MOBAFire's first Mini Guide Contest of Season 14 is here! Create or update guides for the 30 featured champions and compete for up to $200 in prizes! 🏆

This build has been archived and is for historical display only

This build has been archived by the author. They are no longer supporting nor updating this build and it may have become outdated. As such, voting and commenting have been disabled and it no longer appears in regular search results.

We recommend you take a look at this author's other builds.

Not Updated For Current Season

This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page

Illaoi Build Guide by

GoliathGames' Master guide to Illaoi

887 47

2,279,305 Views

33 Comments

Illaoi Build Guide By Updated on

Guide Discussion (33) More Illaoi Guides

Runes:

Precision

Conqueror

Triumph

Legend: Tenacity

Coup de Grace

Domination

Sudden Impact

Ravenous Hunter

Bonus:

+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor

Items

Starting Build

Full Build

Ability Order

Illaoi Passive Ability

Introduction

About
Why Illaoi?
Pros/Cons

Pre Game

Runes
Inspiration - Domination
Spells

In-game

Abilities - Items
Laning Phase
Split Pushing - Teamfighting

Final Notes

Conclusion

My other guides:

Hey guys,
My name is Goliath. I've played League of Legends since season 2 and have mained top lane since season 3. I've been high Diamond in every season since season 4, peaking at Master tier. League of Legends has always been the main game that I have stuck with over the years.

Here is my OP.GG for anyone interested.

If you want to see me play, maybe learn a thing or two, or ask me some questions, you can find my stream here. Stop by some time, I'm always down for giving advice and helping you improve.

If streams aren't up you alley, you can also check out my YouTube channel here. I'm going to start uploading informative videos, as well as stream and gameplay highlights.

If you want more general info, like when I upload, or update, a guide, then you can find my twitter here.

If I'm offline on twitch but you still want some pointers or just wanna chill, then feel free to join my discord server and hit me up.

Return to Top

Why Illaoi?

Overview

Illaoi is a fairly complex champion to learn, but the effort you put into her is well worth it, because when it comes to laning phase, she is definitely one of the strongest top laners in the game.

Illaoi strongest factor is her dominating laning phase. The complexity involved with her tentacles results in a lot of players, especially those with lower elos, having no idea how to properly lane against her. This, combined with the fact Illaoi is also very easy to farm with, while also having decent sustain, provides you with a very strong laning phase as long as you play intelligently. You can usually win 1v1s as long as you're hitting your (E) skillshots, and you can even with 1v2 a jungler gank you as long as you have (R).

Illaoi also has very good teamfighting potential as well, under the condition you're able to get your abilities off in time. This can however be somewhat difficult if the enemy team has a lot of mobility, or if they have a lot of CC, but even then you still have the chance to destroy the enemy team. I have gotten a 1v5 pentakill while playing Illaoi simply because after you get a good (R) off you can use your other tentacles to smash people while also healing yourself a ton.

Difficulty

7.5/10

Illaoi is pretty difficult in my opinion; you really have to learn the timing of her abilities. Two of her abilities are also skillshots, with one of which, (E), being especially important to hit often.

Fun Factor

9/10

Personally, I love playing Illaoi. Playing her can be super satisfying, such as when you get a sick 1v2 top lane when the jungler comes to gank you, as well as if you can pull off a huge (R) in a teamfight and just AOE tentacle slap everyone. All of this, and the fact that you win most lanes, makes her always fun play.

Viability

8/10

At the time of me writing this guide, Illaoi is definitely a viable champion. She has a strong laning phase, and that's all you really need in this meta since games are pretty short and snowball-y right now. Also, the fact that she has built in sustain and lots of good matchups adds too her already good viability.

Laning Phase

10/10

I honestly believe Illaoi has one of the strongest laning phases out of there; pretty much every meele matchup is good for you. At level 6+ her laning phase just get's insane since nobody can 1v1 you, let alone 1v2 you if played correctly. I also think (E) is an insanely useful ability for laning, and makes it to where enemy champions aren't even safe under turret. On top of all this, Illaoi also has decent sustain, which is pretty huge for top lane.

Team fighting

6/10

I'm giving her teamfighting a low score because some fights will just simply be too hard for her to get her abilities off, or will result in you getting kited. With that being said, if you do get her abilities off, especially a nice (R), then her teamfighting can be insane, but there are too many difficult teams to say without question you will hit all your abilities.

TL;DR: If you want to try out a challenging but fun champion with a dominating laning phase, who can also take on 1v2 ganks, or if you have a thing for tentacles, then you should try out Illaoi.

Return to Top

Pros

+ Strong Laning
+ Good healing.
+ Good splitpushing ability.
+ Good AOE damage.
+ Good teamfighting.
+ somewhat tanky.

Cons

- Bad Engage.
- Low mobility.
- Ability cast times
- Bad levels 1-2.
- Mana issues early game.
- No CC.

Overall I think Illaois biggest cons are just her kind of low mobility and the fact that her abilities all have a slight cast time. These two things mean some ranged characters can be very annoying to deal with, and those few seconds lost from cast times can alter the sway of a teamfight. I've had so many teamfights where if I just lived one second longer I would've healed up and turned the teamfight around. Her pros definitely outweigh the cons though; in my opinion, she seriously has one of the strongest laning phases in the game for top lane. You can also usually get a bunch of champion kills while CSing, and nobody can really stop you since you can 1v2 and sometimes even 1v3 as long as you hit your (E) and have (R).

Return to Top

Conqueror
This rune is great on Illaoi because on top of giving you an AD boost it also increases your healing at 10 stacks which gets absurd since you have so much other healing, also your tentacles help you stack this rune up so it's not to hard to reach 10 stacks.

Triumph
Not to much to say about this rune it can just be really clutch in certain scenarios and has savved me a lot of times.

Legend:Tenacity
Tenacity is very valuable on Illaoi since you get CC'd and kited so often and you need time to get your abilities off in teamfights.

Coup de Grace
I like coup on Illaoi personally since our healing is so absurb late game you aren't going to be low HP as much for Last stand, so this rune is just extra damage.

Sudden Impact
Not to much to say about this rune, just free lethality every time we use (W), which is going to be a lot, especially during (R).

Ravenous Hunter
I absolutely love this rune on Illaoi, it basically makes your healing is insane later on in the game. The downside of the rune is it doesn't to much in lane for you, since you need kills or assists to get the stacks; though once you have 3-5 stacks, plus a and , it's almost impossible to die if you land decent (R) because your healing is actually insane.

Another thing to note about this rune is that if you get kills on invades you can get some pretty cheesy early stacks on it. I've started the lane before with 3+ stacks just from having a good invade. However with that being said, Illaoi does not have the best invading potential, so I do not force invade every game; If your team comp is really good for it, and you have a champion like a and they want to invade, make sure you try to get as many assists or kills as you can for the extra stacks early.

Return to Top

: Flash is pretty standard on most champions and same with Illaoi. Flash is actually especially important on Illaoi because you often need to finish off a target with a quick flash + (W). I've picked up sooo many kills like this since people can't really react to it, and even if they do a reaction in time, (W) still goes through getting you the kill. Just make sure you know your (W) damage before doing this. Illaoi is also very immobile, so we need flash just to get out of certain situations. Remember to evaluate ganks before you flash though, and try to gauge if you can actually just get a (E) + (R) combo and 1v2 them. Honestly, this is often the case rather then blowing flash, unless of course, you get ganked pre 6.

: Teleport is a must in top lane in my opinion. Although Illaoi can't make very good TP plays, especially botlane in the early to mid stages of the game, you do a lot of splitpushing, and you need to be able to join a or fight. Also, teleport is just really nice for lane and gives you a lot of control.

Return to Top

PROPHET OF AN ELDER GOD

Range: N/A

Cooldown: 20 - 12 (based on level)

Cost: N/A

Illaoi periodically spawns a Tentacle on nearby natural impassable terrain if none are nearby, which remains on the battlefield until killed or when disabled for 60 seconds.

Tentacles deal 10 - 180 (based on level) (+ 120% AD) physical damage when commanded to attack by her abilities. Each tentacle also Heal power heals Illaoi for 5% missing health if it hits at least one enemy champion.

: I will go more in depth, and post screenshots of the ideal positioning for your tentacle spawns in the laning phase section of the guide, but I'll provide you with a basic overview of the ability here.

Illaoi's Passive is pretty straight forward, and is mostly important to pay attention to during the laning phase. To put it simply, Illaoi can spawn a tentacle on an unoccupied wall or piece of terrain that, amongst many other uses, will attack those hit by (W) or (R), or those under the effect of (E).

You will want to be spawning tentacles whenever you can, even if it's not at the "ideal position," since sometimes you have to kite to your tentacles during a jungle gank. You can also your "useless" tentacles for some free (E) hits on your opponent, since most players will try to clear them.

Another useful thing about your tentacles is that you can to them, I've actually picked up a few kills by sneak TP-ing back to one that's in an unwarded spot.

Also keep in mind that a tentacle will only spawn if there is not one already by it, so pay attention if it is off cooldown and always make sure to spawn one somewhere.

KEY NOTES

Can use Test of Spirit(E) on an enemy when they go to kill tentacles.
Can Teleport back to tentacles.
Make sure to always be spawning them off cooldown.

TENTACLE SMASH

Range: 850

Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6

Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60

Passive: Increases all tentacle damage by 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%. Tentacles that hit enemy champions heal Illaoi for 5% of her missing Health.

Active: Illaoi summons a tentacle that slams down in a target direction, dealing 10 x level physical damage to all enemies in a line.

: This ability is simple, yet provides a lot of things. First off it's your main source of waveclear; midgame it one hits the mage creeps, and almost kills the melee creeps, leaving them at one auto. This ability is also great for poking in lane, especially in the early levels. Be careful though, because you will push in the lane slowly if you're using it on creeps when you're poking them. Lastly, this ability is pretty good sustain, especially when combined with and , so remember to use it on waves and champions when you need healing.

An interesting thing to note about this ability is it actually hits inside your character model, and even very slightly behind you. This can be very helpful for when you're trying to hit a champion under the effect of (E), as you can manage to hit both the spirit and their champion.

KEY NOTES

Good for waveclearing.
Good for sustaining.
Good poke damage.
Hitbox is inside of you, and slightly behind you.

HARSH LESSON

Range: N/A

Cooldown: 4

Cost: 30

Illaoi leaps to her target, dealing her total attack damage plus 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5% of the target's maximum health (+2% per 100 attack damage) bonus physical damage and causing nearby Tentacles to also swing at the target.

: This ability by itself is just an empowered auto attack with more range since it gives you a leap, but it also commands your tentacles to attack, and counts as an auto reset, so always make sure you auto and then use your W right after.

Remember to spam this ability while you're in (R), since it is on a very short cooldown. Whenever you land a (E) you'll want to auto, then (W) the spirit. As long as the enemy lane doesn't have a big minion wave that will turn on you, it's very important to use this ability when they go up to last hit creep; if you hit lots of these in lanes you can just bully people out with just this spell.

Another thing to note about this ability is you can do a super fast + (W) to secure kills, or sometimes + auto then (W); even if they , (W) will still hit if you're fast enough. this has gotten me ton of kills, o when somebody lives with a sliver of health left just + (W) as fast as you can to try and get the kill.

This ability can also be used for waveclearing if you have a tentacle nearby, just use (W) where you want the tentacle to slap. This can be a nice alternative to using (Q) to wave clear, since this is way less mana.

KEY NOTES

Able to get Conqueror stacks off spirit
Makes your tentacles slap those you hit.
Low cooldown after you cast Leap of Faith(R)
Good waveclear if you have a tentacle nearby.
Flash + Harsh Lesson(W) strong for killing a very low hp target.

TEST OF SPIRIT

Range: 900

Cooldown: 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12

Cost: 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55

[/center]

Illaoi hurls a tendril forward in a line that stops at the first enemy hit. If the enemy was a champion, the tendril pulls their Spirit from them and places it before her. The Spirit is connected to the target by a tether.

The Spirit has 100% of their current Health and lasts for 10 seconds (reduced by 1 second each time Illaoi receives damage from the target champion).

Over the duration, the Spirit can be attacked by Illaoi and her allies. 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45% (+8% per 100 AD) of the damage dealt to the Spirit is also dealt to the target.

The tether will be severed if the Spirit is killed or when the target moves too far away, slowing the target enemy by 80% for 1.5 seconds and marking them as a Vessel, causing them to spawn a Tentacle every 5 / 4 / 3 seconds for the next 12 seconds. The spawn rate is increased every 6 levels.

: In my opinion, this is Illaoi's best ability, and it's going to come up a lot in this guide. A lot of the time the amount of times you hit (E) in lane will determine how hard you snowball, so try your best to land as many as possible.

When you hit (E) you'll usually want to (Q), and try to hit the enemy champion as well as the spirit, so they take a ton of damage. After that you'll want to get an auto + (W) in; by this time they've usually run out of the circle, but if they haven't just keep wailing on the spirit since it will stack your conqueror] or [[grasp of the undying if you run that) and will deal out a ton of damage.

Either way, you want to try to kill the "spirit" so they become a "vessel," this will make tentacles spawn on them, and kinda becomes an annoying minigame that they have to micromanage and dodge, hopefully making them miss CS while doing so.

It's also important to remember that after they leave the circle, or if you kill the spirit, they will become slowed. This makes it a good idea to use (E) if you are going to chase and just ignore the spirit, since they will get slowed and become a vessel just by from running out of the area.

This ability is also super strong for siege-ing before a teamfight. One (E) cast on a champion and your whole team can pile on that spirit, usually blasting them out pretty good, forcing them to recall.

Also remember that Leap of Faith(R) counts the spirit as a champion, meaning you get another tentacle. I can't stress enough how important it is to hit Test of Spirit(E) before you use Leap of Faith(R); the extra tentacle can be so crucial to securing potentially multiple kills.

KEY NOTES

Can stack Conqureor on spirit
Leap of Faith(R) counts spirits as champions, giving you another tentacle.
Slows enemy after they leave range or when the spirit dies.
Spawns tentacles for next 12 seconds if the spirit dies or if the enemy champion leaves range.

[/center]

LEAP OF FAITH

Range: 500

Cooldown: 120 / 105 / 90

Cost: 100

[/center]

Illaoi leaps into the air before slamming her idol into the ground, dealing 150 / 250 / 350 (+0.5 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to all nearby enemies and summoning a Tentacle for every enemy champion hit. For the next 8 seconds, Tentacles swing 50% faster and are untargetable while Harsh Lesson has a 2 second cooldown.

: This ultimate can be really insane as long as you can hit multiple champions with it and if you get an (E) off before you use it.

Basically, you'll just want to look for opportunities to where you can at least jump on 3 champions or 2 champions + a spirit, because for each champion hit you will spawn a tentacle that hits them. This can get a bit crazy because the cooldown on (W) also gets halved after you use (R); if you remember from earlier, (W) makes your tentacles attack, so you basically just want to mash (W) and your tentacles will destroy anything and everything while also healing you up like crazy.

Your tentacles are also invincible for 8 seconds after you use (R), so you don't have to worry about people killing them mid ultimate. Also keep in mind that the initial cast does flat AD damage, but most of your damage will come from (W) and having your tentacles absolutely wreck everything while also healing you to keep you alive.

KEY NOTES

Spirit from Test of Spirit(E) counts as champion, giving you an extra tentacle spawn.
Tentacles are invincible during ultimate.
Does flat attack damage on cast.
Spawns tentacles based on champions + spirit hit (up to 5).
Harsh Lesson(W) cooldown is halved

[/center]

> > >

Honestly, I usually go (Q) start on Illaoi since champions usually like to try to push me in so I try to keep the wave somewhat in the middle or slightly closer to my tower, but not all the way pushed in. You can go for (W) start as well for early quick trades, but honestly your trades won't be good since minions will wreck you if they're playing inside the minion wave. Either way whichever you decide to start, just be warned Illaoi's levels one and two are just bad in general VS most champions.

Return to Top

- Starting Builds -

- Usual Start -

Corrupting Potion

I always start this item on Illaoi since you have a rough few early levels and it also helps with mana issues, plus this is a big reason we run time warp tonic so I recommend always starting this if you're running that rune.

- Buy Order -

- Full Build -

Black Cleaver

OR

Ninja Tabi / Merc Treads

You want to rush black cleaver on Illaoi since this item gives armor shred, health, attack damage, and most importantly cooldown reduction. The armor shred is easy to proc, and helps your tentacles do more damage, so you'll be pretty strong once you get this item.

Normally, since I splitpush on Illaoi and draw pressure so people come to me, I build whatever benefits me the most in the 1v1. Generally, if I'm against AD laner I build ninja tabi, if I'm against AP laner I build merc treads.

Death's Dance

Sterak's Gage

This item is super power spike-y on Illaoi; it gives you even more AD, CDR, and a bunch more healing, and also turns 30% damage you take into a bleed, meaning you take damage slower and have have more time to heal. This item is just overall amazing on Illaoi, and is a must buy just about every match.

More attack damage as well as flat health which is always nice, the shield from this ability can really help you turn fights and also gives tenacity, this is just another good bruiser item.

Randuins Omen

Spirit Visage

Not much to say about this item; we already have enough attack damage from other items, and there are no really good AD items left for us to get, so I just start getting tanky. This item is also just a great value, and has an activate that can really help Illaoi stick on targets.

Spirit Visage can be an insanely useful item for Illaoi; We have so many different healing effects already, and Spirit Visage enhances all of them by quite a bit at this point in the game. It also tops off your CDR and gives some MR + health. Your healing will be seriously crazy once you get this item, and honestly sometimes it feels a bit overkill.

- Situational Items -

Trinity Force

Thornmail

Trinity force is honestly really good on Illaoi but I only really go it if they have no tanks or if my team doesn't benefit from black cleaver very much, or if I get really fed and snowball while sitting on my phage, but this item is definitely very fun on Illaoi if you're wanting to do some serious damage.

If you want the anti healing passive from thornmail then buy this over a randuins, for example if they have a Warwick, soraka, dr mundo, etc..

Return to Top

Level 1-2

Illaois levels 1-2 are very bad in my opinion, usually you'll want to let them push you in while (Q)'ing them and sometimes (Q)'ing the wave as well. Usually I like to try to keep the wave from pushing in to hard, but still keep it under control so I can weave in (W)'s. This brings me to my next point, be careful going for early (W)'s because it can put you in awkward spots where you'll take a lot of minion damage.

Level 3-5

Once you hit level 3 Illaois laning phase only gets smoother from here since we have (E) now, and you can get some nice poke damage as long we land (E). I usually try to play near one of my tentacles during this time, and try to land (E), usually by the cliff that's near you. Mainly you'll just want to try to get enough gold until you can at least back and buy . Levels 3-5 you'll just want to keep farming and being annoying with (E) once you hit level 6+ is when you'll want to start pressuring them way more, even pushing them into turret a lot of the time since you can 1v2 a jungle gank at this point.

Level 6+
Tentacle Spawning

Ideal top/red side tentacle spawn

[/center]

These are the ideal tentacle spawns that you will want to have after you've become comfortable laining, and also the spawns you will want for when you think you can 1v2 a gank. Basically, the reasoning behind this is you use (W) once the minions are in between two tentacle to clear the waves quickly, and then look for an opportunity to use (E) on enemy champions in the middle of tentacles so both tentacles are slapping the spirit doing a ton of damage. Also, if the jungler comes up, you have a backup tentacle in the top bushes that you can kite to if you're on cooldowns or if they kill one your side tentacles. If they go to kill one of your side tentacles while you're clearing the wave it's not that big of a deal, you can usually just spawn it back. Don't be afraid to use (E) on them under turret either, even if you can only angle one tentacle will hit, the pressure from (E) is still huge even with one tentacle.

[/center]

Ideal bot/blue side tentacle spawn

[/center]

The last important thing to keep in mind during Illaois laning phase is that she is all about pressuring the other top laner, and getting huge CS leads while hopefully drawing lots of pressure top lane that you can outplay and get even bigger. I usually don't roam whn playing Illaoi very much, or even make plays, unless it's for a dragon since you just don't have any CC. Remember that Illaoi is insanely good at snowballing lane because of how much damage (E) does, and how you can use it from a safe distance while they're under turret; This means they really can't do anything against you, and eventually you'll get turrets and draw pressure while becoming a monster that nobody can deal with.

Other Notes

stacks on your spirits from (E)

(W) can actually be used to hop over short walls. This can be especially helpful if you are pushing a t2 turret and you need to escape; you can ward over the wall to get vision of gromp and then use (W) to get to it.

(W) gets canceled by champions that can ground such as and .

Try to land (E) when they go up for auto attacks on your tentacles.

Try to predict when a minion that they are hiding behind is going to die and time (E) accordingly to surprise them. This has gotten me a few E's when they aren't paying attention to their minions hp.

If you're split pushing and you miss (E) then you should probably back off and not fight or pressure until it's back up. This may seem obvious, but (E) is such a big part of your kit, especially if you're getting ganked; you will most likely need (E) to outplay unless you're super fed.

Most lanes you can't really do much levels 1 and 2 so don't try anything too weird. (Q) is pretty weak, and easy to sidestep and (W) is just an empowered auto attack that draws minion aggro, so most lanes you are going to want to play passive levels 1 and 2 and just try to control the wave. However, if they come up for a trade don't be afraid to trade with them.

If you're grouping with your team and siege-ing, hitting (E) is all you should really be looking to do since your whole team can follow up and it will chunk that person out pretty hard, as well as make more tentacle spawns if they decide to go in.

Pay attention to how many stacks you have, if you have 3-5 stacks and a your healing is absolutely insane and you can get away with a lot more then if you have hardly any stacks.

Remember that (Q) goes very slightly behind your character model.

Keep in mind that Illaoi can be one of the most oppressive top laners in the game, especially if she starts snowballing, so you always want to keep the pressure up. If you get very far ahead DO NOT PLAY PASSIVE, you will be able to kill people even if you get ganked.

Mid game you can auto the melee minions once each, and then (Q) the whole wave to clear it instantly.

Return to Top

You're going to be doing a lot of splitpushing while playing Illaoi since it's hard for you to roam with her, so strap in. You want to make people come to you while you're pressuring a turret or the enemy champion, and it's very important to look at your minimap and addressing where everyone is on the map while doing so. If your team is pressuring somewhere, then you can go more aggro and try to pressure the turret or the champion under the turret with (E), if your team isn't pressuring then in most circumstances you should just back off, but still stay in lane and try to ping your team to the objective you want them to be pressuring. You will also want to make sure you are always staying at a healthy hp, which is usually pretty easy at this point in the game since you have sustain from tentacles, , , and even , not to mention that (Q)-ing the waves at this point in the game will heal you a lot.

You also have the potential to win 1v2's, especially if both enemy champions are melee and walk into you; just throw out (E) and do some of the combos I've mentioned previously. Sometimes you can even win 1v3 this way, if you play it right, but you'll struggle with this your first dozen matches. You'll really have to calculate your risks while splitpushing with Illaoi, and measuring that risk will just come with playing her a lot.

I recommend in most cases trying to splitpush and draw pressure, rather then using your to join the objective; that is, unless it's , , or . Sometimes you will need to for these objectives if the enemy top laner s and you aren't able to get pressure yet.

Something crucial to address when playing Illaoi is both teams comps. If your team has engage, it's a lot easier for you to teamfight since Illaoi just has to walk into the fight and try to get a good (R), but this can be very awkward if your team doesn't want to go in. The other thing to look for is how many mobile and ranged champions they have. For example, if they have and you might just have to sit back and try to hit (E)'s first before actually teamfighting.

Overall, the most ideal situation is to draw pressure in a side lane, and make 2-3 people come over and kill them while your team grabs . If nobody comes over then just get the turrets while your team stalls the . You can also go for mini dives on Illaoi if you know it's just one person and nobody is coming; you have so much sustain if you need to back out you can just heal up on next wave. hitting (E) at this point followed by (Q) on the spirit and enemy champion will also heal you a lot.

One last thing I want to mention is to try not to waste (R) in a 1v1 while you're splitpushing, unless you are for sure going to kill him. If you use (R) your 1v2 and 1v3 potential goes down the drain while that in on cooldown.

Return to Top

In my expierence Illaoi teamfighting either goes really well or really poorly, with little to no actual middle ground. Like I've mentioned previously in the guide, you always want to try to splitpush and draw pressure; try getting leads like that on , rather then grouping and forcing teamfights, as you'l;l have a much easier time when they walk into you, rather than having you walking into them. With that being said, sometimes you do have to teamfight around objectives, so I will try to give some tips for when you do have to teamfight as it will happen.

The first thing you should always be doing before a teamfight is trying to land a (E). To put this into perspective, let's say you guys are dancing around or siege-ing a and you land (E) on an enemy champion. As long as your team follows up on the spirit, whoever you hit will pretty much take 700+ damage, and now become a vessel, meaning more tentacles will spawn slapping him and maybe hitting his team. If you hit a squishy champion they will most likely have to base, unless their team has a ton of healing.

Most teamfights you want to try to let them engage on you, unless your team has insane engage, then try to (E) + (R) on atleast 2 champions. If you can spawn at least 3 tentacles then you can do some serious AOE damage just from mashing (W); this will also heal you a bunch, so you can take a lot of damage for your team and survive.

The main problem that you'll run into with Illaoi in teamfights is that all of her abilities have cast animation time. Under ideal circumstances, you will want to get (E) off before you use (R), but this can sometimes just take too long, especially if you're being CC'd: This is why it's really important to try to let them engage you, then get a (E) while they're engaging, meaning you just have to press (R) and go ham. Also, don't be afraid to go in after you use (R), because as long as you have 3+ tentacles you'll be healing so much that they really shouldn't be able to kill you unless they're all focusing you, or your whole team is dead.

The other issue you run into while teamfighting with Illaoi is ranged champions that can kite you; the only thing to do against this really is to use (E) and try to angle your (Q) to hit the spirit + their champion. After that you can go kill the spirit, and try to get to them while they're slowed, but honestly ranged champions are just super annoying for Illaoi to deal with. The (E) + (Q) on spirit & champion will chunk them to under half hp if they're a squishy ranged champion though, so you can still deal out some damage if need be.

Return to Top

Overall Illaoi is a great bruiser style champion; she can win laning phase in most match ups, and can turn into an amazing splitpusher, capable of drawing a ton of pressure, while also having the potential to be a 1v5 AOE machine if played correctly or snowballed enough. She might take a bit of skill to get down, but once you learn how to play her, and get the feel of how and when to use your abilities, she is a great champion to add to your rotation.

Thanks for reading my Illaoi guide; if you liked it then consider tossing me an upvote as it really helps to get my guide out there, if it helped you out at all, then let me know in the comments. If you think I left something out, then go ahead and let me know as well, I always enjoy hearing feedback whether it be positive or negative. Thanks again for reading and I hope it helped in someway.

Return to Top

My other guides