Kahlii: God-Tier Mage

Build and Guide Kahlii: God-Tier Mage

Cheat Sheet
Skill Build

Pick up Eternal Blame at the start of the round. Unlock Incorporeal next and focus your points back into Eternal Blame until Grievance is available. At that point, alternate between Incorporeal and Grievance, leaving Eternal Blame for last.

Items

Orb of the Magi

Zweihander

Boomstick

Hecate's Diadem

Staff of Nuul

Ancestral Glory

Arcana

Focus on Ability Power and Critical Chance in Red slots. Purples can be used for Life Steal and Ability power at later tiers, but less experienced players can gain essential HP and Movement Speed here. In the early phases, grab Armor for Green arcana before switching to Ability Power and Magic Pierce later on.

Talents

Sprint, Heal, Daze, Flicker

Introduction
Awarded toward the end of the Path to Glory incentive for new players, you'd think Kahlii is some kind of god-tier character. And she is. Assuming you can use her as she's intended.

Billed as a harassment-style Mage, Kahlii is capable of some fairly unique moves. She has persistant shields, high-damage AOEs, a personal AP increase and a incredible long-range Ultimate that just keeps going. But all that power has its drawbacks. Things need to be aimed correctly, effectively channeled before going off and, in some cases, can actively encourage others to shut her down. She isn't exactly a tough nut to crack, but those who best her attempts at movement prediction won't see her at her fullest.

Skill Build
You could read Kahlii's passive ability and get the complete wrong idea. Causing her auto-attacks to 'pierce' doesn't mean they tear through whatever armor and resistances her target is rocking. Her moves literally pierce targets, meaning they'll hit anything and everything behind them up to a certain distance. This means champions can be attacked through minion waves while Kahlii racks up the money from those kills too. She's the queen of harassment.

Eternal Blame, her main ability pick-up, casts a fairly wide ground-based AOE that lingers on the target location burning anything caught within for damage over time. Appling a stacking movement speed debut with each tick, enemies can grow to have their movement speed dimished by a whole 75% over its duration, meaning its effects are still visible even after the circle dissipates.

Incorporeal is a simple enough self-benefiting buff that lasts a long, long time. Though on a relatively short 12-second default cooldown, Incorporeal boosts Kahlii's Ability Power by 20% and her Movemement Speed by 10% for a whole 60 seconds. So why is it on such a short cooldown? Because it grants her a shield upon use. The idea here is just to keep the shield up as much as possible. The stat increases will, thus, always be in effect.

Grievance is Kahlii's ultimate. It's a barrage that aims to cause as plenty of pain for a long time. Once cast, Kahlii takes around half a second to charge up before firing off 55 magic bullets along the chosen path for 5 seconds. They just keep going. The main allure of this, however, is that she can still move as she fires, allowing her to reposition, chase and switch targets if used correctly. It's a tricky one to pull off, but it can cause a lot of damage in a team fight.

Thanks to the long-lasting effects of Incorporeal, it's pretty easy to see where most of your points will go when levelling up in battle. As a ranged attacker, the shield effect isn't going to be 100% necessary at the start of a match. There's no point boosting your Ability Power without a damage ability, either, so you'll be picking up Eternal Blame first.

Slot your second point into Incorporeal to make the most of the benefits mentioned above. This is where things get interesting, though. You'll gain more by pouring your points into Eternal Blame as the Ability Power granted by Incorporeal as it levels up doesn't quite match the raw power increase Eternal Blame gains with each.

Once you've unlocked Grievance, all that changes. Aiding both of your damaging abilities with Incorporeal suddenly starts to make sense. The decreased cooldown could help with shields during hectic momement, too, and with a few points having already gone into Eternal Blame at this point already, its own cooldown should already be slim enough for the mid-game task.

Recommended Talents
You have a number of options when it comes to picking out your Trait of choice. Kahlii is already pretty good at pulling away in a fight thanks to the slowdown effects and shields of her abilitys, but taking Sprint increases her Movement Speed to a point where chasing down opponents who attempt to dodge Grievance isn't so much of a... grievance. Maybe it's just down to her floating, but she feels incredibly slow when it matters the most, so popping Sprint to reposition and realign her ultimate can make a world of difference.

Heal isn't a bad pick, either. She's a glass cannon type in, but her long range attacks and piercing blows mean she's typically found hugging the back of her team in bigger brawls. For this reason, she's a great asset when it comes to the AOE effect of Heal as she'll almost always be in range to help out in a pinch without fear of getting shot down before firing it off. The extra movement speed when popped could spur alllies into pulling back or rushing in, too, allowing her to position Grievance for maximum carnage.

Daze or Flicker could also become viable as you grow to be more comfortable with reading your opponent's moves and positioning for your own. Daze can stun your target in place to launch Eternal Blame underfoot with the resulting hit to their Movement Speed allowing for an easy aim on Grievance. Blink could be used mid-fire to realign your aim against a faster oppponent or to correct for a misfire.

Items
Like any mage you'll be itching to blast down your opponents before they even have a chance to fire back. While that's totally possible for the best of the best, stacking Ability Power on Kahlii isn't the smartest move for everyone – and that includes your team.

Again, she's designed as a harassment pick. She's not there to rack up the kills, but excels in causing problems for the opposing team by shrugging off their advances, chipping down their HP and vanishing just to come back and do it again. She's a distraction machine that hopes to create an opening or close off an exit so that her teammates can go in to finish the job. For those reason, she needs to stand a chance at surviving after the tiniest mistake. Extra HP can help here, of course, but shifting her focus away from pure Ability Damage can help quite a bit too.

Your first buy should absolutely be Orb of the Magi in almost any situation. The slow increases in Ability Power over time will help make up for the survivabilty you should add fairly early on. The regens awarded as she levels up will help with her harrassment capabilities by refreshing her mana pool, too. This makes farming creep for all-important gold much easier.

Pick up Greaves of Protection soon after. It may sound like an odd pick, but you'll be building them into Ancestral Glory toward the end of the game, and grabbing the 1000 HP increase early on is pretty big deal. Going for Zweihander next may also feel like a controversial idea, but bolstering her piercing auto-attacks and having them scale from her growing Ability Power will ensure her damage potential isn't limited to a good aim with her abilities. The movement speed will help with the lack of boots.

Boomstick is a popular choice, too, thanks to its sizable Ability Power gift. The added explosion effect will be easy to trigger with her wide-reaching skill set, and the long cast time of  Greivance could trigger it twice. Again, the extra Ability Power will help with the sting. Lastly, grab both Hecate's Diadem and Staff of Nuul. The order doesn't matter too much, but weigh up damage against cooldown reduction and pick which is best suited to your current sitation. Once you have both, you'll be pushing some severe damage in group situations.

Arcana
When picking out Arcana, you won't have too much to think about. Auto-attack worries are defeated by taking Zweihander, so focus Red arcana slots on Ability Power. Find some that aid in Critical Chance in the higher tiers – like Surge. In tier 3, you'll have to do a little bit of mix n' match between these two preferred stats.

In Purple slots things are a little more open-ended. Because of their focus on Defensive capabilities, it's down to how you play. Kahlii is best played away from direct danger, meaning a lot of these shouldn't really come into effect much anyway, so you'll have to choose between the straight survivability of things like Max HP or aim to recoup any losses with Magic Life Steal. In Tier 2 the added Ability Power of the Revelation arcana is a no-brainer, but if you're still getting to grips with the character you may gain more from Alacrity for its Max HP and Movement Speed increases. Tier 3 just allows more of the same in a higher dosage.

For Green arcana, it's the same kind of deal. If you find yourself taking quite a bit of damage in fights, look at bolstering your Armor. Those with the necesary experience under their belt can substitute for additional Ability Power and Magic Pierce from things like Corrosion or Hex. Basically, go for offensive arcana if you know what you're doing. Otherwise, get some defense.

Early Game
Kahlii can be effective on any lane where the fight is even. On the bottom lane with an ally, she's best used within the brush to land Eternal Blame under the enemy. Rather than centering the shot, aim to anticipate where your foe will be in a second or two. Your ally will (hopefully) follow up with an attack of their own, meaning everyone's about to move up, down or strafe. Work it out and place it so it intercepts their path – but still start them in there. The ticks will have a chance to do their work, while the slowdown effect can allow for additional blows. This can be good for the occassional tower dive.

Once you've levelled up, be sure to put a point into Incorporeal. Pop it for the immediate benefits and whenever your shield is used up in combat.

From there, just focus on farming creep. Eternal Blame may clear them quickly, but try to stick with your auto-attacks so that the piercing effect will hit both minions and the champions behind. This is great when paired against Grakk as it cancels the need to stay behind your own creep waves to block his hook. Work on your first set of items and get that tower down. Again, Zweihander will help a lot here.

Mid Game
Once a tower or two has fallen, you'll start to naturally sink into the mid-phase. Hopefully you've had enough time for Orb of the Magi to boost your Ability Power while your Zweihander has helped to poke the enemy without taking too much damage in the process. If team fights are starting to break out, it's time to start stinging.

Slowly work your way into a teamfight – especially ones where the opponent has pushed ahead. Position yourself in the middle of the fray (but still in the brush) so that you can angle your Eternal Blame in the optimal spot. Having more than one enemy in there is great, but trapping a single will signal which your allies should then pounce on. Ensure the shield and boosts of Incorporeal are active before heading in, and cause some damage with your auto-attacks.

Again, they pierce. And with Zweihander they should be doing some decent bonus damage. Try to angle your shots so that they hit as many targets as possible, but don't worry if you can't. You shouldn't have to use Incorporeal too often, either, giving you extra mana to spend on blocking paths with more Eternal Blame.

If you already have Grievance unlocked, use the slowdown effect of Eternal Blame to aim your shot. Angling it sideways across the lane can work if the targets in question are together, but you could open yourself up to an attack from the left or right of their jungle entrance. You can't change which way you face during this long cast, so your rear is completely open to a counter attack if allowed. Angling it straight down the lane is typically best as it allows you to advance or retreat to suit the situation.

Above all else, carry on farming creep once the fights are done with. You'll need the cash to stay relevant on the battlefield

Late Game
Thanks once again to the Zweihander you're no longer terrible at blasting down towers. If you've done all the poking you can do, take some time out to push lanes and enjoy the ability power scaling of your auto-attacks to pop off minion waves without having to rely on your abilities. Ensure your shield and buffs are up as usual and help in a way most wouldn't expect a Kahlii to do.

When in team fights, though, your main task is to stay safe while throwing out as much hurt as you can.Grabbing the mana regen and cooldown reduction from the Sage Golem can be really helpful here, and swipe the Might Golem if nobody else is paying it much attention – burning and slowing enemies with your piercing auto-attacks can go a long way.

Remember to stay close to your allies at all times, but keep to the back of them to avoid too much incoming damage. The shield of Incorporeal should help massively here, while its active effects should allow your Eternal Blame to really chip away at your opponents with each cast. Don't aim for maximum damage every time; just throw it somewhere whenever you can. So long as it's on the lane, it's causing your opponents to change their strategy. Even throwing it into the jungle can limit their retreat options or suggest to them that something will soon force them to go there. It's a great way to play mind games.

But your real focus is on Grievance. Thanks to the power increases of your items and Incorporeal, this is a barrage of bullets that can tear your enemies to shreds. Once your shield is up, it becomes a semi-viable escape route for your allies, too, as most enemies won't want to take the damage needed to go in for the kill. But best of all, its massive range means you're safe to fire from the back of your team without too much worry. Again, any use is a good use as it will force your enemies to rethink their pathing. If you're expecting them to group together thanks to either your own Eternal Blame or similar skill from an ally, save it for that. You aim will be more or less perfect and you'll basically always land a hit with the vast majority of the projectiles. Don't be afraid to use Sprint to reposition the barrage, too. You have plenty of other ways to retreat if needed.

Once the team fights are over, get back to putting pressure on the lanes. You're good for both.

FAQ/Tips
You'll never need to worry about the benefits of Incorporeal wearing off if you use it whenever it's available.

Grievance has a noticable wind-up time during activation. Ensure you have the time to pull it off. Eternal Blame is similar, but takes a little less time.

Eternal Blame goes well with Grakk's hook. Drop it under where your opponent will soon land.

Using Sprint with Grievance makes it easier to chase and hit an opponent.

The cooldown of Eternal Blame is slow. Use it to limit enemy paths rather than to purely damage your foe.

Grab both Jungle Golems if nobody else is using them. You can put both effects to good use.

Position your auto-attacks to hit both minions and champions for maximum damage. Learn the range.

Matchups
Kahlii can tear down just about anyone with the right preperation and impeccable aim, but that isn't always possible. Champions with rapid movements can avoid most of her abilities, with melee attackers having the easier time of shutting her down. Characters like Butterfly can cause problems by dodging skills while faster moving attackers like Valhein can cancel out her skills with a well-timed stun.

The best bang for your buck when playing with or as Kahlii would come from a move like Alice's 'Hissy Fit' or Fennik's Chain Hammer Cyclone. Both, when paired with the slowdown effects of Eternal Blame, create an easy opening to melt targets with Grievance. The amplified damage from Incorporeal and either of these abilities can cause massive amounts of unavoidable damage in group situations.

Tanks are the best when it comes to soaking up Kahlii's hits. By keeping fairly ahead of their team, larger characters can reduce the effective range of her piercing abilities and are usually wide enough to shield one or two characters from her Grievance barrage. Gildur's Indulgence is a good way to pin her long enough for someone else to secure the kill. There isn't much she can do but run when in a face-to-face confrontation, and it doesn't take long to bust through her shield no matter how many times she uses it.

Playing as Kahlii will always be a case of keeping your distance and reading your opponent's moves. Playing against her consists of side-stepping her abilities and getting in close. Once she's winding up Grievance, she's open for a counter attack. Get behind her and there's almost nothing she can do to fight back.