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Wild Rift: A beginner's guide to Kassadin

With a smaller map on Wild Rift, Kassadin has the potential to run down enemies and act like an S+ champion when used correctly. (Photo: Riot Games)
With a smaller map on Wild Rift, Kassadin has the potential to run down enemies and act like an S+ champion when used correctly. (Photo: Riot Games)

It’s been almost a month since the release of Kassadin in League of Legends: Wild Rift, and already he boasts a 51.86% win rate and is ranked fifth among the top mid lane champions in Southeast Asia, according to wildstats.gg.

That’s even after he got a health nerf in Patch 3.3b, so it says a lot about how well he’s doing lately.

With a smaller map on Wild Rift, the Void Walker has the potential to run down enemies and act like an S+ champion when used right.

And while he isn’t too strong in the early game, you can definitely take advantage of his mobility in the late game because of his ult’s low cooldown.

Read on to learn how you can dominate the Rift with Kassadin:

Abilities

Kassadin's kit gives him mobility and damage, while his passive and early skills help him survive in the early game. (Photo: Riot Games)
Kassadin's kit gives him mobility and damage, while his passive and early skills help him survive in the early game. (Photo: Riot Games)

Void Stone (Passive)

When Kassadin casts a spell near a visible enemy champion, he gains a magic shield.

Void Stone is very useful in protecting Kassadin in the early game, where his damage and mobility are still low. The magic shield will go up whenever he casts a spell at or near to a visible enemy.

Null Sphere (Skill 1)

Fires an orb that deals magic damage and silences the first enemy hit.

Null Sphere is both a poke and a disengage ability. The silence will allow you to keep the enemy from casting skills against you or your team. In the early game, this skill will also help you deal with the enemy mid laner and farm decently.

Nether Blade (Skill 2)

Empowers his next basic attack within to gain range and deal bonus magic damage and restore a percentage of missing mana on hit. If Nether Blade kills the target, its remaining cooldown is reduced.

Farming safely is important for Kassadin as you focus on scaling into the mid-to-late game. Nether Blade is great for wave clear because of its long range and its post effects. If you kill a minion, it restores 50% of the cooldown. You can continuously farm with it from a long range.

Force Pulse (Skill 3)

Deals magic damage to enemies in a cone and slows them. Force Pulse becomes enhanced after other spells are cast nearby, dealing increased magic damage and slowing instead.

Force Pulse can deal hefty damage to the enemy and can be used after chasing enemies with your ultimate. Because its area-of-effect is decent and can hit at least two champions and more minions, consider maxing out this ability first.

Riftwalk (Ultimate)

Blinks to target location and deals magic damage to nearby enemies. Casting Riftwalk causes the next Riftwalk within a certain amount of time to deal more damage and cost double the mana. (Can be charged up to 3 times).

Kassadin’s ultimate is what makes him special.

Riftwalk acts like an empowered flash: it helps him weave in and out of team fights and even go through walls. You also deal some magic damage to your enemies, and this allows you to chase them easily in the late game.

Gameplay

With a smaller map on Wild Rift, Kassadin has the potential to run down enemies and act like an S+ champion when used correctly. (Photo: Riot Games)
Ganking at level 5 will never happen, so let it go and save the flashy plays for later. (Photo: Riot Games)

Kassadin is a mid-to-late game scaling champion.

That being said, he’s pretty much useless in the early game, so don’t go for early game ganks and saves unless the enemy’s HP is low and you have one or two teammates who can help you. Ganking at level 5 will never happen, so let it go and save the flashy plays for later.

The early game motto for Kassadin is to survive and thrive through farming.

Take health items like the Ruby Crystal (don’t take Books yet) until you can buy his first important item: Rod of Ages.

Max out his third ability first to give him more damage, and mini trades by using a spell on visible enemies. This will activate his passive shield as you move back to safety.

Also, ensure your early game Kassadin has high HP until he’s fully online.

By the mid game (level 9), Kassadin gets stronger. Here, you can execute a combo using your ultimate and skill three.

Keep your ult charged up to level 2 and only charge it up to level 3 if you’re preparing to execute a gank or join a team fight.

Once Kassadin reaches level 13, there’s barely any counterplay available for now (except for Zed or Pantheon), so as long as you work with your team, you can cruise your way through victory.

Items

Kassadin works best with the Scaling Riftwalker build. (Photo: Riot Games)
Kassadin works best with the Scaling Riftwalker build. (Photo: Riot Games)

One of the best builds to consider is the Scaling Riftwalker build. This is a double scaling route that utilises both Rod of Ages and Archangel’s Staff.

This is a widely-favoured build, as both items are crucial to Kassadin's survival and supply mana.

As mentioned earlier, take low-level health items like Ruby Crystal to help him survive first until you can buy Rod of Ages. Then you can go for Tears of Goddess, Ionian Boots of Lucidity on your way to taking the Arch Angel Staff.

Prioritise Stasis Enchant if you feel like the enemy team peels too much damage. Otherwise, you can go for Rabadon’s Deathcap first if you want to get stronger faster. Take the Void Staff next for magic penetration.

The 5th item is situational. While most guides will tell you to go for Crystalline Reflector (which will make the most sense for most situations), you might need to flex to taking an Infinity Orb instead if the enemy team has lots of heals and sustain.

You can also opt for Morellonomicon for additional magic penetration if you’re dealing with tanks.

Some teams may counter the Voidwalker with chain cc champions like Varus or Lux. Go for Ionian Quicksilver instead of Stasis Enchant to remove any cc effects until the time you can kite around them faster.

Runes and Spells

Electrocute is the best keystone rune, followed by Conqueror. Use Fleet Footwork against champions like Zed and Pantheon, who can hard counter him. (Photo: Riot Games)
Electrocute is the best keystone rune, followed by Conqueror. Use Fleet Footwork against champions like Zed and Pantheon, who can hard counter him. (Photo: Riot Games)

Electrocute is still Kassadin's best-in-slot keystone because it deals a good amount of damage, which you'll need in the early game to outtrade your enemies.

You can also take Conqueror and Fleet Footwork as keystones. Fleet Footwork works better against champions who can hit him hard.

For spells, pick Flash, so the Voidwalker has more room to move around, and Ignite, to manage the early game.

Are you having fun with Kassadin? Have you considered learning his kit? Hopefully, this guide has helped you appreciate him better and enjoy playing him more.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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