Hotspawn’s Rell in LoL Guide
Abilities // Build // Runes // Counters // Gameplay
Rell Abilities
Passive – Break the Mold
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- Rell’s basic attacks deal 8 − 16 (based on level) bonus magic damage and reduce the target’s armor and magic resistance by 10% for 4 seconds, refreshing on subsequent attacks against them. Basic attacks against enemy champions will refresh the duration for all nearby afflicted enemies.
- Rell gains bonus armor and bonus magic resistance equal to the sum of the resistances reduced from all afflicted enemies, respectively, and Break the Mold’s bonus damage is increased equal to the sum of the resistances reduced from the target.
Rell’s passive is a very simple one. Her auto attacks steal resistances from her enemies, making them less tanky and Rell tankier. Since Rell has the second lowest base attack speed in League of Legends, make sure you don’t just stand still waiting for it to come off cooldown.
Q – Shattering Strike
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- Rell thrusts her lance in the target direction, completely destroying damage-mitigating shields of enemies hit before dealing them magic damage, reduced to 50% against enemies beyond the first. The first enemy hit is also afflicted with Break the Mold.
- If Rell is tethered with Attract and Repel, she and the bound ally heal for each enemy champion hit.
Shattering Strike is a straight-line skill shot. While it does have a variety of effects like dealing damage, applying your passive, and healing a tethered ally, its best use is instantly breaking shields. If you know that enemies have shields available, always save Q for them.
W – Ferromancy
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When Mounted: Crash Down
- Passive: While mounted, Rell gains 5% − 15% (based on level) bonus movement speed, which is only 20% − 40% (based on level) as effective for 3 seconds when she takes damage from non-minions and is removed for 4 seconds when she becomes immobilized or polymorphed.
- Active: Rell leaps to the target location over the cast time, granting herself a shield that lasts until destroyed or casting Ferromancy: Mount Up, and transforming her mount into durable armor. Upon landing, she deals magic damage to nearby enemies and knocks them up for 1 second. Rell keeps sliding forward another 300 units over 0.5 seconds, though not through terrain, affecting further enemies along her path.
When Dismounted: Mount Up
- Passive: While dismounted, Rell gains 10% bonus armor and 10% bonus magic resistance, but her base movement speed is modified to 250, and she has a movement speed cap of 290 − 400 (based on level).
- Active: Rell transforms her armor into a mount, gaining 15% bonus movement speed for 3.5 seconds, increased when moving towards enemy champions.
- Rell’s next basic attack during this time gains 100 bonus attack range and consumes the bonus movement speed to have a 0.2-second cast time during which she charges at the target’s location. At the end of the dash or upon premature collision, she deals them bonus magic damage, stuns them for 1 second, and flings them 150 units over herself, though not through terrain.
Rell’s W is what her entire kit revolves around. This ability allows Rell to switch between two forms, Mounted and Dismounted. While Mounted, Rell can Crash Down to apply crowd control in a large area. Combined with her E and R, Rell can start fights off with a huge engage that will keep enemies locked down for a long time.
While Dismounted, Rell gains a shield and some resistances. She can still cast all of her abilities in this form, but the greatly reduced movement speed makes Rell a sitting duck. Most of the time, your goal in this form is to stall until your W cooldown is back so you can Remount. Once Remounted, Rell’s first auto attack provides even more crowd control.
You can cast E and R while in the Crash Down animation. This allows Rell to output one huge burst of instant crowd control and is the main way you will enter fights.
E – Attract and Repel
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- Passive: Rell forms a tether between her and the ally bound by Attract and Repel, granting the ally 10% of her total armor and 10% of her total magic resistance while they are nearby.
- Active: Rell magnetically binds herself and the allied champion nearest to the cursor with Attract and Repel. Rell can then recast Attract and Repel while the tether persists.
- Recast: Rell erupts the tether, dealing magic damage to and stunning all enemies between and around her and the bound ally for 0.5 seconds.
Attract and Repel allows Rell to form a tether between her and one ally. When this tether is present, Rell can press E at any time to stun all enemies around her, her ally, and in between them. This ability is most often used in combination with Crash Down, but also has applications by itself, such as stunning off an ally who is already on their target.
R – Magnet Storm
Credit: Riot Games
- Rell erupts with magnetic fury, pulling all nearby enemies towards her and creating a field of gravitational force around her for the next 2 seconds that deals magic damage every 0.25 seconds to nearby enemies and continuously drags them towards her.
Rell’s ultimate is Magnet Storm. This ability causes all enemies in a radius around Rell to be yanked towards her instantly. Afterwards, enemies will be slowly dragged towards Rell over the two second duration. Again, this ability is best paired with Crash Down and Attract and Repel to extend crowd control on caught enemies.
Rell should always start with a point in W at level one, followed by E at two. Her max order is the same. Finish W first, then E, then Q, making sure to take a point in R at six, 11, and 16.
Rell Build
Summoner’s Rift
Rell is a support champion, and as such, is limited by economy in what she can purchase. On Summoners’ Rift, Rell should always start with a Relic Shield, which upgrades to Targon’s Buckler when her support gold quest is complete.
In terms of Mythic items, Rell’s build will almost always contain either an Evenshroud or a Locket of the Iron Solari. Evenshroud is the more common option, as it further augments Rell’s niche of one-shot engages. However, you can build a Locket if the enemy team has tons of burst potential.
For boots, Rell should be looking to buy Ionian Boots of Lucidity most games. Summoner Spell Haste is extremely valuable on Rell, as it allows her to have Flash up more often as a crucial tool for engaging. Rell’s runes also help with this, but we’ll get into that soon. If the enemy team is Full AD or AP, you can opt into Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads, but you will definitely be missing your reduced Flash cooldown.
After Mythic and boots, Rell can complete her build with whatever tank support item makes the most sense in that game. If you need healing reduction, go Thornmail. If you want to buff one specific carry, go Zeke’s Herald or Knight’s Vow. If the enemy has one huge damage threat, Anathema’s Chains can be an amazing purchase. Mix and match these items, and consider a Vigilant Wardstone post-level 13 if the game is going late.
For Summoner Spells, always go Flash and Ignite. Flash is invaluable for making Rell’s engages hit, and Ignite helps you secure kills for your team.
Rell’s ARAM Build
In ARAM, Rell is not limited by the low economy of the support role. Start with a Guardian’s Horn as it will provide tons of sustain and counts as a Legendary Item. Sunfire Cape and Turbo Chemtank are both great Mythic options for Rell in ARAM.
While Ionian Boots are still phenomenal in ARAM, the lower inherent Summoner Spell cooldown in the mode makes it much easier to divert to Steelcaps or Merc’s without losing as much CDR value.
You can then opt for pure tank items such as Thornmail, Force of Nature, Frozen Heart, Abyssal Mask, or Gargoyle’s Stoneplate. Simply look at the opponent’s team composition and decide if you need more Armor or Magic Resistance.
Your ARAM Summoner Spells should always be Flash and Mark (Snowball). This combination allows Rell to regularly go for deep dives onto the enemy team.
Rell Runes
Rell has two main rune setups. The first is a traditional Resolve Primary, Inspiration Secondary.
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Aftershock is the Keystone of choice here, as it gives Rell a burst of tankiness and damage when she goes in. Shield Bash is a must-have on Rell, as she will always take full advantage of it when she Crashes Down.
Second Wind is the rune of choice when faced with a poke heavy lane, such as facing Mages or Enchanters. If you will not be getting poked that much in lane, Conditioning is a very strong substitute that will help you scale. Lastly, Unflinching provides Rell with valuable Tenacity. Since she won’t be building Mercury’s Treads often, this Tenacity is very potent.
In the Inspiration tree, always go Hextech Flashtraption and Cosmic Insight. Rell has very strong synergy with Hexflash, as it allows her to surprise opponents by getting instantly closer for her engages. Cosmic Insight provides Rell crucial Summoner Spell Haste, giving her more chances to Flash in.
For the stats on Rell’s runes, Ability Haste is the most valuable option in the top row. In the next two rows, choose a combination of resistances based on the enemy team. You can double up on Armor versus full AD, MR versus full AP, do one of each, or do one plus an HP rune in the bottom row.
The second rune setup is a more modern Inspiration Primary, Resolve Secondary.
Credit: Riot Games
This setup utilizes Glacial Augment to help keep opponents locked down for longer. Once again, Hextech Flashtraption and Cosmic insight are invaluable for Rell. In the third row, Minion Dematerializer helps Rell proc her Relic Shield on Cannon minions without having to get close and take poke. If you don’t think you’ll be contested on the wave, Future’s Market is a viable option to help you hit item breakpoints earlier.
The Secondary Rell runes from the Resolve tree are Shield Bash and either Second Wind or Conditioning. Again, choose based on whether or not you think you’ll be poked often in lane. The stat runes here use the same logic as listed above.
Rell Counters
When compared to other melee supports in League of Legends, Rell is much more niche in her gameplay. It’s important to consider the enemy’s team composition when deciding whether or not to pick her. So, who counters Rell?
Rell’s biggest counters include champions who can easily stop her engages. Support champions with instant crowd control will be able to interrupt her Crash Down, rendering Rell sad and mountless. Alistar, Thresh, and Janna can all do this from anywhere using their Pulverize, Flay, and Howling Gale respectively.
Renata Glasc and Lulu are very good at denying Rell’s engages. Handshake, Hostile Takeover, Polymorph, and Wild Growth all stunt Rell’s ability to backline dive. Morgana is also a tough matchup for Rell, as Black Shield will stop Rell’s Crash Down from landing. However, you can destroy it with a well-placed Shattering Strike, making the matchup somewhat manageable.
Rell doesn’t do very well in poke matchups. Brand, Vel’Koz, and Seraphine can burn through her HP in lane reliably, which makes it difficult to find an engage angle. If you bide your time with Second Wind and potions, you can eventually pull off one fight where they explode instantly.
Outside of lane, Rell is best picked when the enemy has a lot of squishy targets. If they have a solid frontline with multiple Tanks or Bruisers, it can be hard to find value in team fights since they will get in Rell’s way. Also, watch out for hyper mobile targets who can easily escape Rell’s grasp. Picks like Ahri, Irelia, Ezreal, Vayne, and many more can be difficult to play into.
Rell Gameplay
Rell’s gameplay is very straightforward. You are looking to create the biggest, most surefire engage possible that will help your team instantly win fights. Here is an example of the combo you will be looking to employ done slowly for clarity. Flash → W → R → E is your bread and butter; practice doing this as quickly and fluidly as possible.
In lane, make sure to stack your Relic Shield whenever it’s off cooldown. Look for moments when the enemy ADC or Support overextend, then use Crash Down to try and force good trades.
However, be careful, as going into Dismounted form makes it impossible for Rell to kite back if her engage gets denied. Most of the time, you’ll either get a kill or get killed when W’ing forward. It’s often best to wait for a gank to make your move during the laning phase. Since you will get pushed under tower in most lanes, your jungler should have the opportunity to gank your opponents at some point.
Like most melee supports, Rell is good at roaming around the map to try and find picks. The ability to place your tether onto a teammate and stun at range is a very strong way to gank. Always make sure that you have a teammate in your vicinity when you walk through fog. Rell’s E is a big part of her skirmish power and can only be used when a teammate is nearby.
When it’s time to start fighting around objectives, your goal is to create a dream engage for your team. Identify the moment where your priority target is out of position or multiple enemies are grouped within your range, then pull the trigger on your full combo.
Once you are deep within the enemy’s ranks, all you can do is auto attack the target you want to focus and use Q to burst any shields that come in to save them. If your engage was a success, your team will be able to wipe the floor with the opponents. If you went in too deep or missed your key targets, you will likely be baiting your team to their demise.
In the event that you are still alive, use your next W cooldown to Remount and chase down any remaining enemies. The bonus Mounted movement speed and auto attack fling makes this very simple.
That’s basically all you can do as Rell in LoL, as her kit doesn’t have much complexity to it. The main skill that differentiates a good Rell from a bad one is being able to find the best possible engage timing for your team. Practice makes perfect.
Rell is a very straightforward champion with a deceptively high skill ceiling. While she may look like just an engage bot, the all-or-nothing nature of her kit makes it incredibly punishing to be slightly off the mark. Nothing feels worse than being run down in your slow Dismounted form because your targets didn’t go down first.
However, there are few feelings in LoL as satisfying as hitting that perfect Crash Down into Magnet Storm on the whole enemy team. If you learn how to keep your eyes on the entire fight and practice timing your combo, you’ll master Rell in League of Legends in no time.
