I'm posting this to be a counter to basically every other Monkey guide here (and everywhere else) having a Trinity Force in it. Talk about thinking outside of the box. PLAY TO EACH INDIVIDUAL GAME. You will be amazed with the results. I do have my basic build strategy laid out in the "Item Strategy" section.

The items at the top of the guide are arbitrary. Oh and on that note @MOBAFIRE: **** you I don't want to be forced to put a difinitive 3 items at the top of my guide. Here's a suggestion: GET RID OF THAT MORONIC SECTION. ITS HORRIBLE GAMEPLAY. [/rant]

Monkey is a top tear champion in League. He was powerful before the buffs but now he's unstoppable. A brilliant top-solo, as well as a very good 2v1 or bottom laner; Wukong can be a real terror to play against and has the ability to single-handidly turn a teamfight in his favor.

This build is based off the way I play jungle Nocturne. I picked up Monkey right after Noc and decided not to change much, and its worked really well so far. I haven't actually jungled with Monkey, but this is the build I would use to do it (with masteries along the lines of 16-8-8).

The runes at the top of the page are the ones I was using for Nocturne. They are really helpful to get through the jungle quickly by taking off all of the armor from the smaller Jungle camps and doing added damage to them.

All of these runes work on Monkey, and should really be picked depending on the game (if you have that option).

Tier 1:

Marks Greater mark of desolation ArP Armor-pen on an AD champ. Duh.

Seals _Ar Armor for early-game domination. Dodge Because Dodge is OP. Didn't realize until I tried.

Glyphs Mp/5/lvl18 REALLY helps with mana late-game. MR/5/lvl18 Awesome for late-game survivability.

Quints AD For help with early-game domination. Greater quintessence of desolation ArP For a slightly better mid-game and late-game.

Tier 2:

• Greater Mark of Attack Speed-Monkey is more of a burst caster, but this helps last hit.
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist-Not as good as the MR/lvl ones.
• Greater Quintessence of Evasion-Meh. You won't notices these as much as the others.

Level in this order, take a point in Decoy by 4.

Cyclone> Nimbus Strike> Crushing Blow> Warrior Trickster

I'm not going to rehash what they all do here. Read the tooltips.

Passive- Stone Skin:

Straightforward passive. This makes it safer to initiate teamfights because of all the added armor/magic resist. Teamfighting is when you will notice it the most.

Crushing Blow:

Facts:

• Scales with AD
• Reduces armor by 30% for 3 seconds
• Resets the auto-attack timer.

Your basic next hit attack that RIOT likes to put on new champs. Try to use this first in an altercation to use its armor reduction to the full effect.

Decoy:

• Gap closer, especially when combined with Nimbus Strike.
• Pro jukes.
• Damage/Ability eater.
• Defense when Initiating.
• Press "s" and you can make the enemy think you've used it.

Nimbus Strike:

Wukong's gap closer. Does decent damage and is the ability that meshes the entire kit. It is the first skill in Monkey's initiation combo and can also save your life. Max this by level 9. I actually take this skill first (over Crushing Blow) because I like the mobility of it. Not set on this tho.

Cyclone:

The knockup is critical for fights. Many times you will be the only one able to stop Katarina/ Nunu & Willump/ Fiddlesticks (etc) from ulting and you will have to save it for them. Other times you can press headfirst into a fight, ult, and proceed to wreck them with the rest of your team. Its a nifty ability. DON'T USE IT ONLY FOR THE SPEED BURST. It doesn't work well for that.

I don't like the Trinity Force on Monkey.

Why exactly do people build it on him so faithfully? For the massive amounts of stats it gives and the wonderful Sheen proc. The next attack after an ability will have its base damage multiplied by 150%. For Monkey, this means Crushing Blow will be significantly more powerful, and his burst combo will hit harder. Sadly, or rather not, this is not the best way to do things. In fact, its lazy, predictable, and countered HARD if you are facing a smart enemy.

The Sheen gives AP and Mana. AP is worthless (realistically) on Wukong, and extra mana isn't drastically important. Wukong is an AD BURST caster. The Zeal gives AS, Crit%, and MS, all good stats just not as powerful as damage and armor penetration for the burst.

Defensively it is a very weak item, and you really notice this fact when building to it through the Sheen and Phage. If you aren't including defense early in your build you will get slaughtered in high levels of play.

It also costs 4070 g.

The numbers actually prove the tri-force is not the way to go:

Monkey's base AD at level 18 is 111.6.
111.6 * 150% = 167.4 (base damage with Sheen proc)
167.4 - 111.6 = 56.4 (extra damage because of Sheen proc)
56.4 + 30 = 86.4 (total extra damage from Trinity Force)

Thats 86.4 AD added per hit to Crushing Blow due to the full effect of Trinity Force.

How about that Infinity Edge with 80 AD, much stronger crits, for 300 less gold?

Or Bloodthirster with the 60 AD, stacking ability and brilliant lifesteal for a whopping 1100 gold cheaper?

What about this: Phage + Hexdrinker + The Brutalizer. Total cost of 4452 gold. 78 AD with armor pen and magic resist, you are still building into 2 more items, and doing most likely MORE damage than the tri-force because of the armor penetration.

And if you weren't convinced that the tri-force isn't good for a burst caster: Hexdrinker + Last Whisper. That's 4090 g and gives 75 AD with 40% armor pen and necessary magic-resist. Lets see the tri-force do that much damage to anybody actually building some armor.


The Trinity Force is viable on Monkey but you come at me with that ****, I'll fling it back at you...cause I'm a Monkey.

These are the items that form the backbone of the damage output. I don't necessarily build these items first, but I do build them every game.



I never build a Banshee's Veil. I work around it by building a Force of Nature, Quicksilver Sash, and Hexdrinker. Better defense, cheaper, and more clutch saves.

I dont buy the Warmog's Armor because its very expensive, Sunfire Aegis because I personally think that item sucks, and Thornmail because of its very small niche.

Start with:

and 5

or

, a sight ward and 2 .

If it looks like its going to be one of those games, you may need to start with

and 2 .

First trip back:

Buy the bits and pieces:

2nd ALWAYS, a , a couple of s or other / if your lane requires.

Make sure you spend your excess cash on sight ward and lots of .

Mid-Game:

THERE IS NO SPECIFIC ORDER. BUILD TO EACH INDIVIDUAL GAME,

Except when finishing the and the ; Do that first. Then follow what I said. They will keep you alive and make you a serious threat in combat. You should be able to complete these by the time you need to start building some serious magic resist.

If you have picked up a along the way, you have a few options:

• Hexdrinker
• Aegis of the Legion
• Guardian Angel
• Wit's End
• Sell It

The Hexdrinker is a very good counter to burst mages like LeBlanc or Karthus. It has great synergy with the Aegis of the Legion and Wriggle's Lantern to provide a very balanced build. I would only sell the Mantle if not planning to pick up the Aegis, Guardian Angel, or Hexdrinker.

The Wit's End is a SUPER situational item. I only mention it here because if you need the damage potential of the Madred's Bloodrazor, this is my alternate item as having both a Wriggle's Lantern and Madred's Bloodrazor in the build is just wasting gold. Wit's end is great because its basically to counter AP tanks, and it gives MR and a Madred's like passive.

It isn't necessary to upgrade right away. You may want to wait to decide which tier 2 boots to buy while building other items.

Be sure to pick up a Chain Vest or Negatron Cloak if the situation requires. Both of these items build into at least 1 item you should be buying per game.

A is important to pick up to deal with CC as well as Exhaust. I HATE that god**** summoner spell. Its very cheap; don't wait to pick up this item if you need it.

Late Game(ish):

This is the time to finish some serious counter/damage items.

is a great armor item if you don't need the , especially if you need to counter a champion like Master Yi or Xin Zhao.

The Force of Nature is one of the best overall items in the game. Generally, my Negatron Cloak goes into a Quicksilver Sash, but there are some games this would be the better choice. If the enemy team isn't hitting you with Exhaust and/or any really nasty cc, the FON does have better base stats.

You may opt to go for the combo. If you haven't had to counter anything significant it works, and quite well actually. Its a weapon in the arsenal even though not every game requires it. I sometimes pick up the Atma's even if I don't have the HP to necessarily back it up.

A is really good for damage and lifesteal, try to get it by mid game to have a chance to max the passive. An works better if its much later in the game.

Lastly, the is super important if the enemy has you hard countered with a Thornmail or a Frozen Heart of their own.

REMEMBER: Buy to the specific game!!!!

All this plus a whenever you can manage.

Unless there is a better initiation on the team (and there aren't many in the game), you should initiate the big fights. The best way to do it to an entire team is to Nimbus strike in, Hit Decoy...wait for the stealth to end, and pop ulti while your team rushes in behind you. Done right, the enemy will waste a tone of cooldowns on the clone, and you will survive with 4+ assists or a few kills.

I.E. -> ->patience-> -> -> -> ->etc.

Practice hitting Warrior Trickster immediately after Nimbus Strike. How quick you are is the difference between life and death. Side Note: If your laggy this doesn't go well. At all.

Cyclone can be used to 1v1 as well as team fight. Don't use it on minions. Don't use it on towers. Its pretty simple. Spin-To-Win.

In lane, stand about 2x the range of Nimbus Strike from the enemy, pop Warrior Trickster and CHARGE! Even better if done from the bushes.

Close range, you want to use Crushing Blow to initiate any fight in order to get the armor reduction full effect. If you are a distance away however, obviously jump to and then smack.

If you EVER pick up a Wriggle's Lantern, never let the ward go off CD. You are doing a disservice to your team if you do. I'm in somewhat of a glass house on this, it can be very easy to forget.

If your team is full of morons, dont be afraid to pick up the Elixir of Fortitude reasonably early in the game to help you out.

I make sure i have 4 or 5 Health Potions every time I leave base, if I can afford them, up until about min 20. After getting really hurt in a fight, pop 4 of them or however much you need. Its 200 per pot...do some math and you wont have to base.

Still working on the guide, I will be coming back to it. Let me know what you think!