Jax Build Guide by LiLStormcloaK

Introduction

Welcome to my Jax guide. Jax is a hybrid champion that is an extremely good duelist. He is played as a hybrid because some of his abilities scale off of AD, while others scale off of AP.

Pros / Cons

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Pros +High burst +Built in defense +Has a gap closer/escape +Has a stun +Hybrid, hard to counter

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Cons -Melee -Must maintain passive stacks -Requires good timing -Item reliant -Weak early damage

Runes

greater mark of desolation

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Greater mark of desolation gives you flat armor penetration, since we will very rarely be building a Last Whisper, this is very important to grab.

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Greater seal of resilience gives you some armor, good in general as you will be most likely facing an AD based champion.

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Greater glyph of shielding gives you scaling magic resist, that evens out with flat magic resist at level 6, I prefer this over flat magic resist because a lot of caster require levels to be very good.

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Greater glyph of warding gives you flat magic resist, I only recommend this if your up against a very tough magic damage champion like Malphite.

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Greater quintessence of strength provides extra AD, makes for easier last hits and more damage overall.

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Greater quintessence of swiftness gives you 4.5% movement speed, being a melee champion, it is important to keep up while auto attacking an enemy while your Leap Strike and Counter Strike are on cooldown. Though I value flat AD more because the cooldown on Leap Strike becomes relatively low when maxed.

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Masteries

21 Offense

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Summoner's Wrath - improved Ignite, when the spell is on cooldown, gives you AD and AP. Brute Force - Gives you 3 AD, helps you last hit better and deal more damage. Alacrity - Gives you 4% attack speed, more damage output. Sorcery - 4% cooldown reduction, you do rely on your spells quite a bit, but the main point in this is to unlock Arcane Knowledge . weapon's expertise - 10% armor penetration, necessary when your opponents start building armor, as we usually won't build Last Whisper or The Black Cleaver. Arcane Knowledge - 10% magic penetration, same idea as above, we won't be building Void Staff. Vampirism - 3% life steal, combined with your 2 Doran's Blade, you get 9%, useful for early game sustain. Sunder - 6 armor penetration, again, to combat against armor. Executioner - more damage when enemies are under 40% health, good for finishing off enemies, every little bit counts.

Other Viable Options

Butcher - if you have trouble last hitting, consider taking a point or 2 from Brute Force and put it here.
Mental Force - gives you up to 4 AP, I find Brute Force much better than this as it has more uses.
Deadliness - gives you AD per level, it's a very good mastery but I prefer to be able to Executioner with 9 points left to grab Veteran's Scars .
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9 Defense

Resistance - 2 magic resist, good defensive boost. If your up against a AP opponent, take 3 points in this and 1 in Hardiness . Hardiness 6 armor, another good defensive boost. I prefer this as you will most likely be facing an AD opponent, and since most AP champions will be ranged, it can help with their auto attacks. Durability Health per level, just some extra survivability, also unlocks Veteran's Scars . Veteran's Scars - Gives you flat health, an advantage early game. Other Viable Options Summoner's Resolve - If you choosing a mastery under this mastery, replace a point of either Resistance or Hardiness for this. Bladed Armor - Take this if you jungling. Vigor - Health regen is pretty good for a top laner, but I value Veteran's Scars higher than this.

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Summoner Spells

Ignite is a strong spell that increase you kill potential, it gives you some extra damage which often will be enough to finish a kill.

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Flash is a good spell for getting out of sure death and closing the distance between your enemy. For those who think that your Leap Strike is good enough by itself, it's not. You'll oftenly use Leap Strike as an offensive tool, and your flash could save you if something has gone wrong.

Ghost is a good alternative to Flash, this covers more distance than flash and you have decent survivability to make it count. But I prefer Flash since you can flash over walls.

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Exhaust is a good alternative to Ignite, if the enemy team has lots of auto attackers like Master Yi, then take this.

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Teleport is a great spell for top laners, having the ability to teleport mid, bot or dragon to help the team is very valuable. But by taking this you are giving up some kill potential.

Items

Doran's Blade - The most offensive route, gives you easier last hits, deal more damage and 3% life steal. The problem with starting this is that it dosen't give you any sort of healing other than auto attacking, which will push the lane.
Doran's Shield - Gives you armor, the most health and health regen. Good option against ranged AD champions to block and heal back the annoying auto attack damage.
Doran's Ring - Gives you AP, mana regen and health. If you're someone who spam skills, the mana regen can help out with that, but this option is not as good as the other 2 since AD is much more useful than AP pre-6.
Boots of Speed Health PotionX4 - My recommended starting items, movement speed is very valuable and the 4 potions will give you enough sustain until you need to back. Note: You can grab an 4th potion by waiting on the top side of the fountain and wait 15 seconds for gold, boots will let you get to lane without missing a creep/
Boots of Speed Health PotionX5 - The most defensive route, gives you armor and a lot of sustain. Take this if your 1V2 or up against an extremely tough top lane like Pantheon.

Doran's Blade - My recommended doran item, it provides the most offensive potential, very cheap for the stats it provides a great boost towards your early game.
Trinity Force - Gives you everything you need, burst, AD, AP, attack speed, health, movement speed and even a little crit chance on the side. Good well rounded item that lets you demolish opponents in seconds.
Hextech Gunblade - A very good hybrid item providing AD, AP, lifesteal and spell vamp. Also comes with an active that slow an enemy, giving you free auto attacks and Empower hits, the lifesteal and spell vamp with further increase your dueling abilities.