Introduction Top
I see a lot of Taka's building the tension bow and aftershock combination. Those Taka's often struggle immensely in the early game and their damage usually falls of in the late game. I wanted a build that is stable throughout the whole game and fits into almost any team comb. So here it is, a guide to a versatile and reliable Taka!
I have to note that you need some experience with Taka before jumping into a game and simply building the items. Taka is possibly the hardest character to learn so practice first. Try watching some of the dev streams with Taka, they will really help you understand when to engage in battle and how to use Taka's abilities.
Item guide Top
Main items:
A sorrowblade drastically increases your damage output and therefore your lifesteal. Get it early alongside some attack speed and maybe boots.
Bonesaw gives you some more weapon power and much needed attack speed. It also has a passive that shreds armor. This means that with every attack, your damage becomes higher. This item also benefits other weapon character on your team like Joule or Ringo, because they can also make use of the armor shredding effect to deal more damage.
Broken myth works different in 1.5.0. It provides shield pierce and some crystal power. The shield pierce stacks up to 3 times. At full stacks, you deal tons of damage with your abilities and enemies can't simply counterbuild with an aegis. It's usually better to get a broken myth before a shatterglass as you can read here:
http://forums.vainglorygame.com/index.php?threads/the-new-broken-myth-v1-5-0-a-comprehensive-guide.20341/#post-213484
I really depends on what the opponent builds but generally speaking, aegis is the best defensive item to get on Taka. You can dodge most basic attacks with kaku and you should generally not be on the front lines, so building armor is usually not needed. If you are getting hit with something, it is most likely an ability, so some shield keeps you alive. Aegis also has a reflex block, so that can be useful if your kaiten or kaku is on cooldown.
m,con= crucible size=50]
Crucible adds tons of health and is therefore a useful defensive item if the enemy has a good mix of crystal and weapon power. It also has a reflex block for your whole team. With three reflex blocks (aegis, crucible and Kaiten sort of), and possibly the help of an Ardan, you are virtually impossible to kill while dealing good damage.
Journey boots give you some extra defense and more passive walking speed. Some people don't need the extra speed and just use kaku to get around, but personally, I think boots are very useful for a hit and run strategy.
Other options:
If the enemy team has mostly weapon power and attack speed, you can build an atlas pauldron instead of an aegis. If you prefer a slow effect over a reflex block, you can get shiversteel over crucible. This is mostly so your teammates can catch up though, because as Taka, you shouldn't have much problems sticking to your target. Clockwork is an amazing item to spam your abilities. It's a good idea to get an early energy battery, because Taka finds himself in a though spot without his abilities. You can also upgrade your battery into an eve of harvest. You get huge amounts of health back from using your broken myth boosted x-retsu. I haven't tried using aftershock much, but I guess it's still a great item to counter health and to increase your burst. If you want some extreme damage output, you can also replace one of your defensive items for a shatterglass. The damage you can deal with your core + the broken myth and shatterglass combo is insane. After you get your core and a broken myth, it's usually a good idea to start eating infusions, both crystal and weapon. You can also go for a tank Taka if you want. replace bonesaw with breaking point and get an extra defensive item instead of broken myth. If you don't want or need boots, you can also replace that for one of the situational items.
Ability guide Top
Taka's heroic perk is House Kamuha. It is arguably the best perk in the game. Taka's critical strikes grant him a small speed bonus and 30% lifesteal. Taka is given a guaranteed critical strike every 5 seconds. Taka gains one Ki stack for every critical strike or ability, with a maximum of 5 stacks. Each ki stack speeds up his guaranteed critical strikes by 0.9 seconds and grants 25% coodown acceleration.
At max stacks, all of Taka's attacks become critical strikes, so it's crucial to keep your stacks up. Use your abilities to gain stacks, and use kaku to remain them. The small speed boost is useful to stick to opponents or dance around them so they miss their abilities. Because Taka already has built in lifesteal and crit, you don't have to waste money on items like serpent mask or tyrant monocle. The cooldown acceleration is also really useful, but it's still a good idea to build more cooldown acceleration so you can spam your abilities even more often.
Taka's A ability is Kaiten. Taka flips over his target with his spinning blades. It deals damage and Taka is completely invulnerable when airborne. Overdriving it makes the energy cost zero, so you can freely use it to gain ki stacks.
This is actually a more defensive ability. Safe it to dodge powerful ultimates or stuns. It gives Taka some momentum so you can also use kaiten as gap closer or even as an escape tool. It's really important to know what and when to dodge attacks. A well timed Kaiten can be a lifesaver.
Taka's B ability is Kaku. Taka hides in a box and gains movement speed. Enemies can't see or attack Taka when he hides in his box. When Taka get's hit or attacks an enemy, he is visible again. Using kaku also refreshes the timer on ki stacks.
Kaku is the reason that Taka is so stealthy and terrifying, Taka can appear at any moment and mercilessly slice trough his victim. Use Kaku as initiator or for escape. Ironically enough, you have to think 'outside the box' when using Kaku. Don't move in a linear path, but rather take routes that the enemy doesn't expect you to go. try to backdoor the enemy or pretend like you are fleeing when you actually set up an ambush, be stealthy. You can also scout for the enemy with kaku. Activate kaku and then run into a bush to see if there are enemies there.
A really important thing to remember is that Kaku refreshes the timer on ki stacks. Use kaku on the
last second before your stacks vanish to refresh the timer. This way, you will be ready to farm or gank with full stacks again.
[icon=X-Retsu size=70)
Taka's ultimate is x-retsu. He targets an enemy and instantly dashes to and slices through the target, dealing damage and causing bleeding. The bleeding deals damage over time and lowers all healing by half and it lowers the effectiveness of health barriers.
X-Retsu is Taka's gap closer. He can us it to get in, kill an enemy and escape again with kaku. It deals very high damage with a broken myth and possibly another crystal item. The bleeding effect is also really useful now that fountain of renewal is so popular. it also badly screws up Krul and Ardan, because Taka can ignore a portion of their barriers (and reduce lifesteal in Krul's case).
DON'T FLY IN WITH X-RETSU IN EVERY TEAMFIGHT, YOU WILL DIE. Wait for the right moment to strike, otherwise you will get focused and bursted down before you can use kaku. In fact, it's usually a good idea to get in with kaku because the enemy team then thinks the teamfight is a 2vs3. Then they are more likely to overextend. After that, Taka can come in and wreck some faces.
Tips and Tricks Top
These are just some general tips on how to play Taka.
- You can use X-Retsu through walls if you have vision. Put a scout trap or pop a flare near a jungle camp and you can get through the wall. This is really useful for escaping when your box is on cooldown.
- When the enemy team is constantly trying to gank your laner, try to steal their jungle camps. The jungle camps in the back give tons of gold and if the enemy team sees you, just use kaku to escape. Having a flare when doing this is ideal, because you then have more ways to escape (X-retsu through wall).
- Always stay out of vision and attack when the opponent least expect it. The surprise factor usually makes enemies panic.
- Stuns are the most valuable abilities to dodge with Kaiten.
- Farm much early game, but don't let your allies die because you were only farming. Try to stick with your support and get some early game kills, but don't be too aggressive.
- When you get chased by a single enemy hero, try to Kaiten over them and run the other way. The opponent needs time to realize were you are going, but then your are long gone already.
- Get your stacks up before picking fights. Taka is nothing without his ki stacks. Getting your broken myth stacks up is also desired, because your abilities do considerably higher damage with stacks.
- Always move in between attacks. Enemies with skillshots should have trouble to hit you when you dash around all the time.
- The best teammates for Taka are supports and characters with high damage AoE abilities. supports that can initiate and heal Taka, like Fortress, Catherine and Ardan, are best. The best AoE heroes are Celeste, Joule and sometimes Adagio. They deal insane damage to the whole enemy team with their ultimate, after which Taka can assassinate the low health enemies easily.
500 view hype Top
500 views isn't that much but I still want to thank all of you for reading my build. Don't forget to vote or comment! Any critisism is appreciated. :)
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