League of Legends - Illaoi Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

This page contains a champion character strategy guide for Illaoi in League of Legends (LoL), including stats, skills and abilities, rune builds, recommended gear and equipment, and playstyles.

Illaoi

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Prophet of an Elder God (Static Cooldown: 20-12)The character and the Vessels she creates spawn Tentacles on nearby impassible terrain. Tentacles swing at spirits, Vessels, and victims of Illaoi’s Harsh lesson. Tentacles deal physical damage to enemies hit, and will heal Illaoi if they damage a champion.
	Tentacle Smash (Target Range: 850, Cost: 40/45/50/55/60 Mana, Cooldown: 10/9/8/7/6)Increases the damage dealt by Tentacles. When activated, Illaoi smashes down a Tentacle that deals physical damage. – PASSIVE: Slam damage is increased by 10/15/20/25/30% (0). ACTIVE: Illaoi swings her idol, causing a Tentacle to Slam forward.
	Harsh Lesson (Cost: 30 Mana, Cooldown: 4)  ACTIVE: The character leaps to her target, dealing physical damage and causing nearby Tentacles to also swing at the target.- Illaoi leaps at her target on her next basic attack, dealing bonus physical damage equal to [0]% of their maximum health.When she strikes, nearby Tentacles will Slam at the target.Harsh Lesson’s bonus damage against monsters is capped at 300 damage per hit.
	Test of Spirit (Target Range: 900, Effect Radius: 1700, Cost: 35/40/45/50/55 Mana, Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12)ACTIVE: Illaoi rips the spirit from a foe’s body, forcing it to stand before her. Spirits echo a percentage of the damage they take to the original target. If killed, or if the target gets too far from the spirit, the target will become a Vessel and begin spawning Tentacles.The character pulls the spirit from an enemy champion for 10 seconds (reduced when Illaoi is attacked by the target). The spirit can be attacked, with 25/30/35/40/45% (+[0]%) of the damage taken echoing to its owner.If the spirit dies or the target leaves its range, the target becomes a Vessel for 12 seconds and is slowed by 80% for 1.5 seconds. Vessels spawn Tentacles every 0 seconds if no other Tentacles are nearby.Tentacles will automatically Slam at spirits and Vessels once every 10 seconds.
	Leap of Faith (Target Range: 900, Effect Radius: 1700, Cost: 35/40/45/50/500 Mana, Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12)ACTIVE: Illaoi smashes her idol into the ground, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies. A Tentacle spawns for each enemy champion hit.- Illaoi smashes her idol into the ground, dealing 150/250/350 (+50% bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to nearby enemies and spawning a Tentacle for each enemy champion hit.For the next 8 seconds Tentacles are untargetable and will Slam 50% faster, and Harsh Lesson has a 2 second cooldown.

Strategy

• Spread your tentacles around the map. You can also hide it in bushes  to surprise your enemy when you use your (W) Harsh Lesson. The more tentacles you have, the better.
• Spam your (E) Test of Spirit whenever possible. This can stir panic among your enemy especially if they are close to each other and your target becomes a vessel.
• It is recommended that you save your(R) Leap of Faith when there are multiple enemies nearby. Activating this skill with only one hero in its radius will only spawn one tentacle.
• You can also spam your (Q) Tentacle Smash and (E) Test of Spirit if  you are low on health, as the passive of Illaoi grants you lifesteal if a tentacle hits a champion.
• Illaoi can turn a 1v5 in her favor with her (R) Leap of Faith, never underestimate her kit and tentacles.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Top Lane
Flash	Teleport

Flash –  Flash is a good summoner for spell for Illaoi because she has no mobility at all. It can also be used to set up her (R) Leap of Faith, as it only has a small AoE, but really hits hard the more enemies it affected.

Item builds

Top Lane

Starting Items

Starting Items
Corrupting Potion	Warding Totem

Core Items

Core Items
The Black Cleaver	Sterak’s Gage	Mercury’s Treads

The Black Cleaver – The Black Cleaver is the perfect first item for Illaoi. It gives her damage, health, and cooldown reduction stats which lets her spam (Q) Tentacle Smash and (E) Leap of Spirit 

Sterak’s Gage – Sterak’s Gage increases his health and base attack damage. This item helps Illaoi in soaking up a lot of damage especially when she jumps in the middle of a fight to activate her (R) Leap of Faith. 

Mercury’s Treads – Mercury’s Treads is a good boots upgrade for Illaoi since she doesn’t have much mobility and she is easily prone to kiting.

Full Build

Full Build
The Black Cleaver	Sterak’s Gage	Randuin’s Omen
Spirit Visage	Death’s Dance	Mercury’s Treads

Randuin’s Omen – Randuin’s Omen is better than Dead Man’s Plate in the sense that it can slow multiple enemies, allowing you to hit more enemies with (R) Leap of Faith. 

Spirit Visage – Spirit Visage increases your magic resistance while increasing the effectiveness of your heals and regeneration. This is a good defensive item along with Death’s Dance.

Death’s Dance – Death’s Dance is your primary lifesteal item. Aside from the lifesteal aspect of the item, it also grants the Illaoi damage and cooldown reductions. The item also makes Illaoi a very effective bruiser, as it can negate some physical and magical and will be damage over time instead.

Situational Items

Situational Items
Dead Man’s Plate	Guardian Angel	Thornmail
Maw of Malmoritus

Dead Man’s Plate – Dead Man’s Plate lets you have more mobility and tankiness. Replace this with Randuin’s Omen if you want to to catch enemies rather than use the active skill of Randuin’s Omen in a team fight.

Guardian Angel –  With the recent inclusion of damage in the recent patch, Guardian Angel became a lot more suitable in her kit. The only downside is that it provides less stat compared to the core items. Get this for the passive ability.

Thornmail – This is viable if the enemy team is mostly AD. Illaoi also excels at initiating team fights, so the armor can really help in keeping her alive.

Maw of Malmoritus –  if the enemy team consists of mostly AP champions, this item is also a good buy.

 Playing Against

• Always try to destroy her tentacles. Most of her skills revolve around her tentacles, and leaving it alone can cause most of her tentacles to deal more damage.
• Stay behind ally minion when laning against Illaoi. Her (E) Test of Spirit is an aggressive harass that can make you fall behind in farm.
• Distance yourself from your team mates when Illaoi uses her (R) Leap of Faith. The more champions struck by her ultimate, the more tentacles will appear. Stunning her can also keep her from using (W) Harsh Lesson since her tentacles only smash when it is casted.
• Her (W) Harsh Lesson deals less damage when there are no nearby tentacles.
• Always move around when facing Illaoi. Her tentacles are somewhat slow and has an advanced indicator on where will it land.

Hard Counter

Sion – Sion is a tanky top laner who can tank Illaoi’s damage while dishing out his own. Sion has a number of crowd controls that can isolate Illaoi since she has no mobility. Even if Illaoi manages to kill Sion, his passive Glory in Death will most likely catch up to an already critical Illaoi.

Swain – Swain is good at zoning out enemies with his skill, something that Illaoi is weak against. His Nevermore can stun Illaoi when she gets too close. Swain’s ultimate can also outsustain Illaoi even if she has already used her Leap of Faith. 

Poppy – Poppy is a great champion to use against Illaoi because of her Steadfast Presence and Keeper’s Verdict. The former is a good counter for Illaoi’s Harsh Lesson because it can block the only gap closer of Illaoi. Keeper’s Verdict can easily push back an Illaoi after she uses her ultimate, wasting her Leap of Faith in the process.

Strategy Video

COMING SOON

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