So you've stared at your 6300 ip for the last five minutes and wondered what to buy. Zed, maybe? No, you're not a midlaner - you're a jungler! Well then, perhaps a runepage - but really, you know you don't have enough IP for more runes, right? You've already got all the easy choices, but they're banned constantly - besides, you've been getting tired of playing Rek'Sai, Jarvan IV and Vi. Nautilus? Uhhh......yea, no. So you take a look at Kha'Zix and say to yourself...maybe. In the end, you buy him and try him out in some bot games, trying to optimize your runes and all that.

Then you hop into ranked, get jungle (somehow), and lock Kha'Zix. It's at this point when this guide comes in handy, for those Kha'Zix players who don't quite fully grasp the limitations of the champion. And hey, even you experienced Kha'Zix players might garner something out of this too!

Let's get started.

Image courtesy of Nespheric

Abilities

First, a quick rundown of Kha'Zix's abilities. You could always look at your tooltips, but hey, that's a lot of reading - this is a quick, easy version of it!

Passive - Unseen Threat: When Kha'Zix is not visible to the enemy, he gains one(1) stack of Unseen Threat that causes his next auto-attack to deal 15+5 per level(15+5*level) +50% AP Magic Damage to an enemy champion and slows them by 25% of their maximum movement speed.

This passive is one of Kha'Zix's primary tools in ganking and doing damage, because it is one of his two cc's (crowd control) abilities. This combos amazingly well with on-hit damage items, if you choose to go that route, like Trinity Force and Kha'Zix's ult, which we'll get into later. However, you must be aware of how much duelling power this gives Kha'Zix in the jungle, where brush is very easy to run into and out of quickly - however, you must also be aware of wards and overestimating Unseen Threat and its additional damage.

Unseen Threat, in my experience with other Kha'Zix players from the Bronze through Gold stages of League, is a tool that not many use. Usually it's a one-off, and then people seem to forget about the extra slow and damage they could potentially be adding on by using it again. When counterjungling, be SURE to juggle in an out of brush if in an extended duel - the slow ensures that the enemy has difficulty escaping, and the extra damage can be what decides who wins the duel. This ability is an incredibly important one to Kha'Zix, and it can be what makes or breaks a Kha'Zix player.

Q - Taste Their Fear: Kha'Zix automatically marks and indicates the isolation range of isolated targets. When activated, Kha'Zix claws the enemy and deals 70/95/120/145/170 + 120% BONUS attack damage or 91/123/156/188/221 + 156% BONUS attack damage. Taste Their Fear costs 25 mana at all ranks and has a 3 second cooldown at all ranks.

Evolved Enlarged Claws: Kha'Zix's claws are evolved and gain 50 units of auto-attack range and Taste Their Fear range. Taste their fear also deals an addition 104% + 10 per level(10*level) damage to ISOLATED targets, rounding out to having 91/123/156/188/221 + 260% BONUS attack damage.

Kha'Zix's Q is his primary damage dealer, and should be immediately taken level 1. While it seems simple, there are quite a few nifty tricks and manipulations that you can do with his Q in order to make it more effective.

The first thing to understand is that Kha'Zix's Q is a spell that does about half, if not even more, of Kha'Zix's total damage. It is his bread and butter, and effective use of Q is key. It's not a difficult spell to use - a short cooldown, low mana cost, and quick cast animation. However, getting the right isolation is tricky, and good isolation control is very important to good Kha'Zix gameplay.

W - Void Spike: Kha'Zix fires spikes in a straight line skillshot, dealing 80/110/140/170/200 +100% BONUS attack damage and slowing for 20% after hitting and detonating on a target. If Kha'Zix is in the detonation range of the spikes, he heals for 40/70/100/130/160 + 50% AP. Void Spike costs 55/60/65/70/75 mana and has a cooldown of 10 seconds at all ranks.

Evolved Spike Racks: Kha'Zix now fires three spikes in a conical skillshot, dealing the same damage per spike, but applying a 50% slow and granting vision of non-stealthed units hit. However, this does not change the healing; even if more than 1 spike lands and detonates in range of Kha'Zix, it doesn't heal him more than the un-evolved amount.

Kha'Zix's W is a great chasing tool, provided you can land it. It also proved Kha'Zix with most of his sustain, and can help VERY much when duelling and clearing at earlier levels. Always level this second. However, it is not something that should take priority in leveling over Q; it should be maxed out second, if not third.

E - Leap: Kha'Zix leaps to a target location and deals 65/100/135/170/205 +20% BONUS attack damage in a small aoe. Leaps costs 50 mana at all ranks and has a cooldown of 20/18/16/14/12 seconds.

Evolved Wings: Kha'Zix leaps farther (1.5 times as far, to be exact) and kills/assist now refresh leap's cooldown.

Leap and Evolved Wings is what Kha'Zix relies on to gap close and gank. It is a very, very effective teamfight tool, allowing Kha'Zix to leap around and reposition very quickly, given resets. While it doesn't contribute much damage, it is a key part of Kha'Zix's kit.

R - Void Assualt: Kha'Zix stealths for 1 second and refreshes Unseen Threat, as well as granting 40% bonus movement speed and the ability to ignore unit collision while stealthed. This can be used twice within fifteen seconds, with a 2 second cooldown in between uses. Void Assualt costs 100 mana at all ranks and has a cooldown of 100/90/80s

Evolved Active Camouflage: Allows Void Assualt to be used 3 times in one cast, and extends the stealth period by 1 second.

Void Assualt may seem to be lackluster - it doesn't provide damage on its own and nor is it a massive teamfight effect, like many other jungler's ults - but it gives Kha'Zix incredible duelling power, chasing power, and is basically a 100/90/80s ghost with a mana cost.

Okay, maybe that wasn't so quick... But maybe you have a better grasp of Kha'Zix's abilities?

Anyhow, I'm not going to sit here and harp on about runes and masteries, there are so many guides out there on Kha'Zix that can provide you with such cases. On the other hand, if you want to follow this guide through, I'll show my favorite runes and masteries on Kha'Zix here.

Masteries:

Runes:

Getting Kha'Zix Going in the Jungle:

Image courtesy of MartsDrew

Now, here we have the meat of the guide: No more scary numbers and expensive runes, let's get cracking!

The key to getting ahead and securing victory as Kha'Zix is getting on track early. He scales extremely well and can really turn the tide of any fight, leaping in to assassinate key champions on the enemy team, or securing important jungle objectives with his massive isolation damage and smite. However, he also falls behind very easily - failing ganks, dying needlessly or spending too much time inactive puts Kha'Zix behind, and Kha'Zix has a LOT of trouble catching up or being relevant in the game if he is behind.

The items are really up to you, but early it is important to make sure you finish your jungle item quickly. It provides so much for Kha'Zix, really everything that he needs - CDR and damage. I like going purple smite/Ranger's Trailblazer, because it gives quite a few nifty tricks to Kha'Zix that you can use to grant easy isolation or dueling power. Always start with a Machete and two potions, upgrading to your preferred smite after your first back.

Kha'Zix's first clear is such a hard clear for him. The first bit is getting the right start. Many junglers like to start botside - a better leash from two players, and sometimes the support will even tank a few hits, getting his or her jungler off to a good start. However, with Kha'Zix, this is not the best way to start. Kha'Zix has the easiest time starting from the Gromp - topside or botside - simply because it is the only starting jungle camp that is isolated. That extra Q damage does so much for his first clear. So then, when moving onto blue buff, you have to keep something in mind - that isolation Q damage. While most junglers go straight for the Blue Sentinal sitting in his camp, Kha'Zix wants to kill the underlings first, while kiting back in order to get away from most of the Sentinal's damage and killing the underlings quickly, thus freeing up blue buff to isolation damage from Q. Obviously, while doing this, be sure to use your W as soon as it is up, so you gain as much health back as possible.

After finishing off blue buff, you should be around 1/2 health, provided that you have been using one or both of your potions. Rush yourself over to the Red Brambleback and repeat, killing the smaller monsters before taking down the Red Brambleback. If you've kited a bit and kept up efficient use of Void Spike, then head to the river and kill the Rift Scuttler, granting a bit of extra gold and XP. This should put you at the high end of level 3 - at this point I'd recommend backing if against an aggressive or invasive jungler, simply because you do not have the HP to fight them. If you're against a passive or farming or slow jungle, then go ahead and take Raptors to get level four, then back and pick up your jungle item.

At this point, if you have a smite charge to use, then you can choose a few different routes: you can move and do an extremely early dragon, picking up a pink ward during your back and committing to a level 4 dragon, or you can gank.

Doing a level 4 dragon is just that: Kha'Zix excels at this because of his isolation damage and his W, which heals just about enough to negate one of dragon's attacks. However, be warned: doing an early dragon like this WILL set you slightly behind, so be prepared to farm for the next bit and keep away from the enemy jungler, who most likely will be outleveling you.

If you decide to gank, there are many tricks and tips that Kha'Zix has to help a gank be successful. Earlier on, while Kha'Zix doesn't have his ultimate that allows him to stealth into a lane and jump onto the target's face, he has a bit more trouble; however, he is still a very effective ganker due to his raw damage output and easy to land slow. When coming into a gank, try and keep your E for as long as possible - preferably so you can chase if the enemy flashes out. However, this does not mean that you cannot use E to initiate a gank: if you are confident in your ability to burst out an enemy champion before they flash, or that your lane can CC the enemy champion before they can react, Leap is a great tool to close the gap and get an effective gank off. If you are going towards this route, then it is best to put your first evolution point into Evolved Wings, so you can leap farther and get resets on kills, which allows for safer tower dives.

If you've gone down the early dragon and succesfully completed your early dragon, then as soon as you can, put your first evolution point into Evolved Enlarged Claws. This will help with clearing the jungle and provide a ton of extra early damage to all the camps, allowing you to farm more efficiently and catch up to the enemy jungler - and in case your enemy jungler comes to invade, you can really pack a punch with your Q.

Image courtesy of Ozcrazy

Mid Game

So now you've gotten past the early phase - either ganking or securing objectives and farming up, and now you've reached the stage where you've started to get your big items on. Of course, your first item is your jungle item, as per usual. Itemization isn't something that I think you should go down the same direction again and again; it is key to be diverse and be able to adapt to different teams. If you find yourself constantly backing or healing because you keep getting bursted or picked out, then take another damage item - a Black Cleaver, a Last Whisper, or a Youmuu's Ghostblade as quickly as possible and start building more defensively - good items for Kha'Zix are Banshee's Veil, Guardian Angel, or Quicksilver Sash. These will help you stay in the fight longer and contribute the damage to burst and zone the carries or outright kill them.

If you've been successfully ganking and have not been forced out of fighting, then continue to stack offensively, going for a Ravenous Hydra if you need the lifesteal and AoE, a Manamune if you've been farming most of the game, in order to start looking at lategame, a Bloodthirster if you find you need more single target damage, on top of a Last Whisper or Black Cleaver or Youmuu's Ghostblade. However, this midgame is where you are at your strongest - able to burst out carries and escape before you yourself are bursted out, and where those carries aren't sitting on items such as Zhonya's Hourglass or Guardian Angel. This is also the stage where you can effectively do damage to tank, so don't be afraid of fighting - you are at your most effective and powerful during this midgame era.

If you're behind during this midgame, either to early deaths, inability to gank, or the enemy jungler has been farming more, then this midgame is where you have to buckle down and focus on objective control. Like Lee Sin, your Q combined with smite puts out a burst of damage that can usually outsmite the enemy jungler, so you can steal dragons or even baron with a quick e-q-smite combination. This is also a period where you can focus on catching people out - as the laning phase comes to a close, you can focus on warding and ambushing enemy supports, midlaners, or ad-carries to catch back up.

The midgame is also a point where teamfights and skirmishes generally start breaking out. This will limit your chances to put down isolation damage, as well as make it much more difficult for you to assassinate carries. Even if you are fed or ahead, you have to remember - you are extremely squishy. You can't take much punishment, and your biggest strength is being able to get in and GET OUT. During these teamfights, be sure to always, always, always keep an eye on your HP and count to yourself what enemy CC's have been used, because if you get stunned in the middle of an enemy team - you're a squished bug.

Late Game

Now, this is where you've passed your point of maximum efficiency. The enemy carries will be itemized, and despite your itemization, in many cases you'll be outleveled and out-itemed because the laners simply have more farm. At this point, you need to play carefully. Hopefully you've found the gold for a defensive item - a Banshee's, a GA, maybe even a Randuin's; however, you have to make sure that the fights you are taking are good. Positioning is key at this point - you have to make every single jump and Q count, because if you miss, you're most likely dead. However, your objective securing power is even greater - with Evolved Q, your baron and dragon burst could potentially be nearing 1500 damage, which means that stealing or securing those two objectives should be a piece of cake. You're still powerful enough to assassinate carries, but in the end you should be the one to ward out, set up picks, and skirt the edges of a teamfight, picking off anyone who isolates themselves from the rest of the team.

Image courtesy of MasterMax1990

Tips and Tricks:

Now that you've got a general idea of Kha'Zix's power during the stages of the game, as well as some detail into building and playing, here are a few nifty tips and tricks I've found that really help bring your inner Kha'Zix out.

- Purple Smite. While it might not slow or damage the enemy like Blue Smite does, it provides such a good sustain item for Kha'Zix in the early jungle, as well as a surprisingly helpful waveclear and ganking tool. When ganking a laner who is not isolated because he/she is surrounded by minions, a quick smite on the minions around the target and a W could potentially clear the wave and leave them wide open for your isolated Q's.

-Q during E. Now, how this works, I'm unsure. Gotta have some mighty good timing, that bug, but every time you fly yourself towards an opponent, remember that you can start the Q animation mid-flight and put a ton of damage down before you even land.

-Using stealth efficiently. If you're dueling an enemy champion, you want to use stealth to avoid as much damage as possible. For example, if you're fighting a bursty champion like Riven, use stealth to back off but keep close when she ults, making it far more difficult for her to hit you with Wind Slash; remember, Void Assualt allows you to run through minions, so you can even use your own or enemy minions as small barricades to create or close distance between you an an opponent.

Itemization:

As I said above, I'm not overly fond of having a set item path to follow. However, for those who do like having that concrete understanding of what to do next, here are my common item paths:

For the first one, I have a setup for when I decide to go the hard-farming route:

When I decide to follow the gank path, I have a different route:

Now, go find Rengar and kill him. Kill. Consume. Adapt.

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