-Tips

Hey all! My name is Drum Stix, currently a Gold5/Gold4 Kalista main. I started back in season 6, and mid-way through the season I picked up Kalista and fell in love with the kit, despite the fact that she's balanced around LCS Pro Play. In this guide I will share any and all information and knowledge I have about the champion, and will update patch-to-patch if there are changes that will affect her in anyway.

"When wronged, we seek justice. When hurt, we strike back. When betrayed, the Spear of Vengeance strikes!"

Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance was released on November 20th, 2014. She is a marksman champion with the unique design of relying on another player- one that she can bind to. She starts the game with a Kalista only item known as the Black Spear, and with that can enhance her kit.

As it stands currently, Kalista is an early/mid game powerhouse AD that can also take baron and dragon easily due to her E ability, Rend. She falls off lategame due to her passive making her auto attacks only deal 90% of her AD, and that she also has all of her damage put into Rend. The longer the game goes, the less likely you are to stack as many spears into someone as you want, so the less likely you'll be getting resets on it in teamfights late game to make a lot of damage. She also, as of recent times (8.4 to be exact) has had her auto range reduced to 525, as opposed to the normal 550. This makes her much more of a risk to play, especially since she has to get closer now to the enemy team to attack them.

Kalista's League of Legends Champion Page: https://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/game-info/champions/kalista/
Kalista's League of Legends Universe Page:
https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/champion/kalista/
Kalista's Login Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFZJuBXufIM

So why would you want to pick Kalista, or even pick up this champion? You could have seen some professionals playing her and outplaying people, perhaps you saw that she had some weird hopping mechanic, maybe it was the fact that she had a straight one-hundred percent presence at Worlds 2017 by being banned for all 80 matches, and you were curious as to why that would be? Whatever the reason for picking Kalista up is, know that she is one of the most difficult AD carries you can play, as her kit is exceedingly unique, and due to that you will most likely need quite a few games under your belt to get good with her.

---


Pros
-Strong Early/Mid
-Has a stackable execute
-Kiting Queen
-Can save Oathsworn Ally from death
-Has vision in her kit with W
-Rend acts as another smite for Baron and Dragons
-After Runaan's has amazing waveclear with Rend
-High skillcap, you can always learn something new

Cons
-High skillfloor
-With a unique kit, you can't apply knowledge from other champs to her
-Falls off lategame
-Support reliant
-Only deals 90% of AD on auto attacks
-Auto attacks can miss
-Balanced around pro-play
-Has a shorter range than most ADCs at 525

Passive: Martial Poise - Kalista's basic attacks have some special interactions: They only deal 90% of her total attack damage as physical damage, they miss if she loses vision of her target, you cannot cancel the wind-up of the auto, but you can enter a movement command during the wind-up, and Kalista will dash in that direction. Your attack speed lowers the wind-up duration (0.66% per 1% attack speed), and the dash scales with boot tier (250 range base, 300 range with tier 1 boots, 350 range with tier 2 boots). You also start the game with a unique item, called the Black Spear (that will be covered in the items section). NOTE! Slows will cause your dash to be very, very minuscule as well, and as such cripple Kalista heavily.

--
Q: Pierce - On use, Kalista hurls a spear that deals (10/70/130/190/250) physical damage and has a 100% total AD scaling. It costs (50/55/60/65/70) mana to use, and has a flat 8 second cooldown. You will max this second. If Pierce kills its target, it will continue to go forwards until it either hits another target but doesn't kill it, or it will go until the end of its range if unimpeded. If Pierce kills a target that has spears already stacked, it will carry the spears to the next target.

--
W: Sentinel - Sentinel has a Passive and an Active. We will cover the Active here as the Passive will be under the items section with The Black Spear. Active - Kalista sends out a Sentinel to scout a marked area for her. This Sentinel will patrol the area for 3 laps before disappearing. It can only see in a cone in front of itself. If it spots an enemy it will alert Kalista with an audible scream, and will chase its target for 4 seconds before disappearing. Targets it spots will be shown on the map for Kalista, and will be visible through bushes and the Fog of War. If the Sentinel takes damage at all it will be slowed by 50%. A Sentinel has 2 HP. It will take 1 damage from champion basic attacks, and 2 damage from a turret shot. Sentinel costs 20 mana at all ranks, has a 30 second cooldown, a recharge rate of (90/80/70/60/50) seconds, and can store 2 charges. You max this last. NOTE! Your Sentinel will give more cues as well. If it spots an enemy, you'll see a red arrow pointing in their direction. Also, if your Sentinel detects an enemy, you'll gain the kill on them if they tried to execute to tower/minions, or if an ally kills them you'll get an assist.

--
E: Rend - Rend has a Passive and an Active, much like her W: Sentinel. Passive: Kalista's basic attacks and Q - Pierce stack spears in enemies for 4 seconds, and can stack up to 254 times. Active: Kalista rips the spears out of nearby enemies dealing (20/30/40/50/60) physical damage per spear with a scaling of 60% AD. It also has a special scaling for each spear after the first one, where it deals (20/23.75/27.5/31.25/35%) Total AD per spear. It will slow enemies by (25/30/35/40/45)%. It has a cooldown of (14/12.5/11/9.5/8) seconds. If Rend kills its target, it will reset the cooldown and refund (10/15/20/25/30) mana. It costs 30 mana at all ranks. You max this first. NOTE! You can take advantage of the reset by having spears on a minion to help win trades. This is also able to secure dragons and barons for your team, as you can easily get a 2k damage rend in if you attack from the get-go with your team. Make sure to be there for those! A team with a Kalista and a jg with smite should never lose a smite battle unless the enemy team has a Cho/Nunu.

--
R: Fate's Call - On use, Kalista pulls her Oathsworn into her and places them in stasis for up to 4 seconds. During Fate's Call, Kalista's Oathsworn can click anywhere to launch themselves out, colliding with the first enemy hit. This is a skill shot, so they can miss this. When they collide with an enemy, they will knock up an enemy for (1.5/1.75/2) seconds, and the knock up is Area of Effect. Your Oathsworn will also land at their basic attack range relative to the target hit. Fate's Call has a range of 1200 range which is visible by a tether connected from Kalista to her Oathsworn. It costs 100 mana, and has a cooldown of (150/120/90) seconds. Obviously, max this third. NOTE! This ultimate is huge and can single handedly turn a teamfight. At max rank, it has the longest knock up time of any ability. It can be used to save your Oathsworn from a dire situation as well, don't be afraid to use it for that. Also take care as some supports who despise Kalista will complain if you ult them but just ignore them. There will also be a few that still think you have control over where they go flying, but you can just calmly educate them on the fact that they are wrong. Kalista is strongest with her support on the same page as herself.

With the changes in 8.11, there were some runes removed and some added. For now, the standard page will be Precision first with either Press the Attack or Lethal Tempo. Take Triumph or Presence of Mind second, Alacrity if you are going for the traditional build or Bloodline if you are going Rageblade first, and either Coup de Grace or Cut Down for your last. Second tree spec into Domination and take Sudden Impact with Ultimate Hunter. The new keystone, Hail of Blades, is not good on Kalista and I would not recommend it.

UNIQUE ITEMS:
The Black Spear: This item is unique and exclusive to Kalista only. She will start the game with this in her inventory. The Black Spear has an Active: Offer to bind with an ally for the remainder of the game, becoming Oathsworn Allies. Oathsworn empowers you both while near one another. Once you bind to an ally, your W will gain a passive of giving Kalista (5/10/15/20/25) AD while near her Oathsworn, and will also mark enemies that she or her Oathsworn attacks. If they attack the same target, the mark will proc dealing (5/7.5/10/12.5/15)% of that enemy's max HP as magic damage. There is a 10 second CD per target mark proc.

---

STARTER ITEMS:
Doran's Blade + 1 Pot is your go to most of the time, as that is the usual ADC start.
Doran's Shield + 1 Pot you take this against poke lanes.
Boots of Speed + 4 Pot. Boots start is risky as you have no combat stats, and you don't have any extra hp- but you do have the benefit of sustain from the four health potions. You can start this for skillshot heavy lanes

===

CORE ITEMS:
Blade of the Ruined King: This is the item that makes Kalista even more scary early, as it is a rush item on her and it gives her all stats she could use. It gives 40 AD, 25% attack speed, 12% lifesteal, an on-hit effect of 8% current HP physical damage, and an active that deals 100 magic damage and steals 25% of their movespeed for 3 seconds.
Runaan's Hurricane: This is an item that synergizes well with Kalista's kit, as it will let you get spears stacked on multiple targets as the spears count as an on-hit effect. With this item your team fights are strong, and your wave clear even stronger. It gives 40% attack speed, 30% crit chance, 7% move speed, and a UNIQUE passive called Wind's Fury, which makes your basic attacks fire 2 bolts out at nearby enemies with a range of 375. These bolts deal 40% of your AD as physical damage, and applies on-hit effects. The bolts can also crit.
Berserker's Greaves: This is your main boot choice if the enemy team doesn't have a lot of CC, or a lot of Auto Attack reliant champions. With the way Kalista's passive works, her leap range scales with Boot tier. As that stands, tier 2 boots are mandatory on Kalista. You take Berserker's Greaves for the 35% attack speed, the UNIQUE Passive of 45 additional move speed, and of course, for max leap range for your passive.

--

ATTACK SPEED:
Phantom Dancer: This item is good if you want to have more crit, or you need to survive some extra damage. This item grants 45% attack speed, 30% crit, 5% movespeed, and has two UNIQUE Passives called Spectral Waltz which gives you 7% movespeed while you are within 500 units of an enemy you can see and also ghosts you, allowing you to move through units. There is also Lament which allows your basic attacks to cause a single champion to deal 12% less damage to you for 10 seconds.
Guinsoo's Rageblade: This item requires time to stack, but it will give you more on-hit damage and attack speed as it does- plus it will, once stacked, make every other auto attack stack an additional spear. This item gives 25 AP, 25 AD, and 25% attack speed. It has three passives, with two being UNIQUE. Passive: this item deals 5+10% of your AD and AP as additional on-hit damage. UNIQUE Passive: Your basic attacks grant 8% attack speed, 4% bonus AD and AP for 5 seconds and can stack up to 6 times. While at 6 stacks, gain Guinsoo's Rage. Guinsoo's Rage: Every other basic attack triggers on-hit effects to apply an additional time.
Wit's End: This item is more situational than the others, as it is only best to get when you have 3+ magic damage dealers on the team- but on the plus side it will make your W passive Soul Mark hurt more. This item gives 40% attack speed, and 40 magic resist. It comes with a UNIQUE Passive. UNIQUE Passive: Basic attacks steal 6 magic resist (3 for ranged champs), up to a maximum of 30 magic resist (for a total of 70 magic resist at full stacks) and also gives you 42 bonus magic damage on-hit.

--

LIFESTEAL:
The Bloodthirster: While the AD isn't the most appealing thing to Kalista, the life steal it gives and passive it has is a very tempting offer. This item grants 80 AD, and has two UNIQUE Passives. UNIQUE Passive: Your lifesteal will overheal you and grant you a shield for 50=350 damage (which is based on Champion Level). This shield will decay after 25 seconds out of combat. UNIQUE Passive: Grants 20% Lifesteal.
Death's Dance: This item is known to be one of the anti-burst items due to its UNIQUE Passive, and as such should be considered if you keep getting blown up in teamfights; and you can also heal through ability damage with this item. This item grants 80 AD, 10% CDR, and has two UNIQUE Passives. UNIQUE Passive: Dealing physical damage heals you for 15% of the damage dealt. This is 33% effective for multi-target effects. UNIQUE Passive: 30% of the damage you take is converted to a 5 second bleed instead. NOTE! Rend counts as a multi-target ability, even if you only Rend a single target. As such, it will not give much healing, keep that in mind.
Mercurial Scimitar: This is an item you get if the enemy team has enough CC, or crippling enough CC to force you into buying a QSS- and this is something you should be getting a majority of your games. This item gives you 65 AD, 10% lifesteal, and 35 magic resist. This item has a UNIQUE Active. UNIQUE Active: Removes all CC effects and grants 50% movespeed for 1 second on a 90 second cooldown.

--

DEFENSIVE ITEMS:
Mercury's Treads: This is an alternate boot option in place of Berserker's Greaves or Ninja Tabi and you should only get this if they are a majority magic damage or you need the Tenacity. This item grants 25 Magic Resist, and has two UNIQUE Passives called Enhanced Movement which gives 45 additional move speed, and Tenacity which reduces the duration of CC effects by 30%.
Ninja Tabi: This is an alternate boot option in place of Berserker's Greaves and Mercury's Treads and you should only get this if they are a majority AD, or they have a lot of auto attack reliant champions. This item gives 20 Armor and comes with two UNIQUE Passives. UNIQUE Passive: Enhanced Movement gives you 45 additional move speed. UNIQUE Passive that blocks 12% of auto attack damage.
Guardian Angel: This item is to keep you alive and allows you to cheat death once every 300 seconds, or 5 minutes. This item gives you 30 Armor, 40 AD, and a UNIQUE Passive. UNIQUE Passive: Upon taking fatal damage, restore 50% of your base HP, and 30% of max mana after 4 seconds in stasis on a 300 second CD.
Maw of Malmortius: This is the anti-ap burst item, get this if they have an AP assassin like LB, Fizz, or Kassadin that can 100 to 0 you in a second, as this will buy you time. This item grants you 55 AD, 10% CDR, and 40 Magic Resist. This item has two UNIQUE Passives called Lifeline which triggers when you take magic damage that would reduce you to less than 30% of your HP, and you gain a magic damage shield which absorbs 300 + 1 per bonus magic resist damage. This shield lasts for 5 seconds, and has a 90 second CD.UNIQUE Passive: Lifegrip when Lifeline triggers you gain 20 AD, and 10% Lifesteal and Spell Vamp until you exit combat.
Frozen Mallet is good as it gives you a massive health boost and a UNIQUE Passive that synergizes well with Kalista's kit as it allows her to kite with more ease. This item grants 30 AD, 700 HP and a UNIQUE Passive called Icy, which causes your basic attacks to slow their target for 40% (20% for ranged champions) for 1.5 seconds.

--

AGAINST TANKS:
Last Whisper: This is the starter item that leads into Lord Dominik's Regards, or Mortal Reminder. You should get this item in your build when their tanks have roughly ~150 armor to make good use of it, then upgrade it later as you see fit. This item grants 10 AD and has a UNIQUE Passive. UNIQUE Passive: Your physical damage ignores 10% of their Total Armor.
Mortal Reminder: is an item you should build against sustain tanks, or enemies that do a lot of healing. This is ideal against Vladimir, Swain, Soraka etc. You can even get it's second component to deal with these guys easier, which is called Executioner's Calling. This item gives 50 AD, and has two UNIQUE Passives called Executioner which causes your physical damage attacks to apply Grievous Wounds on a target for 5 seconds. Grievous Wounds reduces ALL healing received and HP regen by 40%. It also gives 25% Total Armor penetration.
Lord Dominik's Regards: is what you take for straight up penetration. The item was changed in 8.11 to no longer have the Giant Slayer passive, but instead of having bonus armor penetration it now has pure armor penetration. This item grants you 40 AD and 35% Total Armor penetration.
Infinity Edge is an item that was changed in 8.11 to no longer give crit, but instead make crits deal true damage while doubling your current critical strike chance. It gives 70 AD and two passives. The first is that it doubles your critical strike chance, and the second is that it makes your crits do 15% true damage. This item is ideal when you go for a Phantom Dancer and Runaan's Hurricane build.

Personal Favorite Support - My personal favorite to have when playing Kalista. This is easily the most opinionated choice on this list. This would be my S tier pick on a list.
Thresh, the Chain Warden is a support that is commonly paired with Kalista, and for good reason. The kits of the two spectral champions mix and synergize very, very well. Thresh is a good pick as he is a tanky support that is good to go all in with, and if you are behind even has really good tools to peel for you. This lane you can go in whenever he hooks or flays. Due to Thresh's passive Damnation he gets tankier as the game goes on, and he gets more damage as well- and this can lead to him doing a surprising amount of damage that a lot of people will not respect. His Q, Death Sentence, is a hook based skillshot, and if landed can give Kalista a lot of time to stack spears into people, especially when paired with his E, Flay which allows him to pull enemies even closer to himself, or if it is needed to be used defensively can knock enemies away. His peel is even stronger with his W, Dark Passage where he throws a clickable lantern that not only gives you a shield, but moves you to his location. At level 6 he gets his ultimate, The Box, which sets up a pentagon of walls around him. These walls, if an enemy collides with them, is hooked into them or even flayed into them, will slow them for a massive 99% and deal massive damage. When all is said and done, this is a lane where, if you get it, it should be very difficult to lose lane if you and the Thresh have good synergy. You can fight the enemy lane whenever Thresh has his hook up and his flay, and at level 6 your engage with Fate's Call is monstrous. Your engages at 6 should always result in either a kill, or summoner burns.

--

Good Supports - These are supports that pair very well with Kalista, and are ones I would recommend pairing with her when possible. These would be A tier supports on a list.
Alistar, the Minotaur is a tanky support that can work in a similar fasion to Thresh- as he has good engage and good peel. This lane you can go in whenever he pulverizes someone, stuns them, or headbutts them. Alistar's passive, Triumphant Roar is an odd ability for a tank support that is meant for engage, as this is a passive that will heal you and himself and is triggered off of him displacing or stunning an enemy, as well as having minions die near him. This has no combat advantage, but the heal is nice to keep you topped off in lane. Alistar's main engage tool is his W, Headbutt where he will charge at an enemy and if close enough will knock them away, or at max range will stun them for one second. With that ability he can also disengage extremely well. It is usually followed up with his Q, Pulverize, which has him slam the ground near him to knock enemies up. This can set him up for a disengage headbutt if used first, or even allow him to flash behind an enemy to headbutt them towards you. His E, Trample, will also be used during his headbutt as it is an ability that must stack five times, and when it stacks that high will cause his next auto to stun the enemy he hits. This isn't so much a disengage tool as it takes time to charge, but this can help secure kills. His ultimate, Unbreakable Will is a tool that he can use to either dive an enemy under turret as it gives him a lot of damage reduction, or he can use it to counter-engage on a CC heavy enemy as it also frees him from any CC effect. Overall this can be an oppressive lane to have as Alistar is a very good support at the moment, and he can allow Kalista to snowball quite easily.
Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem is one of the three hook supports you can have and perhaps has the greatest kill pressure of the three as he has a lot of base damage- but at the cost of having minimal peel compared to Thresh or Nautilus. This lane you go in whenever he hooks, knocks someone up, or even ults them. Blitzcrank's Q, Rocket Grab is an ability that needs no introduction- it is the hook that haunts the dreams of every low elo player. It is a fast projectile with no actual animation aside from him standing still for a split second and launching it forwards. His W, Overdrive gives him a good speed boost and can allow him to reposition himself easier for a hook opportunity, but when this is active it will cause enemy laners to back off as it makes it very clear what he is going to do. His E, Power Fist is an auto attack reset that makes his next auto knock up an enemy champion. If the laners are dodging his hooks, it is possible that he will opt out to use this to set up as it makes his hook next to impossible to miss. His ultimate, Static Field is a giant AoE silence. It also has a passive of zapping nearby targets, and will most likely steal some CS from you so just expect that. Along with all his other abilities, he still has his passive which can help for diving later in the game, and it is called Mana Barrier which triggers on low health and gives him a massive shield equal to half of his current mana pool. Early game that doesnt mean much but later in the game, that can easily save him from dying. Blitz is a support capable of cheesing as his hook is the only one that pulls the enemy directly to him, and as such will most likely always get a kill or flash burned.
Braum, the Heart of the Freljord is a tanky support capable of engage and peel. This lane you will go in whenever he has a stack of his passive on someone, whenever he q's them, if they are stunned already or if they are knocked up. Braum's passive is called Concussive Blows and it applies a debuff on an enemy. This debuff can stack to four times, and when it does it will stun them and deal a good bit of damage. The stun is applied through Braum's autos and can be triggered by ally auto attacks, as well as his Q, Winter's Bite which is a skill shot that applies one stack of his passive, slows an enemy massively and deals damage equal to 2.5% of their max HP. His W, Stand Behind Me has him leap to an ally and it places him in between his ally and the closest enemy champion. He and his ally also gain bonus armor and magic resist (only applies to allied champions). His E, Unbreakable, causes Braum to raise his shield up and block any non-turret shot in the direction of his shield. If he blocks anything with his shield, it deals damage to him but at a heavily reduced percent. It also completely blocks the damage of the first thing to hit it, and while the shield is raised Braum gains movespeed and also becomes ghosted. Lastly, his ultimate, Glacial Fissure has him slam his shield into the ground to cause a line skill shot in a direction of his choosing. On the way out, the fissure will knock up enemies, and it will stay there for a few seconds afterwards. The first enemy hit will always be knocked up for the full duration while others will be knocked up for a shorter duration. The line stays on the ground and acts as a slow.
Janna, the Storm's Fury is one of only two enchanters I will put as a good matchup for her, and no it isn't because Janna is broken right now. She is a support that excels at keeping allies alive through incredible disengage, peel, and shields. This lane you can go in whenever she lands a Q, or whenever you get the ulti combo off. Janna's passive, Tailwind grants her allies movespeed when moving towards her and it gives her bonus on-hit damage for herself. Her Q, Howling Gale causes a tornado to form at her location, and it can charge up for a few seconds. After the charge is finished, or after she recasts it, it will fly in a targeted direction and knock up any enemy hit by it. The longer the charge, the farther it goes, the faster it goes, it gets extra damage, and the longer it knocks up. Her W, Zephyr, is a clickshot ability that has a passive that grants her movespeed and ghosts her while off CD, but on active it damages an enemy and slows them. Her E is why people hate her, and it is called Eye of the Storm, which grants an ally a shield that also gives them AD. Not only can she cast this on an ally champion, but also a turret- and the AD it gives also scales with her total AP. Her ultimate is one of the strongest, if not the strongest disengage in the game, and it is called Monsoon. This ability casts a circle around Janna, which will knock back enemies upon first use. The circle will also provide healing per half-second to her and any ally standing within it. Monsoon is why I say she is such a strong pick with Kalista- as at level 6, you combining Fate's Call with it is very strong. Once she launches herself from Fate's Call, she can immediately Howling Gale them to give herself some extra time, position herself between the support and enemy ADC, and then use her ultimate to send the enemy AD to you, and their support away. Nobody expects the kill pressure this lane has at 6, but it should not be taken lightly.
Leona, the Radiant Dawn is a tanky engage support. If the Leona player is good on their champ, they will seek engages at almost every opportune moment as they know with how her kit works, aggression is the best playstyle for her. This lane you can go in whenever Leona lands anything as with the extra damage from her passive, you will most likely always win the trade. Her Passive is Sunlight which applies a debuff to enemies whenever they are struck by any of Leona's abilities, and causes extra damage to be taken whenever proc'd by an ally. Her Q, Shield of Daybreak is an auto reset that also stuns targets. Her W, Eclipse, grants Leona bonus armor and magic resist and makes her extremely tanky for a few seconds. After a short delay, she'll burst an AoE around her that applies her passive if it hits an enemy. If it hits an enemy, it will also grant her more time with the bonus resistances. This is the ability that allows her to play very aggro. Her E, Zenith Blade, is a skillshot ability that will root the last enemy she strikes with it. If there are multiple enemies, all will have Sunlight applied to them. If she connects it to an enemy champion, she pulls herself to said enemy and roots them. Her ultimate, Solar Flare, is an AoE skill shot ability. The target area she uses it at will have a brief delay, and after said delay will have a beam of sunlight crash down. It will slow enemies in the radius, and stun them in the center. As stated before, due to Sunlight, she will always be aggressive if she knows what she is doing, and as such can help Kalista get fed.
Morgana, the Fallen Angel is the only mage support I would say goes well with Kalista as their level 6 engage will most likely result in a kill or at least a summoner burn from the enemy team. This lane is all about waiting for her to land a Q, or for her to poke them down with her W and also when her ult procs. Morgana's passive, Soul Siphon grants her spell-vamp against enemy champions, large monsters, and large minions. Her Q, Dark Binding is known for the fact that its hitbox is never seemingly accurate. It is a skillshot ability that can root an enemy for up to 3 whole seconds. Due to that ability alone, Morgana already provides a very strong CC ability to rack up spears in an enemy. Her W, Tormented Soil is an AoE that merely damages enemies within it, and the damage scales off of missing health. This will be used in tandem with her Q, and as such gives her a good amount of damage to help you chunk enemies out of lane or even kill them. Her E, Black Shield is one of the most unique and useful abilities in the game as she shields an ally or herself for 5 seconds. This shield absorbs only magic damage, but has the unique property of making anyone affected by the shield CC immune for its duration. Morgana's ultimate, Soul Shackles is an AoE slow and stun. She throws out shackles around nearby enemy champions and slows them, and if they do not escape its range within the time they become stunned. This ability does a lot of damage if they do not leave its range, as the entire damage of the ability is applied a second time to anyone stuck in the stun. Soul Shackles and Fate's Call is a very good combination of abilities and is very strong.
Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths is the third and final hook support. He is capable of giving good engage and good peel. You should go in whenever he autos a target, hooks them, or ults them. Nautilus' passive is called Staggering Blow, and it is an auto-attack applied debuff. Any enemy attacked by Nautilus gets rooted in place, but this cannot occur more than once every ~5 seconds or so to the same target. His Q, Dredge Line is his hook ability. His hook has a wider hitbox than both Thresh and Blitzcrank, and has some unique properties. For example, when he hooks an enemy, he pulls them towards himself, as he pulls himself towards them- meeting half-way. His hook can also be used on terrain to drag himself to said terrain. Due to this, he is the only hook that cannot be used over a wall. His W, Titan's Wrath, gives him a shield and an auto reset. This ability also applies a DoT on his auto attacks for the duration. His E, Riptide is an AoE slow. Enemies can be hit by all three waves of Riptide, but only take half the damage for each additional hit. His ultimate is a ranged Vi ult, and is called Depth Charge. Once used on an enemy, they'll see a targeter under them and will eventually have an explosion under them that knocks them up. This ability cannot miss, and if an enemy is standing between the charge and its target, they will also be knocked up, but will not stop the charge.
Rakan, the Charmer is the second enchanter support that I would say is a good pick-up to have with Kalista. This lane is about waiting for him to land his W, or his ult. Otherwise wait for him to poke them down with Q. Rakan's passive, Fey Feathers grants himself a shield, and also has the second part of it that Xayah has called Lover's Leap- but that only works with Xayah. His Q, Gleaming Quill, is a skillshot that if it hits an enemy, gives Rakan a circle under him. If an ally touches the circle, they both receive healing, if nobody does however the healing goes to just him. His W, Grand Entrance, is an AoE knock-up and dash. When he uses this, he'll dash in a direction, then after a second or so will knock anyone up that is caught in the circle he makes. His E, Battle Dance, is a dash and a shield. He can only cast this on allies, but when he does he gives them a shield. This ability can be used twice in total before it goes on CD, however, it does not need to be used twice to go on CD. Lastly, Rakan's ultimate is called The Quickness, and it causes him to charm any enemy hit. Once active, if he connects with an enemy he gets a speed burst and can charm any enemy he touches during its 4 second activation. Rakan is a better pick imo than Janna if you need an ehnchanter, as his engage is even stronger than her's.
Taric, the Shield of Valoran is a unique support, as he is a tanky enchanter. This lane you go in whenever he stuns a target, or if you have his ult on you. Taric's passive, Bravado enhances his auto attacks. This will cause his autos to lower the CD of his basic abilities, and even grant one charge of his Q. His Q, Starlight's Touch is an AoE heal that heals more based off of charges used. It can store up to 3 charges at once. It requires at least one charge to be used. If affected by his W, Starlight's Touch will also be cast from the ally's location. His W, Bastion links him with a champion (similar in fashion to Kalista's Black Spear). Once he uses it on a champion, they will become shielded, and his abilities can be cast from their location as well. He can use Bravado on any ally, and doesn't have to keep it to one ally. His E, Dazzle is a line skill shot. If affected by his W, Dazzle will be cast from the targeted ally's location as well. His ultimate, Cosmic Radiance casts an AoE around him (and if he has an ally affected with W, their location as well) and any ally caught in the AoE once the cast is finished will become invulnerable. The delay is 2.5 seconds, and the invuln lasts for another 2.5 seconds.

Alright Supports - These are the supports that just didn't make the good cut. These on a list would be B tier supports.
Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper is a unique support in that he is an assassin. He has stealth, a hook, a stun and an execute. Most Pyke players will be very aggressive in lane, and this is good as it can get you fed very easily. There is also the bonus of his ultimate, that if he executes someone with it and you get the assist, you get the gold and kill credit. I would say that he is even able to be a Good support for Kalista, but I still need more testing with this first personally.
Shen, the Eye of Twilight is a tank, but is typically found in top lane rather than as support. He can support just as well as he can top lane however. I was tempted to put him in good supports list, but ultimately decided he was just shy of being put there. This lane you really only can go in whenever he taunts someone. Shen's passive is Ki Barrier and it simply shields himself when he uses an ability- this is good for initiations It also causes him to spawn in with a spirit blade. His Q, Twilight Assault brings his spirit blade over to his current location, as well as enhance his next three auto attacks. The spirit blade will be pulled in a line, and if it crosses through an enemy it will slow them (but only if they faced away from him) and it will also empower his enhanced autos. His W is Spirit's Refuge and causes a zone at his spirit blade to form. This zone causes any ally standing within in to dodge auto attacks. This also works against abilities that act like an auto (ex. Ezreal's Q, Yasuo's Q, Fiora's Q etc.). His E is Shadow Dash and it causes him to dash in a target location. Any enemy champion he collides with becomes taunted for 1.5 seconds. He can use flash to extend this range. Lastly, his ult is Stand United where he casts a channel on an ally champion. During this channel, the ally he selected will be shielded, and if the channel is un-interrupted it will cause Shen to teleport to said ally. The shield also scales off of ally's missing health!
Sion, the Undead Juggernaut is another top lane tank that is also possibly played in a support role, much like Shen. This lane you can go in whenever he Q's someone, when he ults, whenever he E's someone, or even when he is in his passive state you can most likely get a kill. Sion's passive is called Glory in Death and causes him to reanimate after dying, and he can auto attack until he is either killed or his timer runs out. This passive state deals a massive amount of damage early so do not take that lightly. His Q is called Decimating Smash and is an AoE skillshot ability that requires a charge. If the channel lasts for at least one second, he will knock up any enemy caught in it. If the channel is cast early, he will merely swipe his axe instead. NOTE! This ability can not be seen being channeled in an unwarded bush, and as such can be used to cheese someone. His W is called Soul Furnace and it grants himself a shield, At the end of its duration, or if he reactivates it, it will explode in AoE damage. It also has a passive that allows him to stack health indefinitely whenever he scores a kill on a minion, monster, or champion. His E is Roar of the Slayer and even though the animation looks like he is kicking, he isn't. He will shout in a line skill shot, and if it connects to an enemy minion, or non-epic monster, it will send them flying. If the roar connects to an enemy with or without a minion it will slow them. This ability also reduces armor by 20%. Finally, his ultimate is Unstoppable Onslaught. This ability causes a loud sound to be heard throughout Summoner's Rift as Sion charges forwards. He can change direction of this ability, although it is difficult to do so. This ability can damage turrets if he collides with one. If he collides with a wall or small terrain he can hop over it. If he connects with an enemy champion, they are first pulled in towards Sion and then stunned which changes duration depending on how long he was charging. If he doesn't collide with an enemy, but still hits them with the AoE at the end it will deal damage and slow them.
Tahm Kench, the River King is a tanky support that is known for his peel and global presence with his ult. Also, keeping in theme with the last two champions, he can also be played top as a bit of role reversal! In this lane, wait for him to get a stun, or even for him to devour an enemy. Tahm's Passive is called An Acquired Taste and it applies a three stacking debuff to enemies that he either autos, Q's, or by hitting them with a minion he Devoured. Once the debuff stacks to three on an enemy champion, his next Q would stun them, or he can Devour them. His Q is Tongue Lash and is a skillshot. He flicks his tongue from his mouth, which if it connects to an enemy champion it will apply a stack of his passive on them (or stun them if at max stacks) and it will also slow them. Also if this ability is used on an enemy minion or non-epic monster, he can Devour it for free. His w is Devour. This ability causes Tahm to open wide and swallow an enemy champion, minion, non-epic monster, or even an ally. Once in him, they become untargetable, and can take no action during the time they are in him. If he uses it against an enemy champion, it near sights them, surpresses them, and causes Tahm to move 95% slower- this also causes Devour to only last half of its full duration. If he doesn't devour an enemy champion, but anything else, he will not gain a movespeed debuff, but will be able to recast the ability after 1 second to regurgitate whatever he had within his stomach. Ally champions can exit any time they wish after that 1 second delay. His E is Thick Skin and it causes damage he takes to be converted to grey health. This grey health will either heal itself slightly back up after some time, or he can activate the ability to gain a shield for the exact amount of grey health he had. Lastly, his ultimate is Abyssal Voyage and is essentially a 2 man Twisted Fate ult without the vision. Tahm will stay stationary and open his mouth, and if an ally climbs in, they will both be teleported to where he selected. If no ally goes with him, he can personally re-use the ability to go on his own. This ability will be canceled if Tahm takes damage, or if he choses to cancel it. If this happens it'll only go on a 10 second cooldown.

--

Average Supports - These supports can work with Kalista, but are no where near the strongest picks. These would be C tier supports.
Annie, the Dark Child is a mage that brings CC to a team at the cost of being short range. This is a lane you can go in anytime she lands a stun from any ability, otherwise try to let her poke them down as much as she can. Annie's passive is Pyromania and stacks up to four times. After the fourth stack, her next Q, W, or R will stun. Her Q is Disintegrate and is a clickshot ability that deals damage, or can stun with passive stacked. Her W is Incinerate and is a cone ability that deals AoE damage in its cone and also stuns with passive. Her E is Molten Shield and causes her to surround herself with fire, giving her damage reduction and damaging anyone that basic attacks her. Her ultimate is Summon: Tibbers, and it causes her to summon a massive bear. Upon summoning the bear deals AoE damage and can stun with passive. Annie's E also applies to Tibbers. This champion has a very, very basic kit but can pair well enough with Kalista as Annie has clickshot CC or even AoE CC.
Lulu, the Fae Sorceress is an enchanter support with amazing peel and poke, and in my opinion is one of the strongest supports you can have currently in League. This lane you can go in when she W's you or the enemy, when she E's you or when she ults. Lulu's Passive is called Pix, Faerie Companion and it augments her basic attacks, but can also be transferred to an ally to augment their basic attacks with the use of her E. Her Q is called Glitterlance and is a skillshot that is fired from Lulu and Pix wherever he may be. The ability damages and slows enemies hit. Her W is Whimsy and is the reason why assassins and divers hate this champion. On ally/self cast, it gives a speed boost and an attack speed boost. On enemy cast, it polymorphs them and also reduces their base speed by 60%. Lulu's E is called Help, Pix! and on ally cast it sends Pix over to the ally (or herself if self cast) and gives them a shield. It will also give the ally the augmented auto attacks from Pix. On enemy cast, it will send Pix to the enemy. The enemy will have true sight placed on them, and will have the Q cast from their location which will still damage them and any enemy in the line. Finally, her ult is Wild Growth which when used on an ally or herself causes them to grow massively in size, which grants them bonus health (and the bonus health will heal them at the end of the effect if they don't take all the bonus health in damage) and it will also knock up and slow any enemy caught in the growth's radius.
Maokai, the Twisted Treant is a tank commonly found top that was played in support for a while but not as a tank. As such i'll be judging that Maokai build here (the Magekai). This lane you can go in whenever he W+Q's someone, just W's them or ults them. Maokai's passive is called Sap Magic and it enhances an auto attack of his to heal him, but this passive is only active after a decent cooldown or after he uses abilities/gets hit by abilities. His Q is Bramble Smash and it causes him to slam the ground, knocking back enemies close to him and slowing enemies farther away from him. His W is a clickshot ability that forces Maokai to dash to an enemy, and once he reaches the enemy it roots them. He is untargetable during this time and also cannot be stopped, and as such could potentially go from fountain to fountain with this ability. His E is why he was played as a mage support, and it is called Sapling Toss which caused him to toss a sapling. This sapling would grant vision around itself and would chase an enemy before exploding if one was in range. If thrown into a bush, however, the sapling would enhance and explode multiple times upon reaching a target, and would do massively more damage. Due to this, Maokai players love to cheese bushes. Lastly, his ultimate is Nature's Grasp which sends out a wave of roots that will go a long distance, or will stop and root the first enemy hit. The farther the roots traveled the longer it would root. NOTE! If the Maokai is tank, he would be placed one tier up, but typically any Maokai played in the support role will go AP.
Nami, the Tidecaller is an enchanter support that doesn't have any amazing strengths, but also doesn't have any very clear weaknesses. In this lane you can go in whenever she lands a Q or R, or when she E's you. Nami's passive is Surging Tides which boosts the movespeed of any ally hit by Nami's abilities. This movespeed bonus is doubled when hit by her ult. Her Q is Aqua Prison and is an AoE skillshot ability, it causes her to launch a bubble at a target location. Any enemy caught in it will be suspended in the air, and if they were stealthed or in a bush, it will reveal them. Her W is Ebb and Flow and is a heal with a unique property. The heal can be used on an ally, or on an enemy where it will deal damage. If an ally is next to an enemy or vice versa, the ability will bounce between targets. It will only bounce to a new target that it has not hit yet and can bounce twice, dealing significantly less damage or healing for less per bounce. Her E is Tidecaller's Blessing and causes her to buff herself or an ally to give their next 3 auto attacks extra damage and slow any enemy they hit. Lastly, her ult is Tidal Wave which causes her to launch a massive wave in a line. Any enemy caught in the wave is knocked up and slowed.
Zilean, the Chronokeeper Zilean is a mage that has CC, a revive ult and also can level up allies. In this lane you can go in anytime he lands a double Q for the stun, or even if he slows them as his slow is massive. Zilean's passive is Time in a Bottle which has him store xp to give to an ally, which can level them up when they are close enough to being leveled up in the first place. His Q is Time Bomb where he throws a clock bomb. This will tick down before exploding and doing AoE damage. If he throws a second one on the same place, it will detonate the first bomb immediately and also stun the target location. His W is Rewind, and it reduces the CD of his Q and E by 10 seconds. His E is Time Warp which if used on himself/an ally gives them a movespeed bonus for 2.5 seconds, or if on an enemy, it slows them for the same movespeed% and duration. Finally his ultimate is Chronoshift which places protective runes on himself or an ally, and it lasts for 5 seconds. If the target takes fatal damage they are placed in stasis for 3 seconds before riving with a good amount of hp, that scales off of 200% of Zilean's AP.
Zyra, the Rise of the Thorns is a mage that is typically played in the support role. In this lane, you will want to either wait for her to poke the enemies down, or land her E or Ult. Zyra's passive is Garden of Thorns and it causes her to sporadically plant seeds over the place near her. She can only have 8 out at a time, and an enemy champion can step on one to destroy it. Her Q is Deadly Spines which causes her to force thorny spines from the ground. This deals damage and causes any seed near it to grow into a Thorn Spitter for 8 seconds which causes it to do ranged attacks. Her W is Rampant Growth which allows her to store up to 2 seeds at a time. She can use these seeds whenever she has a charge and whenever she wants. These seeds last for twice as long on the ground (60 seconds instead of the 30 seconds from her passive) and if an enemy stands on them it grants true sight over them for 2 seconds. Her E is Grasping Roots which sends vines in a skillshot. These vines will root an enemy if they are hit by it. Any seed caught near the vines will become a Vine Lasher which does melee attacks. Lastly, her ult is Stranglethorns which is a giant AoE that deals damage and after a delay will knock up anyone caught in the zone. Any Thorn Spitter or Vine Lasher in the area will also be enhanced and will attack faster and have more health.

Bad Supports - I would not recommend picking Kalista if your support picks these. They have poor synergy. They can work, but require more effort than what will most likely be worth. D tier supports.
Bard, the Wandering Caretaker is a support whom has a kit which encourages roaming, and while that's good for the team, it is bad for Kalista. This is a lane you can go in whenever he lands a Q stun or his ult. Bard's passive is Traveler's Call which causes chimes to spawn around the map. These are why Bard will roam so much, as with each and every chime he gets, he becomes stronger. These chimes also will grant him additional meeps to make his autos hit harder. His Q is Cosmic Binding and is a skillshot which can hit up to two targets. If this hits a target it will slow them, but if it hits an additional target or terrain, it will stun them. His W is Caretaker's Shrine where Bard will leave a shrine at a target location. These shrines heal allies and can be stepped on by enemies to destroy them. The shrine has a charge and if allowed to finish, its heal will be much greater. It also grants a speed boost. His E is Magical Journey which allows him to place a tunnel in any terrain. Allies and enemies can both utilize this portal though, so keep that in mind. Lastly, his ultimate is Tempered Fate which causes him to place an entire area in stasis. This stasis can affect allies and enemies, and even turrets. This can be a make or break ability, but if used properly will always secure a summoner burn or a kill.
Karma, the Enlightened One is an enchanter support. She sports early damage and shields and speed ups with some CC. She's good early damage wise with her Q poke, and can shield you to not get poked out. She also has an ability to root enemies to keep them still. While the synergy is poor, there is some to be had with her. In this lane, you will want to go in when she roots an enemy.
Sona, the Maven of the Strings is an enchanter that utilizes aura abilities to buff allies or damage enemies. This lane you should wait for her to poke the enemies down, power chord E an enemy, or ult them before going in. Sona's passive is called Power Chord and requires charge. Upon three ability casts, her next auto attack will be enhanced. Her Q Power Chord gives extra damage, her W reduces the enemy's damage, and her E will slow them. Her Q is Hymn of Valor which has her fire out two bolts of sound that will damage enemies, and also grants an aura that can enhance an ally's next auto attack. Her W is Aria of Perseverance and is a heal that will target Sona and her closest wounded ally. It also grants a shield to any ally within the aura. Her E is Song of Celerity and it grants allies movespeed within the aura, and if there are no allies it will only go to her. Finally, her ultimate is Crescendo which is a skillshot ability that forces enemy champions to dance in place for 1.5 seconds.

--

Worst Supports - The worst of the worst. I would put this as dodge worthy support tier, as there is no reason why you would want to force yourself to deal with these supports on Kalista. F tier supports.
Brand, the Burning Vengeance is a mage typically found in the midlane. He provides damage and some hard CC, but other than that he brings not much else. He's only good with Kalista as he scales well into the late game, but other than that he has no synergy with Kalista. In this lane, go in whenever he lands a stun.
Lux, the Lady of Luminosity is a mage that can be taken support. She has a snare, a shield and poke. She's a long rage mage and as such would most likely result in poor interactions with Kalista's ultimate. In this lane, you'll mostly want to go in whenever a root is landed.
Soraka, the Star Child is an enchanter that will keep you alive at the cost of her own life. Soraka provides many heals, a silence and an unreliable root. Kalista thrives off of aggressive supports with CC that's reliable, but Soraka cannot fit that bill. In this lane, you will want to go in after you get healed up from a trade, or if someone somehow gets rooted by the silence.
Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void is a mage typically found in the midlane. He brings some CC and a lot of damage. This is a similar case to Brand, where he pairs well with Kalista as he'll scale into the lategame. In the early game however, you'll be reliant on him poking enemies down or knocking them up. In this lane, go in whenever he lands a knock up, or whenever he ults as he dumps out a lot of true damage.

Kalista is an ADC that depends on getting a lead early. When you play Kalista you should have the idea of playing around the enemy botlane to get a good engage. If you ever kill the enemy botlane, ping your jungler to come to dragon if it is up. As Kalista you have immense control over dragons, barons, and even rift. Due to Rend's near infinite scaling damage you will most likely always win an all in, and will also have more damage than a smite can provide on objectives. So long as you keep attacking the dragon/baron/rift from the start, you should be able to secure the objective easily. The only things that would be able to contest a Kalista would be a Cho'gath/Nunu that has smite, as they would have 2k true damage to try and take the objectives from you.

In the mid game, you should focus on keeping farmed up. By this point you should have your core items and should be able to push waves in and take towers. Depending on how fed you are or not, your damage may start to fall off here, so do be very careful.

Late game your focus as Kalista is setting up an engage/counter-engage with your support or taking objectives. It'll be very hard to get Rend resets this late in the game as most team fights will not happen in a lane and will be around key objectives such as baron or elder. If you can get resets off of Rend, you still dump out massive damage, but you need those resets to be useful in a teamfight. Focus on keeping yourself alive and making smart plays. Lategame is all about macro play and decision making, and as an ADC it is your job to still try your best to deal damage and not die.

April 18th, 2018 - Guide started, builds and matchups done as well as ability and rune section.
April 20th, 2018 - Pros/Cons Tab added, in-depth item explanation added as well as Changelog
April 21st, 2018 - Support Matchups added in three different sections for clarity (Fav/Good) to (Alright/Average) to (Bad/Worst). Currently finished with the (Fav/Good) section.
April 22nd, 2018 - Finished the (Alright/Average) Support Match-ups.
June 9th, 2018 - Returned to the guide. Updated the (Bad/Worst) Support Match-ups, updated the items and runes tab, and added in info about the new support, Pyke.
July 11th, 2018 - Updated for patch 8.13, where Kalista received a small buff to her Rend. Also added the goals tab.
July 21st, 2018 - Updated for 8.14 where Rend had its tooltip updated to show details on additional spear damage.

--

8.13 reigned in a new buff for our favorite specter of vengeance! The damage on her Rend per spear changed from (20/22.5/25/27.5/30% Total AD) to (20/23.75/27.5/31.25/35% Total AD). It's not much, but surely appreciated!