Darius isn't bad, just misused

In the current meta of top laners, Darius might seem lackluster. But I believe he's a strong niche pick - as a peeler. The current meta generally expects top laners to be the primary engagers (or at least dive buddies) for their team. But some teams already have plenty of dive, and your carries need a bodyguard - and this is what Darius excels at. With the 25% Armor Pen from his max rank E, his true damage ult, and ability to peel with E & W, Darius is an ideal champion to pull that Jarvan off your Xerath, and beat the living shit out of him.

Particularly in a poke + seige comp, where the biggest threat is having your carries locked down by unkillable tanks, you can rip through those annoying ass Maokai/ Vi/ Jarvan/ Leona/ Gnar type champs, get resets on your ult, then go right back to seiging. My preferred build: Flat AD Marks & Quints, Flat Armor Seals & Scaling CDR Glyphs (vs AD lane opponent), or Flat Health Seals + Flat MR Glyphs (vs AP lane opponent). 21/9/0 Masteries because you're killing tanks and hanging back with your carries, you'll be building some damage. Item & Summoner Spell build -

This build gives you the damage to rip through tanks, the CDR to spam abilities in fights, and the tank stats to front line for your team. You can substitute your own preferred items in as you please, but I like BotRK + Black Cleaver for the maximum tank killing ability; Ghostblade, Hydra, Last Whisper, Maw, Scimitar, Tri Force, and Frozen Mallet are all attractive damage items for him. Flash + TP is my preferred SS setup; Flash is non negotiable in my opinion, although Ghost, Ignite, and Exhaust all have their own merits as a second SS, and I will substitute them occasionally depending on the matchup. Exhaust is pretty great if you have to sit in lane against a Riven/ Trynd/ Fiora or something for extended periods of time; Ghost is actually amazing and makes Darius actually capable of diving the backline. Ignite is always good for the kill pressure and healing reduction.