You’re probably here because you have seen Kha’Zix mentioned often recently across our content, being a champion with some OP builds who can scale well. Leaning in on that, we wanted to bring you a Kha’Zix guide that will help you take over the late game from the jungle and carry your team to victory.

Building Kha’Zix

Before we delve into gameplay strategies, let’s discuss the optimal build for Kha’Zix. The current meta (as of mid-2023) suggests the following runes and items:

• Runes: Dark Harvest, Sudden Impact, Eyeball Collection, Treasure Hunter, Absolute Focus, and Water Walking. These runes provide Kha’Zix with the burst damage he needs to take down enemies quickly. Dark Harvest, in particular, is excellent for Kha’Zix as it allows him to snowball in the late game.
• Tertiary runes: Double Adaptive Force and Health. These runes give Kha’Zix the extra damage and survivability he needs in the jungle.
• Items: Scorchclaw Pup, Duskblade of Draktharr, Lucidity Boots, Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Serylda’s Grudge, Edge of Night, and Black Cleaver. These items provide Kha’Zix with a mix of damage, cooldown reduction, and survivability.

For abilities, level Q first, followed by W, then E, and max them in the same order. For evolutions, go with Q first, E second, and with this build, almost always evolve your ult last. W evolve is more of a Bruiser build thing, which we’ll discuss later.

Champion Synergies

Kha’Zix doesn’t have specific champion synergies due to his lack of crowd control and not-too-great early damage. However, having a laner with good lockdown and burst can help Kha’Zix get fed early. Champions with hard crowd control, like Leona or Nautilus, can set up kills for Kha’Zix in the early game. It’s also beneficial to have a team with solid 5v5 strength, especially a frontliner with strong engage like Malphite or Ornn. These champions can initiate fights and soak up damage, allowing Kha’Zix to focus on eliminating key targets.

Mechanics and Combos

Kha’Zix’s mechanics aren’t too complex, but there are some specific combos you can use to maximize your damage output. For instance, you can cast Q during E’s animation, but you must press Q on your target once you’re in Q’s range. This allows you to get your damage off more quickly and can catch enemies by surprise.

Also, leading with W before jumping can add more damage to your combo. W can be a bit clunky to use in the middle of a fight, so it’s best to use it from the Fog of War, then jump in with your EQ combo. This causes all three spells and an auto to hit almost simultaneously for a massive burst of damage.

One important mechanic to learn is understanding that your Q is most of your damage. So, instead of just insta-attacking after using ult, stay stealth a bit longer to wait out your Q’s cooldown. This tactic will help with dueling beefier champions that give you a tougher time.

Game Strategies

Early Game

Kha’Zix is fairly weak early on. Any strong early game jungler can overpower you, and even most other farming junglers will be able to take you on. As a result, you’ll want to path away from the opposing jungler when you can. This means you’ll want to start on the opposite side of the map from the enemy jungler and try to avoid them in the early game.

When it comes to ganking, Kha’Zix is pretty lacking early, but any gank is possible with the right laners. Champions with hard crowd control can set up kills for Kha’Zix, allowing him to get ahead in the early game. Just be sure to keep an eye on the enemy jungler’s position, as a counter-gank can be devastating for Kha’Zix.

Mid-Game

Once you get your first Serrated Dirk and evolve your Q, things start to pick up. You can become much more aggressive, even going for invades in the enemy jungle. It also makes him really good at taking dragons, so be sure to kill those on cooldown when it’s safe to do so. This can give your team a significant advantage in the mid-game.

Late Game

If the game goes super late, Kha’Zix doesn’t fall off. In fact, his win rate is at its highest if games go past 30 minutes. At full build, he can also very easily take on even super beefy targets one-on-one, although that does require a bit more of a specific type of build.

Top Tips & Tricks

Remember not to jump the gun too early on team fights. If you jump in on a target that can escape you and deny you your reset, you’ll be left in the water. Play around vision, hiding out in the fog of war, and wait for an opponent to either get low or isolate themselves.

Remember, the key to mastering Kha’Zix lies in his flexible builds and playstyle. Adapt to the situation, and you’ll always have options with Kha’Zix.