Kayle Build Guide by Yeager

Welcome to my in depth Kayle guide! I'm Yeager, a high elo midlaner in league of legends, currently in grandmaster with a 75% winrate on Kayle. I've been spamming this champion in ranked with great success, so i made this guide to share my playstyle and help you improve. Why should you play Kayle? If the idea of starting out weak but slowly becoming stronger, and outscaling opponents as the game progresses, then this is the champion for you. With her ability to transform and a lot of different viable item builds, Kayle has the potential to become a lategame hypercarry that can shred almost anyone in 1v1's and teamfights while also providing her team with an insane amount of utility.

Pros + Outscales most champions + Utility + Can splitpush & teamfight + Great Waveclear Kayle' new rework is still that lategame monster we used to know. Her transformations makes her stronger as the game continues, until she outscales almost everyone in the game. Her utility makes her a great teamfighter, but she can also splitpush depending on the situation.

Cons - Lackluster early game - Relies on teammates until lvl 11 - No escapes - Squishy Kayle is one of the weakest early game champions that can be abused by most champions, especially in a meta where it's all about having lane priority. She is very similar to Kassadin as they need to scale before they can start having an impact on the game, so you realy on your teammates not getting destroyed until that happens.

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: Pretty self-explanatory. Always take this. IGNITE: This is decent on Kayle if you're sure that you can get kills in the laning phase. Due to her weak laning, it will be hard to pull off, so i always recommend Teleport. TELEPORT: Best summoner by far on Kayle. Her laning phase is really weak so she's vulnerable to pretty much anyone early game. Having Teleport means she can recall when she's in danger and teleport back with full hp/mana and more items. It also enables her splitpushing later on. CLEANSE: Since Kayle has very limited mobility, she can be vulnerable to heavy CC comps. Having Cleanse will make it much harder for the enemies to shut you down, so be sure to take this whenever you're against a lot of CC.

Kayle is very similar to Kassadin early game in that she needs to survive and scale. Fleet Footwork gives her the sustain she needs to stay in lane. Unlike Kleptomancy, this keystone scales well towards lategame and helps her in skirmishes. This has saved me countless times from dieing to that last Ignite tick or tower shot while diving. This will always be useful, but feel free to swap this out for Overheal or Presence of Mind if you prefer those instead. Attack speed is a core stat on Kayle as her kit is built around it. It is reliable and increases her DPS, allowing her to shred through her opponents faster. Overall the most reliable rune out of the 3 options. Execution damage will always be strong in league. The other 2 runes are very situational and can't be used in every situation like this one. Kayle has pretty high cooldowns on her abilities. Having that extra bit of CDR can be quite useful so she can have important abilities like Divine Judgment available more often. Weak early on, but slowly ramps up. From minute 20 you will start noticing the difference this rune can make. Sometimes your team will get a huge lead, but since it's soloq, they will most likely fail to close out the game. This rune is basically the late-game insurance if you aren't able to end the game. The absolute best keystone on Kayle right now as it can give her a lot of useful items and gold that can help her get through the rough early laning phase. Kayle autowins games at level 16 with her insane scaling, so she isn't reliant on damage from runes in order to stay relevant. Kleptomancy is strong on Kayle because she has a chance of proccing it every single time she damages an enemy champion with Starfire Spellblade since it's a ranged autoattack. Free boots means that you will be saving 300g that can instead be used on your core items. Late game scaling champions need to be as efficient as possible, so this rune is a must-have. Free biscuits every 3 minutes that will help out greatly when you're low hp. Combining this rune with Time Warp Tonic gives you the benefits instantly which can potentially save you from death or losing fights. In those very few cases where you won't be using all of these in the laning phase, you can sell them and STILL get the free bonus mana. You get the health and mana from items like Corrupting Potion and Biscuit Delivery AND bonus movement speed. It doesn't sound like it's much, but it really makes a huge difference for the outcome of the laning phase. Kayle always starts with Corrupting Potion, so always go with this for the synergy. Negates a lot of the harass you will be taking in the laning phase from poke heavy matchups. If you are against champions more reliant on burst, for example Talon, then Bone Plating is also a viable choice. Another defensive rune that has great synergy with Celestial Blessing as it buffs the healing you cast or receive by a X percentage amount, which will be increased by another 10% if you're below 40% hp.

PASSIVE ABILITY

Divine Ascent (Passive): Upon reaching levels 1, 6, 11, and 16, along with spending another skill point, Kayle ascends into a new form, gaining additional bonuses

Q

Radiant Blast (Q): Kayle conjures a portal which shoots a flaming blade at an enemy, shredding armor and magic resist and slowing her target. This attack explodes to damage enemies next to the target as well.

W

Celestial Blessing (W): Passive: Kayle heals herself and a target ally, giving both a significant burst of movement speed.

E

Starfire spellblade (E): Passive: Kayle’s basic attacks deal bonus damage which scales with both her ability power and attack damage. Active: Kayle’s next basic attack is ranged and deals a portion of the target’s missing health as bonus magic damage. After ascending to Aflame, this attack damages enemies next to the target as well.

R

Divine Judgement (R): Kayle bestows invulnerability on herself or a target ally for a few seconds. While invulnerable, purifying swords fall in a circle around her target, damaging enemies in the area.

Radiant Blast is maxed first if you play crit kayle as it has great scaling with AD, so you can farm and waveclear easily with the AOE damage. If you play AP or a hybrid version of Kayle, then you can max this second or last depending on how much you need it.

Starfire Spellblade is maxed second on crit Kayle. This is a ranged autoattack mainly used to last hit creeps or to poke the enemy champion. If you run Kleptomancy, then maxing this second is even better because the mana cost will stay low, so you can keep spamming it. Some people like maxing this first on AP/On-hit kayle, but in the end it's a preference thing.

Celestial Blessing is maxed third. The healing scales well with AP but since this is a crit focused build, there's really no point in levelling this up over the other abilities. On AP/On-hit Kayle you can max this first or second for A LOT of free sustain to help you get through the laning phase.

Divine Judgment is maxed fourth and last. Insanely powerful ultimate that can save you, or a chosen teammate from danger. The AOE damage at the end of the animation has 100% AD-scaling and 80% AP-scaling. Always make sure to put a point in this whenever possible, as every point increases the invulnerability duration and lowers the cooldown, so you can have it available more often.

Corrupting Potion: Lots of sustain and free charges when basing makes it the absolute best starting item on Kayle, as she benefits greatly from the health and mana regen it provides. Combining this with the Inspiration tree only further boosts its value.

Doran's Ring: A decent starting item with a mix of hp, ap and mana regen. It's pretty much never bought because Corrupting Potion is so much better, but if it ever gets nerfed then Doran's Ring will substitute it.

Blade of the Ruined King: The most popular first item among pro's and high elo players because of its sustain and overall synergy with Kayles kit that offers AD, AS and the on-hit passive which helps her shredding tankier targets. The active part lets her kite better and keep enemies within range. This can be built in every single game, but is especially good if your team has too much magic damage.

Trinity Force: Everything it has to offer is just perfect for Kayle. The Sheen passive empowers Starfire Spellblade's damage on enemies, Phage allows her to kite better and Stinger gives more attack speed and CDR which is essential for an AA-based champion. Finally upgrading these items into Trinity Force gives Kayle an insane amount of stats that turns her into a super mobile splitpushing machine.

Infinity Edge: Basically the AD version of Rabadon's Deathcap with an insane stat boost, making it a must-have in every crit build. It works great into squishy AND tanky teams as your flame waves can critically strike.

Rapid Firecannon: Any crit build needs at least one of the Zeal item upgrades in order to be effective. Rapid Firecannon is currently the most reliable one. Kayle is short ranged, so having that extra auto-attack range when fully charged can be very useful to poke targets that would normally be out of range.

Phantom Dancer: This has transitioned into a more defensive item now with the "new" lifeline passive, so i wouldn't recommend buying this over Rapid Firecannon. It can be bought as an additional Zeal upgrade so you have higher chances of critting people with double attack speed items and Infinity Edge.

Mercurial Scimitar: This item is only ever bought because of its Quicksilver Sash active that removes any type of CC from you. Buy QSS first if you're against heavy CC that can lock you down, and then upgrade to the full item after you got your core items

Guinsoo's Rageblade: The strongest 1-item powerspike in the game. Although this item doesn't proc your flame waves, everything else it provides is just too valuable for an AS based hybrid champion like Kayle. Guinsoo's rage, will proc the on-hit damage from Starfire Spellblade and other passives like Blade of the Ruined King twice every second auto, which further increases your DPS potential.

Hextech Gunblade: Another viable early game item that has a good balance of hybrid damage and sustain. Works best as a "first complete item" with the AP version of Kayle because it scales better with AP.

Nashor's Tooth: Used to be a popular choice among Kayle players because of its balance between AP, AS, CDR and an on-hit passive. This item substitutes Blade of the Ruined King if you decide to go for the AP route, although Hextech Gunblade is a much more popular choice on the AP version. Nashor's Tooth is not as popular as a first item anymore because the reworked Kayle is a vulnerable melee champion until level 11, so she needs something that can help her survive the laning phase.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: One of my favorite items with AP and on-hit Kayle as the slow it provides is simply too good, so you can constantly keep enemies within range. Combining this with the movement speed you get when you're exalted, makes you a absolute nightmare to fight against.

Rabadon's Deathcap: To fully utilize the potential of AP Kayle, you need the biggest statboost item in the game that provides you with an insane amount of AP.

Lich Bane: Powerful midgame item that's meant for bursting down squishies. The passive also allows you to take down towers extremely fast, as it has a very low cooldown. If you're against a squishy team, this item can be a decent choice because to its low cost.

Morellonomicon: The only time you should buy this, is if your ADC is a clown refusing to buy Executioner's Calling when the enemies have healing reliant champs like Soraka and Vladimir.

Banshee's Veil: This is the direct counter to Annie, AP Gragas and similar champions that relies on catching people off guard, typically with flash and then oneshotting them. This one item makes them completely useless against you.

Zhonya's Hourglass: This is usually a good item into an assassin like Zed and Fizz as it makes their ultimates completely useless, but since we have Divine Judgment, it isn't a necessary purchase. It can still be useful into full AD teams.

Liandry's Anguish: Tank shredding item that actually works on Kayle because of her consistent DPS, similar to Cassiopeia. She can constantly keep the damage buff up in fights while also shredding high health champions with the percentage health burning passive.

Wit's End: Great against heavy magic damage teams. Should always be bought with the on-hit build, including items like Guinsoo's Rageblade and Blade of the Ruined King so you get even more value out of the passives.

Berserker's Greaves: In terms of stats, these are the best boots on Kayle since attack speed has so much value. If you aren't against heavy CC or AD comps, you should be looking to get these boots asap.

Mercury's Treads: Buy these against heavy CC teams. You are very squishy, so getting hard cc-chained for a few seconds can easily get you killed since you won't be able to ult and save yourself.

Ninja Tabi: Buy these against full/heavy AD teams as it will reduce the damage you take from auto attacks. It's always a great purchase against ADC's and AD assassins.

Boots of Swiftness: Buy these against champions with slows as their main source of crowd control, for example Nasus and Olaf.

Early game is the weakest part of Kayle so it shouldn't come as a surprise when i say you will struggle against most champions. Your job with Kayle is to play as safe as possible until you get enough levels to transform into a ranged champion. You can't beat any good opponent early on, so you want them to push the wave towards you, so you can safely farm under the turret. Use Starfire Spellblade to finish off low health creeps, or even poke your opponent if you have Kleptomancy for consumables and extra gold. Since E is a single-target spell, it will get you minion aggro when using it on champions, so be careful you don't end up pushing the wave. Radiant Blast is also great for clearing out multiple minions at once with the AOE damage. You have a decent amount of sustain with Celestial Blessing and Fleet Footwork if you're using that keystone, but if you're ever low hp, just recall and Teleport back so you don't get dove by the enemy laner and jungler. It's fine missing a couple cs early game due to how weak Kayle is at this stage but make sure that you get all the EXP so your transformations won't be delayed. You will transform at level 6 and get AOE damage on stacked passive and Starfire Spellblade which helps a bit with poking and waveclearing but it's still not enough to fight opponents yet. Play passively and get your ranged form at level 11 before you make any plays.

Midgame is usually when the outer turrets start falling and people begin to rotate around the map. This is where Kayles dueling potential and waveclear will be a lot better since we have a few items in our pocket, so it allows us to push and skirmish much better. You get a massive powerspike when you have Blade of the Ruined King and Guinsoo's Rageblade, so you already outscaled most champions in the game but you're still not a god yet. You still want to prioritize farming in the sidelanes so you can get that level 16 transformation ASAP. Get proper vision with Control Wards and stick to the sidelanes whenever possible, and also seek for fighs as your DPS is insane at this stage. Your ultimate Divine Judgment is super valuable in skirmishes and teamfights as it can enable your other carries or divers. Even though splitpushing is the best option because you get solo EXP and Gold, you should still group up with your team if you think they will get caught or start a fight. You play Kayle like an ADC, stay in the backline and DPS whoever is closest to you, and peel for the other carries with your Celestial Blessing and Radiant Blast.

Late game is where Kayle truly shines with her last transformation at level 16. This stage of the game is all about teamfights and objectives. Your permanent exalted state and true damage will shred opponents in seconds with absolute no counterplay. Normally a strong splitpusher is weak in teamfights but this is not the case for lategame Kayle, as she can demolish an entire team with her insane DPS. Your damage combined with an ADC is amazing for taking down bigger objectives like barons and elder drakes before the enemy team can even react, so don't be afraid to Teleport if you see an opportunity where you can rush it. Since you already reached your powerspike, you can now decide between grouping up with your team or splitpushing. Going to the sidelane will force the enemy team to send multiple members to defend against you, so your team have better chances of pushing another lane for towers, or starting an objective. If you don't trust your team and think they will overextend and die while you're splitpushing, then group up. You have a lot of options as Kayle is very versatile. There are no room for errors at this point in the game as 1 single death can cost you the entire game with the current death timers, so be patient, have good vision and don't mindlessly chase opponents across the map just because you are god-tier. You close out games and win by playing for objectives.

- Kayle is very versatile when it comes to item builds, so it's really difficult for enemies to itemize against her. If the enemies are building magic resistance because your team is stacked with AP champions, then you can go AD or on-hit Kayle. If they stack armor, then AP Kayle with 1-2 attack speed items is excellent.

- Post-6: If you have Kleptomancy, you can hit enemies with the AOE from Starfire Spellblade and still proc klepto to get consumables + gold. This also includes hitting towers while the enemy champion is within range of the AOE field.

- DO NOT save Divine Judgment until you're low hp like Tryndamere does with his ultimate. Use it to nullify burst from key abilities like Requiem, Chum the Waters or Death Mark. The purpose of this ultimate is so you or an ally can stay alive and healthy during fights.

- When reaching the transformation stages at level 1, 6, 11 or 16, you will only transform when you put a point in an ability, not when you "level up".

Freezing is a advanced technique that lets you deny your opponent exp and cs if done correctly. Freezing a lane means that you kite/tank the minions without letting your tower hit the creeps. You need to make sure the enemy minions always beat yours. After the enemy killed your entire wave, you let 2-3 of the enemy creeps live, and kite them until the next wave is here. When the next wave arrives, the wave will freeze right outside of your turret range.

By doing this, you are safe from jungle ganks, while your opponent takes a big risk everytime he overextends for a cs.


You can Freeze the wave when you and the enemy are even or ahead, and it can be used to help you win back the lane after you screwed up and died. You can attempt to freeze the wave already from level 1, leaving your opponent vulnerable to jungle ganks or be within your kill range, if you are able to kill them. When you get a lead, and you can solokill an overextended enemy laner, that is exactly when you want to freeze the wave. You force the enemy midlaner to either be in your kill range, or miss a ton of cs and exp, putting them further behind.

Freezing a wave is a great way to snowball a lead, if you have no objectives to fight for, such as dragon, herald or towers.

Here is a youtube video that explains wave management very well. I recommend watching the entire video. All credits for this video goes to Blitz Esports LoL

Thanks for reading my Kayle guide, i hope you learned something useful and have as much success with her as I! I will keep this updated every single patch with the latest builds and strategies. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments or reach out to me on any of my social media.