15, 16 years ago. Since that time, he was jumping from HoN to LoL, and ultimately,
Dota 2. Of course, Stefan has tried other titles within the niche and, as of late, is
focusing on MOBA shooters (in other words, Valorant). However, he also likes other
genres. Stefan is a CIV fanatic, and when he wants to chill and play something
casual, he goes with popular ARPG titles. Grinding epic loot is his pet peeve. As for
his private life, Stefan loves yoga and swimming. If he isn’t working, you will likely
see him in a studio doing Mountain pose. He also plays guitar, likes to learn foreign
languages, and read fantasy books.
- Blue Essence Emporium Guide - May 26, 2022
- League of Legends Houses - May 4, 2022
- League of Legends Pets - May 2, 2022
Duskblade of Draktharr is an extremely strong mythical item that helps you make chain kills. Although there are more potent offensive items in the game, Duskblade is really good if you have enough damage to nuke targets. As such, it works really well for AD assassins.
Its invisibility feature can make you very elusive and annoying. When stacking legendary items, you will also get a minor boost to ability haste which would make it easier to make multiple kills.
Key Info Up Front
Duskblade of Draktharr is an item that works well for AD assassins. Besides ability haste, damage, and lethality, it also has a strong uniqueness that helps you dispose of enemy heroes in a quick fashion.
Duskblade of Draktharr Basics
This particular item provides an enormous increase in your damage. When you purchase Duskblade of Draktharr, you will get 60 attack damage, 20 ability haste, and lethality armor penetration that goes from 11 to 18 points.
Like with all other mythical items, you get a perk with every legendary item in your inventory. Duskblade of Draktharr gives you 5 ability haste for every legendary. If you choose to buy Duskblade, you won’t be able to carry any other mythical item.
The item costs 3,100 gold. To build it, you will need Caulfield’s Warhammer (2 Long Swords at 350 gold each and 400 gold recipe), Serrated Dirk (2 Long Swords at 350 gold each and 400 gold recipe), and Duskblade of Draktharr recipe (900 gold).
Although the item can work for any physical carry, it is especially amazing for invisible assassins such as Kha’Zix. Lethality is very nice when stacked with other forms of armor penetration. It is also worth noting that it’s better for melee carries than ranged ones.
What makes the item so potent is its unique passive Nightstalker. This ability increases the damage of your next attack. You will deal 75 extra damage (55 for ranged champions) plus 30% (25% for ranged champions) bonus physical damage. Nightstalker also applies 99% slow that lasts 0.25 seconds (doesn’t work on ranged heroes). The ability has a 15-second cooldown.
The bonus damage definitely makes a difference. But the item provides another major benefit. If you manage to kill a champion within 3 seconds after hitting them with Nightstalker, the Nightstalker effect will be refreshed, and you will gain invisibility for 1.5 seconds.
This helps you in two ways. First, it would provide extra damage against the next target. You will also gain brief invisibility, which could give you a minor element of surprise and/or would allow you to avoid single-target spells. The invisibility can also be used for retreat if you think that it doesn’t make sense to attack other heroes. For example, you could jump into several opponents, kill one, and then run away.
The sooner you get the item, the better. 75 extra damage on Nightstalker works better on lower levels. However, the item also scales with the hero as it will provide increased lethality and increased Nightstalker damage as you gain more bonus AD.
The Most Common Duskblade of Draktharr Users
The item is amazing on anyone who benefits from invisibility, as well as champions who have armor penetration abilities. It is also incredible for champions who rely on abilities to deal damage (given that the item provides nice ability haste). Some of the most common users are Kha’Zix, Nocturne, Pyke, Qiyana, Shaco, Senna, Talon, Zed.
While you might think that Duskblade is much more common on ADCs, the data shows that it is usually purchased by jungle champions (37.4% of all purchases). Physical carries account for 30.9% of purchases, and you can also sometimes see the item on mid champions (15.2%).
Ideally, you should use the item to jump enemy backlines. Most assassins have this ability and can target squishy supports. Your main goal is to try and kill off under armed targets and leave tanks and carry as the last ones.
Even if you use some of the abilities to make the kill, high ability haste combined with refreshed Nightstalker cooldown should provide enough damage to go for the next target.
The Most Popular Builds That Include Duskblade of Draktharr
Although people do all sorts of stuff with Duskblade of Draktharr, your main goal is to increase lethality as much as possible. Removing opponents’ armor can be devastating. Keep in mind that armor items provide diminishing returns, so it usually doesn’t make sense for champions to overdo it. And this is where lethality and Duskblade of Draktharr come into play.
Your goal is to reach armor values around or below zero. Removing 50 armor to a champion that has 150 will not be a game-changer. But, removing 50 armor to someone who has 40 can lead to an instant kill.
Anyway, here are some of the most common Duskblade carriers and their favorite item builds:
- Kha’Zix (Duskblade of Draktharr, Youumu’s Ghostblade, Edge of Night, Plated Steelcaps, Death’s Dance, Serylda’s Grudge)
- Pyke (Duskblade of Draktharr, Mobility Boobs, Umbral Glaive, Pauldron’s of Whiterock, Youumu’s Ghostblade, Edge of Night,
- Nocturne (Duskblade of Draktharr, Mercury Threads, Youumu’s Ghostblade, Sanguine Blade, Edge of Night, Death’s Dance)
- Shaco (Duskblade of Draktharr, Berserker’s Greeves, The Collector Youumu’s Ghostblade, Edge of Night, Ravenous Hydra)
- Qiyana (Duskblade of Draktharr, Mercury Threads, Umbral Glaive, The Collector, Youumu’s Ghostblade, Edge of Night,
- Rengar (Duskblade of Draktharr, Youumu’s Ghostblade, Plated Steelcaps, Edge of Night, Ravenous Hydra, The Collector)
If you check the list closely, you will notice that Youumu’s Ghostblade and Edge of Night are mentioned in all these builds.
Edge of Night is a really nice item that combines defense and offense. It gives 50 attack damage, 325 health, and 6 to 10 lethality depending on the champion’s level. While both attack damage and health are nice benefits, the main reason why you should add this item to the build is extra lethality.
Like with Duskblade of Draktharr, the armor reduction will increase with your levels which will make a bit better as the game progresses and enemies get armor items.
On the other hand, Youumu’s Ghostblade is a fully offensive item. It gives 55 attack damage, 15 ability haste, and 11 to 18 lethality. It also has unique active ability Wraith Step and unique passive Haunt, both of which are meant to increase your mobility.
Interesting Facts About Duskblade of Draktharr
Duskblade of Draktharr is somewhat similar to Axiom Arc, Prowler’s Claw, and Eclipse. Due to its specific takedown passive, Duskblade has some interesting interactions:
- Duskblade’s base +20 ability haste is nothing special, as you can find a similar stat on some other items. However, what makes this mythical so unique is that you can get up to 25 additional ability haste if you get 5 legendries. All in all, Duskblade of Draktharr can provide a total of 45 ability haste which is nothing to scoff at.
- Like Spellblade, Nightstalker is categorized as proc damage meaning it won’t trigger spell effects, nor will it be blocked by a spell shield.
- You cannot use critical strike and other attack modifiers to boost the dame of Nightstalker. It can only be increased if you increase the bonus damage.
- It is worth mentioning that Nightstalker works on clones. However, if a champion does a takedown, this won’t refresh the Nightstalker cooldown on the clone. Vice versa, the clone’s kill will only refresh the clone’s cooldown but not the champion’s.
- There is a known bug in the game that activates upon takedown. If you’re already invisible when you kill a champion, the Nightstalker invisibility will activate as well. But this effect will now overtake the initial invisibility, and after 1.5 seconds, both effects will vanish. Similarly, you can replace Nightstalker invisibility by becoming invisible through one of your own abilities.
FAQs
Question: What is Duskblade of Draktharr?
Answer: Duskblade of Draktharr is a very powerful mythical item that works well for invisible assassins. The item provides lots of extra damage, armor penetration, and ability haste. You will also gain access to a very strong unique called Nightstalker.
Question: Is Duskblade of Draktharr a good item?
Answer: This item can be really devastating on certain champions. The takedown buff works especially well on nukers, as it would allow them to jump from opponent to opponent.
Question: How does lethality work?
Answer: Lethality is a version of armor penetration that can be extremely potent. Unlike the regular armor penetration, which reduces a percentage of the enemy’s armor, lethality removes a flat amount. This makes it really strong in the early portions of the game and on heroes that have low armor values. Lethality also stacks nicely with the armor penetration feature.
Duskblade Guide: Last Considerations
There are several features that make Duskblade of Draktharr so incredible. Damage and lethality are simply incredible, and they scale well with the Nightstalker effect. The invisibility can proc several passives, further increasing the champion’s damage.
This item is pretty good for any player who doesn’t know what to build. Given that it uses Long Swords, one of the more common components in the game, it allows you to switch up your build on the fly.
The ability to haste is also a welcome addition. If you manage to get a few legendries, Duskblade of Draktharr would significantly decrease your cooldowns, making it easier to kill opponents, thus refreshing Nightstalker buff.