League of Legends Wiki

Want to contribute to this wiki?
Sign up for an account, and get started!
You can even turn off ads in your preferences.

Come join the LoL Wiki community Discord server!

READ MORE

League of Legends Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Template:C-top

Gameplay

Recommended Items

Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

Placeholder

Tips

Playing As Kassadin Kassadin
  • Kassadin has multiple item paths; he can go caster via Mana and Ability Power or anti-caster with Cooldown Reduction and Magic Resist.
  • Kassadin's ultimate ultimate has many uses and is on a shorter cooldown than most, use it often.
  • Try to get the Crest of Insight Crest of Insight buff to counteract Riftwalk Riftwalk's increasing Mana cost.
Playing Against Kassadin Kassadin
  • Kassadin deals mostly magic damage. If he's doing well consider buying magic resist items like Mercury's Treads Mercury's Treads and Banshee's Veil Banshee's Veil.
  • Each time Kassadin consecutively uses Riftwalk Riftwalk, he pays more and more mana. Keep this in mind as you chase him.
  • It takes 6 spell casts for Kassadin's slow, Force Pulse Force Pulse, to become castable. If he levels up that ability, judiciously use your own skills when laning against him.

Tricks

Ability Usage
  • Against enemy mages, Null Sphere Null Sphere is an effective harassment tool that is unblockable by creep waves. The shield can be used to absorb spells sent in retaliation.
    • Null Sphere Null Sphere is expensive at its first tier. Its mana cost is lower per level in terms of damage dealt as points are spent on it; max it first only if you plan to poke the enemy laner and not to farm with it.
    • You can use Null Sphere Null Sphere on a minion to mitigate unavoidable magic damage (from H-28G Evolution Turrets H-28G Evolution Turrets you need to destroy, Requiem Requiem, or Dark Wind Dark Wind).
  • Nether Blade Nether Blade and Riftwalk Riftwalk can be used dually for quick and efficient farming.
  • Kassadin Kassadin is fairly easy to kill if he can't Riftwalk Riftwalk away. When engaging the enemy, consider whether it'd be better to Riftwalk Riftwalk in, cast your spells, and walk out, or to walk in, cast your spells, and Riftwalk Riftwalk out.
  • Kassadin's Kassadin's abilities have high ability power ratios and low cooldowns, so a high amount of AP enables him to deal immense damage in short time intervals.
  • As an assassin, Kassadin Kassadin excels at ganking. Also, he is best at focusing lone, fragile or injured targets. With all of this in mind, Kassadin Kassadin performs best entering in-progress team fights, either slaying a carry quickly and jumping out, or moving in once an enemy carry has been slain and the enemy team is beginning to disperse or retreat, to pick off injured champions.
  • Unless it is urgent, when traveling with Riftwalk Riftwalk wait until just before your last Riftwalk Riftwalk counter has expired before casting it again as stacking Riftwalk Riftwalk can deplete your mana very quickly.
  • Riftwalk Riftwalk can be used to jump over walls, and essentially acts like the summoner spell Flash Flash.
    • On Twisted Treeline, you can Riftwalk Riftwalk from the wall behind your nexus to the nearby Shadow Altar or vice-versa. This is extremely useful if you need to escape after locking an altar.
  • Kassadin Kassadin is great for laning with or against champions with spammable spells such as Karthus Karthus and Cassiopeia Cassiopeia as they ensure that Force Pulse Force Pulse is always charged.
  • While roaming, you can charge Force Pulse Force Pulse without spending mana by repeatedly activating Nether Blade Nether Blade.
  • A risky way to deal a lot of burst damage to enemies is to constantly cast Riftwalk Riftwalk at the summoner pool. This will stack the damage on Riftwalk Riftwalk while the summoner pool regenerates your mana. Using this method with summoner spell Teleport Teleport can inflict devastating damage.
Mastery Usage
Item Usage
  • Kassadin Kassadin can be built as a high-mobility mage or as an ambush assassin, and his prime statistics are ability power and mana (as both his Riftwalk Riftwalk damage and Nether Blade Nether Blade mana restore scale in mana).
    • In a similar vein like Ryze Ryze, Kassadin Kassadin can be effectively built tanky since most mana items often grant defensive stats like health and armor. In fact, it's actually beneficial to build a bit tanky on Kassadin since he needs to get close to eliminate enemies.
  • Since building AP and having high AD, along with gap closers and short cooldowns, Lich Bane Lich Bane is especially usefully in most offensive builds. It also provides him with more movement speed and mana with his bonus damage.
    • Iceborn Gauntlet Iceborn Gauntlet is a popular and arguably better choice on Kassadin for several reasons: it provides a huge amount of mana, and its Spellblade scales off of base champion AD, and Kassadin Kassadin happens to have the 7th highest base AD at level 18. The extra armor is also invaluable for tower diving and for being in the middle of a fight.
  • Zhonya's Hourglass Zhonya's Hourglass can be used to bait enemies into wasting valuable spells on Kassadin Kassadin after using Riftwalk Riftwalk to enter a fight. It is also an excellent item against strong counters like Zed Zed and Talon Talon.
    • With 3 points in Riftwalk Riftwalk, you can blink in, finish off a single target with your spell combo, use Stasis, and immediately Riftwalk Riftwalk out when it ends.
  • With his Nether Blade Nether Blade passive and active, it is possible to build Kassadin Kassadin as Magical DPS with Nashor's Tooth Nashor's Tooth or Wit's End Wit's End, though due to the rarity of the build and lack of proper testing, the effectiveness of this build is questionable. If attempting such a build, high AP and some tankiness are necessary.
  • Tear of the Goddess Tear of the Goddess can help Kassadin Kassadin deal with his high mana costs.
    • While Manamune Manamune seems to be an interesting item to build for Muramana Muramana, the passive will not proc from Force Pulse Force Pulse or Riftwalk Riftwalk, making this a gimmicky offensive item for AD or hybrid builds. An Archangel's Staff Archangel's Staff is a better option since it not only provides ability power scaled based on mana, but he also gain a defensive shield that expends a percentage of mana once it's upgraded to a Seraph's Embrace Seraph's Embrace, which synergizes well with Null Sphere Null Sphere. However, like Ryze Ryze, it is conceivable to build two Tear of the Goddess Tear of the Goddess for both items at the expense of stacking both Tears longer.
  • Frozen Heart Frozen Heart is a good item to build on Kassadin Kassadin thanks to the large amount of mana the item gives, the cooldown reduction, and the high armor. It also allows Kassadin Kassadin for more offensive plays and the attack speed slow grants him strong teamfight potential when he gets into range.
  • A Rod of Ages Rod of Ages and/or Rylai's Crystal Scepter Rylai's Crystal Scepter gives Kassadin Kassadin the survivability he needs when using Riftwalk Riftwalk on a group of enemies.
  • When built as an Anti-Mage with magic resistance, a Banshee's Veil Banshee's Veil is a must.
  • Getting the Chalice of Harmony Chalice of Harmony increases mana regen greatly. The magic resistance is also a nice plus, considering his passive and his anti-squishy role.
  • Riftwalk Riftwalk and/or Flash Flash together with Cleanse Cleanse and/or Quicksilver Sash Quicksilver Sash will let you escape even the deadliest ganks.
  • As with most pure AP carries, Rabadon's Deathcap Rabadon's Deathcap and/or a Void Staff Void Staff are essential for damage as you progress into the late game.
  • When playing as an anti-mage, Abyssal Scepter Abyssal Scepter is an excellent choice since all his abilities fall inside its range.
Countering
  • Kassadin Kassadin is a fearsome anti-mage due to Void Stone Void Stone and Null Sphere Null Sphere. Since he specializes in countering AP champions, an AD mid like Zed Zed is a good counter in laning phase.
  • Kassadin Kassadin mostly deals magic damage; therefore, stacking magic resistance will mitigate his damage.
  • Buying magic penetration to face Kassadin Kassadin is not recommended, as his passive doesn't give him magic resistance; the way Void Stone Void Stone works is by reducing 15% of the Magic Damage taken after applying resistances, so magic penetration will only affect him partially.
  • Force Pulse Force Pulse can only be activated if he has enough stacks. Engaging him when he has no stacks can help kill him faster.
  • In the laning phase, especially on a solo lane, it can be very hard for Kassadin Kassadin to keep stacks on his Force Pulse Force Pulse, so casting spells sparingly can greatly reduce his damage output. Manually detonating a two-part spell such as Lucent Singularity Lucent Singularity or Soul Furnace Soul Furnace adds an extra charge to Force Pulse Force Pulse, so it may be beneficial to let these spells expire on their own.
  • Kassadin Kassadin has trouble killing minions waves quickly in the early game, as Force Pulse Force Pulse is not always available, leaving him with only melee attacks and the long-cooldown Null Sphere Null Sphere. Playing a champion with strong AoE spells can allow you to push your minions to Kassadin Kassadin's turret, which will force him to either lose gold income when the turret kills your minions, or stay in melee range of your minions, leaving him vulnerable to your ranged spells and attacks from outside the turret's range.
  • Be aware that Null Sphere Null Sphere's shield is immediate and does not depend on the projectile landing.
  • Predicting Kassadin's Kassadin's Riftwalk Riftwalk movement is effective in countering him, as his harass combo involves mostly Riftwalk Riftwalking into range, and dropping a Null Sphere Null Sphere.
    • For example, Brand Brand, by casting Pillar of Flame Pillar of Flame and Sear Sear with correct aim and timing, can damage and stun Kassadin Kassadin during his attempt to harass.
    • As a melee assassin, Kassadin Kassadin must close the gap to begin fighting, and, more importantly, must initiate the fight to do all of his practical damage. With this in mind, being able to close in before he can Riftwalk Riftwalk or even applying your crowd control first will considerably buff your chances of slaying him or at least taking him down with you.
  • Because of the mobility offered by Riftwalk Riftwalk, it is crucial that your jungler ganks Kassadin Kassadin before he reaches Level 6. Chasing Kassadin Kassadin when he has Riftwalk Riftwalk is not practical, unless you also have very high mobility and/or hard CC to prevent Kassadin Kassadin from getting away.
    • Additionally, be wary of Kassadin Kassadin if he has reached Level 6 and is not visible in lane, even if he's only been gone for 10-15 seconds. With the enormous amounts of mobility Riftwalk Riftwalk gives him, he may be roaming, so warn your teammates and try to keep lanes and objectives warded.
  • Pantheon Pantheon is known for dominating Kassadin Kassadin early game due to his constant Spear Shot Spear Shot pressure and killing potential. Also, Aegis of Zeonia Aegis of Zeonia can be utilized to lock down Kassadin Kassadin and assist ganks from the jungler.
  • Jayce Jayce can use his Transform: Mercury Cannon Transform: Mercury Cannon form to harass and bully Kassadin Kassadin out of lane early. Most ranged AD champions can bully Kassadin Kassadin out of lane as Void Stone Void Stone only protects from magic damage.
  • Fiora Fiora is considered a strong mid-late game counter to Kassadin Kassadin as he can't easily outtrade Fiora Fiora and Void Stone Void Stone and Null Sphere Null Sphere are completely useless against her, as her only source of magic damage is Riposte Riposte. Additionally, Lunge Lunge has only slightly shorter range than Riftwalk Riftwalk with a comparably short cooldown if Fiora Fiora hits an enemy with it, so Fiora Fiora is one of few champions who can potentially keep up with Kassadin Kassadin when he tries to escape.
  • While unconventional, facing a 2v1 lane can be extremely detrimental to Kassadin Kassadin, especially if he goes for the Tear of the Goddess Tear of the Goddess + Catalyst the Protector Catalyst the Protector build path focused on late game.

Template:C-bot

Advertisement