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Darius Build Guide by Der Bestimmer

Top [Season 12] Darius Guide - by Der Bestimmer

Top [Season 12] Darius Guide - by Der Bestimmer

Updated on October 23, 2022
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Runes: CQ + Resolve 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Precision
Conqueror
Triumph
Legend: Tenacity
Last Stand

Resolve
Bone Plating
Unflinching
Bonus:

+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor

Spells:

1 2 3
Flash + Ghost
LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ghost

Ghost

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Champion Build Guide

[Season 12] Darius Guide - by Der Bestimmer

By Der Bestimmer
Intro

Hello everyone!


This is my Season 12 Guide on Darius Top, as well as his off Meta Jungle Role.
I focus mainly on Builds and Runes to show Synergies between them.
Let me know if you need clarification on certain things!

Darius is a strong Carry Juggernaut, that works in many Situations.
Although he is a Raid Boss Juggernaut Champion, with the right Runes and Items he can almost reach Mobility Levels of Freight Train Juggernauts like Volibear.

My Builds are following 2 Philosophies in this Guide - Dueling=D and Mobility=M:

  • D = Dueling Path - uses Conqueror for AD Stacking and shorter Trades to max Passive Damage as well as Sustain as well as Lethal Tempo for all in Trades.
    It will make you a Duelist with good DPS and Sustain as well as measures like Armor Shred / Anti Heal against Melee Enemies
  • M = Mobility Path - uses Phase Rush
    This path is against ranged and high Mobility Targets - it gives you the highest Amount of Sticking Power and Anti-Kiting Capabilities to apply your Damage over the longest time possible.

For an Overview of the Champion have a look at this Guide by DaveyX3:



Another quick Overview by Wickd:




You can follow me on Twitter, Reddit and Youtube for regular Content Updates!

General Abbreviations
General Abbrevations:
- CQ = Conqueror
- FF = Fleet Footwork
- PTA = Press the Attack
- LT = Lethal Tempo
- PR = Phase Rush
- D = Dueling Build
- TD = Takedown Build
- M = Mobility Build
- MS = Movement Speed
- LS = Lifesteal
- AD = Attack Damage
- AS = Attack Speed
- AP = Ability Power
- HP = Health Points
- AR = Armor
- MR = Magical Restistance
- Res = Resistances
- AdD = Adaptive Damage
- AA = Auto Attack
- AoE = Area of Effect
- DoT = Damage over Time
General Resources

List:

Abilities & Combos

Abilities:


Have a look at Darius' Abilities:

  • P: Hemorrhage
  • Q: Decimate
    His Q Ability gives him good Sustain, more so the more Enemy Champions he hits. It also works on Big Jungle Monsters. It can be unreliable at times, especially against mobile enemies.

    Q Interactions:
    • Q is disabled while E is pulling in. I like playing Darius with Quick Cast in Release to still being able to kind of buffering Q while E
    • You can Cancel Q Animation at the very end with R
    • You can cancel W Animation with Q
    • You can reposition with Flash while in Q Animation
  • W: Crippling Strike
    His W Ability is an Auto-Attack Reset. It cannot be canceled, gains Bonus Range and applies a Slow along with the Bleed Stack.

    W Interactions
    • W can be buffered during Q, E and R and during Flash for Right Click - Flash Executions
  • E: Apprehend
    He has a Grab Ability in his E, like Sett or Mordekaiser, that can be fatal for immobile Champions. It also suppresses Dashes and Flash, while Champions are in the Pull. E into Q gives you a good Chance to hit the outer Q Circle, since the hooked Enemy will slightly bounce back from you.

  • R: Noxian Guillotine
    His True Damage Execution Ult with inbuilt Reset Mechanic gives him great Teamfight as well as Comeback Mechanics.

    R Interactions:
    • R can be buffered in Flash
    • R can not Animation Cancel W like Q does with W
    • R is a Q Animation Cancel in the very last Moment of Q
  • Ult works in Conjunction with his Passive Bleed Stacks, which Cap at 5 Stacks. At max. Stacks Darius gains AD and applies 5 Passive Stacks on any Enemy he hits. Every Stack of his Passive increases his Ult Damage too.

Nice Guide by Retz on Darius' Abilities:




General Mechanics Concepts:


For more insights into League's Micro Mechanics have a look at my YT Micro Playlist HERE!

For Basic Movement Concepts for Melee Champions look at the Mechanics Section of my Udyr Phoenix Guide HERE.



Darius' Combos:


Darius' Moves


Sticking correctly, together with Darius' Combos and Abilities (see below) is extremely Important.
You don't want to just right click an opponent and let Darius walk after him.
You want to combine Attack Commands and Movement Commands as well as your Combos for maximum Efficiency.
  • The Foundation of all Combos: The Animation Cancel


    An Auto Attack consists of 3 Parts:

    Wind Up
    [==========]
    Attack Hit
    [==========]
    Wind down
    [==========]

    - NOW, if you just right click or Attack Move onto an Opponent, even if you reach him and start hitting, your Champion will go through all Phases of the Auto Attack.

    - BUT - as you can see - the Wind Down does nothing for us. It has no Damage!
    It is wasting Time.
    How can we use this time better? ... YES - by moving in between Attacks or using an Auto Attack Resert / an Ability.

    - So - to correctly Kite as a Ranged Champion or Stick as a Melee Champion you input a Movement Command right after your Attack hits the opponent (that means your Hand, Hammer, Sword smacks the Enemy etc. or, in case of Ranged Champs - your Projectile leaves your Weapone - )
    - and therefore deny the Wind down its time!
    You CANCEL THE ANIMATION!

    - Have a look at this AA Analysis by LoL Analyst for insights into the Concept:


    - I would advise you to turn on Damage Numbers in League, so you get a Visual Feedback when your Attack has dealt its Damage.
    Click here for a Screenshot of the needed Option.


  • The Next Step: Darius' Combos


    Darius Combo Overview on Mobalytics.

    1. Your Standard Trade Combo:

      • Run onto or grab an Enemy with E
      • AA + W Reset
      • 2x AA
      • Q (applies Passive Stack 5)
      • R
    2. Your Fast Trade Combo:

      • Run onto or grab an Enemy with E
      • AA + W Reset
      • W Animation Cancel with Q
    3. Your Full Stack Assassination Ult Combo:


      (This allows you to stack your Passive on the Frontline, then Flash Execute a Priority Target)
      • Run onto or grab an Enemy with E
      • AA + W Reset
      • 2x AA
      • Q (applies Passive Stack 5)
      • Optional: Ult the primary Target if in Kill Range
      • Now Buffer 1 AA on the Priority Assassination Target and Flash onto it to reposition
      • AA Target (applies instant Full Passive Stacks)
      • Animation Cancel AA with R

      More Combo Resources:

      • For a basic Combo Overview watch this Video by Bav Bros:



      • Another Combo Guide by DevProgamer:



      • For more Combos have a look at these Guides by RhokuTV:



      • Another Guide by LoL Dobby:


Items

Item Philosophy


These are the main Items for the two Paths.

Stridebreaker


Stridebreaker is your Utility Item for Dueling / Mobility Builds. It will help you stick to targets and not let them slip out to get Passive Stacks on them and get Conqueror Stacks. Also works nicely with stacking up Black Cleaver.

Don't use your Slows at the same time though, but rather in Sequence, because Slow Amounts do not stack.
As long as you can hit an Enemy Stridebreaker will give you extra MS, so the extra MS from your Q synergizes well with it.
You can stack the Passive up on Minions, Monsters and Plants, then engage an enemy Champion with more MS on your Approach.



Trinity Force


Trinity Force is your high DPS Mythic. It Scales up your AS, AD and Movement Speed, making you a threatening Force against Squishier Targets.
In Lane you can get Triforce for Split Push and 1v1 Dueling together with Hullbreaker, BorK, Sterak's and Demolish. Since the Triforce Passive also stacks on Towers, you will melt Towers in Mid to Late Game.
Trinity Force has great Synergy with Sterak's Gage since Triforce gives you Base-AD, from which Sterak's pulls its Bonus-AD Increse!



Dead Man's Plate


Armor Item for Mobility. Improves your Approach Qualities a lot and gives you more Impact Damage, especially with Sheen / W.
It will not give you Dueling Stats like Randuin's or Thornmail once you reach your target.

The Impact Damage Scales with Base AD, so you can't enhance it directly other than with levels and Triforce.
Try to dodge CC with its MS to not lose Momentum Stacks.



Force of Nature


Your goto MR Itema and a great Item for Mobility, Gives you MS when getting hit by Magic Damage or CC, something that will happen to Darius a lot. Each instance stacks up the Passive. At 6 Stacks Magic Damage also gets reduced by 25% on you. If you get kited a lot, this item will beat Spirit Visage.
Maw of Malmortius is kind of the Alternative here. It also replaces Sterak's Gage
It is also a Consideration when stacking HP is bad - against Vayne / Gnar etc.



Thornmail


Item for Dueling against strong Sustain Champions. Your E will trigger the 40% Grievous Wounds. Another Armor Item will benefit the Return Damage a lot.
If you need Heal Reduction against Casters like Aatrox, that can chose not to AA you, aggressive Items like Chempunk Chainsword are in general better options.



Randuin's Omen


Another Item for Dueling against Hypercarries / Crit Users. You reduce their Damage on you through the Passive as well as the Active and it gives you a Slow on Top for more Sticking Power.
Try not to stack your Slows though since they will not Stack! Use them in Sequence as much as possible!



Spirit Visage


Another tanky Item Choice - it will Synergize with Conqueror and Q. It will boost any Shields and Healing Sources you get and interacts with Revitalize. It will also boost Regeneration and Vamp Effects as well as Lifesteal.
It will not make you more mobile though!



Boots


  • Berserker's Greaves

    They are Garen's current Meta - Shoes. Great for Scaling up your E early on and for Dueling and stacking Conqueror in general. They will not make you thougher though. So if you are dealing with a lot of Poke / CC in Lane, consider another Choice early on.
  • Mercury Treads

    These are your Anti CC Option. You will not need them when taking Sunfire Aegis + 1 of the Tenacity Runes Legend: Tenacity or Unflinching.


  • Boots of Swiftness

    They are great if the Enemy Team has mostly Slows to kite you or are very mobile with MS Buffs or Dashes. Swifties will give you the most Speed in a very reliable Manner.
    Remember, that they will reduce the Amount of Slow you receive (meaning you are not slowed down as much), while Treads above will reduce the Duration of the Slow.

  • Plated Steelcaps

    They are great against all Sorts of Autoattackers, Ranged and Melee. They will also reduce the Damage Monsters deal to you.
    Because the Reduction is fixed at 12% they will stay valuable throughout the game. Together with Randuins / Frozen Heart you can cut off a huge portion of a Hypercarries damage potential on you.
    Remember, that they don't work on Tower Shots though!

Runes
You can download my premade Rune-Book File for LoL Rune Changer HERE.
To import the Item Sets after you downloaded them:
- Go to the extracted LoL Rune Changer Folder - be Sure the App is closed!
- Backup your old "RuneChangerRuneBook.dat"
- Paste my Rune Book File you downloaded above into the Rune Changer Folder
- Start the App again - my Runes are now available.
- Click on the Plus Signs right to the rune Pages to import them into your LoL Client
- for more information about LoL Rune Changer look at their Wiki


Rune Philosophy:



As mentioned in the Intro Section these Builds follow 2 Philosophies:


Main Runes:


General Rune Advice:
- Conqueror for sustained Trades, Heal Synergy with Revitalize / Omnivamp like Goredrinker / Damage Buffs. Conqueror will give you more Damage in short Trades than LT and Sustain in longer Trades
- Lethal Tempo for faster Bleed Stacks in all-in Trades
- Phase Rush / Nimbus Cloak + Celerity for Mobility

- Coup de Grace against Squishy Teams.
- Last Stand for Damage increase when getting low - good for Dueling with Conqueror and Mobility Pages to deal increased Damage after taking Damage while approaching a Target.
- Legend: Alacrity against Dueling Matchups for non Lethal Tempo Pages
- Scorch for extra Trading DoT with your Passive
- Legend: Tenacity / Unflinching for Anti CC / Anti Kite
- Second Wind against Poke
- Bone Plating against Burst Combos
- Manaflow Band / Transcendence for Ability Uptime
- Gathering Storm / Overgrowth / Conditioning for Late Game Scaling
- Demolish + Overgrowth for Split pushing [L] - good with Triforce
- Nimbus Cloak / Celerity / Waterwalking / Relentless Hunter for Mobility Builds
Builds
You can download my premade Build Files for the LoL Client HERE.
To import the Item Sets after you downloaded them:
- Go to your Collection
- Click on Items
- Click on the Downward Arrow Button called "Import Item Sets" left of the Search
- Select my Build File on your Hard-Drive Location and click OK.
- The Build is now available in your Client and In-Game


I collect Off-Meta Build Ideas for my Champion Roster in my Experimental Builds Guide! Have a look!

Build Philosophy:


As explained in the Intro Chapter, I categorize the Builds into the Categories:
  • Dueling
  • Mobility


Table of Contents:
  1. General Hints
  2. Triforce Builds
  3. Sunderer Builds
  4. Stridebreaker Builds
  5. Goredrinker Builds


General Hints:


Starting Items:
- Doran's Shield with Second Wind against Poke Lanes / Ranged
- Doran's Blade for Melee Trades with Revitalize / Bone Plating against Combos.
- Take Red Smite against Close Range Burst and Melee Damage Dealers. Take Blue Smite against Ranged or for Nimbus Cloak Synergy.

Boots:
- Boots in all Builds are situational.
- Be aware, that Boots of Swiftness and Unflinching decrease the Amount of Slow you receive, while Tenacity reduces the Duration of Slows.

Anti Heal:
- get Bramble + Steelcaps against Enemies that Autoattack you a lot, get Executioner's against Enemies that avoid you / you want to all in.
Be aware, that the Thornmail Return Damage will also give you a Phase Rush Stack and feeds into Omnivamp!

CC / Kite:
- get Quicksilver against Suppression Ults (Morde, WW...) or high CC amounts.
- Your Options against high Mobility / Kiting are:
  • Items: Stridebreaker, Triforce, Black Cleaver, Force of Nature, Dead Man's Plate, Randuin's Omen
  • Boots: Mercury's Treads, Boots of Swiftness
  • Runes:
    - Anti Slow / CC: Legend: Tenacity, Unflinching
    - Speed Buff: Phase Rush, Nimbus Cloak, Celerity, Waterwalking [J]
    - Sustain: Second Wind, Revitallize (with D-Shield)
  • Spells: Blue Smite, Ghost
Build Paths:
- You can always go full Tank after your Mythic Item and Sterak's Gage or Death's Dance. In General you want to avoid dying as much as possible when ahead, while going for some more damage for Comeback Plays when behind.
Stridebreaker is safer than Triforce, because it gives you Utility for Comebacks together with your Team when behind.
- You want to build Sterak's Gage against Enemies you go toe to toe with for Phage Passive. You want to build Death's Dance against Enemies that kite you or if you build Goredrinker for more immediate Damage, Omnivamp and Sustain.
- Against strong AP Damage, Maw of Malmortius replaces Sterak's Gage
- Look for Synergies for Mobility / Anti Kite in Mobility oriented Builds and Sustain / De-Buff / Damage Synergies in Dueling Builds.


The Builds:


  1. Sheen Builds



    Triforce Build 1 [L]


    Primary Runes:
    Dueling 1
    Conqueror
    Triumph
    Legend: Tenacity Legend: Alacrity
    Last Stand Coup de Grace
    Dueling 2
    Lethal Tempo
    Triumph
    Legend: Tenacity
    Last Stand Coup de Grace

    Secondary Runes:

    Resolve Tree:
    Conditioning + Unflinching for late Game Scaling / TF Mobility
    Second Wind + Unflinching Revitalize against Ranged
    Bone Plating + Unflinching against Combo Damage
    Conditioning + Overgrowth for Late Game Scaling
    Demolish + Overgrowth for Split Pushing [L]

    Sorcery Tree:
    Nimbus Cloak+ Celerity
    Transcendence+ Gathering Storm


    Item Builds
    Trinity Force
    Plated Steelcaps
    Death's Dance
    Sterak's Gage
    Force of Nature
    Thornmail

    Damage Options:
    Black Cleaver
    Chempunk Chainsword
    Hullbreaker
    Silvermere Dawn
    Guardian Angel
    Maw of Malmortius
    Defense Options:
    Dead Man's Plate
    Randuin's Omen
    Frozen Heart
    Spirit Visage
    -
    -


    Sunderer Build 1 [L]


    Runes:
    - CQ as above

    Item Builds
    Divine Sunderer
    Plated Steelcaps
    Sterak's Gage
    Death's Dance
    Spirit Visage
    Chempunk Chainsword (better vs. Enemies with Sustain, that don't Auto-Attack you (Aatrox, Gwen...)

    Damage Options:
    Black Cleaver
    Thornmail
    Hullbreaker
    Silvermere Dawn
    Guardian Angel
    Maw of Malmortius
    Defense Options:
    Dead Man's Plate
    Randuin's Omen
    Frozen Heart
    Force of Nature
    -
    -


  2. Whip Builds


    - these Builds are safer than Triforce Builds, since they give you Utility / Sustain to compensate better if you should fall behind. Stridebreaker Builds into Phase Rush work very well against Ranged targets or in Jgl against mobile Teams.

    Stridebreaker Build 1 [L]+[J]


    - get Death's Dance vs. Ranged / Burst, Sterak's for Dueling / Trading

    Primary Runes:
    Dueling 1
    Conqueror
    Triumph
    Legend: Tenacity Legend: Alacrity
    Last Stand Coup de Grace
    Dueling 2
    Lethal Tempo
    Triumph
    Legend: Tenacity
    Last Stand Coup de Grace

    Mobility
    Phase Rush
    Nimbus Cloak
    Celerity
    Gathering Storm

    Resolve Tree:
    Conditioning + Unflinching for late Game Scaling / TF Mobility
    Second Wind + Unflinching Revitalize against Ranged
    Bone Plating + Unflinching against Combo Damage
    Conditioning + Overgrowth for Late Game Scaling
    Demolish + Overgrowth for Split Pushing [L]

    Sorcery Tree:
    Nimbus Cloak + Celerity
    Transcendence + Gathering Storm
    Waterwalking [J]

    Precision Tree:
    Triumph
    Legend: Tenacity Legend: Alacrity
    Last Stand Coup de Grace

    Item Builds
    Stridebreaker
    Death's Dance
    Boots of Swiftness
    Dead Man's Plate
    Force of Nature
    Black Cleaver

    Damage Options:
    Sterak's Gage
    Maw of Malmortius
    Wit's End
    Silvermere Dawn
    -
    Defense Options:
    Gargoyle Stoneplate
    Randuin's Omen
    Thornmail
    Frozen Heart
    Spirit Visage


    Goredrinker Build 1 [L] (Dueling)


    Runes:
    - CQ / LT as above

    Item Builds
    Goredrinker
    Plated Steelcaps
    Death's Dance
    Sterak's Gage
    Thornmail
    Spirit Visage

    Damage Options:
    Black Cleaver
    Chempunk Chainsword
    Hullbreaker
    Guardian Angel
    Silvermere Dawn
    Maw of Malmortius
    Defense Options:
    Gargoyle Stoneplate
    Dead Man's Plate
    Randuin's Omen
    Frozen Heart
    Force of Nature
    -
Matchups

Matchup Specific Example Build:


- Now that we learned the usage of Builds and Runes, let's go through an Example.


Example: Vayne



Build Option


General Matchup Tips:


- For specific Matchup Guides have a look at the enemy Champion's Mobalytics Page and Counterstats.net Page for Advise.

- You can also use the LoLAlytics Matchup Stats via their Search Engine from Darius' Main Page.
Just go to his page there and then enter your enemy champion matchup into the Search bar in the upper right corner. On the right side of the list you can click on the "vs." Matchup result.
For example against Dr. Mundo:
- Another great Resource is Solokill. It offers 1v1 Clips for all Champion Matchups.

- You can find even more Matchup Statistics Sites on my ULTIMATE Link List for League of Legends.

- It is also always a good Idea to watch some High Elo Games of the Matchup you are interested in via Youtube.
Here is a Search Example for Dr. Mundo.


Matchup Lists on Reddit:


Great Video Guide for all Top Lane Matchups for Darius by RhokuTV:



Short Overview for his Matchup List on Reddit.

Nice Quick Video about Darius' general Mechanics and their Strenghts / Weaknesses by Sakeios:


Top Lane Basics

Top Lane Guide:

  • The best Introduction to Basic League Concepts I know is made by Phroxzon from UNSWLOLSOC (the makers of the original Leaguecraft 101).
    If you want to learn League in the most efficient way, check out his great Content HERE.

  • For a quick Guide on Darius Top, have a look at his Mobalytics Guide Page!


  • My own Darius YT Playlist with lots of Content.
  • For general Top Lane Guides / Macro have a look at my own Youtube Top Lane Playlist and Youtube Macro Playlist!

Coaching Video from Glacierr:



Coaching Videos from RhokuTV:



Coaching Videos from Neace:


Jungle Basics

Jungle Guide:


Have a look at this Darius Jungle Guide by Virkayu:



The Jungle Clear:

Basics:

  • Most Times you want to full Clear and reach Level 6 as fast as possible!

  • Do my Ward Swap Trick in the beginning to get Sweeper rdy for Ganks and protect your Buff from Invades.

    Video from my Youtube Channel on how to do it:



  • Always try to spot the Enemy Jungler's Starting Point from paying attention to which Enemy Lane is late to Lane after their Leash.

    For a Guide about Basic Tracking watch this Video by ProGuides:


  • While you clear, train yourself to always move the camera to your closest lane while moving from one Camp to the other (in your downtime so to say).

  • In General, look at the Minimap every 10 seconds.
    You can use a Metronome at 6 bpm for that. Look here for an Online Version: LINK.

    For a little Guide about Map awareness, have a look at this Video from my Youtube Channel:



  • Whenever you are not behind, get a Pink Ward on every Back to protect your Jungle / Lanes. You also want to get Sweeper early on for ganking / Clearing Enemy Vision in your Jungle. Only swap back to Trinket Wards if your Team gets very behind and you need the Vision Protection.

  • Practice to always do "Cross Map Actions" - Whenever you spot the Enemy Jungler doing something on the other side of the map condition yourself to do sth too.
    Invade his Camps, Gank, get Tower / Herald / Drake etc.

  • To not lose Aggro while kiting Camps, have a look at Phylaris' Jungle Monster Patience Guide:


  • For optimal Camp Kiting for time and HP efficiency study these Phylaris Guides:
    • Standard Kiting:


    • Advanced Kiting:



Now to Darius' Clear Routes:


For Jungle Full Clears level Q-W-Q-E for the first 4 Levels.
  • Blue Start - Full Clear by Zen'Kih:



  • Red Start - Full Clear by Phylaris:



Outro

That's it for now folks!


Thank you for reading my guide and I hope you got something out of it.

If you want sth added to the guide, let me know too! I will see what I can do :).


Also, have a look at my other Content:


MOBAFire Guides:

Tutorials and Collections:


You can also follow me on Twitter, Reddit and Youtube!


Have a great Time in the rift!!!

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