Lethality is a stat that offers unbelievably powerful playstyles that are also extremely fun. It goes amazingly well on assassins, but it can work on all AD champions in League of Legends.
In this post, I’ll introduce you to the 20 best lethality champions, break down their strengths, and give you their core lethality items so you can immediately start playing them in your own games.
You should also check the best lethality items for this season so you can see what you should and shouldn’t build. And you can also view my max lethality build if you’re interested in building as much of this stat as possible.
That said, let’s check the best lethality champs in LoL!
20. Draven
Draven, as one of the most aggressive ADCs, is already among the most lethal champions in League of Legends. His simplistic playstyle leaves no room for failure and lethality items only make him deadlier.
The regular ADC build for Draven involves a lot of crit items as well as lifesteal. But those two stats are often ineffective when it comes to taking down tanks.
Lethality, on the other hand, gives you huge amounts of armor penetration and makes each of Draven’s basic attacks and Qs take large chunks of HP from his targets. Lethality Draven can easily carry games against any team and dominate the laning phase as well as the late game team fights.
With so much armor penetration, Draven becomes a one-shotting machine. His ultimate gets especially strong and you can use it to execute enemies from 50% HP, even if they’re across the map.
Core items for Draven:
- Eclipse
- The Collector
- Essence Reaver
19. Jarvan IV
Playing Jarvan IV with a full set of lethality items is one of my favorite experiences in ARAM. But I also occasionally play him in mid lane to counter AD mid laners such as Yasuo and Yone.
Jarvan is one of the strongest champions early on. You can win duels against most enemies since the first power spike happens on level 1. The E+Q combo does so much damage even with only a Long Sword in your inventory.
If you manage to create a gold and XP lead this way and then proceed to buy lethality items, you’ll be truly unstoppable on Jarvan IV. Your opponents won’t know what to do against you since one E+Q+RR+AA combo can assassinate even the tankiest of tanks.
Jarvan’s damage is so high because he was never meant to be played as an assassin, but rather as a bruiser. So building lethality items is great for taking advantage of this and getting some free LP.
Core items for Jarvan IV:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
18. Kayn
If you’re more into blue Kayn than red Kayn, you probably know the power this champion has. He’s not always utilized as an assassin since the red Kayn has so much damage and healing that players don’t need to risk their games with the blue form.
However, give a blue Kayn one or two kills early on and let him buy Prowler’s Claw or Duskblade, then you’ll know what a true assassin looks like.
Seriously, the damage of blue Kayn is so lethal and so explosive that it cannot be countered. He can literally one-shot enemies while inside a wall, so opponents can’t even see him coming half of the time.
Kayn has lots of mobility and his ultimate allows you to dodge so many attacks from the enemy team while you’re preparing the assassination. You can also use it to execute your target if your W hasn’t done the job already.
Core items for Kayn:
- Eclipse
- Edge of Night
- Serylda’s Grudge
17. Pantheon
Pantheon is another really aggressive champion that benefits a lot from lethality. His abilities are simple and easy to use, so when he has lethality items, they do crazy amounts of damage.
Pantheon’s most basic combo is W+Q, with E being your defensive option against most of your enemy’s attacks. Pantheon’s W performs a few basic attacks while stunning the target and his Q does extra damage if they’re on low HP. Combined, they allow you to win most trades.
Unlike many champions, Patheon doesn’t need to wait for a specific power spike. As soon as level 2, you can jump on your opponent and start trading. Once they’re around 50% HP, your combo is enough to get you a kill, sometimes without even Ignite.
You can play lethality Pantheon in any role, but the optimal ones are mid and support. His strength can help you control the laning phase and snowball your leads later on.
Cor items for Pantheon:
- Eclipse
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
16. Jinx
Lethaltiy Jinx is a bit of a crazy off-meta playstyle only for the true Jinx enthusiast. It focuses more on poking enemies with W and one-shotting them with R from across the map. So auto-attacking takes the back seat.
Normally, Jinx’s W and R are filler spells, only used when Jinx needs to slow down her enemies or secure a champion kill that’s outside her attack range. But with lethality items, you get to spam those two abilities so much that you’re bound to annoy and tilt the enemy team.
For example, lethality Jinx can hit a W and slow her target for 2 seconds. But after 2 seconds, she can use the ability again and hit the target as they’re exiting the slow effect. Not to mention that each cast will do significant amounts of damage thanks to all the armor penetration.
One of the most fun things you can do in this game is fire Super Mega Death Rockets from your base every 30 seconds and cash in on the silly enemies trying to play the game normally. So I recommend you give lethality Jinx a shot!
Cor items for Jinx:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Axiom Arc
15. Nocturne
To this day, Nocturne is still one of the easiest assassins you can play in League of Legends. His build changes from meta to meta but lethality items are never a bad option for him.
Nocturne’s ultimate is a high-damaging ability that has a huge AD ratio as well as base damage. So give him a bit of armor penetration and he’s capable of one-shotting any ADC, mid laner, and support that Summoner’s Rift can spawn.
The cool thing about Nocturne is that you never have to take an unfavorable fight, especially when you’re squishy yourself. Use R to overpower the enemy team and only dash on “easy prey” to turn the fights into 5v4.
Also, you can play lethality Nocturne in both mid lane and jungle, with mid being more appropriate for this aggressive and lethal playstyle.
Cor items for Nocturne:
- Eclipse
- The Collector
- Edge of Night
14. Rengar
Every League player knows that this feral cat is the embodiment of the “one-shot” idea in LoL Rengar can basically kill a target in 0.00 seconds, which often happens when he builds full lethality.
The advantage that Rengar has over many other champions is that he can fight only when he wants to. With his ultimate, he becomes camouflage and can jump on the enemy ADC without even being seen.
And since Rengar primarily deals physical damage and scales with AD (unlike AP Rengar), lethality items directly increase his capabilities.
His go-to lethality item Duskblade of Draktharr allows Rengar to disappear after each kill, making it incredibly difficult for the enemy team to stop him once he gets going. So, definitely try out lethality Rengar!
Core items for Rengar:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
13. Ashe
Lethality Ashe is one of the most fun things you can play in League of Legends. It started as an ARAM-specific build that later became a way for players to even climb to high elo. Just take a look at this video and you’ll know the rest.
Lethality Ashe can be played in every role except for jungle. It’s all about getting as much lethality and cooldown reduction as possible. And your primary job is to spam your W button so that every 2 seconds you’ll fire arrows that deal lots of damage and keep your targets slow.
On the other hand, you also make Ashe’s R available every 30 seconds or so. Items like Axiom Arc help you do this as well as runes like Ultimate Hunter.
With Ashe’s stun as well as her continual slow, it’s very easy to set up kills for your team. Lethality Ashe isn’t the powerful carry playstyle but it does bring more utility which is uncommon for an ADC.
Core items for Ashe:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- Axiom Arc
- Chempunk Chainsword
12. Yorick
Once upon a time, Yorick was among the worst champions in League and Riot Games decided to give him significant buffs. And after that, players started building full lethality on him and broke the game.
Even today, whenever Yorick is picked and gains a slight lead in the top lane, he often goes for lethality items and simply takes over the match. His E and Q are simply too powerful tools when his ghouls are around and that allows him to win duels against anyone.
Lethality Yorick primarily focuses on raising as many Mist Walkers as possible and then sending them onto his target with his E. The trick here is to build Serylda’s Grudge so that each attack from the pets will slow down the target so they can’t escape the damage.
All in all, Lethality Yorick is all about torturing your opponents little by little.
Core items for Yorick:
- Prowler’s Claw
- Serylda’s Grudge
- The Collector
Read Also: The 7 Strongest AD Top Laners
11. Master Yi
I don’t know if there’s anything more lethal in LoL than a fed Master Yi with a full set of lethality items in his inventory. You can’t see him, can’t attack him, and can’t even notice when he has killed you.
Since Yi is a champion that focuses on auto-attacking and casting Q while buffing his damage with E and R, lethality items only improve this playstyle. Each auto-attack is significantly deadlier thanks to all the bonus armor penetration and he can quickly chop down anyone.
Additionally, Yi’s go-to lethality mythic item is Duskblade of Draktharr which makes him invisible after each kill. And since he also disappears when he casts Q, it’s really difficult to stop him from killing your entire team alone.
So if you want to make the enemy team rage and type all kinds of insults in chat, try out lethality Yi!
Core items for Master Yi:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
10. Shaco
Shaco is another unfair champion to play against when his items are mostly lethality. And the reason is the same – he kills targets before they can even notice it and you can’t even see him in order to stop him.
This happens because Shaco’s Q allows him to jump forward while being invisible. So if he manages to quickly take down the enemy carry, which happens easily thanks to the huge damage buff lethality items provide, the rest of the team can’t do anything but wait for their turn.
It’s even worse when Shaco unlocks his ultimate and his trickery starts. Experienced players know how to trick opponents with Shaco’s clone and dominate a team fight by slaying opponents one by one while avoiding damage and CC.
All in all, lethality Shaco offers another way for you to tilt your opponents so definitely give it a shot!
Core items for Shaco:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
9. Renekton
Renekton is one of my personal go-to counters for champions like Zed and Yasuo in the mid lane. I exclusively go for the lethality build since Rene is already a tanky champion for that role (especially when his ult is up) and I can focus on building damage.
And lethality Renekton has more than enough damage. He can basically one-shot any target during the mid game as long as he has Prowler’s Claw and Press the Attack. This combination increases his burst substantially, so no one can withstand it.
Another thing I like about lethality Renekton is that no one really expects you to dash with Prowler’s Claw in and dish out all of your damage while they’re stunned by your W. So it’s funny to read their directions in the chat.
Lastly, I’ll also say that you must close out games faster when you play lethality Renekton. This champion is strong early on but he lacks proper scaling for the late game. So, dominate early and get your LP before the enemy team has had the time to scale!
Core items for Renekton:
- Prowler’s Claw
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
8. Kha’Zix
For many players, Kha’Zix is the most difficult assassin to deal with as an ADC, mid laner, or a support. The fact that he gains true invisibility from both his R and Duskblade is unbelievably broken and he can manipulate opponents during a team fight in any way he wants.
Not only that, but Kha’Zix damage has always been high. He might not have the quickest camp clear or the best ganks before level 6, but no one can deny his capabilities when it comes to one-shotting the enemy carry.
Most of Kha’s damage is physical and he has decent AD ratios. His damage is increased against isolated targets which perfectly synergizes with the assassin playstyle that the lethality items offer.
If you manage to win the early game with Kha’Zix and buy lethality items before your opponents have had the chance to build armor, you’re going to dominate them regardless of their champions.
Core items for Kha’Zix:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Edge of Night
7. Caitlyn
If you’ve visited Runetarium before, chances are that you’ve seen a video where I one-shot players with lethality Caitlyn. And if you haven’t tried lethality Cait before yourself, you’ve missed out on so much fun in League of Legends!
As an ADC, Caitlyn is naturally a high-damaging champion. Her regular build revolves around crit items, but lethality offers a much simpler and more straightforward experience.
For example, lethality Caitlyn can assassinate anyone with a simple E+Q+AA+R combo. Each headshot and Q cast deals insane amounts of damage while Caitlyn’s ultimate can execute a target from 50% HP.
With lethality Caitlyn, you get to patrol up and down Summoner’s Rift and collect kills from range, either by using her R or her Q. The build is strong throughout the game, so you should definitely give it a try.
Core items for Caitlyn:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Axiom Arc
6. Lee Sin
Lee Sin is another champion that most players don’t consider a candidate for lethality. But when you try it out and see how well it works when it comes to eliminating key targets on the enemy team and actually carrying games, then you understand its true power.
Lethality Lee Sin has many combos but the most important one features the item Prowler’s Claw. And basically, you can use Prowler’s Claw to dash your target and increase your damage done to them, cast Q, kick them away, and reactivate Q to finish the job.
The amount of damage this combo can do to a single target is enough to make you doubt your own eyes. This is especially true when you swap Conqueror for Electrocute and you play Lee Sin purely like an assassin and not a fighter.
If you’re interested, here’s my in-depth lethality Lee Sin guide.
Core items for Lee Sin:
- Prowler’s Claw
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
5. Talon
Talon has never been the most popular champion in League although he is powerful enough so that boosters and smurf can easily climb through solo queue with him, both as junglers and mid laners.
A part of what makes Talon such a strong pick is his ability to gank other lanes and pressure the entire map. He does this by parkouring around Summoner’s Rift with his E and dishing out tons of damage with the rest of his abilities.
Talon’s primary build consists of purely lethality items. Prowler’s Claw is his best-performing mythic while Youmuu’s Ghostblade is also a must-have for the bonus movement speed and an increased presence.
With Talon, you’re mainly looking to jump on the enemy’s back line, assassinate one target, and make it out safely. You have all the right tools for the job so Talon is a very effective and fun champion to play.
Core items for Talon:
- Prowler’s Claw
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
Read Also: Top 10 Best Champions with Resets
4. Miss Fortune
Miss Fortune is a champion specifically designed for dealing damage, no matter which items you prefer to build. You can go for the traditional ADC MF build and stack crit. But you can also build full lethality on Miss Fortune as well as try the full AP MF build.
My favorite is the lethality one since it’s the simplest to play and the most explosive one. Basically, with lethality, you buff MF’s ultimate so much that you can dominate every single team fight if you cast it at the right time and at the right spot.
Moreover, you lower the cooldown of Bullet Time so much that the ability is on a 20-30 seconds cooldown. Sometimes you can even use it twice in a fight to absolutely demolish anyone who stands in your way.
This doesn’t mean that MF’s auto-attacks and Qs won’t deal damage. In fact, with lethality Miss Fortune you’ll have more than enough damage to close out games quickly before the late game even kicks in.
Core items for Miss Fortune:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Serylda’s Grudge
3. Varus
Varus is one of my favorite champions overall and I enjoy playing him with all possible builds. But the most fun playstyle he has is the lethality poke one.
Lethality Varus is a popular build that even pro players use sometimes, either to focus on poking or to counter long-range team comps. It’s an overall safer playstyle that still offers enough damage for him to be considered an AD carry.
As lethality Varus, your primary job is to use your Q to poke enemies and never let them take neutral objectives. You can even steal those by combining W and Q together as well as casting R to control enemies during a fight.
In other words, playing lethality Varus feels more like playing a mage than an ADC. You mostly deal damage through abilities with auto-attacking being your secondary source.
Core items for Varus:
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- The Collector
- Serylda’s Grudge
2. Qiyana
Qiyana is definitely among the most unique champions in League of Legends. This is an AD mid laner that can 1v5 the enemy team with good execution of her abilities.
Qiyana has two primary sources of damage Q and R. They’re both physical and scale with AD, so lethality items add significant buffs to them. And Qiyana’s W is a tactical ability that allows her to deal damage with her Q while adding an extra effect to it.
Qiyana is known as the most explosive champion in League because she can kill a target faster than anyone else. Her combos require lots of practice and mechanical skill, but they’re so rewarding at the same time.
A great Qiyana player can assassinate you from full HP in less than half a second, which has happened to me a few times. The combination of Prowler’s Claw, the double Q, E, and R is just too much for most champions to endure in the game.
Core items for Qiyana:
- Prowler’s Claw
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
1. Zed
Most LoL players will agree that Zed is the best assassin in the game. This champion is simply perfect when it comes to eliminating key targets and turning fights into 5v4.
And ever since lethality was added as a stat in League of Legends, Zed’s entire item set has been nothing but lethality and armor penetration. He only needs that stat besides AD to make his abilities super effective, so you can never go wrong here.
The cool thing about Zed is that he can be played with any lethality item and still dominate the match. All three mythic items, Duskblade, Eclipse, and Prowler’s Claw work well on him and you can choose between the three according to the enemy team.
For example, Duskblade is a good choice against squishy enemies. Prowler’s Claw gives you more outplay opportunities and more directed damage toward one target. And Eclipse is the go-to mythic on Zed when you’re up against tanks.
Core items for Zed:
- Duskblade of Draktharr / Prowler’s Claw / Eclipse
- The Collector
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
Conclusion
In theory, any champion that deals physical damage and scales with AD is a good candidate for a lethality build. However, not all of them can utilize the stat like these 20 champions can, so that’s why I singled them out.
On the other hand, there are also champions that can exploit the lethality stat well which I didn’t mention here. For example, there’s lethality Sivir and lethality Garen. But you check my off-meta category to see similar builds and guides on specific lethality champions.
