noxian Might and Q whenever you can to get your health up. Keep chipping them away and healing until they meet their end: Dunk.
Try to focus on buying items that counter whoever on your team has had trouble against or who is fed. If it's a mage, grab that MR. ADC, buy that armor. You can't dunk someone if you can't take their hits. If the enemy team is heavily Basic Attack oriented, try running a



Remember, early and Mid game you may of been MVP but you still need a team. Until you can get your Noxian Might you are severly weakened in Team fights, especially if the opponents can lock you down and stop you from dunking them. Instead of going on the Offensive, play the reaction game and time your



Darius is by far not a perfect champion. A lot of people say he's brain dead, however if that is the case then someone who actually learns the ins and outs of the champion can turn him into a true Dunkmaster. By learning proper timing as to when to use your abilities and landing heals, as well as a build to let you dunk on every champion that comes your way, Darius can easily become the perfect asset to a team. I hope my guide has helped you, feel free to leave a comment. Being a Darius main, I will try to update this guide regularly as I figure out more tips and tricks and as items and champions come out. Thank you for reading.
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