~~~ League of Legends ~~~~

Created by: Remanemporor
Version: 0.30
Date Started: 7/22/10
Date Updated: 8/16/10

Contact me for ANYTHING that you think should be added, removed,
expanded, contracted, replaced, transposed, inverted, or changed in any
way (I'm lonely enough that I will respond to almost anything). If you
see any typos, tell me. Any bad info, tell me. I will give you credit.

Also, if you have a guide/build for a champ that you think is particularly
awesome, send it in! The more variation the better.

Contact: Remanemporor2@live.com
==========================================================================

Table of Contents

[1] Introduction
   [1.1] The Game
   [1.2] The Successor of DotA
   [1.3] Terms and Abbreviations
[2] Basic Elements
   [2.1] A Basic Rundown
   [2.2] Controls
   [2.3] The Roles
   [2.4] Attributes
   [2.5] Recommended Items?
   [2.6] Champion Statistics
[3] Early Game Strategies
   [3.1] Lane Compilation
   [3.2] Before the Minions
   [3.3] Top and Bottom
   [3.4] Middle Lane
   [3.5] A Junglers Guide
   [3.6] The Transition
[4] Late Game Strategies
[5] General Info
   [5.1] The Two Maps
   [5.2] Is it a Gank?
   [5.3] Being a Team Player
   [5.4] Minions and Towers
   [5.5] Items
   [5.6] Other Tips
[6] Outside Preparation
[7] Character Info
[8] Other Stuff
   [8.1] Language Filter
[9] Version History
[10] Copyright

==========================================================================
[1] Introduction
==========================================================================

This is my second attempt at writing a FAQ. I picked League of Legends
(abbreviated LoL) because I have been playing it A LOT recently, so it
seemed like a good candidate. I was also shocked at the lack of other
complete guides (there are hundreds of guides on character building, but
these don't give tips on the game in general).
_________________________
[1.1] The Game
League of Legends is one of the first self proclaimed "MOBA" (massive
online battle arena), and is available free for download off the internet.
It has some RPG elements, but is primarily a RTS with a heavy emphasis on
teamwork. It has been out for about a year now (since the start of this
guide), and has a playerbase in America of almost one million.

_________________________
[1.2] The Successor of DotA
If you've ever played Warcraft 3, you've probably heard about its most
popular mod, DotA (Defense of the Ancients). The mod was so successful
that it spawned its own lineage of game. The other two main ones that I
can think of are Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and Demigod. As of now, LoL is
the only one of them that is free to play, so it was the one I chose.

If you are coming from DotA you'll notice a few changes. The addition of
brush allows you to become invisible to surrounding enemies, unless they
enter the brush themselves. This is useful for launching ganks, as you
can have the first strike. The other main difference is that you can no
longer deny. This can be annoying sometimes when their Heimerdinger gets
over 300 minion kills by the 30 minute mark, but overall its not such a
big deal. It allows for a last hitting strategy, where you only attack for
the killing blow, ensuring that you get the kill and gold, rather than
your minions. Other than these two major changes, the rest has remained
relatively the same.

_________________________
[1.3] Terms and Abbreviations
You will hear many terms in the game, forums, and on this guide that you
may not know. Here is a compilation of some of the most popular. This is
by no means a complete list, but at least it will get you started.

ability: each champion has 3 abilities and 1 ultimate that usually do
       magic damage
AD:    attack damage; increased by leveling up and by items, this helps
       normal right-click attacks to do more damage
AFK:   away from keyboard; when people are not playing at all, they are
       considered AFK (this is highly shunned in the LoL community)
AP:    ability power; used for casters to help their spells do more damage
aura:  some items give an aura that allow you AND your nearby allies to
       receive benefits
b:     back; used to signal that a teammate should retreat
backdoor: when a champ attempts to take out a turret or inhibitor without
       the help of minions, usually when the enemy team is away
baron: baron nashor; the huge worm in Summoners Rift that, if killed,
       grants large bonuses to everyone on the team
basic attacks: each champion has the ability to simply right click on an
       enemy to do physical damage, but can be augmented by passive
       abilities or magical items (such as sheen)
bg:    bad game
blind: a move that makes an enemy champion unable to use normal attacks,
       but still able to use abilities
bot:   referring to the bottom lane in Summoners Rift
brush: an area of grass where you become invisible except when an enemy
       enters it
buff:  a temporary increase to some stat, can be received through allies,
       items, or slaying certain neutrals
care:  careful; used to tell your allies that they are in danger, can be
       accompanied by pings or someones name, such as "care pantheon"
carry: these champs (if played correctly) will be the deciding factor in
       the late game fights
cc:    crowd control; general term that describes an ability that would
       hinder a champions ability to fight, stuns, blinds, and silences
       are the most common
cd:    cooldown; all spells have a certain time before they can be used
       again
champ: champion
creeps: minions spawned by each nexus
d:     defend
dc:    a player who disconnects from the game before it is over
DoT:   damage over time, spells where damage is dealt over a period of
       time rather than all at once, examples are ignite and Teemo's
       mushrooms
DotA:  Defense of the Ancients; the game that inspired LoL
DPS:   damage per second; these champs are specialized to do the most
       damage possible
ELO:   in a very small nutshell, how good a player is
farm:  to kill a large amount of creeps or neutrals to get experience and
       gold
FB:    first blood; the first kill in the game grants 400 gold instead of
       300
fear:  an ability that causes the target to run around like an idiot
       for a period of time, making them unable to attack or move where
       they want to go
feed:  when someone constantly dies, they are said to be feeding the
       other team, when a player has many kills they are said to be fed
focus: target a specific player, generally low HP ones
gank:  ambush
gg:    good game
gj:    good job
harass: hit the enemy with non lethal bursts of damage to force them to
       go back and heal
inc:   incoming; a variation of omw, but can also be used to say that an
       ult is coming, such as saying "pantheon ult inc"
jungle: in between lanes is typically called the "jungle"
lane:  referring to the top, mid, or bottom lane in Summoners Rift
leaver: a player that quits a game before it ends
lol:   League of Legends or laugh out loud, depending on context
mage:  (aka magic DPS) a champ that is built to kill others by using their
       abilities
mia:   missing in action; used to alert allies that a certain enemy is
       away from their lane, and may be trying to gank
mid:   referring to the middle lane in Summoners Rift
neutrals: referring to the AI controlled monsters in the jungle
omw:   on my way; used when you are moving to a certain location
oom:   out of mana; used when you or an enemy is out of mana, and is
       vulnerable because of it
physical DPS: a champion that is built to kill other champs by using their
       basic attack
pot:   potion; for instance a health pot would be a health potion
push:  when you gather with allies and minions and try to destroy enemy
       towers and/or inhibitors
ragequit: to quit a game because of anger
re:    if someone calls an mia, but relize that they weren't mia, the
       would just say "re", for instance, "nidalee mia..... re"
Riot:  the developer of the game
silence: a move that makes an enemy champion unable to use abilities, but
       still able to use normal attacks
skillshot: most abilities are auto aimed and always hit the target, but
       skillshots are aimed manually and can miss
slow:  a move that slows the movement speed of a target or group of
       targets
snare: a move that immobilizes a champion, but allows them to attack
squishy: a champ with low health and armor that can easily be killed if
       they are alone
SR:    the Summoners Rift map
stack: referring to snowball items like Mejai's Soulstealer where a
       "stack" is awarded everytime the player gets a kill or assist
stun:  completely immobilizes a champion or group of champions, making
       them unable to move or attack, but usually lasts for a shorter time
       than slows
support: these champs are based solely on helping their allies through
       buffs, heals, and disrupting the enemy
tank:  the primary goal of these champs is to keep their allies alive by
       absorbing incoming fire, usually aided by health and armor items
taunt: a move that forces the targeted champ to attack the champ that used
       the taunt
top:   referring to the top lane in Summoners Rift
ult:   ultimate; the defining move a character
unique: some items say "UNIQUE passive" which means that if you buy 2 of
       the same item, the passive doesn't stack

==========================================================================
[2] Basic Elements
==========================================================================

Here is a guide to the most basic elements of the game. If you have
played the game at all, you'll probably know most of this. You should know
that each champ has 1 innate ability (also called passive because it can't
be activated), 3 regular abilities, and 1 ult (except udyr).
_________________________
[2.1] A Basic Rundown

League of Legends starts off with each champ buying their starting items.
This can give a first glance into their playing style, but isn't always
a foolproof method (an AD Master Yi could easily start out with mana
regen too). Once everyone has their items, they head out, 2 to the top
lane, 2 to the bottom, and 1 mid (unless there's a dc, jungler, early
game gank, etc.). Top and bottom lanes fight their enemies for control of
the brush at the corners of the map, and many first bloods occur before
the first minion has even spawned.

Once the minion armies come, the first 15 minutes or so is termed the
"laning phase" where each champ tries to kill as many minions as possible
to get gold. Champs are always harassing each other to try and make their
enemies go back to heal and lose valuable gold and experience, but this
happens to an extreme level in the middle lane. It is truely a war of
attrition at mid, and even going back to heal once is considered a small
defeat.

After the laning phase ends, most champs head mid to help out in
team fights. Both teams try to push their enemies towers, while some
champs may go to the top or bottom lanes to farm or backdoor the other
towers. Eventually a team fight ensues. Usually there is a clear-cut
winner, and if they are a good team, they will attempt to push some
turrets. Bad teams may get lucky and win a team fight, but if they don't
destroy some towers, it is a very shallow win.

At the 25 minute mark teams are allowed to surrender. Because of this,
many games simply end here. If it is a good game, however, it can take as
long as 45 minutes or more (my longest was a 72 minute game). It will boil
down to not only which team wins team fights, but also who can push the
best. Many games are won where one team loses every team fight up until the
50 minute mark, finally wins one, and pushes so well that they end up
destroying the nexus.
_________________________
[2.2] Controls

Here is a list of all the controls in the game

Q =           cast spell 1
W =           cast spell 2
E =           cast spell 3
R =           cast spell 4
ctrl + Q =    level up spell 1
ctrl + W =    level up spell 2
ctrl + E =    level up spell 3
ctrl + R =    level up spell 4
D =           summoner spell 1
F =           summoner spell 2
alt + Q =     smart cast spell 1
alt + W =     smart cast spell 2
alt + E =     smart cast spell 3
alt + R =     smart cast spell 4
space = c     enter camera on champion
F1 =          select self
F2 =          select ally 1
F3 =          select ally 2
F4 =          select ally 3
F5 =          select ally 4
Y =           camera lock
up =          scroll up
down =        scroll down
left =        scroll left
right =       scroll right
mouse wheel = zoom in/out
C =           show character names
O =           score board
Z =           chat history
P =           shop
1 =           use item in slot 1
2 =           use item in slot 2
3 =           use item in slot 3
4 =           use item in slot 4
5 =           use item in slot 5
6 =           use item in slot 6
B =           teleport to base
shift + L =   show health bars
H =           minion health bars
shift + K =   summoner names
G =           ping
F5 =          draw hud
ctrl + F =    toggle FPS display
alt + click = control pet
_________________________
[2.3] The Roles

There are 3 general roles in this game, as well as hybrids (magetank). The
3 roles are tank, physical dps, and the mage.

As a tank, it is your sole responsibility to make sure that your allies
stay alive, even if that means sacrificing yourself. To do this, you'll
want to make yourself as annoying as possible, such as by stunning the
enemy team, or taunting them, forcing them to attack you. You need to have
items that prolong your life to absorb as much damage as possible before
you die, enabling you to protect your team longer. You will be focusing
health, magic resist, armor, or a combination of these.

As a physical DPS, your main goal is to deal physical damage to the enemy
team by using your basic attack. You'll want to get items that boost your
attack damage, attack speed, and critical chance to help you. Usually you
are weak on health, so you should ALWAYS be protected by a tank in team
fights. Usually, you'll only want to attack the enemy with the lowest
health (don't focus the tank).

As a mage, you can have 2 goals. Some mages such as Soraka and Zilean are
supports, and they help their team by giving health, aura buffs, escapes,
etc. Your main job is to keep your team fighting fit. The other mage type
is the offensive caster, otherwise known as the magical DPS. These guys
(such as Annie and Fiddlesticks) use their ability power to strengthen
their spells, which they use to kill enemies. Both types of magic users
need to stay behind tanks whenever they can.
_________________________
[2.4] Attributes

Riot has given each of the champions certain "attributes". These do
nothing in the game, but can help you to discern what kind of character
you are looking at. Are they a carry? Can they farm well? Here is a list
of all of the attributes and what they mean.

Assassin: These guys can kill enemies quickly, and usually have some skill
   to make them invisible or close distance with an enemy quickly
Carry: Champs that are carries are the ones who will win late game team
   fights, and although they start off weaker (on average), they scale
   well into the late game
Disabler: A champ that interfere with a summoners ability to control their
   champ, such as a fear or stun
Farmer: These champs have skills that allow to farm with efficiency,
   usually they have AoE skills
Fighter: A champ that performs best in team fights
Flee: A champ that possesses a skill that allows it to escape from fights
Haste: A champ that can speed itself up, or an ally
Heal: A champ that can heal itself, or an ally
Mage: AP based champs
Melee: A champ that has to be next to an enemy to use their basic attack
Ninja: A champ that uses energy instead of mana
Nuke: Usually AP champs that have the ability to do a large amount of
   damage in a wide radius in a short time. They don't scale well, however
Pet: A champ that can create a pet, sometimes controllable by using the
   ctrl key
Pusher: Good for destroying towers and, to some extent, minions
Ranged: The opposite of a melee, these can use their basic attack from a
   distance
Silence: A champ that can silence enemies
Snare: A champ that can immobilize enemies for a short time
Slow: A champ that can slow enemies
Stealth: A champ that can become invisible
Stun: A champ that can stun
Support: Usually AP champs that help their allies
Tank: Champs that are designed to get killed to save their allies
Teleport: Champs that can teleport to the target location
Tough: A champ that is harder to kill than most
_________________________
[2.5] Recommended Items?

At the top of the shop menu there is a list called recommended items. It
is different for each champ, and it is what Riot says would be a good
build if it is your first time as that character.

Should you use it? If you have only played a few games, then yes you
should. They at least get you in the right direction for playing the
character. If you are a newcomer, you might try an AD Annie, or AP Twitch.
After a few games, you should switch a few items up for a build that makes
a bit more sense (I cringe when Riot recommends a guardian angel for a DPS
character). After a while, you should have a good strategy going, and you
can completely forget recommended items.
_________________________
[2.6] Champion Statistics

Here is a rundown of what makes up a champion

HP: How much health a champion has, and how much damage they can take
HP Regen: How fast champions regenerate health
Attack: How much damage your physical attacks do
Armor Pen: If a champ had 100 armor and you had 20 armor pen, your attacks
   would treat that champ as if he only had 80 armor
Lifesteal: How much your physical attacks heal you. If you had 10%
   lifesteal and attacked for 150 damage after armor and whatnot, you
   would gain 15 HP. This is good for staying out in the field longer
Attack Speed: How many times per second your champ attacks
Crit Chance: How likely your champ is to deal double damage
Range: How far your champ can attack
Speed: How fast your champ moves
Mana: All spells cost mana (for most champs), and this is how large your
   mana pool is
Mana Regen: Like health regen, only for mana
Ability Power: How much ability power your champion has, which affects how
   much their abilities do
Spell Penetration: Like armor penetration, only for magic resistance
Cooldown Reduction: How much percent shorter your cooldowns are
Dodge: How likely you are to dodge physical attacks, and take no damage
   from them
Armor: How resistant to physical attacks you are
Magic Resistance: How resistant to magical attacks you are

==========================================================================
[3] Early Game Strategies
==========================================================================

The Laning phase occupies approximately the first 15 minutes of every game
on Summoners Rift. It is critical not to make many mistakes here, because
they snowball into huge problems by the late game.
_________________________
[3.1] Lane Compilation
Which champions go in which lane can have a huge impact on your entire
game. Generally, you'll want someone capable to handle mid, due to its
attrition like nature (I detail which champs are best for mid in the
champion section). For the other two lanes, you'll usually want to have at
least one ranged champ in each, be it a physical dps or a mage.

If your team is running low on ranged champs, you can always substitute
some in. Gangplank can make a suitable ranged because of his parrrley
ability. Chogath can also fill in, due to his ability to horass with his
spikes.

Sometimes though, you'll just get a bad team combo, or a team that won't
listen to where they should go. If this happens, just sit by your tower
and snipe minion kills when you get the chance. An easy way to do this is
for the tower to hit melee minions twice, then you strike. For caster
minions, strike them, have your turret hit them, then you hit them again
for another kill. Doing this can allow you to stay competitve in the game.
_________________________
[3.2] Before the Minions

In the minute and 30 seconds before minions spawn, there is quite a bit to
accomplish. First you'll want to get your starting items, then you need to
decide which lane to go in, and finally try and grab the brush before your
enemy can.

So which starting item should you get? Doran's items (shield, ring, and
sword) are always good, especially with a health potion. If you are a
ranged character, you could go with the vampiric scepter, but this isn't
recommended if you are a melee. If you want speed quickly you could go for
boots and a few health potions, but only try this if you have been playing
for a while. Also, some champs have good starting items that don't build
into their overall strategy. An example would be Master Yi getting a Meki
Pendant for mana regen. Even if he didn't become an AP character later on,
his Meditate and Alpha Strike skills are vital enough that extra mana is
viable in the eraly game.

Once you have your items, set out for your lane. If it is the middle lane,
just get to your tower and sit there until your minions come. If you are
top or bottom, you can rush into the brush and try to get a first blood by
killing your enemies if they come into your side of the grass. Don't try
too hard (AKA don't turret dive), and if you are injured even a little bit,
you should go back and heal. Its better to start the laning phase at full
health rather than get a few seconds of killing minions.
_________________________
[3.3] Top and Bottom

The top lane and bottom lane play pretty much the say, due to the map
being somewhat symmetrical. You start out by rushing to the brush that is
in the corners of the map. If you arrive too late, however, don't bother
going in. The enemy has probably already arrived and you trying to get
into the grass is just a way to die quickly. If you can, get there before
the enemy team can, and try to kill them before they can escape.

When the minions come you should try a strategy called "last hitting".
Since you only get gold for the finishing kill, it only makes sense to
save your strikes for the last hit of a unit. This way you can control who
you kill and hopefully get the maximum amount of gold.

If you can, you should horass your enemies. Obviously some champs do this
better than others, but you should still try to make them go back to heal.
If you can do it a lot, you can prevent them from getting experience and
gold, drastically increasing how long they have to farm.

Every once in a while, or at the request of a team mate, you should gather
with your allies and try to gank a lane for a few easy kills. To do this,
have the people in the lane go back as far as they can to your turret,
then have everyone else come out and attack them all at once. If you do it
well, you'll get a kill and/or assist.

The general rule of thumb if you are on the side lanes is that you should
try to horass the enemy while getting kills of your own. How you perform
now will have a significant impact on the rest of the game.
_________________________
[3.4] Middle Lane

The middle lane plays much differentely than the top and bottom. You start
off by running to your tower, and usually just sitting there for a while
until the minions come. Since there is no brush to fight over (at least
for now), not many first bloods occur in the middle lane.

Once the battle begins, you'll have to contend with many obstacles. For
one, your enemy will always be trying to horass you. Recalling while in
the middle lane isn't a good thing to do a lot, because your enemy can
easily destroy your tower while you are away.

You'll also have to deal with ganks. Hopefully your allies will call MIAs,
but you always have to have an eagle eye on the minimap. If you see a
champ missing from their lanes, and you're far away from one of your
towers, you have a huge risk of being ganked, so back up a little and try
to play it safe. The worst thing you could do is die because you were too
aggressive. Also, some champs (Teemo for example) can place traps that
give a line of sight into the grass, which helps to prevent suprise
attacks. If you want, you could buy some sight wards to help you.

While this is going on, you also need to be worried about getting the last
hit on minion kills. If you can, you should also try to horass your
opponent and try to make them recall. If you can do that, you will get a
slight experience and gold advantage over them that can last through the
entire game.

Although you have to contend with lots of different aspects at the same
time when you are mid, it does have its benefits. You will get gold and
experience faster (as long as you don't go back and heal too often), and
you can build your champion faster. You can also launch ganks on the two
lanes beside you as long as your tower doesn't fall while you're doing it.
_________________________
[3.5] A Junglers Guide

Jungling can be an entertaining way to start off the game if you prefer
not to be put under the stress of the laning phase. Instead of going into
a lane and helping an ally, you will go in between the lanes and kill the
neutrals to gain gold and experience. The positive is that you won't have
to try to last hit, because there aren't any minions/towers/team mates to
worry about. One of your allies will gain experience and gold faster too,
because you aren't there to steal it. The negative is that one of your
lanes will be 2v1, and the turret and champ are incredibly vulnerable
because of this. Some team compilations simply can't afford this (if your
team is all melee, its not advised to jungle).

To start out with, you'll need the right champion to jungle with. The
four best (in my opinion) are Warwick, Ammumu, Udyr, and Shaco. Others can
try, but these four can simply do it more efficiently. As for summoners
spells, Smite is a great option to help you kill most neutrals in 1 hit
and take a large chunk out of the golem and lizard. The downside is that
after the laning phase, Smite is less effective than other spells. Also, a
Warwick with Smite almost always indicates a jungler, and your enemies may
try to gank you even before the minions spawn. If you want, you could also
bring along Heal or Clairvoyance to help you stay out in the field longer.

Starting items for each character differs greatly, but at least a few
health potions are advised. Warwick could just skip these and go right for
the Vampiric Scepter, but this would be harder for the others.

To start out, Warwick and Ammumu should go to either the wolf/mini golem
camp or to the wraith camp. Udyr can attempt to kill the big golem to get
the buff. Shaco can pop as many Jack in the Box's as he can around the
big Lizard to get the red buff. After level two, jungling becomes much
easier as you can bounce around to any of the neutral camps. If you need
mana, take down the golem. If you need more damage, take out the lizard.
If you don't need either than go kill the mini golems/wolves/wraiths. When
you get to level 5 (or higher), you can try to take on the dragon. Be sure
to have good enough stats before you try it, and make sure to watch your
MIAs. Rinse and repeat until you are around level 6.

Once you get your ultimate, you should immediately try to gank the lane
that your enemies have pushed in the furthest. About 50 percent of the
time you'll be able to land a kill, and you can use this to try and take
down a turret. You can also gank or help out another allied lane if they
are having trouble, but getting kills before level 6 is much harder.

Once you see that the laning phase is over, you should stop jungling and
help out your teammates. Don't fall into the trap of "I'll just kill one
more golem" and miss out on a team fight. It could just cost you the game.
_________________________
[3.6] The Transition

One of the toughest concepts for new players to understand is when to make
the transition from the laning phase into the team fight phase. It can be
very tempting to keep on farming minions to gain gold and experience at a
steady rate, but you are hurting your team and your chances of winning
drop astronomically.

There is no definate way to know when to make the transition. Generally, I
have found that it is around level 6 or 7 on the side lanes and about 10
or 11 in the middle lane. This can vary immensely, though, and factors in
game will have a dramatic effect on it. If it is a fast paced game with
ganks left and right, it can be several levels lower. If it is a slow game
where there are few ambushes and people seem content to continue laning,
than it can be several levels higher. In some rare instances, the laning
phase can end when players reach the shockingly low levels of 2 or 3.

What makes this tough for new players is that it varies so widely. You
can't put a tag on it and simply say that "laning phase always ends at the
15 minute mark" or "when mid hits level 9". If you see the rest of your
team grouping up, then it would be wise to join them. Some peoples
strategies revolve around them farming all the time and not helping their
team until the 45 minute mark or later. I strongly recommend against this
as I have seen victory rate of teams who have one diehard farmer drop from
50 percent to around 20 percent.

The bottom line is that help your team when the time arises, but gather
gold and experience until then. As you play more and more games, you will
be able to more easily recognize when the time comes. It is a skill that
often goes unmentioned, but is actually fairly important.

==========================================================================
[4] Late Game Strategies
==========================================================================

==========================================================================
[5] General Info
==========================================================================
_________________________
[5.1] The Two Maps
_________________________
[5.2] A Junglers Guide
_________________________
[5.3] Is it a Gank?
_________________________
[5.4] Being a Team Player
_________________________
[5.5] Other Tips

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[6] Outside Preparation
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[7] Character Info
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Here is a list of all of the characters, with stats, lore, and strategies
along with it. For the stats portion, each star indicates a champ has
more of it. For instance, a champ with ***** has moderate health gain per
level, while a ********** has immense health gain per level. So it goes
more health with every star, more attack with every star, better spells
with every star, and more difficult to master with every star (these are
all taken from the in-game log). When you see for instance health 425 +
(85), the 425 is the base health (how much the champ starts with) and the
one in parentheses is how much they gain per level. In the ability section
I will show something like "and it causes 50/75/100/125/150 magic damage".
Each of the different numbers represents what level of skill it is, for
example, lv 1 would do 50 magic damage, lv 2 would do 75, etc.

I will also give my opinion on each of the champions spells, and on their
possible roles and an overall strategy. These are only MY opinions, and
aren't official. Keep in mind though, I've tested all of these in-game
(versus real opponents), so they at least have SOME merit. Finally, I will
show how well they can do at the middle lane (1-3 stars) in my experience.
_________________________
Akali, the Fist of Shadow

Stats:
Health **         (2)
Attack *********  (9)
Spells ***        (3)
Diffic ******     (4)

Attributes: Farmer, Assassin, Stealth, Melee, Nuke, Ninja

Health:       425 (+85)
Energy:       200
Damage:       53  (+3.2)
Attack Speed: .625(+)
Range:        125
Armor:        13.5(+3.5)
Magic Res:    30  (+1.25)
Health Regen: 1.45/sec (+0.13)
Energy Regen: 10/sec
Move Speed:   325

Best Builds: AD, AP
Due to her passive, building an AD/AP hybrid is recommended. The attack
will help with spell vamp and crescent slash while ability power will help
with lifesteal and 3 of her abilities.

Mid Ability: **
Again, due to her passive giving her spell vamp and lifesteal, and her
ability to have invisibility, and her mark of the assassin being ranged,
she can be a mid if you don't have anyone better.

Lore:
There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian  Isles dedicated
to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness - all things
must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This
order is known as the Kinkou  and it employs a triumvirate of shadow
warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Akali is one of these shadow
warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Pruning the Tree - eliminating
those who threaten the equilibrium of Valoran.

A prodigal martial artist, Akali began training with her mother as soon as
she could make a fist. Her mother's discipline was relentless and
unforgiving, but predicated on the fundamental principle: "We do that
which must be done." When the Kinkou inducted her into the order at the
age of fourteen, she could slice a dangling chain with a chop of her hand.
There was no question – she would succeed her mother as the Fist of Shadow.
She has had to do much in this role which others might find morally
questionable, but to her it is in service of her mother's inviolable
doctrine. She now works with her fellows Shen and Kennen to enforce the
balance of Valoran. This hallowed pursuit has unsurprisingly led the
triumvirate to the Fields of Justice.

"The Fist of Shadow strikes from the cover of death itself. Do not impede
the balance."

Abilities
Innate: Twin Disciplines
Discipline of Might - Upon obtaining 20 ability power, Akali's hits deal
10% bonus magic damage, increasing by 1% for every 5 ability power gained
thereafter. Discipline of Force - Upon obtaining 10 attack damage, Akali
gains 10% spell vamp, increasing by an additional 1% for every 10 attack
damage gained thereafter.
 -This makes Akali a good AP/AD hybrid

Active: Mark of the Assassin (Q)
Cost: 60 energy
Cooldown: 6 / 5.5 / 5 / 4.5 / 4 seconds
Range: 600
Akali spins her kama at a target enemy to deal 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150
(+0.4 per ability power) magic damage and mark the target for 6 seconds.
Akali's melee attacks against a marked target will trigger and consume the
mark to cause additional damage and restore 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 energy.
 -Great for the laning phase. Because you have no mana, you can spam these
  at your targets to force them to go back and heal

Active: Twilight Shroud (W)
Cost: 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 Energy.
Cooldown: 8 seconds
Range: 700
Akali throws down a cover of smoke. While inside the area, Akali gains 10 /
20 / 30 / 40 / 50 armor/magic resistance and becomes stealthed. Attacking
or using abilities will briefly reveal her. Enemies inside the smoke have
their movement speed reduced by 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 / 30 %.
 -Great for escaping or chasing down enemies

Active: Crescent Slash (E)
Cost: 60 energy
Cooldown: 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 seconds
Range: 325
Akali flourishes her kamas, hitting nearby units for 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 /
130 physical damage plus 30% Ability Power and 60% Attack Damage.
 -Great for doing a burst of damage in team fights

Ultimate (active): Shadow Dance (R)
Cost: 1 Essence of Shadow
Cooldown:  2 / 1.5 / 1 seconds
Range: 800
Akali moves through shadows to quickly strike her target, dealing 100/175/
250 (+0.5 per ability power) magic damage. Akali stores an Essence of
Shadow once every 25 / 20 / 15 seconds up to a total of 3. Additionally,
Akali gains an Essence of Shadow for a kill or an assist
 -Good for catching up and killing any fleeing players

Tips for Playing Her:
Official:
-It is often worth seeing your laning opponent before assigning your first
ability point. Mark of the Assassin can be used to last hit in otherwise
hostile lanes.
-Find the balance between Essence of Shadows, and using Shadow Dance
before having max charges
Mine:
-Don't use Akali's skills excessively except in team fights, because her
energy can run out quickly
-Crescent Slash can be useful for farming
-Twilight Shroud can be used both offensively to catch escaping enemies
and defensively for escaping

Tips for Playing Against Her:
Official:
-Akali can still he hit by AoE spells while stealthed inside Twilight
Shadow
-Akali greatly benefits from both Mejai's Soulstealer and the Sword of the
Occult. Watch which items she gets and prioritize her accordingly
Mine:
-If Akali is able to farm and get kills with snowball items like Mejai's,
she can become VERY dangerous. Usually she is squishy enough to be killed
in a straight up team fight, though
-Akali is good at burst damage, but not so good at sustained fire. If you
get attacked by her, running away is probably a bad idea

Strategy:
Playing:
Due to her being one of the best hybrids of the game, it would be wise to
get items like Guinsoo's Rageblade and anything else that gives AP and AD.
Start off the game by farming with your crescent slash to hit many minions
at the same time. You can horass others by using Mark of the Assassin,
since it is a ranged attack. After laning phase ends, try to gank someone.
Akali is very good at chasing down enemy champs due to her ultimate and
Twilight Shroud. If you want to make her even better, add a Rylai's
Crystal Scepter to slow down your enemies even further. During team fights,
it is your job to jump in and out of the fight. Due to your ability to do
burst damage, simply use Mark of the Assassin, Shadow Dance, Crescent
Slash, and then Twilight Shroud to escape. This will use up almost all of
your energy, so wait until it refils to jump in again. If you have even
a moderately good team, you should be able to play Akali efficientely. If
you find that you are able to get several kills without dying, snowball
itms like Mejai's could be a possibility, but stay away if you seem to be
dying a lot.

Playing Against:
Akali's strength and weakness lies in the fact that she does bursts of
damage. This scares new players by the fact that they just lost half of
their health in less than 2 seconds. They then attempt to run away, and
if the enemy Akali has a Rylai's Crystal Scepter, this is almost
impossible due to its slow followed up by Shadow Dance and a possible
Twilight Shroud. The new player will die again and again while the player
who is using Akali will get a Mejai's Soulstealer and/or other snowball
items and keep getting stacks and become even more powerful. The cycle
will continue until Akali singelhandedly destroys the nexus. To stop the
cycle from happening to you, you need to know that she is relatively weak
in a protracted fight. Even though she'll come at you with full health and
you might have less than half of yours, you'll still manage to kill her if
she stays in a toe to toe battle with you. She is usually pretty squishy,
so if your team can target her or stun/slow her, she'll die very quickly.

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[8] Other Stuff
==========================================================================

==========================================================================
[9] Version History
==========================================================================

7/22/10 0.01 Guide started, template done

7/25/10 0.10 Intro chapter and copyright done

7/26/10 0.11 Chapter 2 started

7/27/10 0.20 Bouncing around, finished chapter 2, started 3

8/16/10 0.30 Starcraft II, vacation, and school starting have combined to
             keep me away from this guide for a while. I'm coming back to
             it now, though!

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[10] Copyright
==========================================================================

You can post this guide anywhere as long as you:
1) Contact me via-Email. I will say yes (almost always)
2) Don't change the author line at the top. I'm so selfish that I want
all the credit for myself! But seriously, don't touch it.
3) Don't alter original data. You can add or remove sections, but don't
change the facts I've written.

Sites that can post this guide:
StrategyInformer
Gamefaqs
Neoseeker
Supercheats
Gameguideworld
Cheatchannel
Cheatbook
Cod4central

Contact: Remanemporor2@live.com

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