Darius' basic attacks and damaging abilities cause enemies to bleed for 12 / 15 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 / 36 (+0.3 per bonus attack damage) magic damage over 5 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.

Darius gains 5% movement speed for each bleeding enemy champion.



So this here is what I would like to call a brutal passive. It's basicly GP's passive minus the slow (which can be applied with your W) but with more damage. As Darius, you should never get to experience that feeling of someone you're ganking and dueling get away with but a sliver of hp. With your ult being an amazing finisher and your passive dealing a heafty DoT, the only way people that have a chance at walking away from a fight with you is if they are Galio, Jarvan, Kayle, Karma, Lee Sin,Lux, Nautilus, Orianna, Riven, Shen, Skarner, Udyr, Urgot,

(If you don't catch the trend, it's basically everyone with a shield ability or a negate all damage spell)
This passive procs Hexdinker and the Maw


Darius deals physical damage to all nearby enemies in a circle around him. Champions in the outer half of the ability are struck by the blade, taking 50% additional damage.
Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds

Physical Damage: 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+0.7 per bonus attack damage)

Maximum Physical Damage: 105 / 157.5 / 210 / 262.5 / 315 (+1.05 per bonus attack damage)



I max this first but not for the damage, but for faster jungling (AoE damage + bleed) and utlity. In terms of raw damage, W does more. Why I max your Q first is because it is the only ability you have with some range that can apply your passive. When ganking someone, you must know the range of the blade of your axe for maximum damage(It's approximatly the outer range of Garen's ). Walk up to them after your ally has set up a good situation (bait, cc, etc) and open up with Q. You will get your first stack of Hemo and get a movespeed boost. Then proceed to wail on them until escapes/summoners are burned and feel good when you hear "You have slain an enemy" because they bled to death.




(Active): Darius' next basic attack deals additional damage and slows the target's movement and attack speed for 2 seconds.

Crippling strike's base cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.
Cost: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 mana

Total Physical Damage: 120 / 140 / 160 / 180 / 200%

Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%




Your main source of damage and CC. It has a similar mechanic to Olaf's Undertow and Skarner's Crystal Slash because it can perma slow and has a way to reduce the cooldown. When jungling, use this ability after your current target has 5 stacks of Hemo and you can cast it about every 2 seconds letting you clear buffs and dragons very quickly. When ganking, after the initial Hemo stack applied by Q, try to sneak in as many Auto Attacks (up until 5 of course) and then use this skill. Most of the time you will only be able to get off 1 or 2 attacks after you use Q and then they are already getting close to their tower. In that case just use your W (Use your judgement!) to slow and deal a lot of damage. If they flash(or use another form of escape) they will still be slowed and you can use your to bring them right back into the beatdown. It should also be noted that this skill is really good for shutting down attack speed reliant champs as it slows down attack speed too, has a resemblance to Lee Sin's Tempest/Cripple.

*Note: The extra damage gets applied to towers too, but since towers can't bleed you will not get any cooldown reduction. So make sure to spam this skill whenever it's up to cut down towers as if they were itty bitty trees.
This ability also slightly increases your range
This ability can also CRIT (think about that for a moment)



Darius hones his axe, granting him passive armor penetration. When activated, Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook and pulls them to him.
(Passive): Darius gains armor penetration.

Armor Penetration: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25%
(Active): Darius pulls in all enemies in front of him.

Cost: 45 mana
Range: 550


Cooldown: 24 / 21 / 18 / 15 / 12 seconds



Taking a point early really helps your ganking and the bonus armor pen doesn't hurt either. I believe leveling it up last is the best possible way to do it because it is end game where penetrating their armor is most effective because almost everyone will have some form of defense. When ganking it works like a mini Blitzcrank Rocket Grab . I say this because you can pull something (minion or champion) towards you. I call it "Mini" because it has a smaller range than Rocket Grab , but in exchange it pulls EVERYTHING in front of you. If their whole team happens to be standing in a line in front of you and you use your E you will pull ALL 5 OF THEM towards you. This is what makes it such an easy skill shot to land. Also, it has a deceptively long range. Even if someone is a little bit outside the cone you use to aim, they will still be pulled in.

The animation of this ability was slightly changed in the Draven Patch to make it more readable to the enemies.

(Active): Darius leaps to target enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage.

The cooldown is refreshed if Noxian Guillotine kills the target

Cost: 100 mana
Range: 475

Cooldown: 100 / 90 / 80 seconds

True Damage: 160 / 250 / 340 (+0.75 per bonus attack damage)

Maximum True Damage: 320 / 500 / 680 (+1.5 per bonus attack damage)



This is the reason behind all the QQ for Darius. It's like farming(last hitting) champions lol. Seriously though, this is really good and maybe even overpowered ult. I wouldn't be surprised if they toned down the damage on it. I personally don't think it's that overpowered. It does less damage than Cho'Gath's Feast and is only spamable if it's the killing blow whereas a CDROlaf can spam his Reckless Swing even if he's not landing death blows. So I think it's an Ok skill, maybe it should do more damage in exchange for not having a refreshed cooldown, I don't know I'm not champion designer. However, I am writing a guide, so here is the rundown of your ultimate. This skills lets you put down stragglers from a fight with low HP easily and then keep fighting. It's a great skill, very straightforward. See someone who is low on health and your carry (Who needs lots of kills) isn't nearby, go cleave him in two. I want emphasize to not constantly KS your carry and think you're all that cause you take all the kills. Darius snowballs really well, but that does not give you an excuse to cripple your AD or AP carry by denying them every kill. Use your judgment and common sense, don't be that guy. Don't be that guy....
Unless your carry can't play to save his life and you must be the carry an main damage (less optimal btw). Then. and only then are you allowed to be that guy.
This ability has a slight casting delay, meaning it doesn't happen right away. If you start the casting animation and your target flashes away, you will still deal the damage.
This ability now only refreshes if it is the killing blow.

+
5 HEALTH POTIONS AND CLOTH ARMOR

Gives you enough sustain to jungle until level 4 if need be. Lets you gank with high HP and with movespeed quints you'll move at a decent pace, not too far behind people with boots. Cloth armor also lets you invade well and duel better when counter jungling. One of the things I like to against blue starting junglers is to get a hard leash on blue so I do it smiteless and immediately go take their red. You can then go for a confrontation with the enemy jungler or gank or go back to jungling.
I get this the majority of the time, especially against junglers who can out duel you early game such as Lee Sin, Riven, Trundle etc.




BOOTS OF SPEED AND 3 HEALTH POTIONS
With boots and movespeed quints and masteries, you will have 400 movespeed. That's really good for lv1. I recommend starting at red if you go boots and immediately gank middle. This works best if your mid laner has some early hard CC like a stun or snare or a good baiter. I also consider this the snowball route, it's riskier but the reward is greater.
I get this when I plan on being a total asshole to the enemy jungler, always being up in their grill(jungle) taking all their stuff. I consider this to be the better pick when against slower junglers like Warwick, Amumu, Rammus etc, or very poor duelists like Blitzcrank andAlistair. I also highly recommend invading when getting boots and pots. Seriously, do it. It pays off more often than not.




DORANS BLADE

I don't recommend this, but if you have a team composition that can pretty much guarantee a First Blood when you come to gank, then by all means go and ruin their day. Be warned though, this can easily backfire and ruin your day. Very risky.




VAMPIRIC SCEPCTER:

This gives you decent sustain, but you will be lower on health if you decide to do anything but clear your jungle. I wouldn't recommend this either. I think it could work if you had Life Steal Quints, but I don't believe that Darius should be played as a sustain jungler. He should be an aggressive counterjungling/ganker.

WRIGGLES LANTERN + BOOTS OF SPEED + HEART OF GOLD
Upgrade BOOTS OF SPEED into either


MERCURY THREADS :
VS heavy AP and/or heavy CC (I buy these most of the time)

NINJA TABI :
VS heavy AD damage. If I do buy these, I usually swap them for Mercs late game anyway

Optional: X number of DORANS BLADES if you're doing very well. In the words of Artosis (StarCraft II Progamer/caster)

A little bit of AD goes a long way on Darius. You will find that with only a wriggles you will be doing quite a bit of damage because you're abilities have a lot of percentage modifiers. Some extra Dorans Blades don't hurt either. They might not build into anything, but they are quite cost effective. I would only consider picking up some Dorans if I'm doing very well and want to push the advantage. The boots for more movement speed obviously, and the appropriate level 2 boots for your game situation. I find that a HoG gives you sufficient tankiness for early game and the Gp/5 is good too. It can also be build into a Randuins which is an extremely good item.




THE BRUTALIZER
I'm not a huge fan of the brutalizer but some people seem to like it and use it very well. If you think it'll be good, go for it. It has some nice stats but honestly I don't think you need it. I have gotten it once or twice while getting used to Darius and I usually sell it later because of the passive armor pen you get.


GIANTS BELT
Gives you tons of extra HP and makes you very tanky mid game. You can build it into a for late game. You can also build it into a if your team needs more CC or if you simply prefer the chasing power granted by the Mallet.


PHAGE
This item is really good for chasing and gives you some tankiness. A great early/mid game item. If you're doing very well (For First Blood for example), consider rushing this and a few dorans blades to gives you a huge early game lead. (I personally have destroyed a Lee Sin jungler by pushing my advantage and staying ahead)


CHAIN VEST
Gives you decent armor for a cheap price. Can be build into a in order to complete your . You can also build it into a and then into a . Glacial gets rid of any sort of mana issues you may have been having and the frozen heart helps shut down the AD carry and other Auto-Attackers.



WARDENS MAIL
This is a relatively cheap component of Randuins Omen and I believe that it is highly under utilized. What most people don't realize it that the passive "X% chance that upon being attacked you slow the attackers attack speed and movement speed" comes from Wardens Mail! I like picking this item up early midgame because it makes you much less kitable. Is there an Ashe being a dick a perma slowing you? OOPS! She proc'd your Wardens! Now she's slowed and can't attack as fast, which means you can waltz up to her and W + AA her to death ;). You can build from the above mentioned Chain Vest. It gives you some nice armor and health regen and coupled with that passive I think it is a very useful component of the mighty Omen.



HEXDRINKER
A cheap piece of Magic Resistance as well as some AD. The shield is really good for dealing with extremely bursty mid laners like Veigar, Annie and Xerath. Can be build into a which is very good late game.



WITS END
Another piece of Magic Resistance, but instead of AD like the Hexdrinker gives you, you get attack speed and stacking extra magic resistance! Personally, I love this item and build it on pretty much every auto attacking jungler I play. Wits end is superior on most champions mid game, however Hexdrinker is better late game because it builds into the Maw. I usually pick up a Wits end because I personally like it, and we are entitled to our preferences.



NEGETRON CLOAK
If you really need some magic resistance, pick one of these nifty cloaks up. You can build into either a or a .

Built from

GIANTS BELT:

WARMOGS ARMOR AND/OR FROZEN MALLET

Both are great items for Darius. I don't usually pick them both up, but if you do somehow manage to build them both, a great compliment to the HP would be to build an Atmas Impaler.
These 2 items give you some good beefiness and the Mallet lets you stick to targets very well.

Built from

WARDENS MAIL


RANDIUNS OMEN

Lol, Wardens Mail only builds into this. This item is honestly one of my favorite items in the game. It lets the holder be highly disruptive in team fights, and make people think twice about focusing you because of the passive. The active effect can legitimately turn the tide of a losing game. I always pick up an Omen when playing bruisers or tanks. Always. The tankiness to waltz into a teamfight and slow ALL the baddies and slow them even more if they decide to hit back is just too good to pass up. The components are also really useful.
(The only time I would consider not getting a Randuins is against the infamous Double AP Double WoTA)

Built from

CHAIN VEST



FROZEN HEART
If you build a Glacial Shroud midgame, this is a good item to get. Coupled with a Randuins you will stomp all over AD carries and auto attackers.


THORNMAIL

I consider Thornmail to be the cheaper alternative to a Frozen Heart. It gives good armor and returns some damage. It also has good synergy with Randuins Omen.

I think it comes down to personal preference when choosing between Thormail and Frozen Heart. One if more expensive but has an aura debuff and gives some mana, the other is cheaper and has a damage return. All up to you, but I don't see why you would ever consider building both. One or the other, THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE

Built from

NEGATRON CLOAK:


QUICK-SILVER SASH (QSS)

I almost always get a QSS because it's not very expensive, gives decent Magic Resistance and have an awesome active! People in lower levels of play will sometimes blow their CC on the bruiser in attempt to get them out of the fight early. with a QSS you can quickly get out of it. I will add a section below of all the abilities you can QSS away.


FORCE OF NATURE (FoN)

Gives some beastly regen, great Magic Resistance and some extra movement speed to boot! The components are cheap and the item itself isn't all that expensive. Only about 600 gold more than a thornmail. I usually don't pick this up unless I feel that I really need some MR and our main tank isn't soaking up enough of it.

Built from

HEXDRINKER


MAW OF MALMORTIUS

If you built a hexdrinker, you must consider upgrading it into this at some point in the game. The passives are great for a bruiser type character.




TRINITY FORCE

This is one of the only Luxury item I consider getting on Darius. It's stats are all useful to him just as they are for pretty much every other bruiser. The problem is that it is expensive. Really expensive. I don't rush a Trinity unless I am pubstomping hardcore. I also do not build a trinity if I am already planing to build a Frozen Mallet. It's a good item, if you can afford it and you're snowballing hard, trinity all the way!


THE BLOODTHIRSTER

I think that late game this would make a suitable replacement for a wriggles lanturn if you can afford the swap. The stats are all good. I would consider this a fed mid game item or a late game item.


GUARDIAN ANGEL (GA)

GA = Extra Life. Nuff said. Seriously, it is that straightforward. If you feel you need another life and have the extra gold, yay!

Here is a list of a lot of the prominent abilities that can apply debuffs that can be cleared with a QSS

Fenixborn for giving me inspiration in his A Cut Above top lane Darius guide.

turbOpun for writing his Creating a Quality Champion Guide on SoloMid which showed me how to structure and write my guide to be best of my abilities

To League of Legends Wiki for having all the important information I needed

Daniel "JusticeMop" G. for being my best friend and test dummy while testing things out and helping me write this guide


Guides Linked to/referenced


A Cut Above by Fenixborn
Defending the First Dragon by ranix
The Psychology of Jungling by tapobu
Jungling: a Beginner's Guide by tapobu