Hello everyone! Kayle has an amazing ability to farm and has an unmatched damage potential. On top of that, she has an in-built defensive skill ( Intervention) that allows her to quickly change the course of a team fight. I have watched her on many Diamond games and I am positive that Kayle is a solid pick in any elo.

My name is Cristcalad and I play in the brazilian server. I am currently Platinum IV and I've played the majority of my ranked games as Kayle. I am still learning a lot and practicing a lot.

I decided to write this guide because I have seen that the build is solid and I managed to win several games using it. Also, I had read a lot about Kayle and I've made some changes in the playstyle to fit my own preferences. Thanks for jhoijhoi for tips on how making a guide.

As I play more ranked games and gain more experience, I'll make sure to update it to best fit the elo I'm currently in.

Any feedback you guys can give me will be welcome and greatly appreciated.

Pros

+ Capable of farming easily and quickly push lanes. + Great damage output. + Intervention can change the course of a team fight. + High utility.

Kayle has a good potential for farming and pushing her lane. That makes pressure on the enemies towers. Her damage potential on late game stages is incredible (sometimes even higher than your own AD carry) and she can completely mess up the enemy strategy using Intervention. Even if she does poorly during the lane phase, she can still help out her own team on fight through good use of Divine Blessing, Reckoning and Intervention.

Cons

- Susceptible to ganks. - Squishy early game. - No Crowd Control. - Mana hungry.

Since Kayle is usually pushing her lane, she is very easily ganked. She is also incredibly squishy on the early game stages and might die if the map is not well warded. She has no Crowd Control, except for her Slow from Reckoning and spamming it will cause you to be out of mana very quickly.

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Holy Fervor: Holy Fervor reduces it's targets Armor and Magic Resistance every time Kayle hit's them with Auto-attacks or uses a skill on them, stacking up to 5 times. This is what makes the Hybrid Kayle particularly good. She'll be able to burst down opponents after she lands a few blows.

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Reckoning: This skill is the main source of burst damage for Kayle. It has been nerfed recently, but it still can't be underestimated. The slow it gives is awesome to keep enemies at bay or to chase down fleeing opponents.

You're going to want to max out [Reckoning] before [Divine Blessing] and [Righteous Fury].

• Do not spam this skill. It'll consume most of your mana quickly.
• Everytime you get ganked, try to land the Reckoning on one of your foes. They won't be able to catch up.
• Use this skill when you want to be aggressive. If your enemy jumps on you, land Reckoning followed by several hits with Righteous Fury and he'll soon regret having engaged you.

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Divine Blessing: This skill will heal you and burst your movement speed for 3 seconds.

You're going to want to max out [Divine Blessing] after [Reckoning] and [Righteous Fury].

• Do not spam this skill, or you'll run out of mana quickly.
• Use this to chase down enemies during trades so they won't disengage easily.
• Whenever you're about to get ganked, use Divine Blessing and run to the safest area. The heal is not so great, but might save your life.

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Righteous Fury: This ability will be your main source of damage. You should get it at level one, as it'll make farming a breeze. It also grants Kayle splash damage. This is important because everytime you're facing a melee opponent, you can use this to poke him safely or even hurt him with the splash damage while farming.

You're going to want to max out [Righteous Fury] after [Reckoning] and before [Divine Blessing].

• Using Righteous Fury too much will cause your lane to advance towards the enemy tower. Beware for ganks.
• Use this skill to poke your opponent as much as you can. Unlike the other skills, this one doesn't cost a lot of mana, so use it as much as you can.
• Farming with Righteous Fury active will make it a lot easier and safer for Kayle.

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Intervention: This spell will make you or an ally Invunerable for 2 to 3 seconds. This is one of the greatest assets to Kayle, as she can safely dive a dying opponent or even change the course of an entire team fight if properly used. Take note that Intervention can prevent a great burst of damage, but doesn't last long and won't save you from everything. So use it carefully.

You're going to want to max out [Intervention] whenever it is available.

• During the lane phase, Intervention is a great weapon to dive your enemies or save you from ganks and dives.
• During team fights, use Intervention on a squishy ally as he is about to get engaged. Remember that Intervention is best used to prevent damage, rather than to save an ally drom death.
• Position yourself wisely on team fights so you won't be engaged and forced to use Intervention on yourself. Using it on the greatest damage-dealing ally will turn the tide of a team fight on your favor.

• Greater Quintessence of Life Steal: This is used so you get some sustain in lane, without depending purely on Divine Blessing - which would make you run out of mana very quickly. A good option for this are Quintessences of Attack Speed and I've used them myself for a long time.
• greater mark of hybrid penetration: Hybrid Penetration are incredibly powerfull on Kayle for several aspects. For instance, Kayle's Righteous Fury will damage your enemy for both Physical and Magical damage. These runes sinergizes incredibly well with her passive Holy Fervor and I wouldn't trade it for any other mark.
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: This is one of the good options for Kayle. I've tried CDR but concluded that it wasn't ideal for her. I've also used Scaling Magic Resist for a long time and realized most of my opponents are actually AD based. Using scaling AP helps me secure early kills on lane phase and makes Kayle a bigger treat on late game stages. If you find yourself too squishy against Mages or assassins, you might want to consider MR glyphs.
• Greater Seal of Scaling Armor: Most of the top laners are AD based, so this will help you win trade-offs against them. On season 4, flat armor has been nerfed while scaling armor has been buffed, hence the reason for this choice. There are other reasons, though: most of the enemies on top lane won't dare try approaching you until level 3, which makes it a safe choice for Kayle. Also, Kayle is a well-known late-game champion, and that's when you want her to be more resistant for team fights.

Even though there were a lot of changes to Summoner Spells, Flash is still a must-have. It can save your life on ganks or earn you kills if you catch your opponent by surprise.

The second summoner spell can be switched by your liking. If you took top lane, you can pick up Teleport, to be able to suddenly gank lanes and earn kills for your team. Another good choice is Heal, it will cure some of your missing health and boost your speed for a few seconds. It might protect you from incoming ganks or even help you chase your enemy faster. Another good option is Exhaust, in case you're facing an AD-based enemy, it may earn you early kills (because it also makes it harder for him to run away).

My favorite spell for Kayle, however, is Ignite. It reduces your opponents heals and regeneration and causes true damage based on your current level. It helps you get early kills and win lane against resistant foes (such as Dr. Mundo, Volibear or even Swain).

Less useful spells are Ghost (because you already have Divine Blessing) and Barrier.

Clairvoyance is pretty much useless the way it is.
Clarity is simply not worth it. You already have items and runes to work on your mana regen.
Cleanse might be valid, if you're facing a strong CC champion (like that damn Fiddlesticks). But even Fiddlesticks Terrify has been nerfed, so it might not be worth it anyway.
Smite is for junglers.
Revive is only useful if you're counting on dying. And that's never a good way to think.

Early Game

In the early game, get your Doran's Ring a couple of Health Potions and head to your lane (usually mid). On the first waves, focus on last-hitting minions and farming as best as you can. As Kayle, you'll require a lot of feed to do some hurt.

As you farm, try not to push your lane too hard (or you'll get ganked really early). To do that, you must not abuse the Righteous Fury. On the other hand, in order to farm without it, you'll have to approach the minion wave, which will leave you susceptible to enemy pokes and attacks.

I usually use the Righteous Fury as much as I can, and push the waves very quickly. That way, I know soon the enemy jungler will come out. On the other hand, I am somewhat protected from my opponents attacks and pokes. Also, if my wave reaches the enemy tower, he might lose some of the creeps to its attacks, thus negating him farm.

As I level up, I boost the Reckoning as high as I can, making it my main poke source. You'll realize that using it will cost you a lot of mana, so you have to keep in mind wether it's worth using it or saving some mana for later.

If your opponent tries to combo you, use Reckoning to slow him down, cast Divine Blessing on yourself to boost your speed and move away from him. Once you reach a safe distance, activate your Righteous Fury and poke him down as hard as you can. You'll soon realize (and so will your enemy) that your damage should't be underestimated.

If you're doing well, on your first return, you should start building Nashor's Tooth. Even if you can't finish it, get Stinger so you'll be able to land more hits on your enemy and farm a lot faster. If you get killed or ganked too soon and forced to go back sooner than that, you have a couple of options:

1. Buy your Boots. This will be a good choice if your opponent has a lot of skill shots and is giving you trouble to dodge them. Also, it'll help you escape from ganks and chase down your opponent.
2. Get a Crystalline Flask. This will give you a LOT of sustain. The mana recovery is simply sweet for Kayle. You'll be able to spam a lot more of Reckoning and Divine Blessing.
3. Get a second Doran's Ring that'll boost your AP and increase your mana regen even further.

Either way, on the early game stage, try to feed as best as you can. I don't consider Kayle a particularly good Roamer, so anytime my enemy goes MIA, I push the wave as quick as I can and try to punish his tower.

Mid Game

The Mid Game begins as some of the teams towers have been burned down and people start to wander around searching for kills and objectives (such as Dragon or Baron). When this stage begins, you'll want to have at least your Rabadon's Deathcap and Nashor's Tooth. If you managed to make more than that, it'll be incredibly helpful in the upcoming battles. Either way, on this stage, try not to roam around on your own. You might fall on enemy traps or ganked. And deaths, on this stage, might mean a free dragon, tower or even baron to the enemy team.

As Team Fights start on, try to keep behind your team line. You don't want to be focused by your enemies. When someone engage, immediately try to land your Reckoning on a squishy target (that might be a Mage, the enemy ADC or even the support), whoever is closer to you. Try not to focus Tanks, but don't expose yourself chasing down the enemy ADC, either. At all times, keep your own ADC on your line of sight and cast Intervention whenever you realize he is about to take a lot of damage. Notice that I didn't say "to avoid his death". You are NOT going to wait until he is near death to cast it. Intervention is best used to absorb as much damage as you can. Also, keep in mind that casting it on your Tank or Support will not help your team very much, since their damage potential will not be nearly as high as your own or your ADC's.

Late Game

The Late Game stage is when most of the team's towers have been burned down. Most of the characters will be finishing their builds and Team Fights will happen on a consistent basis. As Kayle, you have two options:

1. You can stick to your team and help them on the team fights. Kayle has a particularly strong presence - not only due to her damage potential - but her ultimate Intervention that can completely mess the enemies strategy.

2. Do split pushes. Kayle is particularly good on split pushing because she can kill minions in two hits using Righteous Fury. She can also quickly burn down towers. Your team must be aware you're going to do this, because if you split away from them, they will most likely lose every team fight they engage. So they must stand ground and defend/bait enemies while you do this. Split pushing might win you a game you're losing and is usually done best when your team is doing poorly on team fights. Just keep in mind this is not an easy task. If your enemies manage to get you while you're at it, you'll most likely die and that could cost your team an inhibitor or even the game.

Either way you choose, always keep in mind that Kayle depends on a good kiting ability. That means you must always land your Reckoning and activate your Righteous Fury. Then, try to hit-and-run to keep your enemy away from you. If he reaches you, you'll most likely be burned down - because you are very squishy. Using Divine Blessing can help you not only by healing but the buff to move speed is amazing.

As you gain practice, you'll realize how strong of a champion Kayle. Not only that, she is incredibly fun to play with!

Difficulty: 8
Strategy: This is an incredibly hard lane enemy for Kayle. Aatrox can close the distance gap using Dark Flight. If he manages to hit you, that'll knock you up, allowing him one or two free hits. On top of it, he may use Blades of Torment which will slow you down and prevent you from kiting him or even escape. He also has a lot of life steal, which makes him a pain to deal with. So, if you're up against Aatrox, first of all, call for help. Even 2v1, if you're not careful, you might lose the fight. Try your best not to let him land his skills on you (run out of Dark Flight and move away from Blades of Torment). If he misses any of his skills, then you have a chance to cast Reckoning and land a couple of hits on him. Try not to do all-ins because of his passive Blood Well which will ressurrect him and leave you in dangerous position. If you do not feed him too much, you should be in better shape, in the late game.


Difficulty: 0
Strategy: Alistar can be built in two ways: AP or tank. The idea is simples: By making him AP oriented, his skills will hurt a lot and his passive will equally grow. By building him tank, Alistar will try to protect his team using his skills. He is also naturally tanky thanks to his ultimate. Either way, Alistar is a bad choice versus Kayle for several reasons. He can't really close the gap between the two of you. If he chooses to Headbutt to get near, he'll push you away. Even if he is a good player and manages to Pulverize, knocking you up instead, you can simply use, Divine Blessing to move away, cast Reckoning to prevent him from running away or getting anywhere close and finally punish him with several hits of Righteous Fury. He is probably going to play under his turret, so beware of ganks by warding the river and becareful so he won't throw you under his turret and you'll be fine.

Difficulty: 6
Strategy: Stay behind minion waves so you're protected against her Charm. Anytime she uses Orb of Deception, try to move out of it's way. Remember that even if you get hit by the first damage, the second one will do True Damage and hurt a lot more. So don't stand still! Unless she's extremely experienced, you won't have such a hard time against Ahri. Keep your ult safe until she comes for a full attack (usually she'll ult to move closer and land Charm on you, ignite and use the orb). That's when Intervention should pop up and do all the hurt you can. Even if she manages to escape, your Intervention cooldown is shorter than hers and you'll be at advantage.


Difficulty: 7
Strategy: Akali is a good counter to Kayle, if well played. Her post-6 burst is amazing and she has great sustain with her passive Twin Disciplines, which makes her nearly unbeatable. On top of that, her ultimate Shadow Dance can close the gap up to three times and she has the Twilight Shroud, that can protect her against your retaliation. If she plays well, she'll play passively until 6. When she gets Shadow Dance, she'll go all-in and you'll be forced to Intervention yourself. If you don't go back to base, she'll just ult again and blow you up. So you MUST deny her as much feed as you can until she reaches 6. If you manage to kill her pre-6, wonderful! If not, after 6, start playing defensively and warn your team about her roaming (which is very strong). If she doesn't kill many people, she can't snowball and eventually becomes useless for her team.