The world is not always as civilized as people might think. There are still those who would follow the blackest paths of magic and become corrupted by the darker powers that flow through Runeterra. Shauna Vayne knows this fact well. As a young privileged girl in the heart of Demacia's elite, her father tried to convince her of the constabulary's ever-vigilant eye. Young and nave, she truly believed that her world was one of perfect safety, until one night, when a twisted witch took interest in her father. The malevolent woman overcame her father's conciliar guard, then tortured her family before murdering them. The young Shauna escaped only by hiding herself and then fleeing once the hag had departed, plagued by the screams of her loved ones as she ran. A burning hatred was born in her that day, one that could never be denied.

Vayne was able to take care of herself using her father's money, and she began to train as soon as an instructor would have her as a student. By the time she was a fully grown woman, she had become a grim warrior. However, the fields of battle were not to be her home. Demacia needed a protector, one who hunted those lost to the darkness. Shauna used her family's contacts to become the first Night Hunter, and now her prowess is the stuff of legends. It is said that those who practice the black arts quake when they hear that the Night Hunter is on the prowl. Despite her crusade, Shauna has looked at the League of Legends in horror. There are champions who have clearly lost themselves to the blackest of magics, and who have been embraced within the League even though they should be put down for the safety of all. The time has come for the Night Hunter to execute her secret mission to purge the League of Legends.

Not all shadows are to be feared. At least, if Vayne has her way.

Mark of Desolation x3Seal of Alacrity x3Glyph of Warding x3

Greater Quintessence of Fortitude x3*

*NOTE: Feel free to use Greater Quintessence of Desolation for more early game punch but my personal preference is to take these due to Vayne's squishiness. These quints in combination with Doran's Blade will provide you plenty of health early on keeping you in lane so you can farm which is essential to this build.

It is important to remember that Vayne is a squishy champion and as such should not get caught in situations where she is vulnerable to large amounts of CC. I cannot stress this enough; CC is Vayne's Kryptonite. As a result, in order to remain an asset to your team you need to be able to remain alive and pick off stragglers as your 1v1 capabilities are unrivaled. With Ghost and Flash you have plenty of escaping potential and should have no problem staying alive.

22/0/8

Just wanted to make one quick note here. For those of you who criticize my allocation of three points in the utility tree under "Good Hands", I suggest you do some research. If you take the middle lane (which is HIGHLY SUGGESTED) the reduction on your time spent dead means more time in lane farming where you need to be so as to ensure the finance of this expensive build. To further this, Vayne does not suffer from mana shortages very often. Tumble costs very little and silver bolts costs nothing while still providing your auto attack with insane damage output. Therefore, placing points in "Perseverance" for a measly four percent increase in mana regeneration is simply not worth it.

Passive

Night Hunter: Vayne ruthlessly hunts evil-doers. She gains bonus Movement Speed when moving toward nearby enemy champions.

Skills

Tumble: Vayne tumbles, maneuvering to carefully place her next shot. She rolls toward the cursor and her next attack deals bonus damage.

Silver Bolts: Vayne tips her bolts with a rare metal, toxic to evil things. The third consecutive attack or ability against the same target deals a percentage of the target's maximum Health as bonus true damage. (Max damage vs. Monsters is capped).

Condemn: Vayne draws a heavy crossbow from her back, and fires a huge bolt at her target, dealing damage and knocking them back. If they collide with terrain, they are impaled, dealing bonus damage and stunning them.

Final Hour: Readying herself for an epic confrontation, Vayne gains increased Attack Damage, stealth during Tumble, and quadruple the bonus Movement Speed from Night Hunter.


For Vayne's skills the setup it's pretty standard. Max tumble out as quickly as possible as this skill will be your bread and butter for dishing out bursts of damage that Vayne is revered for. At level 2 I usually grab condemn for protection early on. This skill is great in conjunction with tumble to avoid ganks. Simply push your enemy back and roll out of harms way. Following this I proceed to max out both Tumble (Q) and Silver Bolts (W). Condemn serves primarily as a get away tool and should be maxed last. As always max your ultimate, Final Hour, whenever available.

The items that I have chosen for Vayne are a balance between ensuring survivability while also guaranteeing an insane amount of damage output. Personally I feel that Vayne is extremely well suited for farming the middle lane so attempt to reserve it if at all possible.

Early Game
Remember Vayne is capable of great bursts of damage and it's important to make sure that the people you are laning against are aware of this. I'm not suggesting that you go American Psycho on them but it is necessary that they know what you are capable of. This can be done by utilizing your tumble skill whenever possible to pick at your enemies health. Tumble has a low mana cost and cooldown and as such can be used often to keep enemies at bay. By asserting your lane dominance early you can keep your opponent from what they should be doing; FARMING. I start off with a giving me increased damage, health and lifesteal which all help me to be aggressive and to keep me in lane. After farming for a while I'll usually try and pressure the opponent I am laning against to grab an early kill. If you have done well at farming and have picked up a kill or two blue pill to grab . I prefer these boots over boots of swiftness because your passive already provides you with great chasing capabilities as do your summoner spells. Berserker's Greaves are great for the increased attack speed which improves the effectiveness of Silver Bolts.

Mid Game
Following your purchase of Berserker's Greaves it becomes important to increase your damage. To do this I rush . This item is simply amazing for Vayne providing increased damage with huge crits on her tumble. Following this item I proceed to grab to increase the effectiveness of silver bolts while further increasing Vayne's crit. Next it will become apparent that you are downing a number of enemies and will be seen as a threat. As such you will be focused in team fights. For this reason I attempt to increase Vayne's survivability through the purchase of . This will also provide a slow reducing your opponents mobility ensuring that no one escapes your wrath. The purchase order of these last three items however, is subject to change depending on what is needed. If the other team is packing a lot of Ability Power a maybe more effective in keeping you alive. In keeping with this it might be necessary to grab before the other two items if the opposing team has a lot of physical dps. Not only will it provide armor but it will also contribute to your crit. This in conjunction with Frozen Mallet is great as Atma's passive will increase your damage based off your health. If you find however that the other team simply cannot kill you substitute one of the defensive items for increasing your armor penetration through which will only serve to add salt to your enemy's wounds.

NOTE: This is not, and I repeat NOT, the only way to build Vayne. There are many viable builds but this is the one that I have found best suits my play style while producing amazing results. Other potential builds might include (as made infamous by Phreak during his live stream with Vayne) and but I prefer to build a Vayne with high crit probability.


Individual Fights
This is where Vayne truly shines as a champion. There really are very few who will be able to fight you 1v1 as your burst damage is godly. Ensure that you utilize Final Hour before entering a fight as the increased damage and the QUADRUPLING of your movement passive means the likelihood of an enemy escaping is slim to none. Next be sure to tumble in order to proc. invisibility which your ultimate provides for a short duration. Utilize condemn to pin your enemy to an object such as a turret (if you can pin them to one of your own they will be stunned directly under it and you can use the turret damage to assist you...as if you needed it...) or a wall. Continue to use tumble whenever it is available and watch your auto-attacks take your opponent out.

Team Fights
The way that I play Vayne is that of an assassin. I try and stay out of fights until they have been initiated and the other team is preoccupied with my teammates. At this point I will pop Final Hour as well as ghost springing from hiding to prey on support champions or carrys. Using tumble to go invisible just before entering the fight will make it difficult for the other team to react to your presence. Utilize condemn if possible to nail the opponent you have focused to a wall stunning them. With your item build you should be able to polish the champion off quickly as the true damage from silver bolts will rip right through them despite their defenses. When they have died turn your attention to whoever else needs to be focused and simply rinse and repeat. Often times you may find that you gun down their entire team before they even have a chance to react.

Vayne is by far one of the coolest champions I have had the pleasure of playing. If you haven't played her yet I highly suggest you do so and have fun roflstomping your opponents. Cheers.