Guide Sections (15)
- Champion Stats
- The Grand Entrance
- Which Rakan Skin to Use
- When They Ban Rakan
- Optimal Runes for Rakan
- Rakan's Ability Priority
- Mastering Rakan's Kit
- Rakan's Lane Opponents
- Engage Without Xayah
- When Roaming Won't Fix It
- Keeping Your Carry Alive
- The Engage Rakan Build
- Timing Rakan's All-Ins
- The Charm Engage
- Recent Patch History
Champion Stats
Low elo players simply cannot react to Rakan's engage speed. The R-Flash-W combination happens in less than half a second—by the time they see the golden wings, they are already charmed and airborne. They also make the fatal mistake of chasing Rakan, not understanding that he has effectively four dashes with his kit (W out, E to ally, E again, potential Flash). A smurf abuses this by forcing fights whenever his ultimate is up, knowing that the enemy team has no answer to a perfectly executed engage. You don't wait for opportunities; you create them.
The Grand Entrance
Start W (Grand Entrance). Position in the lane brush before minions arrive. The moment the enemy ADC or support walks up to contest the push, W onto them. You get the knockup, proc your passive shield from the damage you take, and auto-attack them while they're in the air. The trade is massively in your favor because your passive absorbs their retaliation. If your ADC has any early damage (Draven, Lucian, Kalista), this can easily result in a Flash or First Blood. Repeat this every time your passive shield is available.
Which Rakan Skin to Use
'Star Guardian Rakan' (Legendary) is smooth. 'IG Rakan' is clean. 'Sweetheart' (Valentines) is classic duo skin. 'Broken Covenant' is very cool.
'Star Guardian' (Legendary) has the best animations and voice lines. 'IG' is the competitive choice for the clean white VFX and the 'World Champion' prestige. 'Elderwood' Rakan looks amazing in the river.
'Star Guardian' is legendary and smooth. 'iG Rakan' is clean white/black. 'Broken Covenant' is gothic. Star Guardian has the best voice lines for feeling like the main character.
When They Ban Rakan
Alistar combo is similar. Leona engages harder. Pyke is slippery. Alistar is the closest 'knockup and disrupt' support.
Alistar for the W-Q combo. Leona for the dive. Pyke for the slippery assassin support style. Alistar is the closest engagement profile.
Optimal Runes for Rakan
Guardian (Protection) or Glacial Augment (Slows). Aftershock is okay for engage survival. Secondary Ultimate Hunter and Zombie Ward.
Rakan's Ability Priority
Max W first for the cooldown and damage. Max E second for shield uptime. Q last (it's weak).
Mastering Rakan's Kit
Gleaming Quill. Throws feather. If it hits champ/epic monster, heals Rakan and allies after delay.
Grand Entrance. Dashes to location. Knocks up after delay. Key engage tool.
Battle Dance. Dashes to ally and shields them. Can recast for free within 5s. Use to escape after W.
The Quickness. Gains move speed. Touching enemies Charms them. Touching first champ grants more speed. Use BEFORE W for faster engage.
Rakan's Lane Opponents
Skill/Hard. Flay stops your W mid-air. You must wait for him to use Flay or engage when he is distracted.
Hard. Black Shield stops your CC. Your W breaks it but doesn't knock up. Bait shield.
Lover's Duo. You get special recalls and E range. Always pick with Xayah if possible.
Vs Janna: Hard matchup. Her Q cancels your W instantly. You have to wait for her to use the tornado or engage when she's out of position. Vs Leona: Skill matchup. Don't get caught, only engage when her E is down.
Engage Without Xayah
Stop engaging without follow-up! You are deceptively squishy—once your passive shield is gone, you melt faster than an ADC. If you R-W into the enemy team while your allies are 1000 units behind you farming a wave, you will die before they arrive, and your team will blame you. Always ping 'On My Way' first and make sure your team is in position. Also, don't waste your E cooldown randomly. Battle Dance's cooldown is reduced significantly if you hit a champion with W or Q first. The optimal pattern is: R > Flash > W > Auto > E (to ally) > Q (for heal) > E again if needed. Master this sequence and you become unkillable.
When Roaming Won't Fix It
Dodge Leona or Nautilus. If you dash in, they lock you down and you explode. Also Thresh (Flay interrupts W).
Leona and Nautilus lock you down. If you W in, they CC you. You die. Wait for them to use spells.
Dodge Leona/Nautilus. If you try to W, they stun you mid-air. You are paper thin. Also Thresh—Flay stops your W consistently. It is a skill checks you will lose.
Keeping Your Carry Alive
In teamfights, you are the trigger. R (The Quickness) -> Flash -> W (Grand Entrance) into their carry. This is an unavoidable charm-knockup combo. Then E back to your ally immediately. Peel with your second E. Q for healing.
You have two E dashes. Use one to engage and one to escape. If your ADC is in trouble, Q the enemy for the heal, then E to your ally to share it. You're the ultimate 'distraction' support. Be everywhere.
Use E to get to your carry. R to charm the diver. W to knock them up. Q for the heal. Don't engage if your carry is dying; peel them instead. Your charm saves lives.
The Engage Rakan Build
AP Assassin Rakan. Rocketbelt -> Rabadon's -> Zhonya's. Your W has a 70% AP ratio. Your R has 50%. You can literally one-shot an ADC with R-W-Ignite.
Zeke's Convergence is your best friend. It turns your engage into a slow-field for your ADC to clean up. If you're winning, go Knight's Vow to make your ADC unkillable. You're the heart of the bot lane duo.
Shurelya's -> Zeke's -> Knight's Vow. You need speed. Shurelya's active lets your team follow your engage. Zeke's adds damage to your carry when you go in.
Timing Rakan's All-Ins
Level 6. The R engage is undeniably strong. Shurelya's Battlesong purchase gives your whole team the speed to follow you.
Level 6 is your biggest spike. Shurelya's completion is your second. By 2 items, you should be the one defining every teamfight. If the game goes past 35 minutes, you start to get squishy—end it while you're hot.
Level 6. Flash-R-W is undodgeable instant CC. Shurelya's completion is your teamfight win condition. Fight around your Flash cooldown.
The Charm Engage
Spam 'You're welcome' emotes. Dash around them without engaging just to bait abilities. Being untouchable is fun.
Your R into W combo is the fastest CC in the game. They literally cannot Flash it if you time it right. Use your E to get into range, R, then W. Then E back to your ADC and emote. You're the showman—take a bow.
Flash-R into the enemy team. W the carry. E back to safety. Emote 'Mastery 7'. You just won the fight and took 0 damage. Style on them.
Recent Patch History
Recent Balance Changes
| Patch | Date | Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| V13.8 | Apr 19, 2023 | NERF | Base stats nerfed |
| V13.3 | Feb 8, 2023 | BUFF | Q buffed, W nerfed |
| V12.22 | Nov 16, 2022 | ADJUST | Base stats adjusted |
| V12.19 | Oct 5, 2022 | BUFF | P buffed, Q buffed |
| V12.11 | Jun 8, 2022 | BUFF | Q buffed, W buffed, E buffed |
