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Spells:
Flash
Teleport
Ability Order
Stone Skin (PASSIVE)
Wukong Passive Ability
Introduction

Hi! Welcome to my solo top guide on Wukong, The Monkey King! First off, I'd like you to note that this is my first guide, and I am nowhere near pro haha. I'm just a gamer that likes to game, and I want to share with you how I play Wukong. I would consider The Monkey King as my main, as my best games I've played are usually with him. Note that in order to be a good Wukong, you have to be ballsy while being smart. That means knowing his skills well and practicing with him, as well as being aware of your surroundings and what's going on at the other side of the map.
Again, this is not a ranked guide, nor is it a pro guide, it's just an opinion based guide on how to play the Monkey King. And without further ado, let's get to it!

Pros
-
Great mobility and flexibility within team fights
Good initiator with his decoy and ultimate
Quite bulky, especially with my preferred runes and mastery page
Excellent cohesiveness with his abilities
A great assassin, has a lot of movement with this build
Doesn't need a lot of items early game, just those boots, phage, and brutalizer works wonders!
Tons of damage to those squishies!
Cons
-
Has to be ballsy in order to be effective. Gotta learn his limits.
Can get focused in team fights if you're not careful.
His ult is a hit or miss.
Runes
The Greater Mark of Desolation runes work excellent with your
Crushing Blow, allowing you to bypass a ****ton of that early armor that enemy solo top's got going on. You get about 15 armor penetration, plus that 30% reduction from your Q.
The
Greater Seal of Armor,
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist, and
Greater Quintessence of Health help give you that extra bulk you need early game. With them, you don't need to buy that early
Doran's Blade and can go straight for those
Boots to get that mobility going on. Your Armor scales more than your Magic Resist, which is why you should take the flat armor seals and the scaling magic resist glyphs. The extra health from your quints just seal the deal (no pun intended). Other good Quint choices would be the Greater Quintessence of Desolation,
Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage, or the
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed.
The Greater Mark of Desolation runes work excellent with your

The







Masteries
I like going for that 9/21/0 mastery page to get that extra bulk on Wukong. It allows you to out sustain your opponent so that you can stay in that lane for as long as possible. Later on, you get enough damage from your items, and the extra defense overall helps you survive in those clutch situations you should be getting into as a Wukong ;P
I won't go into any details as to each specific mastery I chose mainly because I believe it's all about preference. You get enough bulk from my recommended rune page anyway, so if you feel the 21/9/0 page is a smarter way to go, then go for it!
I like going for that 9/21/0 mastery page to get that extra bulk on Wukong. It allows you to out sustain your opponent so that you can stay in that lane for as long as possible. Later on, you get enough damage from your items, and the extra defense overall helps you survive in those clutch situations you should be getting into as a Wukong ;P
I won't go into any details as to each specific mastery I chose mainly because I believe it's all about preference. You get enough bulk from my recommended rune page anyway, so if you feel the 21/9/0 page is a smarter way to go, then go for it!








Another good pick in place of





This is a great summoner spell, as it allows you to pick off that last bit of health your opponent seems to always have after a skirmish.







This ability increases your armor and magic resist for every nearby enemy champion. It's a great ability that gives Wukong more bulk in those team fights. This ability also helps you to solo against two champs when your playing normals, as it does happen. In actuality, I find myself doing even better if I'm playing against two on top, as you level up faster than your opponents and you're never really overextended.

This ability causes your next attack to lower your opponent's armor by 30% and do tons of damage! This is the heart of your burst, and allows both you and your team to take out your opponents faster. It has a fairly short cooldown in later levels, allowing you to keep your opponent's armor down consistently in a prolonged fight. It also deals on hit affects, making it work great with



This ability allows you to become stealthed, leaving a decoy behind that deals magic damage around it after 1.5 seconds.




This ability allows you to dash to a targeted champion, hitting the target and 2 additional enemies near the target. It also increases Wukong's attack speed. This is your initiator, and rounds out Wukong's arsenal of abilities. You can use this to last hit multiple minions, or last hit minions as well as poke your opponent. It can also be used to run away by targeting a minion or a less threatening enemy champion. You can also use this on enemy minions as you are taking down a tower/inhibitor, allowing you to increase your attack speed.

This ability knocks up enemies around Wukong and deals damage to them every second. He also gains movement speed over the duration of the ability.


Skill Sequence
I like taking a one point early in






Starting Items
I take the
Boots first, as the speed on Wukong definitely helps. I believe that mobility is the key to a good Wukong. The free gold for health pots is also helpful in gaining that health back from those early game pokes.
First Recall
sight ward
The first time you recall should be fairly early. This is because you have that
Teleport and you need to use it. You should be playing aggressively, zoning your opponent out, or trading with them fairly. Once you've used up your health pots, and think it's time to recall, get that
Ruby Crystal which you'll use to build into a
Phage. I go for the
Ruby Crystal instead of the
Long Sword so that I can out sustain my opponent. You already do enough damage, so the added health is more beneficial. With the
Ruby Crystal, you'll also want to get more pots and a ward. This is the main reason you'll be getting just the
Ruby Crystal instead of the
Phage, as you need that vision in the bush early on, as well as the extra health regen for better sustain.
End of Early Game
By the time early game ends, you should have these items, usually in the order in which they're listed above. The
The Brutalizer gives you that added "umph" when you're laning. If you don't need the tenacity or extra magic resist, you can take the
Vampiric Scepter before the
Mercury's Treads, or even before the
The Brutalizer if you need the extra sustain. I personally don't do this, but if you want, you can also fit a
Sheen in place of the
The Brutalizer or the
Vampiric Scepter. The early
Phage is a must though, as the extra health, damage, and slow is too much to pass IMO.
Mid Game
It's tough to say when Mid Game actually starts. Some say it's when the first team fight starts. Others say it's when the first tower goes down. IMO, as a Wukong it usually starts when you start roaming, whether it's because you destroyed your enemy's tower, or they destroyed yours.
Trinity Force should be the first big item you go for. It gives you everything, speed, damage, slow, mana; it's overall a great item that works wonders on Wukong.
Youmuu's Ghostblade should be next. It gives you more crit chance, cdr, and armor pen, as well as an excellent active that works as a pseudo ghost to get in or out of team fights. The
Bloodthirster should be the next item, although you could get an
Atma's Impaler or
Force of Nature if defense is an issue.
Late Game
Late Game should come around well after you're level 18. That is, unless you've been destoying ;P I find that even if I have just a few kills, not necessarily fed, I reach my full build faster than all the other champions do. This is because almost all the items on this build are relatively cheap, since the bulk of these items are bought early on (eg.
The Brutalizer to
Youmuu's Ghostblade). The
Atma's Impaler gives you that much needed armor, as well as some extra attack. It also rounds out that crit chance you've been growing with your
Trinity Force and your
Youmuu's Ghostblade (Critical Strike +
Crushing Blow = Tons of Damage!!). The
Force of Nature gives you added magic resist, as well as extra movement speed. With it, you'll be going at around 460 movement speed! (note: this is a rough estimate, I don't remember the exact number off the top of my head). This is key to getting in and out of team fights, as well as catching up to those squishies in the back and assassinating the **** out of them.


I take the

First Recall


The first time you recall should be fairly early. This is because you have that








End of Early Game




By the time early game ends, you should have these items, usually in the order in which they're listed above. The








Mid Game



It's tough to say when Mid Game actually starts. Some say it's when the first team fight starts. Others say it's when the first tower goes down. IMO, as a Wukong it usually starts when you start roaming, whether it's because you destroyed your enemy's tower, or they destroyed yours.





Late Game


Late Game should come around well after you're level 18. That is, unless you've been destoying ;P I find that even if I have just a few kills, not necessarily fed, I reach my full build faster than all the other champions do. This is because almost all the items on this build are relatively cheap, since the bulk of these items are bought early on (eg.







Boots


If the enemy team seems to have a bit too much ad, you can take this over



If you want even more cdr, take these. Although personally, the cdr you get from your



If you end up picking something else over the




I see a lot of people play




Offensive Items


This item gives you more armor penetration, allowing you to bypass a lot of armor, even taking down some tanks fairly quickly. However, the armor pen you get from your







Another good item that gives you armor pen. Since it gives you attack speed, it can be a smarter replacement to




Yes, stacking bloodthirsters is viable lol. If you want less bulk and more damage, you can take this over





If you don't want the extra bulk, or just want to try and dish out as much damage as possible, you can get this. Replacing






I used to take this over the




Defensive Items


I don't usually take this item over





Solo mid fed the






This is purely situational. If there happens to be a fed





If you're going for that more tanky build, this is a good item, and synergises well with







This is a great item that gives you extra damage as well as magic resist. The extra damage the lower your health is can make you a deadly Wukong in those clutch moments when you're getting really low. Plus, the magic shield can really save you in a pinch. Take this over



A good magic resist item that gives you more attack speed. However, one thing you'll notice as a Wukong is that your damage isn't from dps, and is more from burst from your





I find myself taking this over


Early Game Items


I personally think this is a waste of gold, as the mobility from




Some people like this early on, as it allows you better sustain. However, I think that once you figure out the limits of Wukong and constantly push him there every game, you won't need this item, as you can easily win the lane just through sheer skill. If you like the added bulk and extra ward, you can start with



Laning Phase
After getting your
Boots and health pots, run up to that top lane bush and sit there. If your opponent decides to show their face before the minions show up, try to start a little fight. Be aggressive. You will almost always out damage your opponent, as your
Nimbus Strike does a lot of damage and gives you attack speed.
Poking an enemy is quite easy with Wukong. Just
Nimbus Strike to
Crushing Blow to
Warrior Trickster. Also, note that
Crushing Blow restarts your auto-attack counter, so you can cast it directly after using a regular auto-attack to deal max damage. You can also hide in the bush and initiate from there, using your
Warrior Trickster from the bush to get closer due to your stealth. Doing this also becomes kind of like a psychological game with your opponent, as you can fake decoy after doing your
Nimbus Strike to
Crushing Blow combo. Note that pressing S makes Wukong stop in his tracks, and looks exactly like if you had decoyed. You can use this while running up to an opponent to scare them away without wasting your precious mana.
Another thing to note is that after trying to poke an opponent, if they feel they have the upper hand, they'll walk to the nearest bush directly after you have used
Warrior Trickster in order to initiate on you after you come out of stealth. You can easily counter this simply by pressing S instead of W to save your
Warrior Trickster until after they turn back around to gain more distance, or simply by running away from the nearest bush while still going the opposite direction of your opponent (eg. walking down to the river bush while stealthed as your opponent walks to the lane bush).
Note that even if you play aggressively and out play the enemy top, you can still make it so that your opponent's minions push farther than yours. You can do this simply buy letting your opponent push. Most people try to stay in the bush in order to get their opponent to push. HOWEVER, this is not how it should be done. You have to stay outside the bush and somewhat farther back in order to make it so that your opponent feels somewhat safe to farm. Also, don't just sit back and let Wukong sit there, as the opponent might think that you're trying to decoy closer (which is a lot more obvious than you think).
Mid/Late Game
This is Wukong's time to shine! Here I'll go into your goals during team fights as a Wukong and certain situations to use your abilities well.
The way this build works allows you a lot of variety. You're tanky DPS, but do tons of burst damage as well, allowing you to assassinate squishies as well as carry team fights. Whenever you have the chance and while being smart, you should be roaming the jungle trying to pick a fight or gank other lanes. If you've done well in the laning phase, you should be able to outdamage/outburst a lot of champions, and if you don't do well, you can always
Warrior Trickster and
Flash/
Youmuu's Ghostblade out.
While your
Nimbus Strike is an excellent initiator, doing so while following up with a
Crushing Blow does not give you the most damage output. Hitting the opponent with a
Crushing Blow first and then followed up with a
Nimbus Strike afterwards allows you to utilize the armor reduction better, as well as give you more time for that attack speed boost you get with your
Nimbus Strike. This tactic might require you to use your
Warrior Trickster from far away to get in closer. You could also get in closer by popping your
Youmuu's Ghostblade, or in some extreme cases, using
Flash.
Remember that with this build, you have a lot of mobility! You have a whole arsenal of actives , abilities, and spells that allow you to become very sly at taking out squishies, and very slippery while fleeing. Popping that
Youmuu's Ghostblade directly before using
Warrior Trickster allows you to cover more distance while you're stealthed, giving your opponents less time to react if you're initiating. You can also
Flash while stealthed, so that the animation doesn't give away where you're going if you're trying to juke your opponents.
Nimbus Strike can also be used on a far away minion/enemy champion in order to juke away after entering a bush or using
Warrior Trickster. Don't be afraid to run towards the enemy jungle while fleeing if it means having a better juke and a better chance to get away from your opponents! In extreme situations, you can use
Teleport to get away fast if you're in a pinch.
Don't be afraid to utilize that S button to stop Wukong to make it look like you're using
Warrior Trickster when you actually aren't. While fleeing, use it directly before entering a bush. This will usually cause 2 reactions from your opponent. They will a) think that you have stealthed right as you are trying to run into the bush and run in after you, allowing you to run the opposite way, or b) think that you have ran the opposite way directly after stealthing and run in another direction allowing you to run back into the bush, or in another direction and into safety. You'd be surprised at how easily your opponent can be fooled by this, as not a lot of Wukongs utilize this in clutch situations, as they feel it is too risky.
One thing you can do while both teams are on edge trying to initiate on each other, is to initiate with
Nimbus Strike to
Crushing Blow and use
Warrior Trickster directly afterwards to get your opponents to waste abilities on you. Note that this might cause you're own team to follow the initiation, even if they don't have the upper hand. This is why you have to make sure your teammates know that you are only poking and are not going for the full on initiation before you do so.
Although poking to get your opponents to waste an ignite on your
Warrior Trickster is fun, Wukong himself is an excellent initiator and can simply just run in and ult the whole team, allowing your team precious time to set up epic ult combos, or just deal heavy damage. Don't feel like you shouldn't
Warrior Trickster away from the fight if you're getting focused. If this is the case, you can
Warrior Trickster away and wait for your abilities to come off cooldown before running back in. However, if you are not being focused on, it's your duty to stay in that fight and carry the team in place of a focused AD carry. Use that
Youmuu's Ghostblade and
Nimbus Strike attack speed boost to deal tons of damage with your auto-attacks while you wait for your
Crushing Blow to get off cooldown. Always go for the squishiest first, as your team can handle them faster with the armor reduction from your
Crushing Blow.
After getting your


Poking an enemy is quite easy with Wukong. Just







Another thing to note is that after trying to poke an opponent, if they feel they have the upper hand, they'll walk to the nearest bush directly after you have used


Note that even if you play aggressively and out play the enemy top, you can still make it so that your opponent's minions push farther than yours. You can do this simply buy letting your opponent push. Most people try to stay in the bush in order to get their opponent to push. HOWEVER, this is not how it should be done. You have to stay outside the bush and somewhat farther back in order to make it so that your opponent feels somewhat safe to farm. Also, don't just sit back and let Wukong sit there, as the opponent might think that you're trying to decoy closer (which is a lot more obvious than you think).
Mid/Late Game
This is Wukong's time to shine! Here I'll go into your goals during team fights as a Wukong and certain situations to use your abilities well.
The way this build works allows you a lot of variety. You're tanky DPS, but do tons of burst damage as well, allowing you to assassinate squishies as well as carry team fights. Whenever you have the chance and while being smart, you should be roaming the jungle trying to pick a fight or gank other lanes. If you've done well in the laning phase, you should be able to outdamage/outburst a lot of champions, and if you don't do well, you can always



While your








Remember that with this build, you have a lot of mobility! You have a whole arsenal of actives , abilities, and spells that allow you to become very sly at taking out squishies, and very slippery while fleeing. Popping that






Don't be afraid to utilize that S button to stop Wukong to make it look like you're using

One thing you can do while both teams are on edge trying to initiate on each other, is to initiate with



Although poking to get your opponents to waste an ignite on your







Wukong truly is a beast. He can deal out damage like a
Xin Zhao, and be as slippery as a
Shaco. Although some of his abilities, namely his
Warrior Trickster and
Cyclone, need some time to get used to, he can be a real monster once you get him down.
Like I said before, this is just a personal opinion based guide. Try the guide out if you're not sure on its viability, as it really does wonders. Vote up if you like it, and don't forget to comment! This is my first guide, so any criticism will do, even hate, if it helps me figure out what I'm doing wrong ;P
Thank you Zylozs for the opening banner ^__^
Thank's for reading the guide, and I hope to see you on the rift.
-pokemon mastur




Like I said before, this is just a personal opinion based guide. Try the guide out if you're not sure on its viability, as it really does wonders. Vote up if you like it, and don't forget to comment! This is my first guide, so any criticism will do, even hate, if it helps me figure out what I'm doing wrong ;P
Thank you Zylozs for the opening banner ^__^
Thank's for reading the guide, and I hope to see you on the rift.
-pokemon mastur
6/16/2012
- Made this guide (at 4 in the morning, hardcoreeee)
- Corrected some grammatical errors
- Changed the coding of the "Other Items" Chapter
- Added
Infinity Edge and
Frozen Mallet to the "Other Items" Chapter
7/5/2012
- Got rid of
Mobility Boots and added
Berserker's Greaves in the "Other Items" Chapter
- Corrected some spacing errors
- Fixed the crit chance if you add the
Infinity Edge from 100% to 80% (my bad lol)
7/15/2012
- Added banner in introduction, thanks to Zylozs
8/10/2012
- Removed
Frozen Heart from the Other Items section (too much defense, not enough offense IMO)
- Fixed some spelling errors
- Made this guide (at 4 in the morning, hardcoreeee)
- Corrected some grammatical errors
- Changed the coding of the "Other Items" Chapter
- Added


7/5/2012
- Got rid of


- Corrected some spacing errors
- Fixed the crit chance if you add the

7/15/2012
- Added banner in introduction, thanks to Zylozs
8/10/2012
- Removed

- Fixed some spelling errors
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