Jax Build Guide : Jax - Pentakill's Please :: League of Legends Strategy Builds

Introduction

DISCLAIMER

This is the most current, up to date, and complete guide on Jax. All comments, concerns and feedback have been taken into consideration and helped in making this guide.

SIDE NOTE

Something to keep in mind is that this guide is not tailored specifically for level 30's. When I first began looking at guides on Mobafire I was not level 30 and most guides didn't explain rune or mastery choices pre 30. This frustrated me because most people who read guides on this website haven't attained level 30 yet and generally are just looking for help with a specific champion. Because of this, I will describe in detail not only for level 30's to understand, but for the casual League of Legends player as well. Enjoy!

ABOUT ME

I have been playing League of Legends for over a year now, both casually and ranked. Jax was the first character I bought and even today I still play 90% of my games with him. I've been told by several people that I should make a guide, by both friends and enemies. This guide is not binding, and is subject to change do to patches, time, etc.. Below will be the versions of this guide according to the date they were added, any later versions will be added after the previous version so readers are aware how up to date the guide is.

VERSION

1-04/25/12

Summary

JAX THE GRANDMASTER AT ARMS

Jax is unlike any other champion in League of Legends; a melee based character with great burst potential, crowd control, and escape mechanisms. With the ability to be a solo-top laner, jungler, or even an AD carry; Jax can be one of the most versatile champions in the game.

Jax has the unique ability to benefit from both attack damage and ability power items. This allows for great synergy and damage output. Although Jax can benefit from both ability power and attack damage, making him a "hybrid", I tend to stack more AP than AD. However, because Jax is a melee champion, and auto-attacks benefit from AD, it's important not to ignore AD all together. This is what makes Jax a "hybrid" champion.

Pros / Cons

PROS

Great burst damage
One of the best duelist in the game
Several escape mechanisms and gap closers
Multi-kill potential

CONS

Gear dependent
Damage drops if he loses stacks
Steep learning curve (hard to master)
Can be squishy late game

Abilities Explained

is Jax's passive. With every autoattack you land, your attack speed gets increased by % value. This value increases every 3 levels and stacks 6 times.

is Jax's Q. It is your close gap spell. Use this spell to catch enemies or to run from them. Unique part about this spell is you can even target friendly units. That means little Shacos, Teemo mushrooms, wards, minions, champions, etc.. Use this spell for faster movement over battlefield. You can even jump over walls or trees with this spell.

is Jax's W. When you press your W button you have 6 seconds to use it. This spell charges your weapon with power, that is released with following autoattack. It resets your autoattack timer, so you can make combos like this: AA - W - AA. This will land two autoattacks (one empowered) in very short time. Additionally, if you have the damage dealt will be devastating.

is Jax's E. It is the spell that sets Jax apart from all other champions. This spell needs a lot of practice to know when to use it. If you press your E button, you will dodge all incoming attacks and reduce AoE spell damage by 25%. The dodging mechanism takes 2 seconds, then you deal some damage and stun every enemy around Jax for 1 second. After 1 second of dodging you can press E again to end dodging and stun instantly, but you lose that AoE damage reduction.

is Jax's R. This spell is Jax's ultimate and has a passive as well as an active.

Passive: Every third following autoattack deals bonus magic damage. If this effect is ready to use you will see a small icon above your HUD (fist with eye). You have to land this attack within 2 seconds after your previous autoattack or the effect is lost. If you manage to land an autoattack + + damage proc + passive, you deal a ridiculous amount of damage.

Active: This active part of Jax's ultimate boosts survivability. By activating it you receive bonus armor and magic resistance. The received value is base value (25/35/45) plus % of your current bonus attack damage and total ability power! The bonus lasts 8 seconds.

Runes

This section explains the thought process behind the runes chosen for this build.

The traditional setup for Jax's rune build hasn't changed much. However, the runes are not binding, they are subject to change according to your individual play style.

MARKS

Pre 30: and
Reason: At early levels in classic gameplay you want as much magic penetration as possible so your and ignore as much of the enemy champions magic resistance as possible. Because you don't have all 9 rune slots yet you're going to want to stack as much of it as possible until you can afford to add armor penetration as well as magic penetration.

At 30:
Reason: Now that you have 9 rune slots you can effectively begin adding armor penetration so your auto attacks ignore enemy champions armor. This will add significant damage in early gameplay.

SEALS

Pre 30: Lesser Seal of Defense and Seal of Defense
Reason: This adds significant armor in early gameplay. Runes are primarily for low levels because the bonus stats are insignificant at higher levels. This will give you a tremendous amount of survivability.

At 30: Greater Seal of Defense
Reason: Your seals won't change once you reach 30 like your marks did. Just buy the more expensive ones when you have enough IP.

GLYPHS

Pre 30: and
Reason: The armor from your seals will help you with physical attack, however, you will be needing protection from those pesky ranged magic damage champions. This will help you with early game survivability.

At 30:
Reason: Similar to your seals, your glyphs won't change once you reach 30, just buy the more expensive ones when you have enough IP.

QUINTESSENCES

Pre 30: and
Reason: This will dramatically boost your armor penetration and magic penetration in early game fights. These are a must. Try and purchase the highest tier quintessence you can.

At 30:
Reason: Similar to the reason above, purchase these when you have enough IP.

Masteries

This is where a lot of dispute happens over Jax. The masteries I have chosen are in my opinion, the best. I have tried several different make ups but this one always maximizes my damage output, while minimizing my time spent dead.

MASTERY LEVELING ORDER

Below is the order you should assign your mastery points.

Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Level 6:
Level 7:
Level 8:
Level 9:
Level 10:
Level 11:
Level 12:
Level 13:
Level 14:
Level 15:
Level 16:
Level 17:
Level 18:
Level 19:
Level 20:
Level 21:
Level 22:
Level 23:
Level 24:
Level 25:
Level 26:
Level 27:
Level 28:
Level 29:
Level 30:

30/0/0

Items

Probably the second most disputed over thing when it comes to Jax is item purchase order. I don't think there is a "set" order; I think it is more of a science. It's going to change according to what kind of champions are on the enemy team. I will try to explain the thought process behind why I chose the items I did, and what items you can replace them with depending on the type of team you are facing.

Start off each game purchasing , followed by 3 's. This is universal. Some argue that or is better, but I have found that I get off to better starts using and 3 's.

Side Note: Try to recall only when you have enough money for the next item on the list. Recalling means no experience, no gold from minion kills and or champion kills, and enemy champions in your lane may be pushing your tower. Know when to Recall. The rule of thumb is if you are out of 's and your health is below a safe level, you should recall.

Early game leveling is your priority. League of Legends is very similar to the "bowling ball effect". By getting off to a good start you set yourself up for being a higher level then most of the enemy champions, which sets you up for easy kills, which sets you up for more gold farming, which means you can obtain more items at an early level. This means more kills for you in the end.

When I have reached around 1800 gold I usually recall and buy or depending on the enemy teams make-up. If the enemy team has hard hitting magic champions like or I always pick up . If the enemy team is made up of mostly melee champions such as and I usually go with . Most of the time however I chose because of the + tenacity. This helps reduce the effect of snares on me, which means crowd control isn't as deadly. I also purchase a at this time so I no longer need to buy .

The first core item I pick up is . This has gotten me out of sticky situations countless times. For its price it is one of the most valuable items Jax has in his arsenal, and not for the stats. The active on allows Jax to place a Sight Ward every three minutes in a designated area. Jax has the ability to jump to wards with , getting him out of inevitable deaths sometimes. I will link a video about "ward jumping" later in the guide.

Next I choose to complete of the first. This gives Jax a damaging slow early in the game, helping you score kills and ganks. Complete the next.

Probably the most overlooked but greatest weapon in Jax's arsenal is . The + attack damage and ability power is nice, but what makes this weapon so special is its passive, giving you + attack speed on top of your passive attack speed from makes Jax the best duelist in the game. Any champion who chooses to go toe to toe with you will surely meet their maker.

To increase Jax's survivability we pick up next. This adds 500 health and a permanent slow when using any of Jax's abilities. This is another core item that not only can save you in a fight, but also help score a kill when chasing a pesky champion fleeing from a fight. Pick this weapon up next.

Finally the creme de le creme. If your game lasts this long and you are able to purchase it won't last much longer. This weapon alone almost doubles Jax's damage output at end game; allowing you to solo turrets, score multi-kills, and end games. This weapon coupled with your already massive arsenal will make the enemy team cower in fear and avoid you at all costs.

OTHER VIABLE OPTIONS

Now I realize that the item sequence didn't add a lot of survivability, but with that much damage output coupled with life steal you shouldn't need it. However, if you find yourself dying to much, you may want to swap some items out for more survivability oriented items.

If the enemy team is primarily AP champions, swap out for

If the enemy team is primarily AD champions, swap out for or .

Skill Sequence

Being that this guide was designed to explain the "Solo-top/Bottom Lane" Jax, the skill sequence reflects that. If you plan on jungling with Jax, the sequence will be completely different, and I would recommend looking at guides catered to that build.

First pick up followed by . This allows you to put some offensive pressure on enemy champions in your lane, while also increasing your survivability. Remember that you can to wards and friendly minions, so that when taking heavy damage you can away and save yourself a death.

At level 3 pick up . This is a great spell that can stun enemy champions or minion waves while dishing out some damage as well. If timed correctly you can precast it before ing at an enemy, thus landing and stunning him giving you ample enough time to auto attack a few times. More experienced players will not only do this, but also run ahead of the enemy champions path a little, auto attacking while they do this. By doing this you buy yourself time for a few more attacks, possibly scoring yourself a kill.

is your greatest source of damage because of its short cooldown, so max it out by level 9.

is your second most important source of damage. Max this spell out by level 13.

's damage doesn't change much, so you can max this out last.

Summoner Spells

Summoner spells are primarily up to the player. I choose to run with and so catching up to enemies with low health is easier. There is a lot of synergy between and allowing you to sometimes close the gap between an enemy champion just enough to be able to use .

Sometimes when I'm feeling extra "ganky" I will use and , allowing me to lessen the time I spend buying items after a recall, and sometimes teleporting to a tower or minion by an enemy champion.

SUMMONER SPELLS THAT YOU SHOULDN'T USE

: This spell should really be saved for Dominion and not Classic.
: Could potentially save a game from sure defeat if the enemy team scores an ace and they are destroying towers in your base.. although.. if the game is at that point you probably are going to lose anyway.
: Should only be used if you plan on jungling.
: You already have so much attack speed as it is, that an extra 35% won't really help much, especially not at it's cooldown.
: You're not a support, leave this for the healers and support classes.
: Does anyone really use this anymore?
: Sometimes can be useful, most of the time not. I would much rather use or to help get me out of a sticky situation.

Team Work

WHEN LANING

Jax is great at soloing, which in other words means he has the potential to be a solo-top lane champion. But aside from that, he also works very well with a teammate, which usually is the bottom lane. This allows for Jax to be very flexible. I usually choose to lane with a support partner, such as or . However, sometimes if the enemy team has a squishy champion such as or I like to lane with a ranged champion such as or . If your team doesn't have a support or ranged champion then I usually go solo top by myself.

WHEN IN TEAM FIGHTS

During team fights you should never be the first one to initiate it. If you find yourself dying in team fights it's most likely because of one of two reasons:

1. You're ing in first, thus pulling all the aggro.

2. You don't have enough armor or magic resistance so the enemy team is focusing you first.

Both of these problems can be fixed very easy. Wait for a tank to initiate the fight, such as . If you don't have a tank on your team than wait for a break in the enemy teams formation, for a champion to stray to far from the group. If that doesn't happen either you may need to wait for a friendly champion to use a snare or ultimate to help break the group up a little.

If you are being focused by the enemy team to much, refer back to my items section and add an item or two to help boost your magic resistance or armor.

Helpful Videos

WARD JUMPING

CHEERS TO MRBIGMIKE

More to come..

Jax - Pentakill's Please