Hello everyone, I started to main Darius when I came back into the game over the summer. I was never able to play him before the rework to him because I never really played League all that much until I came back. Currently, I have 359k Champion Points with Darius.

Many feel Darius is easy to play, I agree to a certain extent. He is "easy" to play, but can be difficult to master. Darius's power is when his passive is active, if you dunk someone without your passive active, it doesn't do much of anything unless the enemy is very low on HP.

If you're going to ult someone, make sure you are 100% sure they will die.

Pros:
+High attack damage with not many damage items;
+Can build tanky and still deal a bunch of damage;
+Has sustain;
+Very dangerous when ahead;
+Can easily win team fights if you ult correctly;
+Very satisfying when you land a dunk;

Cons:
-Easily kited;
-Horrible movement speed/immobile;
-No escapes;
-Easily ganked;
-Close to useless if behind;
-VERY punishing if you f**k up your ult;

Flash is absolutely needed. Take this EVERY game. Flash is Darius's only escape.


Teleport is what I take all the time. I honestly have never taken Ignite but it does work well with your bleed damage to ensure you get the kill, but I prefer Teleport so I can get back to lane quicker when needed.

This is the best start when going against champions that don't have much kill potential on you early on.

Buy this if you are against a champion like Riven, Tryndamere, Pantheon or an ADC.

Could be bought instead of Cloth Armor, but it's really a personal preference.

Rush this if you are against an AP laner, ex: Vlad, Ryze, Teemo, Kayle, etc...

This item is another must on Darius. The momentum provides him with a bunch of ms, as well as +500 HP AND +50 armor.

Majority of the time, I do end up building Spirit Visage because the stats it provides works very well with Darius

If you rushed Hexdrinker, then finish Maw of Malmortius after you have your 3 core items + boots.

Prior to Season 6, these were the boots I bought in most of my games because of what it offered (MR, Tenacity). Very good pair of boots to buy if you are getting cc'd to hell (Morgana Q, Leona's stuns, etc).

I rarely ever bought these honestly, just weren't as good as Merc Threads, the only times I ever bought these were if they had no AP and you weren't getting cc'd that much.

95% of the time, these are the boots I buy. They are so cost effective even after they raised the price, it gives you a great amount of MS. This combined with the speed from will make it hard for people to get away from you.

SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
Honestly, this item isn't BAD for you, it's just not the best option when there is something cheaper AND better for you. If you are ahead to the point where you can sacrifice a defense item, go ahead and buy it since it does give some nice stats that are useful on you.

It wouldn't be a Darius guide without this item. I have bought this before when I was 4-5 levels ahead of the entire enemy team and let me tell you, it was hilarious. Critting someone for 1k is something that should not happen on someone like him, but when it happens, it's really funny to see their hp bar get deleted in 2-3 hits. If you are THAT ahead of everybody and are sure you will be winning the game anyway, just buy it and have a great time ;)

Details

This will always be your skill sequence, every single game no matter what.
Noxian Guillotine (When a point is available) --> Decimate --> Apprehend --> Crippling Strike

Why?

Decimate is your main damage and healing ability. If you land this in a team fight on at least 3 champions and you are low on HP, you will heal an INSANE amount if you built tanky.

Crippling Strike got nerfed to the point where maxing it first or second does nothing to help you. It no longer slows the enemy's attack speed or their movement speed based on the bleed stacks.

Apprehend is better than Crippling Strike simply because of it's passive. At max rank, Apprehend gives you 25% armor penetration.

Noxian Guillotine is what makes Darius Darius. This ability right here can be the deciding factor in a team fight, it can decide whether you win or lose the game. Timing is EVERYTHING with Noxian Guillotine. If you use it and it doesn't kill a target or at least get an assist, it will go on cooldown and can potentially doom your team. I've had many games where I screwed up my ult and ended up losing the game because of it.

Hemorrhage is Darius's passive. This is where his damage is. Getting 5 stacks of your passive (or killing someone with Noxian Guillotine) will active Noxian Might. Noxian Might grants Darius 40-200 bonus AD, and will spread instant 5 stacks to any enemy you hit with Decimate or basic attacks for the next 5 seconds. Each time you land Decimate or a basic attacks, the time for Noxian Might goes back up to 5 seconds.

I generally do not play aggressive as Darius. Just farm and if they poke you, you poke back with Decimate. At level 3, you can go for a nice combo (E > AA > W > AA > Q). Or you can Q first then pull them in but I prefer doing it last so you can get the heal AFTER the trade instead of before.

When you get Noxian Guillotine at level 6, that's when you can start going in for some damage and a potential kill depending on who you are up against, of course.

Don't be afraid to use your Noxian Guillotine on a very low enemy. That's exactly what your goal as Darius is. Secure the kill so it will activate your passive and you will be able to do A LOT more damage in teamfights.

Never initiate a fight unless you are very ahead of the enemy team. Darius is a FIGHTER, not a TANK. Yes he builds tanky, but he should not be the initiator in a teamfight.

If you do happen to be the only "tank", let the enemy start a fight, not you.

If the enemy team is falling back and your Flash is up, do Flash -> Apprehend to grab one of them which will result in a kill 95% of the time.