Ekko Build Guide by LordBlazer

Ekko Skill Priority > > >

Phase into your enemies! Hey there! Welcome to my Ekko guide! My name is Lordblazer and I'll be attempting to knowledge ya'll about Ekko. I play a lot of Mid as its my primary role and Ekko is an absolute beast. By the end of this I hope you will enjoy him as much as I do. Ekko is primarily a Mid lane champion who builds Ability Power items. He can get quite tanky though. Ekko's abilities make him a unique champion on the rift. He can quickly engage and disengage without taking any damage while leaving chaos in his wake. He is an AP burst assassin who can easily decimate enemy carries.

Pros		Cons
+Crazy amounts of damage +Lots of mobility +Easy engage and disengage +Can get quite tanky		-Steep learning curve -Weak early game -Weak to poke -Tough matchups

Primary:

This rune works really well with Ekko. As a burst assassin, most of Ekko's abilities have low cooldowns. This means Ekko has huge all-in potential which causes massive amounts of damage, further increased by Electrocute.

8.16: Damage has been nerfed. Damage ratio for AP and AD has been nerfed.



This rune works quite well with Ekko. He has a lot of abilities which have CC effects. The low cooldown on Ekko's abilities match the low cooldown on this rune. The bonus true damage works well with him.

Base damage has been nerfed from 15-40 to 8-40.

P.S: You can switch this rune out for Sudden Impact. Nothing much to explain. This rune provides extra Ability power/Attack damage basing upon the number of champion kills and/or ward kills.

This ability works REALLY well on Ekko. It synchronizes well with his passive when used on minions. Other abilities also give HP return when used. Overall really good rune to run on ekko unless you want Ultimate Hunter or Relentless Hunter for reduced ultimate cooldown or extra MS respectively.


Cooldown:60 seconds

Ekko's ultimate is usually used in times of crisis when running low on health. The bonus movement speed which you get from Nimbus Cloak is useful for getting away or chasing.


Another reason we are running Nimbus Cloak is because Celerity grants bonus Ability power based on bonus movement speed. [[nimbus cloak] + Ekko's passive + Celerity all grants bonus MS which will give you HUGE bursts of AP when you need em.

Core Items

Hextech Gunblade: Absolute beast of an item on Ekko, or an AP assassin for that matter. Provides high amounts of AP and some AD. The UNIQUE active contributes to the burst damage while also slowing enemies down. However, only buy this if you are WAY AHEAD of your laner.

Hextech Protobelt-01: This is the subsititute to the Gunblade if you are even or behind your laner. Though not as strong as the gunblade, the protobelt makes up for the AP with CDR and Health. Its UNIQUE active provides Ekko with more mobility.

Lich Bane: Lots of AP, CDR, Mana and MS. UNIQUE passive increases Ekko's burst potential. Always buy this item.

Item Pool

Banshee's Veil: This item should be bought when facing an AP laner and when you need the MR and protection. The UNIQUE passive is useful as it nullifies an entire ability.

Luden's Echo: Buy this item in the midgame when you need the AP. The UNIQUE Passive also helps with wave clear.

Mejai's Soulstealer: This item is a high risk high reward item. Only buy this if you are sure you can beat your laner and scale.

Morellonomicon: Buy when facing an AP heavy team and when you need Magic Penetration. Also useful against champions such as Darius and Dr. Mundo who heal a lot.

Rabadon's Deathcap: Nothing much to say. Buy when ahead to get massive amounts of AP.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: Useful item for when one is giving chase due to its UNIQUE passive. This item should be bought mid to late game when you need more AP and when facing high Movement speed champions such as Quinn or Pyke.

Spellbinder: Always a useful item to have, especially in teamfights. I like to look at it as a cheaper Rabadon's Deathcap. The Active boosts your AP and MS for 4 seconds making it a clutch item during 1v1s and teamfights.

Void Staff: Buy when you need increased Magic damage against high magic resistance champions.

Zhonya's Hourglass: Useful item to have against AD assassins such as Zed or Talon and other burst champions. Its UNIQUE active has saved me on very many occasions and I'm sure it will save you too.

: A must have. Don't enter game without it. With this spell the possibilities for outplay are endless. It's also a good tool for escape or chase.

: A good spell which does well with Ekko. You can quickly get around the map. However, with the recent nerfs if you want to use Ignite instead, go ahead.
: A good early game spell which can help you get kills during laning phase. Also good against opponents like Dr. Mundo and Garen who heal a lot.

: Good choice if you are facing a lane with lots of CC. For example Twisted Fate or Anivia.

Basic Level 2 Combo

> > Auto Attack

Basic Combo. You launch Timewinder at your enemy. You then Phase Dive onto them and auto attack them to proc Z-Drive Resonance. With the burst of movement speed, disengage while the returning Timewinder will deal more damage.

Basic Level 3 Combo

> > > AA

Basic Level 3 all in. You move out of lane so your enemy has no vision on you. You then use Parallel Convergence on their estimated position which they will be at once you re-emerge. Since they haven't seen you use your W, they wont't suspect much. You then Phase Dive onto them. In the meanwhile your Parallel Convergence will detonate. If positioned properly it will stun your enemy. You then use Timewinder and finish them by proccing [z-drive resonance]].

Level 6 Combo

> > > > longswordAA

This combo is a little more complicated. It employs the use o animation cancelling. The theory behind this is that you use your Phase Dive roll animation to cancel the Parallel Convergence animation, making sure your enemy doesn't notice you have used it unless they are really paying attention. Once you roll and use your W, it will take a while to detonate.
Thus, you gotta distract and engage your enemy till it(W) pops. Once you've gotten the enemy stunned, use Timewinder to proc Z-Drive Resonance. Wait till your shadow is near your enemy then use Chronobreak to finish them off.
This will take a bit of practice., so don't be discouraged if you dont get it on your first try.

Zhonyas+Parallel Convergence Combo

> > > > Auto Attack
This is an interesting combo. It kind of baits your enemies into Parallel Convergence. If you use zhonyas's hourglass, your enemies tend to collapse on you. So here we use this to our advantage. We use Parallel Convergence, then activate Zhonya's Hourglass. Once the enemies have surrounded you, waiting for your stasis to end, Parallel Convergence goes off stunning them. This can be super beneficial in teamfights.

So as explained above, animation cancelling refers to using one ability's animation to mask a different ability's animation(basically the animation before the actual ability).

Ekko mainly has 2 animation cancels:

1. The E + Q animation cancel, where you use Phase Dive to mask Timewinder's animation making Timewinder shoot really early when they aren't expecting it. Basically Timewinder get's shot while you're still rolling. It's really useful.

Check out this video:

Note: I have not created the video. All credit goes to Ekko Rush B.


2. The E + W animation cancel. You use Phase Dive's roll animation to hide your Parallel Convergence's animation which is a shadow hitting a time capsule thingy with a club thingy(LOL).

Check out this video:


Again, I have not created this video. All credit to Chillingdude.


For more cool Ekko combos check this video out:
All credit to Levey.

Ekko's laning phase is pretty weak. So it's always good to kind of play safe and patiently while looking for potential kills. Roam's always help you and your team.

Against Assassins like Ekko himself. It all depends on the skill difference. Whichever one of you gets ahead will probably carry the game. That is why it is important to play properly and carefully. However, Ekko has one unbeatable advantage, i.e, his ultimate: Chronobreak. It's his panic button which can save him from dying. While it is active you can probably enter into a fight without too much worry. Diving as well.

Against Anti-Mages or Anti-Assassins(basically hybrid champs which aren't fully mages or assassins), just farm up while playing safe. Wait for your jungler to gank and the proceed to kill. Else, bide your time while roaming when the time is right.

Mages are probably the easiest matchups for Ekko. Mages usually don't have mobility and have high dependency on their skillshots. Ekko with his high mobility can dodge these and all-in without any help from the jungler. In the unlikely situation that you do get hit by their skillshots, just hit your panic button aka Chronobreak.

Teamfights

As an assassin with lots of mobility, you have the perfect initiating tool: Parallel Convergence. It is a stun which provides you with a shield and extra damage. Your main aim is to try and nuke the backline and the disengage, then re-engage when it's clear for you again.

If you don't have a clear iniator on your team such as Malphite or Maokai, don't hesitate to start a fight on your own with Parallel Convergence. With your lead the team will proceed to engage and if you play it well, win the fight.

Again, you are a vital part of your team. With your ultimate, it's basically a 6v5 in your favour. Don't waste it else you lose a huge part of your firepower.

8.18: No new changes.
8.22: No new changes.

I hope you understood the basics of Ekko as a champion. I have tried my best to brief you about him, the rest you will learn as you play him over and over and over again.

Good luck on all the maps! Hope you win(unless you facing me lol).