Lane edge
Win rate vs Xerath
Lane opponent
How to play
Rank
All ranks
Patch 16.16.20–16.21
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How to play Darius
Read the full guide
Darius trades get much cleaner when you walk into AA-W first and keep E for the moment they try to slip your blade Q or burn their dash, because pull-first usually gives away the whole chase pattern that makes the champion scary
A lot of top lane on Darius is just making the opponent run too far: if the wave sits on your side and Ghost is up, one bad step can turn a small health loss into a full run-down, so auto-shoving away that distance often removes your best pressure
Do not get precious with R; dunking the first real low target for Noxian Might or a reset is often the correct way to start the second half of the fight, and recent data backs the urgency to cash those windows before Darius’s ahead games flatten out in 30+ minute setups
Start from whether the dunk changes the next three seconds, not whether it is perfectly optimized. If an early R gives you Noxian Might, starts a reset chain, or removes the one target keeping you from walking forward, take it. In messy fights, that is usually worth more than holding ult for a five-stack finish that may never arrive. In lane, you can wait a little longer when the target has no real way out and your bleed is already doing the work. In skirmishes and teamfights, be less greedy: if the first low target lets you keep moving and keeps your passive live, that is usually your real execute window.
Darius' attacks and damaging abilities cause enemies to bleed for physical damage over 5 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Darius enrages and gains massive Attack Damage when his target reaches max stacks.
Darius winds up and swings his axe in a wide circle. Enemies struck by the blade take more damage than those struck by the handle. Darius heals based on enemy champions and large monsters hit by the blade.
Darius's next attack strikes an enemy's crucial artery. As they bleed out, their Move Speed is slowed.
Darius hones his axe, passively causing his physical damage to ignore a percentage of his target's Armor. When activated, Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook and pulls them to him.
Darius leaps to an enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing true damage. This damage is increased for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target. If Noxian Guillotine is a killing blow, its cooldown is refreshed for a brief duration.
