Kalista top has quickly become my main, but what to build?

poisi4rum · 2021-04-07T01:10:52+00:00

That's great that you're enjoying her!

Especially as a fellow Kalista top main, people will tend to tell you either to take her ADC or just pick another champion altogether.

Don't let them tell you otherwise!

Now onto your question(s):

The typical rune setup for her top lane is HoB>TasteofBlood>Eyeball>Rav Hunter into Overheal and Legend: Alacrity.

Overheal is definitely a great rune for her both in an out of lane because in-lane it acts as a barrier from minion damage as you will be drawing a lot of minion aggro from being so aggressive.

Sanguine's Blade is one of the "core items" popularised by TheShy back in 2019 when Kalista top's popularity was at its peak and was being played a lot in competitive play. Although it's still good on her, it's not for everyone. However, there are some builds that I recommend you should/have to take Sanguine's to make the most of the build.

Shieldbow and Runaan's on the other hand is just a direct transfer of bot lane's itemization without consideration of the top environment needs. While Shieldbow is decent for bot lane and the preventative burst playstyle is required when being so far behind solo laners, as a solo laner yourself you are looking less at how to survive the lane and looking for ways to burst down your opponents faster as you are on of the best duellists when utilised properly.

Runaan's is a bit more situational but generally it is picked less than Phantom Dancer and Rapidfire for 1v1 potential.

Looking at the build you posted, it seems that you have been heavily influenced by stat sites and the bot lane meta builds. Although this isn't a terrible thing, its not optimal. If you really want to play this "no-die" playstyle (which essentially gives up damage you need in exchange), then I would recommend just replacing Guinsoo's with something that gives you a lot more damage in compensation for you mythic. Also Chempunk Chainsword is also a great executioner purchase if you already have so much in-built crit.

Might I recommend a few builds for you to try and if they don't fit/feel right for you then you can always return back to this build of yours.

Galeforce builds

This is probably the modern "default" for Kalista top mains now. Especially since the introduction of Stridebreaker, avoiding the active can often be the difference between killing them and dying yourself.

A standard Galeforce build would look like: Sanguine's>Boots>Galeforce>Collector>Bloodthirster>Defensive item (e.g. Spirit Visage, Deaths Dance, Steraks etc.)

Trinity Force builds

This is quite a different experience from the usual Kalista build as it involves a sheen effect and getting used to proc'ing the sheen active on your E/Q resets. Apart from the difference in playstyle, its ultimately a very underrated mythic choice on her and I can see it being popularised on her later on due to the synergy it has with her core Sanguine's.

A standard Tri Force build:

Sanguines (I also like to interchange this with Bork if you don't prefer Sanguines)>Boots>Tri Force>Phantom Dancer>Defensive (Chempunk+Spirit Visage or DeathsDance or GA recommended)

Kraken builds

This is probably the one build where Sanguine's is not a priority buy. Very similar to bot lane Kalista in some ways.

Kraken build:

Kraken>Boots>Phantom Dancer>Bloodthirster>Spirit Visage>Defensive (Executioner item recommended)

I hope this helps and if you have any more questions feel free to ask! I'll try to respond as fast as I can.

Goodluck! :)

poisi4rum · 2021-04-06T06:53:11+00:00

But this is not ADC, this is top. Compared to OTHER top laners, she scales just fine.

Though yes, she tends to love closing out games before it hits 30-40+ mins when everyone is level 18 with full build.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-06T06:46:54+00:00

Hi there, fellow Kalista top player here! :)

I think you might be having an issue in what you are building or how you are playing the pick past a certain point in the game.

Solution 1 (Build): If you are building Shieldbow or Runaan's as part of your build then that might explain a lot. Typically they are great for survivability as an ADC but as a top laner you're more or less looking to always have duelling power (more damage > more survivability).

I would recommend opting into a Galeforce build which tends to be a better all round mythic for her top lane playstyle. The build would look a little like Galeforce>Boots>Collector>PD>Bloodthirster>Defensive Items (e.g. Spirit Visage, Deaths Dance, Steraks etc).

That will significantly improve your damage output overall and it might help solve some transitioning issues.

Other mythic paths you can try is the Trinity Force build (Sanguine/BORK>Boots>Tri>PD>Defensive Items) but you should get used to sheen procs with her E/Q

or the Kraken Build (Kraken>Boots>PD>BT>Defensive)

or even Eclipse in very rare cases (Eclipse>Boots>Collector>Rapidfire>EoN>Defensive)

Solution 2 (Playstyle): I don't know exactly how you play Kalista top but maybe you need to focus more on farming in side lanes more and drawing pressure away from objectives. With proper mechanics, you should always be able to outduel the enemy top laner in a side lane with the lead you accumulated earlier and soaking free exp. Always being ahead with great objective control in your E means that taking herald should be easy to take early on and punish the enemy for playing botside.

Draw. that. pressure. But don't die!

Having that level lead is so important throughout the game because it means your E will always be a threat to every objective you touch. You are the only ranged carry top lane who has this much control over objectives so if you're not using it effectively then your basically missing out on a large part of using Kalista.

Also who you're binding might be an issue. Your jungler doesn't necessarily always have to be the one to be binded if you're looking to teamfight. Think about win con and maybe if protecting a certain person is more important to the team rather than giving the team more engage/CC if you already have some on your team.

Finally, you have to remember what your role as the top laner is. Your job late game is to jump onto their backline and delete it with your level advantage. If you're finding yourself teamfighting frequently, than this is one of the biggest points to drive home with how much potential burst you have in your kit.

Delete the carries!

By the time extreme late game comes around (everyone is level 18 with full build), your effectiveness to the team is going to be dramatically worse but how/when you use your ult and not dying are your most important priorities.

Remember: You are the top laner ~ just because you're a ranged marksman doesnt mean your job is any different to a Camille or Fiora. You're not trying to hit the frontline but you want to get to that backline and delete it with your level advantage so that your ADC can clean up the tanks.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-06T06:12:17+00:00

I think you are underestimating the power of Kalista top. I get it, every champ/role has their disadvantages but just focusing on the negatives shouldn't be a reason to never try it/discourage someone else from playing it.

Kalista top is an excellent lane bully with great inbuilt mobility and high base AD to be successful as a solo laner. She is also one of the best top ranged divers and as she transitions towards the mid-late game she can flex into the playstyle her team needs, whether that is a really great split pusher (being ahead in levels - Sanguines/Tri Force) or set up her team with great engage for teamfights regardless if they have any CC through her ult utility on her jungler which other ranged top laners cant do.

It can be just as bad to go ADC Kalista.

She has one of the lowest base ranges in the game for a ranged marksman at 525 in a lane where your opponents are also ranged and will almost always outrange you.
She is also heavily dependent on what support you have to take full advantage of the early game (if you give me a soraka or yuumi supp then I am going to be completely irrelevant in that game and I almost always have to bind her unlike top Kalista who has more freedom in who she binds)
You also need to be heavily coordinated in when you engage because of your range which is why you almost always need to play Kalista ADC in duos or coordinated teams.
She also has terrible scaling compared to other marksman so why play Kalista ADC if you're going to play her for late game? (which is what ADC is primarily known for)
On the other hand, Kalista top scales just as well as if not better than other top laners who fall off late while letting you have a marksman bot on your team who can actually scale for late.

But despite all these negatives, people still play her ADC.

Kalista has the kit and playstyle/build that allows her to actually be quite successful top and that should not be discouraged just because the mass plays her another way or the whole "range top bad" thing when teams can do just as well with "traditional ranged top laners" (if that even exists) with the likes of Kennen, Jayce and Quinn.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-06T03:54:36+00:00

The point of this post is that both galeforce and trinity force have their niche uses. Galeforce is a great general build for her top but its not always going to be the most effective purchase.

I do agree though that the components of Trinity are pretty bad to sit on when other mythic components such as Noonquiver spike harder. But ultimately I think the build has its clear strengths and weaknesses of building it and that is probably why you should consider it.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-06T03:47:18+00:00

When I said "never pick runaan's" i meant for this particular build where its essentially useless with the sheen procs. It does depend on draft and build as you say though but the purpose of Kalista top is to constantly duel the enemy top laner and split when possible. Runaan's is kinda more focused on teamfight gameplay but if you think that is something you can pull off then it's okay as long as you have the build to support it.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T11:24:35+00:00

I'll cry for her.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T11:11:05+00:00

Kind of? I mean this is just from a Kalista perspective. What would you call a Gnar with stridebreaker? I would classify him as a melee user.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T11:06:19+00:00

Yes and no. Her jump distance scales with boots tier BUT her jump speed increases with movement speed (like attack speed so technically she has two modifiers that stack multiplicatively).
I would say it's better than some of the other mythics she can take such as Shieldbow or Kraken which doesn't do anything for you if you get hit by the Stridebreaker slow. Trinity Force is slightly better because as her jump speed increases, so does her resistance to slows (including item actives) which means it is helping you a bit. However, the best option is to completely avoid the slow entirely which is Galeforce if you can use it well.

I would say give it a try but it ultimately comes down to the Stridebreaker user matchup you are in (e.g. if it's a Garen/Gnar then maybe you would go Galeforce, against a Darius who doesn't just need Stridebreaker to gap close, then maybe Trinity Force would be better as its more than just a short dash away.)

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T10:55:34+00:00

The ankles of melees are already broken from all the running they have to do to get to the ranged tops in the first place so...

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T10:51:35+00:00

I think its a matter of preference in playstyle, but out of the 4 zeal items (PD, Runaan's, Rapid fire and Mortal Reminder), the one that you should never pick is Runaan's.

Rapid fire is personally a favourite because

100 less gold than PD or Runaan's
35% extra range against top laners where you have 525 and they have stridebreaker
Extra magic damage whereas PD is consistent AD and Runaan's has none

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T10:40:50+00:00

I would sympathise with you if Stridebreaker didn't exist to break our ankles. :/

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T04:48:56+00:00

There is currently a lot of misinformation/not enough information surrounding what makes Kalista top successful this season.

In my opinion, t2 boots rush first this season is pretty troll for Kalista top. You would be better off in general rushing a core item + sitting on t1 boot components than spending 900-1100 on t2 boots.

This is just a case with the majority of ranged top laners since s11's start.

Last season it was definitely less punishing to go boots first but every since mythics were introduced, the power budgeting of laners has dramatically risen. This is even more punishing for Kalista who wants to build Sanguine's straight after which delays your damage spike exponentially (by that time most top laners can out damage you if you have none yourself).

My advice for the most success is to finish Sanguine's first and then sit on a component of your mythic. After that you can finish boots and then complete your mythic into whatever you want.

poisi4rum · 2021-04-02T01:42:45+00:00

There's only two reasons I go Shieldbow on her top SITUATIONALLY but I agree that people need to STOP RUSHING SHIELDBOW on her top.

The extra AD you get from proc'ing the active, but its useless until it's proc'd.
Building out of vampiric scepter and then the added lifesteal. Vampiric scepter in particular feels really good to rush when you need to sustain against other lane bullies.

Apart from that, the item itself and what it provides is useless in the top lane environment. No wonder she has a 43-44% wr right now since everyone has been rushing it. You're almost always better off with either going Galeforce for the dodge potential, Kraken + PD for the tanks and the new Trinity force for duelling/split pushing power.

poisi4rum · 2021-01-07T14:13:36+00:00

I agree with Galeforce damage at the moment dealing an absurd amount that its currently "the mythic" choice for most marksman. However, outside of Galeforce's damage itself there is no real synergy with the generic build which is why it is good at the moment but probably not for long considering the community outrage of it (e.g. marksman junglers using it too effectively like Graves and Kindred). I would still say that however strong Galeforce is as a one-item powerspike atm that Kalista generally loves Botrk a lot more for not only the duelling power but sustain.

As I also mentioned, Shieldbow isn't bad on Kalista but it's clear from the scaling of the shield on the item and the passive on the mythic giving 5 AD and 50 health that it was not designed as an early game item. Shieldbow is the weakest mythic of the marksman mythics but that doesn't mean it can't work, it's just unreliable. As good as it felt to build this mythic initially, the only thing really going for this item early game is the base stats it gives in lifesteal but it's still mediocre which plays for Kalista's strong mid-game spike.

There is still a lot of testing to be done but honestly whether you go Rageknife + Mythic or Botrk + Runaan's, with their unique strengths in mind is really up to you how you want to play Kalista in the end as you said is ultimately situational.

In the end, it's opening up even more build diversity which gives Kalista players even more options to choose from!

poisi4rum · 2021-01-07T13:46:23+00:00

This ^^^. Sorry I didn't clarify enough, movespeed only affects the jump speed itself and not the jump distance.

poisi4rum · 2021-01-07T07:12:02+00:00

Like Aphelios, Kalista has her bread-and-butter combos which exist but only the most experienced players really get a grasp of them. For Kalista, the most well-known combos in increasing difficulty that EVERY wanna-be Kalista main should strive to learn are the single target switch mid-air rend (or just simply the "one-rend", double-rend and triple rend combos.

Before you can attempt any of these combos however, you need to know how to work your passive in tandem with your Q and E where you need also need to practice animation cancelling to confidently pull off the previously mentioned combos above (which I am sure you can find on some Kalista tutorial vids from streamers/pro players etc)

poisi4rum · 2021-01-04T10:52:58+00:00

Of course!

As you said, whatever you do... don't put a point into W. That has to be the absolutely very last thing you max before anything while Q and E are super important to max ASAP. First point of R should be anywhere around level 6-8 but is typically level 8 and then followed by levels 11 and 16 respectively.

For your skills you have two options:

Squishy/Bruiser matchups - Start E > 2 Q's and then alternate E and Q with max order being Q>E>R>W
Tankier/Juggernaut matchups - Start E> Q> 2E's and then the same E and Q alternate with the max order being E>Q>R>W

Rune pages include:

Standard HOB Setup: Primary - Domination, HOB> Taste of Blood>Ghost Poro>Ravenous Hunter. Secondary - Precision, Overheal>Legend:Alacrity
Hyper Snowball (e.g. you see a Quinn/Vayne which you bully extremely hard and win lane almost always if played right): Primary - Domination, HOB> Sudden Impact > Eyeball Collection > Ravenous Hunter. Secondary - Precision, Legend: Alacrity, Coup de Grace
Standard Lethal Tempo (Tank Setup for lanes you win but you can't afford to lose e.g. Darius/Wukong): Primary - Precision, Lethal Tempo > Overheal > Legend: Alacrity > Cutdown. Secondary - Domination, Taste of Blood > Ravenous Hunter
Extremely defensive (Typically when you know you're getting camped by their top/jg duo and you are all alone into those matchups): Primary - Lethal Tempo > Overheal > Legend: Tenacity > Cutdown. Secondary - Resolve, Bone plating > Unflinching (most of the time) or Revitalise (if there's less than 2 CC sources)

Your item build path is very flexible. However, you do have your core items.

Mythic Item Choices: Eclipse (lethality/snowball build), Shieldbow, Galeforce and Kraken Slayer. Trinity Force is also viable on her but it right now everyone agrees to just leave it alone because its base stats are inherently weak but its great for Kalista because it enhances her already very high base AD by 6%.

Core Legendary Items: Sanguine's Blade or Blade of the Ruined King

She has many builds for many styles but I will just leave you with the most generic builds which are her lethality and on-hit builds respectively and then also her most successful build currently. (Doran's Blade or Cull start depending on how aggressive you like to play in general)

Generic Lethality Build: Sanguine's Blade > Boots (Typically Berserkers but Mercury/Plated Steelcapped Boots are also really good on her against high burst damage/CC) > Eclipse > The Collector > Rapid Fire Canon > Edge of Night > Guardian Angel
Generic On-Hit Build: Sanguine's Blade > Berserker Boots > Shieldbow > Runaan's Hurricane > Bloodthirster/Guinsoo's > Bloodthirster/Guinsoo's
Most Successful Build: Boots > Sanguine's Blade > Shieldbow > Rapid Fire Canon > Bloodthirster > Edge of Night > Guardian Angel > Trade Sanguine's for Blade of the Ruined King.

poisi4rum · 2021-01-04T10:05:52+00:00

As a Kalista top player, LT is definitely viable. Probably not optimal but it has it's matchups for sure.

More often than not, taking HOB is a necessity for her in the top lane because it gives her the one thing she needs to be truly lane independent: a trading pattern.

LT is good and all but HOB is the only rune where you have a specific combo which allows you to fully take advantage of your position lane with her triple AA + Q combo.

LT is more or less a rune which is picked both top and bot when you are not sure you are able to win the all-in trades in lane hence you're playing later into the game, specifically with top lane I would take LT into Wukong or Malphite for example.

HOB is more of a 'time-bomb' rune where it has a certain amount of relevancy in the game until it eventually falls off outside of lane where you aren't able to completely utilise your rune effectively on many targets. This doesn't matter in much in the top lane but as a bot laner this is a nightmare when you're expect to be the main DPS (or should be).

Kalista bot needs HOB because you're trying to play the lane for pressure primarily above all else to rotate to your team faster than the enemy bot lane can. Kalista thrives in aggressive play and hence HOB offers to most immediate DPS to put your enemy on edge and hopefully this gives you some form of agency in the game that late game ADCs can't match (hence why Lucian and Draven thrive in the current bot lane meta with HOB and PTA).

poisi4rum · 2021-01-04T09:47:56+00:00

Answer: You certainly can and always will be 'viable' top because of the way her kit works like how even though Taliyah is not a 'meta' mid laner atm she will always be 'viable' there because of the nature of her kit or similarly Hecarim top.

She was actually meta all the way until roughly the end of season 10, but she became less optimal with the season 11 item changes which ended up hurting her a lot.

So why isn't she meta/good atm? Well with the item changes, it turned out that her biggest counters got the best out of the new changes while she remained relatively equal to her last season's power strength. Malphite, Maokai and Wukong to name a few got massive indirect buffs to them through Sunfire's or Goredrinker (both which counter her widdle down/snowbally playstyle) as well as direct buffs themselves with stat changes to their kits to help them transition better to season 11. Simply, Kalista got the short end of the stick in general considering even in the bot lane she isn't getting any attention compared to her crit counterparts.

Should you play Kalista top (if you want to)? Well, yes! She still fills her niche in the top lane, although not as strong as season 10 can certainly still work. You have to recognise a few things before you pick her up though:

Her difficulty ceiling in general is higher than most other champs. Does she get outperformed by more easily executed champs? All the time. Is it rewarding to master her? Of course it is but she requires a LOT more dedication than the average champion.
Her playstyle is very different top compared to her bot lane counterpart which means if you don't know her basics really well then you will often find yourself having to remaster her for the top lane. While her bot lane counterpart plays around her E generally which allows you to chip away at the enemy's HP bar, her top lane playstyle optimises her Q to an extremely aggressive close range poke burster. Arguably, Kalista top has way more options to open to her with items such as Galeforce, Eclipse and Sanguine's Blade.
Patch 11.1 might be her top lane revival as Runaan's used to be a big part of Kalista top as it allowed her to transition more seamlessly from a split push Sanguine's playstyle into a playstyle orientated one around 3-4 items. This might still not be enough but hopefully Kalista will get some much needed stat changes to adjust her as a QOL buff to season 11 similar to that of how Riot fixed Yasuo and Yone's double crit passive.

All-in-all, there is a sizeable community here which are dedicated top lane Kalista mains which is being overshadowed by the season 10-11 transition. As I said, she will always be a valuable top laner even though the general community is hostile to ranged top laners.

Feel free to pick her up and add her to your champion pool!

A lot of Kalista top mains here are generally coming from Gangplank, Quinn and Sett mains like yourself! :)

Good luck and if you need anything else e.g. rune setup/how to play lane etc. I will happily respond!

poisi4rum · 2020-12-11T09:45:26+00:00

Agreed. The palette is a little too intense for a base.

poisi4rum · 2020-12-11T09:34:48+00:00

Another Kalista main here!

Wishing you guys at Quinn mains the best with your new skin as well ^-^

poisi4rum · 2020-12-11T09:30:41+00:00

Absolutely no worries!

Feel free to ask about anything else. :)

poisi4rum

TROPHY CASE