As I ended up saying in my reply to ArmouredGRIFFON's comment about build types this will eventually come down to two things:

The original Flat dmg, Armor Pen, Lifesteal, AoE build which is currently up and was the best option back in Patch 4.21.

Now with the nerfs to base dmg a more crit build will be a viable alternative which will obviously involve IE. I will probably make a crit build on this page soon. I'm thinking something like Hydra->Last Whisper->Ghostblade->Infinity Edge->Black Cleaver->Trinity Force. (Get rid of boots for Tri-Force because you get movement speed from burrowed form and Tri-force gives you movement speed + more when you attack so sacrificing a small flat movement speed for the benefits of Tri-Force is wurf.)

That is a basic build which I came up with on the spot but you can try your own variations and let me know what you think because feedback is always welcome :)

Tiamat is a core item on Rek'Sai for this type of build. It offers AoE, burst, damage and hp regen but the main reason you get this item first is for the wave clear. When you use your Q, it stacks the aoe dmg on top of Tiamat's cleave damage and if you add the active from the item you can easily cleave a minion wave within 3 Q's and 1 Tiamat active which is amazing. You could go farm wraiths or wolves and come right back in time with a small lead. This item also builds into Hydra that gives you even more damage and even life steal.

Now lets compare that to Ghostblade, the CDR doesn't really help that much since later on you will only need to activate your Q once to get a kill on a squishy target like Jinx. It doesn't give you as much dmg as Tiamat but it gives 20 Flat Armor Pen. Early armor pen is most useful for base dmg of abilities like graves and it would have been good on Rek'Sai before the base dmg nerfs on Q so now we get more value out of the scaling of Q rather than the base dmg. 15% Crit chance is alright but this build does not run with crit chance other than what Tri-Force gives you but that is not what I build it for. In the future I might play some Rek'Sai again and try create a crit chance orientated build but right now building flat dmg has proven to be better in my cases. Lastly the active. This is for attack speed orientated champions like Master Yi and ADCs but this Rek'Sai build is about the BURST of knocking up your target, Q them 3 times, activate Tiamat and then E which usually results in a kill for any squishy target. Flat dmg is crucial for this, not attack speed because you want to kill them as fast as possible, not sit there slapping them with noodles 2.5 times a second ;) and you get 60% attack speed from your ult passive anyways. The only useful thing I see out of the passive is the movements speed.

Back in the day this item would be a no no for this build but now since the base dmg of Rek'Sai's abilities has been getting nerfed I am thinking of making more of a crit build as it will probably provide more damage but it will remove flat AoE dmg from Q but add possible crit dmg to Hydra Cleave which should make up for it.

So for now stick with Tiamat until I come up with a new crit build which involves Ghostblade or find your own variations :)

what' s your thoughts on IE over Bloodthirster?

Any thoughts on taking Ghostblade after Tiamet on this build? The off-chance of a crit is very good + MORE escape potential (rofl) + the AS steroid

Thanks :)

This is hands down the best laner build and build name of all time for Rek'Sai

This calculation is taking in consideration the ability damage on top of auto attacks because Queen's Wrath acts like a Xin Zhao Q. So 3 auto attacks with Queen's Wrath buff on = 1692 damage.


You have a point but in this hypothetical scenario I am factoring in the that the target already has 5 stacks applied but if you insist I will change it. (Takes more effort)


You may of not noticed but you should have 6% from masteries but since the cap is 40%, 1% is wasted.


If this guide gets more attention I shall make another build in this guide which is more serious and has situational builds and different play styles but the current build which is featured on this guide is just glass cannon ad because I find it fun playing that way. (Hexdrinker uses gold for magic resist and a magic shield, that means gold has not been spent for damage but instead for defence. That's a no no for me when I'm just having fun :P)

Btw FatKookie, thanks for the feedback.

I don't exactly understand how you got 1692 damage from your Q in that calculation.
You're also factoring 25% armor penetration from Black Cleaver, but you need to have attacked 5 times already to get that percentage reduction - so that calculation is incorrect. You also have only 35% from Last Whisper, not 40%, correct?

I would have also expected to see Hexdrinker as a first buy against bursty AP mages, but it does not even show up in your guide. Is there any reason why you are not even considering Hexdrinker as your first buy?

I shall start recording my games and show match up highlights to prove you're wrong.

Pretty sure Rek'Sai loses to every other mid laner.

Thanks Woopdi,

I will be updating the match ups the more I play.