Hello everyone, LonelyStick (Smurf account name) here bringing you a guide on Wukong, The Monkey King. This is my first guide and although I'm not the best player out there, I've been playing a lot of Wukong ever since he came out. People generally take him for a inferior version of Garen but I'm writing this guide to show that there is more to Wukong to just spinning and winning.

Pros:
-Great chasing mechanism
-Strong early game damage
-Amazing escape tool
-Relatively low cooldowns

Cons:
-A bit squishy until mid-game
-He can get focussed very easily
-No hard CC
-Item reliant

During the chaos of the Rune Wars, an enormous runestone was lost deep within the Plague Jungles. It remained there, untouched for centuries, emanating a potent magic which infused nearby wildlife with sentience and vitality. A group of monkeys who were particularly empowered by it came to worship the stone, and their leader - a wise sage - became convinced that he could harness its power to make the monkeys immortal. He performed an elaborate ritual, but things didn't go as he expected. The runestone was destroyed, and instead of granting immortality, it produced Kong, a monkey who carried in his heart the strength and power it had contained. Kong was driven by an unquenchable desire for greatness. He sought out every beast and monster the Plague Jungles could offer, eager to find a worthy opponent, but none offered the challenge he craved. He asked the sage for advice, and learned about a legend of hairless monkeys to the north who, with wits and might, had bent the world to their will.
Wukong left, journeying north, determined to discover if the legend was true. He crossed the Southern Wastes and then the Great Barrier. On his way, he happened upon Master Yi, who was deep in meditation. Kong asked him who the strongest warrior in the north was, and Yi told him about the League of Legends. The tale intoxicated Kong, a place where he could battle the strongest fighters in the world was, to him, paradise. Kong asked Yi to introduce him to this League, and to teach him the ways of humans, so that he could be a fitting champion. In return, he would honor Yi by using Yi's Wuju style to become the greatest warrior Runeterra had ever seen. Admiring his passion, Yi agreed, but under the condition that Kong would one day teach the lessons of Wuju to a pupil of his own. In the spirit of this agreement, he renamed Kong Wukong, and gave him a weapon suited to his unusual nature - an enchanted staff that the young Doran had crafted. The weapon was an unrivalled masterpiece. Guided by Yi, Wukong joined the League of Legends to prove himself as the best, and to show the world the true power of Wuju.

"Only in combat do you learn who you truly are."
Wukong

First of all, let's talk Runes. Wukong is a tank DPS champion so I like to build him as such.

Greater Mark of Desolation
I get Greater Marks of Desolation for the fact that it helps during long games against tanks


Get these for early game defence and sustainability


Defence against any of those mages and great for late game Magic resist

Greater Quintessence of Desolation
Same as the Marks

Now let's talk Masteries.These masteries are made so that Wukong balances between cooldown reduction as well as some extra tankiness. You're goal is to ultimately get your Nimbus Strike and Crushing Blow at relatively the same cooldown (and low) for maximum damage in a short amount of time. I put bonus into extra Turret dmage because his Crushing Blow really helps there. Feel free to change it to suit your style of gameplay though.

Summoner Spells in my honest opinion is what makes or breaks your early/mid game performance. Whether it's first blood or winning a team fight, these guys will be of so much use to you. Trust me.

My main Summoner Spells:


Exhaust is my second favourite but most used summoner spell. This spell if used right will help immensely in most situations. Some examples are catching a running champion or even running from one.


Ignite is hands down my favourite summoner spell and calls for an easy first blood if used right. Exhaust combined with this will ensure you a kill on a low health champion 90% of the time. This skill also helps with champions that just barely get away with that tiny bit of health left.

SUBSTITUTE SUMMONER SPELLS:


Flash is definitely one of the most used if not the most used summoner spell in the meta game today. This skill can be used as a handy escape tool and a gap closer. It can help turn the game in your favour especially in those tight situations. Did I mention you can use this top blink through walls? Awesome right?


Aren't comfortable with Flash or need another escaping/gap closing tool? Ghost is your best bet for a burst of speed for your catchups and getaways.


Good for getting to places across the map more quickly. Defending distant towers/jumping right into a middle of a team fight.

All other skills I wouldn't really recommend.

Skills are what make a champion unique. although they may be just terrible rip-offs of some other skills, how they're used is what really matters.


This skill is your most important skill. It is highly recommended that you max this skill ASAP as it lets you do bonus damage to enemy champions which means tanks aren't as scary any more, but more importantly, it allows you to deal bonus damage to Turrets, Inhibitors, and the Nexus. The skill also resets your attack timer so keep in mind of that.


This skill is what makes Wukong tick. Much like Evelyn and Twitch's stealthing skills, this skill makes Wukong invisible for a very short time but it also leaves a clone of Wukong behind him. This will more than likely screw up or bait enemy Champions that have you in a pinch. Very useful but don't rely on it too much as it has a lengthy cooldown time.


This skill is what I like to get first if I'm not trying to go full out bursty (like in my second build of Wukong). This skill makes for decent early game harass and as well as a good gap closer. This skill attacks three enemies at once so you're more than likely to hit your initial target even if you miss click. you can also use this skill to dash to an enemy minion for means of escape.


This is Wukongs ultimate. Ultimately why most players consider him a Garen clone and why wouldn't you? Spin spin to win win. This Skill has a knock up effect which is great as an initiate/semi stun which will provide somesort of CC. It also gives you a speed boost to allow you catch those strays, you can also use this to escape.. but that's what your Decoy is for most of the time.


Further helps Wukong to be more tanky in team fights as you get up to 40 in both Armour and Magic Resist when all 5 enemy champions are there in a 5v5 game.

CORE ITEMS:

Standard laning items. Works well with duo or solo lane Wukong, these items give you a slight speed boost and as well as strong lane sustain if you can harass as much as possible while not taking as much damage in return.


By the time you return back to base, you will want to have bought a Doran's Blade for the extra health increase, lifesteal, and damage. You will also want to pick up and start building into your Mercury Treads, if you have not already bought them, these boots will reduce the length of Crowd Controls such as stuns and slows as well as adding a decent amount of magic resist. Wards and more potions are optional as well.


Now that you have gotten all of the standard stuff out of the way, you'll want to start building into your core item. Trinity Force. There are different ways to build Wukong that don't involve Trinity Force but I like this item because if gives Wukong most of what he excels in: Attack Damage, Movement/Attack Speed, and Crit. There's also the Sheen Proc and as well as the slow effect from Phage in there so why not?


This item further gives Wukong more Attack Damage for his skills and as well as very good lifesteal. Due to your increased attack speed from Trinity Force, you should be killing minions pretty quickly as well as healing yourself at a very fast rate all at the same time for amazing sustain in the lanes. I'd start with buying a Vampiric Scepter for the small lifesteal it provides just because I find it more useful than the attack damage that B.F Sword gives.


This will give you most of the damage you deal from now on. Adding 80 flat Attack Damage as well as some extra crit AND more crit Damage. You're going to be completely destroying the other teams squishys no problem.


After Infinity Edge, you should be near end game and the reason why I decide on these items is for overall better performance in team fights. With Warmog's and Frozen Mallet combined, your HP should be pretty ridiculous and this will allow you to stay in team fights longer even if they start to go sour. If all your skills are on cooldown you can still stay and apply pressure with your auto attacks due to the extra amount of hits you can take and as well as provide a hard slow with the passive from Frozen Mallet because Wukong only really has his ultimate for a small "stun".

SITUATIONAL ITEMS


If you follow my other build (which is all about more damage instead of overal tankiness) then getting Youmuu's Ghsotblade will help immensely as it provides an extra 30 AD, 15% Crit, 15% Cooldown Reduction (Which really helps Nimbus Strike and Crushing Blow), and 20 Armour Penetration for those nasty tanks. The Active is also nice for getting out of a tight corner or catching an opponent, much like how Flash/Ghost would help you.


More Armour penetration and Attack Damage anyone? I think so too.


If you want more Lifesteal and a stronger source of Attack Damage than this will help solve that issue.


These boots can go in placement of Mercury's Treads for the extra cooldown. With this, combined with Youmuu's Ghostblade (that is if you got it), will allow you to throw out all of your skills very quickly, even your ultimate as it has a relatively low cooldown.


Not attack or moving fast enough? These give extra crit as well so go ahead. You'll be hitting crits 100% of the time and at an alarming rate on top of that. Great for late game turret destruction.


This will give you more magic resistance against those annoying AP Carries and will also save your life from something like a fatal Caitlyn Ace in the Hole.


I've seen a lot of guides that use the whole HP + Atma's Impaler combination. Considering that it adds 2% bonus Physical Damage per HP and as well as 18% crit, your damage will scale very high because of the Warmog's Armour. In my opinion you can either drop Trinity Force or Frozen Mallet for this item.

Much like any champion, other than Tryndamere, never assume you can take a 1v5. Wukong works best with a team that can either 1.Have you initiate with your ultimate while they burst them down in that short amount of time or 2. can initiate while applying tons of CC for you while you try to apply your combo and go into your ultimate to clean up the job. Always be wary of the map, if you see your team in trouble and you're close by, you can help turn a lost team fight into a won one. Your Decoy is a strong escape tool but it can help scout bushes for you while you're invisible and as well bait enemy Champions who are stupid enough to use up all their skills on your decoy.

Wukongs bread and butter combo goes as follows:
Q > *Charges for next auto-attack* > E into an enemy champion and attack them with your Crushing Blow > Auto Attack them again for the bonus damage while you're still in range > W and Decoy out if you can't apply further damage.

Other combos go:
E > Nimbus Strike into the target > Auto-attack them once > Q > *resets auto-attack timer* > Auto-Attack with the Crushing Blow Bonus > Auto-Attack one more time > E for another nimbus Strike > W to Decoy out.

Both combos can be ended with your Ultimate instead of Decoy for further damage.

Wukong has been one of those champions I've had my eye on ever since he was released. I mean come on, it's a monkey! But all jokes aside, Wukong is an easy to use fun all round strong character with many possibilities. The build I've been using has won me most of my Wukong matches even though I don't really play him as much any more, he still remains my favourite character to play.

Leave a comment and vote please, this is my first guide so constructive criticism is very welcome. and troll comments or plain negative comments will be ignored. try it before rating as well.