Welcome back to yet another ultimate guide by yours truly! Today we explore Kayn, the bane of my existence. This guy had every Naruto fan and weeb in the community hyped on reveal day. What’s that? Two champions in one? Sick! A Darkinn? SIIIICK! HE TRANSFORMS?! ASSASIN OR TANK?! I think it’s safe to say we all played Kayn for at least a week and a decent amount of players have decided to main and play Kayn often. But can you say you truly know how to PLAY Kayn? Do you know his mechanics and bread and butter builds and combos? Do you know how to rub him the right way or pull out the rug from under him? Well no worries because I will bring you up to speed on all these things and more. Sit tight Kayn players and none Kayn players, you may just learn something.

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The main pro of Kayn is definitely his ability to be able to choose his play style during game depending on how the match goes. He can either go for a slayer assassin play style with his shadow assassin form or a more sustain orientated bruiser play style with Rhaast. In Shadow Assassin Form Kayn is able to dish out obnoxious damage due to his increased range, mobility and burst damage potential. This is to keep him moving at all times. The only downside to this is he becomes incredibly squishy and you’re forced to build from the ground up to assassinate high priority Targets Such as ADC’s and mages.

As Rhaast you gain more of a skirmisher play style. In this form you drop the mobility and burst potential in exchange for utility, insane healing and percentage max HP damage. Call him the melee Vlad! You gain CC in the form of your W having a knock-up and your ultimate gains the HP percentage power up which, takes a juicy chunk out of tanks and bruisers health and gives it to you. The only real downside is once you are in a fight as Rhaast, don’t expect to live unless you’ve killed everyone.

PASSIVE:Kayn - Your main goal is to gain the soul essence from your passive as quick as possible. This means you shouldn’t not passive jungle and aim at ganking lanes as much as possible even if it doesn’t result in a kill for the team as long as you push the enemy back and gain your passive. [Piece of advice: Before you gank have a look at which lanes you feel will struggle or which enemy would snowball and gank that lane. This way you become their counter when you transform allowing you to shut them down and help your laner]

Rhaast - Healing Galore! You now have health steal on your attacks and abilities basically. This combos with your Ultimate for insane some hefty healing. With this stay in the fight for as long as you can. Only a Warwick will win lol. Look for outplays whilst fighting and crazy dukes that will allow you to get the upper hand and also peel for your other team mates. The only counter to this form are items like Thornmail and executioner’s calling so be aware!

SA Kayn - You gain increased damage of up to 40 percent which is dealt as magic damage. What I suggest is with this form go ham! You have this active for three seconds but after that it will only refresh after leaving combat for eight seconds or using umbral trespass! You have to get in and get out to deal maximum burst. A good combo with this would be Q-W-Reposition-AA-R-Q. Use your Q at the beginning to engage and at the end to escape. You reposition after your W as it doesn’t lock you in place in this form and slows the target down allowing you to dodge skill shots and gain that sneaky auto attack. You use umbral trespass to reset your passive and become unsusceptible to attacks or CC and your Q procs your passive on escape. Play Video Q:Kayn - This is your staple ability. You use this to clear jungle and dash over walls for escapes or engages. Think of a EQ combo from Yasuo but in one ability. Remember that when attacking the dash part of the slash deals damage too!! So hit em’ with both parts. I tend to level this ability up 3 times before hitting Level 6. This is because you need the extra damage early game to clear faster but once in any of Kayn’s forms his W and E overvalue his Q by miles so max it last afterwards.

Rhaast - The ability gains a huge damage steroid still being able to chunk out squishes but due to the 50% AD (+ 5% (+4% per 100 bonus AD) of targets maximum health) you’re able to chunk out tanks and bruisers building health items too!

SA Kayn – as for SA Form nothing. Absolutely nothing. Play Video W:Kayn – Pre 6 this is your only form of CC as it gives your opponent a decaying slow after a short delay. I love this ability as it can be used to reach enemies just out of your zone and allow you to catch up to them. Use this in conjunction with you Q for a killer combo that deals 530 + 250% bonus AD damage. Easily max this ability first as it provides you with a CC ability for kiting or chasing which has a low cooldown with something like black cleaver built.

Rhaast - A speedy chargeless SIon Q? Yes, please. With your W in this form being able to knock-up enemies you are able to delay fights, disrupting or keep people in place. You can also set up your own combos as well as team combos for example Yasuo ult after using a Kayn W.

SA Kayn – FREEDOM! You are no longer locked in animation when using your W meaning you can kite and chase more effectively. You also have increased range on this ability and increased damage. The slow duration increase is naughty as well. This is the perfect assassin move. Max out this ability and your CDR for the most effective use. Play Video E:Kayn - This is your WalkThroughWall hack. You gain the ability of completely scaring the shrooms out of your enemies. Use this to come into lane ganks from the most awkward and unorthodox angles perceivable to the human mind. Throw the enemy off guard, heal off of the effect, escape, engage and everything else. Take this ability at level 3 to help you with your jungling and max out second for its increased duration.

Rhaast – GUESS WHAT?! NOTHING! AGAIN!

SA Kayn – So basically you have remove Scurry but instead of an orange, it’s a wall. With this version of the ability you are able to shake off any and all slows on your Kayn and also gain huge mobility. This compliments Kayns’ combativeness. Play Video R:Kayn – Kayn’s Ultimate was something I died for. The ability to possess your target and cause havoc and discord. Use this for dodging abilities or sticking onto your enemies if they try to escape. Personally I use this ability for stealing baron or dragons as smite is still fully functional when within an enemy champion. I have also used this ability to follow an enemy who has decided to teleport as you teleport with them. Just be careful not to ult them when they are recalling otherwise…well you know the story.

Rhaast – With Rhaast you become the Tank killer as your ultimate becomes a semi execute ability. Building armour penetration increases the damage 10 fold. This ability does tend to do more damage to squishes then SA form as it deals half their max HP however, this is not the main focus. You ult to murder a tank or to heal yourself. This healing is increased a lot by your passive and can be increased to your entire health bar if buying a deaths dance. But only against tanks.

SA Kayn – What’s that? you can reset duskblade with this? Now that’s just dirty. That’s right ladies and gentlemen with a simple combo you can reset both your duskblade and your passive in 3 seconds. Increased ultimate range allowing you to grab squishes hit in the back line and keep at distance until your target has been required. There is a very good combo you should use as follows: W-AA-Q-R-WAIT 3 SECONDS-AA. First off you gain the slow to catch up to your target and hit them for duskblade proc then immediately using Q giving them no breathing space and ulting them under there nose. Now they are panicking so you have time to wait a little to reset your passive and duskblade before jumping out, proccing them both again and leaving. Play Video

Due to how quick your combos are you want a keystone that compliments it and increases your burst potential. This is why the best keystone for Kayn is Electrocute. Electrocute will get activated ever so easily allowing you to dish out your max damage. Dark Harvest is another option but with a basic combo you almost always eradicate a enemy target without even using your R.

Sudden Impact is an obvious one due to your Q being an actual dash and with CDR you can easily proc this as many times as you want. Kayn will take any extra lethality he can get.

Eyeball Collection gives you more AD based off of how many champions and wards you have killed. It’s a nice little mini game that keeps you in check and rewards you for doing your job. Zombie Ward is a jungle essential and another great option. This pairs well with Duskblade again rewarding you for clearing wards and giving your team the advantage.
For your final rune you pretty much all of them work well on Kayn.

Relentless frees up your option on what boots you can buy as you receive speed from the rune or combine them for sonic speed. Ingenious for when you build any actives such as a Ghostblade and Ravenous will give you healing when in Rhaast form is mad and combined with triumph will honestly make you unkillable. It’ll feel just like having a Warmogs.

When it comes to your secondary tree its pretty staple to be honest. You go Triumph for that extra boost of health after killing one enemy to either save you in a team fight or spell someone else’s demise. Then you have Coup de Grace to add to that burst and execute potential.

Flash and Smite, no questions asked.

Warrior:WARRIORS BUY WARRIOR! Warrior gives you the AD scaling you need!! So is a essential buy as other choices on Kayn are useless.

Duskblade:What’s that? You didn’t see me? Whelp extra damage to you then. Kayn in SA form is the dictionary definition of assassin and this provides him with 55 AD and 18 Lethality with the ability to negate vision by deactivating wards and allowing you to clear too. So if you ever go Kayn always GET THIS ITEM!
Black Cleaver:What came first, Rhaast or Black Cleaver? These two were a match made in heaven, Black Cleaver just buffs all of Rhaasts’ strong points such as CDR, Damage, Percentage health damage and Health for himself. What more could you ask for? This is a must get on Rhaast every game and also SA if you feel to vulnerable.
Ninja Tabi’s:Feeling soft? Pick up a pair of these boots and give those pesky ADCs’ a hard time.
Mercury Treads:Getting pelted by rocks or bewitched with wands? Well grab yourself a pair of these to brush those mages off and leave them in your dust, they can’t hold you forever. Literally you get tenacity from these also.
Boots of mobility:Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
Gotta go fast, gotta go fast,
Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster, faster
Movin' at speed of sound (make tracks)
Quickest hedgehog around
Got ourselves a situation, stuck in a new location,
Without any explanation, no time for relaxation!
Youmuu's Ghostblade:Congratulations you just evolved to a shadow assassin and completed your duskblade, give yourself a pat on the back, but it doesn’t stop there young one, no! you need to keep stacking lethality, forever and what better way to do it then buying a Ghostblade! It’s exactly the same as a Duskblade only it gives you movement speed as a active passive instead. Disclaimer Notice: do not buy these with Black Cleaver. Terms and conditions apply.
Edge of Night:Oh we know have a banshees’ veil but for AD champions. Pick this up as a last lethality item in your build due to their being better options before it. It does give you a nice spell shield for those pesky stuns and snares for when you dive in.
Lord Dominik’s Regard:Can’t seem to kill those tanks yet? Need that extra bit of push? Well I’ve got something for you, Dr Dominik’s Regards is sure to cure you of those blues and provide you with that extra lethality needed to cure the meta of ‘league of tanks’. Don’t take this medication unless there are multiple tanks.
Mortal Reminder:On the other hand, you may need to show those pesky healers whose boss so get yourself a mortal reminder. The grievous wounds on this item will put them in their place. They’ll be leaving reminders in their calendar when you’re done with them.
Maw of Malmortius:This is the ultimate MR item IMO! Buy this if you know, AP Enemies, but beware, just like Mercurial Scimitar. You’ll end up buying a hexdrinker or QSS early game for their amazing passive/active but won’t complete the full item until way late game where it just fills up a item slot. VERY SITUATIONAL!
Mercurial Scimitar:AH GET OFF ME YOU PESKY CROWD CONTROL!! Buy this if you see a Malzahar or Cassiopeia or Morgana in order to escape their CC and continue on with your harmless killing spree.
Deaths Dance:Infinite POWER, forever ALIVE you become god essentially. With the ad this item gives along with its mad synergy it has with your passive as Rhaast and you become the unstoppable force. You receive a 30% delay on all damage you take gives you 3 seconds to heal the damage back. It’ll be as if you were never hurt.
Guardian Angel:One day you’ll learn that to win the war, you’ll have to lose the battle. This angel of an item will be there when you fall to pick you back up again. Builds from a stopwatch, oh joy, and gives AD too! If you didn’t get a chance to use your ultimate, here’s a second chance.

Early Game

In the early game your main priority is to gather your transformation as quickly as possible in order to start having big impact on the game. Farm up raptors always as you clear this incredibly fast alone with your Q, have a good health pool when finished and land on level two. From there take your W and head over to your Red Buff then gank. If you know where the enemy jungler is, now is also I great time to counter jungle. If you manage to catch them off guard and low on health then you can easily fight them, push them back and take their jungle and gain passive or even kill them. If not take enemy raptors too and gank Mid from there. Place as much vision as possible down and from what I said earlier Scout out the game, see who will be an issue and transform into who will counter that champion. Build your hunters talisman for regen and hunter’s potion for gold efficiency but also because of your healthy clears. Once you have your E now your unorthodox ganks can begin allowing you to gain more massive from how many times you can repeatedly gank lanes and also giving you a healing option for after leaving skirmishes or jungle camps.Mid Game

I’m glad you could make it here. You should be in your final form at this point and ready to make some plays. If you have opted for the shadow assassin part then your aim is to play like a Kha’zix. You find the enemy carries in the backline of team fights or out on their own before a team fight and eliminate them, that’s your main job. Once you have done that you can use the increased range on your W to peel for your team during a fight. Remember, main priority, eliminate the squishes and get out. Due to you amazing mobility you can also split push lanes, you have decent wave clear and enough speed to get back to your team should something happen in time. Duskblade will help you with you assassinations as well as ghostblade providing you with that extra damage, speed and invisibility through vision control he needs.

If you have opted for Rhaast then you must know that your main job is to be in the thick of it all. You can carry as Rhaast most definitely but what I tend to do is take all the brunt of the enemy team aggression, paving way for my damage dealers and carries to gain an advantage in kills and snowball. As Rhaast you naturally snowball and do well if your team is doing well. You become the guy who decides when a fight starts, ends, or how long it lasts all thanks to your W now being able to knock up. You can set up for team combos with this too. Don’t be afraid to dive into a team of tanks. You become extremely hard to kill whilst doing that making you the main focus and allowing your carries to focus on the backline without worrying too much. Buying a deaths dance alongside a black cleaver and ninja tabi’s will provide you with the health, CDR and defence you need to survive and heal up any damage you take. I have ended games come mid game very easy with Kayn as Rhaast so this should be a piece of cake.

Late Game



Just Kidding, but this is Kayns’ weakest point in a game, you stop hurting as much due to everyone being near to full build and ADCs’ can now blow you up. Your main responsibilities here will be Team objectives such as baron and elder dragon. Keep a timer on that Smite because it is now your best friend. In team fights your role is the discord bruiser! You have no exact role in a fight. Stay in the midst of your team for you cant charge in like a tank nor can you chill in the back line. Weave in and out of the fight throwing people off, disrupting plans, taking out that unexpected enemy and throw the team off completely. At this point it really is survival of the fittest. The moment you get low on health remember to ult as it is basically a reset at this point of the game.

Kayn is definitely an incredibly versatile jungler who you can adapt with depending on how your game turns out. This is really strong as it gives the player more control over how they want the game to play out. He is strongest early to mid game due to not everyone having their R at level two but kayn receiving a ult power up just from transforming therefore putting him at an advantage against everyone else.

Thanks for reading my guide, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment or upvote if you did :)

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