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Recommended Items
Spells:
Exhaust
Flash
Items
Ability Order
An Acquired Taste (PASSIVE)
Tahm Kench Passive Ability
Introduction
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Hello players and welcome to this Tahm Kench support guide! I will be discussing some of the ways I like to play TK and hopefully sharing some secrets on how to succeed!
As the name suggests, this guide is focused on playing Tahm as a protector - someone who looks after his allies rather than focusing on CCing enemies. With this build and playstyle you will be able to keep your marksman safe from harm as well as rescue teammates when in need.
-Other Guides-
Master Yi - The True Jedi
-Pog Raryin
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+Ability to save allies from harm
+Can completely shut down an enemy champion
+Massive %HP damage
+Decent poke in lane
+Long-ranged ultimate for gank setups, objectives and escapes
+Strong health-scaling into damage
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-Only single target CC
-No significant level 6 power spike
-Requires melee range to rescue / consume champions
-Requires GOOD coordination with teammates
-Easy to run out of mana early game
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Defence
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Utility
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Runes
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Suggested Runes
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Alternate Marks
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Alternate Seals
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Alternate Glyphs
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Alternate Quints
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This build is focusing on playing Tahm as a Guardian, which means keeping our ADC (and other allies) alive at all costs. Exhaust is perfect to achieve this as it can greatly shutdown a player and help save a life. It can also be very useful to slow down an opponent in order to apply 3 stacks of ![]() |
Almost a must-have now due to everyone else taking this spell. A simple panic button to avoid ganks or escape sticky situations. It is especially useful when combined with ![]() ![]() |
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Alternatives
![]() IGNITE |
An alternative to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() GHOST |
Somewhat useful for carrying your allies away with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() CLARITY |
While it's nice to be able to spam abilities, ![]() ![]() |
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Potentially useful if you want to chase down enemies with ![]() ![]() |
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While usually the value of things go up after they die, ![]() ![]() |
![]() SMITE |
Only useful for jungling, which is not covered in this guide. |
![]() GARRISON |
... |
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AN ACQUIRED TASTE
DESCRIPTION
Tahm Kench applies a stack of An Acquired Taste to all enemy champions he hits with basic attacks or damaging abilities. Against enemies with three stacks, his Tongue Lash and Devour are enhanced.
COMMENTS
While not useful on its own, this passive allows Tahm to stun or consume opponents when they hit 3 stacks. The time it takes for each stack to fall off is long enough such that you can use
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TONGUE LASH
DESCRIPTION
Tahm Kench roots himself briefly while launching his tongue in a target direction. Tongue Lash stops once it hits a target, dealing 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+70% of ability power) magic damage and slowing whatever he hits by 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 % for 2 seconds.
If Tahm Kench slathers an enemy champion with three stacks of An Acquired Taste and then hits them with Tongue Lash, he stuns them for 1.5 seconds instead.
Tahm Kench can activate
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COMMENTS
A good early-game CC ability on a low cooldown,
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TIPS
+ You can apply all three stacks of
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+ Keep in mind that Tahm is briefly stopped when casting Q. In most cases it is still worth casting it even if you are being chased because the slow % and duration is a stronger disable than the self-root.
+ Use this spell in conjunction with
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DEVOUR
DESCRIPTION
Tahm Kench briefly swallows a nearby targeted unit, placing them in stasis for 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6 seconds if the unit is an enemy minion, neutral monster or allied champion, or half that duration if the unit is an enemy champion.
While Tahm Kench has an ally in his belly, he gains 15 / 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25 % bonus movement speed which is doubled while moving toward an enemy champion. If he has an enemy champion in his belly, Tahm Kench removes their shared vision and reduces their sight radius to only their immediate surroundings, but also slows himself by 95%.
After a brief delay, Tahm Kench gains the ability to recast Devour, spitting out the swallowed target. If the target is an enemy champion, minion or monster, they will take 20 / 23 / 26 / 29 / 32 % (+ 2% per 100 AP) of their maximum health as magic damage (this damage is capped against monsters). In addition to this, minions and monsters will be spat forward, stopping if they hit an enemy or terrain and dealing 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies in an area. Upon exiting enemy champions will get stunned for 0.25 seconds.
COMMENTS
This is the reason you play Tahm Kench.
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TIPS
+ Don't forget you need THREE stacks of your passive,
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+ It's useful to convey to your teammates to STAY in
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+ If your ADC has a CS lead feel free to grab some mage minions and spit them at the enemy laners for some good poke damage
+ You can use your
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+ You can toss an allied champion over a wall if you stand very close before re-casting W over to the other side (only works on thin walls ala dragon pit)
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THICK SKIN
DESCRIPTION
Passive: All damage Tahm Kench takes is turned into grey health. Once he leaves combat, the grey health falls off, healing him for 20 / 26 / 32 / 38 / 44 % of the amount of grey health he has earned. This passive is unavailable while Thick Skin is on cooldown.
Active: Tahm Kench converts his grey health into a shield that decays over 6 seconds.
COMMENTS
Great for surviving in team fights. Allows you to turn damage taken into a potentially HUGE shield which rapidly decays. The shield can come in handy when diving towers or to survive DoTs or delayed damage such as
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TIPS
+ Throughout the laning phase it would be wise to avoid activating
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+ Don't leave it too late to activate the shield if you are taking damage - you will be tempted to let your HP drop as low as possible in order to get a huge shield but if they have any burst damage you will die!
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ABYSSAL VOYAGE
DESCRIPTION
Passive: Tahm Kench's basic attacks, Tongue Lash and Devour deal 20 (+ 4 / 6 / 8 % of bonus health) bonus magic damage.
Active: Tahm Kench opens his maw, offering an ally a spot inside his belly. Once they jump in, or once Tahm Kench decides he's diving solo, he starts channeling, conjuring a whirlpool beneath him before diving in, reappearing a few seconds later at his target location.
COMMENTS
An interesting ability, the active component is somewhat underpowered however it is made up for by having a very useful passive. The active has a decent cast time and is often difficult to coordinate with your allies which makes it a bit clunky to use. At lower ranks the range of the teleport is rather small which means that the time it takes to organise the spell and get your ally inside could simply be used walking to the destination. However at rank 3 the range is fairly decent and can be used to set up a sneak attack or to get to an objective.
TIPS
+ Try and build as much health as is viable to make use of the amazing passive!
+ At early ranks you can use the spell to get back to lane faster (try to bring your ADC too)
+ Grab your jungler and set up a surprise gank on one of the lanes (works especially well with a hard CC / engage jungler)
+ If you want to use the ability to escape, MAKE SURE you are not in vision beforehand, as any damage taken will cancel the effect!
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Put a point into
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I choose to max
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After
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Lastly of course we rank up
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SUGGESTED ROUTES
Begin With
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First Back
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Early Items
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Does the enemy team have lots of HARD CC?
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Does the enemy team have lots of physical auto attackers?
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Does the enemy have very little CC, or are you fed?
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Core Build
STANDARD
face of the mountain ->
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AGAINST STRONG AD
face of the mountain ->
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AGAINST STRONG AP
face of the mountain ->
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NEED MORE ARMOUR?
face of the mountain ->
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IS YOUR ADC FED?
face of the mountain ->
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ADVANCED DESCRIPTION
Starter Items
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I highly recommend running
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The only other viable alternative is
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Core Items
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face of the mountain - A good item when filling a guardian role - helps keep your MVPs alive and also deals some underrated damage on the detonation. We mainly want this item for the nice HP stat as well as being able to execute minions with
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Good Alternatives
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Other Items
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In this section I will discuss some of my thoughts pertaining to warding, especially as a support player. We will look at warding during the laning phase, late game warding, objective warding (dragon/baron) and
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Laning Phase
BLUE TEAM
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1 - Tri bush is one of, if not the most vital warding position for preventing ganks. When you are on blue side you are vulnerable to ganks from a) Tri bush and b) river. The ganker in question will most likely gank from tri-bush as it allows them to get further between you/your ADC and your tower.
2 , 3 - Occasionally they will gank through river, especially if your wards have been cleared or you are already in combat (and hence less likely to notice a gank). 2 is a surprisingly good ward as the SLIGHT increase in range can greatly help you in noticing an incoming gank. Not only is it a powerful defensive ward it is also less likely to be scanned / cleared by the enemy team as it is in an uncommon location. 3 is a generally safe ward and is better if a) you are worried about enemies hiding in the bush or b) you are unable to venture deep enough into the river to place ward #2.
4 - As supports usually like to hide in their bush to manoeuvre in secret, having a ward in the opposing bush can help deter early aggression. It is also useful if you get into a skirmish with the enemy bot lane and they are retreating, as losing line of sight even temporarily could lose you the kill. Later on in the laning phase it is also very useful if your top laner has
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5 - If the enemy lane is constantly pushing into your tower and they are more often sitting in your bush than their own, it is wise to ward here so you don't get caught out once moving back towards the middle of the lane. This is also important as often the enemy bot lane will push hard into your tower in order to escort their jungler into #5 bush without being seen by your minions.
RED TEAM
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1 , 2 - Red team has a somewhat easier job of warding against ganks as tri bush is a less viable route. If the enemy lane has pushed up into your tower then keeping #1 or #2 warded will detect the vast majority of gankers. If you are sitting under your tower it is easy to ward #1 simply by walking through YOUR tri bush as shown here.
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3 - Useful to ward here if you are pushed into the enemy's tower however if you are on your side of the river it is very unlikely you will be ganked through here (and if you are, it is relatively easy to disengage).
4 - As supports usually like to hide in their bush to manoeuvre in secret, having a ward in the opposing bush can help deter early aggression. It is also useful if you get into a skirmish with the enemy bot lane and they are retreating, as losing line of sight even temporarily could lose you the kill. Later on in the laning phase it is also very useful if your top laner has
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5 - If the enemy lane is constantly pushing into your tower and they are more often sitting in your bush than their own, it is wise to ward here so you don't get caught out once moving back towards the middle of the lane. This is also important as often the enemy bot lane will push hard into your tower in order to escort their jungler into #5 bush without being seen by your minions.
Mid to Late Game Warding
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When playing support most of your team will rely on you to do the majority of the warding so it's important to be constantly maxing out your 3/3 cap for wards. Make sure you get a
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Now where should I place wards you might ask? This is highly dependent on what is happening in the game at the time and whereabouts it's happening. For example, if you notice Dragon is spawning in 0:30 seconds then it's likely that both teams will be gearing up for a Drag fight. It's probably not placing wards near the top Red jungle at this point in the game. Judge the situation and ward accordingly.
Not only is the current situation important but also the general feel of the game - if you are playing on the defensive for most of the game then it would be more beneficial for you to place wards defensively at the entrances to your jungle, or general entrance wards such as those in the river to spot enemy movement.
Your goal with
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Objective Warding
DRAGON
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Depending on what side of the map you are on, warding Dragon will be a little different. Blue side only has to focus on 3 areas: the path running down on the LEFT side of blue buff, the path on the right of blue buff, and up/down the river. We won't concentrate much on enemies coming from the river as they will likely be seen by minions when they are approaching and they can't really get access to Dragon pit without coming into vision of your other wards. For the other routes we can place careful wards in the bush on the path leading down from between the towers on mid lane, and warding the bush AT blue buff. Alternatively if it is not safe to ward the blue buff bush you can simply place a ward in the corridor leading up to blue which should provide enough vision.
Red side has a different story. There are 4 (main) potential routes that blue team could take. A) The path leading by Raptors, B) below red buff and through tri bush, C) below red buff and OVER the dragon wall, and D) past Krugs and through tri bush. Path D would only be used if the enemy team is already at bot lane so it is probably the least important to ward, however a simple ward in Tri bush will eliminate path C and D. You can knock out Path B and C by simply placing a ward over the wall which should catch anyone trying to go around through tri bush and will let you know if they are trying to steal Dragon from over the wall. That leaves Path A which can be spotted by a ward in the bush just over the wall of dragon pit (on the outer edge of the red buff camp) OR by placing a ward (
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BARON
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Baron is a fairly similar situation to Dragon however it is mirrored for the other side of the map. Your most important job is to analyse the situation and determine which is the most likely path the other team would take to get to the objective (Baron in this case). Warding the most likely route(s) is vital as you need to be prepared for a potential team fight or enemy jungler.
As generally Baron is held above Dragon in terms of importance (excluding 5th drag), mostly it is advised to place wards deeper than usual in order to give your team a larger window to react to enemy presence. The map shows 2 "deep" ward locations that show a good deal of vision when the other team is approaching from their base - We have one in the bush near Raptors for blue team to place and one in the bush behind Wolf camp for red team. Obviously if you know that the other team is not at their base then these wards are less useful however there is always the possibility that one of the enemies is split from the group and approaching from a different direction.
Aside from these deep wards we also have some closer wards that give vision OUTSIDE Baron pit such as the one just over the wall (behind Red buff) and the bush just below river (beside/behind Blue buff). These are your primary wards that are easy to place as they are much closer to the pit. The bush just over Baron wall (behind Red buff) is one of the most important bushes as many junglers (regardless of what side of the map) will go to this bush before trying to steal Baron. Alternatively you can stick a ward just over the wall of the pit which will help against potential steal attempts also (mainly for Red team to place).
Pink Warding
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Correct use of
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For each side of the map we are looking at 4 potential locations that I find the most beneficial in terms of
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1 - The small bushes in each side of the river are a great location for pink wards however they are also hotly contested being in central map locations. They are mostly useful in the first half or so of the game as river movement is minimal however there are still wards placed for protection of mid lane, preparation of dragon etc. The lower bush by dragon is definitely more used than the upper one until we get to post 20 minutes where Baron becomes available. Use of this bush is good as it covers the majority of routes into the pit and can even be used for a death-bush style attack.
2 - Great defensive wards. Lower one is good cover for bot lane (blue side) as any enemies that try and travel the long way around will be spotted. Also spots champions passing by Raptors into the jungle. Alternatively we have the upper one which is used frequently throughout the later game by both teams. It is great for red team to shut down aggression into their top jungle as well as spotting enemy movement in the area.
3 - My personal favourite. Bang for buck this is probably the best bush in the game for a
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4 - Another good location that is mainly related to objective vision. The lower one is more likely to be used throughout the first half of the game as Dragon is hotly contested and many fights are centered around bot lane. This location provides a good deal of vision of players approaching from red base and also spots wards placed in the top section of the river. The upper location provides a similar circle of vision focused on baron and players approaching from blue base. Timing this ward is important as both team's junglers are likely to use this bush throughout the early game as they are travelling to the river (Scuttle Crab) or to the enemy team's red buff jungle.
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* I know I've mentioned it many times already but using your
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* Use
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* It's often useful to wait till the enemies have blown their CC on your ally before you use
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*
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* Use
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* While most of the time we want to save our
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* If there is an enemy siege minion in the lane that you want to execute with
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* Using
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* If you stand close to thin walls such as dragon pit you can spit allied champions over them with
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* You can channel
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* - Look for windows to use Q
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* - Use
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All in all I hope you have enjoyed my guide for playing
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Thanks for reading!
Guide by Pognog
http://pognog.net/
Credits
-Thanks to jhoijhoi for her How to make a Guide guide!
-Thanks to Pog Rizzles for help with images/gifs
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