Kayn has one of the most unique kits in the game, having the ability to choose a specific form and transform the champion’s strengths in the game. Whether you want to play the assassin version or the bruiser one, Kayn will give you that freedom.
That said, each version requires a different playstyle, and, most importantly, different build and runes combinations. In season 13, this difference is even clearer, especially given the introduction of jungle companions and how their effects can empower the two forms.
While Kayn always used to have a better form in the previous years, the latest buffs to the champion in Patch 13.3 have balanced out both forms’ strengths, so now the main focus is deciding which version of Kayn fits better in the given match or team composition. This means that it’s crucial to learn and master both versions in order to get the most out of the Shadow Reaper in season 13.
Here are the best builds for Kayn in League of Legends.
Best runes for Kayn
Conqueror: Red Kayn works best during extended teamfights thanks to its sustain-based kit and reposition with his E and ultimate. With that in mind, there is no better option than Conqueror from the Precision tree. It increases his adaptive force when casting spells and auto attacks, and it grants additional healing at max stacks. While it’s not a game-changer, it further fuels Kayn’s skirmishing ability.
Triumph: Kayn’s kit in red form is revolved around healing. Triumph adds another layer of potential sustain he can get. Considering he will always be in the mix and tanking thousands and thousands of damage, the rune is a good way to restore a couple hundred of health points. On top of that, it also gives a little bit of extra gold, which is always handy.
Legend: Tenacity: Red Kayn can’t really take advantage of the other two runes in the third row of the Precision tree, so Tenacity is the best stat he can get. It allows him to reduce enemies’ crowd control duration by up to 20 percent. Paired with other Tenacity sources, he can lower the duration quite substantially.
Last Stand: Kayn needs to fight for a long time in order for its kit and items to become effective. Last Stand not only makes him stronger when he’s falling below 30 percent health, but it also synergizes particularly well with his ultimate, increasing the damage and, therefore, the potential healing he can receive when exiting from Umbral Trespass.
Inspiration
Magical Footwear: When it comes to the second rune tree on Kayn, it’s wise to give the champion a bit of utility. With Magical Footwear, you will get free boots at the 12th minute, unless you score some takedowns first, which reduces the time you have to wait for them. Regardless, you will save 300 gold that can be funneled into other items.
Cosmic Insight: Looking at how Kayn will have plenty of items with their own useful abilities, it’s also sensible to choose Cosmic Insight. It grants 18 summoner spell haste and 10 item haste, reducing the cooldowns of your Flash and the charge time on your smite. This rune is useful throughout all stages of the game, so make sure to always go for it.
Bonuses: +9 adaptive force, +9 adaptive force, +6 armor
Best runes for Blue Kayn
Dark Harvest: Contrary to Red Kayn, the Blue version wants to burst down squishy targets as quickly as possible. Therefore, Dark Harvest is the keystone rune to run since it’s the best one when it comes to shutting down enemies.
While it’s weaker early on, the rune can quickly ramp up its damage when Kayn gets access to his Blue form and starts one-shotting champion on the map. All you have to do is keep stacking the rune throughout the game.
Sudden Impact: Blue Kayn will use its Shadow Step (E) a lot more often since the cooldown is reduced to eight seconds flat. This means that anytime he goes through a wall or in the fog of war, the champion will have access to extra armor penetration and magic penetration. Considering that Blue Kayn’s passive is magic damage, he will take advantage of both shredding effects.
Eyeball Collection: Assassin Kayn wants to take as many kills as possible, so Eyeball Collection is the best rune that increases his snowball potential. It’s an influential addition of 18 attack damage, which can amount to a couple of hundred extra damage during a game.
Ingenious Hunter: Given that Kayn has quite a lot of item effects with cooldowns in his build, this rune makes sure he can have them ready sooner.
Inspiration
Magical Footwear: similar to Red Kayn, the rune saves him the gold, which he can use to rush the core items. Even more so than Rhaast, Shadow Assassin wants to get more offensive stats to create leads.
Future’s Market: The rune is a great way for Blue Kayn to complete the item purchases earlier, which are essential to initiate snowballs.
Bonuses: +9 adaptive force, +9 adaptive force, +6 armor
Best Red Kayn build
Since Red Kayn can’t really take advantage of the red or blue jungle companion, always choose the green version for the additional shield and tenacity. It’s the best one when you’re planning to transform into Rhaast.
Goredrinker: Red Kayn is yet another bruiser that prioritizes Goredrinker in his build. Despite the changes to the item in patch 13.1b, he’s still one of the few champions that need to build the item.
Not only does it grant him all the stats he needs, but it also gives him the active effect that heals him when hitting enemy champions. The healing effect increases with its missing health, which works perfectly with his own kit. Paired with all the sustain he gets from his own abilities, Kayn will become a healing machine in the late game.
Black Cleaver: While Riot nerfed Goredrinker, Black Cleaver was buffed in the same patch. The item is currently too gold-efficient to not rush: it gives attack damage, health, ability haste, and most importantly, the shredding effect. Kayn can make the most out of all these stats and get an important item spike after closing out this item.
Mercury’s Treads: For any bruiser in League, the boots’ choice always depends on the enemy team. When you are facing heavy AD-oriented team compositions, Plated Steelcaps are always the better choice. That said, Mercury’s Treads are better in most situations, as you always need a little bit of magic penetration early on, and the extra tenacity is always useful (and it adds up with the tenacity coming from the runes).
Death’s Dance: All of Kayn’s items core items were changed in Patch 13.1b, and Death Dance is no exception. Given that they removed the ability haste and tweaked its passive effect, the item is no longer a strong second-item purchase on Rhaast. That being said, if Kayn needs armor for teamfights later into the game, Death Dance is still an effective third-item slot (if we don’t consider boots).
Serylda’s Grudge: While you already have armor penetration with Black Cleaver, players have realized that Rhaast is stronger when also building Serylda’s Grudge. Not only because it grants a flat 30 percent armor penetration, but it has a slow effect applied to all of Kayn’s abilities. This makes his short-range abilities easy to hit, as well as allows him to stick to his targets in case they are trying to run away.
Spirit Visage: As you enter the late game, you will quickly realize that Kayn’s abilities and kit aren’t enough on their own to keep you alive long enough for you to do some serious damage. Therefore, in many cases, it’s smart to pick up Spirit Visage, even if the enemies don’t have an AP-heavy composition. With that, you will bolster your defensive stats like health and magic resistance, and enhance your healing even more. The item is also a great way to reduce enemies’ potential anti-healing effects, which most will build later on in the game.
Guardian Angel: In case you need to get more armor rather than magic resistance, then consider building Guardian Angel as the last item. It has a powerful revive effect that can be crucial in late-game teamfights: you can use it to bait enemies and fight until the very end. It’s particularly strong on Kayn since he can immediately use Umbral Trespass when he revives, get back to full health, and continue fighting.
Best Blue Kayn build
Blue Kayn usually wants the blue jungle companion, which grants extra movement speed when moving around bushes and killing jungle monsters. It makes Kayn even more mobile than he already is, and omnipresent on the map.
Prowler’s Claw: Blue Kayn, on the other hand, wants to get as much lethality as possible to burst down targets. Prowler’s Claw grants a good amount of it already, but it adds even more when finishing other Legendary items. On top of that, the item has the active effect that increases the damage dealt by 15 percent to the target that Kayn dashes to, making it perfect to one-shot squishy targets with one combo
Ionian Boots of Lucidity: Shadow Assassin wants to get lots of ability haste to spam all his abilities, so these boots are the best for their value.
Muramana: While junglers have increased mana regeneration, Shadow Assassin still burns through its entire mana pool quite quickly. With that in mind, you want to build Muramana to get rid of all these potential mana issues and get significant bonus damage on the abilities.
Serylda’s Grudge: Similar to Red Kayn, Blue Kayn also wants this item to increase the chances to hit his abilities.
Edge of Night: This is the defensive item that lethality champions always want to get. While it doesn’t grant defensive resistances, it has a powerful spell shield that negates any threatening ability or crowd control. The passive’s cooldown isn’t that high, which means Kayn will have it ready in any fight.
Guardian Angel: Since Shadow Assassin doesn’t rely on healing and sustain, you want to get Guardian Angel for the revive passive. In case you get burst down or mess up in fights, you will have an extra opportunity to continue fighting.
