Kennen Build Guide by LordChiefRocka

About the Author

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Hey guys! I'm LordChiefRocka, call me Lord, Chief, Rock, or Rocka. I hope to get involved in the MobaFire community, but I just started. Well guys, this is my first build! Wish me luck! All comments and feedback is strongly appreciated. I would like some criticism to help me further improve my build. Thank you all for taking your time to read this build!!! :D
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Introduction

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Kennen - Heart of the Tempest The Ranged Manaless Burst Mage Lane Versatility: Mid, Top, somtimes Bot Speciality: Passive stun oppurtunity, great farmer and harasser, amazing in teamfights Explanation: I believe for myself that I am experienced enough in the gameplay of Kennen to create a guide about him. This guide is going to be about a Kennen playing in mid lane of a classic Summoner's Rift game (5 versus 5). Kennen is just an amazing champion. He is amazingly versatile, and can go top, mid, and bot lane as ADC. Kennen has huge ability power and burst damage. I will try to show you how to utilize this to your advantage.

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Terms I Will Be Using

Most of you League of Legends players will probably recognize these terms if you're experienced enough in this game, but I'm just putting it out here just in case anyone is new to the game.

Pros / Cons

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PROS

+ Has high mobility for escaping ganks + Manaless, so he gets to spam spells + Has good poke and can sustain in lane + Can farm from a range and has fast base AS

Kennen's E is really good because he can easily escape ganks. Since he is manaless, he can spam more skills especially with a low Q CD. Kennen is a good laner because he can poke really well and has sustain from his spellvamp. Because his Q is a higher range than this AA, it is good to farm from a range and it faster to farm because he has a fast base AS.

CONS

- Short AA range - Q is easily jukable - Can be killed during ult - Long ult CD

Kennen's AA range is shorter than usual so you have to be more up close to the enemy to damage them or put some Marks on them. His Q is easily jukable if you do not time or aim it right. If you activate your ult, you can be killed during that time, so I reccomend Zhonya's. His ult also has a large cooldown, but it is probably for the best because Kennen's ult is really good.

Runes

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Optimal:

greater mark of hybrid penetration

This is the most optimal rune for Kennen. Early game, he always AA's to stack up his W, so using this can enhance your damage to the enemy with W's passive, or just your AA. He also benefits from Hextech Gunblade and this rune together because the rune allows Kennen to dish out more AD and AP damage, both given from the item.

movAlternative:

Get this if you think you don't need early game AA to harass the enemy with your AD+AP. This is a very viable mark for AP casters such as Kennen. It is really useful because when Kennen bursts, he needs that extra magic penetration to get through the MR of his opponent and deal some heavier damage.

Optimal:

I think this should be on every rune page. It protects yourself against AD. I always take this, no matter the champion. I like it because it gives your rune page a well-rounded stat bonus.

Optimal:

This helps Kennen enormously. Being a burst, Kennen needs some resistance to other casters, mainly nukes, especially at level 6. This can be substituted for the scaling version of this to help you in late-game.

movAlternative:

Get this if you like more late game MR, rather than flat MR to help you in early game. I prefer the optimal rune because it gives you a better advantage early game and the scaling glyph does not contribute much later game.

Optimal:

This is very useful especially early game when it gives Kennen a bit more of AP to dish out some higher damage. I usually get three of these, but you can switch one of them out with the alternative. This is better than an alternative because it gives your rune page some damage instead of all utility or defense runes.

movAlternative:

Get one of this rune if you don't need all the AP from the other AP rune. This can just help deal more damage to opponent's who built MR.

Masteries

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This mastery tree is for an aggressive Kennen. I want these masteries to help early game in lane and establish lane dominance. Some points may be switched around here and there, but this is probably the most optimal tree.

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OFFENSE TREE Tier 1: I get Double-Edged Sword because you can do more damage to them, but you can try to avoid some of their damage with other stuff. Sorcery gives good CDR so you can spam skills better because Kennen is manaless. Tier 2: Expose Weakness is extremely useful in teamfights, so your team can easily target someone. Mental Force is pretty basic for mages. Kennen can use any AP he can get. Tier 3: Choose Arcane Mastery because, again, Kennen needs AP. Executioner is a really powerful mastery, helps you kill enemies faster once they have lower health. Tier 4: I think Archmage helps more than just increase a flat AP amount, it gives you 5% more from your total AP. Tier 5: Devastating Strikes ’s hybrid penetration is both useful to your AD and AP and goes well with your Mark of Hybrid Penetration. I use Arcane Blade to increase your AA damage. Tier 6: The last point, Havoc has increased damage. All damage. It's useful.

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DEFENSE TREE Tier 1: I would get Block to protect yourself a little bit, and to get into next tier. Recovery helps sustain Kennen in lane, so it is very useful. Tier 2: I recommend Unyielding to reduce damage even further, and also to proceed into next tier. Veteran Scars provides a flat amount of health to keep Kennen in lane longer, and he will die less often. Tier 3: Juggernaut is the same as what I said with Archmage ; the percentage helps you more with your health, rather than just a small flat amount.

Items

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Doran's Blade - Although Kennen is AP, Doran's Blade is a really good choice. He can use that extra health and attack damage to help his AA's to establish his lane early game. It also helps with gaining health from AAing.

Health Potion - Because Kennen usually outsustains the enemy in lane, you should get this to help if you are low on health and do not want to recall.

Warding Totem As a mid or a top, you would usually want a warding totem to grant you vision, preventing ganks. If you are mid, ward one of the bushes on each side of mid lane (try to predict which bush their jung will come out of), and top lane should always ward the bush near the river.

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Hextech Revolver - Spellvamp: Kennen's main form of sustain. He needs the spellvamp for sustain when he casts his spells. This later on builds into Will of the Ancients, which is a core item on Kennen.

Blasting Wand - Gold-efficient item to get if you're ahead to give a bit of extra AP. This later on builds into a variety of items. Boots of Speed - Just get boots for higher mobility. I don't upgrade them unless I need more speed and if I'm just ahead in farm, or when after getting a few other early game items.

Seeker's Armguard - This helps protect you from AD, also giving you a bit of extra AP. Useful against ganks or an AD caster. The passive allows a bit of snowballing so you can get better stats if you're getting fed quickly. Later builds into Zhonya's Hourglass.

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Will of the Ancients - This is one of Kennen's standard items. You will probably see it on every single Kennen build there is. This is a very cheap item that gives you a lot. The only thing Kennen does not need from it is the mana regen, but who cares. The spellvamp is amazing and it gives him a little AP.

Rabadon's Deathcap - Another item I really like, it helps give a really large bonus to his AP with the passive, plus gives 120 AP. Makes his spells do a lot more damage. Sorcerer's Shoes - These are the standard boots for Kennen, as it allows your magic to penetrate their MR so you can give a bit more damage.

Zhonya's Hourglass - I just love this item. Really, really useful. It gives a huge amount of 120 AP, along with 50 armor to protect against AD. But, wait, there's more! It also has one of the best ability passives in the game, IMO. The stasis is amazing if you can use it right. I like to run into the other team in a teamfight, ult, then use stasis. They can't get you, while you do good damage to them and help your team win the teamfight.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter - I usually get this since it gives a decent amount of AP, plus a lot of health for a mage. It also has a nice passive that slows enemies, giving you an advantage to chase them. The health comes in handy when you are ulting and they are trying to burst you down, but the health will prevent that and the ult could kill them.

Void Staff - This is a very good item, and is very cheap for it’s worth. It gives you a solid amount of 70 AP, plus 35% magic penetration. The magic penetration allows you to dish out more damage because you can shred through your opponent’s MR. Hextech Gunblade - This is a very good item because it gives the basic needs of a Will of the Ancients and it gives AD. You should get this if you are ahead in the game. It also scales with your W, Electrical Surge to give you a bit more damage.

Enchantment: Alacrity - STORY: Well someone once told me: ANONYMOUS_NAME (Miss Fortune): hey kennen, your little legs move so damn fast, but ya dont get anywhere xD So I felt I needed to show that Kennen's epic ninja skill tiny fast moving legs can get him somewhere. I bought this enchantment. :P This helps chase champions, so you can burst them better. I like this personally; it can be easily switched with Enchantment: Homeguard.

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Lich Bane - Gives a good bit of AP, but HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED. It gives movement speed, which Kennen does not need because he is already mobile. This is not a bad thing, it is just it is not a necessity and Kennen can buy a better item. It gives mana, but Kennen is a manaless mage. These stats are wasted because you will not be able to get the absolute value of the Lich Bane.

Abyssal Mask - This gives a really nice addition to your build if you alternate it for Void Staff. It gives a pretty good amount of 70 AP, and also gives a bit of MR. This helps counter bursty champions and helps protect against AP. The passive also allows you to better burst the other champion by reducing their MR.

Deathfire Grasp - Pretty nice item to get if you're ahead. This gives a lot of AP, and gives 10% CDR. This will give your ult a faster CD. The active is amazing for dueling, you can amplify the damage and kill them faster and also deals a good amount of damage at the start. It is also very good in team fights if you focus one person and burst them down.

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Boot Enchantments

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Homeguard It helps regenerate your health really fast once in base, and you can go help defend really fast. It also helps when you are attacking and you need to go somewhere in a short amount of time.

Distortion This is also a viable option because your Flash's cooldown will be reduced and Teleport if you are using it. The after-effect is also useful because once you use those spells, you gain MS.

Furor This can help you chase enemies if you deal damage with spells, so you gain MS. It also helps you escape if you stun them and gain MS in the process. However, I do not usually get this item.

Ability Sequence

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Put a point into your R- Slicing Maelstrom whenever you can, no doubt about that. We should usually max out our Q- Thundering Shuriken first as it is our main damage source. Another viable option is maxing his W- Electrical Surge, but this is more for AD builds, so I prefer to prioritize Q over it. Maxing W second is very good because it provides more damage with W's passive and active. I max out our E- Lightning Rush last because it brings the least to the table early game. It gives the same amount of MS, but provides more MR and damage. However the utility for this skill is not high enough for me to prioritize it first.
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CAN YOU SEE ME??? Mark of the Storm
Stuns enemy when they receive 3 marks.
This is Kennen's passive. Each ability gives an enemy 1 mark of the storm, and receiving 3 marks will trigger a stun. It is useful because Kennen can easily use 3 of his skills fast to stun the enemy. I like it because it is a passive CC for Kennen.
Thundering Shuriken:
Short CD skillshot that damages and marks enemy.
This is Kennen's Q, which is a skillshot that has a really low cooldown. These might be a little hard to land if you have little to no experience. It can help you farm from farther away because this has a further range than his AA, but can be blocked by enemy minions the opposing champion is standing behind.
Electrical Surge:
PASSIVE: Dishes out marks every 5 AA's. ACTIVE: Damages and marks all enemies with Mark of Storm.
This is Kennen's W. This has a range, but no limit to how much enemies you can hit with it. The passive allows you to do more damage on AA's and give a Mark. Activating this ability will deal large magic damage to any enemies with mark of storm on them, and will yet receive another mark.
Lightning Rush:
Becomes untargetable, gains MS, damages and marks enemies he passes through, but cannot AA.
This is Kennen's E. It is a large steroid for his movement speed and his armor and MR. However, he cannot AA, but he can use his abilities during this time period. Kennen can easily escape ganks with this because he can pass through units. It is a really nice escape and engaging tool, but beware; if you use this to engage, you might not be able to get out of the situation. It is also at a disadvantage because you have to be at melee range to do damage. One tip I suggest to farm some minion waves, is to use E and run through all the minions and then use W to do even more damage. If you are sure of imminent damage, activate this quickly to block out a portion of that damage.
Slicing Maelstrom:
A storm that deals 3 bolts of magic damage per enemy and marks them. Number of bolts summoned scales with ability level.
This is Kennen's R, his ult. This is amazing. This is his AoE stun. The storm can hit enemies 3 times! However, it can only hit 6/10/15 times. But if you are targeting the enemy champion, it can hit them 3 times and activate the stun, giving you more time to deal damage to them. It is also really useful in teamfights, where you can hit most of the enemy champions, giving your team a better advantage. The item I recommend to best suit his ult is Zhonya's Hourglass. This gives Kennen more armor to protect himself from enemies if they try to kill him during his ult. The active of zhonya's is also really useful because, I try to E into their team, use my ult, and then activate zhonya's so they can't touch me. I love this combo because it has a chance of stunning some of their team, dealing large amounts of damage while you take none.

Summoner Spells

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Flash is a great summoner spell to initiate a fight. You can use flash to get closer to the enemy team, then E, to get even farther ahead to get a good edge on your opponent(s), then burst and kill them. Never substitute this spell; it is a must-have on him.

Ignite helps Kennen if he is not able to fully kill an enemy, he can use this summoner spell to finish them off as DoT. However, if you believe that your burst is enough to kill your opponent, then this can be switched off for an alternative.

Barrier can be substituted for ignite. This can help Kennen in a sticky situation where you are about to die. When timed well, it can save your life, so you can E out of that place.

Teleport can be substituted for ignite. This keeps Kennen sustainable in his lane even if he recalls.

Kennen Mid-Lane Matchups

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EASY Description Personally I think Ahri is easy to beat in mid lane as Kennen. All I do is dodge the charm, poke her with AA's and Q, and wait for her to run out of mana as I farm, and I later dominate the lane.

EASY Description Rush your spellvamp so you can sustain as well as Akali. Just farm and poke her and be patient so you can burst her when shes low while you stay in line. Use W on her, but always E away to make sure you're just poking and not initiating a fight.

HARD Description Annie's stuns are really hard to escape from and her Q is much easier to land than your Q. Just stay out of her range and farm and poke once in a while, but never try to engage her.

EASY Description You, as Kennen, have so much more mobility than Anivia and can easily dodge her skillshots. Very easy to turn off her ult with one of Kennen's stuns, even though it's a toggle.

EASY Description Since Kennen has pretty good mobility, it's easy to dodge most of Brand's skillshots. Just play aggressive until he goes back or he just gets low and you can easily kill him because he has no sustain.

EASY-MEDIUM Description Make sure to land your Q and get as much marks from your passive on her as possible to get a good stun. Use your E for extra MR and mobility to protect yourself from her poison skillshots. Don't engage her with your ult unless Cassiopeia's ult is on CD.

MEDIUM-HARD Description His silence is really annoying because Kennen doesn't use mana and can spam spells. Cho'Gath's knock-up counters Kennen because it lowers his ability to maneuver well. Just try to out-poke him, passively farm, and get a lot of stuns on him during lane so he doesn't harass you too much.

EASY-HARD Description Some people say she's easy and some say she's hard so I really don't know.

EASY Description Play aggressive early game before he gets his ult. Post-6, remember to dodge his ult with E. Also, if the ult hits you, use E for some MR before it damages you. It is easy to outfarm him because he is a melee champ. You have to poke and outsustain in the lane.

MEDIUM Description He is pretty hard to outfarm and outsustain because he takes reduced damage and he is a very tanky-AP caster. I usually try to zone him, but watch out for jung ganks. Get boots early game and 3 pots so you have higher mobility to dodge his barrels and pots for sustain.

EASY Description You outrange him a lot. Your Q is larger than his turret's range, and your AA is greater than his AA. The only threat to you is his rockets, so just get higher mobility to dodge them. Also to dodge his rockets, stay behind your minions so they won't hit you.

EASY Description He is not much of a threat. Just outfarm him and push him hard early and mid game. He gets better late game however, but so do you. Use E before getting hit by his ult to reduce some damage. Use your stun on him when his ult is toggling to disrupt it.

HARD Description Use your lightning rush to gain bonus MR to protect yourself. Your E also comes in useful because it has a high mobility if he riftwalks near you. He is an anti-mage, so it is hard to play against him.

EASY Description Really easy to cancel Katarina's ult with your stun. Kennen can also escape better than her. He also outlanes her.

UNKNOWN Description Don't know about this one.

HARD Description She can burst you down really hard. Farm under tower, and don't let her blink to you because she might kill you really fast. Try to dodge her E to mess up her combo.

EASY Description Lissandra's strength is CC in teamfights, so you can beat her in laning phase. Try to build a bit more AD early game because she is really squishy.

EASY-HARD Description Play aggressive. Don't get snared, use your E to move out of the way. Your E also comes in useful when dodging her ult and slow bomb.

HARD Description The only skill you have against him when laning is your Q, because he outranges you. However if he hides behinds minions it is hard to land. Try not to let him push too much, but if he does, stun him under tower or ask for a gank. You need to last-hit under tower a lot, due to his pushing playstyle.

EASY-MEDIUM Description You are very mobile, so run around him and poke a lot. Don't stay next to your creeps because he might hit them and you. In this match-up max W first! Helps stun him and do more damage.

MEDIUM Description She is a safe pick, so it is hard to completely dominate the lane. You both have spellvamp; so both of you have good sustain. Try to play more aggressive and waste her mana so she has to go B.

EASY Description Dodge her spear, because that is her main damage output. Getting stuns on her is very important because you can easily kill her with your combo.

UNKNOWN Description Don't know about this one.

VERY HARD Description I really hate this matchup. If someone is agreeable to switch lanes, I usually do it. Really annoying when he snares you when you are in E. You cannot dodge any of his skills. Once you get close to him with your E, he has an advantage because he is tanky, can spam spells, and is very good close range. Use your Q to harass him, and just try to farm.

MEDIUM Description Easy to harass him because he is a melee champ. Build more AD early game. AA on him constantly to land your stun and poke him. Watch out for his combo because he can teleport to you. Build armor to counter his AD.

EASY Description TF usually has to push his lane really hard so he can gank other lanes, but Kennen's pushing power is superior to his. Stay behind minions and try to outpoke and harass him. You also have more sustain than him.

UNKNOWN Description I don't know about this one.

MEDIUM Description Use your E before he ults to negate the damage, and it also helps for you to dodge his attacks. Try to stun him while he uses his locus of power because he is really easy to target then. Poke and harass with Q so he cannot regenerate his mana. Also start with boots so you can dodge his shots easier.

EASY Description Really easy to dodge his ult by using Zhonya's Hourglass's active. Rush Seeker's Armguard early game, so you can protect yourself against AD. This is a skill-decided match-up, but you usually have the advantage.

Last Words & Special Thanks

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In conclusion, this guide is about Kennen, an AP caster that bursts and needs high mobility to effectively play against your opponent. Again, you can disagree with my choices and choose a few different items, but I suspect most of it will be pretty similar. Please, upvote my guide if you think it is useful! Also, help provide feedback so I can further improve my guide. I really enjoyed creating this wonderful-looking build. I couldn't have done it without jhoijhoi's guide. I should really encourage using this guide if you want to create your own build in the future.



Thank you Qione for the wonderful-looking banners! Qione did a great job, so I recommend you to request in the shop Here is link to the shop:

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After publishing my build, 3 people immediately noticed the faults in my guide, so thank you to 97BligenN, EdisonKhoo, and crystalfortress for providing feedback so I could further improve my guide.

Also, a big shout-out to Ravenholm and Meiyjhe for reviewing my guide. It was really helpful, they both provided great detail on how to improve my guide. Check out their review shops!

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