League of Legends Akali Season 12: Abilities, Best Builds & More

Arguably, League of Legends champion Akali sits towards the top of the skill ceiling list in the MOBA. It comes with the territory of her being one of the most ruthless assassins in League of Legends, however, there’s more to it than that. With her kit, which saw a massive overhaul in Season 8 via a rework, the Rogue Assasin has the ability to jump in and out, both taking down high-priority targets or just outright winning a one-versus-one wherever in Summoner’s Rift. Here’s a guide on how to play Akali in League of Legends, including an ability breakdown, her best builds, runes, and more.

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League of Legends Akali: Abilities

After abandoning the Kinkou Order and her title of Fight of Shadow, Akali has become more fond of working and striking alone. She’s the master of striking in silence, one enemy at a time, and this can be seen in how her abilities work together.

Check out her abilities and passive in full below:

Passive - Assassin’s Mark

Dealing spell damage to a champion creates a ring of energy around them. Exiting that ring empowers Akali's next auto attack with bonus range and damage.

Q - Five Point Strike

Akali throws out five kunai, dealing damage based on her bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power and slowing.

W - Twilight Shroud

Akali drops a cover of smoke and briefly gains Move Speed. While inside the shroud, Akali becomes invisible and unable to be selected by enemy spells and attacks. Attacking or using abilities will briefly reveal her.

E - Shuriken Flip

Flip backwards and fire a shuriken forward, dealing magic damage. The first enemy or smoke cloud hit is marked. Re-cast to dash to the marked target, dealing additional damage.

R - Perfect Execution

Akali leaps in a direction, damaging enemies she strikes. Re-cast: Akali dashes in a direction, executing all enemies she strikes.

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League of Legends Akali: Best Builds

There are two ways one can play Akali. One build looks to work on more 1v1s while still being able to assassinate her enemies, and another looks to go all in and her assassin prowess.

Here’s how to go about it.

League of Legends Akali: Runes

The first of the two builds look to utilize Precision with Conqueror as its primary runes with either Domination or Resolve as its secondaries. Meanwhile, the second goes all in on Domination, using Electrocute, with Precision or Resolve as its secondaries. 

Precision (Conqueror) with Resolve

Here you’ll look to take the following runes:

Precision - Conqueror, Presence of Mind, Legend: Tenacity, Last Stand

Resolve - Second Wind, Overgrowth

Precision (Conqueror) with Domination

Here you’ll look to take the following runes:

Precision - Conqueror, Presence of Mind, Legend: Tenacity, Last Stand

Domination - Taste of Blood, Ingenious Hunter

Domination (Electrocute) with Precision

Here you’ll look to take the following runes:

Domination - Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter

Precision - Presence of Mind, Last Stand

Domination (Electrocute) with Resolve

Here you’ll look to take the following runes:

Domination - Electrocute, Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter

Resolve - Second Wind, Overgrowth

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League of Legends Akali: Items

All of these previous runes will look to take up similar items.

Starting off in lane, you’ll want to start with a Doran’s Shield and two Health Potions. This is largely due to the fact that as Akali, you’ll be prone to be facing mages or longer-ranged champions keen on harassing you in lane.

For your Mythic and Core items, you’ll be looking to work towards a Hextach Rocketbelt, Sorcerer’s Shoes, and Shadowflame.

Following those up will be items that will round out the build. These are Zhonya’s Hourglass, for more survivability when you jump in for a kill, Rabadon’s Deathcap, and Void Staff for more damage. 

It’s worth noting that the Mythic item is interchangeable. You can swap Hextach Rocketbelt for Riftmaker for more upfront damage, or either of those two for Night Harvester for more upfront damage and movement speed. This will allow you to keep the chase going in a team fight. 

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League of Legends Akali: Playstyle Tips and Tricks

Assessing how we've kitted out Akali with her kit, you’ll look to go in and out of cover, hopefully with a kill or two under your belt.

Starting off in lane, you’ll want to stay as healthy as possible until you reach Level Six. This means farming safely with your Q and using your W to your advantage to gain Energy until then. Once you have your Ultimate towards the mid-game, you can begin to push your assassin weight around. 

Shove your wave with Q and look to roam into the lane of your choice, preferably the one with the best outcome for a gank. Once there, look to help take down a target with all of your kit. Jump in with your E, throw out a Q for damage, and press your R for maximum damage. Make sure to use your W as a way to protect yourself.

When it comes to team fights, you’ll look to completely burst down a target, preferably a squishy one. During team fights, flanks are your best friend. Set up the best angle possible for a quick kill, giving your team an early advantage. 

Once in the late game, you’ll be looking to take the previously stated and try to recreate it. However, it’ll be much harder as, due to the state of the game, champions will be much more difficult to take down. Here, you’ll want to keep an eye out for an easy target to assassinate but rely more on your cooldown usage. Tap in and out with your damage, and keep utilizing your W as your friend to prolong your life. Your cooldowns will be short so there will be plenty of ways to contribute.

That’s it for our League of Legends Akali guide. With this knowledge, go and be the best assassin League of Legends has ever seen.

For more League of Legends guides, check out our dedicated guides page.