Elise Build Guide by elephantbuddy

Introduction

Hello Everyone, and welcome to my support Elise guide. Elise was one of the first champions I ever owned in League of Legends (after Mr. Yi of course). Back when I was a noob, I was playing with a friend. He was playing adc and I was support. He told me that the Korean pros played elise as a support and that I should try it. Needless to say I failed miserably. But after much improvement with Elise, supporting and LoL in general, I tried Elise support once more...and it worked! I am making this guide so people who play support can find a new champion and so that people who play Elise can find a new role for her. Thanks for checking it out.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Tons of burst Tons of poke Really just a lot of damage in general (for a support) She's a spider

Cons: Rather mana hungry Difficult to play (7 spells and whatnot) Not naturally tanky (easily remedied through runes, masteries and items)

Runes

greater mark of hybrid penetration
These increase your damage by a lot. Your AA's actually do something now (at least early-game), and magic pen. is godly on Elise.
you could also use Greater Mark of Armor against a high damage or long range adc like Draven or Caitlyn or an autoattack-happy support like Thresh, but only if you do not think you can handle it. Elise should be able to bully a lot of bot-laners so usually offensive marks would be the best. Greater Mark of Magic Penetration would also work.

Greater Seal of Armor
Standard on supports and most champions in general. I cannot think of any mark that would be better. I would not recommend Greater Seal of Gold, unless you play extremely passively.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
These are situational. Elise does not gain MR/Lvl and she no longer gains bonus resistances in spider form, so as much magic resistance as possible for late-game is usually best. However, most supports and even many adc's deal a high amount of magic damage early game, so Greater Glyph of Magic Resist might be better in a lot of cases. Especially take these if they do not have much magic damage outside of bot lane.

Greater Quintessence of Health
I prefer these because they make you a lot tankier at level 1. Unless you put at least 9 mastery points into defense (I don't because CDR and magic pen. are so much more useful on Elise than a little bit of health and resistances) you will be super squishy and wont be able to engage much until later levels. However, don't think these are absolutely necessary; quints are personal preference; feel free to take whatever you like (or have). Greater Quintessence of Gold are great, as are Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration and greater quintessence of hybrid penetration.

Masteries

The keys here are the 10% CDR from Sorcery and Intelligence as well as the 8% magic pen. from Arcane Knowledge . If you feel you can get plenty of CDR from items and you would be better off being tankier than doing damage, feel free to invest in the defense tree. As long as you have Explorer and Wealth you should be fine (and really those aren't necessary, just the meta). 0-9-21 are viable as well as 0-14-16/1-13-16.

Summoner Spells

Flash
seeing as Elise's one and only escape has a rather long cooldown and requires you to be near a jungle camp or severely overextended flash is pretty necessary. Also: Flash-> Cocoon. Try it sometime ;)

Exhaust vs. Heal
Elise has no way to sustain her adc. She also has no cc besides Cocoon. Take your pick. These are the best two Summoners for Elise next to Flash.

Clairvoyance, Clarity and Ignite
These are all decent choices. Clairvoyance really helps your jungler get an edge. Clarity is good for a mana-hungry adc, and Ignite is good for that little extra first blood damage, however, don't take Ignite if your adc does.

I do not recommend any other summoner spells for any support, Elise included.

Abilities

Neurotoxin/ Venomous Bite
These are your main source of damage. Max it first always. Remember in Human Form you do percentage current health damage so it hurts more the more health a target has. In Spider Form it does percentage missing health damage, so save it for last, but don't ks with it (or do, hehe). Also, both have high base damages, so don't think that Venomous Bite won't do anything unless they are below half health and vice versa.

Volatile Spiderling/ Skittering Frenzy
These are the other part of your damage and your sustain and should usually be maxed second. Volatile Spiderling will give sight in a small area around the spiderling. use it to scout brush before warding. Also, although the cast range is rather short (for a skillshot), it has a deceptively long lock-on range, so you can poke extremely effectively and safely with this. Frequent use of this skill will run you out of mana fast and push your lane, due to it being AoE damage. Try shooting it past the caster minions but still in range to lock on to the enemy adc if he is playing safe behind minions. Skittering Frenzy is a massive attack speed boost and heal. It bursts towers extremely hard, especially with more levels in your ult. It also makes you deceptively hard to kill. If you are being focused by the enemy botlane, just press w and take the hits while your adc puts the hurt on them. Skittering Frenzy ends if you change back to human form.

Cocoon/ Rappel
These are usually leveled last, although if you think you will need your stun a lot, feel free to max it second or at least put a couple more points in it early. Cocoon gives sight on an enemy if it hits, so you know you landed your stun, and can also follow up with your targeted abilities. Rappel is a gap-closer/escape/built-in Zhonya's/drop turret aggro real quick/probably so many other things I don't know of yet. If Skittering Frenzy wasn't enough to keep you alive, just Rappel while your carry finishes them off. If an enemy is getting out of range of your adc and Venomous Bite can finish them off, just Rappel after them and end it. An assist for your carry is better than no assist or kill. Got caught warding and are on an epic chase through the jungle, rappel up in range of a jungle camp and land down over there, at worst they will burn a flash to kill you.

Spider Form
Spider form gives you movespeed and extra damage. Human form is ranged. That's the basics of this skill. Usually you will want to be in Human Form in lane, so you have your stun ready and so your spiderlings can't steal cs. Use spiderlings to tank towers (only to take them down, towers will still focus you if you dive) or to block skillshots. They aren't the most useful damage-wise, but with 5 of them all attacking one enemy while Skittering Frenzy is activated, they can still dish out some serious hurt.

Note: You should get all 3 (err...6) abilities by level 3. I usually start Volatile Spiderling or Cocoon for the utility since Neurotoxin/ Venomous Bite doesn't do much early anyways.

Combos

Cocoon-> Neurotoxin-> Volatile Spiderling-> Spider Form-> Venomous Bite
This is your burst combo. Landing the cocoon will give your carry time to react if you are not able to verbally communicate (i.e. solo queue), and will give you a few seconds of free damage. then you follow up with Neurotoxin first, since it does more damage with more health. you can launch Volatile Spiderling first if you are far away, since it moves slower than Neurotoxin's projectile. After casting both of those, switch to Spider Form and use Venomous Bite. Follow this combo up with Skittering Frenzy if they fight or Rappel if they run. use another Venomous Bite and then your Cocoon should be almost off cooldown, so you can start the whole thing over again (this is why CDR is essential on Elise).

Cocoon-> Spider Form-> Rappel
This is your surefire escape combo. Simply stun to buy yourself time to get in position to Rappel and then Rappel over a wall to a jungle camp. You can also use it as your Survive-the-Dive combo. after Cocoon wait until the stun wears off before Rappeling to get 3.5 seconds of safety under turret. If you can (and they are melee), Rappel to the other side of the turret or at least as far away from them as possible while staying under turret. Also pop a Health Potion and Skittering Frenzy after landing to live even longer if you are still being dived (none of this applies if they are going for your carry, if that happens just land your normal combo on them and spam Dunkey quotes in all-chat to distract them).

NOTE:

you need to keep track of your cooldowns for whatever form you are not in. If you ult back too early, you could end up paying with your life.

Items

Building Elise for supporting means obtaining artificial income (gp10's), Increasing teamfight utility (using active and/or aura items and such), and being able to peel for your carry. As Elise does not have much cc, she relies on her burst to scare divers off her adc or help kill them before they can kill your adc. So the 3 types of items we want on Elise are gp10's, utility items and damage items.

GP10's

Gp10's are items that increase you gold income, usually by giving you a flat amount of gold per 10 seconds. They are almost mandatory on supports, as supports usually only supplement their income with assists and ward kills. You should usually build two of these items and sometimes three.

Ruby Sightstone
This item doesn't give straight gold back to you, but it saves money on wards (which you should be buying as a support) equivalent to more than 8 gold per 10 seconds. Also, it gives you health, which helps with tanking those pesky adc's during laning phase and surviving any aoe burst from divers during teamfights. There is no reason for a support not to get this item. So get it.

philosopher's stone
This is the next most common item on supports. It gives 5 gp10, the most among actual gp10 giving items. It gives awesome sustain as well. Its upgrades are more utility oriented than kage's lucky pick, and since Elise doesn't need much to do enough damage to healthful bruisers diving your carry (%health dmg, ftw), I prefer building it over kage's lucky pick.

kage's lucky pick
Speaking of which, this is the only other gp10 you should be buying as a support, except for maybe support Ashe. Its upgrades are more damage oriented (though they still have plenty of utility in them). Get this if you need more income, are getting fed, or just prefer/need one of its upgrades.

The Most important Items in the Game

These are the 4 most important items in the game. Buy them.

sight wards
You should know why wards are important. Vision wins games. Give your team vision, so you can win. No one will thank you for warding, but they will flame at you for not warding. Don't think this only your responsibility; your entire team should buy wards (except your adc during laning phase, you should have enough; he should buy wards after though). You are still the main warder of the team and should make sure the most important spots are warded.

Vision Wards
Since vision wins games, if follows that lack of vision loses games. Vision Wards allow you to see enemy wards within their radius; place them at the most important places on the map (i.e. baron nashor and dragon ). Also bush control goes a long way towards winning a lane (this is why I start with two Vision Wards). You can zone the enemy adc by just being in the bush and them not knowing where you are. you can pounce any time you get the chance.

Oracle's Elixir
This gives yourself the ability to see any ward within a 600 radius of you. It is used to clear less important enemy ward spots, so you don't have to buy so many Vision Wards. Use Oracle's Elixir to clear the area around dragon and baron nashor of wards so the enemy team doesn't know your team is doing it.

Aegis of the Legion/ Runic Bulwark
This is the most important permanent item in the game. Usually built on the jungler or occasionally the top laner in team play, in solo queue you may need to build it if no one else does. It gives you team a massive resistance buff (especially bulwark) and decent health regen. Make sure there is/will be one on your team in every game.

Boots

Boots are a luxury for a support in my opinion. Definitely buy them if you have money left after getting wards, though.

Sorcerer's Shoes
These are my preferred boots. These alone will give you all the damage you need for mid-game skirmishes and even early late-game teamfights. Since you need damage in order to peel effectively, these boots are an excellent choice.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
Another great boot. If your carry is not getting dived hard or you have another great peeler on your team, consider these. Magic pen. is the most essential damage stat for Elise, but CDR is only right below it. Also consider these if someone on your team got an early Abyssal Mask. The only reason these are not my go-to boots is because CDR is easily obtainable through other items like Locket of the Iron Solari, shurelya's reverie and zeke's herald (that's 40% right there), as well as masteries (10% from Sorcery and Intelligence ). However, if you don't build those items/use those masteries then these boots would be a good idea.

Ninja Tabi and Mercury's Treads
These boots are fine for a tanky support build, and Elise can get pretty tanky, but I find it much easier to peel with one of the 2 above mentioned boots. That said, if you feel like you need these then get them. They might just save your life.

Utility Items

These are items that offer a lot of team utiliy, either through active effects, like Mikael's Crucible or passive auras like Zeke's herald and the aforementioned Runic Bulwark. They are not necessary, in fact, many supports just stop at Ruby Sightstone and boots and just buy wards and Oracle's Elixir. They will, however, increase your team's presence in teamfights, just that little bit can make a difference (kind of like warding). I am not going to give a big description of each item, just a little bit about when it would be useful.

Eleisa's Miracle (builds from philosopher's stone)
Useful when you take Heal, Clarity or Clairvoyance. Get it quick then get another philosopher's stone or a kage's lucky pick.

Locket of the Iron Solari (no gp10 in recipe)
Useful when your jungler doesn't get it and especially against aoe team comps. you can shield your team from up to 1150 damage. That's a lot. It is not as mandatory as Aegis of the Legion/ Runic Bulwark, but it is still a useful tool. Unless the situation demands other items or your jungler builds it, get this item.

Mikael's Crucible (builds from philosopher's stone)
Useful against high-cc teams, or at least high-cc divers. Get it early against a high-cc lane like Leona or Thresh (or Blitzcrank when you have quick reflexes), otherwise wait until you start roaming more.

Ohmwrecker (builds from philosopher's stone)
Useful if you are against a really good siege defending team, as it allows you to get some free shots on the turret after the other team clears your minion wave. It is really expensive though, so you might want to opt for some cheaper items even if this seems useful.

Shard of True Ice (builds from kage's lucky pick)
Useful if you have a really fat tank on your team like Trundle or Rammus. Let him sit in the middle of the enemy team with this active on him, so that people can neither reach nor escape from your adc. Note: This item is only gold efficient while nearby 2 or more ally champions. While it does retain kage's lucky pick's gp10 stat and is incredibly cheap, this may not be the best item if you do not have many mana-hungry (or mana using) champs on your team.

Shurelya's Reverie (builds from philosopher's stone)
Useful if your team needs help initiating, or if you are using a poke team comp. Or if you have a Rammus or Hecarim on your team (maybe Singed too, but he doesn't want your help). If you don't need any other philosopher's stone upgrade, get this, as the health and CDR are always useful (unless you are already max CDR).

Twin Shadows (builds from kage's lucky pick)
Useful if you need more peel-ability or against someone with stealth (use it before said champion enters stealth or else it will not target them). Pretty self-explanatory.


zeke's herald (no gp10 in recipe)
Useful if you are supporting a hypercarry. Tristana, Kog'Maw and Vayne will dominate late-game even more with the bonus stats from this aura. It is only gold efficient with at least one other ally nearby, so make sure at least two champions on your team will benefit from the aura, because you don't aside from a too short attack-speed boost.

Damage Items

Getting these will help your damage output for late-game. Usually one is enough, and sometimes you don't even need that. They all give useful team buffs or enemy debuffs, so they are not totally irrelevant to the role of a support. However, if you feel you can do enough damage to peel without one one of these and you need more utility then get said utility; these are not mandatory. Also, all of the following items will improve damage by a similar amount, so do not judge them by raw damage stats, but by the ability they have to help your team.

Abyssal Mask
Useful if you have a lot of magic damage dealers on your team and/or the other team has a Runic Bulwark. It counters Runic Bulwark hard.

Morellonomicon
Useful against healing. Get it against Volibear or Dr. Mundo especially. It can counter exalted with baron nashor pretty decently.

Will of the Ancients
Useful in sieges and prolonged teamfights when your team has multiple magic damage dealers.

Advice: Look at your and your enemy's team compositions before the game begins, so you have an idea of what you will need to purchase. While keeping in mind that you will probably want CDR and health/defenses over ap from your utilities, as Elise makes much better use of CDR than ap (to an extent) and tankiness is always useful as a support.

Gameplay

Laning Phase

Make sure you ward. Try to zone the enemy adc with you autoattacks. Land your combo (at least the Human Form part of it) on anyone who you can catch with your Cocoon, but don't run yourself oom, i.e. don't spam Volatile Spiderling and don't randomly launch a blind Cocoon into bushes. Make sure to ward.

Post-outer Turret Phase

Make sure to ward. Protect your adc wherever he goes (within reason). Continue to catch people with Cocoon and combo them. Use Venomous Bite on dragon at the end in case your jungler is bad with Smite. Get Oracle's Elixir. Push turrets with your team. You can either siege from range in Human Form or burst it down quick in Spider Form with Skittering Frenzy. Make sure to ward.

Teamfighting and Baron Phase

Make sure to ward. Get Oracle's Elixir. Use Venomous Bite on baron if your jungler is bad with Smite or to try and steal it (you will most likely die but you will feel awesome if you succeed). Peel for your adc. Elise doesn't have tons of cc like some supports, but she does have tons of damage. To peel as Elise you want to burst down the closest or most dangerous diver. You won't do tons of damage as a support with little in the way of extra damage, but you should be able to do enough with the help of your carry and maybe a few teammates to get rid of most threats. Land your full combo (especially the stun) and don't forget your item actives. Rinse and repeat. Win games. Make sure to ward.

Summary

Elise is a great support. She has tons of burst and a nice stun on top of that. She is strong in all phases of the game. She can kill "secure" easily with Venomous Bite. Thanks again for checking out my guide, and a special thanks to jhoijhoi for her Guide to Making a Guide. Please leave a comment and I will try to respond promptly.

Change log

7/21/13-fixed some typos.
7/12/13-remade items section to be less opinionated and more concise (not sure if I succeeded on the second point). consolidated the information from "Morellonomicon vs. Abyssal Scepter vs. Will of the Ancients" and "The Most Important Items in the Game" and removed those chapters.
7/8/13-added chapter "Morellonomicon vs. Abyssal Scepter vs. Will of the Ancients"