Shaco Build Guide by Kazeshinzui
Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.
Thank You!
Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
Masteries
Introduction
Hey guys! I was bored enough in school that I started to think about trying my hand at making a guide. So here it is!
Shaco has been one of my all time favorite characters. With the release of Dominion, Shaco was given a new play ground to really show off his unique skills because I believe Shaco truly thrives when he can set up calmly in the midst of heat of battle. With the high amount of action, and not having to worry about farm, Shaco is given everything he needs to jest your opponents to death.
Pros / Cons
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Extremely Fun
Has a ten-second flash with invisibility with a guaranteed critical
Great Ganker
VERY Annoying
Great AP Ratios
Can defend a point very well
Cons:
Very Squishy
Requires good intuition to play to its fullest
Susceptible to CC
Not effective against tanks
Runes
I personally go with my caster runes my caster runes for Shaco
Greater Quintessence of Ability Power Flat AP Quints to get just outright damage, especially with stacked JitB's. Two Shiv poison also hits so much harder.
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction Cooldown Reduction is also extremely important on Shaco in my opinion. Since your two main skills will be Two Shiv and JitBs, you want to be able to use these as much as possible and just focus on pure ability power first before CDR. More CDR means more JitBs.
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration Mana Regen is also very important for Shaco early game allowing him to stay out in the action a lot longer. Also allows you to focus on your offensive items.
[Greater Mark of Insight]] Magic penetration is just amazing with JitB with its rapid fire, and when stacked and its amazingly powerful.
Masteries
I personally like going 9/0/21 emphasizing on the utility tree. The offensive tree to get that needed AP masteries and cripple.
Items
Core:
/
/
/
With Dominion being amazing enough to provide 1375 gold right off the bat and so much income, having expensive builds is no problem at all. I personally believe in going for sheen first and boots of mobility. However, I experimented with going with Boots of Mobility first and going 
Sheen first and have discovered going boots first ends with being mana starved and not enough damage, vs having the damage but losing roaming ability. So I decided on going 
Amplifying Tome, Sapphire Cyrstal, and 
Boots of Speed. This gets you speed, while getting you decent enough sustainability to get damage and throw out skills until you can recall to but sheen and mobility boots at once.
Next up would be building into that early Rabadon's Deathcap. Once you get this bad boy, your damage output just becomes insane. Two-Shiv hits so hard on any squishy character and anyone unfortunate enough to trip a box will just have a bad day. With Hallucinate, you have yourself a high powered nuke if it blows up on you.
Right after I go for Lich Bane. Not only does this piece of work get you increased movement speed, but also adds your AP power to your next basic attack. This works WONDERS with your skills, most especially with Deceive. Early game you will use it mainly to escape and to cover distance or to gank. With Lich Bane, you can easily two shiv, deceive, and finish them off.
With the damage, and poke covered, Deathfire Grasp has your next step covered. A mini nuke, gets you AP, Mp regen, and also has the ever so important CDR that allows you to be able to give your opponents oh so much more from your bag of trick and trollery.
And if you really really do get this far....its all up to your own preference.
Also, since Shaco is considered a very good Capturer, you may also find room for Pricilla's Blessing. I suppose I've never grabbed this before because I usually play on teams that already have a Capturer. Take this if there is no one who fits the full timer, because not only does it give you increase capture speed, but the minute cooldown mini ghost, and health regen helps you stay alive and run around the map much faster.
Skills
– Straight forward passive and really emphasizes what he's good at. Finishing a fleeing enemy.
– Flash, Invisibility, Critical. This skill is amazing. Use it for everything from ganking to chasing, to dodging, to getting the surprise critical finisher. This + Lich Bane = Win. Avoid using this to initiate because it is your valuable escape method too. WORD OF WARNING: Being too close to a Capture Point will reveal Shaco even if he is invisible.
– In my opinion this is Shaco's signature skill. Proper use of this skill also separates the good Shaco from the great ones. It serves as a temporary sight ward and helps cover escape routes and stop if not slow down potential ganks. Also, throw these down in the middle of a team fight in all the confusion and cause mass fear to gain your team temporary advantage. In dominion use these to cover your own turrets, and throw them near by at points your are trying to capture. Throwing a ton on relics is an extremely funny thing to do too!
Be wary when using JitB's by the Greater Relics and Capture Points, they ARE VISIBLE if they are too close.
– Your harassment skill. This bad boy has a 1.0 AP ratio so it hits hard. Even harder if you decide to build into hybrid and add Hextech Gunblade, because it also scales half of your weapon attack damage. Keep your distance and use this to poke people very often. Its very easy to finish off a low health opponent with this skill. I prefer to use this as a finisher, instead of using deceive to close the gap and finish because I try to keep it as an escape method. It also slows your target and has someone of a mini blind effect. You can use it if you're forced to actually fight close range. Use it to poke someone trying to capture a point and stay at a safe distance near set up JitB's.
– (Can be controlled by pressing Alt + Right Clicking) This Ultimate in my opinion is one of the hardest to master in my opinion, but when you do pull it off, it HIGHLY rewarding. AP Shaco capitalizes so on this skill so much more than a Hybrid or DPS due to its amazing 1.0 AP Ratio along with its already great burst damage.
Your clone is your best friend in so many ways. Activating this skill temporarily puts you in a stage where you dodge anything while you're dividing in two. Not only that, it is the main source for your opponents frustration and your pleasure when they have to decide if the Shaco he's chasing is actually the real one. There are many many ways you can use your clone to play mind games and to get the burst damage in to put opponent's low enough for you to hunt down very easily.
One of my favorite ways to use my clone is to use it when I'm already low health. Activate your clone, and go hide. Use it to last hit some minions or something then have it run right at a group of champions. This is amazingly great bait and also a HUGE trap for any melee type fighter. For Jax, its like a death trap. He just leaps to his own demise.
Careful though, good opponent's will be able to tell the real you apart from the clone, especially if you have buffs or your sheen/lich bane is activated.
Skill Sequence
Dominion has all characters starting off at level three, giving Shaco the tools he needs to clean someone up right off the bat. I personally love to start with boxes first and stack, but I have discovered going One point in Deceive and Two in Two-Shiv Poison. This allows you finish someone off extremely easily and also get some reliable harass. At level four, grab Jack In The Box and prepare for trolling.
I will then prioritize Two-Shiv Poison for its extremely reliable harass.
Next I will then max out Jack in the Box because you will want to get your defensive abilities up. I realize to maximize deceive, its best used later when you get Lich Bane, and when I started deceive leveling up I did not have Lich Bane yet. Lastly get your deceive last for the finishing touches.
Always grab Hallucinate points whenever you can.
Summoner Spells
Ghost is somewhat of a standard IMO in Dominion since mobility is so important. Shaco also has a built in flash on steroids thats every 10 seconds, so might as well go with ghost.
Exhaust is my preferred second skill, to add to my chasing and running away skills.
Team Work
As Shaco, you have great mobility and possess the ability to jump in and out of battles and to slip away with no trace. This makes Shaco extremely good at Ganking and stealing Capture Points.
Right from the start, I play Shaco as a Gank clean up crew. I will start from Refinery/Drill, which ever mid point side I have, and have one person go down, and the other three go up. Shortly after grabbing middle, I will have reached level 4, so grab that JitB point and lay down one near by mid and go up. By this point I usually pop Ghost, and near the top, i'll place one more JitB near an enemy retreat/reinforce route for safe measure.
By now, usually the fight for windmill will have resulted in heavy damage in both sides, making your arrival a welcome relief for your teammates and also usually death for your opponent's. Single out the opponent with the lowest health, usually the squishiest, and throw your shiv. If thats not enough to finish him, deceive in and finish him off. If enemies are trying to capture the windmill, pop another JitB right underneath them to disrupt and help your teammates secure that early advantage. Always remember to throw your JitB's in the entry/exit points to the Windmill to secure safety. Personal preferance, I dont like to put JitB's on the main lane's unless if a minion wave has JUST passed, or if the enemy minion wave has been pushed far enough.
Now after this, if you're the only one remaining up top, stay for as long as you can and throw JitB's everywhere. Try and hold off until a teammate can reinforce and go ahead and recall back to base. You should have enough to upgrade to both Boots of Mobility and Sheen.
Now from here on out, Shaco's role will change depending on the situation. Shaco can actually hold CP (capture point) very well against a solo opponent so if you see an unguarded point and a person coming for it, go deny them the opportunity. A personal favorite combo is when I have a Heimerdinger on the team, because Turret + JitB = You shall not pass. Heimerdinger is one of Dominion's best defenders in my opinion, and add Shaco, and its just amazing.
Shaco is also an extremely good capturer. He can throw down JitB's before hand in his escape route, as well as throw one right before he begins to capture in the path of where an enemy will try to interrupt you. This can buy you that crucial extra second of fear to grab your point and Deceive out.
As Shaco I tend to constantly roam the map and usually travel through the center area. Always, always, throw down JitBs around every intersection between two or more path whenever possible. This will grant vision in the area of The Crystal Scar that isn't being revealed. Not only that, it will help allies who are seemingly dead escape (including yourself), but also occasionally pick you up a free kill from a retreating enemy.
In fights, always focus down the squishiest person. As Shaco, you have the ability to single out on person and take them down. Two-Shiv hits like a truck on squishies, especially once you get Rabadon's Deathcap. Regrettably, Shaco does not like tanks or anyone who has built some MR so try to let your teammates take care of them. Also, in team fights, let your clone initiate for your team if no one else does. Its hilarious how many times opponents have wasted their ultimates to blow up a clone, and sometimes themselves. Also, if you managed to get it in the middle of the fight, the massive AoE it does will almost always turn the tide of a fight. Deceive in, throw a JitB right beneath them in the confusion, and proceed to get your kills.
I am currently working on a video to show examples of how I use his skills, and hopefully inspire your own tactics so keep an eye out!
Summary
Shaco overall is an extremely mobile character on this map, and in the fast paced type of game play introduced by Dominion, Shaco's tricks and traps are extremely effective. It is very easy to get someone to make the wrong move, because they will not be able to think at 100% of the time and instead just use reaction. Shaco is a POWERFUL character, and what separates a good Shaco from an amazing Shaco, is the summoner's perception. Shaco has two extremely powerful abilities in the form of Hallucinate and Jack in the Box. These used correctly will make your opponent want to rip their hair out.
If you enjoy relishing in your opponent's frustration and employing a little more strategy than just “right click win” (although DPS Shaco can do that too!), Shaco is the champion for you.
P.S. : Any feed back on what does or does not work out for you using this build would be greatly appreciated!
Changelog
9/30/11 - Added a Teamwork Section
- Split up the Skill Sequence into Skill Sequence and Skill Sections
10/3/11 - Changed Skill Sequence to prioritize JitBs second after Two-Shiv
- Updated Skill Sequence section to match
- Updated Items to only the Core
|
|
|
Guide Discussion (15)
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.