If you’ve ever played Yasuo and wondered whether his AP scaling can do a decent job, I’ve taken that idea to the extreme!
Currently, I have over 50 games an AP Yasuo and I’ve tried out a couple of different builds. And in this post, I’ll give you the best combination of runes and items!
Besides that, I’ll also talk about the strengths and weaknesses of playing AP Yasuo as an off-meta mid laner or off-meta top laner in League of Legends.
I’ll point out the things you need to be careful about and explain how you should approach the laning phase as well as the late game team fights.
AP Yasuo offers a very fun playstyle especially if you already know the champion. But if you don’t, my advice is to first try it in ARAM and URF, so definitely go for it.
And here you’ll find all the information you need.
AP Yasuo – Strengths & Weaknesses
One of the first things that pop into people’s minds when they hear of AP Yasuo is whether the champion has any AP ratios in his kit. So, here’s the answer.
Yasuo is an AD champion with only one AP ability in his kit – E. Sweeping Balde does magic damage and scales with both attack damage and ability power.
But the AD ratio is 20% while the AP ratio is 60%.
And so, Yasuo’s E – Sweeping Blade is the basis for this build. Its base damage and ratio aren’t fantastic, but you can definitely scale the ability up to do decent damage in the mid and late game.
Remember, Yasuo’s dash is a point-click spell with almost no cooldown. You can use it on all enemies in sight, including champions, jungle monsters, and minions.
The rest of Yasuo’s abilities deal physical damage and don’t get benefits from ability power items. However, since Yasuo also gets bonus critical strike passively, building AP doesn’t make him a weak fighter
Read Also: AP Yone Build – A Full Guide by a Master Player
Strengths
Building AP on Yasuo gives you one advantage only – bonus on-hit magic effects. In fact, your goal as AP Yasuo is to build as many on-hit magic effects as possible and have a lot of extra attack speed.
These two stats are key here.
As a result, Yasuo will deal a mix of physical and magic damage instead of purely physical. This can sometimes outplay opponents by itself since they’re used to building armor items against Yasuo.
Additionally, the element of surprise is a big factor here. Most League players haven’t even faced AP Yasuo in their games, so they won’t know what to expect.
And because of that, it’s easy for you to surprise them with a lot of extra magic damage.
Lastly, the AP build doesn’t really nerf Yasuo’s regular damage. His Q – Steel Tempest triggers all on-hit magic effects instantly, including Nashor’s Tooth and Lich Bane.
In fact, even with Yasuo’s tornado, which is a ranged spell but counts as an auto-attack, he can proc both of these items! So, you’ll be dealing bonus magic damage with each auto-attack and Q cast.
Read Also: How to Jungle as Yasuo in LoL – Full Guide & Build
Weaknesses
The first problem you’ll face with AP Yasuo is the “troll build” phrase. We all know that solo queue is a toxic environment and your teammates will likely flame you after the first inconvenience.
There’s not much you can do about it, but muting your team and reporting all toxic players might help you out.
Second, an actual disadvantage for Yasuo as a champion might be the lack of self-healing. With the regular Yasuo build, items like Immortal Shieldbow and Death’s Dance give you a lot of survivability.
But AP Yasuo is a bit squisher.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I always recommend getting Doran’s Blade and Riftmaker with my AP Yasuo build. Both of these items will increase your self-healing. They will get you close to AD Yasuo but never on the same level!
And finally, there’s the fact that you have to relearn a new playstyle. This wouldn’t be too big of a problem for players that already know Yasuo well.
However, be aware that you’ll need to adapt to a different way of playing the champion.
Now let’s talk about how to actually play AP Yasuo and which runes and items you’ll need!
Read Also: Top 5 Best Champions Like Yasuo in League of Legends
AP Yasuo Runes – Explained
- Lethal Tempo
- Triumph
- Legend: Alacrity
- Last Stand
- Second Wind
- Unflinching
As you can see, the rune page for AP Yasuo is designed in a way to boost some of his strengths and make up for some of his weaknesses.
In other words, it’s all about getting more attack speed and more defensiveness.
First off, Lethal Tempo is the keystone to go for here. It gives you bonus attack speed when you enter combat so it’s pretty effective for trading or fighting.
It stacks up to 6 times if you keep on attacking enemy champions and its duration increases too.
Another way of getting more attack speed is Legend: Alacrity. Unlike Lethal Tempo, Legend: Alacrity increases your overall attack speed as a stat throughout the mid and early game.
This happens as you slay minions, monsters, and champions, so it’s a reliable rune nonetheless.
As for defensiveness, Triumph, Second Wind, and Unflinching are the best runes in most situations. Triumph is great because it restores a bit of your HP with each champion takedown and it’s super helpful in clutch moments.
Second Wind can help you a lot during the laning phase especially against poking champions because it heals you after they hit you. But if you’re up against assassins, you might want to take Bone Plating Instead.
Unflinching is all about getting more tenacity. In a way, this rune is a replacement for Legend: Tenacity which you can’t take because you go for Legend: Alacrity instead.
Tenacity is key because AP Yasuo is a squisher and you depend on your mobility for nearly everything.
Lastly, Last Stand is a simple rune that increases your damage when you get below 60% HP. And with lowered self-healing, you’ll get a ton of value from it!
Read Also: Top 5 Best Supports for Yasuo ADC in LoL (Bot Synergy)
AP Yasuo Items – Explained
- Berserker’s Greaves
- Nashor’s Tooth
- Riftmaker
- Lich Bane
- Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
Starting Items
AP Yasuo should start each game exactly like AD Yasuo – with Doran’s Blade and a Health Potion.
And the reasoning behind this is that Doran’s Blade is much more useful on Yasuo than any other AP item early on, including Doran’s Ring.
Doran’s Blade grants a bit of lifesteal which also works with Yasuo’s Q. And its bonus AD is great for trading with the opposing laner early on as well as farming minions.
So, always Doran’s Blade!
Core Items
There are 3 core items in AP Yasuo’s build – Nashor’s Tooth, Riftmaker, and Lich Bane and you should get them in this order!
Nashor’s Tooth is easily the most useful item for AP Yasuo. It grants tons of AP and bonus attack speed, so it’s a natural fit. Additionally, it makes each of his auto-attacks and Q casts deal bonus on-hit magic damage.
Riftmaker synergizes with the whole idea of being an AP melee bruiser. Besides the bonus AP, health, and omnivamp, it allows you to deal up to 9% bonus true damage if you keep fighting.
It also grants more omnivamp for each legendary item you get, so it’s a must-have mythic!
Lich Bane is the second on-hit magic effect you want. It empowers your auto-attack or Q to deal bonus damage magic after you use an ability.
Lich Bane synergizes well with most of Yasuo’s combos such as E > Q. But it can also be activated by Q alone.
Situational and Optional Items
Starting with boots, my personal recommendation is Berserker’s Greaves. The extra attack speed they give is fantastic and it boosts Yasuo’s damage early on.
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is one of my favorite items to build on AP Yasuo. It’s a quality-of-life item that applies a slow effect to your enemies when you dash through them.
This item makes it almost impossible for your enemies to run away from you, so definitely try it out.
Rabadon’s Deathcap is the best option for the late game if you need more damage. The extra AP it gives will increase the damage of all of your on-hit effects as well as the damage of your E.
However, there are other items you can consider too.
For example, Mejai’s Soulstealer is a good investment if you have a large lead and you’re looking to snowball. Zhonya’s Hourglass can help you become even more defensive, especially against assassins.
And Morellonomicon lets you counter healing champions.
To summarize everything, follow my build path if you want something that’s already been tested. But if you want to experiment, feel free to try some other AP items too.
Skill Order and Summoner’s Spells
If you were wondering about which spell you need to max out first on AP Yasuo, here’s the answer. Always max out your Q first because it’s the most useful ability in Yasuo’s kit. The second should be your E since its the only AP ability.
And third is Yasuo’s Wind Wall.
As for Summoner’s Spells, there are many different combinations you can choose from.
If you want to be on the safe side, I recommend Flash + Ignite for the sheer pressure during the laning phase. However, Flash + Exhaust and Flash + Teleport can also be helpful in certain matchups.
Conclusion
That’s all on how to play AP Yasuo in League of Legends. This fun build has made me laugh more than a dozen times, especially when the enemy team starts to question themselves on “all chat”.
And honestly, I really enjoy playing it!
I can also recommend you watch this YouTube video of Pants are Dragon playing AP Yasuo. He’s a fantastic player and he can show you exactly how AP Yasuo should be played.
That said, I really hope my insights help you figure out how AP Yasuo works and what you need to do in order to be successful on him. Good luck, guys!
