YOU DO NOT NEED Trinity Force TO DO THE DAMAGES

Trinity Force Irelia is not ideal for a number of reasons, and I'm here to change your minds.

Makes you squishy, which makes you die, which makes you do no damage, which makes you waste over 4k gold on doing no damage.

Gives you only unreliable CC which makes chasing and sticking less of an assured thing.

You do not have that many spells than can use the Sheen effect. Bladesurge works yes, but when chasing someone, Bladesurge has a high cooldown which leaves only two more uses from Irelia's Hiten Style and Equilibrium Strike.

If not Trinity Force where does the damage come from?

Skill order plays a very big role in where Irelia's massive damage output comes from. Hiten Style is the only choice in leveling. Hiten Style provides both lane sustain and a true damage component. How to maximize damage in lane, and later in the game comes from getting the most out of this amazing skill. Attack speed comes first as more attacks means more Hiten Style which is why my choice of marks are Greater Mark of Attack Speed. 15% more attack speed early game will two things, an eaiser time last hitting as Irelias attack animation can be a bit finicky for new players, and more Hiten Style procs as you engage. Next up is the first major item choice Wit's End which does a number of things. Provides a sizable boost in attack speed for more Hiten Style and gives you another on-hit effect in Wit's End passive. The 42 magic damage on-hit will ensure that Irelia is dealing all types of damage, physical, magic, and true.

Irelia is listed as an assassin type champion, and can still fill that role as a secondary job, however the way the games works as of now simply does not allow for old builds to do quite as well. The primary offender is Trinity Force which itself, does offer a great amount of offense and utility, however the

Aside from maxing Hiten Style and Transcendent Blades There is a fair bit of leeway when leveling. I however believe in maxing Equilibrium Strike after maxing Hiten Style. The case for maxing Bladesurge over [equilibrium strike]] can be made, but with frozen mallet, the stick power is already great combined with a long duration stacking 60% slow on E. Ill test out leveling both skills later on.

Transcendent Blades > Hiten Style > Equilibrium Strike > Bladesurge

A highly useful skill for not missing any farm. Great cap closer and part of what makes Irelia an assassin, no useful as a damage nuke. APPLIES Hiten Style



Best skill. True damage, heals. WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?!?!?!


Stun for days. Can easily turn a fight in your favor when used correctly.


Lane sustain and extra killing power. Spell in on smart cast automatically, just press R once, then keep mashing R till all shiny blades above you are depleted. Don't lead off a jungle gank with this as you may alert them to early but as soon as your jungler has been spotted go to town

WHY NO ARMOR PEN NOOB

Similar to Nasus you do not need armor penetration especially from runes. As Irelia you deal TRUE DAMAGE and the damage stays relevant into late game as Irelia really is an assassin and ends up killing squishies, not tanks.

Why no armor pen follows a simple logic, why have a half *** counter to their counter when as Irelia you can go right around it. TRUE DAMAGE ALWAYS STRONK.


More movement, more sticking, netting more damage. These quints are not required but are the best fit. Other options include Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed, Greater Quintessence of Magic Resist, Greater Quintessence of Armor, greater quintessence of desolation. Although armor penetration is not recommended as other stats benefit Irelia more.


Love these runes to help with your Hiten Style damage. Scale decently into late game. Can be replaced with greater mark of desolation but shouldn't.


13 flat armor at level 1 will give you an easier time against most top lanes and are pretty standard. Might swap out for greater seal of vitality if you like to get wriggles and are still up against heavy AP burst damage. Beef is never a bad thing.


Since most top lane match ups are going to be physical with light magic these scaling runes do well by giving you a free null magic mantle late game to deal with AP damage. If you're up against a tough lane like Rumble or Swain might be okay to swap out for Greater Glyph of Magic Resist

Ghost is the best escape and kill summoner on Irelia. The way auto attacks work is based heavily on move speed which is the reason why Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed are the quints of choice of Irelia.


Ignite is really important for top lane champions because most of the tough lanes will have some sort of crazy sustain either through items of abilities and ignite in addition to doing a solid amount of true damage also has the healing debuff which can bait your opponent into trying to kill you.


Teleport is most useful on premade teams were coordination on going for dragons/ganks/counterganks. Not that important in solo que unless you have a fetish for rushing philosopher's stone.



Exhaust is good if your team is in need of one, or if they have a Tryndamere, Master Yi, or any other AD that is dealing ungodly amounts of damage as has last whipser. Only take if your team doesnt have any.


If you feel the need to be meta Flash is never a bad choice and can work. I feel ghost is better.

Reccomended

Wit's End Is the most core item to Irelia's early game and is not mentioned in many of the top mobafire guides.. This item gives Irelia everything she needs to stick to people and kill them. Bladesurge provides a wits stack upon activation so you will never has less than 35 magic resist in a fight.


People undervalue Frozen Mallet saying that Warmog's Armor does it better. Frozen mallet is not bought for the health alone, the perma slow is what allows you to stick to your opponent and get as many procs from Hiten Style. Combined with Atma's Impaler become a very potent combo. Although atma's is not required for this item to be very effective.

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Boots to deal with the type of team.
Tryndamere or Master Yi dunking you? ==> Ninja Tabi
5 stuns and Ionian Fervor + Juggernaut not enough? ==> Mercury's Treads


Atma's Impaler give a good mix of defense and offensive stats. The crit is the overlooked part of this item but can add to you sustained damage and can end fights very quick if you manage to get a few crits off. Armor and the damage of course are the real star giving you around 60-70ish attack damage depending on your items, but with this build you will generally be sitting between 3-3.5k health. Solid item, but not a must if you need more armor via Frozen Heart, Thornmail.


This item does very well against heavy AD comps and also has a very effective slow active. Combined with Frozen Mallet makes you nearly impossible to escape after a fight. I usually don't get a Heart of Gold although by all means you can. I just prefer the regeneration stats of philosopher's stone which can be built into elisa's miracle in the event that you get Ninja Tabi. Fill out the armor portion of your resistances and is an all around item giving you a plethora of stats including CDR and health regen.


Great item, give you massive health regen and magic resist. The movement speed is icing on the cake and helps you chase. Always be sure to grab a Negatron Cloak if you are against a heavy magic damage team.


If having problems with Tryndamere, Gangplank, or any other heavy physical lane, this item will give you good bruiser stats to head into late game with sustain. If you buy wriggles make sure you do a lot of farming/global objectives to make up for setting your build back 1600 gold.

Situational

This is a very good item with balanced stats that gives your team a valuable aura. Pick this up after you complete Wit's End+ Phage in place of the Chain Vest or Negatron Cloak as this basically gives you both, however does not build further up into a higher tier item. Consider replacing endgame with Force of Nature, Warmog's Armor, Frozen Heart or Thornmail depending on damage type and team needs. Can also let sit, although endgame there are better things to have.


Great item to have. Can replace Force of Nature or Randuin's Omen depending on enemy team. Amazing active, cleanse all things. If you somehow are the target of Nether Grasp, Infinite Duress, or Impale then this is a must, and as a free summoner spell, never a bad item to have if you feel the need to cleanse something especially dangerous and with a long time like puncturing taunt, or a long silence if you need to use your abilities. Also great for not feed the Mordekaiser with Children of the Grave.


Great item if you're up against a hard magic lane Rumble/ Swain. Increases the regen on philosopher's stone and the health gain from Hiten Style. Health, CDR and magic resit combine with the passive make a very effective item at a low cost. Sell late game for Force of Nature/ Randuin's Omen.


Can be good against heavy AD teams, give you a great amount of armor and an active aura that cripples attack speed, and AD based champs. CDR and mana are not put to waste either. Lets you spam Bladesurge more before you good out of mana. Replaces Randuin's Omen.


Great item to build the philosopher's stone into. Can initiate very with with the active + Bladesurge giving your team a que that you're gonna go bat****crazy in a moment. Stats are great giving a solid amount of health and regen. The active is a mini team Ghost. Never underestimate the power of team mobility.


Guardian Angel is a very good item and can fill in spot of Randuin's Omen. If you like this item and are fond of it i recommend swapping out great seal of resilience for greater seal of vitality to make up for the lost health and to make better use of guardians already great stats.


Another good item to deal with a hard magic lane, or if the mid lane Karthus is fed and you're scared of the incoming 1000 damage Requiem. Good damage and MR along with a great passive make it a steal for only 1800 gold. Early game item only, and sell late game for Force of Nature/ Randuin's Omen.


If you need to do deeps and the enemy team is heavy armor than last whipser is a solid choice for increasing the physical portion of damage dealt.


End game if you have piles of cash lying around and you dont fear magic damage as much as physical, selling Wit's End for this item will increase DPS and give decent armor rating. ENDGAME ITEM ONLY. Also very effective against high health teams and Warmog's Armor stackers. Heres looking at you


Terribly inefficient use of space, however does offer the most health you can get out of a single item, and is extremly good against mixed damage teams where you need to survive as long as possible to assist your team.

Ah the all revered all built Trinity Force. If you can manage to get enough farm by around 15 minutes to get trinity force than by all means, go ahead. Trinity gives amazing damage stats and a slow, if unreliable. Trinity force is a good item but only if you need to be a heavy damage dealer, in which case Irelia isn't the best option you can go ahead and built it. Stats are all useful on Irelia and the stats have synergy with Wit's End and Atma's Impaler.


If vamping off Equilibrium Strike and Transcendent Blades makes you **** the pants. Then go ahead, give you decent stats and a great slow active.


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The former is being introduced into Summoners Rift to replace the latter, the former gives better stats that the latter and may be a substitute for Wit's End or even a compliment if you really want a heavy dps build. Always remember that with this build your main damage comes in the form of Hiten Style so attack speed is the best stat to scale with.

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Both are solid items, and while not the best fit on Irelia do provide decent stats, and for ghostblade, a great active aiding in chasing and dps. Also never a bad idea to build Avarice Blade early, as crits can help you win easy lane dominance especially with Irelia and her Bladesurge gap closer making you zone really well if you get lucky.

For some reason if you're just getting dunked all day. An easy way is to buy 2-3 Doran's Blades. They really help early game and turn the lane in your favor.