Kalista’s best build options make her one of the strongest duelists in League of Legends 14.11. Her itemization in the recent meta is also versatile enough to let her go down an On-Hit or a Lethality Playstyle.
The Spear of Vengeance is one of the best ADCs to secure neutral objectives like the Drake and the Baron. Her Rend lets her stack up multiple spears on the target, which can then act as a Smite. This lets her be valuable in securing objectives as well as shredding through tanks if given enough time to attack them.
Kalista is, however, pretty hard to master and she can be rather weak in the Late Game if she falls behind early. But when mastered she is capable of making game-changing moves that can help you clutch out a fight.
She is incredibly rewarding and can help you have an easier time climbing up the competitive ladder.
Contents:
- Best Kalista build
- Pros and Cons of playing Kalista
- Kalista tips and tricks for Early Game, Mid Game, and Late Game
- Kalista counters, matchups, and Support synergy
League of Legends 14.11 Best Kalista build (On-Hit/Lethality)
Runes
| Precision (On-hit)/Domination (Lethality) | Domination (On-hit)/Precision (Lethality) | Passive Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Press the Attack/Hail of Blades | Sudden Impact/Triumph | +10% Attack Speed |
| Triumph/ Taste of Blood | Treasure Hunter/Legend: Alacrity | +9 Adaptive Damage |
| Legend: Alacrity/Eyeball Collection | +10-180 Health (levels 1-18) | |
| Coup de Grace/Treasure Hunter |
Itemization
| On-Hit | Lethality | Situational Items |
|---|---|---|
| Berserker’s Greaves | Opportunity | Guardian Angel |
| Blade of the Ruined King | Berserker’s Greaves | Maw of Malmortius |
| Guinsoo’s Rageblade | Edge of Night | Jak’Sho |
| Terminus | Serpent’s Fang | Phantom Dancer |
| Runaan’s Hurricane | Serylda’s Grudge | Immortal Shieldbow |
| Wit’s End | The Collector | Mercurial Scimitar |
Spells
- Flash
- Heal/Cleanse/Barrier
Skill Unlock Priority
 Q: Pierce | 1 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | |||||||||||||
 W: Sentinel | 3 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | |||||||||||||
 E: Rend | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | |||||||||||||
 R: Fate’s Call | 6 | 11 | 16 |
Note: For Lethality Kalista you will be maxing out your skills in the following order: Q>E>W.
Kalista Pros and Cons in League of Legends Season 14
Pros:
- Irrespective of the build that you are going for, Kalista has a very strong Early Game. She is a lane bully with her Pierce and Rend, and she can start accumulating early advantages with ease. She can chunk out the enemy Bot Lane, push them into their tower, and secure some Tower Plates for herself.
- Kalista has one of the best kiting potentials out of all the ADCs in Riot’s MOBA. She has a very high skill ceiling and her Martial Poise lets her dodge skill shots and enemy CC when used right. She can shred through the enemy team when played right, dancing away and hopping around a skirmish, and being incredibly difficult to pin down.
- Kalista’s Fate’s Call can be game-changing when time perfectly. It can turn a skirmish to your favor and can be used to pull out your ally or use them to engage the enemy team. It’s one of her most powerful CC tools that can help you win teamfights in the later stages of the game.
Cons:
- Kalista’s higher skill ceiling means she is very hard to master. Making the most of Martial Poise is no easy feat and you will need a fair bit of practice on her to be effective in a fight. Incorrectly using Martial Poise can leave her open to an enemy engage making it easy for them to focus her down.
- Kalista is not a good experience in the Late Game if you are behind. This is especially true if you are going down the Lethality route. To be a threat in the Late Game, you will need to keep up in Gold and XP, or even have the gold advantage if you are up against certain team compositions.
- Kalista is incredibly squishy and can be taken down very fast if she is caught by enemy CC. This makes her weak against enemy compositions that have a lot of engage and point-and-click CC. So you will have to kite around the fight well and learn to position her so that it’s hard for the enemy to get the jump on you.
How to play Kalista: Tips and Tricks for League of Legends Season 14
Early Game:
- Kalista has a very strong Early Game. So much of your playstyle in the laning phase will be to try and gain as much advantage as you can. You can rack up a Gold lead by pushing the enemy into their tower and securing Turret Plates. The goal will be to make Kalista’s best build as soon as possible.
- Keep harassing the enemy carry every time they walk up to CS. You can poke them down with your Q+E combo, making it harder for them to last-hit minions. If you have an aggressive engage Support as your lane duo, you will have a good amount of kill threat. You can look to all in on the enemy Bot Lane as soon as you hit Level 3.
- Use your Sentinel strategically. The ability allows you to send out a scout who will patrol a particular area on the map in a straight line. This sentinel will help you spot out the enemy Jungler, and make it harder for them to get a gank off. Along with the sentinel place your Wards around the lane to prevent being caught out by the enemy.
Mid Game:
- Irrespective of the On-hit or Lethality build that you are going for, Kalista will get a fair amount of agency in the Mid Game. She becomes a teamfighting powerhouse at this point so feel free to look for skirmishes and position aggressively with the rest of your team. If positioned well, Kalista can shred through the entire enemy frontline.
- Look to take down objectives every chance you get. Kalista’s Rend is amazing at securing neutral objectives. It acts as a second Smite that your team will be able to rely on during a 50-50. Additionally, if you are going On-Hit with Kalista, she is capable of melting through the objective because of the amount of attack speed she gets from her build.
- If not much is happening around the map, you will need to stick to the Mid Lane and look for priority there. Keep farming to extend your lead, and go in on the enemy carry with your support if you find them isolated. Fate’s Call will help your support close the gap with the enemy and even knock them up.
Late Game:
- Lethality Kalista will fall off quite a bit in the Late Game. Unlike her On-Hit counterpart, she will not have the same DPS output, however, she will have access to a fair bit of poke. You can look to harass the enemy with her Pierce and chunk them out even before a fight starts.
- On-Hit Kaisa will have a fair bit of agency in the Late Game. If given enough room you will be able to use her to melt through the enemy frontline. Making it significantly easier for the rest of your team to collapse on them. Use your Fate’s Call well in the Late Game, look to catch out the enemy backline with it if you get the chance.
- Keep positioning around objectives and star to take them if the enemy team is not around. However, make sure to peel away from the Baron or Drake if the enemy is looking to contest. You will need to positision Kalsita well to make the most of her. Getting yourself trapped in the pit when the enemy collapses on you is not going to be a fun outcome.
Kalista counters, matchups, and Support synergy
Countered by:
Kalista has a harder time getting Gold advantages when up against the above Bot Lane picks.
Favorable matchups:
Kalista has a much easier time in lane against the above picks.
Support Synergy:
Kalista’s kit synergizes perfectly with the above Support picks.
