Ekko Build Guide by Green Rice Games

Introduction

Hello, everyone! Thank you for reading this, my first guide on MOBAfire! Please leave any constructive critiques you may have in the comments!

This Ekko guide is aimed at laning, particularly midlane. I've yet to test it at toplane but it should be a good starting point at the very least. I hope you enjoy it!

P.S. I know I should put up some more champion match-ups, but I'm waiting until I play some more games with this guy to do so. I'm sure other guides have match-ups listed, but I'm not a fan of copy-pasting without verifying for myself and with respect to my build.

Pros / Cons

Pros + Tons of burst damage + Mobile + Lots of utility, especially with Parallel Convergence (W) and Chronobreak (R) + Good in a 1v1 and in teamfights if played well

Cons - Very squishy - Susceptible to crowd control unless you are good with timing Flash or Phase Dive (E) - Parallel Convergence (W) is tricky to time and place properly and requires a good deal of predictive play.

Runes

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power -- Pretty standard on an AP champ. If you want to be super-fast, you can try Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed but you'll obviously sacrifice some damage potential.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration -- Again a no-brainer with a champion that deals almost exclusively Magic Damage.

Greater Seal of Armor -- Helps in the early game against AD matchups like Zed or Talon. You could also try Greater Seal of Scaling Health if you're facing a mage in-lane, or even Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration if you're feeling safe and/or cocky.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction -- Probably the most controversial choice here. I find it useful to compensate for leaving out Morellonomicon in the final build. However, with just these Glyphs at Level 18 and max rank both Timewinder (Q) and Phase Dive (E) will have cooldown times of 5.6 seconds. With Morellonomicon you hit the cap of 40% CDR for a time of 4.2 seconds. I find 5.6 seconds just fine for deleting enemies, but feel free to find what works best for you. Alternative glyphs include Greater Glyph of Magic Resist and Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power.

Masteries

Since 21-0-9 masteries are pretty common with AP champs, it may seem weird that I sacrifice a point in Utility to put into the Offense tree. I do this because I like to have the following as Ekko:

Sorcery -- Works really well with the CDR Glyphs.

Feast -- Combined with Timewinder, it becomes a great way to regain Health when low, especially as you rank up the skill

Dangerous Game -- Because nothing's worse than loosing a double kill because youjust didn't have quite enough health or mana. Also pairs great with Athene's Unholy Grail should you choose to use it in place of another item.

Arcane Blade -- Since Phase Dive's blink attack counts as a basic attack, this will add to its damage output. It's also good to have generally when you're trying to proc Z-Drive Resonance on an enemy champ with an autoattack to make your escape, as again you'll do just a little more damage before you run away.

You can adjust these to your playstyle as you see fit. If you find yourself constantly needing to use that Crystalline Flask, try switching on point in Utility to Alchemist , just to give one possible example. This is just what I find works well for me.

Summoner Spells

I find Ignite and Flash to be super-useful, but you can also try other Summoner Spells in place of Ignite. My recommendations from most to least useful would be:

Barrier--for quick turret dives

Ghost--for extra mobility

Heal--kinda redundant with Chronobreak but could synergize well if combo-ed, plus the 30% movespeed has its uses and you may want to heal without going back to a poor location.

Cleanse--for escaping CC, which will almost certainly be your death. However, you'll have to be pretty quick with it and hope you can escape the barrage that will certainly be coming your way.

Abilities

Z-Drive Resonance (Passive)--Slows enemies hit three times by damaging abilities and basic attacks within a few seconds, gives Ekko a movespeed buff in equal effect and duration if proc'ed on an enemy champ. Don't forget that abilities will proc the movespeed buff as well. You can hit an enemy with two autos, Phase Dive and/or Flash away, and then cast Timewinder to proc the buff as you escape, giving you some extra room before you take off.

Timewinder (Q)-- Very similar to Ahri's Orb of Deception, except instead of giving you more speed (unless you proc Z-Drive Resonance with it), it slows your enemies. Like Orb of Deception it has great wave-clearing abilities, but try to conserve it in the early game unless you can hit your lane opponent with it. Having it on cooldown or not having enough mana to cast it when you need it can be frustrating. Remember that it will expand early if it hits an enemy champion, so if you use it at point-blank range on someone it won't hit the guy standing behind him.

Parallel Convergence (W)-- This is the trickiest of Ekko's skills to land because of the 3-second delay. However, it has a lot of uses. It grants vision upon casting, so it acts as a shorter-range Scrying Orb. The field slows even if you don't step inside, so it can be a good escape or zoning tool. Used in conjunction with a well-timed Chronobreak, you can deal Area-of-Effect damage while stunning while regaining health while gaining a shield. According to the wiki, this effect will trigger even if Ekko is in stasis or even dead!(Though I've yet to confirm this for myself)

Important to remember: the stun DOES NOT apply a stack of Z-Drive Resonance and that enemies will see where the zone will land, but not the whole delay time. They'll see it as it "flashes" right before it lands.

It also passively gives you bonus damage to enemies below 30% health based on their missing health, but only on basic attacks, which is why I take a point at Level 3 and leave it there until Level 14, as this effect scales only with AP, not with the rank of the skill. Ranking up only increases the shield amount, and until you become really comfortable with Ekko, in the early game you're not going to be landing this skill on top of lane opponents with great accuracy. You're kinda like a WWII bomber, when an accuracy rate of 50% was impressive. For this reason I try to save using it as a stun until teamfights after someone initiates so the enemy is all bunched up and can't easily move to avoid it.

Phase Dive (E)-- A really cool ability, you'll dash a short distance and then blink to the next person you autoattack for bonus damage. At Level 18 and the full build as described here, if you proc the unique passives of both Luden's Echo and Lich Bane on it, you'll deal around 1102 damage (assuming an enemy MR of 42, which is the base amount of 35 + 9 x Greater Glyph of Magic Resist), plus any bonus damage you get if Parallel Convergence's passive can be applied.

Important to remember: Both the dash and blink can take you through terrain. In fact, the dash seems to be able to take you through thicker walls than you might expect:

Chronobreak (R)-- This ability has a bunch of cool uses, and can synergies really well with Ekko's other abilities, particularly Parallel Convergence if timed well. Zhonya's Hourglass can also be used to shield you while you wait for your time-ghost to catch up. Theoretically, if you have enough move speed, I would guess that you could cast Timewinder behind you and then ult so it keeps going on the same path when it returns. Not sure when you would use it like that, but something to experiment with sometime!

Important things to remember:

1. You are invulnerable and untargetable during the animation.
   
2. The ability tracks EXACTLY where you were 4 seconds ago, meaning abilities/Summoner Spells/recalling that change your position are taken into effect. Use this in the laning phase to return to lane super-fast after a quick shopping trip.
   
3. In order for the enemy to see your time ghost, they need to bee able to see YOU, even if they have vision where the ghost is.
   
4. The ability only grants health, and will not undo any healing effects that took place during the last 4 seconds, despite what the ability thematically implies. Four, the ability only heals a percentage of the damage taken plus a base amount. At maximum rank this percentage is only 30%, but for every 100 AP you have another 3.33 percentage points are added, so at 300 AP you'll heal about 40%. This build has a paper value of 746 AP altogether, for a value of about 53%.
   
5. As Chronobreak is classified as a blink ability, you cannot use it while rooted/snared by the abilities Nevermove, Dark Binding, Ethereal Chains, Curse of the Sad Mummy, Yordle Snap Trap, Flame Chompers!, Focused Resolve/ Renewal, Light Binding, Ring of Frost, Zenith Blade, Twisted Advance, Staggering Blow, Empowered Bola Strike, Rune Prison, Equinox, Chain of Corruption, or Grasping Roots.

Combos

The Basic Trade

> >
This is Ekko's most basic and easy combo. If you hit your lane opponent on both passes of Timewinder you'll trigger Z-Drive Resonance on your Phase Dive. Even if you miss the second pass, you'll get the passive with a standard autoattack. It won't be enough to kill early on, but it should take serious chunks out of the enemy's health and the slow from Timewinder is great for setting up a gank from your jungler.

The Stunning Trade

> > >
Now we get into trickier territory. This combo, if you time and place Parallel Convergence right, will let you get a few extra hits while the enemy is stunned. It should be easier with the help from Timewinder's slow. Sadly, the shield will have died by the end, but with good timing you might be able to pick it up to block incoming ability damage.

This combo is best oriented against very mobile, fragile champions like Ahri or LeBlanc where you want to ensure that you land the stun from Parallel Convergence.

The Stunning Trade Mk. II

> > >
This is very similar to the previous combo, but the idea here is that you Phase Dive to detonate Parallel Convergence's stun and THEN use Timewinder, thereby ensuring you get both hits. This combo is a little better on tankier, slower targets that you want to maximize your damage against, compared to the previous one where you run the risk of the target dodging the increased health from Timewinder's return pass, especially if you miss Parallel Convergence altogether.

The Re-Engage

> > >
Even trickier plays here. The trick is to place Parallel Convergence where you were 1 second ago (because Parallel Convergence has a 3-second delay and Chronobreak takes you back 4) You can give yourself more breathing room by casting Parallel Convergence closer to your CURRENT location, but keep in mind that the sphere only lasts a little more than 1 second and Chronobreak has a short delay as it casts, so if you cast it directly on yourself it might fade away before you can Chronobreak on top of it.

Once you've ulted, use Timewinder as a follow-up. Enemies that get hit by both Chronobreak and both passes of Timewinder will have Z-Drive Resonance triggered on them for extra damage.

The Easy Re-Engage

> > >
This combo is very similar to the one above it, but uses Timewinder earlier to ensure the enemies are trapped within Parallel Convergence's sphere.

The Advanced Re-Engage

> > > >
This one's slightly more complicated and requires a bit of good reflexes to pull off quickly. Like two combos earlier, we're using Timewinder as a follow-up technique after Chronobreak, but we use Phase Dive's initial dash to reposition ourselves so that Timewinder hits as many enemy champs as possible and procs Z-Drive Resonance. We can then use the blink half of Phase Dive to execute a vulnerable survivor.

The Turret Dive

> > >
This one requires good planning. You need to know how much of your target's health bar you can take off, and you need to make a good approach that won't land you in unsafe territory when you Chronobreak.

The idea is pretty simple, though: Use Phase Dive to get up in the enemy's face under turret, hit Timewinder to get in the killing blow, and then Chronobreak out to safety. Be sure you can get in and out without getting hit by crowd-control effects that would prevent you from Chronobreaking to safety. Obviously, do not attempt on low health.

The Delayed Gratification

> > > >
This is a good combo for teamfights. Parallel Convergence + Phase Dive locks them in place, Timewinder dishes out some damage, and then you simply wait for your past self to catch up so you can Chronobreak right on top of yourself to finish them off.

Zhonya's Delayed Gratification

> > > > >
This is a similar combo to the previous one, except you use the active from Zhonya's Hourglass to protect you while your time-clone catches up.

The 1.5 Rotation

> > > > Attack x 3 > > >
This combo basically requires that you have at least 20% CDR, so that you can get off the last two abilities. You start similar to the previous two combos, getting a couple Autoattacks in while you have the enemies stunned and are waiting for your Chronobreak clone to catch up to you. Then afterwards you hit Timewinder to slow their retreat and Phase Dive in for additional damage. The Autoattacks following your abilities will benefit greatly from Lich Bane, which is why I hold that item in such high regard. You should be able to get off 3 procs of its unique passive: After both Phase Dives and on the Autoattack after the first Timewinder.

Items

Starting Items

I like to start with a Crystalline Flask and 3 Health Potions to stay in lane longer. I typically avoid buying more pots after that as Crystalline Flask replenishes as you shop.

You could also start with 2 pots and Doran's Ring or buy Doran's later for extra damage and a little health, but I find that Flask works well up into around the mid-game, at which point you can sell it because the enemy team will start grouping up and easily counteract the increased health regeneration.

Core Build

I rush this first for more movespeed and a little extra damage application. You can get Boots of Speed, Luden's Echo, and then upgrade your boots, but I find that the extra movespeed the upgrade gives is great to have early on with such a mobility-based champion.

For Enchantments, you can take Enchantment: Homeguard to help you with recall + Chronobreak combos. You could also take Enchantment: Alacrity for even more movespeed, or Enchantment: Furor to grant you a larger movespeed bonus when you proc Z-Drive Resonance on a champ to make a hasty retreat.

Next I like to build Luden's for the 120 AP, 6% Movespeed, and the extra damage on abilities. It's a great early power spike

Lich Bane's unique passive synergizes really well with Phase Dive and Z-Drive Resonance, so I take it as my third item. It also comes with even more movespeed as an added bonus!

You can build this before or after Void Staff depending on how the match is going. On an AP champ like Ekko, this is a no-brainer so I'll just move on.

Like Sorcerer's Shoes, another great item for chewing through tankier targets. Buy it before Rabadon's Deathcap if you notice the enemy team building lots of Magic Resist.

Another 120 AP item that also gives you extra armor and you can use the active effect together with Parallel Convergence and/or Chronobreak. Buy Seeker's Armguard early if you're against an AD champion in lane.

Situational Items

WHAT?! Morellonomicon as a SITUATIONAL item?! While it does have very useful bonuses like Mana Regen, CDR, and applies Grievous Wounds, Lich Bane grants the same amount of AP and synergizes better with Ekko's abilities. Plus, as Ekko is a bursty champion, the 250 Mana from Lich Bane is more useful when it comes to spamming abilities than Mana Regen, and once you have enough AP you'll be deleting enemies so quickly that Grievous Wounds is almost irrelevant. Plus, as stated earlier, you'll have enough CDR from Runes and Masteries that Morellonomicon's CDR won't take off too terribly much.

This item's faults are much like Morellonomicon's. The CDR is borderline overkill, it grants less AP than Lich Bane, and the autoattack bonuses are assuming that you'll live long enough to use them, which as a melee squishy assassin becomes increasingly unlikely as the match progresses.

This is probably the most useful of all these "situational" items because of the extra Magic Resist and the unique passive. I would probably use it in matches where you'll Phase Dive from low-health champion to low-health champion, helping to finish them off, or when the enemy has a mix of squishies and tanks. (Delete the squishies, get Mana back to fight the tanks). However, like Morellonomicon it does have some superfluous bonuses and is does sacrifice some burst potential when compared to Lich Bane.

Another good item if you need some Magic Resist while ignoring the enemy's. As it grants 70 Ability Power as opposed to 60 from Nashor's Tooth or Athene's Unholy Grail, it doesn't compromise your burst potential quite as much but you will lose out on the unique passive from Lich Bane or some of the Magic Pen from Void Staff, depending on which you choose to replace with it.

Laning Phase

Farming

Last-hitting is always a little tricky with melee champs, especially if like myself you play ranged champions typically. Timewinder can be a good farming tool with or without an autoattack to proc Z-Drive Resonance's extra damage, but I would try to conserve it and your mana unless you can hit your lane opponent with it. Remember it does more damage on the return trip.

Trading

Again, your trusty Timewinder serves a great purpose here. Make sure you reposition yourself to catch your opponent on the return trip to get all the potential damage and a second stack of Z-Drive Resonance which you can proc with a basic attack or Phase Dive.

Once you reach Level 3, try placing Parallel Convergence behind your lane opponent to cut off their retreat as they come in to trade or CS. If you time it well, you can force them back with a cast of Timewinder. As they move backwards to try and avoid getting hit the second time, they'll get slowed, allowing you to walk, Flash, and/or Phase Dive into the sphere to pick up the stun and shield before killing them or proccing Z-Drive Resonance to disengage.

Against tougher lane opponents, Parallel Convergence has some good defensive uses if you cast it early enough on your own location or nearby. In a matchup against Talon, for instance, placing it between you and him could discourage him from using Cutthroat or Shadow Assault, as going in to deal the damage would result in him being stunned. If you catch him by surprise and actually stun him you can Chronobreak to heal yourself if needed and even dish out some damage in return if you've been standing relatively still.

Once you reach Level 6 your damage potential and survivability both increase greatly. Chronobreak has both offensive and defensive uses. You can even use it to return to lane after a quick recall and shopping spree. If you're fast (and a little lucky), your opponent may try to rush you to stop your recall, and then you can ult and surprise him with a burst of damage!

Teamfights

Basic Rules to Live By

In a teamfight, Ekko's main jobs follow a set priority

1. Lock down enemies with Parallel Convergence and/or Timewinder.
   
2. Deal heavy damage from range. ( Timewinder again)
   
3. Swoop in to chase down low-health survivors with Phase Dive or possibly even Chronobreak, depending on your positioning
   
4. Get out with Z-Drive Resonance, Chronobreak, or even Parallel Convergence if you didn't use it earlier.

As a squishy, AP, utility champion, you want to kite and stay out of harm's way while dealing as much damage as possible from range. Once the enemy is low on health you can Phase Dive in to clean up.

Tips

• Have your tank or someone else who can hold the enemy team in place initiate before you cast Parallel Convergence to increase your chances of hitting the enemy team.
• Once you have Zhonya's Hourglass, if you have enough health that you won't be obliterated as soon as you come out of stasis, you can use the W>E>Q>Zhonya's>R combo to let your past self catch up with your new position, allowing you to ult right on top of the enemy team.
• Remember that just like in the W>R>E>Q combo, you can use the first part of Phase Dive to reposition yourself and escape to the back line if needed
• Always try to hit as many enemies as possible with Timewinder, and don't forget that the slow can be used as a disengage tool.
• In a similar Vayne--I mean, vein--you can cast Parallel Convergence along your escape route when you're about ready to run for the hills to shield yourself from ranged enemy damage.

Final Damage Outputs for Ability Combos

Before I close, thank you for reading all the way through! Here are the approximate damage values of all the abilities and combos with this full build (Runes, Masteries, and Items) at Level 18. All values assume a Magic Resist statistic of 42 and where basic attacks are involved I did not calculate Armor as it varies wildly from champ to champ. So in practice these numbers will be lower but as I cannot predict all the possible values you'll encounter, I figured I'd give you all the optimistic numbers :D

Basic Attack
Damage: (110 (base) + 37 (5% AP) )x 1.03 ( Havoc ) = 152

Z-Drive Resonance
Bonus Damage: 770

Timewinder
1st pass: 266
2nd pass: 604 (870 total)

Parallel Convergence
Shield Amount: 927

Phase Dive
Base Attack: 472
Base + Luden's Echo: 647 (+175)*
Base + Lich Bane: 928 (+456)*
Base + Luden's Echo + Lich Bane: 1,103*

*I'm not aware how Lich Bane and Luden's Echo's bonus damage interact with the 3% damage increase from Havoc . The numbers here seem to assume they don't, but that is because my spreadsheet is being weird and not seeming to apply the Havoc bonus, despite the fact that it should according to how I'm reading my formula. I will look over my math and update this section as necessary.

Chronobreak
Damage: 1458
Heal Amount: 200 + (53.33% of damage taken in past 4 seconds)

The Basic Trade

> >

The Stunning Trade

> > >

The Stunning Trade Mk. II

> > >

The Turret Dive

> > >

Total Damage: 2,743 (870 + 1103 + 770)

The Re-Engage

> > >

The Easy Re-Engage

> > >

Total Damage: 3,098 (1,458 + 870 + 770)

The Advanced Re-Engage

> > > >

The Delayed Gratification

> > > >

Zhonya's Delayed Gratification

> > > > >

Total Damage: 4,201 (1,458 + 870 + 1,120 + 770)

The 1.5 Rotation

> > > > AutoAttack x 3 > > >

Total Damage: 6,757 (1,458 + 870 + 870 + 472 + 472 + 770 + 152 + 152 + 456 + 456 + 456 + 174)
(Assumes 3 procs of Lich Bane and one proc of Luden's Echo and Z-Drive Resonance)