Darius is characterized as a juggernaut champion, similar to Illaoi, Mordekaiser, Garen, and Nasus. Juggernauts sacrifice their mobility for upfront power in terms of damage and sustain.
Their power is skewed into short-ranged and therefore their power is best utilized against melee champions. A pick like Darius is excellent into tanks or champions that have to dash in in order to do damage.
Champions that have the ability to poke and fight Darius outside of his hook range are powerful against him.
High mobility champions which can abuse Darius static playstyle can destroy him.
Darius as a champion is the embodiment of bad play, thus following this guide will not only make you defeat Darius. It will also make you a better player.
Abilities
- Darius passive applies a bleed once he damages a target. The bleed stacks 5 times and once those stacks are reached Darius becomes enraged. During the enraged stage,Darius gains movement speed and more damage. When fighting Darius, you have to avoid prolonged fights. Short trades, where Darius can not reach his 5 stacks will end up in victory
- Darius swings his axe in a circle around him after channeling for a short period. Damaging the enemies hit by the outer circle and heals himself per champion hit. When Darius starts channeling his Q, jumping on him will dodge the damage. Champions with dashes can abuse this to trade effectively vs Darius
- Darius applies damage and slows upon his next auto-attack. A straight forward auto-attack resetting ability
- Darius hooks enemies in a cone-shape in front of him. “Stutter-stepping”, stepping back and forth consistently will make you be able to dodge this ability and outplay Darius.
- Darius smash dunks you deal true damage and lethal hits reset the abilities cooldown for a duration. If Darius lethal dunks someone he applies 5 passive stacks on spells and auto attacks. This ability is linked to his passive as it only does dangerous damage upon 5 stacks.
Learn more about Darius abilities here.
Our Top Tips to Counter Darius
- Take short trades versus Darius. Darius excels in extended fights, keep that in mid. Keep your focus and do not slip up
- Poke Darius from long range. As a ranged champion kiting and poking Darius will cripple him from doing anything in the game. Pushing Darius into his turret and harassing him with auto-attacks will be effective
- Bring crowd-control versus Darius in team-fights. Strong crowd-control to dis-engage and kite Darius will cripple him all game long. The best champions to play against Darius is there for Ranged champions with crowd-control and mobility in their kits.
Champions That Counter Darius
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Kennen
Kennen can short his longer range to poke Darius down. If you suddenly get caught by Darius E as Kennen you can quickly land your combo and E away. It is important that you play a patient slow game, where you poke him down gradually. Your goal is to zone him from last hitting and if he gets greedy you can kill him. Building the AD-AS route as Kennen will give you even more power into Darius. The build will be able to kite Darius and you will never lose a split-push scenario versus Darius in Mid/late game.
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Renekton
Renekton can take short efficient trades versus Darius. As Renekton you can also dash into Darius Q so you avoid the damage. Communicate with your jungler and set up ganks versus Darius. Your W will be a good setup for the ganks. If you get caught by Darius E, trade back with your W & Q and after dash away. Renekton can easily take control of the minion wave due to his Q damage and sustain.
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Neeko
Neeko is a champion which is really similar to Kennen, use his long range to poke Darius down. If you get caught by his E you can stealth away from Darius. It is important that you play a patient slow game, where you poke him down gradually. Your goal is to zone him from the last hitting and if he gets greedy you can kill him. Both the Glacial Augment Ap build and the AD-AS route will be excellent builds against Darius. Pick one of those two builds, both will make you be able to kite Darius.
Laning vs Darius
During the laning phase, Darius is the embodiment of impatient play. Most players lose to Darius, just due to laziness and inpatients.
Because of Darius power being skewed into upfront melee damage and sustain, sticking to slowly poking him down will be important. “Stutter stepping” back and forth will be crucial towards dodging his Q and E. It is important that you keep a concentrated eye on his movement so you can counter it.
As a melee champion with mobility, look to dodge his Q by dashing into him. Take quick trades versus Darius. As Ranged champions respond to his movement by kiting backward. By doing that you avoid his E.
Mid game vs Darius
During the mid-game, it is important that you do not get drawn into pointless skirmishes versus Darius. Darius thrives in the fight where he can catch somebody out of position in. Due to Darius low mobility, you should look to keep lane priority, force Darius to stay far back and visible in a lane.
Darius as a champion in very predictable, thus if you have a vision on him he will be crippled. Split-pushing or pushing in Darius to then be the first one to roam is the key to defeat him.
Late game vs Darius
In team-fight scenarios versus Darius, it is important to keep track of him.
Keep Darius off your carries.
If Darius steps forward, similar to poking him in the laning phase, just poke him and kite back. Due to Darius linear team-fighting playstyle, he can only thrive if you mess up. By keeping focused and kiting him, he will not be able to team-fight. Split-pushing versus Darius will be very effective for the same reasons stated under “mid-game”.
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