Guide Sections (15)
- Champion Stats
- The Lane Poke Pattern
- Skins Worth Buying for Quinn
- When They Ban Quinn
- Quinn's Rune Page
- What to Max on Quinn
- Mastering Quinn's Kit
- Who Quinn Beats (And Who Beats Quinn)
- Kiting Laziness
- When You Can't Auto Safely
- The DPS Check
- The DPS Build
- When Quinn Hits Hardest
- The Cleanup Ace
- Recent Patch History
Champion Stats
Low elo players don't respect Quinn's Harrier (Passive) damage. They will walk up to last hit, only to be chunked for 20% HP by an empowered auto-attack. They also fail to wards properly, allowing Quinn to roam from top to bot in record time and secure double-kills. A smurf can use Vault (E) to cancel every dash (like Lee Sin Q or Leona E), making them untouchable.
The Lane Poke Pattern
Start E (Vault) for the ultimate level 1 trade. Start by auto-attacking the enemy to trigger your passive, then use E to reset the passive and gain another empowered attack. This 'AA-E-AA' combo chunks almost any enemy top laner for half their HP instantly.
Your passive 'Harrier' markers are random but you can manipulate them. Walk toward a champion to increase the odds of them being marked. AA-E-AA-Q-AA is your max DPS trade. Don't be a bird-brain, use the resets.
Skins Worth Buying for Quinn
'Corsair Quinn' is the classic 'try-hard' smurf skin—the simplicity and the 'pirate' bird are perfect. 'Star Guardian Quinn' is a high-tier choice with amazing animations. 'Warden Quinn' offers a great 'armored' look. Avoid 'Phoenix Quinn' as the animations feel a bit clunky for some mains.
'Warden' makes your auto-attacks feel 'heavier'. 'Corsair' is the classic 'smurf' choice because of its simplicity. 'Star Guardian' has the best homeguard animation in the game—flying around as a magical girl is a major flex.
When They Ban Quinn
Teemo blinds and annoys. Vayne kites top. Akshan swings and revives. Teemo matches the 'make the enemy top laner quit' energy.
Teemo offers the blinding frustration and trap control. Vayne Top provides the tank-kiting dominance. Akshan gives the swing-roam playstyle. Teemo is the closest 'make the enemy top laner ragequit' pick.
Quinn's Rune Page
Press the Attack is the best choice for maximizing your lane burst and kiting damage. Fleet Footwork is an alternative for better sustain in hard matchups. Secondary Sorcery with Celerity and Gathering Storm to maximize your roaming speed and late-game scaling.
What to Max on Quinn
Max W first—the passive attack speed and movement speed bonus upon hitting a Harrier mark is what makes Quinn a kiting god. Max Q second for the increased blinds and waveclear. Max E last as the cooldown decrease isn't as vital as W's stats.
Mastering Quinn's Kit
Blinding Assault. Quinn sends Valor to deal physical damage and blind the first enemy hit. This is your primary dueling tool—use it to stop auto-attackers.
Heightened Senses. Passive: Hitting a Harrier mark grants AS and MS. Active: Valor reveals a large area around Quinn for 2 seconds. Use this to avoid ganks and track the jungler.
Vault. Quinn dashes to an enemy, deals damage, and knocks them back briefly, then lands away from them and marks them as Vulnerable. Use this to cancel dashes!
Behind Enemy Lines. Quinn and Valor team up, gaining massive movement speed. This allows her to rotate across the map faster than almost any other champion.
Who Quinn Beats (And Who Beats Quinn)
Easy Matchup. You can easily kite him and E whenever he tries to Q-silence you. He has no way to reach you if you play correctly. Just don't get caught in his spin.
Easy Matchup (for smurfs). You out-range him and can E-cancel his hook if he tries to pull you. Just poke and roam. He will never be able to touch you.
Hard Counter. She can dash to minions and then to you. Her Q follows your E-vault. You have to win the early levels or she will dive you repeatedly.
Skill Matchup. His W stun can stop your E mid-air if timed perfectly. You have to poke him from range and only use E to escape or after he's used his dashes.
Kiting Laziness
Stop wasting your Vault (E)! It's your only self-peel and gap-closer. If you use it offensively and the enemy jungler appears, you are dead. Use it to cancel enemy dashes or to disengage. Also, manage your mana—roaming with R is expensive early game. Also, don't forget to use your W-active to check bushes!
When You Can't Auto Safely
Dodge if facing heavy 'point-and-click CC' or 'hard-engage' comps with Vi, Malphite, or Rammus if your team has no peel. They can lock you down and kill you instantly. Also dodge into Irelia who can out-dash your Vault.
Malphite and Irelia are your main problems. Malphite R is unavoidable if you aren't a god-reactive Flash player. Irelia will just dash through your bird and delete you. If you see them, dodge or pray for ganks.
Dodge Malphite. He Qs you until you are low, then Rs you. You cannot react. Dodge Irelia. She dashes to minions, then to you. Her cooldowns are shorter than your Vault. Unplayable.
The DPS Check
In teamfights, you are a ranged assassin. Usually, you should be split-pushing or looking for a pick. Use Valor (R) to fly behind the enemy backline, then Q the ADC to blind them and start kiting with W-procs. Use E to stay safe from the frontline. You are the bird of prey that picks off the weak.
You are an assassin mostly. Lethality Quinn deletes people. Crit Quinn DPS is okay but dangerous. Flank with R. E-Auto-Q-Auto. They should be dead.
The DPS Build
Full Lethality 'Sudden Death' Quinn. Youmuu's Ghostblade -> Collector -> Lord Dominik's Regards. With this build, your R-A-Q-E combo will literally one-shot a squishy carry. It's hilarious to see an ADC disappear before they can even see you. Maximum BM, high-risk.
The Collector is your first major spike. The 5% execute combined with your R-burst ensures they don't have time to react. Add a Lord Dominik's if they start building armor (and they will).
Stormrazor -> Collector -> Lord Dominik's. You need the initial burst to one-shot squishies. DPS is secondary. If you don't kill them in the first 3 seconds, you probably die.
When Quinn Hits Hardest
Level 1 is your strongest 'cheese' window. Level 6 is your global roaming spike. Your biggest item spike is reaching Kraken Slayer or Galeforce, which grants you the kiting and burst needed to 1v9.
Level 1-2 kite dominance is your bread and butter. Level 6 is your invite to roam. Once you have Kraken and Collector, you can 1v1 anyone. By late game, you are a ranged assassin who can delete the carry and fly away.
Level 1-2 cheese. Level 6 map roaming. 2-Item spike. You fall off when teams group up and peel. Win the game by making it a 4v5 before the fight starts.
The Cleanup Ace
Type 'Coming through!' in all-chat after a successful roaming play. Spam the 'grin' emote while flying over the enemy's head with R. The sight of a giant bird appearing from nowhere is a psychological trigger that makes enemies panic.
Your R move speed is unmatched. If a fight breaks out bot, you should be there in 3 seconds. Use and abuse the map pressure. You aren't a top-laner; you're a global problem with a beak.
Fly in at Mach 10. E the straggler. Kill them. Fly away. Type 'Meep Meep' in chat. The map pressure you exert just by existing is your real ultimate.
Recent Patch History
Recent Balance Changes
| Patch | Date | Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| V14.19 | Sep 25, 2024 | ADJUST | Base stats adjusted |
| V13.20 | Oct 11, 2023 | ADJUST | Base stats adjusted |
| V13.17 | Aug 30, 2023 | ADJUST | Q nerfed, E nerfed, Base stats buffed |
| V12.22 | Nov 16, 2022 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
| V12.10 | May 25, 2022 | BUFF | Base stats buffed |
