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Kayle Build Guide by

Kayle, At Your Service - AP Support/2nd Carry [Post-Nerf]

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18 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Vyere

Kayle Build Guide By Updated on

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Spells:

Exhaust

Flash

Ability Order

Kayle Passive Ability

Introduction

Hey guys, this is Vyere. I have only around 170~ Normal wins under my main account, in LOL PH. Kayle is my third champion, the first being Fiddlesticks and second being Dr. Mundo.

This is my first attempt in making a build to be published here in Mobafire.
I will be using Searz' build template(with a little modification), so I give my kudos to him.

If you've got any questions, feel free to leave a comment or PM me your inquiries.

P.S. I'm going to edit some things here in time, however it would take a long time as Season 2 won't be arriving in my shores anytime soon.

Changes I plan to make are:
CDR recalculation
Change in Core Items and Situational Items
Masteries
Runes
Added Playstyles
Replays

About this Guide

With this guide, I hope to help people on using the new, post nerf Kayle.
Although her late game capabilities has diminished, she is still a great champion to play.

Before I go about blabbering here, I'll explain to you what this guide will do.

1. You will play as support to your team - making sure they stay alive and protecting your more squishy allies. Example of a support include and .

2. You will play as second carry to your team. Although you are also playing as support, you must be able to farm as well.

3. You will always play behind, not in the frontline (using to have hits every now and then) just like and . However, you can use Kayle's to slow a fleeing enemy/or when trying to initiate a gank(but not a clash, never initiate with Kayle)

4. You will NOT get many kills with this guide. Use instead. Give the kills to your main carry, you can farm well with the assists and last hitting minions. That is not to say you must have a 0/0/xx standing, but unlike most support champs, can have a x/0/xx standing without difficulty.

If you don't agree with any of the above points(or better yet, If you don't agree at any at all), then this isn't the build for you. However, I am also in the process of making another Kayle build, centered on AD, or probably a mix again, but Hybrid's not that optimal anymore.

Post-Nerf Kayle

Before you use the revamped Kayle, if you are a Kayle user prepatch-wise, Kayle had one of the most powerful passives in the game, allowing her to become a great carry late game. We're going to talk about Kayle in her post nerf here, and how it had affected her.

Holy Fervor
Shreds 3% of enemy resistances, both armor and magic resistance for a few seconds. Stacks 5 times.

Riot has fixed the bug and now shreds total resistances. This makes Kayle a great support hitter, shredding a total of 15% of both armor and magic resistance for her allies - making tanks or off-tanks faster to finish off. won't be much of a problem now! It does not apply to other targets being splashed with your though.

Reckoning
Reckoning's damage was increased in regards to AP ratio. It has now 1:1 AP to damage ratio, so if you load in yourself with AP, Reckoning's going to hurt bad. However, its range has been reduced tremendously, so keep an eye out for that.

Divine Blessing
Nerfed. Reduced heal as well as the duration to 2.5 seconds. Cooldown increased to 15 from 10 seconds.

Righteous Fury
Although 2 of Kayle's skills were nerfed, Righteous Fury received a massive buff - its range was increased, magic damage deals way more, mana cost reduced to 45 at all levels and best of all - you can permanently stay in ranged mode(with the help of this guide, of course)!

Intervention
The only untouched skill. Thank goodness, Riot!

Masteries

OUTDATED, WILL BE CHANGED AS SOON AS I GET ACCESS TO SEASON 2 IN MY SERVER.

9/0/21

We take the standard caster mastery tree.
is not worth it, so we take - since it has a better value in mid-late, when the team needs us most. The benefits of Good Hands far outweigh the minute additions of Perseverance to regen. Besides, we already have and to help us in the staying alive and casting spells.

For , you can also try putting one point from Flash to , if you prefer it. You can also remove points from Utility Mastery as you see fit, however I cannot fully recommend it because it would be useful for getting Red or Blue Buff.

Runes

Greater Mark of Insight
Magic Penetration maximizes our damage with and .

Greater Seal of Clarity
Addresses Kayle's mana regen problems. However, this doesn't mean that you can spam your skills like there's no tomorrow early game (with the exception of ). Once you get your , that's when you can spam skills like there's no tomorrow, bombing enemies with , healing allies with and spamming your so you become a permanent Ranged champ.

Greater Glyph of Focus x 5
Greater Glyph of Celerity x 4
Helps in reaching 32% CDR with (40% with or Ancient Golem Buff). This will allow you to have a 5.4 second cd as well as a 9.6 second cooldown , meaning you can become a permanent ranged champ! If you have or Blue Buff, it would be 4.8 second cd and 8.4 sec, respectively. The explanation for the mixed runes is to achieve balance in between early-mid and mid-late CDR.

Greater Quintessence of Potency
These quints give out 15 AP, which can greatly help early game. You could also swap them for movespeed quints instead.

Greater Glyph of Potency
If you're not comfortable with CDR Glyphs, use this or Force instead. Provides nice early game boost, but beaten by Force past early game.

Greater Glyph of Force
By level 6, this rune overtakes Potency by 0.08 AP per rune. If you don't mind losing a little AP early game gained with Potency, use this instead, for mid-late game additional AP.
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Summoner Spells

Exhaust
Use this summoner spell on the enemy with the highest threat, if in range. Never ever use this to slow, you have Reckoning to slow the enemy target down, so better use it against attacking high threat champions instead (e.g. , [Vayne, etc). Not only that, but you'd be reducing the enemy resistances by 10. This is a must, so you can either shut down an offtank such as or rushing your main carry or using it against an enemy carry rushing in to the middle of the fight (e.g. ).

Flash
A great positioning summoner spell if you get suddenly mixed up in the middle of the fight.
Can also be used to escape by flashing/jumping through walls. Not very effective when running from or though.

Ghost
Allows you to get out of tight situations like Flash. Unlike , you cannot use it to jump over walls.

Teleport
With the nerf on , use this to arrive at lanes quickly, or catch up to an ensuing clash. You can also use this to quickly push a lane and retreat.

Clairvoyance
Helps your team in being map aware - that is, avoid being ganked, and take advantage of ganking solo or 2 enemy champions. Remember to take the corresponding mastery if taking this one. If you have someone like on your team though, let them take this instead of you.

Summoner Spells NOT to Take

Rally
It's a good summoner spell for ... But let's just leave it for Sivir
or some other pusher. Except if you plan to be the pusher yourself,
of course, but it's more of a waste of your summoner spell slot.

Smite
Don't.

Revive
Far too useless for your team. You'll rarely get focused anyway, most of the time you'll be the last to die. Plus, the cooldown on Revive is ridiculous.

Fortify
Let your tank get it, not you.

Cleanse
Unless you know you're in for some **** (a lot of CC), don't take this one. Or farm up for a Quiksilver Sash instead.

Ignite
is far more useful than ignite, early to late game wise.

Skill Sequence

STANDARD SEQUENCE - Nuker & Pusher

I max first, then , then . We get whenever possible.

My skill goes like that so we could take advantage of Reckoning's damage early game as well as slow. Depending on the situation or lineup, you can take a different path, as I will outline for you with the following alternate skill sequence builds.

ALTERNATE SEQUENCE - Healer & Pusher

Put at least one point in , max , then max . We put remaining points in late game. We get whenever possible.

This is for supporting your carries as well as maintaining a push advantage against a team with heavy pushers/damagers(e.g. and ).

ALTERNATE SEQUENCE - Nuker & Healer

Max first, then , and lastly . We get whenever possible. WARNING: It's hard to farm with this skill build.

This one is an experimental skill sequence. I reckon it would work like our standard build, but I haven't tried this one yet.

Skill Usage

So what is your job? Your job is to support your team by means of damage, slows, heals and protecting your squishies from offtanks as much as possible!

Holy Fervor
Probably one of the most useless passive in the game ever(Refer to why here. This is why we take Malady instead, it is a better resistance shredding item than this passive.

Reckoning
Mid-late game when you get your , you can abuse this skill. It has a 1.0 AP ratio, so building your AP up benefits this skill. Anyway, use it in initiating ganks or on fleeing enemies. You can also use it when FF'ing an enemy, to prevent him or her from running. Make sure to always cast it late game whenever at cooldown when chasing down enemy champions.
With the nerf on the range of Reckoning, make sure to not overextend, as it would cause your own fall/your team fall. With this guide, you'd be able to bomb every 4.8 seconds late game - and 's slow duration being 4 seconds, you'd be able to perma slow the enemy.

Targets:
I'm not going to list down everyone here as it would eat up a lot of space. Instead I'm going to give examples so you will have an idea about who to target and not.

, , and are bad targets for your . What they have in common - resistance to most CC's and very tanky.

and are bad targets as well - except if they rush in your main carry of course, he must be taken down quickly(but his is a pain, remember to shut him down with if needed). What these two have in common is the ability to wall jump.

, and are generally good and better targets.

, and are bad targets as well except if the team has Oracle's elixir.

Divine Blessing
When returning to lane without , cast this spell on yourself to give you a momentary boost. Every second counts!
You can also use this spell in chasing down fast opponents, or boosting your ally's movespeed so he can catch up instead (useful for champs like ).

Righteous Fury
Kayle's bread and butter skill in farming. Works wonders mid-late game, and can be used to harass enemy melee champions early game. Use this skill as much as possible to farm and poke/hit, since it's insanely low mana allows you to use it indefinitely.

Intervention
Not only can you use this to defend yourself from being attacked or focused, you can also use this to protect your main carry/squishies from being crushed by offtanks or enemy carries. It's your job as Kayle to safeguard your squishy allies against the likes of offtanks such as and . One technique with this skill is casting it on the ally most susceptible to being targeted/focus fired, except for tanks, despite the ally target having almost full hp. This will enable that ally to last longer, and not to be targeted in the duration of Intervention. Use wisely.

Starting Items

Doran's Ring
HP, Mana Regen and Ability Power. Just what Kayle needs.

OR

Meki Pendant
For rushing Malady or Nashor's Tooth, if you think you will have mana problems
early game with .
Grab a potion or two, in conjunction to this.

Amplifying Tome
For rushing Malady or Nashor's Tooth.

2 Health Potions
For staying in lane or use Mana Potions.

Mana Potion
To help in mana regeneration.

Laning

Which lane should I choose?

Never take solo mid. Let it be for your AP or AD carry. and could use some awesome farming at mid and can control the lane "probably" better than you.
Why not solo mid? Kayle has excellent early game power, however, she is not the main carry and so she should let the others go mid instead.

As much as possible, do not solo as well - Kayle's skill can allow for your team to get an early first blood. Try to lane with a partner. Top or bottom is fine.

NEVER Jungle, Kayle's skills ain't fit for jungling early game, at level 1. Leave it for the likes of and .

Keep in mind that you need to farm, but if you have another carry alongside you in lane, take around 1-3 creeps per wave. Make sure your hits count, and don't autoattack relentlessly. It'll push your creeps way in - except if you want a pre-level 6 turret destruction(it's possible with Kayle).

Last hit creeps, poke enemies with or , don't get too aggressive unless going for the kill(for example, + combo). Later in this guide, I will expand on having lane combos with Kayle, in another section.

Conserve on using because it eats up considerable mana early game, but make sure to utilize it everytime your ally is in a pinch or yourself(or if you feel someone is going to gank your lane).

Once you get , don't recklessly towerdive if an enemy is fleeing and is in range of his or her turret - most specially if that champion has a stun(e.g. ). If you have an ally , or willing to turret dive, or rather, have already turret dived, prepare to cast your and , irregardless of HP(this allows him or her to get out of turret range quickly), except if the turret will fall down in 2-5 hits, which you can save your skills for later situations.

Try to get at least 100 minion kills every game with as well as other champions - it will condition you to farm faster and better for items. :)

Core Item Build

These two items are the most important items in this guide/playstyle as it will solidify your role as AP Support/2nd Carry. Attackspeed, for your Holy Fervor, and CDR/Mana Regen, for all your skills.

Nashor's Tooth
Like pre-nerf Kayle, Nashor's Tooth is still in here because it gives AS, AP, Mana Regen and 25% CDR, just what Kayle needs. Together with your masteries(9%) and runes(6.85%), we can achieve 40.85% CDR, without elixir or Golem Buff! You can either rush Nashor's Tooth or Malady.

Malady
Shreds magic resistance of an enemy, allowing you and your other AP carries to deal hellish damage to the target, as well as pull out more powerful bombs. It also gives AS for . It's a good complement with your [[Holy Fervor] that shreds ~10 resistances.

Recommended Items

These items are great on Kayle as well. Hover over the icons to learn the basic stats about the item. The items are presented in no particular order in which to farm them.

BOOTS

For taking advantage of . I prefer this the most out of all the boots.

If you get CC'ed at times/enemy team has a hard CC lineup.

Amplifying your AP damage capabilities.

If you're having trouble keeping up with teammates or in a clash, use this one.

Its active is kinda redundant with Kayle's , but it grants Kayle with Lifesteal AND Spell Vamp - both of which benefits from.

Not only does it give us more firepower, it also gives us more magic resist. But what we like about this item is the additional damage on proc with our AP. More of a luxury item.

Increases your AP tenfold.

Allows you to be a 2nd tank(never ever volunteer to initiate though, Kayle cannot take immense amounts of punishment. She's not an or a .

Makes Kayle a little more tankier, and defend against some CC's.

Since Kayle is almost always visible in team fights, Reverie allows us to boost our whole team's movespeed when chasing against enemies or fleeing from them. You can also use this if your isn't enough to get Warwick or Udyr off your tail. (It's now very dangerous to cast ] due to its low cast range).

Despite being behind the front lines you find yourself dead(because of pesky assassins such as ), this will help you get back on track. Remember, you're very important to your ally squishies, as well as for the whole team.

Provides us with a useful spell vamp and shares it with other casters. The AP boost is nice as well.

wrote:

...Now, of your three expensive items, I question the gunblade the most. (Although its active can pack a punch) Considering this is an AP build, I'd put the gunblade later or turn it into a will of the ancients. Cheaper and more AP, plus it gives you a nice little aura for your team.

Possible Builds

BUILD 1: Standard AP/Support Build

BUILD 2: Standard AP/Support Build with Defense(untested)

BUILD 3: Tank/Support Build(Untested)

BUILD 4: Combination of 1 and 3(Untested)

Best Allies

Garen
Your along with Garen's , you can snatch an early game kill. Judgment can also block the enemy champion, allowing you to hit the opponent with as well.

Vayne
Just like with Garen, your will allow Vayne to get a few hits in, and since Vayne's attacks shred the opponent's HP, you can easily take down enemies with a few more hits and get the kill.

Kog'Maw
Same explanation as Vayne.

Rammus
His and Puncturing Taunt works wonders with your and .

more to be added, under construction while I still experiment with Kayle

Archnemeses

(Yes, Archnemeses is the plural of Archnemesis :])
Beside Morgana being Kayle's archnemesis, she has other opponents she wouldn't perform as well against other champs.

Kayle
Your worst enemy is yourself - she has the same skills as you, so watch out.

more to be added while I still experiment with Kayle

Team Fights

As I said earlier in the guide, your role is to support your team by means of damage, slows, heals and protecting your squishies from offtanks as much as possible! This means you're like the main carry's sidekick, you're there to protect him from harm.

During team fights, you must always activate when attacking. Do not go into melee range with the enemy. Cast whenever needed, making sure it hits the main target of your carry. You can also use Reckoning to slow down Offtanks rushing your main carry like . If your main carry gets focus fired, cast on him and so he or she can get out of range quickly. Remember to use on most wounded champions as well, to sustain them in team fights. If played correctly, no one in your team will die, or there would be very minimal casualties.

Closing Statements

I hope you learned a thing or two from my guide!

If you noticed some spelling mistakes or some other mistakes, feel free to PM me or post your comment here. Otherwise, if you're not comfortable with this build, you might be looking for a main carry build or a main carry champion - Kayle cannot be the main carry of the team anymore with the nerf(that remains to be tested, however).

If you liked it, please give a +1 to support my build! I'll thank you for that :D It would also inspire me to create more guides, as well as improve this one. Also, please try the build first before voting it down! Thanks!

Before I finally end this guide, here's a secreenshot of me playing with the post-nerf Kayle. More screenshots will be added soon.

Changelog

August 2, 2011 - Published Guide
August 3, 2011 - Added new sections, "Core Item Build" and "Changelog", added new Archnemesis
August 3, 2011 - Recoded a lot of icons, added Mastery tree in Masteries Chapter
August 4, 2011 - Added more details about using Reckoning, layout changes, added a new starting item, added new runes
November 18, 2011 - Changed opinion on Holy Fervor and changed a few stuff