Akali Build Guide by Regorius

Moar damage is better most of the time. If you want to go 17/13/0, Start with Sorcery , which is better than attack speed, shaving a second of cooldown off of your Twilight Shroud at 5%. Getting Brute Force and Mental Force unlocks Martial Mastery and arcane mastery, which empower your Twin Disciplines when combined with your runes. From here, we can go Executioner , Dangerous Game , and Arcane Blade for all out damage.

Recovery and Block are both preferable to Enchanted Armor , given its % bonus to your mediocre resistances. Enchanted Armor does apply to your Twilight Shroud resistance bonus, however, so if you wanted to shift a point from Block and Unyielding , it could pay off. Maybe switch a skill point from Crescent Slash into Twilight Shroud to milk a bit more out of it. Evasive and Oppression are both great skills that help make Akali surprisingly tanky in melee engagements via her W. One reduces damage from those trying to trade with her up close, and the other reduces damage from many forms of ranged harass. Those are both viable options in the defensive tree. Add 2 points to Fleet of Foot to round out a conservative 12/16/2 tree.

Relic Shield is probably the best option. Using the charges well in the early game can help you and your ADC stay in lane.

Ancient Coin is useless for you, don't get it.

Spellthief's Edge can get you some extra money, if you can land lots of hits and not get run outta lane. Which you can't. So don't.

Ninja Tabi are nice bottom lane and represent the majority of your armor until you buy Seeker's Armguard. My top pick.

Mercury's Treads are another solid option. The MR and tenacity are great against ranged engages and improve your agility.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity will let you throw out more Twilight Shrouds. Get it if you can work the hell out of your engages. Otherwise, the above two will be your best choices.

Sorcerer's Shoes will only benefit you if you ignore this build and load on more AP. Better yet, buy Void Staff if you need the penetration.

Dropping 800g on a Sightstone is pretty important. It protects your team, saves you gold in the long run, and can help set up some money making plays later on. Plus, you can just sell it. Encourage your team to upgrade their Warding Totems before you wean off of it.

This is not a rush build worthy item in my opinion. having the vision is nice, the extra health essential, but Targon's Brace will handle early health problems and a few Vision Wards will smooth over your blind spots. This isn't to say you shouldn't get it. I'd advise getting the Sightstone shortly after finishing your first AP component.

This item has seldom failed me for gaining an early edge in the lane phase. This is usually the first offensive item I build. If you don't like the items it builds into and can afford to back down your damage output for a bit, get Fiendish Codex, Aether Wisp, or Blasting Wand to build one of the items below.

Choosing Iceborn Gauntlet over Lich Bane may not be a bad idea. She can use it well given her short cooldowns on Q and E. Three things bother me about this selection:

1.) The loss of straight ability power
2.) How the damage passive differs on spellblade
3.) All that mana falls into a black hole.

Regardless, I have always found an early Sheen invaluable.

An amazing item on Akali. It adds AP, MR, and debuffs the enemy in a way that benefits magic damage from your abilities, passive, and allies. Get it. An early Blasting Wand will make your Q formidable and autoattacks more potent. If you aren't threatened by enemy AP, grab a void staff. A moderate deficit of MR isn't too big a deal if you can kill them before they get their combos off.

A possible item to replace this slot would be Wit's End. The build would have to have a bit more tankiness to justify an autoattack focus, though. One solid AR or MR item paired with this and a bolstered health pool would do wonders. You generally are going to be assassinating lightly protected carries, though, so be sure they aren't able to outmaneuver you ( Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Twin Shadows)

Mobility, CC, CDR, and 80 AP! Great item. Determine whether you need the CDR or MS when you buy the first piece. Neither of the items offer you overwhelming damage, instead offering utility, so don't rush into either if you need more AP than they offer.

Kills can be secured (usually for your ADC) early if you use your Twilight Shroud wisely. Its cooldown is substantial, so make sure you have it available when it counts. Controlling the bushes gives you more room to work, and while Twilight Shroud can help you gain control, using natural cover will help you manage the cooldown. Against most opponents, however, the only pre-6 kills you'll be getting are from counterattacks / baiting.

The dual effect of stealth and CC allows you to consume at least one mark if you drop the Twilight Shroud on top of and slightly behind your target. Your Crescent Slash has a higher hit radius than your autoattack, so use it to get your damage in. The distance between you and your target should be close at the start of the engage, so try to transition from the bushes into the shroud quickly to avoid damage and get your licks in before your target pulls out. This type of harass is difficult for most supports to counter, presuming you do more damage than you receive in counterattacks. Keep the pressure up as long as one of the enemy champs are out of position.

Against champions with low mobility or paired with an ally who has solid CC, Aether Wisp will help you close the gap, land your attack, and retreat from the resulting counterattacks.

Be mindful of your ADC. You have the ability to, for the most part, engage and disengage at will. Most ADCs cannot without being heavily harassed by the enemy. If you push up too far, they may follow you into a situation they can't get out of. The only help you can give your team in full retreat is the CC from your W, assuming it isn't already on cooldown.

Build order is essential to your strategy. Having too much health in the early game by rushing Sightstone may leave you impotent. More AP is always good, as it helps you secure kills and gain lane dominance, as well as increasing the value of spellvamp from your Twin Disciplines. Conversely, lacking a decent health pool will leave you vulnerable to harass, prohibiting you from making the aggressive plays you need to win lane. A balance is achievable via Targon's Brace and Sheen / Aether Wisp. In some situations, it may be better to rush certain items. Lacking a Sightstone becomes a greater liability the longer the game goes on. Cooldown reduction or movement speed via Fiendish Codex or Aether Wisp may be more immediately beneficial than the spellblade passive on Sheen. If you skipped the Greater Mark of Attack Damage or Martial Mastery , perhaps you should skip Sheen altogether.

Avoid going toe to toe with anyone if your W is on cooldown, you have no Essence of Shadow stacks for your Shadow Dance, or there is no nearby cover for you to shake the enemy in. After 6, you should be able to secure a kill or two if you have support and the enemy stays too long in lane. Again, maintaining pressure can force the enemy team into bad positions.

To unlock more cooldown reduction at a pinch, I recommend Fiendish Codex. The benefit of ability power outweighs that of health from Kindlegem, especially if you already have Targon's Brace.