ADC Kayle

ADC Kayle

Alright, let's go. What kinda new snake oil am I gonna peddle today besides AP Nocturne, Tank Lillia, and Attack Speed Skarner? That's right, it's the sister of Morgana who made it to Tier 2 like a comet, damn, Kayle!

Lately the top meta is tank meta, and you can see how the ADC's importance in the game has dropped a ton. Top Sona and Top Soraka, etc., grow in the less important top lane before your bot gets blasted, then the support escapes, but on the other hand, ADCs aren't that important anymore, top lanes are full of tanks running wild, AP gets dumpstered, and ADC gets dumpstered too.

So I thought about it. What if I send Kayle, a late-game hypercarry, to the bot lane? Since the game doesn't revolve around bot as much, maybe she can farm more safely with a support than in top? I started with this really basic one-dimensional thought.

Now, why did I pick Kayle out of the big three late-game champs, Vlad, Kassadin, and Kayle? Kayle has her invincibility ult, range increase, and a self-heal. Vlad has the same things too. But his range is short and he's basically been nerfed into a coffin these days. So yeah, I ended up picking Kayle.

Kayle can be played hybrid like Kai'Sa. Switching between AD and AP. You can look at your team comp and build your own path.

RUNES: Fleet Footwork, Presence of Mind, Alacrity/Bloodline, Coup de Grace, Bone Plating/Second Wind, Overgrowth. Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, Armor.

Here comes the explanation.

Fleet Footwork - I tried Press the Attack, but it's super hard to proc in the early game when it's ranged vs melee, and even after hitting level 6, your support has to set everything up just for you to barely proc it. Plus you gotta take some poke while getting CS early, so I picked Fleet as survival rune #1.

Presence of Mind - This one's preference. You can use it with Overheal, but occasionally proccing it with an E-AA makes lane phase way easier to survive. It's survival rune #2, Presence of Mind.

Alacrity/Bloodline - If I go AP, I take Alacrity; if I go AD, I take Bloodline. AD builds Phantom Dancer, so attack speed is plenty. AP lacks attack speed, but AD doesn't. So I take Bloodline for more stability.

Coup de Grace - Just personal preference.

Second Wind - I tried Biscuits + Time Warp Tonic / Taste of Blood + Ravenous Hunter / Bone Plating + Overgrowth, but Second Wind and Overgrowth felt best. It heals up the chip damage you take while going for CS, and honestly there's no high burst one-shot early on. You go in with E to grab a creep and use autos for the ones closer. If they're something like Jhin who does big damage per hit, I'd recommend Bone Plating.

Overgrowth - Makes your W heal, Fleet Footwork heal, etc., stronger, making lane phase a lot easier. I've saved my support with W many times thanks to Overgrowth, so it's a rune that looks weak but actually has decent value.

So, you know the runes. Now the items.

AP Build: Riftmaker -> Nashor's -> Lich Bane -> Deathcap -> Void -> Berserker's

AD Build: Manamune -> Kraken -> Runaan's -> IE -> Bloodthirster -> Berserker's - Sell Berserker's for Phantom Dancer late.

Alright, we've gone over the items. Now let's talk about the general playstyle.

Level 1, take E and start Doran's Shield + 1 pot. If you can last hit even one of the first three melee minions, you're good. For ranged minions, just use your E on cooldown to last hit them. Never push the lane, only last hit. You'll out-CS everyone after level 11 anyway, so you gotta play safe and farm.

Farm and farm, and when your support sees a kill angle, just tag them with W for the assist and follow up. Getting a kill is nice, and call your jungler — later on, Kayle's scaling goes insane. And if your support says, "This is sooo frustrating, why are you playing this? We could've just won with a normal ADC easily," just ignore them. When they see Kayle's damage at level 16, they'll shut their mouths.

Level 6 hits. You now have the basics of an ADC. So you CS well and slowly start fighting. If you're using PtA and your support is good, you can win trades. The early game is tough, and if our support is a Noble (a good player), then PtA is worth taking. Just look for kill angles and hit 11 smoothly.

Level 11 hits. Your eyes start rolling and your flame thrower comes online. From now on, go to any empty lane — jungle, top, mid, bot — and clear it out. Take all the exp for yourself, and tell your support to go ward or split with the mid/top laner. Now you can even initiate fights proactively because your ult often turns fights around. Just focus on farming, eating everything in sight. You're a baby Kayle.

Level 16. Your flame thrower is permanent and your range is longer. From now on, it's a full showtime. You're strong from 11, and at 16 you're a bully. The sustained damage high is from AD, the burst is from AP, but both are fun. Dominate every fight, and if you're AD you can solo Baron easily, so do it. In fights, look for a good target to ult and W, and just auto the nearest enemy — they melt.

Basically, play safe, at 6 you can start trading, from 11 you can sometimes win fights, farm like crazy, and at 16 you just keep fighting endlessly.

Pros : Fun and stable scaling, the tough early game pays off huge late. If top is a simple champ (tank) or mid is a roamer, the game gets easier. Ex) Top Ornn, Mid Talon, Jungle Lee Sin — oh my. You can have the impact of a good ADC even when your ADC is trash.

Cons : You share exp since you're duo lane, so your levels lag a bit. The early melee phase is hard to survive. If your team can't hold on, you might be in danger too. Calling for ganks is good, but you can also ask top and mid to watch out.

Support Synergy : Poking supports and tank supports with CC and utility. Zyra, Xerath, Lux, Taric, etc. The best combo is Kayle + Taric.

Support Counter : Engage supports like Nautilus, Zac, or hooks. ADC Counter : Draven, — still looking.

Sounds like a sales pitch, but Kayle ADC — your support and jungler will hate it, but later on you sweep everything up and average 10 CS per minute easily. So, wanna take a sip of this potion?