Help me get into the mindset to play Kassadin. So I purchased him recently and he's becoming one of my fav assassin casters (played maybe 15 games as him so far).. however, I'm not very good at him (yet). I've seen those crazy Kassadins that have amazing kdas and strike fear into the enemy team as soon as he appears - yeah I wanna be like that. 8D

1st - positioning
Anyways, how do you position Kass in a teamfight? Should he always be off to the side or hidden? Most of my previous champs have had some sort of initiation ability, or some sort of CC which makes them good to go in as, say, the 2nd person into the fight. Obviously Kassadin shouldn't initiate - how do I get better at positioning him? Should I be doing anything between cooldowns? Should I let my teammates start off as a 4v5 then come in? What if they aren't doing so well - I have this urge to hop in and help. D:

2nd - mid lane
I usually take mid as Kass but I'm not comfortable enough playing him to secure kills in mid. He's obviously great at roaming once he hits 6 - but what about my tower? I feel like I can't leave my lane if I'm going against someone who can quickly push their lane. Since I play him in normals I can't count on having a jungler in most games. Also, how do I deal with ranged AD in mid? Maybe I'm just doing it wrong but usually I get harassed (they will trade AA hits with me when I move forward to Q). Esp Ashe because of the slow, and no I don't get hit by volley.
Is sidelane Kass even worth it? Or am I better off picking another champ if I have to side lane?

3rd - items
I find farming with Kass extremely painful early/mid game >.> if I'm doing well, what kinds of items should I be getting at certain levels? For example TF is one of my mains, my first trip back I always have enough gold for boots 1 and a sheen (level 6), then I ult to go gank. What should I be getting on Kass? I can't seem to get as awesome of a CS as TF, I'll have to work on that. I start with meki + 2 hp pots, I like getting a ToG so I can start stacking mana but I feel like it makes him weak / low damage early/mid game... any good alternatives?

I use my generic AP caster page (flat hp quints, mpen marks, mp5 seals, flat cdr glyphs) and I run 9-0-21 with mana masteries and I almost always choose ignite/cleanse.

If anyone has any advice or links to videos (no cut clips of owning, but whole games so I can watch the small details of positioning, farming, etc) they would be muuch appreciated. This is when I really wish LoL had replays.

for positioning I usually just hop in to silence their caster who is dealing the most damage from spells and hop out and continue to go in/out with FP and Q till i get a kill

Not a Kassadin expert but i did have a lengthy affair with him for 50 games or so, had some great ones in that time.

1- I like sitting off to the side, suits his playstyle really, you can quickly get in when you have to with R. I always prefered to the side and a little behind the enemy, this way you can scout it if anybody leaves their team (and either kill them if your strong enough or engage on the rest), this also has the benefit in that if the enemy team engages on your team you can come up from behind and silence their AP nuke or support easily, aswell as killing any runners. Get out of the immediate area when spells are on cooldown, land some Q's and use R + E to hit and slow the enmies, getting ready to chase anyone down.

2- Most lanes get pushed to your tower as your playing defensively until level 6, practice last hitting off the tower for farm. only try Q Ashe when you have a fresh minion wave its more protection from volley and if she follows through with auto-attacks she'll get some nice minion aggro damage. I dont mind Kass in side lane with a solid lane partner, it allows for sometimes better farm, more preference than anything.

3- Pick up an early Tear, Sorcerer's and then go for a Rod of Ages. Try to hold off going back till boots + tear (easier if you start with meki/crystal) seeing as you run HP quints you should be fine too.

Other: Runes and masteries are good. I prefer Ghost/Flash & Ignite though. Again preference and playstyle.

1. Positioning is key. Before an initiation, you use Q to poke. It hurts and is usually hard to punish...because he made you be quiet. Never initiate, never riftwalk in before CC is used. I prefer to try and target a caster, Q, walk in, E as many targets as possible, walk or R out of most range, Q and E again. Try and prioritize targets though. You should be taking out their most dangerous member. Don't be afraid to R on someones head if they're running away. It actually does damage!

2. Mid is really your best option. I take Ignite every game as Kassadin because it's just too useful. You can even use it to counter potions! Early during laning, use Q to help last hit. Until lvl 3, it doesn't really hurt. Lvl 3 Q hurts though. After you obtain it at 5, land it on the enemy champ every time it's up. At 6, he should be half HP and it should be as simple as, Q, R, E, Ignite, melee 'til dead.

3. Kass needs farm. Using Q to help last hit in the very early levels totally helps this. Also, watch for multiple minions to be below half and try to get a few at a time with E. Using your skills to farm isn't a waste of mana. Just try to keep enough for your combo if you need it. By mid game you should be able to almost completely obliterate a creepwave with E.

I prefer taking Sapphire Crystal/Meki 2x red pot, Tear of Goddess, Boots 1, Sorceror's Shoes, Hard AP item *rabadons or Mejai's*, Glacial Shroud or Abyssal Scepter. Games usually over not too long after that. If it does continue, complete your Archangels Staff and decide on either more defense or more AP. Probably more AP.

9x Mpen Reds
9x mp5/lvl Yellows
9x Scaling MR/Flat CDR Blue's
3x Movespeed Quints

9/0/21

Ignite and Tele/Cleanse

Basically, AFTER the fight has started(usually means lots of spells unloaded, go up to their mage and unload ur combo, then GTFO with ur ult, when shoot silence balls, when ur combo is up again, pick off low hp enemies.

thanks for the posts! 8)

until u get more comfortable with him try sidelaning with a friend who is good with taric because i personally never lose w/ that combo because then u have a silence, slow, stun, heal, armor buff, armor debuff, and tarics awsome ult that gives tons of bonus damage and regen

For AP Kassadin

1) Positioning: Hidden, near walls

2) Mid, See NinjaChurch intro to Kassadin, basically level 2 in Q and begin harassment, I prefer to regen mana with NetherBlade passive so i get that at lvl 2 then max Force pulse 1st priority after ult. [EDIT]: for clarity: Q,W,Q,E,E,R,E (By E I hope I mean force pulse and W is netherblade)

3) items & Farming: Tear and boots irregardless of whether you're doing AP or AD as 1st items. If going AD rush manamune. With AP i tend not to rush Archangels and I get another AP item 1st. Farming for me is primarily assists or kills i.e Kass excels at farming champions instead of minions. He's an assasin i.e a ganker.

Mindset: Best advice I ever got for Kassadin went something like this: "If you're up against a good Kassadin, don't think twice, he's there! If you want to be a good Kassadin, Be there!"


[EDIT]: this is the link to ninjachurch's guide. I no longer run his masteries of ignite and heal but i'll admit they're excellent on Kass even more so when i was starting. This guide not only persuded me to Kass but actually is the video I watched and decided to try LoL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Rk-...BBE01564DA682C