'Another Trophy for my Wall' | Kali Jungle Guide | Patch 4.4 Update

Heartseeker:

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Heartseeker saw a pretty significant price increase from 2100 - 2400 gold this patch. In my opinion it's still gonna be viable, but this will shut down her early power spike a little bit. This also means that other assassins that REALLY liked Heartseeker like Fenrir, Ratatoskr, and Thanatos are gonna get shut down hard by this too, making Kali's early game less difficult when facing these early game match-ups.

Fatalis:

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Fatalis (the tier 2, not T3) saw a 5% decrease in attack speed this patch which will obviously hurt Kali a little bit. But this is pretty insignificant, the full item's attack speed is unaffected so all this change does is make the T2 of the item a bit less potent in the early game.

Hastened Fatalis:

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Speaking of the T3 of fatalis. It also saw a nerf this patch, upping the cost of the item for 2150 - 2300. This will delay the time when Kali can really start shredding by a little bit. Though this will also affect Hunters which, combined with the nerf to T2 Fatalis, could make the item less relevant meaning Hunters can't kite and box Kali as easily.

Apollo nerfs, Xbalanque buffs:

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Both of these are pretty self explanatory. You'll be seeing less apollo and more xbal more than likely. Kali has a bit of hard time with apollo due to his insane boxing potential, but with serenade getting hit on the protections side of things, he might be easier to manage for a Kali. Xbal was never really *that* much of a problem for Kali so she should be OK on that front.

Kali is one of those gods where her passive is a very key part of her kit. Without this Kali would play very differently or would just not work at all. The massive heal from a target kill is what allows Kali to be such a monster lategame, since she can dive way deeper into the enemy lines than other assassins as she can rely somewhat well on her ultimate to buy her enough time to shred down a target and full heal. Then rinse and repeat. This passive mainly comes into play later on in the game but can work well for diving into minion waves or even towers earlier on to get the target kill, heal and get out safely.

Nimble Strike is quite a basic ability in that it is simply her main escape and chase ability. However it it worth a mention that it will heal for a % of the target's missing health. This can often be a quite substantial heal later in the game if hitting a tank. A guardian/warrior can realistically get 2.5k+ HP late game. Meaning if you land the killing blow with Nimble Strike you can heal for around 500 health. Also early game it helps with sustain in the jungle since the large minions in buff camps have lots of health so hitting them with Nimble Strike can heal for around 100-200 which can help a lot early on.

Usually level this ability 3rd

Lash is an unusual ability that's unique to Kali. Rather than having a simple line or AOE damage ability she has Lash for her jungle clear or minion wave clear. It's important to get a feel for the different travel times at various ranges to make sure you can hit the ability at long range. At melee range it's quite simple but farther out it can be difficult to lead the target correctly and land the ability. Lash has initial damage as well as a DOT effect which is important to note since the DOT can sometimes land you a kill if someone gets away.

Level this ability 1st

Incense is Kali's CC ability (Her only one at that) This stuns and also gives a significant physical power buff, especially mid to late game it can give as much power as an entire item. Which is insane. (Since basic attacks scale off 100% physical power it can be 50 extra damage per AA lategame. Meaning around 100 extra DPS depending on how much attack speed you build) On a side note, the buff lasts 8 seconds at max rank. So don't be afraid to use it for extra objective damage if you need to.

Level this ability 2nd

Kali's ultimate is similar to her passive in that it allows her to adopt the play-style that she does without feeding all the time. This ability gives you temporary 'invulnerability' and she can't die. This is SUPER useful when you consider how fast Kali can burn down targets in the late game and get the 'full heal' from her passive. The damage from this ult is often not that important though it is worth mentioning that it does have a larger range than basic attacks so if you can't find that last hit to confirm a kill you can use it for the damage.

Usually level this ability last, but if you're feeling you're using the ult a lot in the current match, you can level it 3rd once Incense and Lash are maxed out.

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I choose Warrior Tabi over Ninja Tabi since the 20 power is usually worth more than 15% attack speed. You can sometimes go Ninja Tabi in the crit builds since it's hard to fit attack speed into the build. But generally you should pick up Warrior over Ninja for the extra early game ability damage.

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Fatalis to me seems pretty much necessary for Kali to be fully utilized. It helps massively when chasing people down to get that crucial target kill. Without it, it can be hard to confirm her damage and pick up the kills she needs to carry in the late game. The move speed plus the passive really helps out so much. The s4 changes to Fatalis makes it an even better choice for Kali since it gives some pen to help get more damage out of your Qin's Sais early game.

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Qin's Sais are the very core of the way most people build Kali. The %Health damage combined with plenty of attack speed and penetration shreds down targets much more reliably than crit will. Some extra power and attack speed also helps to add that bit extra damage to your AAs. Kali's AA chain works a lot better for Qin's than for crit since her autos are mostly low damage but fast swing time, allowing her to apply Qin's Sais much more than if she had a slower chain.

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While you do need other pen items in the build, Titan's Bane is the key one you NEED to have, it gives 33% penetration on all your physical attacks which is great for shredding tanks. Think of it like this: A tank could have almost 250 physical protection late game. That means Titan's Bane in this scenario is going through 82.5 of those protections, where a flat pen item like Brawler's Beat Stick or Asi provides 15-20 pen and will be more effective against targets with lower protections. This item is a must have if you are looking to burn down tanks. Which you should be. You're looking to shred absolutely everyone late game, no prisoners.

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Most people pick up Brawler's Beat Stick when the enemy has a strong healer such as Hel or Guan Yu which is exactly when you should pick it up. But the item is actually quite well statted even if the passive is only used to counter something small like lifesteal or Eset ults. I usually pick this item up if I feel I'm lacking penetration in the build. Usually substituted for one of my attack speed items. The s4 changes to this item made it even cheaper which really makes it more accessible than before, making it a very decent pick if you don't mid missing out on some attack speed. If you're against heavy heal comps (Which are fairly common in s4) then you can pick this up maybe in place of your Ichaival or your lifesteal.

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The changes made to Heartseeker pretty much makes in worthwhile on every assassin in the game and Kali is no exception. This item is better the earlier you build it. I recommend you build it 2nd or 3rd item. Right after boots is the ideal time to build it but you can still rush Qin's if you want to. Building this delays your Hastened Fatalis until 4th item usually but it's worth it. Your 2 hits way too hard early game when it hits for an extra 70-110 damage from Heartseeker. The burst is crazy and really helps her through her trash early game. No one expects to be bursted for 300-400 damage by Kali in like 2 seconds at 5 minutes in. With the 4.4 price increase Heartseeker might not be quite as good on her, the main benefit of it was the cheap power spike. Though it's certainly still a viable choice.

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Crusher got changed completely in s4 giving it a bit less pen and power, but added some attack speed and an entirely new passive. Unfortunately it's still not that useful on Kali. While she makes great use of all the stats on this item, the passive is quite useless for her. The 1 second off her abilities really isn't all too useful as generally you're looking to just blow your cooldowns and then auto attack them to death, maybe saving your leap or ult for chase. Having reductions on your cooldowns isn't too essential on Kali and so I wouldn't recommend this tbh. No space in the build for it.

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Asi is one of my favourite penetration items for any physical god really. 15 pen, and some attack speed makes it very valuable for auto attackers like Kali the lifesteal isn't that important since Kali doesn't make too good use of lifesteal. But an extra stat is always good. You can replace this with something like Brawler's Beatstick that has penetration if you feel the lifesteal and pen aren't enough.

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Ichaival is a great early game bridge item that packs a big punch considering it's cheap cost. If you maybe get behind in the early game this is a great item to get before going into Qin's Sais. Cheap pen and attack speed plus ability to box enemy physical junglers and carries better.

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Physical penetration in the passive. Movement speed which is key to Kali and some power. Also the passive will allow her to build up some physical protections of her own. Stone Cutting Sword is a nice item to have if you don't need more attack speed in the build.

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See 'Penetration Options' section for analysis of Asi

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Odysseus' Bow is a very unique item given that it gives only 1 stat, but gives a tonne of that stat for a relatively cheap cost. If your build is lacking attack speed. (You usually want around 2.0-2.2 with Kali to make good use of Qin's Sais) you can pick this up. 40% attack speed is a HUGE amount. The passive generally doesn't come into play too often but still can be useful. It's mainly the attack speed stat you are looking for.

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See 'Penetration Options' section for analysis of Ichaival

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Executioner is a really nice replacement for Titan's Bane if you feel you need more attack speed in the build. It's passive gives % penetration similar to Titan's Bane. I generally don't like this item since it's too slow to get it's full value. You need to hit 3 basic attacks for it to reach it's full potential which is too long in my opinion. With the price increase on Titan's Bane in s4 The Executioner looks like a more attractive option. It's definitely a toss up between what you prefer from your builds. Titan's gives more initial damage and structure push as well as ability damage while executioner gives you more damage over sustained fights and some extra attack speed. Take your pick out of the 2.

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I generally don't build defense on Kali but if I do it's Winged Blade that I go with, the extra movement speed plus the passive makes her hard to peel off of people plus the health helps with her survivability early on if picked up around 3rd/4th item. It's super cheap and grants various useful stats that Kali makes great use of like Move speed, attack speed and health.

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Frostbound Hammer in my opinion isn't too useful on Kali since she already builds tonne of movement speed and has Hastened Fatalis. Aswell as chase potential with her leap. Though the health can be useful to her for survivability. The problem with this is your solo or jungle most likely have picked this up already and the passive effects don't stack so it's generally not a great pickup. But if you feel like you absolutely NEED defense then you can choose this.

Magesb
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MEDIUM
Ao Kuang is generally looking for the same things you are, aka safe kills and effective farm into the late game to carry the team. Early kills and invades are really important in these types of match-ups since denying the enemy farm is key. You need to hit your power spikes before they do to be a more effective late game carry. A good time to look for kills and poke is when you finish Heartseeker but be wary that he's probably finishing Polynomicon or Dynasty Plate Helm at this point too and can dish out some major damage, especially with his ult. Late game he will likely be one of your main focuses along with enemy mid laners and hunters since they'll be pushing out the most damage for their team. It's important to note aswell that his ultimate cannot kill you while you are in Destruction since it deals 9999 damage and so Kali's ult takes priority. So if you're scared he might ult you just pop Destruction and go to town.

Warriors
MEDIUM
Guan Yu is a relatively straight forward match-up, especially in the early game. A Guan in jungle may sometimes build a more damage oriented build, similar to Odin with maybe a second item Jotunn's Wrath so just be wary of how much damage Taolu Assault can do and don't overcommit to him unless you're sure you can get the kill, Conviction can save him in a lot of situations. You're both VERY important to your teams late game so if either one of you gets behind early it's really bad for your team. So looking for early kills is a good idea, within reason.

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HARD
Bellona was pretty much designed to counter auto attackers. With Shield Bash's block stacks. Scourge's disarm and her passive, Master of War giving her better boxing potential with the attack and movement speed buffs. She will likely beat you in most early game fights since her pressure is so good with Bludgeon and will shut you down hard in the mid game with disarms and block stacks. You're just looking to farm here. Once you get to late game even Bellona can't fully counter you and you'll still shred people. Just wait this one out and look for early picks if you can. You can begin to take fights with her once you get Heartseeker online as you can stun her out of Bludgeon and hit her with Lash with a Heartseeker proc and really shred her hard if she hasn't got her defense online yet.

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HARD
Odin is kind of similar to Bellona in a way. He has attack speed reduction in his Ring of Spears aswell as healing reduction. Meaning you won't heal from target kills or from the 15% from Destruction. While you do have a leap to get out of the ring. If you use it to chase a kill or run away. He can follow you with Blink or Lunge then cage you and you have nowhere to go. Also bird bomb ( Raven Shout --> Lunge ) will half health you for most of the early game so it's almost impossible to fight into Odin. I'd just look to farm in this one. Unless you are absolutely sure you can get a target kill. Just be there to respond to Odin ganks but don't force fights you can't win early on.

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Assassins
EASY
Mercury is looking mostly for the same things you are. Farm up then wreck face in the late game. The important thing in this match up is not letting him do that If you play passive and let him farm your team will have to deal with him later on. Meaning you can't dive the enemy back line as safely since supports and tanks will be peeling for your mages and hunter and not so much for you. Try to set up early kills with your mid laner and/or support to shut him down early. A mercury without farm isn't anywhere near as much of a threat as you will be if you farm correctly. Getting your Heartseeker done early is key here since a Mercury won't be building it and won't have the same power spike that you get from it. Looking for kills and aggressive plays when you finish it can be key to establishing an early lead.

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EASY
Nemesis is a pretty easy match-up for Kali. She brings little to no early game pressure or damage and has very little kill potential in the early game. She's kind of similar to Kali in a way in that her early game sucks ***, but she has no where near as strong late game as Kali does. That being said she does have a decent power spike in the mid game after 3 or 4 items. But generally she's very easy to deal with, especially if you grab Winged Blade early on. Just be careful of getting hit by divine judgment plus a mage ult, you'll die really quickly. Pre level 5 you're pretty much even in terms of aggressive potential but once she gets her first few items online you have to be careful. But once again, Heartseeker is a good time to start looking for kills and invades against a Nemesis

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MEDIUM
Arachne is looking for early game kills to snowball since her late game teamfight presence is very poor. It's by no means an easy match-up. But as long as you play the early game well. Aka not getting over aggressive and dying to her burst, you should be fine. Once it gets to endgame you're kind of fighting 5 v 4.5 since she doesn't bring much except a bit of single target damage in a fight. So just waiting it out until late game is key here. It's worth noting that her ult counter's yours really well. It gets her away from you can can bait out your ult leaving her to crash down and finish you off from 15% HP really quickly. Be careful of getting baited too much and stick with your team and you should be just about ok in this match-up.

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MEDIUM
Awilix is another one of those early game match-ups that Kali has some trouble dealing with. The pressure she puts out with Feather Step (Especially with a Heartseeker proc) and her ability to pull you out of position with Gravity Surge makes it hard for you to survive the early game especially if you don't know the match-up that well. The main key here is to never get caught with your back to her and make sure you get purification as your 1st relic. Try and stay out of range of Feather Step since that's her main damage scource early on and try to poke with Lash if you can but make sure you play it safe. She's likely going to look for invades on your buffs and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Her Feather Step is great for securing them. Just look to get wins elsewhere or try to contest them but don't kill yourself over a buff, losing that much farm is disastrous for Kali. Once you get to lategame you'll be doing way more than she is so just make your team aware you likely won't be ganking as much as her and hope for the best.

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MEDIUM
From the general idea you'd think that since Fenrir is early game focused he'd be a bad match-up for Kali but that's not entirely true. As long as you don't play like an idiot this match-up is relatively easy. Make sure you get purification to counter Ragnarok and save your Nimble Strike and/or Incense for avoiding Brutalize damage. Try to avoid getting CC chained by something like Unchained into Spirit Ball into Dispel Magic or a similar combo. This is a surefire way to earn you a trip back to the base. Play this match-up smart and you can even land early kills if the Fenrir goes aggressive and wastes both his movement abilities without follow-up. Try to coordinate as best you can with your mid or solo. A first blood for you is pretty much a win for you and a loss for him as long as you don't throw the lead.

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MEDIUM
Camazotz brings a tonne of burst to the table and can catch you out if you aren't ready for it. His ult works similarly to Arachne's in that he can wait out your ult and survive in the air then drop down and finish you off once Destruction expires. He has a lot sustain and it can be difficult to burst him down, especially in the early game. Look to farm in this one and maybe look for kills and poke once you finish Heartseeker and/or Qin's Sais. You won't have any kill potential realistically before then unless he messes up bad or you have a really high pressure solo/mid laner.

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MEDIUM
Thor brings a lot of early game pressure and burst with the double tap, as well as faster clear than you. As long as you be careful of his burst in the early game you can quite safely get the late game. Thor is still a good presence late game but nothing compared to you. Be careful of CC chains in this match-up as well since a good Anvil of Dawn --> Mjolnir's Attunement --> Tectonic Rift can lock you in a chain while not allowing you to ult.

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MEDIUM
Hun Batz is one of those gods that's just generally quite strong in all phases of the game. His passive: Infused Strikes can often land early kills since people don't expect the damage coming out from his crits early on. He's generally going to out clear and out rotate you so it's important to communicate with your team and let them know he's coming. A good Fear No Evil can easily spell a few kills for the enemies if used right. Late game he can be a great team fight presence too with a great ult and high basic attack damage from crits. You're actually relatively even from levels 1 to 4 but once you get ults he generally has the upper hand. Looking for early kills if you have a high pressure mage in mid such as Eset is good. Be aware that you can easily stop his 2 with Incense when he goes for it and hit him with your Lash and some autos to really turn the tables around in a fight.

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MEDIUM/HARD
Yet another early game match-up. It's important to remember how much burst Thanatos has with Death Scythe and not get caught out before you can ult and get away. He'll likely be using Hovering Death as initiation or chase since it doesn't execute you in Destruction. Though if he sneaks it without you looking he could execute you before you can pop Destruction. In the end-game he's just looking for executes mostly and you shouldn't be putting your focus on him too much. Go for the carries and leave thanatos to your tanks and hunter/mage to deal with.

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HARD
Bastet is a really difficult match-up for Kali. With her insane early game pressure and fast clear along with endless slows and a jump to chase you down. She can be a very formidable foe. Not to mention she can also kind of 'bypass' your ult early on with her Razor Whip. If she applies it at the right time just as your ult ends the bleed will drain the 15% heal you got and kill you. Do note this only works early on though. (Usually between lvls 5 and 12). You have to play this match-up relatively passively since you'll likely lose mid lane clear unless you have someone like Eset or Poseidon in mid. A Winged Blade 3rd item is a good idea in this match-up since her main way to chase you is through the slows from declaw and cat call. The extra health will also help against her Razor Whip killing you from your ult. She'll be looking for invades as much as possible so just be careful of cats and her early game burst and don't kill yourself to secure a buff.

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HARD
Ne Zha brings a lot to the table early game. Given that Wind Fire Wheels can almost half-health people early game he brings a tonne of burst to the table that is hard to deal with. Not to mention that Wind Fire Wheels is probably the sole best counter to Destruction maybe joint with Last Breath from Serqet. A good Ne Zha ult makes your ult pretty much useless since he just ults you as soon as yours is about to run out and negates that 15% heal. Look to play this one passive and don't go near him with less than 40% health unless you know his ult is down since he'll just Armillary Sash into Wind Fire Wheels and one shot you.

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HARD
Serqet is probably the hardest match-up you're gonna face as Kali. She has ridiculous burst and all-in potential and can easily kill you from 60 or 70% health in the mid game with Cobra's Kiss --> Deathbane --> Last Breath and your ult is basically useless if she's around since she just ults you and you can't heal from the ult while you also take bleed damage. She can negate heals from targets and easy pull ahead in the early game. In this match-up you've just got to hope your team can carry you through the early game and just play safe or she will just kill you.

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Guardians
MEDIUM
Guardians in general fill a very different role in jungle than assassins such as Kali do and Athena is no exception. While you're looking for kills and carry potential, she is looking to be more like a second support and frontline initiator with Confound. Evaluating this match-up is difficult since you don't fill the same role but I can say that she WILL out-rotate you so make sure your team's aware of that. Also endgame they could have up to 3 frontliners (Solo lane warrior and 2 guardians) which can control you easily making it harder to get to the backline. Guardian junglers such as Athena don't bring a lot of damage usually so you're usually safe to farm and look for picks but be very careful of getting caught without purification by Confound since you can't ult during the CC.

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MEDIUM
Pretty much the same as the Athena match-up. Brings a lot of frontline pressure and CC to protect squishies in the end-game, not much damage early on. Though he is quite slow (Move speed and no dash) so you can catch him out on jungle rotations and out-rotate him sometimes. Be very careful of his burst with Shards of Ice since it can almost half health you fully charged.

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MEDIUM
Cabrakan has seen a bit of rise in popularity with the advent of s4. Similar to other Guardian match-ups, he's not looking to carry the game, but provide support to his team. Be careful of his lockdown and high CC, also be careful of his burst damage (especially if he's building some damage items). He's usually built bruiser with items like Void Stone and Jade Emperor's Crown that give power and protections or health of some kind. Depending on what ability he takes, his level 1 is very different. Some will take Seismic Crush to conserve mana at the cost of clear time. Others may take Tremors to clear really fast, but likely take a lot of poke and drain most of their mana. So be ready for him to outclear you. If they're running a Cabrakan jungle they're likely running a triple tank comp with a Support and tank solo laner as well. This means it might be difficult to get those backline carries.

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