While Kindred is by far one of my favourite junglers to play in Summoner’s Rift, does Kindred fair well in ARAM?
Kindred is a high-speed Marksman who provides teams with a good amount of lane denial and while not as long-ranged as fellow Marksmen like Varus, Kindred is an ADC who can pull a great deal of weight while making their way down the ARAM lane.
While at first, Kindred is a bit of a confusing champion, being that their passive requires players to select enemy champions to target, Kindred can snowball fairly quickly, leading to a number of takedowns by them and their team.
When Kindred’s passive, Mark of Kindred (passive) is on cooldown, players can select which champion to target. After 8 seconds, players will see a solidified marking above the chosen enemy champion and securing a takedown (either by supporting or killing), players will receive bonus stats on their other abilities including:
5% bonus attack speed on Dance of Arrow (Q) per stack
0.5% bonus current health damage on Wolf’s Frenzy (W) per stack
0.5% bonus missing health damage on Mounting Dread (E) per stack
Upon securing a takedown on the selected champion, players will no longer be able to select that champion for 240 seconds, though players can change which champion they target every 90 seconds if they are having difficulty securing a takedown.
Unlike Summoner’s Rift, Kindred can only collect marks from enemy takedowns as there are no monsters in ARAM.
Kindred’s Dance of Arrows (Q) allows players to dash forward, gaining attack speed and firing up to three arrows to nearby enemies.
Kindred’s Wolf’s Frenzy (W) will passively collect stacks based on movement, similar to Luden’s Echo or Energize, healing Kindred upon collecting 100 stacks and basic attacking.
As an active, players can use Wolf’s Frenzy to summon wolf, causing Wolf to fight independently, slowing his targets and dealing magic damage scalable by Kindred’s bonus attack speed.
Players must remain in the area or Wolf will retreat, causing Lamb to fight alone until summoned again.
With Mounting Dread (E), Lamb will mark a target for 4 seconds, slowing them and refreshing if players are able to attack the enemy again with Lamb.
Upon basic attacking enemies for the third time, Wolf will pounce the enemy, dealing bonus physical damage. Mounted Dread (E) can be placed on any type of enemy but should be limited to champions in ARAM, unless there are none on the field.
Lamb’s Respite (R) tends to be a pretty tricky ability to use well as it will place a circular area on the ground for 4 seconds. While players are in Lamb’s Respite they will not be able to go below 10% of their maximum health, effectively Lamb’s Respite will keep everyone in it alive unless they are pushed out of it.
The damning thing about Lamb’s Respite is the fact that players cannot heal inside of it, making abilities like Wish (Soraka’s ultimate), completely useless. Damn, even simple Fleet Footwork, Life Steal or Soul Siphon (Morgana’s passive) won’t do squat inside of Lamb’s Respite.
At the end of Lamb’s Respite (R), all players within the area of effect will heal for a portion of their health.
QUICK RUNDOWN:
SUMMONER SPELLS: Flash, Heal
RUNES: Press the Attack, Triumph, Alacrity, Coup de Grace // Ravenous Hunter, Sudden Impact
ABILITY POWER UP: Q, W, E
FIRST BUY: Vampiric Scepter
BUILD ORDER: Blade of the Ruined King, Berserker’s Greaves, Infinity Edge, Statikk Shiv, Runaan’s Hurricane, Bloodthirster
COMBOS: There aren’t really any combos that Kindred has, though players should be aware that when Lamb initiates or is inside of Wolf’s Frenzy (W) players will experience a shortened cooldown on Dance of Arrows (Q).
Players can try to initiate by using Mounting Dread (E), followed by Dance of Arrows (Q) and another basic attack or Wolf’s Frenzy (W) to get in closer to enemies/to reduce the cooldown of Dance of Arrows (Q).
Players have a great deal of mobility when it comes to playing Kindred, so I would recommend using it to your advantage in any way possible, especially if it means getting off extra damage by timing your abilities.
SUMMONER SPELLS FOR KINDRED IN ARAM
FLASH
Although admittedly, Kindred has some of the best mobility for a Marksman, Kindred players will still benefit from taking Flash on their kit.
Not only will Flash be able to save players from tough circumstances where players need to escape quickly, but Flash can also be used to secure takedowns as Kindred’s abilities allow players to jump in and out rapidly weaving between enemies.
HEAL
Although it is possible for layers to sustain themselves healthwise with Kindred’s Wolf’s Frenzy (W), players can always use Heal to both health them and speed them up, in hopes of avoiding being taken down.
Although players can act aggressively with other abilities such as Ignite and Exhaust, Kindred players don’t normally get too, too close to the enemy champions, so it might not be a good idea to take them since they probably won’t be used.
RUNE TREES FOR KINDRED IN ARAM
Kindred really only has one rune build that players will want to follow in order to maximize their damage in ARAM.
Players will want to stick to a typical Marksmen build, much like Vayne, Miss Fortune, Xayah, Tristana, Sivir, Ashe, Varus, Caitlyn, and Jhin, though players do have all options open for keystone runes with Kindred, other than Conqueror.
Unfortunately, Conquerer just isn’t as good for Kindred as any of the other keystone runes, making it more of a hindrance than anything.
The following is the most effective rune build I have found on Kindred.
DAMAGE HEAVY/BURST RUNES FOR KINDRED (PRECISION/DOMINATION)
PRESS THE ATTACK
Basic attacks against enemy champions will apply stacks for a maximum of 4 seconds on a single target, if players switch targets they will have to restart the stacks.
Upon stacking Press the Attack three times, players will consume the stacks, dealing 40-180 bonus damage and exposing them for 6 seconds causing them to take increased damage from all subsequent sources by 8-12% based on level.
The most awesome thing about Press the Attack is the fact that it has an extremely short cooldown, coming in at 6 seconds, making it perfect to use when in tandem with Mounting Dread (E).
Press the Attack seems perfectly made for Kindred and will allow players to pop in and out of battles without the fear of losing damage, as you would with Lethal Tempo if you cannot get it off regularly enough or aren’t focussing on attack speed items.
TRIUMPH
Triumph is one of the most powerful runes that players can take while playing ARAM, especially if your team gets a number of kills in a row.
Players will receive 6% of missing health as well as 10 Gold every time they participate in a champion takedown. Players will experience a 1-second delay before they get their health from securing a takedown.
Triumph is one of the best ways players can keep their health up when playing a Marksman, especially if players aren’t hoping on building (m)any Life Steal items or aren’t taking Fleet Footwork as their keystone rune.
Triumph lets me focus on what’s most important to me… damage!
ALACRITY
Alacrity provides players with 3% (+ 1.5% per Legend stack) bonus Attack Speed, up to 18% when players have 10 stacks.
Securing enough kills to receive the 18% Attack Speed can be game-changing, especially if players haven’t died and thus do not have a way to access the shop.
Alacrity won’t help carry you throughout the whole game, but it will make sure that you get a few extra hits whenever you need it. Alacrity is perfect for those of you who need some extra help
COUP DE GRACE
The fourth Rune is definitely a personal choice, but I always like to choose Coup de Grace because it gives you 8% more damage to enemy champions below 40% health.
Paired up with Press the Attack and Mounting Dread (E), Coup de Grace can help secure some really mean takedowns.
SUDDEN IMPACT
Upon dashing, blinking or exiting stealth a player will receive 7 Lethality and 6 Magic Penetration for the next 5 seconds and if the triggering effect deals damage it will also benefit from the penetration.
Sudden Impact is a great ability to have on Kindred simply because both Lamb and Wolf have abilities that cause them to leap or dash forward.
Why not deal extra damage every time you use Dance of Arrows (Q) and Wolf’s Frenzy (W)?
Sudden Impact will also help give you the upper hand when it comes to preparing you for battles against tanks with armour, magic resist or vulnerable squishes that deal high damage.
All around, Sudden Impact is a great rune to take, especially with how short Kindred’s cooldowns tend to be.
RAVENOUS HUNTER
Abilities Heal for 1.5% of damage + 2.5% per every champion takedown for a maximum of 5 stacks. Healing is reduced to 1/3 on AoE damage.
While Ravenous Hunter won’t do a great deal of healing, it’s never a bad idea to round out your damage with some extra healing.
Kindred is fairly ability heavy for a Marksman, so they will benefit from Ravenous Hunter much more than a typical Tristana or Jinx.
Ravenous Hunter is kind of like another form of Triumph, in regards to the fact that Ravenous Hunter luckily gives players a healthy portion of health without having to do anything special to do other than use abilities.
SKILL LEVEL UP RECOMMENDATIONS & TIPS ON HOW TO PLAY KINDRED IN ARAM
DANCE OF ARROWS (Q)
Dashing forward, players will gain 25% (+5% per Mark) bonus attack speed for 4 seconds while firing up to three arrows at nearby visible targets.
Players will deal 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 (+65% bonus AD) per arrow fired, also resetting Lamb’s basic attack timer, allowing players to damage enemies rapidly.
Dance of Arrows requires 35 mana to cast and can be used every 9 seconds although players can reduce Dance of Arrow’s cooldown while inside of Wolf’s Frenzy (W) to a static amount of 4 / 3.5 / 3 / 2.5 / 2 seconds.
Dance of Arrows is extremely useful in ARAM, especially because players can dash backwards, staying protecting while still dealing damage to enemy champions.
In most cases, players will want to use Dance of Arrows to dash forward to attack enemy champions.
WOLF’S FRENZY (W)
Building up stacks passively, similar to Energize or Luden’s Echo, players are able to heal between 49-100 HP upon attacking an enemy with a basic attack, consuming the full stack at 100 stacks.
As an active, players will dash into the direction, summoning Wolf for a maximum of 8.5 seconds, causing Wolf to deal 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 (+20% bonus AD)(+1.5% of the target’s current health plus 1% per Mark)
Players should note that if they leave Wolf’s Frenzy with Lamb, the ability will reset and cancel, causing Kindred to re-unite.
Wolf luckily attacks without the help of Lamb and does not require players to do anything, though players should also note that Wolf’s magic damage also scales with 25% of Kindred’s bonus attack speed.
Whether the enemy Wolf chooses to attack is a minion or a champion, the enemy will become slowed for 2 seconds.
Players can use Wolf’s Frenzy for 40 mana and can cast it every 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14 seconds.
As mentioned earlier, players will reduce the cooldown time of Dance of Arrows (Q) if they are inside of Wolf’s Frenzy, making players extra mobile by being able to dash back and forth using both Dance of Arrows (Q) and Wolf’s Frenzy.
MOUNTING DREAD (E)
Marking an enemy for 4 seconds, players will cripple said targetted enemy by 50% for one second.
If players damage the marked enemy three times, the third hit will deal 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+80% bonus AD) (+8% of the target’s missing health plus 0.5% per Mark).
Wolf will also critically strike for 50%+37.5% bonus damage against targets below 15-65% based on critical strike chance, based on their maximum health.
Mounting Dread is by far one of the most underrated abilities connected to Kindred. I definitely recommend using it as often as players can, being every 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 seconds for the cost of 50 mana.
LAMB’S RESPITE (R)
Placing a circular zone onto the field, Lamb’s Respite protects all champions, whether they are on your team or not, for 4 seconds and doesn’t allow players to fall below 10% of their maximum health.
Players can be pushed out of Lamb’s Respite, making it possible for players to die before the end of Lamb’s Respite, though if players stay within the blessing they will be healed by 250 / 325 / 400 HP.
As mentioned, it can be difficult to us Lamb’s Respite, as it can effectively save everyone on the field, versus just saving members of your team.
The cooldown for Lamb’s Respite is 180 / 150 / 120 seconds and it costs 100 mana.
GEAR BUILD FOR KINDRED
BLADE OF THE RUINED KING
Giving players 40 Attack Damage, 25% Attack Speed and 12% Life Steal.
The most enticing thing about Blade of the Ruined King is that basic attacks deal 8% of the target’s current health as bonus physical damage. This makes shredding tanks fairly easy, while still giving you the same effect on lower health champions. The minimum bonus physical damage players will deal is 15 AD.
As an active, players will deal 100 magic damage to the target champion, causing them to move 25% slower for 3 seconds.
I know, I know, I said that Kindred doesn’t need much Life Steal, but Blade of the Ruined King is really powerful when it comes to shredding tanks or enemies with a large health pool.
Blade of the Ruined King can be swapped out for Infinity Edge as a first item if players are interested in higher amounts of damage without the assist of Life Steal.
If players choose to build Infinity Edge before Blade of the Ruined King, they will still be able to heal by using Wolf Frenzy’s passive to heal upon the first basic attack after players get 100 stacks.
BERSERKER’S GREAVES
Attack speed for a Marksman? Sounds about right.
INFINITY EDGE
Infinity Edge deals 80 Attack Damage, 25% Critical Strike Chance and also deals 25% critical damage.
More damage, more power. Infinity Edge is going to be the piece of gear that sets you apart from the other team.
Due to the extremely high damage that comes from Infinity Edge, players will not need to build any other high damage items and can begin focussing on attack speed to help support Kindred’s other passives.
STATIKK SHIV
Providing players with 40% attack speed, 25% critical strike chance, 5% movement speed.
As a passive, players will deal 120 bonus magic damage to 7 targets once Statikk Shiv is energized.
Players may actually want to build Statikk Shiv second instead of third if they are having issues tagging onto enemies before they are taken down. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that it can be hard to reach enemy champions to target them with an ability or a basic attack, especially if you’re just getting started with Kindred… so, might as well take Statikk Shiv to increase that range with a thunderbolt in hopes of collecting a Mark.
RUNAAN’S HURRICANE
If you want to take as much delight as you can with Ashe’s attack speed, make sure you build Runaan’s Hurricane, especially because basic attacks deal 40% AD damage to 2 enemies that are nearby the initial target.
Runaan’s Hurricane is a Marksman’s wet dream when it comes to shredding all nearby champions and provide players with 40% Attack Speed, 25% Critical Strike Chance and 7% Movement Speed.
Kindred players may especially enjoy using Runaan’s Hurricane as it will raise the chances of players being able to secure takedowns and thus receive stacks of Marks from selecting the right enemy champion.
Runaan’s Hurricane can be switched for Rapid Firecannon as Rapid Firecannon will extend Kindred’s range, however, may not be as useful.
BLOODTHIRSTER
Bloodthirster provides players with 80 Attack Damage and 20% Life Steal.
Bloodthirster can also overheal you by converting excess health into a 50 − 350 (based on level) “shield.” Bloodthirster’s shield will decay when out-of-combat for 25 seconds.
In the situation of Bloodthirster, I kind of think of “go big or go home” and quite frankly, I’d rather have a huge chunk of Life Steal all from one item than a bit of Life Steal and some other meh stats.
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