Overview
A ranged jungler with hyper carry potential, Kindred is a champion that can absolutely terrorize enemy teams if she’s able to collect stacks and scale into the late game. She’s also got one of the more unique ultimates in the game in that she can create a large zone where both allies and enemies alike cannot die -- this creates for some wild in-game situations where they can completely turn a fight on its head. Click here for the latest data on their best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Kindred
Just because there's a mark on the map doesn't mean you have to go for it -- it's not worth trading your life for it early in the game. You need to make sure you have priority in closest lane before trying to make a play!
They're a late game carry with a very powerful ultimate in Lamb's Respite [R] when used correctly: the ideal usage of it is bait enemies deep into your lines -- even better if they're out of its range when you proc it to save yourself so that you can't die while they're forced to either jump into you or retreat (and risk being chased down anyway).
Strengths
Kindred has one of the highest ceilings for junglers in the game thanks to being a ranged marksman with the ability to scale off of her Mark of the Kindred [P] -- if they’re able to ramp up marks and secure items, they’re going to be extremely hard for enemy teams to deal with between the immense damage output and the ability to stay alive with Lamb’s Respite [R]. This makes them extremely strong into assassins, who are the natural counter to champions ranged carries. Lamb’s Respite [R] also give them great zone control over areas on the map and can punish enemies who overextend, especially with Dance of Arrows [Q] allowing them to easily kite or chase after opponents with Mounting Dread [E]. They’re extremely mobile in tight corridors.
Weaknesses
At the end of the day, they’re still a squishy champion even if they can be difficult to kill with Lamb’s Respite [R]. All you have to do (though it is harder than it sounds) is to CC them and either kill them or force an early Lamb’s Respite [R], at which point you can disengage and then re-engage once it’s down. Kindred also scales up with gaining passive stacks, which can be denied in part by enemies, so their ramp speed is going to vary from game to game and is tied to how well they do early game. And for all of it’s power, Lamb’s Respite [R] can just as easily save an enemy champion or buy enough time for enemies to regroup -- it’s a bit of a double-edged sword that can be hard to find consistent value from.
Game Plan
Early Game: The pathing is pretty straight forward: prioritize moving towards your marks. Your gank potential is only average, especially without red buff, and can be reliant on allies having CC. Farming and scaling is much more consistent.
Mid Game: Continue to farm -- you have strong skirmish potential at this point, especially with buffs, and shouldn’t be afraid to fight small battles around neutral objectives.
Late Game: At this point, you are very strong and should play like a hyper carry. You can get a lot of chip damage with Dance of Arrows [Q] -- just be cognizant of which enemies can CC you!
