Guide · ADC

Kalista Guide

the Spear of Vengeance

Marksman

Tier C ADC

Kalista, the Spear of Vengeance, is a marksman champion that is demanding to master. Across our 724 analysed ranked games, Kalista is mostly played as ADC (100% of its games), with a 50.8% win rate in that role: tier C among ADC champions (#35 of 36, ranked by win rate). Kalista's damage is mostly physical (75%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 54.2% in short games (under 25 min, 299 games) versus 47.3% in long games (over 35 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Averages measured over 724 ADC games played with Kalista, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Kalista is a marksman who hops while moving during her attacks: give a move command during the animation of her attack or Pierce to advance slightly. Her attacks stick spears into targets, which she rips out to slow and deal increased damage. Her ultimate teleports her oathsworn ally to her.

Harassment

AA AA › Q › AA AA › E

When: An enemy is within range.

Your attacks stick spears, Pierce passes through the enemies it kills, then Rend rips out the spears to slow and deal increased damage.

Scouting

W

When: You want vision.

Sentinel sends a soul patrolling along a route, revealing the area ahead of it; it also deals bonus damage when you and your oathsworn hit the same target.

See all 3 Kalista combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Attack and hop at the same time: it is the basis of your mobility. Rend has no cooldown: use it when the stuck spears are enough to kill or to slow.

Common mistakes

• Attacking without hopping: you lose your mobility.
• Using the ultimate without coordinating with your oathsworn.
• Ripping out the spears with no decisive effect.

Riot's official tips for playing Kalista

• Rend is a valuable last hitting aid, since its cooldown resets if it kills a target.
• Entering a move order once to trigger Martial Poise will not clear Kalista's basic attack target.
• Due to her passive, Kalista's Move Speed is effectively increased by Attack Speed.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Statikk Shiv, Guinsoo's Rageblade, and Terminus (432 games, 54.6% win rate).

Statikk Shiv+Guinsoo's Rageblade+Terminus

432 games · 54.6%

Statikk Shiv+Guinsoo's Rageblade+Jak'Sho, The Protean

226 games · 53.5%

Guinsoo's Rageblade+Terminus+Jak'Sho, The Protean

219 games · 55.2%

Skill order

Max order : E > Q > W58.1% · 86 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 120 games).

Starting items

Doran's BowHealth PotionHealth Potion52.2% · 113 games

First completed items, in order

Statikk Shiv›Guinsoo's Rageblade›Terminus

62 games · 62.9%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 4234 gold, 79 CS, 3531 XP. At 15 min: 7111 gold, 122 CS, 5817 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Barrier51.8% · 446 games

Exhaust + Flash50.0% · 148 games

Cleanse + Flash48.5% · 130 games

Most-played runes

Lethal Tempo + Domination

49.7% · 499 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph99%

Legend: Alacrity95%

Last Stand51%

Secondary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact99%

Treasure Hunter86%

Shards

Attack speed98%

Adaptive force100%

Health98%

Lethal Tempo + Resolve

52.4% · 124 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph97%

Legend: Alacrity94%

Last Stand48%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Bone Plating62%

Overgrowth60%

Shards

Attack speed93%

Adaptive force98%

Health96%

Lethal Tempo + Inspiration

54.0% · 87 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph95%

Legend: Alacrity88%

Cut Down54%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back84%

Triple Tonic69%

Shards

Attack speed69%

Adaptive force100%

Health90%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Kalista's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team50.2% · 207 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Statikk Shiv 49.8%

Guinsoo's Rageblade 53.0%

Terminus 55.2%

Jak'Sho, The Protean 52.7%

Wit's End 53.3% ▼

Blade of The Ruined King 72.7%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team50.8% · 185 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Statikk Shiv 50.6%

Guinsoo's Rageblade 54.3%

Terminus 53.6%

Jak'Sho, The Protean 58.6% ▲

Randuin's Omen 67.7% ▲

Blade of The Ruined King 54.5%

The item that stands out most is Randuin's Omen: 67.7% win rate, +12 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team51.2% · 332 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Statikk Shiv 53.1%

Guinsoo's Rageblade 53.6%

Terminus 52.6%

Jak'Sho, The Protean 52.6%

Randuin's Omen 52.3% ▼

Blade of The Ruined King 42.9% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Kalista as ADC

Caitlyn Kalista: 33.3%18 games

Caitlyn has the edge in 67% of the 18 ADC duels against Kalista. See the Caitlyn guide.

Jinx Kalista: 40.0%20 games

Jinx has the edge in 60% of the 20 ADC duels against Kalista. See the Jinx guide.

Lucian Kalista: 43.8%16 games

Lucian has the edge in 56% of the 16 ADC duels against Kalista. See the Lucian guide.

Yunara Kalista: 44.0%25 games

Yunara has the edge in 56% of the 25 ADC duels against Kalista. See the Yunara guide.

Kai'Sa Kalista: 46.2%26 games

Kai'Sa has the edge in 54% of the 26 ADC duels against Kalista. See the Kai'Sa guide.

Who Kalista is strong against

Jhin53.8% · 39 games

Ezreal50.0% · 26 games

Tristana50.0% · 20 games

Ashe46.7% · 15 games

Kai'Sa46.2% · 26 games

How to play against Kalista

• Kalista's mobility is dependent upon attacking. This means it is low when she is outside of her attack range and that Attack Speed slows reduce the amount of distance she can cover in an engagement.
• Kalista cannot cancel her basic attack wind up. While she is very mobile, this offers a window to land spells on her if you anticipate when she will begin attacking.
• If you can break line of sight from Kalista, including through brush, her basic attacks will miss you, falling harmlessly to the ground.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Kalista's matchups.

Kalista ADC: what our games say

Laning phase against the ADC average

Measured over 120 Kalista games with a timeline; the average covers 49 champions played ADC in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: short (under 25 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Abilities

PassiveMartial Poise

Enter a movement command while winding up Kalista's basic attack or Pierce to lunge a short distance when she launches her attack.

QPierce

Throw a fast moving spear that passes through enemies it kills.

WSentinel

Gain bonus damage when Kalista and her Oathsworn strike the same target.

Activate to send a soul to scout out the path, revealing the area in front of it.

ERend

Attacks impale their targets with spears. Activate to rip the spears out, slowing and dealing escalating damage.

RFate's Call

Kalista teleports the Oathsworn ally to herself. They gain the ability to dash toward a position, knocking enemy champions back.

Other ADC champions to know

Most played

Jhin48.5 %Yunara52.4 %Kai'Sa49.9 %Ezreal45.2 %Caitlyn50.3 %Jinx51.0 %Tristana50.0 %Lucian48.9 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Brand57.7 %Syndra56.7 %Aurelion Sol56.7 %Kog'Maw55.3 %Senna55.3 %Mel54.9 %Vel'Koz53.8 %Xayah53.1 %

Frequently asked questions

Full Kalista page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides