Darius Wild Rift Build & Guide

Darius Wild Rift

S Tier

Class: Fighter

Best Darius Wild Rift build guide for Season 11 Patch 5.0 of WR. With our Darius guide you will learn which items to build, runes to select, skill order, who counters Darius, and how to use abilities properly.

Recommended Builds

Starting Item Long Sword
Boots Plated Steelcaps Protobelt Enchant
Core Items Trinity Force Sterak’s Gage Dead Man’s Plate
Complete Build Trinity Force Dead Man’s Plate Protobelt Enchant Death’s Dance Amaranth Twinguard Guardian Angel
Runes
Conqueror
Brutal
Hunter – Titan
Sweet Tooth
Starting Item Long Sword
Boots Mercury’s Treads Teleport Enchant
Core Items Divine Sunderer Sterak’s Gage Spirit Visage
Complete Build Divine Sunderer Plated Steelcaps Sunfire Aegis Spirit Visage Randuin’s Omen Warmog’s Armor
Runes
Phase Rush
Triumph
Hunter – Titan
Sweet Tooth

Darius never hesitates once his axe is raised, those who stand against him can expect no mercy. Darius is a Baron lane bruiser who excels in bullying his lane and snowballing through his incredible damage output and infinite execution potential.

Darius Wild Rift Build Recommendation

Here are Item Build Recommendations that works on this champion and which are the best build for Darius Wild Rift in this patch.

The Oppressive Hand

Trinity Force Dead Man’s Plate Protobelt Enchant Death’s Dance Amaranth Twinguard Guardian Angel

This is the standard build for Darius Wild Rift which is a mix of offensive and defensive items but it is leaned towards an offensive playstyle. This build should be used if you are confident in your match-up and you are winning your lane.

  •  Trinity Force – This item is the bomb on Darius. Its Spellblade passive increases his burst damage output and the Fervor and Rage passives grant bonus movement speed which helps him with one of his main issues which is his weakness against kiting. The all-around stat bonus is also amazing for him.
  •  Plated Steelcaps – Increases your defenses against auto attackers because you will be mostly playing as a front-line bruiser. Build Mercury’s Treads instead if you are fighting against a team composed of mostly AP champions. You can even build Boots of Swiftness if you are feeling really good about your game. The additional movement speed will help you run down opponents. Upgrade with the Protobelt Enchant so you can surprise enemies with the short dash and 3rd, Apprehend. Teleport Enchant is also a good spell because if you are ahead, you can freely split push and no one will be able to 1v1 you which will force the enemy team to split their team just to deal with you.
  • Wild Rift Amaranth Twinguard Amaranth Twinguard  In-combat durability
  •  Dead Man’s Plate – This is another item that grants movement speed bonus as well as HP and armor.
  •  Death’s Dance – The Cauterize passive will keep you alive for longer and it gives you room to heal back the HP you lost through its physical vamp and through your 1st, Decimate.
  •  Guardian Angel – Grants you a second life through its resurrect passive. If the enemy’s mid or jungler is fed, consider rushing this item after Trinity Force or Sterak’s Gage.

The Unstoppable Hand

Divine Sunderer Plated Steelcaps Sunfire Aegis Spirit Visage Randuin’s Omen Warmog’s Armor

This  Darius Wild Rift item build is a good alternative if you are against a matchup you are not confident with. If you are losing, switch to this build as well. This build is the recommended one for beginners.

  •  Divine Sunderer – Just like Black Cleaver, Divine Sunderer provides a good amount of HP and furthermore allows you to shred tanks and bruisers according to your conveniences.
  •  Sunfire Aegis – Grants AoE damage around yourself that increases for each second in combat.
  •  Spirit Visage – Increase your survivability against AP champions and increases the healing potency of your Q, Decimate.
  •  Randuin’s Omen – Decreases the damage output of AD carries against you with this item which applies an attack speed slow debuff to your attackers as well as reduces their critical damage output against you.
  •  Warmog’s Armor – Grants an absurd amount of HP and HP regeneration so you can fight for longer and regenerate extremely fast so you can continue fighting without having to recall.

Runes for Darius in Wild Rift

  • Conqueror – There is currently no Keystone rune better for Darius other than this one because Darius needs to attack continuously in order to activate his Noxian Might. Both effects are activated at 5 stacks so their effects pile on and make Darius surprisingly more powerful when they are activated. Phase Rush is a great alternative when fighting immobile champions so you can kite them. It also allows you to survive against mobile champions who rely on their mobility to harass you.
  • Brutal – Grants a flat AD and armor penetration bonus which is useful for early game bullying. Triumph is also a viable rune because of its clutch potential which is its damage bonus against low HP enemies and the heal on takedowns.
  • Hunter – Titan – Unique takedowns grants HP and tenacity.
  • Sweet Tooth – There are a lot of viable Inspiration runes but I prefer this one because the extra regeneration and gold bonus from eating Honeyfruits feels OP right now.

Spells

In our  Darius Wild Rift Guide, here are the best champion spells that you can equip on him.

Ghost is preferred over Ignite because it helps with Darius’s main issue which is his weakness against Kiting. Ignite is strong only in the early game but Ghost helps Darius in all stages of the game as it allows him to force fights and make plays as he will.

Flash is great on Darius because it is a safety net for him because he has no mobility tool or disengage tool. It can also be used to make surprising offensive plays.

Skill Order

1
4
6
7
2
12
14
15
3
8
10
11
5
9
13

1st, Decimate, is maxed first because it is your main source of damage. 3rd, Apprehend, is maxed second to increase its passive armor penetration value. 2nd, Crippling Strike, is maxed last because it is mostly used as a source of slow more than a source of damage. Get a point in your Ult, Noxian Guillotine, whenever possible.

Abilities

Infernal Chains

Attacks cause enemies to bleed, dealing 14.5 physical damage (14.5 + 30% bonus AD) over 5 seconds. Can stack up to 5 times.

Upon reaching full stacks. Darius gains Noxian Might for 5 seconds. Gaining 29 Attack Damage and applying full stacks of Hemorrage instead of 1.

Infernal Chains

Swings his axe after a delay, dealing 39 physical damage (14 + 35% AD).

Hitting enemies with the blade of the axe deals 110 physical damage (40 + 100% AD), heals himself for 12% of his missing Health for each champion hit. (max 36%) and applies Hemorrage.

Infernal Chains

Empowers his next attack for 8 seconds to deal an additional damage (30% AD) and slows by 90% for 1 second.

Infernal Chains

Passive: Gains 15% Armor Penetration

Active: Pulls in enemies in front of him, slowing them by 40% for 1 second.

Infernal Chains

Leaps to execute a champion. Deals 100 true damage (100 + 75% bonus AD), increased by 20% per Hemorrhage stack, and applies Hemorrhage.

Killing the target with Noxian Guillotine refreshes its cooldown, grants Noxian Might for 5 seconds and causes nearby minions and monsters to flee for 1.5 seconds.

Abilities Analysis

Innate: Hemorrhage 

Darius’s auto-attacks apply Hemorrhage which makes enemies bleed dealing physical DPS. Hemorrhage can stack up to five times and once an enemy has max stacks, Darius gains Noxian Might. 

Noxian Might grants Darius bonus AD and makes his attacks and abilities immediately apply the full stacks of Hemorrhage. Each time Darius reapplies Hemorrhage, Noxian Might’s duration is reset.

You have to play bully during the laning phase with Darius because as the fight drags longer, you’ll deal more damage. Do not chicken out or think twice in the middle of the fight because you’ll lose out on the passive’s benefits which shine the more a fight goes on.

Q | 1st: Decimate

Decimate makes Darius deal physical damage to a circular area around him. Those hit at the edges receives more damage, heals Darius, and applies Hemorrhage. If Darius has Noxian Might active, he applies the full stack of Hemorrhage to enemies hit by the edge.

There is a cast delay to this ability which makes it a bit hard to hit and the delay also gives the enemy time to react to it and avoid it using their mobility abilities. To counteract this, use Decimate after slowing the enemy through 2nd, Crippling Strike or 3rd, Apprehend. 

A good Baron laner or once the enemy dies to you once or twice, they’ll play extra careful around you. When this happens, you can use Decimate to deny your enemy’s last hits. Do this especially when they’re going for the cannon minion.

Decimate + Flash is a good way to quickly damage multiple enemies and apply Noxian Might to them. Use Flash at the very last millisecond before Darius swings his axe because the better you time it, the less chance for the enemy to react to you. This is also a good way to proc a large amount of heal by hitting multiple opponents.

In skill matchups, e.g. Fiora, Jax, Vayne, they will try to engage you if you fail to hit Decimate so spamming this ability is highly discouraged.

W | 2nd: Crippling Strike

Crippling Strike is an auto-attack reset which means that you won’t have to wait for your attack to refresh after casting this ability. It makes your next attack deal extra physical damage and it also drastically slow down the target for a second.

Crippling Strike is a great farming tool because its cooldown is reduced in half and the mana cost is refunded if you killed the enemy using this ability. The auto-attack reset function is also a good way to “salvage” last hits you mistime.

E | 3rd Apprehend

Apprehend is your gap closer. It pulls all enemies in the target duration. Enemy champions cannot hide behind their minions because they are going to be pulled together with it. Be careful though, minions in wild rift deal significant damage especially in a slow pushed wave.

this ability also grants a passive armor penetration bonus which makes you scary effective against tanks.

Apprehend can sometimes interrupt dash abilities due to the fact that it cannot be stopped. Use it to stagger and outplay those who try to initiate on you.

You can do Flash + 3rd with Apprehend but it has an extremely time window to do it. I recommend reserving your flash your 1st + Flash if an opportunity for multiple kills is available.

R | Ultimate: Noxian Guillotine

Noxian Guillotine is Darius’s signature move. It allows him to dunk on his enemies, executing them, one by one. This ultimate deals true damage which increases based on the number of Hemorrhage stacks the target has. If the target is successfully executed, nearby minions and monsters flee in terror, and this ability’s cooldown is reset.

A foolproof way to guarantee that Noxian Guillotine will execute the enemy is to be aware of its damage by long-pressing the ability button or by accessing it through the scoreboard. Multiply it by two and you’ll get its maximum damage. (In the picture, Noxian Might is active by the way.) Look at the enemy’s HP value before casting and you’ll have a sure execution every time. And yes, this way takes too long in terms of “real-time split-second decision making”. This is for absolute beginners and do not worry, you’ll get used to the feel of it in no time and you’ll be doing pentakill dunks before you know it.

You can buffer Noxian Guillotine to make it cast faster by using Flash. This is a good way to kill fleeing enemies. You have to do it extremely quickly, though. And I’ve found that it doesn’t work sometimes if you are holding the directional button while doing Ult + Flash.

Combo: 3rd + AA + 2nd + 1st + Ult 

Darius Early Game Guide

Darius is an early game bully. If he wins his early game, it transitions to a Darius carrying the mid-game.

In order to win the early game, you have to take a dominant stance in the laning phase. This is easy to do against tanks and fighters and is still possibly against long-range Baropn laners, although a bit harder to do.

First, you have to freeze the lane and zone the enemy out. You will be able to do this by only hitting minions at their very last health and staying behind the enemy minions. Only use 1st, Decimate when the enemy laner attempts to last hit minions, especially the Cannon minions so they will be set back in gold.

If the enemy laner forces a fight or tries to last hit a Cannon minion, slow them down with 2nd, Crippling Strike first if possible so you can pull them back with 3rd, Apprehend once they try to escape using their flash. Once this happens, you’ll have complete control of your lane.

When fighting against ranged champions, use Darius’s basic combo which is using 3rd, Apprehend first so you can chip their HP little by little then all-in on them once they are around 60% HP.

Darius Late Game Guide

In the mid game, Darius is an absolute monster. Once you have max stacked Noxian Might, you simply have to use 1st, Decimate to apply the stacks, and then use your ultimate, Noxian Guillotine one by one to your unlucky opponents.

In the late game, Darius falls off because enemies usually stick together by this time and they will try to burst you down before you are able to acquire your full stacks.

What you have to do is to stay with your team together and focus on the enemy’s tank. The tank will serve as the champion who will give you your stacks. Once you have your maxed stacks, go on the aggressive and apply your mark on all your enemies.

Synergies

For our Darius Wild Rift Guide, we highly recommend using him with the following champions as they synergize well with him.

Jarvan IV is a good jungler who has good early game ganking potential which can help Darius snowball early in-game. His flag, Demacian Standard, increases attack speed which is scary on a Darius with Noxian Might. He also scatters enemies due to his ultimate, Cataclysm, and a scattered team is free real estate for Darius.

Corki’s Special Delivery is a potent crowd control capable of scattering the enemy team and keeping them apart due to its extreme slow effect.

All Darius Wild Rift Counter Champions

In this section, we’ll specifically show champions that can easily counter Darius in Wild Rift.

Vayne is a kiting god in the Baron lane and that is exactly Darius’s weakness. She will hit you every time you’ll try to last hit minions and she will just push you back if you attempt to engage on you. Playing defensively is not an option as well because she’ll out-scale you. Try to look for opportunities where she messes up and ask for ganks. Don’t die and don’t get pinned to the wall because you’ll definitely die if she lands her condemn on you.

Garen is Darius’s number one enemy in the Baron lane. They are similar champions but right now, Garen has an edge because he is more capable on short trades and his passive allows him to regenerate his lost health quickly. On the other hand, Darius loves extended trades so if the Garen player is smart, he will use his abilities to dictate the pace of the laning phase. If Darius can force extended trades though, he has a higher chance of winning the matchup.

Pros & Cons About Darius

Here are some pros and cons if you are playing with Darius in Wild Rift.

Pros

  • Darius is an oppressive laner who can win most Baron lane matchups. He is a safe pick because he has an easy early game on most matchups which translates into snowballing which turns into wins.
  • He can deal large amounts of damage in both duels and team fights and he can also take some damage in return. He is one of the easiest champion to get the coveted Pentakill on because of the cooldown reset mechanic on his ultimate, Noxian Guillotine.
  • Due to the nature of his abilities, especially his ultimate, he can comeback hard given the right circumstances. He is also useful even when he is behind. Although, of course, his power and prestige shows when he is ahead.

Cons

  • Darius is an immobile champ and he has no mobility tool or disengage tool which makes him vulnerable to kiting and being ganged up.
  • His kill pressure falls hard in the late game and his role changes from the primary carry into a secondary role as a bruiser for the ADC in the late game but he is not that good when played as a passive protector compared to tanks which are built specifically for peeling.

FAQ's About Darius in Wild Rift

How good is Darius in Wild Rift?

Darius is a (Tier S) champion. Darius is an early game bully in the Baron lane capable of easily defeating most of his Baron lane counterpart. If he wins his lane, he can easily dictate the pace of battle in the whole of the mid game.

What role / lane should I play with Darius in Wild Rift?

Darius is played in the Baron lane as an early game bully. He can also be played in the mid lane and as a jungler in specific matchups.

What abilities do I level up with Darius?

1st, Decimate, is maxed first because it is your main source of damage. 3rd, Apprehend, is maxed second to increase its passive armor penetration value. 2nd, Crippling Strike, is maxed last because it is mostly used as a source of slow more than a source of damage.

What items should I build with Darius?

Darius’s core items are Trinity Force, Sterak’s Gage, and Dead Man’s Plate. Trinity Force grants Darius good all-around stats and more burst damage thanks to its Spellblade passive. Sterak’s Gage’s Lifeline passive allows Darius to survive extended trades and Dead Man’s Plate’s movement speed bonus helps Darius cope with his immobility.

What Runes should I use when playing as Darius?

Conqueror synergizes well with Darius’s passive, Noxian Might because both are maxed at 5 stacks and once both are maxed, Darius becomes a much scarier champion. His other runes are Brutal, Hunter – Titan, and Sweet Tooth. 

How can I make multiple dunks with Darius's ultimate, Noxian Guillotine?

The key to making successive dunks are to maximize first his Noxian Might stacks and to make sure that enemies are marked with his passive first before using his ultimate, Noxian Guillotine on them. Each stack of Noxian Might increases the damage of Darius’s ultimate by 20% so a maxed stack, especially through 1st, Decimate will make it easier for Darius to execute his enemies.