I main garen now i really want to main darius too to see the other side of aggression. when to garen over darius matchups (excluding the garen vs darius matchups) whos garen strong vs and weak against while darius excels counterpick situational. next question: how do you max your stacks quickly i can achieve 4 stacks but the enemy anyways leave after the 4. how do i stack it quickly so i can use it reliably. if theres other tips i will appreciate it.
Doge20201 votesYou can wait until the enemy gets close, then use W, Q and auto attacks for stacks. When they try to run away after you get 4 stacks (or even at 5 stacks) use e to bring them back in to finish the kill.
Going flash+ghost can help too if you need to catch up to people. And get phase rush if you are in ranged matchups, it helps to prevent kiting. (Both dar and garen use phase in most ranged matchups)
I’ll edit in more info later
xDogMeatx1 votesplease do :D what i mean is i do the usual darius combo pull in auto then slow auto again then q thats when they leave unless i flash auto. leaving only 4 stacks.
Doge20201 votesMaybe try space the use of your abilities. Hold W during the trade until the enemy begins to run away, that way you can w them and catchup easily. Rushing early boots and a phage can help catchup to people that try to run away after a trade.
Maxing W second instead of E can also help because you get lower CD on W and more damage on it, this is also good if you are building Tri because the sheen passive will proc on your W.
Ghost is a good option for catching people. It has a low CD for a summoner spell and it is helpful in catching people when they are running away. You can also get a 
to help catchup and slow the enemy.
I have access to a matchup spread sheet that some darius mains made that shows Darius’s hardest and easiest matchups and how to play each one.
xDogMeatx1 votesmake space with w... ill try that i usually insta hit it after auto attack (due to them being stunned) grab. how do you decide between ignite and ghost?
Doge20201 votesYou don’t usually go ignite because you have so much DoT damage with your passive and conq combined, and the grevious wounds part doesn’t make up for the long CD of ignite.
I personally haven’t played darius in a while, and when I did play him recently I went tp. Which was a mistake into the Cass top that I was against lol.
Ghost is good if the enemy has a bunch of immobile champs and/or a lot of MS boosts that would help them get away from you. (Like Nasus and Garen) you can set up the wave to bounce to your side of the lane, then engage and use the scaling MS speed of ghost to run the nasus/garen or other immobile champ down when they try to walk up and CS. For darius (and any other juggernaut during lane phase) you usually want to engage when the wave is on your side of the lane. That way the enemy has to walk a long time to get to the safety of their tower, and you can easily catch up to any fleeing champs before they reach the enemy tower.
xDogMeatx1 votesso best chance to pull a OMG one shot moment is too attack when near your tower in other words.
Doge20201 votesIf you are having trouble killing the enemy during lane then yes, engaging near your tower is very helpful. You can also ask your jungler to play a champ with some CC/engage to help lock down the slippery champ that gets away from you in every trade.
Something like a Xin or even better a Camille. Her R will make it very easy to keep the enemy laner still for 5 stacks.
xDogMeatx1 votescool if i premade ill remember those champs. its nice advice.
Doge20201 votesI wish you luck!
Don’t be surprised if you have bad KDA and lose a bunch of games when learning darius or any new champ. Look at your mistakes and see what you can do better, learn as much as you can about the game and the new champ you want to play.
My first official main was nasus, he helped me learn a lot about how to CS and trade early. Which was really helpful when I learned a new champ or played a new role.
xDogMeatx1 votesMy main 1st was teemo he teaches awareness/good ward placement finally planning ahead. Also aggressive play to deny cs. 2nd main is 'assassin' rework fizz. 1st introduced me to assassin play hes a great introduction to learning assassins (personally talons damage is too outplayable lol). 3rd one is warwick/yi jungle teaches jg routes and not get too kill hungry but time your engage or else fall behind on failure.
kingDeDeDarius1 votesAlso, if you are able to hold E and not initiate with it, the generally fastest way to maximize stacking speed is to AA-w-AA-Q-AA or some variation depending on the context. The point is to use the AA reset
xDogMeatx1 votesHolding E is key to finish 5 got it.
Saevum1 votesThe most common trade as Darius when starting with the pull is as follows: E, auto, W, auto, Q. (4 stacks here).
Full stacks: Q, E (pull), Auto, W, Auto, pursue target, Auto/Q/Flash Auto (5 stacks), lastly R. As you can see is deliverately designed to apply 4 stacks easier than 5.