Darius Build Guide

Darius Build

Runes for Darius

Masteries for Darius

Table of Contents

Lore

1

Introduction

2

Starting

3

Mid Game

4

Late game

5

Summoner spells

6

Unique Skills

7

Skilling Order

8

Pros and Cons

9

Summary

10

End game stats

11

• Lore

  There is no greater symbol of Noxian might than Darius, the nation's most feared and battle-hardened warrior. Orphaned at a young age, Darius had to fight to keep himself and his younger brother alive. By the time he joined the military, he had already developed the strength and discipline of a veteran soldier. The first true test of Darius's resolve occurred in a crucial battle against Demacia, where the Noxian forces were exhausted and outnumbered. Darius's captain called for his troops to retreat, but Darius refused to accept such an act of cowardice. Breaking formation, Darius strode towards the captain and decapitated him with one sweep of his gigantic axe. Both terrified and inspired, the soldiers followed Darius into battle and fought with incredible strength and fervor. After a long and grueling battle, they ultimately emerged victorious. Seizing momentum from this victory, Darius led his now fiercely loyal troops in a devastating campaign against Demacia. After proving his power on the battlefield, Darius turned his gaze homeward. He saw a Noxus riddled with weakness, where greedy, complacent nobles drained the nation's strength. Seeking to restore his country to greatness, Darius took it upon himself to reshape the Noxian leadership. He identified weak figureheads and violently removed them from their positions of power. Many in Noxus saw Darius's cull as an attempt to seize power, but he had a different plan for the throne. He had been watching the rise of Jericho Swain with keen interest. In Swain, Darius saw a leader with the mind and determination to bring Noxus to glory. Now allied with the Master Tactician, Darius works to unite the nation behind his vision of true Noxian strength. "A united Noxus could control the world - and would deserve to." - Darius

• Introduction

  Hey guys, Finding t33m0 here! I'm going to show you MY way of playing Darius which is a jungler. I think Darius is a counter to the tanky dps meta and a potent ganker. Although I don't agree with Phreaks build (i have already seen alot of Darius players get dominated in top with it) I do agree that Darius is a "stick to you champ" and the play style he uses with Darius in team fights.

• Starting

  Get Cloth Armor and five pots and have your top laner guard red buff and the rest of your team guard/leash wolves and blue. Get wolves, get blue, then wraiths and finally red. Now you are level 3 and you have and duel buffs. TIME TO GANK, when you get to the lane to gank it is crucial that you land This might mean chasing somebody in a circle or into the bush. If you got first blood you're off to a good start. If the enemy team has high physical damage i would go back to base and pick up Ninja Tabi before Wriggle's Lantern so i can gank better. Darius likes his movement speed which is part of the reason i go all the way down defense masteries. If you don't get first blood then you can proceed to finish Madred's Razors and Mercury's Treads then into Wriggle's Lantern and The Brutalizer. After The Brutalizer you can work towards Youmuu's Ghostblade or begin your  Phage. either way i finish Youmuu's Ghostblade before  Trinity Force because i don't run on Darius i opt out for instead which is my prefered jungling summoner spell for better ganking and Youmuu's Ghostblade makes up for my lack of .

• Mid Game

  Obviously you should be keeping the river warded.. ..dragon and baron and any bushes enemies like to have circle jerks in. By this time you have your Youmuu's Ghostblade and working on Trinity Force. You're pretty much a monster. A noxian machine, Start looking for people roaming and solo pushing by now some towers should be down and when that xin zhao thinks he's safe pushing top up . . .. well to put it lightly you're going in dry. Take these kids out, even if you catch two people like a ranged carry and his support you can likely solo them both. Push the lane back and take ALL the cs you need alot of gold fast to remain effective. Kill kill kill and farm farm farm is your job mid game.

• Late game

  By this time team fights are probably breaking out and the enemies are most likely scared of you. Time to stop playing like Leonidas and more like Darius (this means let your tank lead). Now even though i don't agree with phreaks build in the least bit he does have the right idea for team fighting. You're not an initiator you lack the tool kit to effectively do it because you have no flash of way into a team aside from walking in. Your job is to destroy the ranged carry. This is your destiny. Pop Youmuu's Ghostblade and just go for it. Hopefully if all goes well you can get a double kill out the gate after you take out the carry. You might die but that's ok. You're not a true carry and you aren't here to carry. You are here to wreak Noxian havoc across the fields of justice. If you take out the enemy carry and possibly their caster even if you die in the process your team should have no problem cleaning up for a good push

• Summoner spells

  I take  and . I prefer having that extra slow in ganks and reduced resistances so it helps my team mates deal a bit more damage as well.

• Unique Skills

  Pay attention when using this one. It does more damage if champions are at the end of it so it's really good for applying your first stack of
  
  This spell is kinda like . You want to try and wait til you have at least 3 stacks or 4 of your passive to use this to effectively chain procs and get the cooldown short on
  it. You should also be using it on the enemy ranged carry or at least try to even if you're going to kill his butt buddie first.
  
  This is pretty simple. You pull people into yourself with it
  
  This is your ultimate. Scaling true damage that is spamable. .. do it with full stacks of your passive . . .. nuff said
   

• Skilling Order

  The reason i take a couple points early in  and i sometimes level  and  back and fourth is for the utility it brings. Extra slow and slowed attack speed are a bit more important early game then brute damage imo because in ganks most times you're going to out-number your enemies anyways.

• Pros and Cons

   Pros: 

  Fast jungler
  Built in armor pen
  Rapes melee AD in the ass. 
  Low cool downs
  CAN carry
  True damage 

  
  Cons:
  No escapability 
  Easily focused
  Can be kited (damn that teemo)
  No sustaine
  Not the best scaling on his abilities especially if you don't do so hot one game
  Susceptible to CC
  
  

• Summary

  Well thanks for reading my guide. Hopefully you can try it and be successful. I know it's not the most comprehensive i honestly just want this out there and other people playing him this way and consistantly getting 14 kills in a game (not ks'ing with your ult). I haven't laned top with him enough to know alot of counters but a good one is always a better darius. Teemo and shen are naturally pretty good against him as is malphite. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

• End game stats

  http://leaguecraft.com/builder/darius/?level=0&items=70,111,104,28,16,29&runes=36,36,36,36,36,36,36,36,36,98,98,98,98,98,98,98,98,98,63,63,63,63,63,63,63,63,63,10,10,10&masteries=1300400010000000012324001010303010000000000000000&skiller=

  
  You can sell wriggles for any item you want really. .  .If you buy an infinity edge you can get crippling strike to do 1300. The most solid defensive rout as a last item would be GA easily. 
  
  And here is a link to Phreaks build.
  http://leaguecraft.com/builder/darius/?items=70,11,15,114,105,139&runes=38,38,38,38,38,38,38,38,38,102,102,102,98,98,98,98,98,98,98,98,98,63,63,63,63,63,63,63,63,63&level=18&masteries=1300400010000000003324321000020010000000000000000 
  
  as you can see even without the movement speed quints we get more movement speed then phreak.  Almost twice as much mana, alot more armor pen because if you're phreak fuck having flat armor pen for squishier foes. More attack speed. 56 more AD, 48% higher chance to crit. The only thing phreaks build his is some hp and utility. This is why i can be 5-2 with this build and easily solo a Phreak built darius that is 15 kills deep (i mention this because i just did it in my last game)