Kai’Sa: League of Legends’ Unique and Versatile ADC
Kai’Sa, the newest champion in League of Legends, brings a unique playstyle to the game. Unlike other marksmen, she can adapt her playstyle, abilities, and items to fit any situation. To get a taste of her complex gameplay, we tried her out on the Practice Tool in the PBE before her official release.
Her Versatile Builds
Kai’Sa is the first marksman in League of Legends who can build AD, attack speed, AP, or a combination of the three to maximize her transformations. These transformations are unlocked by achieving high numbers in specific stats, such as 100 AD, 100 AP, or 100% attack speed.
One interesting build we discovered was a hybrid on-hit/AP build that allows her to transform all of her abilities by late game. However, this build can be quite expensive, including items like Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Blade of the Ruined King, Nashor’s Tooth, Berserker’s Greaves, Trinity Force, and either Hextech Gunblade or Runaan’s Hurricane.
While this build offers the highest sustained DPS and burst damage, reaching around 1,900 DPS, it lacks crowd control. In comparison, Xayah, another ADC, deals about 1,200 peak DPS with a full burst. However, Xayah excels in teamfights with her AoE damage and crowd control abilities, whereas Kai’Sa offers more mobility with her invisibility once she reaches 100% attack speed.
Kai’Sa also has other possible builds like full AP, full AD, or pure attack speed. The AP build can unlock two abilities by incorporating items like Nashor’s Tooth and Berserker’s Greaves, while the AD build and attack speed build offer different advantages in bursting or teamfight scenarios.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Although Kai’Sa lacks crowd control, she can burst down other ADCs effectively and gains power by roaming through the jungle and flanking unsuspecting targets. Teamfights are not her forte, but she can navigate them better once she evolves her E ability to gain invisibility. It’s essential to note that her W ability deals significant damage and applies two stacks of her passive, which can lead to devastating burst damage if she lands it mid-fight.
Kai’Sa’s Q ability may look flashy, but it doesn’t deal as much damage, especially when there are multiple targets. Her E ability takes time to trigger, giving opponents an opportunity to attack her during the animation. However, she can activate this ability while running into a fight to avoid being caught without a way to fight back.
Overall, Kai’Sa offers a fun and satisfying gameplay experience with her flashy abilities. She stands out among other ADCs in terms of flexibility and freedom. If you’re intrigued by her unique playstyle, don’t hesitate to give her a try in solo queue!
Kai’Sa, League of Legends, ADC, marksmen, builds, playstyle, abilities, transformations, AD, attack speed, AP, burst damage, sustained DPS, crowd control, mobility, burst, teamfights.