Combos · Mid

Akali combos

the Rogue Assassin

3 Akali combos explained key by key: in which order to cast the abilities, when to use them and what each step does. The main combo is Q › AA › E. Further down: every ability's cooldown, cost and range, and the skill max order measured over ranked games.

Akali combos

The trade

Q › AA AA › E

When: An enemy is within kunai range.

Five Point Strike damages and slows, and creates the energy ring; leave the ring to empower your attack, then Shuriken Flip.

The full engage

E › E › R › R › Q

When: A carry is within engage range.

Shuriken Flip marks the first enemy or cloud hit; recast it to dash onto the marked target. Perfect Execution leaps you in, and on the recast executes every enemy you hit.

The escape

W › E

When: You need to get away.

Twilight Shroud gives you movement speed and makes you invisible; Shuriken Flip on a smoke cloud you hit lets you dash onto it.

Common mistakes

• Casting the ultimate with no target in range: it is your main execution tool.
• Attacking from the Shroud while forgetting it briefly reveals you.
• Spending too much energy on minions: every ability costs some.

Cooldowns, costs and ranges

A combo only comes back once its abilities are off cooldown: these values (rank 1 to max rank, in seconds) tell how long to wait between two combos. Source: Data Dragon 16.19.1.

Ability	Cooldown (s)	Cost	Range
Q · Five Point Strike	1.5	110/100/90/80/70 Energy	550
W · Twilight Shroud	20/19/18/17/16	—	350
E · Shuriken Flip	16/14.5/13/11.5/10	30 Energy	825
R · Perfect Execution	120/90/60	—	675

Official ability descriptions

PassiveAssassin's Mark

Dealing spell damage to a champion creates a ring of energy around them. Exiting that ring empowers Akali's next Attack with bonus range and damage.

QFive Point Strike

Akali throws out five kunai, dealing damage based on her bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power and slowing.

WTwilight Shroud

Akali drops a cover of smoke and briefly gains Move Speed. While inside the shroud, Akali becomes invisible and unable to be selected by enemy spells and attacks. Attacking or using abilities will briefly reveal her.

EShuriken Flip

Flip backward and fire a shuriken forward, dealing magic damage. The first enemy or smoke cloud hit is marked. Re-cast to dash to the marked target, dealing additional damage.

RPerfect Execution

Akali leaps in a direction, damaging enemies she strikes. Re-cast: Akali dashes in a direction, executing all enemies she strikes.

Skill order

Max order: Q > E > W48.7% · 76 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W		●												●	●
E			●					●		●		●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 94 games).

Riot's official tips for playing Akali

• Akali excels at killing fragile champions. Let your team initiate and then strike at the people in the back.
• Twilight Shroud offers safety in even the most dangerous situations. Use that time to save up energy for a quick strike later.

How to play around Akali's combos

• Akali can still be hit by area effect spells while obscured inside Twilight Shroud. Doing so will briefly reveal her position.
• Akali's Five Point Strike is powerful when used at maximum range and energy. Engage on her when she has low energy to maximize your chance of winning trades.
• Return to base if your Health is low and Akali has her ultimate available.

Frequently asked questions

Build, runes and counters: full Akali guide · every champion's combos · tier list