In theory that would work if you never died, but really this build can be shut sown way to easily. In general you should never really rely so much on snow ball items, My akali build is this;

Boots of choice (usually sorc if u can and never get swift or zerker its a waste)
Rylai's
Sheen
Rageblade
Lichbane
something defensive like gardians or a sunfire cape

this is build is a really good build for SR and also u can get a def item before Lich my masteries are
9/21/0 you can go 21/9/0 also but u dont benifit from but other than the last talent havoc.

I am trying a new build a friend of mine shown me which is leave out rage blade and get a void staff or zhonrya's ring, going pure ap and getting your AD passive from runes (2 quints), masteries, and a Doran's blade is enough for Akali.

You shouldn't focus on snowballing items in my opinion as Akali, since you jump right into the fray. Against good teams you are already one of the main focus targets and getting those items would just make you starve all game for damage. I would recommend something that I find so much more consistent.

I wont explain masteries and runes since you want a build guide not a Akali guide, anyways...

Doran's Blade
Boots 1
Sheen
Boots 2 (Sorcerer Treads or Mercury)
Rylai's
Lichbane
Zhonja's Ring
Void Staff
Spam Spell Power Elixers

I disagree. I use longsword + boots of switfness + hextech revolver early game. Gives you both disciplines early and a speed of 3 with Spell Vamp of 26%. Then I go Rylai's RageBlade Lichbane, Hextech Gunblade if it's a long game and it's game over. I went 26/5/12 with this build. And usually maintain a KDR of around 14 on average.


Build Order.
Longsword
Health Potion
Lane till you have 1500
Come back Boots of speed and the tome for your AP buff
Lane till you can afford Hextech Revolver,
Now you are a decent ganker.....
Save as long as possible or if you are on the losing side start building rylai's.... but in a good game you can go straight to rylai's...
Stay out till you can afford Rage Blade
Get Lichbane
If the game goes long enough build up your Hextech Rev into a Hextech Gunblade. Put it in Slot 2. It has an active as well as boosting your AP and AD that does 300 Magic Damage and slows the target.... it is indeed a target projectile with moderate range.
If the game goes super late game Build up your Long Sword into Black Cleaver. Enjoy having 6 super items + the two buffs... and if you kill nashor you are invincible.

Use Exhaust and Ignite. You now have the Gunblade Exhaust and the Shroud to slow people. And if you go mercury treads you get the bonus to cut through armor with your magic damage for the gunblade. Say goodbye to escapes.


You go boots of swiftness because they are cheap and you can get them early which allows you to save for an early rylai's + they are 1 speed faster than the sorc boots or mercury treads.
You get the hextech revolver to stack Spell Vamp. Every time you use an ability you leach life back. Late game you never have to go back, jungling will fill you up because you have Hextech + the Akali discipline that gives 16% Spell Vamp. With Hextech you have 26%. Enjoy.

Mercury treads boots gives you magic pen which cuts through armor, if you didn't wanna go swiftness go mercury treads because akali gets a buff that makes her do a third of her damage extra in magic damage, and mercury treads allows 24%(I might be off a few percent here... this is off memory It is indeed in the 20's under 25) of your magic damage to cut through armor. Much better choice than sorc boots IMO, but not worth the speed sacrifice imo either. AP/AD hyrbid is the only way to go on Akali. Any other type of build is doing it wrong.

Oh and forget about spellpower elixers just grab the creep buffs, grab them both.... and use the money for a blackcleaver instead.... for even more damage.

I tried this yesterday, and have found the following:
1. Don't snowball when solo queue, you do not know what you will be paired with. In this case I go for a core of Doran's Blade / Boots / Rylai's / Lich Bane, as this is a stable AP build that grants you decent amount of survivability.

2. If you are in a premade team, then you could go for this build if you feel secure, it's more rewarding in damage but lacks survivablity and you get punished for deaths. In this case, the core is Long Sword into SotO / Boots / Mejai's / Rylai's.

I tried the 2nd option with duo queue, and it highly depends on your other team mates. I can get into the fight and go burst on everybody but eventually I will die since with this build Akali is really squishy. In the end it's hard to keep it higher than 9/9 stacks, which sort of is paying off the item prices, but it gives nearly the same damage output as the 1st option, except without the survivability.

you only need 1 quint with masteries and a doranas blade for the passive.
if you dont get a dorans blade with akali at lvl one your are building her wrong and are basically nerfing yourself for the entire game because your going to be much weaker early which means you will get to mid/late game slower

second if you can get liz buff all the time then go for the damage items, but if you cant rylais is a must on her, she needs the early hp to survive anything , and the slow she gets from it is what makes her deadly, without a way to slow targets down her dps really suffers and it makes her chase way too long to get her kill.
personally i feel ap is a stronger build, but if you want to go rylias then maybe hextech it could work, but i think straight ap would be a bit stronger

If you get 3x AD quits +1 AD mark + 3 AD from masteries, you can activate akali's AD passive without any items. From there I would recommend Doran's Shield as it provides more survivability and staying power while you lane early game while getting the spellvamp passive as well. Or, you can go with a Doran's Blade and + 4AD from runes/masteries.

Doran's Shield + HP Pot
Boots1
Sheen
Boots2 (merc treads, or if the other team doesn't have much CC, sorcerer's shoes)
Rylai's
Lichbane
Hextech Revolver -> Hextech Gunblade
Zhonya's (sell sheild)
Void Staff

but most games end for me while im building my gunblade.

Your wrong. Do some math, Hyrbid build does most DPS. I don't have to chase anybody, they explode when I touch them, unless they are a Taric, then I Exhaust Ignite, burst them shroud let them get little bit away, then shadow dash and do it again. Shen even dies like a squishy with my build. Only tank that's given me a problem is Taric and even then not a problem.... just longer.

Not to mention, that build with the quint fails for people who don't have all 3 unlocked... and it's waste using glyphs to push you that far.

That is only viable once you are Sum20.

Try it, better yet, pull out a calculator and do the math vs the survivability probability having the extra slows.

My build is better. You won't even need a Doran Shield for staying power if you play safely. More damage is better than any defense on Akali....

Go to mobafire and see what dedicated Akali players prefer..... The build that I just listed is one of the highest rated builds on the entire site. And you thumb it down.

Every game I have played using this build has been a positive KDR. Win or Lose, super positive KDR. I was actually thinking of throwing a Majai's in there too, because regardless of your team, you WILL be positive if you are decent at using Akali, so it's almost a certain you will stack out to the bonus too......

She is virtually unkillable 1v1, she can always escape.... so pick your battles and lane with a synergy if possible and you shouldn't even have the chance to die to often.... just don't be afraid to fall back to your turrets and let them zone you a bit, Akali can farm fast it's better to get the exp waiting and last hitting safely then dieing or going back to early.

"Most games end for me building my gunblade too. Cept I have Rylais LichBane and Rage Blade + Boots + Long Sword + Hextech Revolver. Sometimes I even get the Gunblade at like the 38 minute mark, and if a game takes to 45 I've got a Trinity Force or Black Cleaver too. Because you save money with my build, which makes your end game ridiculously strong.

End Game 45min+
Boots of Speed/Mercury Treads
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Rage Blade
Lich Bane
HexTech Gunblade
TrinityForce/BlackCleaver

And it doesn't take longer to get to mid late game, if you don't suck with your last hits.

I'm already,
Long Sword | Boots of Speed | HexTech Revolver | Rylai's Scepter
at 14 minutes. If it takes you longer you aren't getting enough last hits or ganks or your team is failing to push a tower by then.

How can you beat that build?

You can't run, Shroud ->Exhaust->GunBlade->Ignite + Shadow Dash, you can't out survive it's burst, Mark->Dash->Spin->->Normal->Mark->Dash->Spin->Ignite->Normal is well over 4000 damage, and you can't kill it either because she gets 26% of that back in life, and when she escapes she can jungle 2 neutral groups and be back at max life if she needed to run. Kill it..... you can't unless she makes a mistake and gets caught by 3 or more champions.

Beat that build. She's practically a Carry, she's definitely at least a Semi.

I've seen a dozen of akali's build hybrid, and all of them have been outclassed by an AP akali later in that game, in mirror matches of course.