Looking for a mobile mage with tons of burst damage? Do you like being in the thick of fights despite being a squishy champion? Then you came to the right place! In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know to get you started playing Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Ahri is definitely one of the most interesting champions in League of Legends. Apart from her fascinating lore, her kit is extremely versatile. She has everything you could possibly want from a mid lane mage. She has great wave clear, good sustain, strong burst, excellent mobility, and a bit of crowd control. This versatility is both her biggest strength and her biggest weakness. Being good at a lot of things means she doesn’t particularly excel at anything. So, it’s up to you to make sure you get ahead and secure leads in order to make the most out of her kit.

Abilities

Like we’ve mentioned before, Ahri’s kit has a lot of things going for her but she isn’t great at anything. You need to utilize this versatility to your advantage to cover up for her weakness.

Passive – Essence Theft

Ahri gains 1 Essence Fragment whenever she kills a minion or monster. After obtaining 9 fragments, she consumes them to heal herself. When Ahri scores a takedown against an enemy champion within 3 seconds of damaging them, she consumes their essence to heal herself.

This is Ahri’s source of sustain. Essence Theft is a pretty straightforward passive that does what it does very efficiently. Try to pay attention to how many fragments you have so that you’ll know when you can proc the heal.

Q – Orb of Deception

Ahri sends out and pulls back her orb, dealing magic damage on the way out and true damage on the way back.

Orb of Deception is Ahri’s most important ability. It is your main source of damage and wave clear. You should learn how far its range is so that you can make the most out of the damage it deals. It’s worth noting that the orb deals more damage on the way back instead of on the way out.

W – Fox-Fire

Ahri gains 40% bonus movement speed, decaying over 2 seconds and releases fox-fires that seek nearby enemies and deal magic damage. Enemies hit with multiple fox-fires take 30% damage from each additional fox-fire beyond the first. Deals double damage against minions below 20% health.

Fox-Fire is another damaging ability that you can use in your combos. Like with most of Ahri’s kit, it’s pretty self-explanatory. It deals more damage with no other targets around you and an enemy.

E – Charm

Blows a kiss dealing magic damage and charms an enemy causing them to walk harmlessly towards Ahri and immediately stopping in-progress movement abilities.

Charm is your only source of crowd control. With that said, make sure you try to land it whenever you’re going to trade with an enemy. 

R – Spirit Rush

Nimbly dashes forward firing 3 essence bolts at nearby enemies (prioritizing champions) dealing magic damage. Can be cast up to 3 times within 15 seconds before going on cooldown. Consuming a champion’s essence with Essence Theft while active extends the ability’s recast duration by and up to 10 seconds and grants an additional recast, storing up to 3 recasts.

This ability is what ties Ahri’s kit together. Spirit Rush is your source of mobility. When activating it, it fires three essence bolts that deal damage. The cool thing about this ability is that you can cast it up to 6 times under the right circumstances.

Runes and Item Builds

When it comes to items, you should focus on increasing Ahri’s magic damage and survivability by buying ability power items.

Starting Items

Ahri’s starting items depend on her matchup. If she’s against a champion that has an advantage towards her in the early game, you should go for Corrupting Potion as it gives you sustain and increases your damage when trading. However, if you’re in a winning matchup, go with Doran’s Ring instead since it gives you all the stats you need to make it out of the laning phase.

Mythic Item

When it comes to your Mythic Item, you have three good choices. The best choice is Everfrost since it gives you all the stats you need plus an active that lets you root targets. It’s a great combo to have when used in tandem with your ultimate and other abilities. The next good option is Luden’s Tempest because of all the burst you can get when using it. The last good alternative is Hextech Rocketbelt which basically gives you another dash apart from the dash you get from your ultimate.

Full Build

After purchasing your desired Mythic, it’s time to upgrade into tier 2 boots. Since Ahri’s a mage, go for Sorcerer’s Shoes. Next go for Shadowflame for the health, ability power, and a passive that increases your magic damage. After that, go for Horizon Focus which increases your damage with a non targeted ability. Up next, you’ll need a Zhonya’s Hourglass to help you outplay opponents in certain situations. Finally, top off your build with a Rabadon’s Deathcap to increase your overall damage. 

Runes

For your runes, go with the Domination tree and take Electrocute as your keystone. Electrocute increases your total damage output when you use your abilities. Next, take Taste of Blood for the heal, Eyeball Collection for more damage, and Ultimate Hunter to increase your cooldown reduction on your ultimate. For secondaries, take Biscuit Delivery and Time Warp Tonic from the Inspiration tree. These will increase your overall sustain in the early game. For rune shards, take Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Magic Resist.

Useful Tips

1. Ahri is a very combo based champion. Try to be creative when figuring out how to start your combos and how to chain your abilities effectively.
2. Ahri is countered by Zed, Yasuo, Azir, Akshan, and Irelia. If you’re matched up against these champions, try to play it safe instead of being aggressive.
3. For your summoner spells, take Flash and Ignite to give you more utility and to help you secure early leads. If you want to play it safe, you can swap out Ignite for Heal, Barrier, or Cleanse.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Ahri in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!