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How to beat Star guardian Onslaught!

WinTheWarOnPants·9/9/2017, 5:24:31 AM·52 votes·13,063 views

EDIT: Someone has made a guide that is way better than mine so check it out https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/KFaAxs9y-complete-guide-to-invasion-onslaught-to-all-extents-s-on-all-5-core-missions-obtained

I decided to make this little guide due to a lack of guides for this very difficult game mode. After much pain and failure i have finnally gotten the hang of this mode and can now consistently beat it and have finished the star guardian missions on 2 accounts.

> Section 1 - general gamplay that you might not know

First is the revive mechanic

  1. The person being revived will be given the same % of HP as the person reviving them at the point of revival. This means that you can spam healing on yourself while reviving and the person being revived will get the benefit.
  2. Upon reviving an ally, the person reviving them will lose a % of hp that cannot be reduced.
  3. If multiple allies are reviving someone, it will take and give HP from the ally with the highest % HP REGARDLESS of who started the revive. So, if you are running a tanky "revive" build then you need to run your little butt over to the down ally to avoid a squishy teammate from losing health and make sure the person getting revived has the most HP possible.

Second enemy mechanics

  1. Enemy aggro rotates between allies. this makes it progressively difficult as allies die. When only one person remains, it is EXTREMELY difficult to come back, since ALL enemies will target the last person and will not have anyone to rotate to after they attack.
  2. Attacking seems to be the trigger for enemies to swap aggro(needs to be confirmed), small enemies do not seem to swap agro.
  3. enemy aggro doesn't seem to care about distance. Enemies will walk right past you if they are agro onto someone else, so use this to kite by focusing on the enemies that are trying to kill you at the moment.
  4. ANY form of CC will stop "turret enemies"(big Velkoz and KogMaw) so save those Lux bindings for them.
  5. Champion Enemies count as champs, so things like Lux ult reset and "dangerous game" mastery will proc when killing them.

Income and Gold

  1. The game gives you 10,700 gold by the end
  2. You can increase the amount of gold you get with runes and gold income items.
  3. Any gold received from anything other than the game mode will be lost at the start of each round.
  4. Extra gold will not be taken away if you lose the round. You can use this to farm gold with sup items, die, and repeat. Just make sure to use it before you finish the round.

> Section 2- Best/must have items

The 2 most important items that will lead you to VICTORY are item 3065 and item 3083.

  1. item 3083 makes you tanky and most importantly IT HEALS YOU which allows you to stay at full HP to rev allies all game.
  2. item 3065 makes you almost unkillable when combined with warmogs because the primary threat in this game is magic dmg(kinda ironic considering the state of the real game right now). Velkoz death blast deal magic dmg and so does Rift herald 360 balls of death. It also buffs the healing of warmogs as well as any other healing like Soraka Q.
  3. item 3504 Is another super good item becuase the healing passive is not reduced which gives the ADC's on your team the ability to heal themselves.
  4. item 3107 Is good becuase it heal, but is also cheap and works really well into builds. It is FAR superior to item 3190(which you should never buy in this mode IMO).
  5. item 3109 A great finish item on tanky builds to give you healing from adc dmg and help keep them alive since ADC's are the only ones that can't afford to build tanky items.
  6. DO NOT BUY LIFESTEAL ON ADC's!!! item 3153 is fine for it's on-hit and AS, but life-steal is worthless on ADC's. You will get more healing from ardent and allies than

Edit: item 3124 item 3153 item 3091 or item 3115 seems to be WAY stronger than i first realized. If you are playing an ADC, this is your best build by far it seems. Even champs like Ahri seem to be able to do well with this build.

> Section 3- Champs and champ strats

Ahri do not play her! if someone picks her in champ select then dodge. Not impossible but having an ahri on your team makes it MUCH harder to win onslaught.

Ezreal Sorry but you're on your own here. I've heard lethality works well on him. His lack of sustain dmg vs other adc's makes him quite a bit worse IMO

Janna Lulu Lux Get item 3065 item 3083 item 3504 and spam those shields you can work in a item 3107 or item 3151 for dmg on lux/lulu. Janna works better with item 3107 item 3800 or item 3109 IMO

Poppy Is hella strong in this mode. You always want her on your team if you can. item 3065 item 3083 are core, but you can also work in item 3748 if yo u need more dmg, but you can't buy another full item if get it. item 3800 item 3109 or item 3107 are your best bets if you don't need the dmg. item 3800 is your choice if you need to solo carry. The MS active is insanely good to get you out of a tight spot(like Velkoz ult) or get you to an ally ahead of enemies.

Soraka is probably the second strongest champ in this mode after poppy and you build her pretty much the same way. item 3065 item 3083 item 3107 item 3109 with item 3009 is the best build IMO. You are unkillable and can keep reving your allies while staying full HP better than any other champ. Don't lvl your W until later in the game and don't use it unless you are already full HP. It's much better to let someone die and the revive them to full HP than kill yourself trying to keep them alive.

Syndra Not as good as lux, but her long range stun and consistent dmg make her still pretty good. DO NOT LVL HER ULT!!! Her ult is worthless in this game mode. put only 1 point in it whenever you want, but it's MUCH better to max all of your basic abilities for their passive effect, dmg, and lower CDs. Her best build is item 3027 first(so it can stack by the time you get to the boss+ you need the mana sustain) item 3083 item 3151 item 3211 item 3009 IMO you can finish off with more dmg or cdr from item 3108, but i find the MR much better since it keeps you alive to do more dmg.

Jinx Didn't play much, but really good with item 3504 procs and item 3124 item 3153 item 3091 seems to be her best build. item 3087 item 3094 item 3031 item 3035 is also a good build but doesn't seem to be as reliable.

MissFortune was the adc i played most. item 3142 item 3071 item 3036 item 3107 worked best for me. cleaver MS + shred keeps her safe and lets her output tones of dmg with ult+ help jinx or ez do more dmg too.

Welp that's it for me. I hope this helps some of you beat this game mode. [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

82 Comments

WrÆth9/9/2017, 2:08:05 PM13 votes

Actual guide: Pick poppy and soraka and pray you dont get shitty maps

AlienPrimate9/9/2017, 7:00:00 AM10 votes

You missed an important point. Do not try to rush rift herald. Take your time and kill all the adds as they spawn. They spawn based on herald's hp meaning that if you try to rush her, you will get overwhelmed.

2Charmnot2Charm9/9/2017, 5:20:33 PM10 votes

Ahri do not play her! if someone picks her in champ select then dodge. Not impossible but having an ahri on your team makes it MUCH harder to win onslaught.

What did you just say?

https://i.imgur.com/d5wnvVR.png

Hell even ezreal is fine when you know what your job is with him.

KotetsuTatsumaki9/9/2017, 10:34:38 PM3 votes

Just tried this myself with the advice given on Soraka, and I managed to beat it for the first time. What really did it for me was having the item 3109 attached to a Jinx. We lost the first attempt at the last round but I pretty much told her to just keep shooting, and things slowly but surely changed. You shoulda seen my excitement when I saw the "Not Rift Herald" down to double digit health.)

For a while the build I was going for was something along the lines of item 3504 item 3107 item 3102 item 3157, and no upgraded boots. I thought between Hourglass and Banshees abilities I would be untouchable but it just wasn't the case.

Sharld9/9/2017, 4:23:28 PM3 votes

As long as your team is half-decent, you can always do this build and usualy end up with the most damage or very closely tied for first place. Bork can be exchanged for a Nash tooth for even more boss damage but less cho-gath damage... although Ezreal will overcap on AS in that case. Oh yeah, I also did the same build on Jinx and it works just as good.

Also there's barely any bonus armor, so a Last Whisper or it's upgrade are kinda useless, the Giant Slayer works on the champions though but not the boss.

invisiblecat19/9/2017, 10:27:00 PM3 votes

Jinx is better than MF in this game mode When kiting just use the mini gun, and you will have passive active 90% of the time on the later levels Then, just as enemies are spawning the rockets basically clear most of the enemies out The only thing that sucks is her W is useless later on

LankPants9/9/2017, 12:59:57 PM2 votes

DO NOT LVL HER ULT!!! Her ult is worthless in this game mode

No it's not, her ult is worth more than an extra rank in W or E. Her R can instantly remove a threat off of the map or burst a Cho down from half. You have 6-7 orbs all the time so her R becomes a straight 2.5K nuke that will instakill most enemies.

Early game before you get AP you use it to clear Kog's or Vel's who wouldn't die if you didn't R them and would get chunks on your team or to dent a Cho'gath who takes 5 years to down. Lategame it nukes a Skarner pulling your ally or a Big Vel who you need to kill insanely fast.

Her best build is item 3027 first(so it can stack by the time you get to the boss+ you need the mana sustain)

Once again, no it's not. RoA is garbage mana sustain. Morello's gives you 20% of your max mana back every time you get a kill or assist, it actually makes your mana pool non-existent. The core thing for Syndra is getting 45% CDR as soon as possible so you can spam your E which is the best spell any champion in this mode has. Secondarily you want AP, because Syndra sets herself apart from Janna who has a similar strength by being a high damage champion.

item 3083 item 3151 item 3211 item 3009 IMO you can finish off with more dmg or cdr from item 3108, but i find the MR much better since it keeps you alive to do more dmg.

TBH your build looks abysmal. It's actually 0 damage and lacks CDR. It's not playing to any of Syndra's strengths at all. My typical build order is item 3165 > item 3020 > item 3108 (this gives 45% CDR with 15% from runes/masteries) > item 3089 > item 3102 + item 1006 (you have 200 gold and a slot left, may as well). I frequently deal as much as or more damage than ADCs and I'm also bringing the best stun in the game.

MissFortune was the adc i played most. item 3142 item 3071 item 3036 item 3107 worked best for me. cleaver MS + shred keeps her safe and lets her output tones of dmg with ult+ help jinx or ez do more dmg too.

I'd also disagree with that build. Focusing on MF's R is a really bad idea. It's better to focus on a low CD reliable spell, namely her W. MF can cap her AS with her W on anyway, with her Q she actually 'attacks' a little quicker than Jinx anyway. The best way to build MF is actually the on-hit Jinx build you listed before maxing your W IMO.

I also don't agree with the way you're tiering. After playing 10 or so games I'd say my tier list looks something like Jinx >>> Lux (Ardent) >> Poppy > Syndra > MissFortune >>> Janna > Lulu >> Soraka >> Lux (no Ardent) >>> Ahri >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ezreal (never play Ez, he's actually worthless)

The only must pick champ in the game is Jinx, the optimal team comp would be Jinx Lux Syndra Poppy MissFortune with Lux building Ardent. Soraka is overrated as hell, as is Poppy, although she's still pretty solid.

Epicurus9/9/2017, 10:22:03 AM2 votes

Thought on getting item 3194 on Poppy ? I haven't tried it myself yet. If getting hit by a Vel Q reduces the damage of subsequent Qs from all the other Vels, then that would be quite effective.

RavenMagus9/9/2017, 3:25:40 PM2 votes

My experience with the mode:

Poppy sucks

Janna and Soraka are the best characters

Ahri is fine, she can CC and she can burst targets, the marksmen are still better but she's at least about as good as Syndra

Lux is terrible if you play her as a mage, but she's really good if you build item 3504

item 3153 item 3124 item 3091 is the build of the gods; it's the best thing Jinx and MF can build, probably Ezreal too, and it works on Lulu too

Best teamcomp is probably Janna, Soraka, Lux, MF, Jinx, spamming shields on two ADCs

Edit: Enemies

Kog'maws are really easy to deal with; it takes them 3 seconds to charge up turret mode and then any CC will interrupt them and force them to spend 3 seconds again. You can also run out of their range and force them to cancel and move. You should kill them fast, but they are only really a problem if they get out of hand on the escort map. Soraka's silence zone completely wrecks even the largest kogmaw group.

Vel'kozes (Vel'ki?) are the biggest threat, they do a ton of damage at infinite range. On maps that have them, you're usually in the clear as soon as you finish killing the Vel'kozes.

Rek'sais are super annoying; they are tanky and they're hard to avoid and they CC you and the big ones do a metric ton of damage. You pretty much need a marksman to kill them.

Skarners are annoying but they are squishy and easy to kill, and oftentimes they derp around with their ulti and don't do anything with it.

Cho'gaths are too slow to really be an issue; they're really tanky but easy to kite. You need a marksman to kill them if you care about time score though.

Kha'zix used to be strong, but I feel like they got nerfed recently? They're still really annoying but they don't 2-3 shot you now so they are mostly just an annoyance. CC them as they come in and don't let them start to swarm, otherwise they're not bad.

DuskDaUmbreon9/10/2017, 12:13:09 AM2 votes

Ahri does pretty well, imo. Not the best, but not the worst.

And I'll highlight the fact that Hextech Gunblade, Death's Dance, and Dangerous Game all still heal you for full value. This means that running Death's Dance on Jinx or MF still heals you, and that Ahri can dominate with Gunblade in her belt, an item she can use well.

Death Rex9/9/2017, 4:26:03 PM2 votes

I played on-hit Lux with those items: First I brought item 3091 since you can buy it instantly at the start of the game. Afterwards I brought item 3115 and item 3124. In the last round you don't have much gold left, so I brought item 3006 and with the left 800 gold a item 2015.

My Damage was insainly high in the last rounds, since I was able to reduce the magic resist of anything I attacked. I had roughly around 300 AP with full item 3124 stacks, which made Lux passive really useful, since you stunned the enemy and AA them to death really quickly. You might consider taking a bit of CDR in your runes, since you only would have 20% CDR thanks to item 3115.

Play this build with Lulu with item 3504 and you will win pretty easily thanks to the lifeleech and extra on-hit. Careful in the early game, since you will only deal more damage with 2 items. Another perk with this build is that you can build it for the mission where you can't take ADCs, to advoid picking Ahri (since she isn't that strong)

With this build I beat the game as a premade group with an S.

PtTheTrinity9/10/2017, 12:14:52 AM2 votes

Got an s+ with Ezreal,Jinx,MF,Lux,Syndra. Lux built ardent/support. ADC's build rageblade/botrk/wits end, syndra just morellos/ap stuff

Segius9/9/2017, 6:13:16 PM2 votes

Finally someone actually trying to beat the game instead of whining about how difficult it is

Voidbringers9/9/2017, 6:23:18 PM2 votes

Ahri is the worst Star Guardian by far. She does very little damage compared to the others (her foxfire gets wasted on the small minions), and her strengths in Summoner's Rift don't translate well into this game mode. She outdamages Marksman in the earlier stages, sure, but she falls off hard past stage 5. The earlier stages are the easy ones where damage doesn't really matter anyway--they are more of a skill check. Syndra and Lux offer similar damage but have more AoE damage, Stuns, and can long range snipe. So, I definitely agree with your assessment on Ahri: dodge if you have her on your team (if you want to beat the missions).

Drakylon9/9/2017, 9:10:15 PM2 votes

For Soraka I prefer a build of item 3504 item 3107 item 3174 and some item 3010 item, with the Stoneborn Pact mastery. Max R>Q>W>E. Don't spam W too much; use Q on a champion to indirectly apply Ardent Censer and give your allies a bit of healing. A maxed Q will sustain you plenty if you constantly hit enemy champions with it, and there are several points where there are enough champions grouped up that you'll get a ridiculous amount of regen. Athene's allows you to give large amounts of burst heal, especially with all the damage you can do mostly for free with Q. The Catalyst further helps with sustain as you use mana, as you're likely getting around 25 health back per cast. It also boosts your health pool for Stoneborn Pact.

Unless you get directly hit by Rift Herald's balls or stay in range of a Vel laser or activated Kog you should stay at a healthy amount of health.

Dream High9/9/2017, 9:44:07 PM2 votes

That syndra build*[slayer-jinx-unamused]*.

CDR max first max Q>E>w E max is a huge help long range stun. Liandries for % health damage, and ludens for movement and extra bust.

Titanium709/9/2017, 12:58:26 PM2 votes

All in all a good strategy guide but there are some really weird decisions in it. xD

Redemtion-MF.. without any heal boosting effect? WHY? Tank-Syndra?.. without Morello? Soraka without Ardent?!? And T3 boots on Top? Those are terrible.

Besides that, I think you're reling a little to much on Warmogs. While in it selfe it's great - the Items you have to buy to get the Heal are usually not worth it. Looking at Glory-Janna.

For everyone trying to beat the mode my advice would be: Grind with a bunch of friends or some nice guys from Reddit/Boards/Ingame like I did and you'll beat the mode and every mission no matter your Team-Comp. Just keep in mind, APs are not that strong, Ardent+Stoneborn is OP and HF! ^^

One last thing: While you're right, Ahri is quite weak at first - that doesnt mean you can't beat the mode with her. Build her ADC instead of AP and you'll get the most mobile ADC this mode has that also has disruption. And slo Ezreal is not hat bad if the one playing him knows what he's doing. Having a global Ult and Burst alongside some pretty nice DPS steroids is quite interesting.

Hemanth9/9/2017, 12:59:42 PM2 votes

My first Onslaught win was with Soraka warmogs+visage+ardent core, we had ad lulu, AP Ez, Tank Poppy and Lux

Yordle Xayah9/10/2017, 7:03:58 AM1 votes

THIS is what I'm talking about. This is the fun of such hard PvE modes. The theory crafting of it, finding the best builds and strats. I've been around somewhat defending Onslaught, and I hope a post like this one can help people see the hidden coolness of this kind of difficult content.

Soraka Rules9/9/2017, 12:12:36 PM1 votes

Poppy +item 3504 and stone keystone is realllllyyyy good for your carries since they proc it on any champ you cc. Ardent and then buill cdr+hp is a good build

Glîtchy9/9/2017, 5:28:27 AM1 votes

or you can do the easy method, script :P