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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Ability Order
Mark of the Storm (PASSIVE)
Kennen Passive Ability
Introduction




Note that this guide is for more experienced


One last thing: I spent a ton of time on this guide. If you're having a bad day and need a place to rage, this is not it. If you want to downvote, read through this guide and tell me exactly what you don't like about it. I have given crystal clear reasons on the items and skill sequencing, as well as my playstyle, and if you don't like it just because you don't like it, fine. Just don't downvote without a valid reason.
Alright, enough with the intro. Welcome to my guide on:
Kennen: The Heart of the Tempest

Nautilus Patch



Pros:
- Undoubtly the BEST harasser in the game
- No mana (Also a con if you keep spamming skills
with no regard to how much energy you have left - He's a ninja yordle
- Constant AoE stun that disrupts channeled ultimates,
killsMaster Yi, just a lot of utility :P
- Nukes really hard with
Mejai's Soulstealer
- Not suspectible to soft CC
- One of the strongest early games with the ability to
take any lane and dominate in it - Can 1v2 even if not fed
- Almost NEVER banned in Ranked

Cons:
- Countered pretty easily with
Mercury's Treads
- The cons might be in the wrong color
- Called OP
- Risky playstyle
- Requires decent teammates to win.
In short,









You can take

NOTE: Right now, League of Legends went through a Season 2 patch that messed up my masteries for the moment. I'll fix this ASAP.
^Fixed
EDIT: Offensive masteries are now on par with defensive masteries. While having 9/21/0 masteries gives you magic pen for early game, 21/9/0 masteries give a good amount of AP AND the magic penetration. Also, the new defensive tier 6 point isn't that good...
Take the mastery point for exhuast,




For Runes, I use:

These are the only ones that I feel

Seals

Greater Seal of Defense
Greater Seal of Vitality

Armor runes to help that already powerful early game, HP to help late game since Build 1 doesnt get

Glyphs


AP and AP per level runes. Not really much choice here, unless you want to get Magic Resist runes. IMO, they're less viable, but the choice is up to you~
Quintessences



15 Flat AP early game helps a LOT, but I take Magic Pen because I don't use





So, which rune do you use? Flat magic pen or AP?






I highly recommend









Other Viable Summoner Spells












What to replace: Any

What to replace:




What to replace:




But it dies too fast and pushes your lane waaayy too hard.

What to replace: Any. You're either trolling or know what you're doing.

What to replace:



What to replace:



Please don't...







(Passive):Kennen's abilities add Marks of the Storm to opponents which last for 8 seconds. An opponent is stunned for 1 second upon receiving 3 Marks of the Storm. Also, Kennen receives 25 energy. The stun has a diminished effect if applied more than once within 7 seconds.
This is the reason why


Cooldown: 7/6/5/4/3 seconds Range: 900
(Active):Kennen throws a fast moving shuriken towards a location, dealing 75 / 115 / 155 / 195 / 235 (+75% of ability power) magic damage and adding a Mark of the Storm to any opponent that it hits.[/i]
Your bread! This is the first skill to get. It's on a quick cooldown and has a pretty high AP scaling of 0.75. It's a skillshot that travels pretty fast, and it's thin so it can pass between minions and hit the unsuspecting enemy champion. It has decent range and goes to about the very end of the arrow, so you can catch runners with it. Basically, use it to harass and kill.
Tips and Tricks
- You can hit stealthed units with this. If
Twitch,
Evelynn, or
Talon stealths, throw a shuriken to where you think they went!
Shaco is excluded because he blinks and it's a lot harder. Also check for wild
Teemos in mid.

Cooldown: 14/12/10/8/6 Range: 800
(Passive): Every 5 attacks, Kennen deals magic damage equal to 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% of his attack damage and adds a Mark of the Storm to his target.
(Active): Surges electricity through all nearby targets afflicted by Mark of the Storm, dealing 65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185 (+55% of ability power) magic damage and adding another mark.
Your butter! This skill is the least damaging of your skills BUT is auto-locks onto every champion within


Tips and Tricks
- Again, use to hit stealthed units.
- Remember to use the 5th hit for stuns starting at level 2!
- Combine with
Thundering Shuriken. At higher levels, this is a nasty combo that rips down hp over and over.

Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6 Range: 200 (Body Contact)
(Active):Kennen gains his base movement speed again as a flat movement speed bonus, as well as 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 increased Armor and Magic Resistance, and the ability to pass through units for four seconds, but he is unable to attack. Lightning Rush deals 85 / 125 / 165 / 205 / 245 (+60% of ability power) magic damage and adds a Mark of the Storm to any hostile unit he passes through; deals half damage to minions.
Kennen is refunded 40 energy if he passes through an enemy while using this spell, but can only gain this effect once.
Speed buff and resistances. Perfect for initiating and escaping. Also, using this will help you survive a lot of long-ranged ultimates, like Reqeuim, Finales Funkeln,


Tips and tricks
- Use it to survive!
Lightning Rush through minions and then using
Electrical Surge is a quick and efficient way to farm.
- Using
Lightning Rush to initiate into a fight will increase your chances of living and getting more stuns out!
- If there's a
Karthus on the other team, using
Flash to escape first then using
Lightning Rush to block his Reqeuim will help. Unless you have like 40 hp left and you're ignited...

Cooldown: 120 Range: ~550
(Active):]Kennen summons a magical storm that deals 80 / 145 / 210 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to a random enemy champion near Kennen every few seconds. The storm hits 6 / 10 / 15 times with a 0.5 / 0.4 / 0.33 second delay between each bolt, and cannot hit the same target more than 3 times. A Mark of the Storm is applied to enemies each time they are hit.
This is your Ultimate. At level 1, this hits enough times to stun two champions. But you may ask yourself, why not go bot lane then? Bot lane is a great choice for

Tips and Tricks
Zhonya's Hourglass +
Slicing Maelstrom = win.
- It doesnt hit minions. Don't try to steal Baron.
- Placing this with proper use of
Flash can win games or shut down channeled ultimates like
Death Lotus and
Absolute Zero.
- It only hits 3 times per enemy champion. Don't expect to go mid, pop your ulti, and hit that
Caitlyn 6 times for 500 damage.
Skill Leveling Order
I max





Some people may think its better to take




However, there is now a Q nerf, increasing the Cooldown by 1 second. You should always have a potential stun at all times. Getting W at level 1 gives better poke and the stun, since your passive only lasts 7 seconds.
Also, the



- A 150 damage Q
- A 60 damage W
- Every 5th auto attack will hit 50+20 magic damage
- An escape that gives 10 Ar/Mr and 150% movespeed buff after diminishing factors.
A good player will hide behind minions, NOT letting you hit them with a 150 damage Q, so the only way of harassing is through auto attack pokes and dangerously initiating with E, that pushes your lane and then chaining it with W, which pushes even MORE. Not only that, your so-called weak "harass" will hit for about 120 damage and you don't get off a stun. If you're lucky, you can get off an auto attack with that 5th hit for a total of 180-200 damage with the stun, BUT

You have:
- A 110 damage Q
- a 90 damage W
- Every 5th auto attack will hit 50+25 magic damage
- An escape that gives 10 Ar/Mr and 150% movespeed buff after diminishing factors
Let's use the same combo for simplicity: E -> W -> AA. Your W increases by 30 each level, and gives 10% of your attack damage as magic damage. Your new harass is actually stronger because your 5th auto attack is stronger and when you chain it with W, it his for considerably MORE and it doesn't push your lane.
Comboing your Skills
Now the fun part...
Comboing your skills for harassment!
There are many ways to chain together

1.


Q -> W
Pros:
Main harass combo. Does decent damage, is quick and safe.
Cons:
Blocked by minions.
This is your standard harass combo. End game, it can deal pretty nasty damage, and against squishies 2 of these will nearly guarantee a death. Minions can block it, however, and you need to aim your Q to use this. Hit them with Q, then press W immediately afterword.
2. Auto attack (5th hit) ->

AA -> W
Pros:
Secondary harass combo. Does less damage as game goes on, relatively safe, can't be avoided except with blinks.
Cons:
Minions target you,
slightly
pushes lanes, small auto attack range.Another way to harass. This does significantly less damage as the game goes on, but early game it actually does about the same as combo 1. Minions can't block this, but it has only about 2/3 the range of combo 1. Auto attack the unsuspecting champion and press W immediately afterword.
3.



E -> W -> Q/Right Click
Pros:
Massive damage, guaranteed stun, escape without enemy retaliating.
Cons:
EXTREMELY risky as it pushes lanes, forces you to over-extend, maybe into tower range,

Ah, the aggressive, lane-pushing combo. Run in, stun, run out. If you use the 5th hit proc, it can take out a large portion of your target's health at low levels. Don't spam this too much, or you WILL be ganked by the jungler. Hit them with

4.




Q -> W -> AA -> E -> R
Pros:
Near guaranteed kill, especially if they are low.
Cons:
Again, pushes lanes, hard to pull off (easier version next :D), waste ulti on 1 champion.
So first, you find an out of position champion, and insta-stun them. Close the gap and pop your ulti. If delayed enough, you can even get off another

5. Personal favorite and is a guarantee kill on any squishy, early, mid, or late game.






Pros:
Can be done on any level post-6, the burst combo is underestimated, sometimes able to bring down someone from full health to none, and it cannot be escaped.(Tested over and over, people ALWAYS die when I do this at level 6 :3)
Cons: If they know what you're gonna do, there's a high chance this will fail, must be done extremely quickly or they can

AKA Skill Spammage, get right up into their face and pop everything. Doesn't even matter how low you are, if they can't burst you down fast enough THEY will die. This combo gave me soooo many first bloods. Start this like combo 3, except after you press W, pop your ulti and while they're stunned, you have a free shot with your Q. Auto attack them to death.
This is all I want to tell you. Don't wanna give away all my secrets ;D. But based on this, you can probably think up more, the possibilities are endless. Just remember to use

Starting Items












This is the first recommended build up on the cheat sheet, for the players who have mastered

Depending on who I'm laning against, I get either a





I see many



Core Build







After I get ~1600 gold or get a kill, I recall and buy my first items,









The next item we should get after


Now, it's mid game and hopefully you have 8+ stacks on




Late game is starting, and you have a ton of kills, a few deaths, and a ton of assists. You have 5k to spend, but the enemy tank starts building magic resist. Should you get a




Massive Damage Route
This is the massive damage route where you have sustained burst, some survivability, and an unusual


There is a rule of thumb I go by when deciding to buy a



Also, in order to fully utilize



And I finish my build with a



Tank Route
This is the route where you go full tank after


If there's someone that does True damage like




If they have a fed AD Carry:



If the AP carry is nuking down your team:




If you need a balanced tank set:




Half Tank Half Nuke
So you have your core build and you want massive damage and massive survivability. A great choice for this is

For your last item, you may want a




AKA the Traditional Build







This is the build 90% of

So why use this build? Unlike build 1, this is reliable, and in early game you have infinite lane sustain because you don't need mana and can just spellvamp all your hp back. Without worrying about

Core Build






Like build 1, we start with a



IMHO
I don't like





Alright, enough of my rant. It's a good item on

Since


Now, you have a choice:






What if they're both?
In a very, very common situation, in which the team is 3/5 physical or 3/5 magical, buy either the


Enemy Team:





I know the team comp is probably not the best (maybe? idk about this stuff), but you see here that they have 3 AD and 2 AP. For argument's sake, lets say





Enemy Team:





Again, the team comp probably isn't the best, but they have 3 AP and 2 AD. Buy


Now, to go further in-depth to countering damage with items, let's factor in enemy team skill and hybrids.
Enemy Team and scores:





In this team, one might instinctively think,"They're mostly AD, I'll go buy








Enemy Team (No scores for this one):








Here, the entire team is completely hybrid. But no one team can be 100% hybrid in terms of damage. Study the components and skills of your enemies:
- All of
Jax's skills deal magic damage, but because of his ultimate,
Relentless Assault, he can buy AD items and AS items to hit the 2.5 AS cap and hurt your team really badly. On top of that, he's tanky. However, many
Jaxes deal mostly magic damage and don't build too much AD. Therefore, you should consider him an AP threat.
Akali is going triple-stacked. End game (I've tested and crunched the numbers) trip stacks and
Hextech Gunblade give her ~260 AD and ~300 AP, maybe more if she doesn't get
Guardian Angel. She has pretty bad scaling, so she is a hybrid threat leaning toward AP.
Kayle has a passive that shreds your armor and magic resist. However, she's mostly AP, like
Jax in a way.
Trundle is obvious.
Shen doesn't really do much damage, but his passive and Q both do magic damage, so he's magic.
From the compiled data, we see that the entire team actually isn't completely hybrid, but mostly magical damage. Because of this, we buildNegatron Cloak first. Of course, if
Trundle is destroying your team and his teammates suck, grab
Chain Vest first.

Comparing the two...
So what's the difference, exactly?
First, let's find out the build costs:
Build 1








That's 475g + 1200g + 1235g + 3100g + 3600g + 3470g + 2200g(about) =
15280 gold. What do you get from this?
- 35 tenacity to all CC
- 55 Magic resist (30 from
Lich Bane and 25 from
Mercury's Treads
- 50 Armor (From zhohya's hourglass)
Zhonya's Hourglass's active
- 25% Spell vamp OR 40% Magic Penetration
- And lastly, 539.5 - 747.5 AP, depending on
Mejai's Soulstealer stacks(increases by ~10.4 each stack)
Build 2
What do you get from build 2?
Doran's Shield,
Sorcerer's Shoes,
Will of the Ancients,
Rylai's Crystal Scepter,
Rabadon's Deathcap,
Abyssal Mask,
Zhonya's Hourglass
That's 475g + 1100g + 2100g + 3280g + 3600g + 2650g + 3100g =
16305g. What do you get from this?
- 20 Magic Pen
- 25% spell vamp
- 500 hp and slow
- 130% of max AP
- Magic resist debuff(20 magic pen)
- 50 armor and
Zhonya's Hourglass's active
- 57 magic resist
- And 611 AP
So in my opinion, build 1 is better for raw damage as long as you can maintain 10+ stacks onMejai's Soulstealer. Also,
Kennen doesn't really need to buy too tanky items as long as you properly use
Zhonya's Hourglass(more on that later.)

For if you want to nuke harder early, mid, and late game. These are great, but


What to replace:

When: If they start getting magic resist early game, or you just want to hurt them more early game.

If you think you lack survivability or people get away from you too easily, this is an awesome item. The only downside is that it costs waaayyy too much for just 80 AP, 500 Hp, and a passive that only works at about 50% efficiency for

What to replace:

When to replace: When you need more survivability and/or when people are running away too easily.

Spell Vamp. The largest amount of Spell Vamp you can get after the

What to replace:


When to replace: If you like Spell Vamp and/or your AP carries need it.

Magic Resist, AP, and a magic resist debuff to your enemies. This item has the second most magic resist in the game, losing only to


What to replace:


When to replace: When your team is mostly AP and their team has a fed AP carry.

A clown mask for Halloween. No but really, this is a good cheap item if you don't like snowball items. It gives a tiny bit of HP, 20 AP, and 20 Magic Pen! Also viable if you don't want Sorceror Shoes.
What to replace:


When to replace: If you don't like snowball items, or just need a tiny bit of Magic Pen early game. Be sure to exchange this for something else late game, because the stats then are meh.

Before the nerf, I would recommend this as a hybrid item, combining this with


What to replace: Ehh idk fits more in a hybrid build. I guess if you put in


When to replace: When you go hybrid.

25% Cdr, a nice amount of AP, staples for an AP nuker. Not a bad item, but there are much better choices. This is a good item if you want to nuke faster and spam skills more, but it also drains your energy more quickly.
What to replace: Situational last item.
When to replace: If your cooldowns are killing you and/or you want to stun more often.

For protecting your precious

What to replace:

When to replace: If you feel too squishy, or are losing stacks too fast, this is a good item to take to boost survivability.

An incredibly powerful nuke item on



What to replace:

When to replace: When the enemy tank is getting too out of hand, or if you want to nuke harder.

What is this Magic Resist you speak of?
What to replace: Situational last item[/color=
When to replace: When they have a ton of Magic Resist and you don't deal enough damage to have any significant team fight presence.




Think about it...you need to be in a fight to get stacks. You get 1 stack per assist and 2 stacks per kill.







Also, it doesn't matter if you lose stacks, just get them back!
Can't get stacks early game? You probably haven't tried ganking yet.
Die a lot? Grab a



In no way am I getting Mejai's to obtain 20 stacks and faceroll, either. The MAIN PURPOSE IS TO KEEP YOUR AP AT A SUITABLE LEVEL while you obtain defensive items. Hell, if I wanted to faceroll, I'd get



So what's the proper use of

It all depends on you and your team's current performance in the game.
Team Situations
Situation 1: Your team completely steamrolls over the enemy.
Usage: Don't. Chase them down to continue the stuns so they don't get away!
Situation 2: Your team and the other team are about even.
Usage: Use it when you start taking damage. Deny yourself death for 2 seconds so they have to switch targets and switch back.
Situation 3: Your team sucks and dies in half a second.
Usage: Surrender at 20. JK, if the other team decides you're the biggest threat, YOU initiate and pop your ulti and

Solo Situations
Situation 1: 2v1 Gank
Usage: Just use it before you get stunned, silenced, suppressed, etc.
Situation 2: 5v1 Gank
Usage: WTF WHERE'S YOUR MAP AWARENESS?! Run through them with E, W, ulti and zhonya, W again when it's off cooldown and run. This gives 3 effective stuns to the other team, allowing you to have a higher chance of escaping.
Situation 3: 1v1 Escape
Usage: Blow all your skills and, when there's ~2 seconds left on


In short, using it(or not) in an optimal matter can be game breaking or lifesaving.
Levels 1-6
So the game finally loads and you spawn at the Summoner's Platform. While your team argues over who should go what lane, buy your first items and argue with them or sneak your way up to mid (lol). Give your jungler a leash and let the Laning phase begin!
So you have your









After level 6:
Be aggressive in lane. Always try to kill them. Even if it's 2v1, harass them down and burst them down with your ulti, unless a teamfight is about to start. Even then, still harass so your team will have a easier time killing them.
After the laning phase is over, do whatever you can. Give buffs to your carries/junglers, ward dragon and Baron, and the most important thing: DON'T STAY AT ONE PLACE ALONE TOO LONG. I know I said





This is basically what you should be doing, except in Mid you should be last hitting and zoning at the same time, while being aware of the enemy jungler.

The problem with most characters when they try to zone is that they either have weak auto attacks that could be ignored, or if they use skills they either come off cooldown too slowly or they run out of mana quickly because it's early game. On top of that, new minion waves will hurt and bring you low enough for the jungler to gank and mid to kill you. With



Red: Important
Black: Super important, ward at all times
Light Blue: Buff ward, counters counter-jungling
Green: Optional, privacy wards
So no one on your team calls mias and complains that people should call mia. How should you solve this problem?
Easy. Wards.
Wards are an easy way to prevent ganks, map hack, save lives, and win games. A Sight ward lasts for about 3 minutes and reveals an area of the map as if an allied champion was there. A





Wards shouldn't just be used to ward your brushes. There are a number of key locations that should be warded at all times. Some are like Baron Nashor and Dragon, while some less important ones are red and blue buff.

Baron Nashor
Spawn Time: 15 minutes
Respawn Time After Death: 7 minutes
Benefits: 900 Global Exp, 300 Global Gold, Buff that gives all alive allied champions 3% health regen/5, 1% mana regen/5, 40 AD, 40 AP, and a sparkly blue trail after them :3.

Dragon
Spawn Time: 2:30
Respawn Time After Death: 6 minutes
Benefits: 300 Global Exp, 190 Global Gold


Red and Blue Buffs
Spawn Time: 1:55
Respawn Time After Death: 5 minutes
Benefits: Red: DoT on auto attacks and slow
Blue: Mana/Energy Regen/5 and 20%-25% Cdr



Wolves, Wraiths and small Golems
Spawn Time: 1:40
Respawn Time: 1:40
Benefits: Gold and Exp
As you can see, Dragon and Baron Nashor give substantial buffs to your whole team, so it is important to ward them at all times.
Note:



This doesn't mean you're invincible, though. If you get greedy for kills, the situation could be entirely reversed.
Common Mid Lane Matchups






















Duo Laning
Duo laning is essentially the same as a solo lane, as the meta here in the US has 1 tanky solo top who heavily impacts late game, a carry in mid lane, a jungler, and a support with usually a tank at bot, another carry if not a tank.
Example Team:





Not the best team comp for



Soraka can supply a magic resist debuff, heals, and has infinite mana due to not needing to share.
Taric has a 2 sec stun.
Janna goes good with anyone because of her CC. Also AD
Kennen too stronk.
Morgana has magic resist debuff and
Black Shield
Zilean is a free
Guardian Angel. Your ulti continues as you revive! 8D
Team Composition
I feel





Example Team Members:
Top:





Mid(If you aren't)




Bot:



Other AD Carries could work, but I dunno.
Jungle:




AD Kennen
See Temzilla's AD Kennen: Theory or Madness. Too lazy to write it :/
Tank Kennen
What do you achieve with this build? 3k Hp, 250 Resistances with

Jungle Kennen
So apparently...

Don't know what to say about this, I knew he had SOME potential as his ganks are STRONK(about the same as, say,


Anyway, here's Stonewall008 making a route.

What is

Those who said nuke everyone down, that's wrong. Also too vague.
Those who said nuke down squishies, that's somewhat right. You should be focusing squishies as they have a ton of damage, stopping them in their tracks and leading to easy kills.
Those who said disable channeled ultis and squishies, that is the correct answer.
To clarify things up, let me tell you the specifics of

1. It attacks a random enemy champion every 0.33 seconds. This means it can't focus down a squishy any better than...lol probably worst skill to try to focus anyone with...
2. It attacks a random enemy champion every 0.33 seconds. Yes, it's the same specifics as above, but it doesn's hit multiple champions at one time. That means you can't nuke everyone down.
3. It automatically stuns anyone caught by 3 bolts, but W,



Based on these traits of your




Also, something about Initiation...
DO NOT INITIATE. YOU WILL DIE. Only do it if your team needs you to. If you are the only one on your team capable of initiating, learn when to initiate, and how to initiate before doing so. Also, exchange





DO. NOT. DO. THIS.



What does





It also pays to look at all the effects of a skill. Read the description of


This may seem like a long process, but can actually be done very quickly. If possible, try to stall long enough to have 2 seconds left off the cooldown on your W so once you leave stasis you can simultaneously stun multiple enemy champions at once, then



If you see something here that is wrong or have opinions to make this a better guide, tell me!
And now I need something to put here...

A: I picked this item order because if offers survivability in team fights, damage in a 1v1 fight, and the ability to survive from ganks. In team fights,





Q: Why do you get

A: I run it because I have absolute confidence that I can dominate the lane in my current elo(not ranked elo, just normal matchmaking. I still own sometimes in ranked though). But, there are some games where I don't use



Q: I'm following your build and still losing games!
I once had a lose streak of over 10, regardless of how well I did. Hell, I even had flawless games and did my job in a teamfight, and I still ended up losing. But trust me, no build anywhere can make you god. That kind of thing only comes with skill and practice. Also,


Hugenjpana for his

Whoever the

Shurelia for her zoning tutorial
Thatgei for continually finding mistakes and fixing them for me!
StaticFX for tank

And you for reading! Thanks!
- Add more champions to "How to lane" section
- Videos and scores
Change Log:
11/23/11 Published Guide
11/25/11 Added

11/29/11 Added



12/4/11 A ton of stuff. Remade Laning opponents section, added a build without



12/21/11 More Stuff. Added

12/27/11 Updated Update Log
1/5/2012 Changed Troll Builds, Added Note at the end about how they are viable, went in-depth. Added temporary Hybrid

1/14/2012 Made


1/15/2012 Fixed a few mistakes. Skills now have accurate range, but who really cares? :p
2/1/2012 Updated, added more champions on how to lane against, and removed unrelated builds because they work at 100% effectiveness. Not gonna lie, Tankennen is a pain in the ***.
2/8/2012 Fixed the duo laning/team comp section, added Jungle Kennen, etc.
2/15/2012


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