Hold on: we’ve had Lillia and Yone in the last two months, and there’s another new champion to learn? Samira is coming on League of Legends Patch 10.19, but don’t worry, we’ve got the best build, runes, and all the tips and tricks you need to know to master Runeterra’s new marksman.

Riot are definitely ramping up the champion releases in the latter half of Season 10. We’ve had Lillia and Yone release in the space of weeks, and the hits don’t look like they’re stopping with Samira coming out on Patch 10.19.

The Noxian marksman doesn’t thrive at long range. In fact, she’s the opposite ⁠— she loves being in the heat of battle. Frantically swapping between her sword and machine gun, Samira takes down her opponents elegantly in a hail of blades and bullets.

Confused on where to start with Samira though? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s all the builds, runes, tips and tricks you need to know about League’s new marksman, so you can get ahead of the competition as Season 10 nears its end.

Samira’s abilities

Samira’s kit is a mixed bag, but one thing’s for certain ⁠— it’s strong. It incorporates strong damage in close range while also being able to negate return fire from your enemies.

With a new mechanic that allows her to get multiple game-changing ultimates in one fight, you’ll want to know exactly Samira’s abilities work with one another to make sure you can style on your opponents every time.

Passive: Daredevil Impulse

Samira’s passive incorporates a new combo ability into League of Legends. She can build combo by hitting unique attacks from the previous hit ⁠— this means attacking different targets, or alternating between abilities and basic attacks.

Each unique attack increases her style, giving her extra movement speed. At S rank, she can use her ultimate. It rewards Samira diving in and alternating between enemies to try and get her ultimate charged up, and even gives her the chance to build multiple of them in a fight.

Her passive also incorporates extra damage while Samira is in melee range, and that she can dash to enemies who are immobilized (stunned, snared etc.) and suspend them for an extra half a second. Her passive may as well be three abilities in one.

Q: Flair

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, Samira’s Q is much easier. It’s her primary poke and wave clear tool, but it changes depending on whether Samira is in melee range of her target or not.

If she is at range, she will fire her gun, dealing damage to the first enemy hit. If she’s in melee range, she will slash with her sword in a cone. This ability can critically strike for extra damage, and if she casts it during her E, she can hit multiple enemies. It’s on a very short cooldown, so get your fingers ready to spam it in fights to try and get your passive up.

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W: Blade Whirl

Samira’s W is a 360 degree Yasuo windwall, basically. She slashes around her, damaging enemies twice and destroying any enemy missiles that enter. This can be key in surviving initial bursts when dashing into a fight, or when you’re on the run.

It’s on a long cooldown, so you’ll want to save it for when you’re in grave danger. Once Blade Whirl is down, this will be the sign for enemies to jump on you, so just be wary.

E: Wild Rush

Samira’s E is her primary gapcloser. She can dash through both enemies or allies with the ability, dealing damage to any enemy she passes through and gaining attack speed. It also refreshes on champion kills, so you can dash through enemies again and again.

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Depending on how you want to trade, you can use this to both get on top of enemies, or dash away from them. It’s better if you can just walk up and get the trade without having to use E though, saving it for a quick escape or a stylish flash-follow finish.

R: Inferno Trigger

Samira’s R is the thing of nightmares. It’s not gated by a cooldown, but rather Samira’s style rating. Once she hits Rank S, she can pop her ultimate, shooting all enemies around her, dealing a ton of damage and applying life steal.

This is the ultimate teamfight ender. Not only can it be activated multiple times, but it can stack Conqueror fast, critically strike if you go down a crit build, and keep Samira alive in a pinch. If you wanted to channel your inner Dante from Devil May Cry, you definitely can.

Best build for Samira

Samira’s general build path is the same as other solo lane marksmen. She benefits greatly from two stats ⁠— cooldown reduction, and crit chance. This makes Essence Reaver a must-rush ⁠— at least for now until the new item system comes in.

From there, Infinity Edge is good for the second item power spike, but from there, your build can kind of deviate. You can keep stacking crit chance through items like Phantom Dancer and Runaan’s Hurricane, or you can deviate towards life steal in Death’s Dance and Bloodthirster.

If you go down the life steal route, you can become very ‘tanky’ in the late game ⁠— at least, in the sense that you’ll constantly heal back while in combat. These items, combined with runes like Legend: Bloodline, give her insane amounts of sustain.

Best runes for Samira

Unsurprisingly, Samira’s best runes pretty much fall under two trees ⁠— Precision and Domination. Keystone-wise, you cannot go wrong with Conqueror. With her mix of melee and ranged attacks, she can stack up the Conqueror effect quite quickly.

She also benefits from going with a bit of risk in her runes. Things like Legend: Bloodline, Last Stand, and Ravenous Hunter are really strong on Samira. However, if you aren’t one for doubling down in Domination, Biscuits and Time Warp Tonic are fine pickups in Inspiration.

However, if you want burst damage against your opponent, Press The Attack is also a fine substitute in the Precision tree. Lethal Tempo also scales nicely with her kit, with the increased attack speed being a nice boon.

If you’d prefer just raw, unadulterated damage though, Hail of Blades is a good pickup as well. Partner it with Sudden Impact, Zombie Ward, and Ravenous Hunter to have a ton of sustain, and finish off with Legend: Bloodline and Last Stand.

How to play Samira

Samira is probably the most flexible marksman Riot has released, excluding maybe Lucian. She can be played in top, mid, and bot lane depending on the situation. Her kit does lend itself better to being a solo laner though, maximizing damage in duels by being in melee range.

In the laning phase, you’ll want to wave clear primarily at range to try and keep your health pool intact. However, if you need to shove a wave in, walk into melee range to use your Q’s multi-target slash, as well as get the bonus damage from melee attacks.

It’s very hard to say there’s no flaws in a champion’s kit, but with Samira, her kit is not only friendly to newer players, but will only get more powerful as she gets mastered. This is especially evident when looking at her trading patterns in lane.

From level three onwards, hardly any champion beats Samira in a straight up duel. If you try to get away from Samira, the extra movement speed from her passive keeps her around. Her Q is on a spammable cooldown. Plus, one she hits six, she has a 100-0 combo that can take down most champions.

In teamfights, if Samira can avoid the enemy engage, she will terrorize squishy carries. Her M.O. is to get in, get the job done, and get out. Not just get a kill or two, but take the whole enemy down, all while being on a slither of health. Being on low health does give her the maximum value out of Last Stand, but you’ve also got to be mindful of Grievous Wounds.

Plus, you cannot forget your E > Q combo. If you cast Q while dashing into a fight with your E, it’s a sure-fire way to stack up your passive very quickly to hit your ultimate. Take advantage of this little Yasuo-like interaction to decimate your enemies.

Samira will be released on Patch 10.19, which launches on September 16.

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