DARIUS THE DUNKMASTER

Ok, so I’ve decided to start off with my favorite champ, Darius. I have 936,783 mastery points on him, which basically means I play him a lot!

Let’s get some basic things out of the way:

This is Darius, he is a:

Role: Juggernaut, basically an off-tank

Damage Type: AD, with a dash of True-Damage

Main Damage Vehicle: Abilities

Accessibility:  Not beginner but not super difficult

ABILITIES:

Passive: Hemorrhage    

• Darius applies a stack of Hemorrhage when he attacks an enemy with either his auto or abilities
• When Darius applies 5 stacks to one enemy, he gains NOXIAN RAGE
  • Noxian Rage increases Darius’s AD depending on what level he is
  • When Darius hits any other enemy, they automatically gain 5 stacks

Q: Decimate 

• Darius spins, creating two different circular damage areas around himself
  • The outside circle does “LOTS OF DAMAGE” and applies a stack of Hemorrhage
    • This outside circle, more importantly, heals Darius for some health, multiplied by the number of people he hits with it
  • The inner circle does hardly any damage and doesn’t apply a Hemorrhage stack 🙁

W: Crippling Strike 

• Darius enhances his next auto
  • This enhanced auto does more damage and slows the target

E: Apprehend 

• Darius uses his axe as a hook and pulls enemies in front of him towards himself.
  • This pull also applies a short slow to the enemies pulled

R: NOXIAN GUILLOTINE (or DA’ DUNK)

• Darius leaps in the air and slams his axe down on the selected enemy
  • This attack does true damage
  • The damage it does depends on the amount of passive stacks the enemy has
    • No stacks: Noxian Guillotine does a small amount of base damage
    • Up to 5 stacks: Noxian Guillotine does massive amount of bonus damage
  • IF NOXIAN GUILLOTINE kills, the cool-down is completely removed and Darius can reuse the DUNK again

Summoners Spells:

Depending on which summoner spell you take, the way you play lane can change drastically

• Ghost – Allows you to chase down and stick to your opponent easier
• Flash – Always take this, its utility is unrivaled
• Teleport – If you want to make big plays early or split push late, TP lets you get across the map fast
• Ignite – If you want to stomp your lane and snowball the game

Runes:

Ok, for runes you can go three different directions:

1. Conquer
   1. Conquer activates after 3 attacks
   2. After Conquer 3 attacks, 1 final attack will fully activate its properties
   3. Activating Conquer grants true damage and extra damage
      1. This damage wears off after not being used for a short time
   4. Taking this will allow for aggressive laning
2. Grasp
   1. Just like Conquer, three autos will prep Grasp for use
   2. Using Grasp will do bonus damage on your next auto and provide a small amount of permanent total health
      1. after use, the cycle repeats
3. Phase Rush
   1. After, yet again, three separate attacks gain a huge burst of speed and slow resistance
   2. Phase Rush will then go on a short cool-down

Laning as Darius:

Darius excels at 1 on 1 fighting, he is the quintessential lane bully. With the amount of damage his passive can do, Darius can win his lane easily when the enemy is another melee champ.

Level Q, then E, then W

To win lane, you must first push in your enemy to their tower, to do this you must lower their health my winning “trades”, trades are when you throw out and ability or two or maybe a few autos. There are a few different basic trades that you can do on Darius.

1. Q, Auto, E, Auto, W, Auto
   1. This is BIG damage
2. Q
   1. usually a quick drive-by Q should help you sustain and win in lane
3. E, Auto, W, Auto, Auto, Q
   1. More big damage
4. Q, E, Auto, W, Auto, R
   1. This is your kill combo, use this to catch, slow, and KILL your opponent

Darius isn’t unrivaled though, Ranged champs pose a problem, I suggest if you must lane against one, then bait them into a false sense of security by letting them push the lane and then get real aggressive early.

A few melee champs can counter Darius, notably Yorick (but i’ll discuss him later.)

Mid to Late Game

As a juggernaut, it is your job to not only be the front-line for your team but also a large part of the damage it will output. Darius can, especially if you take TP, split-push thanks to the added pressure of his big damage.

Try to catch out the squishier members of the enemy team with your E and Tank poke damage for your squishies.

In teamfights, your Q’s properties start to really take effect, not only can you hit multiple enemies with it but you can also use that to:

1. Apply stacks of Hemorrhage and with 5 stacks on one person, apply 5 stacks to multiple people at once
2. Gain massive heals
3. Do TONS OF DAMAGE obviously

What to Build?

Depending on what items you take, your role on the team can change from front-liner, to near glass-cannon

• Basic JUGGERNAUT
  • Triforce
  • Sterak’s Gage
  • Deadman’s Plate
  • Spirit Visage
  • Boots (either Ninja Tabi or Mercury Treads)
  • Final item can be choice depending on game
    • if winning: Guardian Angel
    • If Even or Losing: extra resistances based off of greatest damage dealer on enemy team
• Not Totally Tanky
  • Triforce
  • Sterak’s Gage
  • Titanic Hydra
  • Guardian Angel
  • Youmuus Ghostblade
  • Boots of Swiftness
• Glass Cannon
  • Triforce
  • Youmuu’s Ghostblade
  • Deaths Dance
  • The Bloodthirster
  • Ravenous Hydra
  • Boots of Swiftness

Closing Thoughts

Darius is a fun champion, his character is basic bloodthirsty warlord and his game-play is almost equally as simple. He is a great champ to start playing and even more satisfying to master. I would suggest anyone who is planning to play top to play him, either to abuse his power or to understand how to play against him.