Kayn/Strategy

		"Some things must remain buried." Strategy is highly subjective and may become outdated without any notice. Because of this, the League of Legends Wiki has decided to retire strategy pages and would recommend using other platforms (such as YouTube) to find guides. For more information visit this thread. This page continues to exist for archive purposes.

Champion Spotlight

Recommended Items

Summoner's Rift (Shadow Assassin)
Starting
Early
Standard
Aggressive
Defensive
Consumables

Summoner's Rift (Rhaast)
Starting
Early
Standard
Aggressive
Defensive
Consumables

Summoner's Rift (Jungler)
Starting
Early
Essential
Standard
Consumables

Twisted Treeline (Shadow Assassin)
Starting
Early
Standard
Aggressive
Defensive
Consumables

Twisted Treeline (Rhaast)
Starting
Early
Standard
Aggressive
Defensive
Consumables

Twisted Treeline (Jungler)
Starting
Early
Essential
Standard
Consumables

Howling Abyss
Starting	3
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Tips

Playing As Kayn

• Look at the line-up of both your team and the enemy's team when picking your form.
• Remember that nearby enemies can see which wall you're in.

Playing Against Kayn

• Umbral Trespass requires Kayn to damage a target first. Try to dodge Blade's Reach to deny him a long range cast of Umbral Trespass.
• When Kayn is in terrain near you, you will get a visual warning on the edge of the terrain he's in.
• Damage Kayn while he's in Shadow Step to shorten its duration, or apply hard crowd control (stun, charm, knockup, etc.) to end Shadow Step immediately.
• Kayn is fairly weak before he has transformed into the Shadow Assassin or Rhaast. Coordinate with your team in the early game to apply pressure on him and delay his transformation.

Tricks

Ability Usage

• Reaping Slash's dash speed scales with Kayn's movement speed, allowing it work well in conjunction with Shadow Step. The delay duration of the slash is static however.
• A great trick for a more efficient and faster clear is dashing into a wall with  Reaping Slash to shorten the delay of the dash. This works best on the camps with only one monster, like Gromp and the buffs.
• Only attacking will immediately end Shadow Step. Using abilities such as Reaping Slash and Blade's Reach will not end the effect, allowing for hastier entrances and poke while in terrain.
• Umbral Trespass' damage does not ramp up based on the time spent in the target's body. Remaining will leave you untargetable longer, may make it more difficult for the enemy to use an ability to escape and gives your other abilities a chance to become available again. However, it may also allow the enemy to reposition themselves to your disadvantage. Consider the position of your target and both teams when deciding whether to reactivate early or not.

Rune Usage

• Electrocute is the keystone that Kayn should use most of time, as it can potentially benefit both of his forms. When going for the Shadow Assassin form, it is the best keystone, as it complements his burst damage and is benefical at all stages of the game. Rhaast has potentially better alternatives, but because sometimes it may be more appropriate to get the Shadow Assassin form instead of Rhaast, or vice versa, you want to use a keystone that can benefit both forms.
• Conqueror is a good option if you plan to transform into Rhaast, as it works well with the fact that most of his abilities deal damage based on a percentage of the enemy's health. Part of them is converted into true damage, allowing Rhaast to essentially deal damage that cannot be countered. However, this keystone is risky to use, as sometimes you might be delayed the Rhaast form because you damaged too many ranged champions, and Conqueror is terrible for Shadow Assassin, as he wants as much burst as possible. For this reason, Electrocute is the safer option.
• Ravenous Hunter is a good option for Rhaast, increasing his sustain even more, especially when combined with Spirit Visage and/or Death's Dance. For Shadow Assassin, Relentless Hunter and Ultimate Hunter are better options. The former gives him more movement speed which makes for better ganking/roaming potential, better mobility, and more global presence. However, the latter gives Shadow Assassin a lower cooldown on his ultimate, which can be a good asset because Shadow Assassin relies on his ultimate to kill enemies at full health.

Item Usage

• Duskblade of Draktharr works well with Kayn's Shadow Assassin form. With his ult, Kayn becomes unseen by the enemy, allowing him to potentially proc Nightstalker a second time.
• Death's Dance adds an additional form of sustain from all physical damage for both forms, in addition to some resilience to burst damage. The high amounts of AD also scales his healing when using Shadow Step.
• Spirit Visage boosts  Rhaast's passive healing as well as his heal from Shadow Step, thus giving him more sustain in duels, teamfights, and roams/ganks.
• Both of  The Black Cleaver's passives aid Kayn in skirmishes. Since Reaping Slash deals two instances of physical damage, a well-aimed proc applies the Cleave passive twice, shredding 8% of an enemy champion's armor instead of 4%. Additionally, the passive movement speed buff is welcoming to Kayn's mobile assassin kit, in particular when used with Shadow Step.

Countering

• Because Rhaast is reliant on healing to last during teamfights and to duel enemies, it is recommended to buy Grievous Wounds items to have a better chance of fighting him. Keep in mind, however, that Bramble Vest and by extension, Thornmail, are less effective against Rhaast than other healing reliant champions. This is because he heals with his abilities instead of his basic attacks.
• Umbral Trespass works in a similar way to Death Mark. Purchasing a Zhonya's Hourglass on AP champions will make you immune to the final damage effect.