While Riot Games has been under fire recently, their most popular title, League of Legends, is still going strong. It hits eight million concurrent players a day, which is absolutely mind-blowingly high numbers compared to most games. Needless to say, League of Legends isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
One of the things that keep players from ranking up in League of Legends is not knowing how to get the most out of their champion's abilities. Draven can be amazing for dealing damage and can be incredibly aggressive in the early game as long as players know how to use his abilities effectively.
5 Passive: League of Draven
Draven has an amazing passive ability that allows him to be an aggressive champion in the early game. When playing Draven, consider this:
- When Draven catches a , kills a non-champion, or destroys a turret, he gains a stack of Adoration.
- Killing a minion or destroying a ward or trap grants a Strike stack for 10 seconds, up to a maximum of 6. If he drops an axe, he loses all Strike stacks. At 6 stacks, he consumes all of his Strike stacks and gains 2 Adoration stacks.
- When Draven kills an enemy champion, he consumes all of his Adoration stacks and gains 25 + (2 × stacks) bonus gold.
- Draven loses 75% of his Adoration stacks upon death.
The amount of gold Draven amasses is absolutely massive, but they need to be extra careful to make sure Draven doesn't die or that they can cash out before losing all of their stacks. Sometimes, there's no way to avoid death after all. Keep an eye on those stacks, and if Draven is surrounded with no reasonable retreat, go all out instead of running away.
4 Spinning Axe, Q Ability
Due to his passive ability, Spinning Axe is the absolute bread and butter ability for this champion. The best Draven players are able to balance three axes at once when pushing waves into enemy turrets. When using the Q Ability, consider this:
- Draven starts spinning his axe, causing his next basic attack within 5.8 seconds to deal bonus physical damage.
- The axe ricochets off the target high up into the air, landing 2 seconds later at a location determined by Draven's current movement. If Draven catches an axe, Spinning Axe is reapplied for no additional cost on his next basic attack.
- Draven can hold up to two Spinning Axes in his hands at once.
It's important to remember that, despite League of Draven and the other bonuses for doing so, it's okay to drop axes. In fact, sometimes experienced Draven players should. The enemy team can see where the axe should fly to return to Draven and may possibly decide to aim their skill shots in that direction. It can be a great way to make them miss by simply letting an axe drop as bait.
3 Blood Rush, W Ability
Blood Rush is also a very important part of Draven's kit. Movement skills are vital in League of Legends and this ability affects that a good deal. There's not as much to consider with the W ability, but when using it, remember:
- Draven becomes ghosted for 1.5 seconds, gaining bonus attack speed for 3 seconds and bonus movement speed which decays over 1.5 seconds.
- Catching a resets Blood Rush's cooldown
A lot of players don't realize it's not just his movement speed that's affected here. He also ignores any unit collision. He can keep running down enemies even if they're surrounded by creeps, which can allow him to be aggressive in ways other champions can't.
Players can also more effectively chase down enemies if they use Blood Rush correctly. While it can be tempting to charge straight ahead at the enemy, players should actually wait right before the ax lands in front of them to catch it. If they immediately press W as soon as possible, the speed boost they get will negate any of the waiting time they took. It takes a bit of practice to get this bizarre movement tech to work efficiently, but it's absolutely worth it.
2 Stand Aside, E Ability
Stand Aside is a bit more straightforward than Draven's other abilities. It's also some of the only crowd control the champion has to offer. The E Ability works as follow:
- Draven throws his axes in a line in the target direction, dealing physical damage to all enemies hit, knocking them aside and slowing them for 2 seconds.
It's important to note that Stand Aside has a bit of a cast time, so players will need to make sure they use this ability proactively and not reactively. This ability also acts as a knockup that other champions can capitalize off of nicely.
1 Whirling Death, R Ability
Every champion's ultimate is impressive, and Whirling Death is no exception. Like any other ultimate, it should be saved for just the right moment as players only get to use it so many times during a game with how long the cooldown times are. Before using the R Ability, consider this:
- Draven hurls two massive axes in the target direction, briefly revealing the area along its path and dealing physical damage to all enemies struck. Whirling Death can be recast after 1 second.
- Upon reaching the edge of the map, striking an enemy champion, or upon reactivation, the axes slowly come to a stop before coming back to Draven, dealing the same damage to every enemy struck on the way back.
- Whirling Death deals 100% − 40% (based on enemies hit) damage, resetting when the axes reverse their direction.
This can be a great way to deal some serious damage in an ambush or even to snipe players entirely across the map if done right. It's incredibly impressive, but one of its best properties is how it can be recalled. Players can simply wait for the axe to come back, but if they press R a second time, it comes back instantly.
This allows players to have more control over the axe but also guarantees more damage. Players can force the enemy champion to take two hits if they immediately recall the weapon the moment it strikes them. It takes good timing, but veteran Draven players make sure to learn this vital skill with their ultimate.