On-hit effects are infamous in League of Legends. Everyone knows of those few seasons when Master Yi would build BOTRK and Guinsoo’s and just shred through Champions like paper. Wait, you’re telling me that’s still going on? Well, I guess we’ll just have to deal with it.
But why deal with it when you can partake? We all know of the old proverb, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” And that is exactly what I’m here to help you with.
I love on-hit Champions. They’re fun, blazing-fast, and mighty. In this list, I’ve compiled the 5 Best On-Hit Champions in League of Legends currently. The item changes brought us various ways of building on-hit effects, so the sub-class just keeps growing.
Watch out for your Health Bars as we begin with our list.
5. Tryndamere
Starting things off with an unusual pick is Freljord’s finest warrior. This eternal bane of everyone’s existence has been the go-to on-hit pick for years now. I sometimes forget just how old this game and this Champion is.
Tryndamere has naturally high AD. Up until Season 12, you’d build Statikk Shiv as your first item to amplify your already strong attacks. The inexpensiveness of this item made a full-on-hit build Tryndamere a menace.
When this item was removed, I expected Tryndamere to fall off. But as new items were implemented and existing ones buffed to oblivion, he remained terrific to this very day. He strives with Critical Strikes. The lower his HP is, the more Crit he has.
When playing Tryndamere, you should build on-hit items like Blade of the Ruined King parallel with good Critical Strike amplifiers like Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, etc. A good Mythic choice would be the Kraken Slayer, which empowers your entire inventory with more attack speed, allowing you to keep hitting more and apply those on-hit effects faster.
He is a bit squishy due to his all-out attack build, but his Ultimate will make you survive just about anything for long enough.
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4. Rengar
If there’s ever been a Champion that loves to stack up on-hit effects, it’s Rengar. This humanoid lion loves his pounces and loves them too much. For a couple of seasons, he was notorious for jumping from his ultimate and obliterate people in one single hit. That hasn’t changed much.
Rengar is an Assassin and embodies the role quite well. A natural jungler, he’ll stalk your lanes and likely keep to the bushes so he can jump at the right time to deal massive damage. That first blow he lands when he jumps with his Q is crucial for the direction of the fight.
His Q is already an on-hit effect and has tremendous damage that increases vastly in its buffed form.
If he manages to deal massive damage, and he likely will, finishing you off will be easy. This necessitates an on-hit build, as his kit is not built around prolonged fights. He will profit significantly from items like Duskblade of Drakkthar, especially in its current, buffed form. Drakkthar will amplify his first pounce by a good amount, narrowing the time to kill. The invisibility granted by the item after the fact gives him better chances to survive the engagement.
As with Tryndamere, a lot of people built Statikk on him. As a replacement, I suggest building Divine Sunderer or Trinity Force to buff your first hit as much as possible. Critical Strike Chance is also a good build path.
3. Master Yi
I wouldn’t rank him higher out of principle, to be quite honest. I’ve been in this game since 2012, and Master Yi has been tremendously overpowered at every point of my experience. Some of you may call me out on being low elo for these claims but hear me out.
There are few Champions in the game that have a competent True Damage spell or ability. Even those who do usually find it hard to implement, whether due to skill shots or some other reason. Master Yi has pure, true damage as a simple active on his E. He presses a button and gains true damage on every attack.
This borders insanity. If he builds, and he will, items like BOTRK, Guinsoo’s, and Phantom Dancer, he’ll rip you to shreds in mere seconds. There is no nerf that can fix this Champion in any actual capacity. His kit is too strong to deal with. Apart from granting him True Damage, his E also passively increases his AD. The true damage comes as salt to the wound.
With proper movement speed items and Ghost, he can run down opponents with zero effort and, if he has life steal, he’ll be almost impossible to kill. There’s a reason why he’s the king of Pentakills.
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2. Kai’Sa
While on the topic of overloaded Champions, Kai’Sa is one of Riot’s most significant controversies. She has passive hybrid damage, and she stacks a passive. She then will proc said passive for massive hybrid burst.
Kai’Sa is a Champion that strives off of hybrid items – Guinsoo, Nashor’s tooth, etc. You will need attack speed to utilize her powerful explosive basic attacks correctly. Fleet footwork is a no-brainer with this Champion, although Hail of Blades is an excellent option for landing extra attacks to proc those stacks.
Kai’Sa’s engage ability, paired with how fast she can dish out damage, that you need both armor and magic resist to counter, is astonishing. She can Ult in, use her E to amplify her attacks further, and obliterate people with her Q and W.
How this Champion passed QA is beyond me, but she’s there, and I sort of love her. She’s been one of my favorite ADCs of all time, and I’ve seen many come and go to the meta over the years. She’s just too fun to play, and I guess you sort of hate loving her.
1. Jax
Jax, the Grandmaster at Arms. There is no other Champion in the game whose title fits them more. Jax’s entire kit is built around on-hit effects, and it’s kind of his thing, really. Without on-hit items, Jax would not even be a pick in this game. He’d be one of the worst Champions, actually.
He isn’t your average attack speed-critical strike Fighter like Yasuo or Tryndamere, nor is he your braindead Juggernaut that bonks people with a big stick and calls it a day. No, he’s the Grandmaster; he embodies battle and head-to-head fights Like a Champ.
Jax’s W empowers his next basic attack sort of like Trinity Force or other Spellblade based items would. But, the aforementioned Spellblade triggers with his W for a double empower. His R grants him bonus damage on his third consecutive attack. This makes stacking items the perfect choice for maximum single attack damage. Jax’s W is also an attack reset, which allows you to stack up any effect you have *that* much faster.
Jax is the best hybrid fighter in the game, and he will snowball like hell if he utilizes hybrid items well. I like to build Divine Sunderer on Jax, and based on the enemy composition, I pick and choose my items carefully.
Against high AP, go for Wit’s End and Sterak’s Gage. Against AD, I suggest defensive items like Death’s Dance. If you’re going for a carefree game and only want damage – build BOTRK, Titanic Hydra, Guinsoo’s, etc.
Conclusion
On-hit effects are fun, and choices are endless. AP, AD, Tank, everything is covered. To better understand on-hit effects in general – check out our quick, short article What are On-Hit Effects and How do They Work? Always hang around our site for all League-related guides, articles, and lists that will help you get that much-needed edge in games.
Also, as always, don’t miss out on letting us know what you think about this list and the topic in general. We always love to hear from you.
