Kled
Master Tier Champion Guide
Identity: Why You Should Play Kled
Kled is a high-aggression diver who excels at all-in engagements and tower dives. His identity is defined by his unique mount, Skaarl, which provides him with a second health bar and enables a hyper-aggressive playstyle. Kled is a lane bully who transitions into a formidable split-pusher and teamfight initiator, using his ultimate to create chaos and hunt down priority targets.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Unmatched All-In & Dive Potential: Kled is built for relentless, high-risk aggression, excelling at all-ins and tower dives that few opponents can calculate or endure.
Deceptive Survivability with Skaarl: Kled possesses a massive effective health pool while mounted. Getting dismounted isn't a death sentence, but an opportunity to turn seemingly lost fights by remounting, which restores health and grants temporary untargetability.
Exceptional Roaming & Pick Potential: His ultimate, Chaaaaaaaarge!!! (R), is one of the best engage tools in the game, allowing him to initiate fights from fog of war, quickly rotate to objectives, and create map-wide pressure.
Weaknesses
Vulnerable When Dismounted: When dismounted, Kled turns from a formidable threat into a vulnerable, low-range skirmisher.
Weak Against Kite & Poke Comps: Champions who can easily poke him down or slow his approach can prevent him from engaging effectively due to his short range and all-in nature.
Reliance on Courage to Remount: Kled is dependent on his Courage bar. Managing this bar is paramount, as being caught without a way to generate Courage quickly often means certain death.
Laning Phase
Kled's laning identity is to establish ownership of the lane from the very first second and dominate the opponent.
Dismounting is Strategic
Do not fear losing Skaarl. A skilled Kled player uses the dismount intentionally, as it makes him untargetable for a split second (dodging tower shots or key abilities).
While dismounted, auto-attacks and Pocket Pistol (Q) generate Courage. Running away while dismounted usually means death; the key is to go all-in to generate Courage quickly.
Level 1 Dominance
Kled's level 1 is among the strongest in the top lane due to Violent Tendencies (W). Do not leash for your jungler unless absolutely necessary. When the enemy steps up to last-hit, activate W and unleash all four empowered autos on them, forcing them to use an early potion and establishing Kled as the lane bully.
Starting Items
The standard aggressive start is Doran's Blade.
Use Doran's Shield against heavy poke or ranged matchups like Teemo or Quinn.
Long Sword + Refillable Potion is a greedy start for early spikes.
The Kill Threshold (Level 3)
Kled's level 3 all-in is one of the most potent in the game. If the enemy is around 60% health or below and you have Ignite, they are often in lethal range.
Wave Management
Generally, you want the wave to slow push towards you initially to build a larger minion wave, which protects you from ganks and sets up a lethal level 3 all-in.
After recalling, you should try to freeze the wave just outside your tower range to force the enemy to overextend, making them a free kill for you or your jungler.
Team Fighting & Macro
Macro
Upon completing the first major item (often Titanic Hydra or Ravenous Hydra), Kled transitions from a lane bully to a map-wide menace.
Kled is a formidable split-pusher, especially with Hullbreaker. He should split-push on the OPPOSITE SIDE of the next major objective to draw pressure. If one or two enemies come to stop you, your team can secure the objective 4v3 or 4v4.
Post-10 minutes, when TP's channel time is reduced to 4 seconds, it becomes an offensive weapon. Use TP for game-winning plays by flanking the enemy bot lane or quickly returning to an objective fight.
Voidgrubs and Rift Herald are considered Kled's objectives. Use the Herald to break the first top tower, and then take it mid to open up the entire map.
Team Fighting
Kled should NEVER start a fight from the front. He should circle around from the jungle or a flanking route, using fog of war as his ally.
Chaaaaaaaarge!!! (R) should be used from fog of war. The charge knocks aside the frontline, creating a direct path to the enemy backline carries (ADC or APC), which are Kled's primary targets.
In chaotic team fights, the dismount is a strength. Use the untargetability to dodge crucial abilities. Enemies often become greedy and overcommit when Kled is dismounted, giving him the chance to generate Courage for a game-winning remount.
Your role is often Secondary Engage / Clean-Up Crew. You must wait for the initial fight to break out, then use your ultimate to crash directly into the enemy backline. Survival is aided by items like Sterak's Gage and Death's Dance, which provide time to remount.
Key Combos
Mounted All-in / Kill
E
QEThis is the standard, high-damage combo, using the E recast to follow the target or dodge a counter-attack.
Max Burst Engage
R
QUsed late game to ensure a squishy target is eliminated before they can react.
Standard Trading
QLanding Beartrap on a Rope (Q) applies a slow and pull, guaranteeing a few free auto-attacks and burst damage.
Dismount Outplay
QUse the Pocket Pistol knockback for distance, then auto-attack nearest targets to stack Courage quickly for the remount.
Tips & Tricks
Abilities
PThe remount process makes Kled untargetable briefly, which can be used to dodge critical tower shots or enemy abilities.
Triumph heals on takedowns, which is invaluable for enabling remounts in clutch fights.
WViolent Tendencies (W) is an auto-attack reset; always use it immediately after your first auto-attack in a trade.
Crucially, do not use W carelessly to farm minions, as having it available is your primary threat in lane.
EThe recast of Jousting (E2) grants a split second of untargetability, useful for dodging abilities or tower shots.
You can also use E -> Flash to extend the dash range and catch enemies by surprise.
QThe dismounted Pocket Pistol (Q) deals damage in a cone and knocks Kled back. This knockback is excellent for creating distance or hopping over thin walls to escape.
RChaaaaaaaarge!!! (R) provides massive movement speed and can be used to escape by charging towards your own base.
The charge leaves a trail that grants allied champions a massive movement speed boost, helping your team follow up.