League of Legends S12: Kalista ADC Build Guide

From runes to items, gameplay tips amd more, we've put together a guide to help you master playing Kalista in the botlane in League of Legends.

Be mindful that there are several ways to build and play a champion, and you'll need to be adaptable as the game and the enemy team progress.

That said, this guide is a good starting point to helping you get to grips with the champion and making an impact in your games.

Runes

Core Items

Immortal Shieldbow

3400 Gold

Guinsoo's Rageblade

2600 Gold

Build

Immortal Shieldbow helps marksmen survive burst damage, and adds valuable lifesteal.

Guinsoo's Rageblade turns critical chance into added damage.

Other good items include Wit's End and Runaan's Hurricane.

Starting Item & Boots

Health Potion

50 Gold

Doran's Blade

450 Gold

Berserker's Greaves

1100 Gold

Skill Order

While your choices may differ according to how the game progresses, the typical Kalista skill priority is:

R > Q > E > W

Summoner Spells

These are the summoner spells most typically taken by Kalista in this role. Naturally, this may change depending on match-ups.

Gameplay

Kalista is a fragile ADC who relies on her hypermobility to keep her safe. Mechanically challenging to play due to her passive, she takes time to master - but once you do get to grips with her she can be devastating. You'll want to always keep moving, clicking to dodge every time you land an auto attack. 

• Level 1 - Take E - Rend, for plenty of damage when you rip your spears from the opponent. You can quickly farm this way, or do serious early damage to your lane opponents.
• Level 2 - Take Q - Pierce, so that you can poke your lane opponents. Use it to last hit minions, and it'll pass through to another enemy for quick farming. 
• First Back - Work towards your Immortal Shieldbow, or pick up boots for the attack speed boost.

Tips & Tricks

• Always try to last-hit minions with Rend, so that you can reset its cooldown and refund some mana. 
• Remember to link to your support as soon as you begin the game.
• Synchronize with your jungler so that your Rend and the jungler's Smite secure the objective.
• Remember that Pierce carries through to a second target if it kills the first target hit. 
• Using Fate's Call makes your Oathsworn untargetable, but you won't be able to use your Heal on them. If they need the health, cast Heal before using your ult. 
• Runaan's Hurricane means you can target an enemy champion, but still farm minions at the same time. You'll be able to use Rend to both slow your enemy and damage the creeps, resetting Rend's cooldown.
• Use Sentinel whenever it is off cooldown to keep vision up.