Kayn Season 11 Updated Guide
Kayn is an incredibly flexible champion in League of Legends for the Jungle role. With his two forms, Kayn can adapt to any situation and become the type of jungler you need for the particular enemy team composition. This makes him a great champion to main because he accommodates a variety of different play styles. Kayn also excels at hard carrying a game at low ELO’s. For those of you looking to climb the competitive ladder, you should probably learn to play Kayn, or at least learn to play against him.
- How Kayn Works
- What Kayn Form is Better? Red Kayn vs Blue Kayn
- Can Kayn Change Forms?
- What is the best Kayn Build?
- What Runes are best on Kayn?
- Where Does Kayn Start in the Jungle?
- How to gank as Kayn
- How to Transform Kayn Fast
- How to Use Kayn’s Abilities
- What are Kayn’s Combos?
- Can Kayn solo carry?
How Kayn Works
Kayn is in conflict with his living weapon – the big scythe he uses. During the course of the game, he will wither master it (Blue Kayn) or it will take control of him (Red Kayn). A meter around your portrait begins to fill each time you hit an enemy champion with an attack or ability. By hitting melee champions, you are moving toward Red Kayn. Hitting ranged champions will move you closer to Blue. Once your meter is full, you will be able to transform into either blue or red. Simply go back to the starting platform and click on the form in the portrait to transform. If you do not want to transform to the form that is currently available, just wait three minutes and the other form will be available also.
What Kayn Form is Better? Red Kayn vs Blue Kayn
This is probably the most interesting question about this champion and will change based on the current patch. For the most part, Red excels at being a tank/bruiser combo and shredding other tank and melee champions. Blue plays more like a backline assassin and excels at diving and eliminating the damage dealers behind the tanks. Red lives longer with some built-in healing in his kit while blue tends to devour squishies with one combo and use his ultimate as a reset and escape.
Which form is better? I believe that it really depends on the enemy team composition. What does your team need you to do in team fights to turn them in your favor? Knowing how both forms work and the play styles of each will make you a hard player to beat.
In the Current meta Red Kayn appears to be stronger.
Can Kayn Change Forms?
Unfortunately no. Once you have selected your form from the starting platform, you are locked in for the rest of the game. You are not locked until you actually transform. If your ganking opportunities give you the wrong form first, just wait to transform three minutes and the other form will be available. Just make sure to click the correct side of the circle when both forms are available.
What is the best Kayne Build?
Blue Kayn
Build Blue like an assassin. Boots of swiftness are great for increasing your map presence but can be substituted for tenacity boots if needed. Rush lethality items and use the ember knife as your jungle item and build Guardian Angel to round out your build. This will give you a ton more threat as a backline assassin.
Start with Emberknife
Ember Knife > Duskblade > Ghostblade > Swifties > The Collector > Serpent Fang > Guardian Angel
Red Kayn
Build Red like a top lane bruiser. Goredrinker is your preferred Mythic item. It synergizes with Re Kayn’s healing and can create massive swings in crucial fights. Black Cleaver is a must-have item as well. This gives you a big health pool advantage and then you can get a few tank items. Spirit Visage amplifies your healing (one of red’s biggest strengths), Sterak’s Gage, Death’s Dance, and Ravenous Hydra give you the ability to mitigate enemy burst and survive long enough to take out multiple targets.
Ember Knife > Goredrinker > Black Cleaver > Plated Steelcaps > Death’s Dance > Spirit Visage > Ravenous Hydra
What Runes are best on Kayn?
There is quite a debate on this topic, but it generally boils down to either Conqueror or Dark Harvest as your keystone. Each offers something incredible to the build so it really just depends on your personal playstyle. Here are two examples:
Conqueror > Triumph >Tenacity > Coup de Grace >Sudden Impact > Ravenous Hunter
Dark Harvest > Sudden Impact > Eyeball Collection > Ravenous Hunter > Triumph > Coup de Grace
I recommend 2 – Adaptive force and 1- Armor as your electives.
Where Does Kayn Start in the Jungle?
Kayn does not need a leash to start. This gives your team a big advantage upfront. Start at the Raptors and always start with your “Q” ability. Tuck yourself into the back corner of the raptor pit and when they spawn, Q toward the entrance. You should hit each one. Then you do your standard attack and move until Q is back up. Q through the pack once more and you should be good to go.
Take W second and immediately do your Red Buff. From there you can path to the golems (recommended) or move to the blue side and take the buff and scuttle crab. After you hit level three take your E ability and ganks will be much easier.
How to Gank as Kayn
Since Kayn’s E allows him to walk through walls, you can gank from very unconventional directions. The key is to be unpredictable. If the enemy bot lane is pushed toward a friendly tower, it sets up a good position for you to gank easily. Top lane has similar returns. Mid lane is probably the hardest to use the terrain to your advantage but is definitely not out of the question.
How to Transform Kayn Fast
There is really only one answer to this question. You must hit more enemy champions. The faster you acquire orbs from combat, the faster your meter will fill. Gank early but gank wisely. The last thing you want is to get behind because you were too greedy in the early game. This is what separates the good Kayn players from the great.
How to Use Kayn’s Abilities
Kayn’s Q is a dash that deals damage at the end of which he swings his scythe dealing additional damage in a crescent. This is great for multi-target clears in the jungle and it makes it hard for enemy champions to escape once Kayn is on top of them. Q has a very low cool down at the end of the game and will be a huge source of your overall damage.
His W doubles as both an engagement tool and a CC effect. It will either slow (blue) or knock up (red) the enemy and will deal damage as well. This work really well as you exit a piece of terrain. You can impair the target and then use Q to close any remaining gap before you auto-attack.
His E is a mobility ability that allows Kayn to have superior positioning in both lane phase and team fights. It has a high cool down in the early game but it is drastically lower in the late game.
Kayn’s R does three things. It deals damage, it gives you time for your abilities to come off cooldown, and it is a good escape tool (like a Zhongas).
What are Kayn’s Combos?
Kayn’s main combo is W > Auto > Q > Auto > Auto > Q. You can use your E to either initiate or escape and then your ultimate either finishes the fight or resets your combo.
Can Kayn Solo Carry?
Absolutely. Kayn, when well fed, is extremely effective at any ELO. He can totally annihilate the enemy team comp and it is hard to have an effective strategy against him because of his inherent flexibility. If you master Kayn in low ELO’s, he can definitely help you climb.
