Champion Guide

Darius Guide

By LoLSuggest

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Darius is a top-lane juggernaut and one of the strongest lane bullies in the game. Each hit applies a bleed from Hemorrhage, Decimate heals him when its outer edge connects, Apprehend pulls enemies in, and at five stacks he gains Noxian Might. Noxian Guillotine executes targets with true damage and resets on a kill, so a fed Darius can take over a teamfight. He is easy to kite and falls off in very long games, so he wants to snowball early.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Darius build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

Start Doran's Shield and a Health Potion in poke lanes, or Doran's Blade if you are sure you win the early trades. On your first back get Phage, boots and a Refillable Potion. The core is Stridebreaker, Boots of Swiftness, Sterak's Gage and Dead Man's Plate, then Force of Nature against magic damage and Death's Dance against physical damage. Trinity Force with Overlord's Bloodmail and Kaenic Rookern is an alternative core, and Titanic Hydra suits split pushing. Take Mercury's Treads early against hard crowd control or magic damage. Run Conqueror with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, plus Axiom Arcanist and Celerity; Stormraider's Surge with Nimbus Cloak and Celerity helps survive and run down ranged lanes. Take Flash with Ghost; Ignite is a cheese option for early kills. Max Q, then E, then W.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

A dominant early lane bully with huge damage and very low mana costs.
Decimate's healing and his bleed make him hard to kill in extended trades.
Noxian Guillotine resets on kills, letting him win whole teamfights.

Weaknesses

Very easy to kite, and missing Apprehend often means losing the fight.
Ranged champions such as Vayne, Kennen or Quinn can poke him out of lane.
He falls off after about 40 minutes, when enemy carries can shred him.

Laning Phase

Darius dominates early lanes, so judge how hard you can punish your opponent: against champions like Yasuo you can push the first waves and fight at level 3, while against Vayne or ranged poke you should let the first two waves push to you and sustain with Decimate. Your basic trade is Apprehend, an attack, Crippling Strike and Decimate, which applies three bleed stacks. If the enemy has no Flash, use E, two attacks, W and Q so the next attack gives five stacks, and finish with Noxian Guillotine once you have it. Never waste Apprehend: it is your only way to stick to targets.

Mid & Late Game

The mid game is where Darius spikes hardest, especially at levels 11 and 16 when Noxian Guillotine ranks up. Use your lead to decide between pushing top towers and rotating to objectives, and save Ghost for teamfights so you can chain Guillotine resets. Late in the game engage second, protect your backline and look for Flash into Apprehend on an exposed carry; a pick in a side lane lets your team take objectives.

Key Tips

Hit enemies with the outer blade of Decimate: it deals more damage and heals you.
Noxian Guillotine resets when it kills, so start teamfights with a low target.
Keep Ghost for teamfights rather than early chases, unless you are sure of the kill.
Flash into Apprehend is your best hard engage when a target thinks they are safe.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.