if you can dodge with Q, you win. If you cant, you probably don't. Might be worth taking cleanse or QSS into this matchup if you're not confident dodging with Q. make sure you're spacing well to prevent getting E+Qd because there's nothing you can do to that lol.
Akali
quite tough, although she's melee she can do a lot of damage in both burst and extended fights, rendering you at an innate disadvantage - if she uses her W well, your game might as well be over before it began, as she will prevent you doing any damage whatsoever. but if you can predict, dodge, and consistently deal damage, it's winnable. make sure to space her Q and step back when she drops W or has passive on.
Akshan
Akshan is a bit of a mixed bag, he isn't too difficult to kill when you've got a couple levels, maybe an item. but he's worryingly strong beforehand. Be wary of his all ins killing you early on, as well as his insane revive in teamfights, and he's not the worst champ to face.
Anivia
I've never struggled with anivia; you have Q to dodge her slow, telegraphed stun, and to maneuvre over her wall in order to escape her AoE damage; as well as an execute on E to prevent her passive egg surviving. don't over-engage on her and it's a pretty free matchup.
Annie
Honestly, annie might not be too hard. but I have no idea how to play against this bastard child, and would rather she died in the fire she wields. Don't let her stun you, play to scale, cry yourself to sleep tonight, idk. i just hate this champ but maybe you have more luck than i do.
honestly, annie isn't actually that bad to lane against - just don't step up while she has stun ready and take recalls to prevent her oneshot. i just HATE THIS DUMB CHILD LOL. you can outscale her and win teamfights but might struggle in lane, i can never see her through the tears in my eyes.
Aurelion Sol
ASol outscales you so hard it's crazy, but in lane he is insanely free - you can push your wave and trade on him, using Q to outmanoeuvre his E+Q, then roam for marks + kills in sidelanes. i'd make him less of a threat but if the game goes 30+ minutes you can no longer do anything to him whatsoever, and he'll execute you right out of your R.
Azir
a really cracked azir will zone you off CS and out-trade you 9 times out of 10, but generally i don't struggle with this matchup. as soon as he drops Q to trade with you, you can q forward and get all your damage off while he can't escape.
don't be greedy and get shuffled under tower unless you have F1 driver reaction times and can q backwards as soon as he casts R.
Cassiopeia
middle of the pack, i've got quite good at dodging cass' R, but if you struggle with it, it becomes a much harder matchup. Her W grounds you which is quite a pain as it stops you using Q, but if you can stay mobile and apply consistent damage, you should be able to win.
Cho'Gath
a really uncommon matchup, but you can happily Q to dodge his Q, and space enough to not get silenced. if he catches you you're insta-dead though so just... don't?
Corki
he will just play really really safe and outscale you, would be a bigger threat if you didn't have the option to dodge a lot of his damage. avoid standing AFK in his E or W and you can go at least even with him and hope to play sidelanes and win teamfights.
Ekko
freebie matchup, you can happily dodge every Q he throws and not get stunned by standing AFK in his W - avoid ganks because his setup is pretty good but you win most trades against him - and pretty much every fight, try and bait R before using your own for optimal winning.
Fizz
this is my current ban - mostly because i play a lot of ASol on the side and he counters both champs quite hard.
he's very safe in lane and will quite happily poke you down to oneshot level really safely with E.
i put Fizz as an extreme threat because i'm not personally confident on the matchup, but maybe winnable.
Galio
galio is an anti-AP tank so you should be good to just walk through him all through the laning phase, don't stand right on top of him so as not to get taunted, and don't walk into his Q damage. make sure you ping your teamies when he steps out of lane post-6 so he doesn't get a triple-kill bot with R.
Gangplank
kill his barrels before he can and matchup is won, get hit by an unlucky crit and matchup is lost. generally not too bad and you can dodge a lot of his damage and kite him in fights - his W is a lot less effective against you now because of the E slow nerfs (REVERT THEM PLEASE RIOT PLEASE)
Irelia
I love playing this matchup; while it's not your easiest, its definitely super easy, just jump out of her stun and land some free damage, just DO NOT fight her while her passive is stacked and abuse your range advantage at all opportunities.
Jayce
if jayce was picked more he'd be my perma-ban, pretty easy matchup for all of 5 minutes until he gets serrated dick and then he just SHAFTS YOU NONSTOP FOR THE NEXT 40 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO BUT THANK HIM
Kassadin
It's counterintuitive that kassadin is this much of a threat, since you're an AD marksman, but his scaling is just too huge for you to deal with in the late-game, if they know how to play safe (which they usually do), they'll make your life a bit of a nightmare as the game goes long. shove then roam, don't take stupid trades, and abuse range advantage as much as possible.
Katarina
one of the free-est matchups you have, don't stand on daggers and just spam autos on her to prevent her getting any CS. ping your botlane like a mf as soon as she exits lane because she will realise she's useless and try to snowball off of them. but to lose this matchup in lane i think you need no hands.
LeBlanc
i've never struggled against leblanc, dodge her root/step back if it hits, don't over-engage when she has Q on you; your E lets you know which is her instead of her clone, you can play quite far forward in this matchup.
Lissandra
haaaaaaaate playing into lissandra, you're fine in lane until 6 at which point she will start winning every fight - you should be able to win through teamfights though, just avoid getting picked or CCd by her.
Lux
While a *very* good lux could be a threat, i never view them as much trouble, as long as you remember to dodge about a kilometer wide for her shitboxes, you'll be fine, she's squishy and easy, no problemo boblemo.
Malphite
if he builds full armour, you're gonna really struggle doing damage against him until you get black cleaver/LDR, and by then he's far enough ahead to be shredding you.
if he builds full AP, he will poke you down with his point&click Q and oneshot you with his full combo.
unless you have lightning-fast reaction speeds to insta-R in response to his R, you're probably gonna have a bad time.
Malzahar
malz is a click-to-win anti-carry mage. he'll beat you in every 1v1 post-6, but pre-6 you have an opportunity to play really aggressively when his spells are down to try and build a lead. in teamfights, punish his use of R as much as possible and prevent your carries from dying during it. if he Rs you, you die. what a shame.
Naafiri
i have a horrible winrate against naafiri this season, her laning phase feels really safe and she will poke you down with Q before landing a nuclear all-in. try to clear her dogs and take her to late game where hopefully your team can do ANYTHING AGAINST HER LOL (she is very strong atm)
Neeko
if you have not yet learned how to count you may struggle, her damage is a little high and if you get caught by her snare you die or are forced to recall - but as long as you're counting minions and not getting hit stupidly it's not a tough win. care her R in teamfights.
Qiyana
i really, *REALLY*, dislike qiyana - if she roots you with blue element you probably die because CC is horrible for you - her invis prevents all of your damage if she uses it well also. i don't really know what to do into this matchup lol.
Ryze
the planâ„¢
Sylas
buy grevious wounds (executioners calling) early and sylas players will constantly over-engage under the assumption that their W will heal them back to full hp, jokes on them. do your best to dodge his chains but if they land just disengage (diagonally, as to avoid his Q). most sylas' dont really understand how to use your R effectively, so you should be good on that front, but if they can, you might be a tad fucked.
Syndra
dumb stupid balls champ. you'll be fine if you don't get hit by E at all but if she lands the stun just ONE TIME you might as well take a quick 30 second nap on the grey screen that follows.
Talon
talon is probably the easiest assassin to lane into. Q away from his W and you can start playing aggressively to punish his lack of access to his passive. don't over-chase when he uses E, and be cautious of his R.
Tristana
maybe not quite extreme but definitely a turbo bad matchup, she will constantly be pushing you and has a pretty confident engage on you - as well as having access to R to deny your invulnerability. beats you at most, if not all, stages of the game.
Veigar
veigar is one of those champs that just counters me as a player, he's not the most difficult overall, you have tools to dodge a lot of his damage and can R his execute - but he just scales so hard ??? i feel like by the time i'm ready to do anything i'm already 50%HP.
in the end, i think winnable but i don't personally enjoy this matchup whatsoever.
Vel'Koz
skillshot based champ is ezpz, just q and sidestep all of his damage and disengage/ jump behind him when he uses R.
Vex
you can dodge her spells in lane which lets you get good damage off, but in the lategame she'll R you from 100 screens away and oneshot you while you're feared. if you can get ahead in lane you'll probably be alright, but i put vex as a "major" threat just to be on the safe side and because i just dont like playing against her lol.
Xerath
your biggest issue into xerath is having access to him, his skillshots are pretty easy to dodge but HURT if they land, if you can bait out his E or dodge it and then hard engage on him you can win really easily, otherwise you're waiting till the lategame to hope you can do more than he can in fights.
Yasuo
his W blocks everything that matters, which is a problem for you. Ideally bait him away from it or only fight him while it's on cd, but if you have to fight around it, use Q to jump through and around it to keep doing damage. dodge tornados.
Yone
not a tough matchup, you outrange him and can constantly harrass, just make sure to hold Q while he has his knockup ready so you can dodge, it's not hard to dodge and usually gives you some free damage too.
Zed
a good zed will make your life a nightmare, no matter what you do, but as a champ, you don't struggle with him. You have an ability to prevent him assassinating you (R), and if you can harass him early and dodge Qs consistently, you'll have an ok time. just always hold your R for his and don't play too far forward when he starts getting items.
Kindred
insta lose if you're laning into TrueGIXERJ or anyone that read this guide ;^)
Ivern
the kindred ivern combo is INSANE, constant counter jungling for free marks and map pressure, amazing potential to set you up as well. grab a friend (if you have any xx) and try this out, it's great.
Poppy
i love playing with poppys, and not just because a great friend of mine is a poppy one trick. They have 2 abilities to take enemies out of your R for you to kill them, as well as several great ways to keep you safe in the backline. tank and peel, great combo.
Lee Sin
can roundhouse kick a mf outta your ult but thats about all he does
Kled
its not that he synergises with you, but you synergise with him. drop R in a teamfight to essentially guarantee kled a remount to turn the tides in your favour.
Yuumi
yuumi is alright with you, but it's usually better for her to sit on a bruiser to make them literally invincible, i wouldnt complain about having a pocket cat tho
Xin Zhao
strong ganks, counter jungling, objective control, and an R that can be used to push enemies out of your R, pretty nice combo if i do say so myself
Fiddlesticks
eh
while his ganks are decent and his fear is nice, his invade potential is nonexistant and its not unlikely you'll be enlisted to come to his aid regularly while the enemy jungle whoops his ass while he tries to take gromp
Ornn
i would do sinful things to have more ornns on my teams. GIVE ME THAT HUGE RAM ENGAGE. GIVE ME THAT SEXY UPGRADED ITEM. GIVE ME WHATEVER YOU WANT ORNN I'LL TAKE IT.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Ivern
the kindred ivern combo is INSANE, constant counter jungling for free marks and map pressure, amazing potential to set you up as well. grab a friend (if you have any xx) and try this out, it's great.
Poppy
i love playing with poppys, and not just because a great friend of mine is a poppy one trick. They have 2 abilities to take enemies out of your R for you to kill them, as well as several great ways to keep you safe in the backline. tank and peel, great combo.
Lee Sin
can roundhouse kick a mf outta your ult but thats about all he does
Kled
its not that he synergises with you, but you synergise with him. drop R in a teamfight to essentially guarantee kled a remount to turn the tides in your favour.
Yuumi
yuumi is alright with you, but it's usually better for her to sit on a bruiser to make them literally invincible, i wouldnt complain about having a pocket cat tho
Xin Zhao
strong ganks, counter jungling, objective control, and an R that can be used to push enemies out of your R, pretty nice combo if i do say so myself
Fiddlesticks
eh
while his ganks are decent and his fear is nice, his invade potential is nonexistant and its not unlikely you'll be enlisted to come to his aid regularly while the enemy jungle whoops his ass while he tries to take gromp
Ornn
i would do sinful things to have more ornns on my teams. GIVE ME THAT HUGE RAM ENGAGE. GIVE ME THAT SEXY UPGRADED ITEM. GIVE ME WHATEVER YOU WANT ORNN I'LL TAKE IT.
yo what's up, i'm TrueGIXERJ and this is my guide on Kindred mid. I have been selected (by you) to impart some of my vast knowledge for your benefit. Throughout this guide, i will discuss how to play Kindred at an entry level, what runes to take, items to buy, and how to dominate your opponents. I'm an experienced kindred player with several hundred games so you can rest (somewhat) assured that i know what i'm on about. If you're lucky, Mr. Talent will rub his tentacles on your art.
I'm TrueGIXERJ, but I've already covered that. I'm a british player on EUW that has been playing since Pyke's release, whenever that was. I'm a mid player that enjoys off-meta picks like Kindred, sat in emerald as i write this.
i picked up Kindred some time in season 9 i think, and have accumulated nearly 800k mastery points on them since then.
as of right now (whenever that is) i am ranked as TOP 500 Kindreds in EUW according to League of Graphs. At my peak i was TOP 100 EUW.
i honestly don't know what compelled me to create this guide, but i hope it aids you in your quest of perfecting my favourite champion:
i also have no idea how to format **** on mobafire please forgive me.
why not.
Kindred is a super fun champ usually found in the jungle, but i have found myself loving kindred in the mid lane for a number of reasons, lets get one of those nice and colourful "pros and cons" lists mobafire guide writers love using.
Pros
→ Super fun and unique champ → High damage and mobility → Build flexibility → Great scaling & lategame potential → Surprisingly good early game too → Engage, Harass, Survivability, honestly you name it → The coolest and most interesting champion design in the game.
Cons
→ Prone to CC (A crowd controlled kindred is a dead kindred) → Weak from behind → High skill floor (and skill ceiling) → Had sex with my mother → Seriously this champ is great i love them they have no downsides
All in all, the champ's amazing and totally worth giving a shot if you're interested, they may be an off-meta mid laner but hey, perkz played it at MSI once upon a time so it's gotta have some merit.
(they lost)
Flash is OP on every champ; Kindred is no exception. Take this every game unless you are a cocky bastard that wants to play Shaco without having to undergo the mental trauma necessary to become a shaco player.
Ghost is currently an insanely strong choice on a lot of marksmen, with Kindred being a prime example of that. I take this in the majority of my games as it has strengths throughout the game and offers both Offensive and Defensive capabilities. In my opinion - it's a 50/50 between Ghost and Ignite on the only two summoner spells you should really be taking on Kindred mid.
Ignite is insane, the extra damage helps secure kills in the early game where you want to be hyper-aggressive anyway. And it also applies grevious wounds, reducing the amount by which the enemy is healed at the end of Lamb's Respite, letting you secure even more kills! Great aggressive summoner spell, take it or Ghost in 99% of your games.
Cleanse is good, but only into some matchups. If an enemy relies on cc to kill you, cleanse could be a valid option. Ahri is always the champ i think of in this case, but oftentimes these champs have easy to dodge skillshots with Dance of Arrows. Take it if you fancy, but only sometimes.
Honest question, why would you even think of taking Barrier? you have Lamb's Respite to keep you alive as is, and if you like having big shields, just build Immortal Shieldbow. don't take unless you're a masochist or something.
You may be labouring under the misinterpretation that Heal is the default marksman rune, but it isn't. And while heal is definitely a better choice than Barrier, it's still outclassed by everything else. don't take.
All other summoner spells might as well not be in the game, just take Flash + Ghost/ Ignite for ****s sake
ABILITY
SEQUENCE
1
Q
2
W
3
E
4
Q
5
Q
6
R
7
Q
8
W
9
Q
10
E
11
R
12
E
13
E
14
E
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R
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W
(P)
Mark of the Kindred
✦ Kindred marks targets to hunt. Scoring a takedown against a marked target permanently empowers Kindred's abilities, as well as granting 75 − 250 (based on ) bonus range on their basic attacks and Mounting Dread.
✦ Kindred can mark enemy champions by clicking their icon above the inventory while out of combat. Mark of the Kindred takes 8 seconds to apply and has a 75 second cooldown, with a 4 minute cooldown for champions successfully hunted.
✦ Mark of the Kindred turns Kindred into a late game monster, and while any more marks than the first 4 are not necessary to do well in a game, they certainly help. Invading with your jungler to pick up marks on enemy camps can benefit you both, as you do not need to last hit the camp in order to gain the mark. Always mark your enemy laner during the laning phase, and when you acquire that mark, mark the jungler. During the late game you may mark any target you deem easy to kill, I personally either mark the enemy ADC or anyone on the enemy team that's borderline inting.
Q
Dance of Arrows
✦ Kindred dashes toward the target location, gaining 25% (+ 5% per Mark) bonus attack speed for 4 seconds. After dashing, Kindred fires up to three arrows at nearby enemies, each one dealing physical damage upon their arrival. Kindred's current attack target at any proximity will be prioritized by one of the arrows.
✦ Dance of Arrows reset's Kindred's auto attack timer, and can be used in conjunction with any Sheen item (typically Trinity Force) in order to massively increase your damage. It also has its cooldown reduced while inside the area of Wolf's Frenzy, scaling per rank, allowing you to remain mobile and continue pumping out damage during teamfights and skirmishes.
✦ Dance of Arrows is Kindred's bread and butter ability, providing both mobility and damage. It is for this reason that Dance of Arrows should always be maxed first in skill order. Make sure to be careful spamming Q in lane, however, as you can quickly find yourself out of mana and **** out of luck. I find myself sometimes opting for an early Tear of the Goddess purchase, into Manamune later on to help solve this problem if the build calls for it, though it is entirely dependent on how good you are at managing your limited resource pool.
W
Wolf's Frenzy
✦PASSIVE: As Kindred move and attack, they build up to 100 stacks of Hunter's Vigor. At full stacks, Kindred's next basic attack heals for 0% − 100% (based on Kindred's missing health) of 49 − 81 (based on level) health.
✦ACTIVE: Wolf dashes to the target location and claims the surrounding area as his territory for the next 8.5 seconds, separating from Kindred. Wolf automatically attacks enemies within the area, prioritizing Kindred's attack target.
✦ Wolf's Frenzy is a two-part ability, with both a passive and an active section. The heal provided by the passive is rather small, but given your limited health pool, can often prove the difference between life and death. It is also very useful for sustaining in poke lanes such as Xerath, allowing you to stay in lane slightly longer and ensure a Sheen or Hearthbound Axe on your first recall.
✦ The active of Wolf's Frenzy creates an area within which the cooldown for Dance of Arrows is reduced to 4/3.5/3/2.5/2 seconds (based on Dance of Arrows rank). This is its primary use, although it can also be used to zone melee lane opponents away from CS and create a threat-area in lane or river; and getting a kill with it is great too.
E
Mounting Dread
✦ Kindred fires a shot at the target enemy that upon arrival marks them for 4 seconds and slows them by 30% for 1 second.
✦ Kindred's attacks against the marked enemy refresh the mark's duration and apply a stack, stacking up to 2 times. Their next basic attack against the target while they are at 2 stacks will direct Wolf to pounce them, consuming the mark to deal additional physical damage.
✦ Mounting Dread is a huge damage ability; it deals extra execute damage, critically striking enemies below 25-75% HP (based on crit chance) dealing massively increased damage. Mounting Dread synergises well with Kraken Slayer, as it applies bonus damage on the third attack, which can surprise your enemy in lane with a huge chunk of HP.
✦ It is typical to max Mounting Dread second, for the increased damage, though this can sometimes be swapped for Wolf's Frenzy if the situation calls for it; this however is rare, and I would expect to max Mounting Dread in the vast majority of my games.
R
Lamb's Respite
✦ Kindred blesses the ground under themselves for 4 seconds. All units inside the zone cannot be reduced below 10% of their maximum health, and will become invulnerable for the remaining duration when they reach or are at the threshold, during which they also cannot be healed. All targetable units within the zone are healed immediately when Lamb's Respite ends.
✦ Lamb's Respite is Kindred's signature ability, preventing all units within an area from dying for 4 seconds, both ally and enemy. It also heals everyone inside at the end of the duration, though this can be reduced with Ignite as it provides grevious wounds, allowing for some neat outplays. I recommend using Dance of Arrows at the end of Lamb's Respite in order to dodge any enemy skillshots, reset your auto-attack timer, and trigger Sheen in order to deal enough damage to execute the low hp enemies. Try leaving Mounting Dread on 2 stacks to maximise the damage as Lamb's Respite ends.
✦ i often find in low-elo that my opponents don't understand how Lamb's Respite works, and they run out of it while at low HP, making for an easy kill. This could make kindred a good choice to climb out of the lower ranks.
✦ Lamb's Respite actually has a 0.264 second cast time, so you're welcome to use that as an excuse as to why you didn't ult for the 0/9 ADC (to be fair, i typically save ult for myself anyway, but this is because i have a particularly selfish playstyle - it is up to your discretion as to whether you choose to save your allies or not)
I like to think i did a pretty good job at describing each rune, item, summoner spell, and whatever else above in the notes of the build section of the guide. but for those of you who fancy a little extra reading homework, i'll briefly cover Kindred's 2 core builds;
The TrueGIXERJ Special and Crit.
The TrueGIXERJ Special
i'm absolutely adamant that i made this build long before it was cool to buy Trinity Force on Kindred. At the minute, Kindred has no good crit options, which has pushed this build into the meta; utilising Conqueror and Trinity Force to turn Kindred into a semi-bruiser-y teamfight monster. with the Sheen passive being easy to proc providing some extra poke damage in lane. this build encourages you to weave in and out of fights and position aggressively while staying safe, providing a surprising amount of both damage and defensive stats (seriously, what marksman should end the game with 3.5k hp???). it's also far more adaptable than any crit build, as you aren't pushed into achieving 100% crit chance. I've recently been seeing success with Kraken Slayer first into squishier enemy comps; or try combining Frozen Heart with Muramana into full AD comps; i'm also the biggest supporter of Titanic Hydra + Runaan's Hurricane as the best item combination in the game. try things! experiment! build whatever! who cares!
given the current state of the meta, i'd probably recomment this build for everyone playing Kindred outside of a few edge cases, but it offers an interesting new take on the marksman playstyle, more map presence and teamfight prowess, with the only downside being an entry requirement of some knowledge of the item pool in order to better adapt the build to each games' needs.
Crit
while both i and the meta may currently point you towards "The TrueGIXERJ Specialâ„¢", i recognise that into some particularly squishy comps and for some people's playstyles there is certainly merit in a more traditional, crit marksman build. it's a much more pick oriented build utilising Press the Attack or potentially Lethal Tempo to push out huge single target damage from a safe distance. This build is particularly strong into squishy teams with low range, as it allows you to pop the balloons incredibly quickly from far enough away to stay safe; the only issue with the build is the current weakness of crit mythics in general, but Galeforce and Infinity Edge still have their place in the game. I'd recommend this build to players transitioning from a more traditional marksman to Kindred as the playstyle will be more familiar to you, and in games where high single target damage is important; though i'd typically find myself still building Trinity Force in 99% of my games, as the crit playstyle hasn't been for me for some time...
due to my lack of experience with this build, i may struggle to answer questions in the comments or on my streams, but i will do my best :^)
Well, that about wraps it up. Thank you for reading through my guide to Kindred mid, I actually had a blast writing it! I hope you learned something new and feel like trying out my little pocket pick in your own games! Make sure to practice in norms (or flex lol) before diving into ranked! REMINDER: I stream regularly HERE with plenty of Kindred gameplay! i'm always happy to theorycraft and answer questions about my lack of talent! hope to see you there some time.
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