Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest

Kennen is a spaztic yordle of pure amazingness. His lightning spells, when used correctly, can win you a team fight due to his single-target burst + stun and AoE burst + stun. Also, with his built-in Ghost spell Lightning Rush, the little bugger is a pain to get away from or chase. My build is a tanky AP build that nets Kennen amazing survivability while also letting him destroy enemies.


Abilities
Let's get a little background on his abilities first.

Automatic Passive: Mark of the Storm

Kennen is built all around his Marks of the Storm. This is his only real CC and is situational, but easy to obtain. All 4 of his skills put a mark on an enemy and his W skill can put 2 on someone with its passive and its active.

Q: Thundering Shuriken
Spammable, but easy to dodge, this is Kennen's longest ranged way to apply a Mark of the Storm. This is great to grief enemies with before a team fight and to prematurely apply Marks of the Storm.

W: Electrical Surge
Your early-game ultimate griefing, this skill's passive is annoyingly situational but amazing. Before roaming, try to have the passive on-hit Mark ready for use.

E: Lightning Rush
Kennen's expensive built-in Ghost, this skill is amazing to get around with but also to farm and kill with. Be careful, though, because it costs over half of Kennen's energy.

R: Slicing Maelstrom
This skill tends to cause mass chaos and make enemies go wild, making it fun and effective. Your best time to use this is after you've Lightning Rushed all the enemies and used Electric Surge. This will cause a huge AoE stun and nuke on all enemies that were hit by the previous two skills (pure win).


Summoner Spells
Next up are what summoner spells you should take when playing my Kennen build.

Spell 1: Ignite or Cleanse. This is all dependant on your playstyle preference, but I always go with Ignite cause I'm so offensive with him.
Spell 2: Flash. Duh.


Masteries
Due to Kennen being dependant on Energy instead of Mana, his masteries are a little wack compared to other casters.

11/0/19

Offensive
Archmage's Savvy: 3/3
Deadliness: 1/3
Alacrity: 1/4
Sorcery: 4/4
Blazing Embers: 1/1
Archaic Knowledge: 1/1

Utility
Good Hands: 2/3
Perseverence: 3/3
Awareness: 4/4
Greed: 1/1
Utility Mastery: 2/2
Quickness: 3/3
Blink of an Eye: 1/1
Intelligence: 3/3


Runes
Marks: Greater Insight (+.95 Magic Penetration)
Seals: Greater Force (+.1 Ability Power per level / +1.8 at level 18)
Glyphs: Greater Focus (-.65% Cooldowns)
Quintessences: Greater Fortitude (+32.4 Health)


Ability Order
Your main focus should be Eletrical Surge. Other than that, upgrade the other two skills evenly and get your ult anytime you can.

Level 1: [W] Eletrical Surge 1
Level 2: [Q] Thundering Shuriken 1
Level 3: [W] 2
Level 4: [E] Lightning Rush 1
Level 5: [E] 2
Level 6: [R] Slicing Maelstrom 1
Level 7: [W] 3
Level 8: [Q] 2
Level 9: [W] 4
Level 10: [Q] 3
Level 11: [R] 2
Level 12: [E] 3
Level 13: [W] 5
Level 14: [Q] 4
Level 15: [E] 4
Level 16: [R] 3
Level 17: [Q] 5
Level 18: [E] 5


Items
Kennen's item build varies slightly depending on the situation, but it's generally the same.

General Items
Doran's Ring (Always) [Sell at the end for Zhonya's if need be]
Sorceror's Shoes
Rylai's Crystal Scepter (Always)
Sunfire Cape (Always)
Sunfire Cape
Zhonya's Ring

Situational Items
Abyssal Scepter: If you need Magic Resistance.
Guardian Angel: If you're dying too often.
Mercury Treads: If there's lots of enemy CC.
Mejai's Soulstealer: If you're stomping the enemies hardcore.


In-game Tips
NOTE: With this guide I am assuming you are soloing mid. If not, things will be slightly different.
NOTE: Items with []'s around them means that you may be able to afford at the time if you're doing really well. Items with ()'s around them are Situational Items.

Early Game
Auto-attack creeps that aren't in danger of dying soon to charge up your W, then hit your enemy solo-midder with the Mark attack then activate W. Do this anytime you can safely do so. Be sure to be last-hitting as many minions as possible while harassing the enemy as well. Avoid using Lightning Rush unless the enemy gets cocky and leaves him/herself open for a death. Try not to spam Shuriken unless you have a good shot. If you start getting harassed yourself, stay back and just farm. Try to avoid having to recall until you have at least 1460 gold to buy a Giant's Belt and Boots of Speed.

Items: Doran's Ring, Giant's Belt (Mejai's Soulstealer), Boots of Speed, [Amplifying Tome].

Mid Game
Start roaming and ganking as you see fit, but don't let mid lane die in the process. Only ever take golem/lizard if none of your allies need it/it's more useful for them. Help with dragon when needed, but don't try to solo it unless you have your Rylai's. By now, you should be able to farm whole creep waves easily by using Lightning Rush --> Eletric Surge then last-hitting all of them. Contine farming and/or roaming until the all-mid showdown begins. Once it does, be sure to constantly snipe enemies with your Thundering Shuriken when the teams aren't in a huge battle. When the battles do commence, try to stay back until the initial blasts have gone off, then Lightning Rush in, use Electric Surge, Ignite an enemy while doing so, pop Maelstrom, and spam Shuriken + auto-attacks on the target. Use your skills as needed to finish the enemies off or get away.

Items: Sorceror's Shoes (Mercury Treads), Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Sunfire Cape, [Abyssal Scepter / Guardian Angel / Sunfire Cape #2]

Late Game
By now, your damage will have dropped off a bit because of you only have 2 (3) AP items. Don't fret! That's what the Sunfire Cape(s) is(are) for. You should be a tanky kamikazi bomb of pure destruction and be one of the main initators for fights now. Lightning Rush in and use the regular skill combo while you laugh as they aim at you instead of your carry(ies).

Items: Sunfire Cape #2 (Abyssal Scepter / Guardian Angel), Zhonya's Ring.


This is my story.. I mean Kennen guide: use it well and enjoy being the yordle of chaotic death and destruction.

What do you think about haunting g. + sorc shoes + magic pen runes + mastery ?
because in this case you can do kinda full damage with ~ -60magic pen.
Well i must agree that very very important thing for him is something with survivability + AP like rylais, but with sunfire doesnt he become kind of a tank ? i'd rather replace it with some AP things.
Oh and mejai is so situational, its nice to get it early game, but just so way too situational.

I like this build. My build is similar to this but is missing sunfire cape. I may have to try that sometime.

AP kennen guides hurt my brain.

I second that notion. Ap Kennen Guides hurt my brain

Wow, first time with this build, 20/7/21, best in the team
Great job!

Why Doran's Ring over Shield?

Last time I checked, some Health Regen and Armor is better in the laning phase than a tidbit more damage on your abilities.

Other than that, the build is fairly solid.