Caitlyn Build Guide by divinekoala

Introduction

Hey this is Divinekoala and this is my first guide! Caitlyn was my first proper go at an AD carry. At the moment she is one of the best AD carries in the game. This is due to her high damage output as well as her massive range.

REMEMBER this is only one way of playing Caitlyn which I have found works for ME. This may not suit everyone's play style. Everything in interchangable... and I mean EVERYTHING!

So I hope you guys/girls like this and vote nicely!

Oh btw Wall of Text Warning!!

Basic Char Info (Maybe)

Caitlyn is a good ranged AD carry, she has one of the longest ranges in the game. This means she can harrass at a safer distance giving an advantage. She shines during early game where she outputs some insane damage, but she starts to loses some power as she goes through the game, but get her the right items and she will carry throughout the game!

This guide isn't basic and therefore doesn't have the basics(maybe include them later).

Pros / Cons

Pros

Ranged champion
Great poking skill
Good early game
Ulti good for picking off those low health running champions

Cons

Squishy
Skill damage drops off late game
Ulti can be blocked
Mana intensive

Summoner Spells

My Choice of Summoner Spell

Exhaust
Flash

I use these spells as it allows me to quickly get into position, chase opponents, mitigate damage or run away.

Other Viable Spells

Teleport
Ghost
Cleanse


Teleport gets me back into lane quickly, which gets me more experince and gold.
Ghost works great for catching and running away.
Cleanse If you are terrified of Crowd Control then this is your thing, can get you out of those tight situations where they stun you. Just be carefull if there is multiple CC on the enemy team, as one of them might wait till you cleanse to use it on you.

Spells not so good

Ignite
Revive
Heal
Clarity
Clairvoyance
Rally
Smite


WTF Ignite!! Well I find that Ignite isn't really nessecary on Caitlyn as if there running away your Ulti can get them. The range on Ignite doesnt help Caitlyn either as you should always be standing as far away as possible from them.
Revive Just no
Heal No again
Clarity No, unless your really bad with mana
Clairvoyance This is your supports job
Rally No...
Smite Junglers only really

Abilities

Right.. I'm not going to explain what the abilities do, hover mouse over there pics, but I shall explain useages for them and a few little tricks that can be used to be more effective whilst using them.

Headshot This is a nice passive, good for last hitting minions if your not too good at that or great for harrasing the opponent as they might not expect that much damage. This also gives you double charge from shooting within bushes (procing it if you are at the attack before it e.g. if you need 7 shots to proc it and you attack at 6 from the bushes it will proc the shot))

Piltover Peacemaker Great Poke skill, 100 dmg from the start of the game! Remeber when using the skill, if it goes through minions it will really start to push your lane (which isn't a good thing in most cases) Remember that it takes a secound to cast so be prepared to aim slightly in front of your target to catch them.

Only a couple of downsides.. Firstly it costs alot of mana so spamming this skill will get rid of your mana in no time, though this is partially fixed with the high mana regen.
Secoundly (That's how I spell it!) The damage this deals starts to drop out when going into late game and your auto attacks deal more damage and faster, but it still has longer range than your auto attacks so can still be used as a great poke just before team fights and that last hit on someone just out of your auto attack range (longer range).

Yordle Snap Trap I love this skill, with this you never have to facecheck (go into) bushes where opponents might lurk. This give a short time of visibility around it to see those pesky champions hiding. Also when they walk into it they are snared and are visible to your team. Other great uses include nearish there tower since they dont like walking over them, this limits there moement around the tower and can get you free hits / free Piltover Peacemaker or Ace in the Hole since they can't go where they want or walk into them.

Just the one problem with them is mana since Caitlyn is quite tight on it.

90 Caliber Net This is your escape mechanism, it pushes you back giving you distance, jumps over small walls/gaps and slows your target. Just make sure you know where you can and can't jump over xD. This can be used offensively if used correctly where it has picked me up a few kills. To do this feat you do what is called skill chaining, where you use 2 skills in very quick succession, this is mainly done with Piltover Peacemaker and 90 Caliber Net in the respective order, once the 1 secound channel of Peacemaker is over she will double shoot Peacemaker and Net, this gives you that extra bit of damage and can be used nearer the turret as the Net pushback will push you out of turret range. Another way to use it is for chasing! If you fire it away from the person your chasing it will give you that one more hit. But an even better way to do it is to stand next to a thick wall and then shoot the Net as you will stay where you are but they will get a big slow on them!

Ace in the Hole This Ulti is a great but bad at the same time. Great because it picks off those low health runners and is a nice ganking tool because of that reason. When in team fights this can be used either at the start, to weaken their carry from the word go, or at the end, catch the people who try to run away.
Bad because it can be blocked by other champions walking through its path and if lost sight of the target within a small time limit it uses the mana but doesnt use the skill... but recharges in 3 secs. Just remember to say BOOM Headshot whenever you get a kill with it.

Skill Building

I first max out Piltover Peacemaker as this allows her to dish out the famous early game harrassment.

I put a point in 90 Caliber Net at level 2 and level it secound to get away in tight situations as the extra slow from this is great utility.

Then Yordle Snap Trap at level 4 and leave it there as extra levels only increase damage, and not utility.

This skill sequence maximises the damage out put will giving you good escape mechanism early on.

Runes

I have chosen these runes to have a stronger starting game, with initial attack speed from glyphs and attack damage from quints and when put against another AD carry the extra armour will mitigate all the starting armour penetration they have. This early game rune page is make use of Caitlyn's early game advantage. Meaning trades of damage will always go in your favour.

Masteries

21/6/3

.
This gives you survivability from the start, I am sacrificing a few points in utility for extra armour and magic resist. Along with your armour runes, you will notice a massive difference in the damage you take at the start.
Good Hands is better than Perseverence , the smaller death time is great for getting back into the fight as early as possible, while the health bonus and the mana regen from Perseverence aren't that great.

Items - Base

This part is the most variable part of the whole guide, this should change according to your taste and play style, this is what I have found to be effective for myself after multiple losses and wins trying out anything and everything.

First I start with the Doran's Blade as his give me the extra survivability from the health and small lifesteal. And the extra damage give Piltover Peacemaker and nice chunk of damage.
I usually have to base back at least 1400 gold giving me enough for my next 2 items, another Doran's Blade for the same reason as the last one and the Beserker Greaves the extra attack speed is self explainable with a AD carry.
Before I build any main damage items I quickly grab the Vampiric Scepter for the life steal giving me great survivability that will scale with damage.
I then build the B.F. Sword as it allows me to keep up with the damage into mid game and gives a big boost to my skills.
After a bit of testing I have found the Inifinity Edge to be the best item to build the B.F. Sword into as it nearly doubles the bonus AD it gives and the crit chance and damage makes you scary.
The best way to follow a Infinity Edge is the Phantom Dancer which is the icing on the cake, move faster, attack faster more crits. After this you are a force to be reckoned with, along with Headshot you can dish out some insane damage.

Items - Choices

Now this is where it is really down to you. Since you have a decent attack speed and crit chance it is usually better going for attack damage, where either The Bloodthirster or The Black Cleaver or the Starks Fevor will fill the role, both will allow you to deal extra damage. The Bloodthirster can give you an extra 100 attack which is great along with the lifesteal making you harder to kill, while The Black Cleaver will deal a bit more damage due to armour penetration and increased attack speed. The half way house would be Stark's Fevor with lifesteal, attack speed and armour penetration. If your team is mainly made of AD characters and no-one else is buying one then Starks Fevor is where it is at, the aura passive will make your whole team stronger. After you filled the 6th slot and you find your money still going up replacing your Dorans Blade with the other items you didn't buy listed here is what to do, or double The Bloodthirster is never a bad idea. One last suggestion is another Phantom Dancer for the extra crit, attack speed and movement speed.

Other items you can get would be The Brutalizer or the Last Whisper to penatrate some armour. The Brutalizer is better vs squishies, while the Last Whisper is better vs tanks/chunkys. (Remeber to take into account the Starks Fevor as it reduces armour already)

The Frozen Mallet could be a viable choice only in the circumstances where you dont have enough survivability. This will give you the survivability and a slow to get away or for chasing.

Boots Boots Boots, these are the most interchangable thing in the game (not as much for Caitlyn but still applies} enemy team full of AP? Mercury's Treads are the way forward, gives you that extra magic resistance and tenacity to stay out of there grip, while an enemy team of AD is just as counterable with Ninja Tabi. Maybe your foud your just a bit too slow? Boots of Swiftness are the answer. Remember that changing to get more defnsive items like boots should only be done if your having a hard time as you are sacrificing some damage for this survivability.

Other Defensive items like Chain Vest or Negatron Cloak are great way to turn around a hard game as it will significantly reduce the damage you take, but also reduce the damage you deal for the time being a well. These can always be built up!! grabbing a Banshee's Veil or Guardian Angel etc will save your *** more times than you think. One last thing if you are having a hard time laning then the best thing to build is a Wriggle's Lantern as this gives you armour, damge and lifesteal. Though if you a re building this do NOT build a second Doran's Blade as it will slow down your build too much and you will fall behind.

Items - Discarded Choices

A few things I have found not to be as effective but still choice to have a small look at just incase that is your play style.

Turning your first B.F. Sword into The Bloodthirster or The Black Cleaver, these seem good choices especially since they are cheaper than the Inifinity Edge but I have found they dont give the same damage output, even when building the Infinity Edge straight after you notice the jump in power you could of had ages ago.

The Hexdrinker this is a good midgame weapon vs a team with a couple of AP characters, as it gives you 300 health along with MR and AD, but doesnt fit as its great mid / early game but outwith that it is quite weak where 300 is just one more spell. I would only use this if there was a Karthus on the enemy team.

Another thing I have seen is in a few guides and games is the building of Zeal straight after your boots. This works but is not for Caitlyn as she needs the AD to sustain her skills usefullness and her damage output (the zeal isnt gonna be enough to keep her damage output up).

The Second build

The second build listed here shows the skill sequence if you are laning with a Taric or Alistar you have good communication with. An early snap trap placed under someone who is stunned or knocked up will activate by he time they can start moving, therefore are trapped once again. This can guarantee kills!

While the items build is showing what sort of build you can use to help you in lane if you are having some big trouble. Though it can also be used if you are doing very good as part of a team with communication as this allows for earlier dragon control and baron buffs.

Items - Things to Remember

Remember to buy wards and Elixirs!! Sight Ward Never get ganked again! stick this in the bushes at the sides and surprise your target by killing them when they think your gonna facecheck the bushes they're hiding in! Vision Ward and Oracle's Elixir great counter to the stealthed units Evelynn, Shaco, Twitch and Teemo but not as neccessary for Teemo unless he is a tricky one. These items will also give you vision of things like Noxious Trap and Wards. Elixirs like Elixir of Fortitude and Elixir of Agility can give you that nice boost just before that big team battle that you know is going to happen.

Gameplay / Teamwork

Caitlyn is a great ranged carry, RANGED. This means stay at the back, your insane range can keep you right at the back and with your summoner spells and 90 Caliber Net will keep you away from danger, but still within attack range. You will be a main target so keep your wits around you for a quick get away. Remember your first target in a teamfight is their AD carry then AP carry. As those are the most dangerous.

Last Words

Remember, last hit minions, harrass enemy champions in that order. If you are harrassing successfully then if you stand at the backline off the enemy minion wave, as this can keep them out of experience range (therefore they dont level up or get money). This tactic only works when you haven't pushed the enemy minions to there turrets (not advised anyway as it is easier to get caught offguard by a gank) though wards could again save your *** here.

Just remember always keep yourself safe and alive, its not worth you dieing to get a kill

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

29/7/11 - Made the build
1/08/11 - Update Runes, Masteries, Optional Weapons and a few Indents
8/11/11 - big changes, still no pics but better build