[Zanger]

Azcadelia - Shadow Queen
Guide made by Kaerthos



"Azcadelia at your service..."

Azcadelia is a very powerful AoE damage dealer, as much as Vezin, but she has the advantage of a very easy mana income, while Vezin lacks on that. Comparing Azcadelia with Vezin, they both have very powerful AoE abilities which can kill creep waves instantly, they both have silence abilities, their Ultimate abilities can stun, and their Signature ability has an Immune to damage effect.

Index:
- Azcadelia Abilities

Builds:
- Full Carry Azcadelia Build - PvE
- Semi-Carry Tank Azcadelia Build - PvP
- Full Tank Azcadelia Build - PvP

- Azcadelia Strategies

- Changelog and Patch Notes on Azcadelia
*Note: Click on link to jump to the desired section.



Skills and Abilities:

Before starting with Skills and Abilities:
Text in Blue represents Magical Damage


Q: Shadelings

[*Note: Shadelings ability on rest.]


[*Note: Shadelings ability activated.]

Ability Icon:
Type: Pet / AoE Damage
Range: Your attack range to send the Shadelings, and 500 units for them to come back to you.
Radius: 95 Units
Casting Time: Instant
Cost: 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 / 165 Mana
Cooldown:

• Ability without any boost: 20 seconds
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 18 seconds
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 16 seconds

Shadeling Explosion Damage:

• Ability without any boost: 25 / 45 / 75 / 110 / 145 Magical Damage
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 30 / 50 / 85 / 120 / 165 Magical Damage
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 30 / 55 / 90 / 130 / 170 Magical Damage

Damage of the Shadelings per Level:

• Level 1 -> 6 Magical Damage
  
• Level 2 -> 9 Magical Damage
  
• Level 3 -> 12 Magical Damage
  
• Level 4 -> 15 Magical Damage
  
• Level 5 -> 18 Magical Damage
  
• Level 6 -> 22 Magical Damage
  
• Level 7 -> 26 Magical Damage
  
• Level 8 -> 30 Magical Damage
  
• Level 9 -> 34 Magical Damage
  
• Level 10 -> 38 Magical Damage
  
• Level 11 -> 42 Magical Damage
  
• Level 12 -> 47 Magical Damage
  
• Level 13 -> 52 Magical Damage
  
• Level 14 -> 57 Magical Damage
  
• Level 15 -> 62 Magical Damage
  
• Level 16 -> 67 Magical Damage
  
• Level 17 -> 73 Magical Damage
  
• Level 18 -> 80 Magical Damage
  
• Level 19 -> 87 Magical Damage
  
• Level 20 -> 95 Magical Damage

This ability has 2 components, Innate and Active:

Innate: The mechanic of this ability consists in sending one Shadeling for each auto-attack performed, the Shadeling will target the same enemy you have auto-attacked.
You have a max of 3 Shadelings, and when one of them is sent to attack, the targeted enemy will be chased and attacked by them, but the Shadelings will stop attacking their target if:

• The Shadeling receives a total of 3 direct hits (DoT damage not included), and so it will die.
  
• Azcadelia moves 500 units away from the attacking Shadeling, in this case Shadeling will not die, but will be teleported back to his owner.
  
• Active component of this ability is activated. Let's check it.

Active: This component is performed when activating the ability (Putting it on Cooldown), the alive Shadelings will be sacrificed in order to cause an explosion in an area of 95 units, dealing AoE damage to enemies within that range.

*Note: With the March 16, 2012 Update, this ability has been boosted, and it's no longer necessary to unlock it to get the Shadelings, they will spawn even the ability being locked. This way, unlocking this ability to Level 1 only gives the Active component as a bonus.


W: Fear Thy Shadow


Ability Icon:
Type: Enemy Unit
Casting Time: 0.25 seconds
Cooldown: 25 / 22 / 19 / 16 / 13 seconds
Duration: 5 seconds
Silence Time: 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 seconds
Shadelings Revived: 1 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 3 Shadelings
Range:

• Ability without any boost: 185 Units
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 195 Units
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 205 Units

Cost:

• Ability without any boost: 80 / 120 / 140 / 160 / 180 Mana
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 72 / 108 / 126 / 144 / 162 Mana
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 64 / 96 / 112 / 160 / 144 Mana

This ability's most important mechanic is that when it's casted on an Enemy Immortal, all the alive Shadelings will be teleported instantly to the target, and will start attacking it regardless your movement or Q Passive component usage.

But we have to have in mind that Shadelings will attack the enemy only for 5 seconds, and passed that time, they will be teleported back to their owner, this will cause you to get aggro from the Creeps, and the Shadelings are still able to die.
The other mechanic of this ability consists in when it's activated, it also applies "Silence" effect for 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 seconds, and due to its very short casting time, it's performed almost instantly, giving you advantage over a lot of Immortals. Note* (Complete information found in: Azcadelia Vs. Other Immortals section)


E: Umbral Veil


Ability Icon:
Type: Self Buff
Range: Self
Radius: 100 units
Casting Time: Instant
Duration: 2 seconds
Cost:

• Ability without any boost: 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 58.5 / 76.5 / 94.5 / 112.5 / 130.5
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 52 / 68 / 84 / 100 / 116

Cooldown: 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14 seconds
Damage: ( Damage per Tick -> Total Damage )

• Ability without any boost: 25 -> 100 / 40 -> 160 / 55 -> 200 / 70 -> 280 / 85 -> 340 Magical Damage
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 29 -> 116 / 44 -> 176 / 63 -> 252 / 78 -> 312 / 97 -> 388 Magical Damage
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 29 -> 116 / 48 -> 192 / 67 -> 268 / 86 -> 344 / 105 -> 420 Magical Damage

Other: Recovers mana for 20% of damage dealt per tick. Azcadelia also becomes untargetable for the ability duration, but she is unable to attack or cast abilities.

Let me introduce this ability, it's your main mana refill, after Level 2 of this Ability, by dealing full damage to 3 units, it will refill most of your mana.
But that is only half of its use, the second use consists in while its activated, any debuff your Immortal is affected with, will be removed, also within the ability duration, it will cancel any in-flight missiles, the ones casted on you.


R: Web of Shadow - Ultimate Ability


Ability Icon:
Type: Enemy Units
Range: 350 Units
Casting Time: 0.5 seconds
Cost: 200 / 250 / 300 Mana
Duration: 4 / 5 / 6 seconds
Cooldown:

• Ability without any boost: 130 seconds
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 120 seconds
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 110 seconds

Bonus Damage of Shadelings: 30 / 40 / 50%
Reduced Movement & Attack Speed: -30 / -35 / -40%
Reduced Movement & Attack Speed % depreciating per second:

• Ability without any boost: 8% depreciating per second
  
• Ability with 1/2 on boost: 6% depreciating per second
  
• Ability with 2/2 on boost: 4% depreciating per second

When used, this ability applies Immobilize effect which makes them unable to move anywhere (Tatiana Cleanse can disable that debuff, also Kyrie and Tzai are able to escape easily as well), and Enfeebled effect, which decreases the affected enemy Movement Speed and Attack Speed by -30 / -35 / -40% depending on the Ability Level, this turns a simple Ultimate into an extremely good Team Fight initiation ability. Also its a life saver if you get ganked. And as well it's an excellent ability to stop the enemy from escaping, applying them the effects mentioned above, giving a very high chance for you or your team to get a kill before he succeeds escaping.


D: Abyssal Queen - Signature Ability


Ability Icon:
Type: Pet Summon
Range: 250 Units
Aura Radius: 150 Units
Casting Time: 0.6 seconds
Cost: 325 Mana
Cooldown: 300 seconds
Duration: 20 seconds
Abyssal Queen Attack Damage: 150 magic damage
Other: The summoned pet is invulnerable, attacks enemies autonomously, applies Vis Toxin.
Vis Toxin:

• Applied by Abyssal Queen each 2 seconds
  
• Deals 20 magical damage each 0.5 seconds
  
• Stacks up to 5 times
  
• Lasts 4 seconds
  
• Max damage of the ability: 4800 magical damage (Considering enemy is near the Abyssal Queen her entire duration)

It's also an excellent Team Fight initiator, as the pet is invulnerable and applies AoE DoT, the enemy team most of the times are forced to fall back or in worse cases, in a dead enemy team.
In addition the Vis Toxin affected Immortals will get a debuff which decreases their Movement Speed by 20%.
Also the pet has a very large range and can chase the enemy very far away from the summoner Azcadelia. *Important note: Abyssal Queen, even with her huge range, still can be teleported back to her owner because of range limit, and as well, if the summoner Azcadelia dies within the Signature Ability duration, Abyssal Queen will follow you and will turn into dust as well, so use it wisely.



Azcadelia Spotlight:


Azcadelia Spotlight Link

This post has been edited by Zanger: 17 March 2012 - 11:08 AM

[Zanger]

Full Carry Azcadelia Build - PvE

Talent Trees

Now that we know what Azcadelia's skills do, let's continue with the Talent Trees. Some players may decide to change some points and invest them into another slot they are more interested in, yet, I am going to show you what Talent Tree I have and also I will explain the reason of choosing for each slot.


[Offense Discipline Tree]

Offense Tree: First I invested in additional Speed and 6% additional Weapon magic damage, that gives a little boost to Azcadelia, then I've got 2 points in 7.5% more Critical Strike Damage, this is just to unlock the next Critical Boost, after I've invested only 2 points in MRP, because with the build we will get, we will have enough MRP, so we have 2 points to put somewhere else. To continue I've boosted Critical Strike Change, just 4.5%, even if it's a low amount, 4.5% is better than 0%, after I've got 2 points on Spirit Vamp and Life Steal, as we will get our Spirit Vamp and Life Steal from the items, let's proceed with the talent tree, 3 points in Attack Speed boost, 2% per 10 weapon damage is just awesome being a Carry, 2 points on CD reduction, a total of 6%, now we can forget about buying CD reduction Totems, 2 points on Magical Ability Damage boost, 12% is a very important boost, that % is applied to Shadeling damage, Shadeling explosion and Umbral Veil included, even if the tooltip doesn't say so, and we finish with a bonus 15% MRP for just 1 point, you just cannot miss it. https://img607.images...9/defensesw.png
[Defense Discipline Tree]

After testing Azcadelia and getting lots of opinions, I've dismissed Defense tree build, yet I've invested 2 points to get 6% more HP, which even if it's small but yet a good boost for Late-game.


[Champion Discipline Tree]

Here I've invested 2 points in HP boost, and 1 in MP, because HP is actually more important and I had no more points available, additional HP and Mana are good for early game, and also 10% MRP which combined with last Offense Tree boost, makes a total of 25% MRP, the 1% Attack Speed per Tactical Level, Yes, Yes and again Yes, 20% at level 20 will not be unnoticed, of course both Shadeling boosts, above on ability descriptions you can see the difference between the damage, and also a little CD reduction helps for faster Shadeling respawn, Fear Thy Shadow, Mana Cost reduction, absolutely, and more ability range, useful vs. Tatianas and other ranged magic casters (And not only magic), I did not go for 4 point 5% CD reduction, we will get our CD with Artifacts explained later, instead I boosted Umbral Veil by reducing Mana Cost, essential, and more damage on this ability means more mana gained, of course CD reduction on Ultimate Ability and slower depreciating of Attack Speed and Movement Slow Down effects, and to finish, Signature Ability which is necessary playing as Azcadelia.



Shop at Home: Itemization

Now that we have an idea on how Carry Azcadelia's Talent Tree should be, let's proceed with Itemization, these are the core items that I recommend for a Carry Azcadelia, and why. Feel free to swap these out depending on your play style, but this is the default 'Carry Mage' build and it works as well for Azcadelia.

This itemization offers:

Pros:

• An excellent Life Steal, which satisfies Azcadelia as Carry, giving her more survivability in combat.
  
• Awesome damage output, Magical Weapon Damage + Shadeling damage, this combo becomes very deadly.
  
• It offers very good Critical Strike Chance, which, in addition to the point above, makes of Azcadelia a killing machine.
  
• As well it brings Azcadelia an awesome Spirit Vamp %, which will let her spam her abilities as much as she wants to.
  
• Also, Azcadelia will have a very good amount of CD which will make her abilities even more spammable.
  
• And as last thing, she will have a very good MRP even without items, this will be reviewed in Artifacts section later.

Cons:

• Low Armor and Magic Resistance attributes.

Here is the Itemization that satisfies all the points mentioned above:

---

Wildrunner's Boots

300 gold
+15 Movement Speed
Upgrade 1 (Ranger's Boots): 960 gold: +20 Movement Speed, +10% Ability Cooldown Reduction
Upgrade 2 (Sylvan Boots): 1465 gold: +25 Movement Speed, +20% Ability Cooldown Reduction

Description: The last word in boots. Speed is more important than ever in the current meta, and, like Neth, Azcadelia does well with the cooldown reduction. All her abilities are on lengthy cooldowns that can be reduced by these boots and the additional speed lets him keep pace with people he might want to Fear Thy Shadow after Web of Shadow, you do not want to stay in the mid of the battle with low mana.

Total Cost: 2725 gold

---

Wizardbane

400 gold
+2 Magic Resistance Penetration, +5% Attack Speed
Upgrade 1 (Bronzed Wizardbane): 800 gold: +3 Magic Resistance Penetration, +10% Attack Speed
Upgrade 2 (Plated Wizardbane): 840 gold: +4 Magic Resistance Penetration, +15% Attack Speed
Upgrade 3 (Embossed Wizardbane): 1200 gold: +6 Magic Resistance Penetration, +20% Attack Speed, Effect: Each weapon attack silences the target for 1 second. This effect cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds.

Description: The reason I pick up Wizardbane is because of Azcadelia's Q ability, more Attack Speed means faster Shadeling stacking, in addition it gives 6 Magic Resistance Penetration which is necessary for Azcadelia to be useful in battle, and also Silence effect, even if it's each 10 seconds, it can interrupt Chanelling abilities and handicap your enemy team.

Total Cost: 3240 gold

OR

Amulet of Duality

590 gold
+3 Armor, +3 Magic Resistance, +100 Health, +75 Mana
Upgrade 1 (Twin Soul Amulet): 1200 gold: +6 Armor, +6 Magic Resistance, +250 Health, +150 Mana, +5% Ability Cooldown Reduction

Description: But Amulet of Duality is a good choice as well instead of Wizardbane, it gives a bit of everything, and also 5% CD which is a pretty good amount, you can alternate between this 2 items from match to match, to adapt better to the situation.

Total Cost: 1790 gold

---

Tome of Power

1200 gold
Each Immortal kill or assist grants 1 Power Charge, increasing Attack Damage by 6 per charge. Maximum 10 charges. Half of accumulated charges are removed on death.

Description: Feel free to buy Tome of Power if you think you can survive the entire match or you just think you can survive a lot.

Total Cost: 1200 gold

OR

Serrated Edge

500 gold
+10 Weapon Damage
Upgrade 1 (Savage Edge): 800 gold: +20 Weapon Damage
Upgrade 2 (Vicious Edge): 960 gold: +40 Weapon Damage
Upgrade 3 (Murderous Edge): 1200 gold: +60 Weapon Damage

Description: Otherwise, if you think the match is going to be hard, get Serrated Edge, it will cost you more gold but you will get a permanent Weapon Damage boost.

Total Cost: 3460 gold

---

Blade of Randarz

500 gold
+5 Weapon Damage, +5% Life Steal, +4% Critical Strike Chance
Upgrade 1 (Randarian Cutter): 1075 gold: +15 Weapon Damage, +10% Life Steal, +8% Critical Strike Chance
Upgrade 2 (Randarian Cutlass): 1100 gold: +25 Physical Weapon Damage, +15% Life Steal, +12% Critical Strike Chance
Upgrade 3 (Randarian Rapier): 1337 gold: +40 Physical Weapon Damage, +20% Life Steal, +16% Critical Strike Chance, Effect: Every Attack increases your Critical Strike Chance by 1% for 4 seconds. Stacks up to 10 times.

Description: This item will provide you additional Weapon Damage, awesome Life Steal and very good amount of Critical Chance, as you are a Carry, this will help you a lot in your function.

Total Cost: 4012 gold

---

Blood Drinker

400 gold
+10% Life Steal (Unique)
Upgrade 1 (Insatiable Blood Drinker): 800 gold: +15% Life Steal (Unique), +10% Spirit Vamp (Unique)
Upgrade 2 (Ravenous Blood Drinker): 1040 gold: +20% Life Steal (Unique), +15% Spirit Vamp (Unique), Effect: Each attack grants nearby allies a 10% Life Steal buff for 5 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds.

Description: Like Blade of Randarz, this will offer you an excellent Life Steal, and Spirit Vamp, which will keep you with mana all the time.

Total Cost: 2240 gold

---

Tempered Warblade

335 gold
+5% Critical Strike Chance
Upgrade 1 (Refined Warblade): 790 gold: +10% Critical Strike Chance, +20% Critical Strike Damage, Effect: Critical Strikes rupture the target's armor and magic resist by 4 for 5 seconds (Unique).
Upgrade 2 (Honed Warblade): 800 gold: +15% Critical Strike Chance, +25% Critical Strike Damage, Effect: Critical Strikes rupture the target's armor and magic resist by 7 for 5 seconds (Unique).
Upgrade 3 (Perfected Warblade): 1200 gold: +20% Critical Strike Chance, +35% Critical Strike Damage, Effect: Critical Strikes rupture the target's armor and magic resist by 10 for 5 seconds (Unique effect). Critical Strikes increase your base weapon damage (magical or physical) by 7 for 5 seconds, stacks up to 4 times (Unique).

Description: As we are building Azcadelia carry, this item will provide an extremely good Critical Strike Chance, and also increased Critical Strike Damage, also, being fully upgraded, it can give you 28 additional Weapon Damage, and, it will even decrease enemy Armor and Magic Resistance by 10.

Total Cost: 3125 gold

Estimated cost of the build (Depending on the items you choose to buy): 15.000-18.000 gold



Archeology: Artifacts

As with the items, there is a lot of overlap with Balak or Nyssus here, and for good reason.

Talismans: Gilded Petrified Talismans. As a Carry you also need enough Life Steal to satisfy your low defense, so adding 5 of those will give you 5% extra Life Steal.

Totems: Ancestral Totems of the Dragonfly. With all 5, you'll obtain a cool 6.25% extra Critical Strike Chance.

Seals: Grand Seals of Dexterity. With all three, you will get an excellent 4.5% Movement Speed increase boost.

Symbols: Primal Entropy Symbol. You will get an extra 3.8% Critical Strike chance and 6% Critical Strike Damage bonus.

Relic: Relic of Ironfist. 4% Critical Strike Damage bonus, 2.5% Critical Strike Chance, and 3 Weapon Damage, this will conclude Carry Artifact section.



Final Result of Stats

Statistics of Azcadelia at Tactical Level 20, with the Talent Tree, Artifacts, and Item Build mentioned above.


Default Damage: 217.12 Magical Damage
Damage Per Second (DPS): ~330
Range: 175 Units
Movement Speed: ~155
Armor: 8.65
Magic Resistance: 9.65
HP Regen: 4.14
MR: 2.51
Critical Strike Chance: 53.05%
Critical Strike Damage Bonus: 146%
Cooldown: 26%
Life Steal:: 48%
Spirit Vamp:: 18
Magic Resistance Penetration: 17
Magic Resistance Penetration %: 25%



Itemization and Skill Paths:
This is the way I level up my skills and items. It simply happens to suit my play style the best, making Azcadelia an excellent pusher who is capable of severely hindering an enemy team.

Skills By Level: W, Q, E, Q, Q, R, Q, E, Q, E, R, E, E, W, W, D*, R, W, W
*If available

Reasoning: With the March 16, 2012 Update, Azcadelia no longer has to unlock Q ability to get her Shadelings, so now you can level up W first to get an Early Game bonus, after that, try to power up your Q ability for higher Shadeling explosion and E for faster and more effective Mana Refilling, level up R when you are able to do so, same applies to D, W will be the last ability to level up.


Items:
Blade of Randarz
Blade of Randarz Upgrade 1
Wildrunner's Boots
Blade of Randarz Upgrade 2
Blade of Randarz Upgrade 3
Blood Drinker
Blood Drinker Upgrade 1
Blood Drinker Upgrade 2
Wildrunner's Boots Upgrade 1
Tempered Warblade
Tempered Warblade Upgrade 1
Tempered Warblade Upgrade 2
Tempered Warblade Upgrade 3
Tome of Power
OR
Serrated Edge
- Serrated Edge Upgrade 1
- Serrated Edge Upgrade 2
- Serrated Edge Upgrade 3
Wildrunner's Boots Upgrade 2
Amulet of Duality
- Amulet of Duality Upgrade 1
OR
Wizardbane
- Wizardbane Upgrade 1
- Wizardbane Upgrade 2
- Wizardbane Upgrade 3

This concludes Azcadelia Carry Build, if you have any feedback in mind, feel free to leave a comment.

This post has been edited by Zanger: 18 March 2012 - 05:17 AM

[Zanger]

Semi-Carry Tank Azcadelia Build - PvP

Talent Trees

Now that we know what Azcadelia's skills do, let's continue with the Talent Trees. Some players may decide to change some points and invest them into another slot they are more interested in, yet, I am going to show you what Talent Tree I have and also I will explain the reason of choosing for each slot.


[Offense Discipline Tree]

Offense Tree: First I invested in additional Speed and 6% additional Weapon magic damage, that gives a little boost to Azcadelia, I have ignored Critical Strike Bonus damage and Critical Strike Chance because we are building it tank and so we will be able to invest the points somewhere else, after I've invested 4 points for 2 MRP. After I've got 2 points on Spirit Vamp and 3 on Life Steal, thing that will help you a bit in Early Game, 3 points for higher Weapon Damage, 2 points on CD reduction, a total of 6%, now we can forget about buying CD reduction Totems, 2 points on Magical Ability Damage boost, 12% is a very important boost, that % is applied to Shadeling damage, Shadeling explosion and Umbral Veil included, even if the tooltip doesn't say so, and we finish with a bonus 15% MRP for just 1 point, you just cannot miss it.


[Defense Discipline Tree]

After testing Azcadelia and getting many opinions, I've dismissed Defense tree build, yet I've invested 2 points to get 6% more HP, which even if it's small but yet a good boost for Late-game.


[Champion Discipline Tree]

Here I've invested 2 points in HP boost, and 1 in MP, because HP is actually more important and I had no more points available, additional HP and Mana are good for early game, and also 10% MRP which combined with last Offense Tree boost, makes a total of 25% MRP, the 1% Attack Speed per Tactical Level, Yes, Yes and again Yes, 20% at level 20 will not be unnoticed, of course both Shadeling boosts, above on ability descriptions you can see the difference between the damage, and also a little CD reduction helps for faster Shadeling respawn, Fear Thy Shadow, Mana Cost reduction, absolutely, and more ability range, useful vs. Tatianas and other ranged magic casters (And not only magic), I invested 2 points into CD reduction, 2 points I had left after all, then I boosted Umbral Veil by reducing Mana Cost, essential, and more damage on this ability means more mana gained, of course CD reduction on Ultimate Ability and slower depreciating of Attack Speed and Movement Slow Down effects, and to finish, Signature Ability which is necessary playing as Azcadelia.



Shop at Home: Itemization

Now that we have an idea on how Tank Azcadelia's Talent Tree should be, let's proceed with Itemization, these are the core items that I recommend for a Tank Azcadelia, and why. Feel free to swap these out depending on your play style, but this is the default 'Caster Tank' build and it works as well for Azcadelia as she already does incredible damage.

Pros:

• An excellent MRP value.
  
• High Armor and MR attributes, which will help you endure harder battles longer.
  
• Same ability damage output as Carry build.
  
• Very good Speed, which will help you execute combos faster and escaping the enemy.

Cons:

• Average auto-attack Speed, can be boosted anyway.
  
• Very low Life Steal and Spirit Vamp, you will have to be more careful with your mana than using the Carry build.
  
• No Critical Strike chance, all about your Shadelings and your ability damage.

Here is the Itemization that satisfies all the points mentioned above:

---

Wildrunner's Boots

300 gold
+15 Movement Speed
Upgrade 1 (Ranger's Boots): 960 gold: +20 Movement Speed, +10% Ability Cooldown Reduction
Upgrade 2 (Sylvan Boots): 1465 gold: +25 Movement Speed, +20% Ability Cooldown Reduction

Description: The last word in boots. Speed is more important than ever in the current meta, and, like Neth, Azcadelia does well with the cooldown reduction. All her abilities are on lengthy cooldowns that can be reduced by these boots and the additional speed lets him keep pace with people he might want to Fear Thy Shadow after Web of Shadow, you do not want to stay in the mid of the battle with low mana.

Total Cost: 2725 gold

---

Amulet of Duality

590 gold
+3 Armor, +3 Magic Resistance, +100 Health, +75 Mana
Upgrade 1 (Twin Soul Amulet): 1200 gold: +6 Armor, +6 Magic Resistance, +250 Health, +150 Mana, +5% Ability Cooldown Reduction

Description: Amulet of Duality is a good choice, it gives a bit of everything, and also 5% CD which is a pretty good amount.

Total Cost: 1790 gold

---

Mageslayer Gloves

735 gold
+100 Mana, +2 Mana Regen
Upgrade 1 (Mageslayer Bracers): 1070 gold: +200 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +3 Magic Resistance Penetration
Upgrade 2 (Mageslayer Gauntles): 1550 gold: +250 Mana, +4 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Resistance Penetration
Upgrade 3 (Mageslayer Vambraces): 1290 gold: +300 Mana, +5 Mana Regen, +5 Magic Resistance Penetration, Effect: Gain 0.5% of Max Mana as Mana Regen.

Description: Mana, mana regeneration, and Magic Resistance Penetration. This is probably going to be your late-game mana item of choice, as it should be for every spell caster. It's very expensive to upgrade, so only get the last two when you can afford it.

Total Cost: 4645 gold

*Note: Those are the 3 important items, now comes the 3 defensive items, which will variate depending on the enemy damage type. This are the items you can buy:

---

1. Bloodstone Pendant

600 gold
+3 Health Regen
Upgrade 1 (Garnet Pendant): 1120 gold: +5 Health Regen, +2 Armor
Upgrade 2 (Beryl Pendant): 1200 gold: +7 Health Regen, +200 Health, +4 Armor
Upgrade 3 (Ruby Pendant): 1260 gold: +10 Health Regen, +450 Health, +6 Armor

Total Cost: 4180 gold

2. Mageward

300 gold
+4 Magic Resistance
Upgrade 1 (Etched Mageward): 400 gold: +6 Magic Resistance
Upgrade 2 (Gilded Mageward): 620 gold: +8 Magic Resistance, Effect: Each hit taken increases Magic Resistance by 10 for 5 seconds. This effect cannot happen more than once every 10 seconds.

Total Cost: 1320 gold

3. Shining Breastplate

400 gold
+6 Armor
Upgrade 1 (Etched Breastplate): 1020 gold: +10 Armor, Unique Aura: Decreases enemy Critical Strike Chance by 10%
Upgrade 2 (Gilded Breastplate): 1215 gold: +14 Armor, Unique Aura: Decreases enemy Critical Strike Chance by 25%

Total Cost: 2635 gold

4. Penman Reflector

600 gold
+2 Armor, +2 Health Regen
Upgrade 1 (Penman Aegis): 800 gold: +4 Armor, +2 Health Regen, Effect: All incoming physical weapon damage has a 25% chance to be reduced by 15 damage.
Upgrade 2 (Penman Buckler): 915 gold: +6 Armor, +4 Health Regen, +100 Health, Effect: All incoming physical weapon damage has a 35% chance to be reduced by 25 damage.
Upgrade 3 (Penman Absorber): 1240 gold: +8 Armor +5 Health Regen, + 250 Health, Effect: All incoming physical weapon damage has a 45% chance to be reduced by 35 damage.

Total Cost: 3555 gold

5. Berek's Scroll

200 gold
+3 Magic Resistance
Upgrade 1 (Berek's Parchment): 420 gold: +6 Magic Resistance, +50 Max Health
Upgrade 2 (Berek's Quarto): 980 gold: +9 Magic Resistance, +100 Max Health, Aura: All nearby enemies have their Spirit Vamp and Life Steal stats reduced by 10%.
Upgrade 3 (Berek's Opus): 1080 gold: +12 Magic Resistance, +150 Max Health, Aura: All nearby enemies have their Spirit Vamp and Life Steal stats reduced by 15%.

Total Cost: 2680 gold

6. Ring of Shielding

400 gold
+3 Armor, +3 Magic Resistance
Upgrade 1 (Ring of Protection): 1040 gold: +6 Armor, +6 Magic Resistance, +10% Critical Strike Avoidance
Upgrade 2 (Ring of the Bulwark): 1320 gold: +9 Armor, +9 Magic Resistance, +20% Critical Strike Avoidance

Total Cost: 2760 gold

7. Tome of Strength

750 gold
Each Immortal kill or assist grants 1 Strength Charge, increasing Health by 60 and Health Regen by 0,75 per charge. Maximum 10 charges. Half of accumulated charges are removed on death.

I don't recommend buying this item if the battle is tough, as it's a very risky choice, but I leave this for your choice.
Total Cost: 750 gold

---

Archeology: Artifacts

As with the items, there is a lot of overlap with Balak or Nyssus here, and for good reason.

Talismans: Gilded Bone Talismans. You should be able to get enough Armor and Magic Resist to make Health the better choice in-game. Optionally, Gilded Ivory Talismans for more Magic Resistance, as that will be your lower resist with the items recommended above. These are a low priorities in any case.
I went Gilded Bone Talismans x3, and Gilded Ivory Talismans x2.

Totems: Ancestral Totems of the Fox. With all 5, you will obtain a nice amount of 3.75 additional Magic Resistance Penetration.

Seals: Grand Seals of Dexterity. With all three, you will get an excellent 4.5% Movement Speed increase boost.

Symbols: Primal Life Symbol. You will get an extra of 3 Armor and 3 Magical Resistance.

Relic: Relic of Volos. 3% Cooldown Reduction, +1.2 Magic Resistance Penetration and 2 Magic Resistance, it's actually a very good boost.



Final Result of Stats

Statistics of Azcadelia at Tactical Level 20, with the Talent Tree, Artifacts, and Item Build mentioned above.


Default Damage: 110.24 Magical Damage
Damage Per Second (DPS): ~130
Range: 175 Units
Movement Speed: ~155
Armor: ~30 (Depending on your Defensive Item choice)
Magic Resistance: 30-55 (Depending on your Defensive Item choice as well)
HP Regen: 4.14
MR: 15.16
Cooldown: 34%
Critical Strike Avoidance:: 10-20% (Depending on your Defensive Item choice)
Magic Resistance Penetration: 21-30 (Depending on your Defensive Item choice)
Magic Resistance Penetration %: 25%



Itemization and Skill Paths:
This is the way I level up my skills and items. It simply happens to suit my play style the best, making Azcadelia an excellent pusher who is capable of severely hindering an enemy team.

Skills By Level: W, Q, E, Q, Q, R, Q, E, Q, E, R, E, E, W, W, D*, R, W, W
*If available

Reasoning: With the March 16, 2012 Update, Azcadelia no longer has to unlock Q ability to get her Shadelings, so now you can level up W first to get an Early Game bonus, after that, try to power up your Q ability for higher Shadeling explosion and E for faster and more effective Mana Refilling, level up R when you are able to do so, same applies to D, W will be the last ability to level up.


Items:
Amulet of Duality
Wildrunner's Boots
First Defensive Item
Second Defensive Item
Mageslayer Gloves
Third Defensive Item
Amulet of Duality Upgrade 1
Wildrunner's Boots Upgrade 1
Max one of the Defensive Items
Wildrunner's Boots Upgrade 2
Max another Defensive Item
Max the last Defensive Item
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 1
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 2
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 3

This concludes Azcadelia Tank-Carry Build, if you have any feedback in mind, feel free to leave a comment.

This post has been edited by Zanger: Yesterday, 07:33 AM

[Zanger]

Full Tank Azcaelia - PvP

Talent Trees

Now that we know what Azcadelia's skills do, let's continue with the Talent Trees. Some players may decide to change some points and invest them into another slot they are more interested in, yet, I am going to show you what Talent Tree I have and also I will explain the reason of choosing for each slot.


[Offense Discipline Tree]

The reason why I pick up Speed Boost only is because I feel Azcadelia needs some additional Speed.


[Defense Discipline Tree]

I have ignored both HP and Mana Regeneration boosts, I find it kind of waste of points, instead I went for some Dodge Chance and additional Speed, Armor and Magic Resistance boosts are necessary if you want to build tank, Midas Boost some additional gold income, and the 4% damage reduction, even if it's a very low value, something is something.


[Champion Discipline Tree]

Here I was able to pick up all the 3 first boosts and get them maxed, additional HP and Mana are good for early game, the 1% Attack Speed per Tactical Level, Yes, Yes and again Yes, 20% at level 20 will not be unnoticed, of course both Shadeling boosts, above on ability descriptions you can see the difference between the damage, and also a little CD reduction helps for faster Shadeling respawn, Fear Thy Shadow, Mana Cost reduction, absolutely, and more ability range, useful vs. Tatianas and other ranged magic casters (And not only magic), I did not go for 4 point 5% CD reduction, we will get our CD with Artifacts explained later, instead I boosted Umbral Veil by reducing Mana Cost, essential, and more damage on this ability means more mana gained, of course CD reduction on Ultimate Ability and slower depreciating of Attack Speed and Movement Slow Down effects, and to finish, Signature Ability which is necessary playing as Azcadelia.



Shop at Home: Itemization

Now that we have an idea on how Tank Azcadelia's Talent Tree should be, let's proceed with Itemization, these are the core items that I recommend for a Tank Azcadelia, and why. Feel free to swap these out depending on your play style, but this is the default 'Tank Caster' build and it works as well for Azcadelia as it does for Vezin.

Pros:

• A very high Armor and Magical Resistance attributes.
  
• Also an outstanding total HP amount.
  
• As well, fantastic Magical Resistance Penetration.
  
• Maxed Cooldown Reduction, making of her an Ability Spamming Machine.
  
• Little Attack Speed boost, for faster Shadeling stacking.

Cons:

• As this build is not focused on Offense Tree, Azcadelia's abilities will have a lack of extra damage.
  
• 10% MRP instead of 25%.
  
• Average Movement Speed.

Here is the Itemization that satisfies all the points mentioned above:

---

Wildrunner's Boots

300 gold
+15 Movement Speed
Upgrade 1 (Ranger's Boots): 960 gold: +20 Movement Speed, +10% Ability Cooldown Reduction
Upgrade 2 (Sylvan Boots): 1465 gold: +25 Movement Speed, +20% Ability Cooldown Reduction

Description: The last word in boots. Speed is more important than ever in the current meta, and, like Neth, Azcadelia does well with the cooldown reduction. All her abilities are on lengthy cooldowns that can be reduced by these boots and the additional speed lets him keep pace with people he might want to Fear Thy Shadow after Web of Shadow, you do not want to stay in the mid of the battle with low mana.

Total Cost: 2725 gold

---

Penman Reflector

600 gold
+2 Armor, +2 Health Regen
Upgrade 1 (Penman Aegis): 800 gold: +4 Armor, +2 Health Regen, Effect: All incoming physical weapon damage has a 25% chance to be reduced by 15 damage.
Upgrade 2 (Penman Buckler): 915 gold: +6 Armor, +4 Health Regen, +100 Health, Effect: All incoming physical weapon damage has a 35% chance to be reduced by 25 damage.
Upgrade 3 (Penman Absorber): 1240 gold: +8 Armor +5 Health Regen, + 250 Health, Effect: All incoming physical weapon damage has a 45% chance to be reduced by 35 damage.

Description: This boosts your armor, your health regeneration, and at its final upgrade it gives you 400 extra health. The wait time is worth it, and it's not even that long when you consider Azcadelia's excellent farming and ganking ability. The damage reduction is also very useful at mitigating creep damage and pokes from caster immortals. With straight health being the most effective thing you can get at the moment, it's a healthy investment.

Total Cost: 3555 gold

---

Bloodstone Pendant

600 gold
+3 Health Regen
Upgrade 1 (Garnet Pendant): 1120 gold: +5 Health Regen, +2 Armor
Upgrade 2 (Beryl Pendant): 1200 gold: +7 Health Regen, +200 Health, +4 Armor
Upgrade 3 (Ruby Pendant): 1260 gold: +10 Health Regen, +450 Health, +6 Armor

Description: Pretty much the same thing as Penman, only it gives you more health and regeneration, less armor, and no poke mitigation. Get them both if you can afford it.

Total Cost: 4180 gold

---

Wizardbane

400 gold
+2 Magic Resistance Penetration, +5% Attack Speed
Upgrade 1 (Bronzed Wizardbane): 800 gold: +3 Magic Resistance Penetration, +10% Attack Speed
Upgrade 2 (Plated Wizardbane): 840 gold: +4 Magic Resistance Penetration, +15% Attack Speed
Upgrade 3 (Embossed Wizardbane): 1200 gold: +6 Magic Resistance Penetration, +20% Attack Speed, Effect: Each weapon attack silences the target for 1 second. This effect cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds.

Description: The reason I pick up this item is because of Azcadelia's Q ability, more Attack Speed means faster Shadeling stacking, in addition it gives 6 Magic Resistance Penetration which is necessary for Azcadelia to be useful in battle, and also Silence effect, even if it's each 10 seconds, it can interrupt Chanelling abilities and handicap your enemy team.

Total Cost: 3240 gold

---

Mageslayer Gloves

735 gold
+100 Mana, +2 Mana Regen
Upgrade 1 (Mageslayer Bracers): 1070 gold: +200 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +3 Magic Resistance Penetration
Upgrade 2 (Mageslayer Gauntles): 1550 gold: +250 Mana, +4 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Resistance Penetration
Upgrade 3 (Mageslayer Vambraces): 1290 gold: +300 Mana, +5 Mana Regen, +5 Magic Resistance Penetration, Effect: Gain 0.5% of Max Mana as Mana Regen.

Description: Mana, mana regeneration, and Magic Resistance Penetration. This is probably going to be your late-game mana item of choice, as it should be for every spell caster. It's very expensive to upgrade, so only get the last two when you can afford it.

Total Cost: 4645 gold

---

One Defensive Item depending on your Enemy Team damage Type

---

Optional:
Lytle Locket

340 gold
+100 Mana
Upgrade 1 (Lytle Trinket): 850 gold: +200 Mana, +2 Mana Regen, Effect: Everytime the wearer activates an ability, all allies around the caster restore 6 Health and 3 Mana per second over 10 seconds, including the caster. This effect cannot stack but will refresh, no more than once every 5 seconds.

Description: This item is of optional choose, and so, it will be explained in Strategies and Tactics section.

Total Cost: 1190 gold

Total Cost of the Build without Lytle Locket: 21.495 gold

Total Cost of the Build with Lytle Locket: 22.685 gold



Archeology: Artifacts

As with the items, there is a lot of overlap with Netheurgist here, and for good reason.

Talismans: Gilded Bone Talismans. You should be able to get enough Armor and Magic Resist to make Health the better choice in-game. Optionally, Gilded Ivory Talismans for more Magic Resistance, as that will be your lower resist with the items recommended above. These are a low priorities in any case.
I went Gilded Bone Talismans x3, and Gilded Ivory Talismans x2.

Totems: Ancestral Totems of the Leopard. With all 5, you will obtain a healthy 7.5% cooldown reduction. This adds up.

Seals: Grand Seals of Clarity. With all three, plus the totems from above, you are up to 13.5%.

Symbols: Primal Symbols of Air. Combine two of these with the above, you are at 18% cooldown reduction.

Relic: Relic of Ta'amuun. 21% cooldown reduction, which combined with Windrunner Boots will max you out at 40%. I recommend this particular relic because it gives you more mana as well as 5% Spirit Vamp, which can help with your mana issues early on.



Final Result of Stats

Statistics of Azcadelia at Tactical Level 20, with the Talent Tree, Artifacts, and Item Build mentioned above.

Total HP:

• Without "Stoneskin Potion": 3178
  
• With "Stoneskin Potion": 3481

Total MP:

• Without "Mageshield Potion": 1463
  
• With "Mageshield Potion": 1763

Default Damage: 102 Magical Damage
Damage Per Second (DPS): 136
Range: 175 Units
Movement Speed: 147
Attack Speed:

• Without any Attack Speed increasing Potion: 1.333 APS
  
• With one Attack Speed increasing Potion: 1.429 APS
  
• With both Attack Speed increasing Potions: 1.524 APS

Armor: 28.65
Magic Resistance: 16.65
HP Regen: 27.21
MR: 14.898
Cooldown: 40% (Cap)
Dodge: 3%
Magic Resistance Penetration: 27
Magic Resistance Penetration %: 10%



Itemization and Skill Paths:
This is the way I level up my skills and items. It simply happens to suit my play style the best, making Azcadelia an excellent pusher who is capable of severely hindering an enemy team.

Skills By Level: W, Q, E, Q, Q, R, Q, E, Q, E, R, E, E, W, W, D*, R, W, W
*If available

Reasoning: With the March 16, 2012 Update, Azcadelia no longer has to unlock Q ability to get her Shadelings, so now you can level up W first to get an Early Game bonus, after that, try to power up your Q ability for higher Shadeling explosion and E for faster and more effective Mana Refilling, level up R when you are able to do so, same applies to D, W will be the last ability to level up.


Items:
Windrunner Boots
Bloodstone Pendant
Windrunner Boots Upgrade 1
Bloodstone Pendant Upgrade 1
Bloodstone Pendant Upgrade 2
Bloodstone Pendant Upgrade 3
Penman Reflector
Penman Reflector Upgrade 1
Wizardbane
Destroyer's Mantle
Penman Reflector Upgrade 2
Penman Reflector Upgrade 3
Wizardbane Upgrade 1
Wizardbane Upgrade 2
Wizardbane Upgrade 3
Mageslayer Gloves
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 1
Windrunner Boots Upgrade 2
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 2
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 3

Otherwise, if you have problems in your lane in terms of HP, then feel free to include Lytle Locket.

Items:
Windrunner Boots
Lytle Locket
Lytle Locket Upgrade
Bloodstone Pendant
Windrunner Boots Upgrade 1
Bloodstone Pendant Upgrade 1
Bloodstone Pendant Upgrade 2
Bloodstone Pendant Upgrade 3
Penman Reflector
Penman Reflector Upgrade 1
Wizardbane
Destroyer's Mantle
Penman Reflector Upgrade 2
Penman Reflector Upgrade 3
Wizardbane Upgrade 1
Wizardbane Upgrade 2
Wizardbane Upgrade 3
Sell Lytle Locket
Mageslayer Gloves
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 1
Windrunner Boots Upgrade 2
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 2
Mageslayer Gloves Upgrade 3

This concludes Azcadelia Full-Tank Build, if you have any feedback in mind, feel free to leave a comment.

This post has been edited by Zanger: 18 March 2012 - 05:17 AM

[Zanger]

Tactics and Strategy

So why would you ever want to build a spell caster so incredibly tanky? Simple. You damage in a large area, you are able to hit a whole team at once, and you have an exceptionally strong early and mid game which makes people overestimate how much of a threat you are later. What this means is you will have a lot of people gunning for you for most of the game. Having a lot of survivability will ensure that you are difficult for the enemy to kill and that, with a good team behind you, the enemy will suffer whenever you die. These are some strategies I've learned to maximize Azcadelia's potential as an enemy magnet.


Azcadelia and Creep Waves: Azcadelia is a very powerful AoE Immortal, as soon as you reach Lvl 3 on Umbral Veil, you can kill an entire creep wave in just 2 seconds and recover a good amount of mana, this tactic doesn't only help with getting mana, but also with avoiding unnecessary damage, but... Let's talk about Azcadelia's abilities combo now.


Early Game:
Azcadelia's Abilities Combo: At Early game, Azcadelia's main combo is W -> Q, why? Simple, W will silence the enemy, giving you a huge advantage, and as all the 3 Shadelings have been teleported to the silenced victim, pressing W will make them explode and deal huge damage to target, now if you are in the middle of a Creep Wave, by doing this you are the target main target of all those little bastards, and as you've lost a big amount of mana to execute the W -> Q combo, now the best thing you can do is to activate your E ability, dive into the creep wave in order to avoid all damage and recover mana, and of course forcing enemy to fall back, if that is not the case, you should fall back and wait for Shadeling respawn, this combination allows you to harass nearly every character in this game, excluding tanks and armored Healers.
Do not be too risky, as your mana will go down very fast, and try to make a balance among W -> Q and E, creeps usually will not be a problem for you so at this point just focus on not losing any experience of your lane, if you are Solo lanning, which is very possible for Azcadelia, be sure to get as many last hits to Creeps as it is possible to get more gold.


Mid Game:
At this point you will have your Ultimate ability unlocked, and by trapping the enemy with your Ultimate ability, and executing W -> Q combo on one enemy right after, deals a tremendous damage to them, and as they are slowed down, feel free to execute Umbral Veil (E) on them if they are alive, to finish them off, or just kill the Creep wave if the enemy has been killed without E ability, in any case, Azcadelia's ultimate is an excellent tool to avoid enemies from escaping, and that turns Azcadelia into a Ganking Monster.

Late Game:
This stage of the game is going to be or successful or bad for you, depending on how upgraded your items are, or if you have enough Magic Resistance Penetration to deliver maximal damage possible, Azcadelia's Ultimate Ability is also perfect to initiate a Team Fight battle, and Late Game consists mostly in Team Fights, by trapping the entire enemy team with the Web of Shadow, and summoning Abyssal Queen will cause panic in them and your team will have a very high chance to finish them off, considering you are maxed on Item Upgrades, you should not fear the enemy attacks as much as before, so feel free to dive into the enemy team with Umbral Veil to recover mana, by this way you will have more possibilities to execute more combos and be more efficient in combat.


Umbral Veil, let's discuss this ability, do not think it's only for mana recover, as its description says, it also cancels the in-flight missiles, and disables any DoT effect on you, but be careful, it will not do any of those if you've executed this ability after the missile impacted on you, and even if it says you are not targetable, area effects will still damage you, and that can be usually very deadly.



General Tips and Tricks:

• Tank Azcadelia's only really squishy at the start of the game when he doesn't have any defensive items, especially if you do not have his masteries. Do not take risks until you are more survivable.
  
  
• Azcadelia's auto-attack is slow but damaging for a spell caster. Make use of it when all your spells are on cooldown - People underestimate how badly it can hurt, especially early.
  
  
• Fear Thy Shadow disrupts channeled spells if it gets the channeler, though this is hard to exploit deliberately due to its short range, hopefully Champion Tree offers us a range boost for this ability, and the CD ends up being very short and sometimes even refreshed due to an enemy Immortal kill. There are some people especially weak to this however - Use it to snag Tatiana out of her Elemental Vortex, for instance.
  
  
• Watch what enemy Immortals are building and exploit weaknesses. Most people do not invest heavily in Defense Penetration, which can render you almost invincible late-game.
  
  
• Map awareness and teamwork are still important. Just because it takes three people to kill you doesn't mean you should be off by yourself doing something stupid, since you will usually run into those three people when you are doing it.
  
  
• Always be cautious when diving turrets, as they do massive damage, even late-game.
  
  
• Web of Shadow is not just for initiating. It can also be used when escaping to block an entire lane, stopping pursuit by everyone except a very smart Kyrie or Tzai.
  
  
• Don't waste your Umbral Veil! With its longer cooldown, you need to make it count.
  
  
• Web of Shadow can knock Kyrie out of her Rush. It's a great way to keep her from escaping.

Azcadelia vs. Other Immortals

I will go over how you should deal with each individual immortal (assuming decent people are playing them) along with a score that determines the priority on who you should kill first (1 being "kill only if shes by herself" and 5 being "kill him ASAP!"):


Lazarus(1): He is a hard opponent to lane against for any Immortal. Fortunately if you have good reflexes, E ability will save you from his Missile, but if blocked, it will apply you the Slow effect, unless you fail in reflexes and you receive the damage, it will remove the Slow effect, that also applies to his DoT ability, you can remove it with E ability. But let's not underestimate Lazarus, its Missile unfortunately as less CD than our E, and so it will hit us 1 time without we being able to block it if you are not hiding.

Kyrie(4): If you lane vs. Kyrie, it will be pretty easy for you, unfortunately Shurikens will damage you even under 3, but as an advantage if she rushes to you, then it is the right moment to use E, also, with that ability you can remove "Lacerates" effect on you. I will give her a 4, she is easy but still can hit you well.

Tatiana(5): One of the best Immortal to lane against being Azcadelia. Your W ability has less casting time so in a face to face battle, she will never be able to execute her combo on you. And as Tatiana is mostly based in her abilities, feel free to harass her while she is Silenced. You can escape from her Nova with E as well.

Balak(5): He is based in Auto-attacks, and his attacks are projectiles, so using E to avoid damage while your Shadelings are devouring him, will for sure give you an easy kill. Do not be afraid of his stun.

Nyssus(5): Same as Balak, just that Nyssus has an Early Game pretty powerful shield, and may save her from your combo several times.

Kavashiir(3): You can disable his Ulti if he has targeted you and his other True damage ability isn't very important. But as his role is more of Offensive Support, and also DoT disabler, if there is any other Healer in the enemy group than he, silence him to prevent extra healing, but at the moment of silencing Healers, Ayslinn is the priority.

Pycon(2.5): If you are lucky and have extreme reflexes, use E when he is about to use Ultimate ability on you. Unfortunately his Axe cannot be blocked with E. His stun ability is the only that can give you disadvantage, yet he is not a real threat for Azcadelia, but can do much damage.

Talia(5): She is an extremely easy opponent being Azcadelia, if she uses her Lure on you, while you are flying to hug her, spam Silence on her and then spam E to try to escape, also this will cause a lot of damage on her. Not a real threat even on Late Game.

Trovoc(2): He doesn't do a lot of damage, anyway be careful of his Bite, it will keep you silenced for a very long time, and a skilled Trovoc can change a Team Fight, in any circumstances target Trovoc first, he will escape or absorb all damage as most of Trovocs build Tank / Speed, while his teammates are taking you down.

Tzai(2): He can deal a lot of damage to Azcadelia in Early Game, so, if it's possible, change the lane if you see yourself facing him on yours. Even if you can block his jump with E, the jump is so fast that most of the times you will not have enough reflexes to block it, and his laser-eye thing will hit you anyway.

Ukkonen(1): Immediately change lane or fall back if you see an Ukkonen lanning against you, you cannot block his missiles, even if you can disable the Slow effect of his jump, he will follow you and provably kill you. You cannot do anything vs. his Ultimate. Well, basically or just be very careful avoiding his bolts and keeping him away from you, or request lane change.

Ichoor(4): An easy opponent to lane against. You can remove his roots with E, and without that, he has no more damage output. At late-game be sure to silence him to keep the enemy team without healing for a good amount of time. He is also an easy opponent in Early-Game.

Psychozen(1): Hard counter to any Mage due to his Silence + Slow damage combo. Also most of the Psychozens start with a lot of Magic Resistance and Armor. If it's possible to not lane against him, take that possibility, otherwise it will be a hard battle.

Neth(3): He is mostly a DoT applier, so E is your friend here. Having that in mind he turns into not such a powerful Immortal against Azcadelia. But let's not underestimate a Neth, he can silence you, you cannot disable his Ultimate effect and his Sig is very powerful, yet E may help you escape his Signature ability, but it's not 100% confirmed you can.

Vezin(2): Most of Vezins build tank so it's not the best option to focus him first, and also he is able to hit you with every of his abilities, just that your E can remove the Slow effect from his damage AoE. If you lane against a Vezin, be sure it will be a hard battle.


This concludes the Strategy Section, and also the guide.
Thank you for taking time to read this.

Special thanks to:
MachoFTW for his support and advices,
Axte for his extensive opinion on Azcadelia,
Trylobyte for his awesome Guide Template,
MSTRBLSTR2k for support.
Nightmare-SG for orthography mistakes advice.
I've provably forgot some name, I am sorry.

This post has been edited by Zanger: 17 March 2012 - 06:13 AM

[Zanger]

Changelog and Update Notes:

• March 15, 2012, Post created, necessary comments added as "Reserved"
  
• March 15, 2012, Added Abilities section, has to be completed.
  
• March 15, 2012, Completed ability section.
  
• March 15, 2012, Azcadelia Abilities section Completed.
  
• March 16, 2012, Carry Azcadelia Build section Completed.
  
• March 16, 2012, Semi-Carry Tank Azcadelia Build section Completed.
  
• March 16, 2012, Full-Tank Azcadelia Build section Completed.
  
• March 16, 2012, Updated ability description keeping them up to date with the released update (March 16, 2012).
  
• March 17, 2012, Completed Full Tank Azcadelia Build section.
  
• March 17, 2012, Created guide Index.
  
• March 17, 2012, Completed Azcadelia vs. Other Immortals section.
  
• March 17, 2012, Corrected ortography errors on some parts of the guide.
  
• March 17, 2012, Guide finished.
  
• March 17, 2012, Corrected a putrid mass of orthography mistakes.
  
• March 17, 2012, Added Patch Note section.
  
• March 17, 2012, Included a link to Profiles in Thank Giving part.
  
• March 17, 2012, Added Azcadelia Spotlight Video and Direct Link.
  
• March 17, 2012, Deleted Destroyer's Mantle from item list.
  
• March 17, 2012, Added PvP or PvE to each build.
  
• March 17, 2012, Changed Talent Tree for Semi-Carry Tank build.

• Patch Date: 16 March 2012
  
  Spoiler

  
  Azcadelia
  

  
  a. Increased selection ring size on Azcadelia.
  b. Limited shadeling growl repeats in the hub.
  c. Fixed typo on ability tooltip to Abyssal Queen.
  d. Corrected Web of Shadow description to read 'depreciating' not 'deprecating.'
  e. Added break brush, invisible, and FOW on target for duration of Fear Thy Shadow.
  f. Shadelings will break off target when the target goes invisible.
  h. Shadelings spawn immediately so now Fear Thy Shadow is an option at level 1, updated tooltip for Shadelings to reflect the innate shadeling presence.
  i. Casting avatar weapon ability will stop entire movement group (prevents shadelings, broodlings misbehaving when using attack-move, for example).
  j. Changed Umbral Veil tooltip for Azcadelia to state "blocks targeted projectiles" to clarify abililty.
  k. Improved following code for Shadelings so they track their targets more closely.
  l. Fix for leftover health bars on dead shadelings.
  

  
  

TODO List:

[ ] Update Offense Tree on Carry Build, Kyo Comment.

This post has been edited by Zanger: 18 March 2012 - 05:19 AM

[Aleks55]

I was wondering what happened to the old thread. Good work putting this back up buddy.

[Zanger]

I decided to delete the old thread and reopen it, though that caused some issues I will tell Berek, but I'm focused on doing this one complete.

---

This post has been edited by Zanger: 15 March 2012 - 12:10 PM

[King Of Immortals]

Epic bro nice

[Zanger]

Good news, after 2 days of very hard work, the guide is nearly finished, will take just 1 day more to complete.


Edit: The guide is still [spoiler'ed], I will announce when it will be completelly full.

This post has been edited by Zanger: 16 March 2012 - 02:58 PM

[Zanger]

Guide completed, thank you ALL for your patience.

Guide content:
- Every ability description and values.
- 3 different builds, feel free to choose your one for your gameplay, and also feedback is very appreciated to make those 3 better with your ideas.
- Strategy section and Azcadelia vs. Other Immortals section for more help for new Azcadelia players.

- Zanger

[2die4]

Great work man, thx for sharing.

[Aamido]

Very well done, you put a lot of effort into your guides.

[Kyo]

Very well done and congratulations on finally finishing it!

I was surprised to see that you had included tomes being viable for some of the item builds on her. It's a very risky item to get especially if you're not completely dominating and never dying (considering otherwise the tome will drop in efficiency by 50% which is quite a lot.) With your offensive build I was surprised that you had 2 in life steal and spirit vamp but only 2 points in mana resistance penetration. The first point you put in life steal and spirit vamp is the most important one as it gives 2%. Every point you give afterwards is less effective and thus the extra mana resistance penetration could be more beneficial in that sense leaving you with 1 point in life steal and spirit vamp and 4 points in magic resistance penetration. It was just my thoughts on it, it looks really great overall!

Edit: It might give a better overview if you split it up over multiple topics. It's very extensive and seems tough to get through. It's just an idea of what I feel like would give a better overview. I think what you've done with multiple posts works really well too.
I haven't read anywhere near the entire thing I've merely skimmed through it since I don't play Azcadelia myself so I may not have a clue.

This post has been edited by Kyo: 17 March 2012 - 05:44 AM

[Zanger]

Kyo, on 17 March 2012 - 05:39 AM, said:

Very well done and congratulations on finally finishing it!

I was surprised to see that you had included tomes being viable for some of the item builds on her. It's a very risky item to get especially if you're not completely dominating and never dying (considering otherwise the tome will drop in efficiency by 50% which is quite a lot.) With your offensive build I was surprised that you had 2 in life steal and spirit vamp but only 2 points in mana resistance penetration. The first point you put in life steal and spirit vamp is the most important one as it gives 2%. Every point you give afterwards is less effective and thus the extra mana resistance penetration could be more beneficial in that sense leaving you with 1 point in life steal and spirit vamp and 4 points in magic resistance penetration. It was just my thoughts on it, it looks really great overall!

Edit: It might give a better overview if you split it up over multiple topics. It's very extensive and seems tough to get through. It's just an idea of what I feel like would give a better overview. I think what you've done with multiple posts works really well too.
I haven't read anywhere near the entire thing I've merely skimmed through it since I don't play Azcadelia myself so I may not have a clue.

Thank you for your feedback on the Spirit Vamp and Life Steal talents, I was just so tired this week trying to finish this, that this just got over me, I tried to complete it as soon as possible, but checking it now again, I will modify that between today and tomorrow.

About the Tome, it's just an option, I've already said that it's a risky item to get, but there is a very big variety of skills and gameplays out there, so, consider it just an option.

And about splitting it up over multiple topics, I don't know D:, as Berek sponsored it, splitting it up over multiple topics will be an issue.

[Kyo]

Zanger, on 17 March 2012 - 05:49 AM, said:

Thank you for your feedback on the Spirit Vamp and Life Steal talents, I was just so tired this week trying to finish this, that this just got over me, I tried to complete it as soon as possible, but checking it now again, I will modify that between today and tomorrow.

About the Tome, it's just an option, I've already said that it's a risky item to get, but there is a very big variety of skills and gameplays out there, so, consider it just an option.

And about splitting it up over multiple topics, I don't know D:, as Berek sponsored it, splitting it up over multiple topics will be an issue.

I'll try to read over all of it at some point and give proper feedback then. You've already done a great job giving as much overview of it as you could within one topic.

[Zanger]

Kyo, on 17 March 2012 - 05:52 AM, said:

I'll try to read over all of it at some point and give proper feedback then. You've already done a great job giving as much overview of it as you could within one topic.

Good luck on trying to read it all... It's long as hell T_T

This post has been edited by Zanger: 17 March 2012 - 05:53 AM

[Tear]

Looks good my friend

[Kyo]

Okay a few questions:

1. Headline still says Tank Azcadelia then goes directly to Carry Azcadelia.

2.Semi-Carry Tank Azcadelia - you get the talent for extra attack speed depending on your bonus damage (from items mainly) without getting a single bonus damage item.

3. Why Destroyer's Mantle? It's not really a consistent item and rarely good or even used. I'd only imagine it being used for Tzai and Scorpix in rare situations. Mainly seems outclassed by other items.

This is just a concern. I feel like the carry Azcadelia seems to fall under this category:

Trylobyte, on 15 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

You've seen yourself that as long as you have a good knowledge of the basics you can get away with almost anything in a low-level match because you're usually facing players that don't even have that down. Carry Lazarus? Done that. Battle Aislynn? One of your favorites. Tank Balak? I've seen it. These all work in the hands of an advanced player because the competition is too new to the game to put up much of a fight regardless of what you do.

I don't know how well it would work in a proper game against a proper team or another Azcadelia that was using a proper build.

This post has been edited by Kyo: 17 March 2012 - 07:17 AM

[axte]

Very thorough guide.

-For Azca's sig, the slow effect is seperate from the viz toxin which means it does not stack. The slow will always be 20%, never more.

-Also, I agree with kyo, carry Azcadelia is a horrible build, it should be not be included in the guide at all. It makes as much senze as a carry vezin...

-For the semi tank build you should remove the points in the attack spped boost (you get almost no bonus damge so it is useless) and instead add those points into cooldown reduction in azca's champion tree. Also, in the final stats, you like lifesteal 48% when this build has no lifesteal.

-For the talisman's artifacts, you reccomend guilded bones talismans (+armor), but in the description, you talk about hp regen.