When Rengar was released, there were a few techincal issues, primarily with a few of his abilities not responding properly, finally it's fixed and Rengar is viable. As a fan of solo top, this guy stuck out to me, so I decided to give him a go and so far he's working great.

Rengar is a very solid all around bruiser. He has ranged poke, incredible sustain, modest cc, and a shockingly good dps steriod. He may be getting nerfed in the future, but so far I haven't lost a lane with him yet. I'll be doing my best to go over these later, but constructive criticism is always appreciated. One thing to remember, this is a guide, it is a suggestion, It's the most reliable build I've found so far, but no guide is perfect, this build can't prepare you for everything your opponents come up with. Don't be afraid to build to suit the situation.

side note: I apologize I can't work on this guide every day, it's still a work in progress and I'd appreciate it if everyone could bear with me while I add more sections, if someone requests I'll focus on a specific one, I only published it early because I wanted to get the idea out there.

10-5: made the guide.

-Tank build still work in progress.

10-7: added the "why gunblade" section, more still coming.

10-9: Added many more sections.

10-14: added bonetooth necklace section.

10-16: changed teleport to recommended spell over ghost

Pros:
No mana cost, actually does better when you spam his abilities.
Incredible sustain
Decent poke
Great at juking and escaping
Tanky without many items
has his own item that is really good.

Cons:
honestly I'm sure there are some, but at this exact moment, I can't think of any off the top of my head. Sure he's not perfect but no one is, and I've yet to lose a lane with him. I'll update this portion when I do.

Ok, I probably shoulda seen this coming, but one major question everyone is already asking: why get a gunblade??? No this is not a hybrid build. When I first picked up Rengar, I could deal allot of damage to my targets, but they always managed to slip away from me, something everyone hates to see, this is part of the reason I take ghost and exaust, to help ensure my target can't escape me. I picked up the cutlass once originally just for the active, now it's become a staple part of my build.

The reasons for the gunblade are thus:
1: early on, starting with the cutlass, this gives you lifesteal and ad, both of which synch well with his natural attack speed steriods. Adding in the ad/level from his necklace makes him do quite a bit early on without buying alot of damage items.
2: the reason I go for cutlass instead of bloodthirster is because, while damage and lifesteal are amazing, BT is rather costly unless you're snowballing. Also, this is a personal preference, I prefer a bit more utility in my items.
3: Though it may be short range, don't underestimate the damage or slow of the active ability (I like to refer to this as the 'bullet' because it's a gun) When you jump on a target, unload your double q and then hit them with the bullet, not only does this add a little bit more to the burst, but quite often your target will flash away from you, but the slow from the bullet will make it easy to catch up, land your e and finish them off.
4: this adds a little more utility to Rengar in teamfights as well. You lunge to your target and exaust the carry (though often your target is the carry) You can use either your bola, or the bullet to ensure they don't run, and throw the other on another target, helping secure another kill.

--gunblade--
1: getting the gunblade was origionally more of an extension of the cutlass at first, till I saw the potency.
2: while this is not a hybrid guide, a little ap never hurt anyone, but the biggest advantage here is the spell vamp and bullet level 2.
3: Rengar's job is to burst down the enemy carry, often times this leads him to diving right into an enemy team. Naturally this can lead him to be focused as he can put out alot of damage quickly. The spellvamp, combined with the spirit visage can make him quite tanky when he uses his w, even if it's not empowered. When it is, I've healed for shocking amounts when it hits the entire enemy team.
4: The upgrade increases the range and damage of the bullet substantially. The range increment is now even larger than his e. Combine this with the slow from his e and almost no one can escape from you, even if they can blink.
5: again, the damage from the bullet is not to be underestimated, it's great to add to your initial burst or to finish off a fleeing target + it also procs spell vamp, meaning not only does he have a decent ranged attack, it heals him too.
6: Unlike the bloodthirster, the gunblade does not lose anything if you happen to die.

I can eaisly understand everyone's problem when they see the gunblade in the build, but please, try it before you judge, you may be suprised. I sure was.

I chose a bit of an "odd" skill sequence by not rushing rank 5 on a single skill, but so far this has been working great for me, and it's always open to some small alterations.

Passive: Unseen Predator: Everytime Rengar hits an enemy with an ability, he gets a point of ferocity. At 5, he gains access to a new move set of empowered abilities. (I call it a new move set, because they do not share cooldowns with the rest of his abilities) This means that if you use q and get 5 ferocity, you can immediatly q again. Also, while in brush or stealthed via his ultimate, Rengar's next attack will cause him to leap at the target, this can work very well for juking to minions to avoid chases, or to close the distance on a fleeing target.

q: Savagery: Resets Rengar's autoattack, dealing bonus damage and increasing his attack speed by quite a bit. This is great if you're constantly dueling your lane opponent, but most often you'll be poking back and forth. I rank this second because often you won't get to use the attack speed very much, and the bonus damage is not that much.
EMPOWERED: The attack deals 50% more damage and the attack speed is doubled.
-This is a shockingly powerful burst no matter when you use it. If you double q a target, often you will see half of their health melt away, and the attack speed buffs stack too.

w: Batle Roar: This is a short range aoe nuke that will damage all nearby enemies, and if at least 1 enemy is hit, it will give Rengar some armor and magic res for 3 seconds. Doesn't interrupt movement, great to use while chasing or as a response if your opponent has initiated on you. Use this before q, so you don't waste auto attacks. Because it's mostly used for the heal, I Rank it last with an extra point early to help with the cooldown and make the buff a little better. If you find yourself getting harassed badly, rank this alongside e and before q.
EMPOWERED: Deals the same damage and gives the same amount of armor/magic res (does not stack, simply refreshes the buff) BUT it also heals for 15% of Rengar's max hp.
-This is incredibly potent and will keep you in lane for quite a while. This can also be a pseudo Heal bait, unless they have ignite, many opponents will underestimate how tanky this makes you, giving you both defences and hp.

e: Bola Strike: This is a point and click ranged attack that slows the target on impact, with the slow wearing off over 2.5 seconds. It's great for chacing to put in a few extra hits, or for stopping your opponent if they try and initiate. It's also an amazing form of ranged harass. It has suprisingly good base damage and ranking it not only increases the slow, but lowers the cooldown. I rank this first because it's great for softening up your opponent before you close in. It's also great for helping you get away. Overall, this is an amazing skill and I don't think it gets the credit it deserves. Far too often people rush the q for burst. But not only is this ability great harass, but if you're getting harassed, it's useful for last hitting, or simply aiding in a teamfight by making sure the target won't get away. I rank this first so I can be a royal pain to lane against, but I don't necessarly rush rank 5, because usually around that time I've started roaming a bit or small skirmishes start happening, and that's when the q or w have more value, though this still makes a good poke. It's best to open with this skill if your opponent is advancing on you, or use it to chase when they start to run.
EMPOWERED: Snares the target for 1 second, then the slow applies in full and wears off over the remainin 1.5 seconds.
-Honestly, this is the empowered skill I use the least. Not saying it's bad, but more often than not you'll want the heal or burst. If you have teammates nearby, it does work wonders for rendering someone helppless while everyone tears them apart, but usually I only use this in chasing.

ULTIMATE: Thrill of the Hunt: Rengar turns invisible for up to 7 seconds, and shows all nearby enemy champions, even through stealth. As well, he generates ferocity while stealthed (app 4 seconds to get 5 ferocity from 0) This also enables his passive, letting him lunge to his target.
-This move has a suprisingly short cooldown. with only about 20% It drops to about 40 seconds, giving you free reign to escape, initiate, chase, or even occationally use it just to see if the enemy is nearby. Use this at the start of the fight to go straight for the carry unhindered, or use it as a chase, or to prevent annoying champs like Kha'zix from getting away with stealth. This can also let you jump over walls.

-It's worth noting that summoner spells do not break stealth. If you want to teleport near an enemy, and they have vision of where you're teleporting in, activate your ultimate the moment before you teleport, you'll have 3 seconds of invisibility to confuse your enemy with when they don't see you show up, often, this will cause them to think you cancelled your teleport, and they will let your guard down.

For a while, my biggest issue with Rengar was not being able to finish off a target. This is why I take ghost and exaust, but they aren't the only spells worth taking.

Ghost: This is a great skill, gives movement speed and lets you path through units. Good for chasing and escaping. It also synergizes well with his ultimate, as both give bonus movement speed. This is a great spell to use when chasing, as it lets you catch up to your target and keep hitting them at the same time. This spells is great too because it can be used offensively and defensively. A good trick to use while running away is to run right through the minion line, hindering anyone who is chasing you.

Exhaust Exhaust is a great spell for duelists and anticarrys. Use it on a target that's fighting back to give yourself the upper hand, or if you need, use it on a fleeing target to soften them up for the kill. We take a point in enhancing this, so that we do even more damage. This is often best used on the enemy carry, rendering most of there damage useless while you tear them apart.

Teleport This is a great spell, and let's you farm freely while still being available for teamfights. It works great on any solo top, letting you help countergank bot or mid lane if something goes wrong, or to catch someone who thought they could farm unhindered. This is also great for backdooring towers. While roaming around, keep an eye on your minions and if you see some near an enemy turret, teleport in and tear the turret apart. This spell can turn a 2v2 match bot lane into 3v2, or even 4v2 with good cooperation with your jungler. A very good spell. It also works very well with Rengar, as he has enough escape potential to survive most ganks without an escape spell.

======= Other good spells =======
Flash Always a great spell, lets you blink from one place to another, even over walls or past obsticals. Personally, I prefer ghost on Rengar because it gives better chasing potential, and lets you continue hitting even while you chase, but Flash is still a great choice if you prefer it.

Ignite The standard of soloque. This is great against carries who have crazy lifesteal, or those annoying Doctor Mundos. + it's also great for finishing off targets. Personally. I've found Rengar can put out enough damage that it feels like Exhaust gives more value overall. + most often, your allied carries will take ignite, and there is such a thing as overkill. If you know you're going against someone like mundo or tryndamere, feel free to take ignite, but so far Exhaust has given me more reliable results.



ClenseVery good spell if you're going up against heavy harass, but personally I'd rather just by a quick silver sash, however this spell is also good for the extra 3 second reduction, as Rengar will be in the middle of the enemy team and often get's crowd controlled.


======= Other Spells ======
Smite If you are jungling, you should take smite. End of story. Not really useful in lane though.

Clairvoyance While the aggressive meta doesn't usually use this spell. Vision can eaisly decide games. Personally I don't think this spell gets the credit it deserves. You don't really need to take it on Rengar though, his ultimate works almost better than this, and has a shorter cooldown.

Heal Personally, I think this is wasted on Rengar, he has incredible sustain anyway. This would make him almost impossible to kill 1v1, but I don't think it's worth it.

Revive Generally considered a troll spell, a few people have use for it. The health boost is nice, but I don't think Rengar needs this.

Surge Not bad for attack speed, but Rengar can't take advantage of the ablitity power anyway. He also already has his own attack speed steriod. Not necessarily overkill, but not really needed either.

Promote Best used on someone who can't push well or a support, not necessarily for Rengar, though it is great to use this spell in a lane before a teamfight, as it can eaisly push the lane up to a turret without any assistance.

Clarity Rengar has no mana. waste of a spell.

Rengar has very good damage on his own, but he's juat a little bit on the squishy side. His w does make him a little tanky, but not enough to get by on just that. As an anticarry and initiator, You don't want to be a complete glass cannon or else you'll get bursted down before you can do anything. This is why I like to take defensive masteries, it gives you some good survivability in lane, and it lets you be a little more versatile with your items, instead of having purely offensive masteries and maybe having to give up some damaging items for more defense.

Hardiness about 90% of the time, you'll be facing ad bruisers in top. There are a few exceptions, like Rumble or Singed, but they shouldn't give you too much trouble before you can build some magic res.

Indomitable While this doesn't seem like much, having 2 damage taken off of everything will add up to quite a bit later. This is also part of the reason we take Tough Skin To let you eaisly harass without worrying too much about the minions defending their champion.

Vigor Not too much to say here, health regen is always good, and it gives you even more sustain.

Durability Extra hp every level, making you even more tanky, and gives you a bigger heal? sounds good to me.

Veteran's Scars Great early hp

Evasion Though it's not much, I've debated taking this several times, not at the moment, but it's something to think about. Rengar is very mobile, but aoe's can still eaisly hit him, even when he's invisible via his ultimate ( Death Lotus Can still wreck you) So it's good to keep this in mind.

Initiator Personally, I'm not usually very fond of this mastery, as it's not very much, but Rengar has the natural sustain to eaisly keep himself over 70% hp.

Enlightenment Very good amount of cooldown reduction at level 18. With this and the spirit visage, your ultimate will be down to below 40 seconds.

Juggernaut Bonus hp and 10% tenacity? works for me. This is a great skill, makes all your opponent's crowd control be a little less effective, and the hp gives him better heals too.

in the offense tree, we take enhanced exaust and ghost, conveniently they are in the same point. then take whatever attack damage masteries we can till we hit the armor pen, something needed if we're going to kill that annoying carry.

Marks: Armor pen all the way. I haven't really tried flat ad here, but armor pen seems to be more reliable for me.

seals: flat armor, it's quite a bit of armor per rune, and again, you're almost always going to be against ad in top lane

glyphs: this is a bit of a toss up, personally I prefer mr/level, but you could also go with cooldown reduction.

Quintessences: I heavily advise movespeed quints for almost everyone, especially for an anticarry like Rengar, often the ad carry will build phantom dancers, and you want to make sure you can chase them down and finish them off.

Overall, a pretty simple rune build, someone has mentioned building flat hp seals or quints would work well for him, which it would, but also if you have armor, then your heals are also more effective because it takes more damage to break down the hp you're healing. I haven't tried it yet, as I don't have hp runes, but when I get around to it, I'll try to compare.

I feel this item needs it's own section, because of the incredible potential that it brings to the match. First off, this is a special item specific to Rengar, similar to Viktor's Power Core except it's optional. Personally, I see very few reason's to not get this item, and it's even very useful late game, though if you're having trouble keeping the stacks up, it can easily be sold for something else. It's a fairly cheap item, and not only does it give more ad as you level up (more gold efficient than even a bf sword) it also gets bonuses for getting kills or assists. This is very helpful, as it gives you an extra bonus even if you let someone else get the kill. Even if the game is not going very quickly and it's mostly a farming match, this item still gives plenty of ad for it's cost. It's still very efficient, even though it doesn't build into anything.

Once you get this, don't be afraid to start roaming, even if you're just getting an assist, the stacks will add up quickly. It's also suprisingly easy to raise them once the teamfight stage of the game rolls around. Often times you will find yourself in the middle of the team, and most likley you'll hit them with your roar. Even if you die (-1 trophy) if your team cleans up after you, you'll still get 1 trophy for each assist, even after death.



+10 attack damage
Unique passive: +2 attack damage per level
Unique passive: Rengar collects trophies when killing Champions, and gains bonus effects based on how many trophies he has. Kills and assists grant 1 trophy, and 1 trophy is lost on death.
3 Trophies: +10 armor penetration
+5% cooldown reduction
6 Trophies: +25 movement speed
9 Trophies: Rengar's leap gains 150 bonus range.
14 Trophies: Thrill of the Hunt's duration is increased by 3 seconds. Additionally, Rengar's next ability used after activating Thrill of the Hunt generates 1 bonus Ferocity.