Darius
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Good (7/10)
Rare Relics OK
Low Investment
Darius is a highly effective speedrunning champion who excels at clearing content quickly through brute force and rally mechanics. However, his gameplay is often criticized for being one-dimensional ('vanilla') and he frequently acts as a support vehicle for his own deck rather than the primary win condition. While his 4-star power provides crucial utility for high-difficulty adventures, his 6-star power is widely regarded as underwhelming and mechanically disjointed.
Passive Power Scaling
The most critical relic for high-level play. Darius relies heavily on specific powers (specifically 'Titanic Wake' or 'Trifarian Might') to function at peak efficiency. This ensures you find them.
Synergizes with Loaded Dice to improve the starting deck quality and provides passive scaling, mitigating the fact that Darius himself is often the weakest card in his own deck.
Essential protection. Since Darius is expensive and lacks inherent defensive keywords, Spellshield ensures he sticks to the board when finally deployed to finish the game.
Strategy
This build accepts that Darius is often a 'relic carrier' rather than the star of the show. Use Loaded Dice to aggressively reroll for the Titanic Wake power, which allows you to play massive 3-cost units on Turn 1. This setup is ideal for Nightmare adventures where board presence and power synergy outweigh individual champion strength.
Nexus Blitz
Strikes the enemy Nexus on summon. Combined with his high Attack, this deals massive immediate damage.- A second copy doubles the immediate burst damage, often putting the enemy Nexus into lethal range instantly.
Rallies upon leveling up. Since the Gatebreaker strikes usually push the enemy Nexus below 50% HP, Darius levels up immediately on summon, granting an instant attack token to finish the game.
Strategy
The definitive speedrun build. Do not play Darius until the enemy Nexus is near the halfway mark. Once dropped, he strikes the Nexus twice, levels up, rallies, and attacks for a One-Turn Kill (OTK). This bypasses board states entirely and is excellent for farming weekly adventures.
Signature Beatdown
Darius's signature relic. It grants stats and plays 'Apprehend' on summon, stunning an enemy and rallying. This forces interaction and allows for immediate offensive pressure.
Provides +1 starting Mana (if you have a Titanic champion) and buffs Darius's stats. The extra mana helps smooth out his curve, allowing for earlier deployment.
Grants an attack copy of the supported ally. When combined with the Rally from his signature relic, this creates an overwhelming board state on the attack turn.
Strategy
A board-centric build that aims to play Darius earlier and utilize his high stats to dominate combat. The combination of Stun, Rally, and stat boosts makes him a formidable unit on the field rather than just a finisher.
Other Relic Options
A budget alternative to Loaded Dice. Darius is extremely power-dependent, so extra rerolls are always valuable.
Reduces Darius's cost if you trigger Plunder, helping him hit the board sooner.
A functional filler relic for generating spells and triggering augment/fated synergies if running a support-heavy deck.
Constellation
Darius has a lopsided constellation. His 4-star power is widely praised for solving his defensive issues, while his 6-star power is considered one of the weakest and most boring in the game. His resource nodes (gems) are also awkwardly gated behind higher star levels.
Noxian Might
Each round, the first time you play an ally, grant it +2|+0.
Carve a Path
+1 Starting Mana. Each round, the first time you attack with 15+ total Power, Rally.
Noxian Might II
Each round, the first time you play an ally, grant it +4|+0 and Overwhelm.
Hold It!
Round Start: Stun the strongest enemy.Review
Hold It: Round Start: Stun the strongest enemy. This is an incredible defensive tool that neutralizes high-threat units like Viktor or Kai'Sa in early nodes. It is arguably his most impactful upgrade for clearing high-difficulty content.
Manaflow
Game Start: Get a mana gem.Review
Manaflow: +1 Starting Mana. Always excellent for tempo, allowing for 3-drop units on Turn 1.
The Hand of Noxus
When allies attack, summon a random Noxian ally with cost equal to your mana gems.Review
Noxian Might IV: Attack: Summon a random Noxus follower with cost equal to your mana gems. This is widely criticized as underwhelming. The summoned unit does not attack (it only spawns in the backline), often acting as a mere chump blocker. It fails to synergize with his aggressive Rally identity and feels low-impact for a 6-star investment.
Gameplay Tips
Drafting for Titanic Wake
The single biggest power spike for Darius is the Titanic Wake power. Because Darius and many of his units have high Attack, this power grants massive stats and health to your board instantly. In speedruns or Nightmare challenges, it is worth using all your rerolls (via Loaded Dice/Z-Drive) to find this specific power at the start of the run.
The Relic Mule Strategy
Darius is often the least efficient card in his own deck due to his high cost and lack of immediate keywords (without relics). In many runs, your primary win condition will be a low-cost support champion or your aggressive followers. Equip Darius with passive relics like Black Shield, Stacked Deck, or Loaded Dice to support the team, and only summon him if you need a final heavy hitter.
Managing the Attack Token
Darius's deck excels at rallying. Be mindful of your attack token status; playing a card that rallies while you already have the token is a waste. Plan your turn to Attack first, then play your Rally effects (like Apprehend or leveling Darius) to swing multiple times in a single turn.
Leveraging C4 (Hold It)
The 4-star power stuns the strongest enemy at Round Start. This trivializes many boss encounters where a single large unit is the primary threat (e.g., Viktor, Lee Sin). You can ignore the stunned unit and focus your removal or attacks on wider boards or the Nexus.