Akali is my favorite champion. I've been playing her for a about a month now and she is one of the best killers in the game in my opinion. Whenever i play her i have all the confidence that i will own their entire team. Im not saying that she can carry the team by herself, no, she cannot just jump into a group of enemies and kill everyone. Shes not op. Shes rather squishy, and so you have to be smart. Thats why I have learned to utilize the twilight shroud completely. twilight shroud may as well be her best ability. I'll tell you why later on.

This is my first build i created, so be gentle. Give me any constructive criticism.

pros:

she's a flippin ninja
powerful early, mid and late game
quick at entering fights and leaving them
stealth twilight shroud
amazing burst damage
all in all so much fun to play

cons:
no defense, too squishy
again too squishy, have to put that twice can't stress it enough

Im not level 20 yet so I don't wanna waste your time trying to show you what runes to buy since I have know idea about that. Im doing pretty fine without them at the moment. You should check out another build for the runes.

I go with a simple 9-21 build. Her offense is pretty dam good so the defense gets most of the support in this regard. Again, I dont put much effort in masteries. Check another build for an explanation in this category.

This is my personal favorite section.

1. boots of speed + 3 health potions-
The boots help you keep your speed higher than all enemies and the health potions help you lane a lot longer while still being aggresive, thats the keyword btw.

2.sheen-lich bane-
I get sheen second always. By the time i get sheen around 10 minutes in, thats when the aggressive ganking and laning begins. By this time my mark of the assassin combo takes around half of a squishy's life. When lich bane comes next i might as well be a killing machine, and the real fun starts.

3.boots again-
boots of mobility is good if the team doesn't have any cc. if they do then mercury treads are the way to go

4. rylais crystal septer-
This item in my personal opinion is a must have for akali. I see a lot of hextech revolver and gunblades early on but Rylai's is too important for here especially in the mid game. The ap plus the slow you get is too good. This and lich bane I learned are the most important items to get for akali.

5. Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff, Gunblade-
Its your choice here what to get. I usually go with the deathcap here for its sheer amount of ap. Void staff is for magic penetration. The gunblade is self explanatory. It doesn't really matter tho since after lich bane and rylais, there is no reason to fret about another single item.

p.s. Whenever I go back to the shop, I always pick up 3 health potions. This helps me throughout the game for what little health i need to finish off a weak opponent.

I personally use flash and exhaust.

Exhaust is really powerful. If you have less health than the enemy, just use exhaust on them and attack them. They should either die or run away. Always a win-win situation.

If you're not level 12 yet, just use ghost and exhaust, or ignite.

R->Q->W->E

I shouldn't have to describe her attacks. If you've been researching them then you should know what they do.

Akali is the best at combos and killing her opponent with it. My personal fave is Q onto an opponent then normal attacking them. Then throw an E and maybe another Q combo. If they run away, just shadow dance and continue that combo. If they have more health than you or more defense, just throw a twilight shroud in there and now you have a automatic advantage for 8 seconds.

-Twilight Shroud- This is my favorite ability by far. I use this attack whenever i can, even if there is just minions around me. This attack maxed out gives you stealth for one, and up to 50 armor and magic resistance, and enemies are slowed by up to 30%. You can use this for anything.
1. Let's say your opponents are tower diving with an army of minions. Just throw a twilight shroud and shadow dance yourself in there. Combo with an E attack and that army is pretty much gone, with you still pretty much stealth ed inside your shroud.
2. Let's say one of your teammates are weak and running away from a group of enemies. You throw your bubble( shroud) and now he's stealthed. Enemies are slowed and you can also kill one of them if you want. Your defense is really good inside of it so you can deal a lot of damage without any consequences.
3. let's say your chasing a weak enemy champion. You throw a bubble and slow him enough for you to Q him and shadow dance him to death. There's another kill for the assassin akali.

I know a lot of people don't like maxing out twilight shroud and instead max out their E, Crescent Slash instead. I don't see Crescent Slash as anything but a farming tool. The problem with that is Akali is not a farmer, she's an assassin. Assassins are good at stealth and thats what the shroud does for her. Her bubble can be a good offense, Defense, and escape. The perfect utility. When you learn how to use it like that, I guarantee that you will be a better akali player.

When I play with a team, I'm usually the one that leads it. Akali is pretty much quiet and stealthed a lot of the time, ganking and running from the lane to lane. I usually call out enemy ganks, enemy mia, and which tower to dive at the moment. Boots of Mobility are very important for that reason. This is why I am happy regardless if I get 20 kills or 20 assists. It's a team game and if you don't bring anything to the team then your as good as dead. If you use Akali, you have to get used to ganking even if doesn't become successful. Just because the enemy isn't dead doesn't mean you didn't scare them. They will think twice before moving next to your tower because when that shroud pops on them they know their as good as dead.

I usually start farming seriously mid to late game. Early game is all about control. I play very aggressive and might die a couple times but that doesn't mean anything, it's the risk i take. There have a lot of games where i go 0 and 3 but finish the game 15-4. It just takes that one big streak for me to being dismantling the other team.

When I farm, it's always after I get my lich bane and trying to my rylais septer. Learn to farm without getting ganked because it will happen. That's another reason why twilight shroud is akali's best ablility.