Hello to all that may have stumbled upon this guide!

Before you continue to read this guide understand that this is my first guide (definitely not my last.) and I decided to share my Akali build with everyone that cares to read on.

This guide is to point out what I take, when I take it, and why. If it's too wordy for you, you don't need to read it do you?

Suggested Summoner Spells; Flash Even after the nerf that Flash was hit with, I still find it a useful gap closer or escape ability. Ignite Even though I do not take the mastery for Ignite, I still take it to stop opponents from healing or as a finisher if their health is low enough to kill them with it.

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Alternate Summoner Spells; Ghost I understand that some are uncomfortable with the nerf flash has been hit with. If you are one of these people, I suggest grabbing Ghost, allowing a quick escape through Akali's shroud or to hunt down an enemy that attempts to escape. Exhaust Some may view using Ignite as a useless spell or not needed on Akali. Exhaust is a good alternate Summoner Spell to take, a slow that lasts for 2.5 seconds, long enough to secure a kill.

Offensive Masteries; 4/4 Mental Force 4/4 Sorcery 1/1 Arcane Knowledge 3/3 Havoc 4/4 Blast 4/4 Archmage 1/1 Executioner Reasoning: Mental Force +4 AP; Who doesn't love a bonus 4 AP at level 1 with an AP assassin? This plus my runes easily activates the first part of Akali's passive, making this mastery the best choice in Tier 1 Sorcery 4% Cooldown Reduction; I understand that it isn't much of a bonus but I find it useful enough, plus it leads into Arcane Knowledge. Arcane Knowledge 10% Bonus Magic Pen; Definitely one of my Must Haves for when I play Akali, it just makes her abilities hurt just a little more with each poke and tackle. Havoc 1.5% Bonus Damage; Taking Havoc in my opinion is worth it in the long run. Early game it isn't much but once damage starts to stack up, that 1.5% bonus damage makes every hit a bit more painful. Blast +1 AP per level; A small boost but still useful. (With the runes in this guide it bumps up her total bonus AP at level 18 to 60.40 AP from runes/masteries alone.) Archmage +5% Total Ability Power; Again, early game it's a small boost, but during mid to late game it pumps up Akali's AP a decent amount. Executioner +6% Damage on Enemies under 40% HP; Taking this, combined with her Ulti and Lichbane makes her a very large threat. Too much damage in too short of time.

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Defensive Masteries; 3/3 Resistance 3/3 Hardiness 3/4 Durability Reasoning; Hardiness / Resistance +6 to Armor (Hardiness) and +6 to Magic Res (Resistance) makes Akali just a little less squishy. Durability Placing the last three points in Durability gives a bonus 4.5 HP per level (81 at level 18)

Runes;
(For those that can't see it up top.)
9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration
9x Greater Seal of Vitality
9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power
3x Greater Quintessence of Ability Power

Reasons as to why I take these Runes:
Initially I messed around with a whole lot of Akali rune set ups and I found that I prefer this one over any other set up I tried.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power;
(1.53 AP at 1, 27.54 at 18.)
I take nine of these Glyphs because the AP per level is a bigger boost of AP than the flat 0.99 AP runes( 1.53/level ending up with 27.54 AP at level 18 where the flat AP glyphs just sit at 8.91.) Yes the flat AP runes give a better boost at level 1, but over levels the AP per level Glyphs beat the flat AP runes completely. With the AP/level runes you still hit the minimum AP needed for the first part of her passive.

Greater Seal of Vitality:
(9.72 HP at 1, 175 HP at 18.)
I take these Seals over others because that little boost of health per level is (in my opinion.) good enough to keep me lurking in my lane. In the long run, it makes Akali a little less squish-able early game all the way to late game.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration:
(Flat 8.55% Magic Pen.)
Taking these runes makes me more of a threat early to mid game, combined with my Item selection and Masteries it gives me roughly 40 to 70% Magic Pen.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power:
(14.85 Flat AP.)
Taking three of these Quints plus nine of the Greater Glyph of Force easily activates the first part of her passive, letting you deal more damage early game as well as earn more health back with each poke of her abilities.

Doran's Blade;
Taking this as my first item gives the life steal as well as activating the second part of Akali's Passive.

Boots;
Taking Level one boots on the first time back to base makes Akali a bit more mobile.

Amplifying Tome > Hextech Revolver;
I try to buy the Hextech Revolver as soon as I can to get the spell vamp and AP.

Mercury's Treads;
Once the Hextech Revolver is finished I snag the Merc. Treads. Stuns are not your friend, plain and simple.

Pickaxe > Bilgewater Cutlass;
Once I grab the Merc. Treads I grab a pickaxe, aiming to complete the Hextech Gunblade.

Bilgewater Cutlass + Hextech Revolver > Hextech Gunblade;
Some can argue that Akali doesn't really need the Gunblade, but in my opinion it's worth it. Leaping onto an opponent and triggering the gunblade's Active takes out a lot of health plus adds a 50% slow for a few seconds. Even if they try to run away after being hit with Gunblade's active they take the damage and slowed allowing Akali to chase and leap onto them a little easier.

Amplifying Tome > Giant's Belt > Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Snagging another Amp. Tome and Giant's belt to build into Rylai's is a useful boost to HP/AP and once Rylai's is completed, it adds a slow onto Akali's abilities.
(Once I grab the Giant's Belt, I tend to sell the Doran's blade.)

Sheen > Null-Magic Mantle > Lich Bane;
Once Rylai's is completed I grab Sheen and NMM, aiming to complete Lichbane as the next item.
Sheen gives a bonus 100% base attack damage to the next attack, as an AP champ that's not very useful to Akali but once it's formed into Lichbane, each auto attack after an ability can stack a whole load of damage on in a short amount of time.

Needlessly Large Rod > Rabadon's Deathcap;
As Trans4M pointed out, I goofed up on taking Haunting Guise over Rabadon's Deathcap.
Rabadon's gives a large boost of 140 AP and 15% bonus to total AP. All in all, a better item choice than Haunting Guise.

Void Staff;
70 AP plus 40% Magic Pen. All I can say is; Yes please.

Mark of the Assassin
As you can see above, I try to max out Mark as soon as I can, allowing me to do more damage and harass effectively early game. Going into mid and late game I am still able to do a decent amount of damage and with my item selections I am able to slow with each throw.

Twilight Shroud
Some say you need it earlier but I've been fine grabbing it at level 4 and maxing it last, yes I know the slow is upgraded each level, but the length it is active and the cooldown do not drop at all.

Crescent Slash
Grabbing this at level 2 and gradually upgrading it lets me do more damage to the minions in lane and a bit more damage while roaming and ganking.

Shadow Dance
As you can see, I grab Shadow Dance first chance I get and maxing it at 16. Yes I know every other Akali player does the same thing. Yes I know that every other guide tells you to do the same.

All in all, I understand that this is probably a common build for some players, but I prefer to build Akali with these runes, masteries, and items.

Notes:
I can't seem to get the columns to line up correctly... if anyone can tell me how to do that, that would be great.

Credits;
Demon Honoo; For telling me to give Akali another try and for laning with me.
Q Who; For suggesting I try a few builds and laning with me.
Trans4M; Thanks for pointing out my screw ups and suggesting the changes and using bbcoding. (I'm getting the hang of it, slowly but surely.)