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Recommended Items
Runes:
Precision
Sorcery
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
Spells:
Flash
Heal
Items
Ability Order
Headshot (PASSIVE)
Caitlyn Passive Ability
Champion Build Guide
+ Very long range + Decent laning phase + Scales very well into late game + Safe pick + OP traps + Long range ultimate Caitlyn is best known for being one of the highest ranged ADC's in the game. She strives in all phases of the game. She has very high damage built into a well-rounded kit and provides you with great potential to carry games. Her Yordle Snap Trap is an insanely strong ability if used properly. |
- Squishy - Mana hungry early game - Needs peel - Requires very good positioning - Somewhat difficult to come back if behind - Difficult combos One of Caitlyn's biggest weaknesses is being squishy and easy target for most assassins. But a good Caitlyn player can easily eliminate these weaknesses with proper positioning and proper trap placement. She also requires a good support to help her survive in teamfights. She can be somewhat difficult to come back if behind. |
Fleet FootworkWe go for Fleet Footwork on Caitlyn is because it suits her playstyle pretty well. It gives you extra sustain in lane and makes you harder to kill in lane.It also makes your auto attack poking in lane stronger. |
TriumphTriumph is the best option here. It will probably come in clutch multiple times, each game. It restores 12% of your missing health per takedown, this bonus can easily add up in teamfights and save your life letting you dish out more damage. |
Legend: BloodlineLegend: Bloodline gives you lifesteal which I prefer over Legend: Alacrity and Legend: Tenacity because it provides you with a lot of healing late game. |
Coup de GraceThe small amount of damage from Coup de Grace definitely helps out when finishing off people on low HP. |
Nimbus CloakNimbus Cloak provides you with some extra survivability in all stages of the game. It is very useful since every time you use a summoner you can probably use some extra movement speed aswell. |
Gathering StormSince Caitlyn strives in the late game the extra AD from Gathering Storm definitely adds a lot of damage to your basic attacks and abilities. |
Doran's BladeDoran's Blade is the best starting item for most ADC's. It gives you 2 less AD than a Long Sword but it provides you with a little extra sustain aswell as suvivability with the health and lifesteal. |
Infinity EdgeInfinity Edge should always be your first big item. The AD and crit make Caitlyn deal lots of unexpected damage and it sinergyzes very well with her Headshot. We will be buying a lot of crit so the bonus crit damage is huge. |
Berserker's GreavesAs an auto attacker, Caitlyn needs all the attack speed she can get, and having long range and easy escapes the best option is to get Berserker's Greaves, I usually get them right after Infinity Edge, but sometimes I get them before Infinity Edge, depending on how much gold I have to spend on my recalls. |
Rapid FirecannonAfter Infinity Edge we are looking to get more crit items. Rapid Firecannon is a great 2nd item because of the extra range. Once you get this item you will have 50% crit. |
StormrazorAfter Infinity Edge and Rapid Firecannon we can get even more crit and Stormrazor is a great option as it makes your long range auto attack also slow your target. It gives some extra AD and gets our crit up to 75%. |
Phantom DancerIf we want to get to 100% crit we can do so by getting Phantom Dancer. The extra shield gives us some extra survivability. Don't forget that you can swap this item out for other optional items. |
BloodthirsterWith 100% crit and lots of damage in my build I like to end things up with a bit of survivability, most often with Bloodthirster. You should always get Mercurial Scimitar instead of Bloodthirster if you are facing high CC teams. You can also swap this item for Guardian Angel or Last Whisper. |
Some extra notes for your build
• You can switch up the order of your crit items
I always like getting Infinity Edge first, but you can also start with Stormrazor. After that you can buy the other items in the order you most prefer. Facing assassins? Getting Phantom Dancer. Want more range? Get Rapid Firecannon. Want the slow on your basic attack? Get Stormrazor.• You don't always have to get 100% crit.
Some games you will simply need more optional items. For an example you might be facing a team with lots of healing and crowd control. In this case you should sacrifice one of you crit items in order to get both Mortal Reminder and Mercurial Scimitar.• Get Quicksilver Sash and Executioner's Calling earlier if you need to
If you really need one of these 2 items you can buy them earlier in the game and just sit on them, you do not have to finish the full Mortal Reminder or Mercurial Scimitar.• Don't buy Phantom Dancer and Maw of Malmortius in the same game.
The passive shields on these items do not stack so you should never be buying them in the same game.
HeadshotCaitlyn Headshots targets she has trapped or netted. Additionally, she gains a free headshot every 6 basic attacks; attacks while in brush count as 2. Headshots against trapped or netter targets have double range.UsageUse Headshot to your advantage in the laning phase by using it to zone the enemy ADC, and poking them if they don't back off. |
Piltover PeacemakerCaitlyn revs up her rifle for 1 second to unleash a penetrating shot that deals physical damage (deals less damage to subsequent targets). Revs the rifle for 1 second to fire a narrow piercing shot dealing 50/90/130/170/210 (+0) physical damage. After hitting any target, it opens into a wider shot that deals 40% less damage. Always deals full damage to trap revealed targets.UsagePiltover Peacemaker can be used for pushing and poking. If you want to push with it you can hit the entire wave while also trying to hit your opponent using the width to your advantage. If your only purpose is poking try to only hit your opponent so that you can get the full damage. |
Yordle Snap TrapCaitlyn sets a trap to find sneaky yordles. When sprung, the trap reveals and immobilizes the enemy champion for 1.5 seconds. Sets traps that an enemy Champion can spring, immobilizing them for 1.5 seconds and granting True Sight for a short duration.Traps last for 30/35/40/45/50 seconds. 3/3/4/4/5 traps may be active at once.Trapped enemies take an additional 60/105/150/195/240 (+0) increased damage from Headshot.UsageThis is, in my opinion Caitlyn's strongest ability. When someones steps on it you snare them and get a double range headshot. In order to get enemies to step into them you should try to put them in areas they will walk through, for example the corner of a wall, because if they aren't paying too much attention the automatic pathing will make step into it. You can also place them at the ends of bushes or between a turret and a wall. Also you can get 100% hits on this when an enemy is cc'ed or is staying in the same place for a while, for an example Guardian Angel or Zhonya's Hourglass. The last tip I have is to place it to zone your opponent off of their abilities, for an example on top off Draven's Axe, Katarina's Dagger etc. |
90 Caliber NetCaitlyn fires a heavy net to slow her target. The recoil knocks Caitlyn back. Fires a net, knocking Caitlyn backwards. The net deals 70/110/150/190/230 (+80% Ability Power) magic damage and slows the first enemy hit by 50% for 1 second.UsageThis gives you a sort of dash, which can be used both offensively and defensively. Use it to get away from divers or to chase down opponents. It can be used for poking in lane aswell because of the double ranged Headshot that follows after the net. |
Ace in the HoleCaitlyn takes time to line up the perfect shot, dealing massive damage to a single target at a huge range. Enemy champions can intercept the bullet for their ally. Takes a second to line up the perfect shot on an enemy Champion at up to 3500 range. The shot deals 300 / 525 / 750 (+200% bonus AD) physical damage, but other enemy Champions can intercept it.Grants True Sight of the target during the channel.UsageUse this to finish off low HP opponents, to secure assists when an enemy is dying outside of your range and use it to poke before fights. The reason we use it to poke is because it deals damage but we can't use it in the middle of a fight. Just make sure that your opponent doesn't have a shield or some sort of sustain after they get hit. |
Use your range advantage
Sitting at 650, Caitlyn has the highest base range in the game and that is one of her biggest strengths. In the laning phase you can easily get free autos on your opponents while they are unable to hit you back. Your range also allows you to get a free auto attack in before a fight, which might not be a lot early game, but late game with your energized proc you can easily get someone down to 50% before the fight starts.
Pay attention to your Headshots
Caitlyn's passive, Headshot let's her deal lots of damage every couple of auto attacks. In the early game, poking with Headshot can be very efficient, because it is quite easy and doesn't cost any mana. Keep an eye on your auto attack counter and every time you are about to get a Headshot you can start walking up, just don't get too greedy, it isn't the end of the world if you don't get it. A very good tip I can tell you is to go into a bush when you have 5 stacks and auto your opponent, because you automatically get a Headshot at 5 stacks when attacking from a bush.
Proper Trap Placement
There are so many ways you can use your Yordle Snap Trap, but I will include the ones you should be using most often:
• In your opponents auto path.
If you place a trap in a spot people are probably going to walk over, they might usually not realize it's there and auto pathing will force them to walk over the trap.• At the ends of bushes.
Placing your walls at the ends of bushes will make anyone entering that bush step on it, if it's not warded. If you are using this in lane, make sure the enemies don't see you placing the trap, you can do this by entering a bush, placing the trap and immediately exiting the bush.• In your opponents path when chasing or running away
When chasing place a trap behind your opponent, a lot of times they will be too distracted and won't realize there's a trap and if they do, they will have to walk around it which makes it easier to chase either way. When you are running away place it in front of you and walk right over it. Just please, make sure that there is a gap between the trap and your opponents, otherwise they will walk right over it without procing it.Poking with Ult
Because you can't use your Ace in the Hole in the middle of fights, you can still deal the damage before the fight. If you feel like you won't be finish off someone any time soon you can use it to poke. However, you should only use this if there is no tank to block the shot, or any shield/heals to remove the damage you dealt.
Don't overuse your Q
Your Piltover Peacemaker is a great poke tool, but it is also a great way to run out of mana quickly, especially in the laning phase. Using it to poke too much will also make the wave push in unwanted scenarios. I only like using my Piltover Peacemaker when I have a clean shot with no minions blocking it, which also let's me deal the full damage.
Laning Phase
In the laning phase your main priority is to get as much gold as you can. Your main source of gold is lasthitting minions so you should make sure you got this down before playing Caitlyn.
At level 1 take Piltover Peacemaker. This will let you push the wave and get level 2 first and will also let you poke your opponents. Always try to poke the enemy ADC when they are going for lasthits. Thanks to your Piltover Peacemaker you should get level 2 first most of the time, but if the enemy lane hits level 2 first, make sure to back off as they are much stronger than you until you hit level 2 yourself.
Once you are level 2 you should stop pushing the wave and start freezing by only lasthitting minions. This way the enemy minions will be alive longer and will deal more damage to your allied minions, meaning that the enemy ADC will have to overextend for the lasthitting, letting you poke them for free, or alternatively, they will choose to give up the CS and you will get a small CS advantage. Also if you have the level advantage but push your opponents under tower, then you won't get any use of your powerspike, instead you should walk up and zone your opponents making them miss the XP.
At level 2 you can take Yordle Snap Trap or 90 Caliber Net. If your ally has some sort of CC ( Lux Q, Morgana Q etc.) I like to take Yordle Snap Trap because if you place a trap on top of a CC'ed target you have a guaranteed trap. Alternatively I take 90 Caliber Net which helps in fighting and escaping ganks.
For the rest of the laning phase you should try to get as much CS as possible while denying the enemy ADC as much CS as you can. If the enemy jungler is away from bot you can push them under tower and poke with your long range. Use your Yordle Snap Trap on top of CC'ed targets to get a guaranteed trap. If the enemy jungler is away from bot and the enemies are pushing you can call in your jungler for a gank, after which you can secure dragon. Try to get as many turret plates as you can, and if you get the turret you can swap with your toplaner or just group with your team to get other objectives.
Out of Lane
Once laning phase is over you should be looking to group with your team and get as many objectives as you can. If you have taken bot turret you can swap with your toplaner and get top turret or you can rotate mid and try to get mid turret. Dragons should always be a priority and you should be near it when it spawns. Use your Yordle Snap Trap to zone opponents off of objectives.
Also you should place your Yordle Snap Trap in places where you think opponents will step on them. Usually, if your team can follow-up on someone stepping into a trap you will be able to kill him. Whenever an ally lands some CC you can use your Yordle Snap Trap to extend the CC duration and secure the kill.
Always remember that Caitlyn has a very long range and good wave clear which makes her very good at sieging towers. When attacking turrets you can place Yordle Snap Trap around to stop the enemies for defending.
Overall, just stay with your team and focusing on taking objectives whilst keeping up in CS so that you can get your items faster and stop games. You should group with your team to get as many objectives as you can. Focus on towers, dragons and rift herald. Always stay near your support, because if you get caught alone you will most likely be insta-killed.
Teamfighting
The most important thing when it comes to winning teamfights is by far god positioning. You should be staying in the back and focusing your nearest target whilst staying away from the enemy team. This way you are going to survive longer because you are only in range of the person that is focusing you. The longer you stay alive the longer you can output damage, and as Caitlyn your damage is crucial in late game teamfights.
Even before teamfights you should take a look at the scoreboard and analyze the enemy team. Figure out who is going to try and dive you so that you can be prepared. Usually, this is probably going to be an assassin or a bruiser. Assassins can one-shot you if you don't get help from your team. That's why you want to stay near your support in teamfights and ask for him to peel. If it is a support such as Nami, Yuumi or Lulu, they can buff you and help you beat the assassin/bruiser focusing you, after which you move to focus your next nearest target.
If you have more than one person focusing you, you should decide which one you want to focus depending on who the biggest threat is. Usually, if there are an assassin and a bruiser diving you, you should focus the assassin as he deals more damage and is also squishier.
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