Shaco · Jungle
Shaco Guide
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This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.
Overview
Shaco belongs to Riot's Assassin class and is played mainly as Jungle (100% of the public matches we measured). It fights in melee range and uses mana. In this guide you play it as Jungle: your job is to clear camps efficiently, gank the lanes that can win and control dragons, grubs and Baron. The kit brings crowd control (fear) with Jack In The Box and mobility with Deceive. Its ultimate is Hallucinate. Riot rates it 8/10 in attack, 6/10 in magic, 4/10 in defense and 9/10 in difficulty.
Strengths
- High physical damage: Riot rates it 8/10 in attack.
- Crowd control: Jack In The Box applies a fear to set up kills.
- Mobility: Deceive lets you reposition, engage or escape.
- Hallucinate hits several enemies: a strong team fight tool.
Weaknesses
- Hard to master: Riot rates its difficulty 9/10.
- Falls behind if the early ganks fail: every wasted trip is lost farm.
Build cheat sheet
Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.
- Standard buildBalancedRecommendedThe default path: Black Cleaver, Bastionbreaker and Serylda's Grudge give the health, attack damage and on-hit effects this class relies on. Pick it when you have no reason to adapt. Built from Riot's item tags and the champion's class; Riot publishes no build statistics.
- Defensive buildDefensiveSituationalKeeps enough damage while adding magic resist, attack damage and life steal through Mercurial Scimitar, Maw of Malmortius and Death's Dance. Choose it against dive, assassins or a lane you can't win.
Builds
Standard build
When to use it
The default path: Black Cleaver, Bastionbreaker and Serylda's Grudge give the health, attack damage and on-hit effects this class relies on. Pick it when you have no reason to adapt. Built from Riot's item tags and the champion's class; Riot publishes no build statistics.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
21100%- JungleMain100% of matches
- SupportPriority 2
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Voidgrubs
- 2Gank mid
- 3Rift Herald
- 4Scuttle Crab
- 5Dragons
- 6Baron Nashor
- 7Atakhan
Guideline, not a measurement: an early skirmisher starting red side. Take the void grubs and look for ganks while your early damage is ahead, then Herald and dragons.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Black Cleaver
- 2Bastionbreaker
- 3Serylda's Grudge
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Domination
Secondary· Precision
Shards
Summoner spells
Flash
Smite
Defensive build
When to use it
Keeps enough damage while adding magic resist, attack damage and life steal through Mercurial Scimitar, Maw of Malmortius and Death's Dance. Choose it against dive, assassins or a lane you can't win.
Where it's played
Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.
21100%- JungleMain100% of matches
- SupportPriority 2
Jungle priorities
StartRed buff
Objectives by priority
- 1Voidgrubs
- 2Gank mid
- 3Rift Herald
- 4Scuttle Crab
- 5Dragons
- 6Baron Nashor
- 7Atakhan
Guideline, not a measurement: an early skirmisher starting red side. Take the void grubs and look for ganks while your early damage is ahead, then Herald and dragons.
Starting items
Core items
- 1Mercurial Scimitar
- 2Maw of Malmortius
- 3Death's Dance
Boots
Situational
Runes
Primary· Precision
Secondary· Resolve
Shards
Summoner spells
- Flash
- Smite
Abilities
BackstabPassiveShaco's basic attacks and Two-Shiv Poison deal additional damage when striking from behind.
QDeceive13/12.5/12/11.5/11s40 mpShaco becomes Invisible and teleports to target location. His first attack while Invisible is empowered, dealing bonus damage and critically striking if he attacks from behind.- Cooldown
- 13·12.5·12·11.5·11
- Cost
- 40
- Range
- 400
WJack In The Box15s70/65/60/55/50 mpShaco creates a hidden animated Jack-in-the-Box. When triggered, it will fear and attack nearby enemies.- Cooldown
- 15
- Cost
- 70·65·60·55·50
- Range
- 500
ETwo-Shiv Poison8s75 mpShaco's Shivs passively poison targets on hit, slowing their Move Speed. He can throw his Shivs to deal damage and poison the target. The thrown Shiv deals bonus damage if the target is below 30% health.- Cooldown
- 8
- Cost
- 75
- Range
- 625
RHallucinateUltimate100/90/80s100 mpShaco creates an illusion of himself near him, which can attack nearby enemies (Deals reduced damage to turrets). Upon death, it explodes, spawning three mini Jack in the Boxes and dealing damage to nearby enemies.- Cooldown
- 100·90·80
- Cost
- 100
- Range
- 200
Strategy
1Early game
Start with your jungle pet and Smite, plan a full clear towards the lane you want to gank and show up when that lane has the enemy pushed and without Flash. A gank works when the lane is pushed towards the enemy tower and the enemy has used Flash or their escape: pick those moments instead of forcing a bad one.
- Early items: Phage and Kindlegem.
2Mid game
With Black Cleaver and Bastionbreaker, play around the next dragon or Baron: take vision with your laners first, then force the fight or trade the objective across the map. Your spikes are level 6, when Hallucinate comes online, and each completed item: Black Cleaver first, then Bastionbreaker.
- Core items: Black Cleaver, Bastionbreaker and Serylda's Grudge.
3Late game
Late, Smite decides Baron and Elder: stay close to the pit when it's up and never get caught farming on the far side of the map before an objective spawns.
- Late items: Death's Dance and Mercurial Scimitar.
4Team fights
In fights, enter after the enemy uses their key crowd control and land Jack In The Box on the carry; keep Smite for the objective, not for damage. Use Hallucinate where it hits the most enemies or catches the key target.
5Playing against Shaco
Riot's own advice for facing this champion:
- If Shaco is doing well early-game, it is worth the investment to place Stealth Wards near his Jungle camps.
- If Shaco uses Deceive to enter a fight he won't be able to quickly use it again to get away. Work with your team to quickly focus him down.
Tips
- Using Deceive over terrain can help you make a clean escape.
- Try getting items with on-hit effects. These will also benefit your Hallucination clone.
- Backstab's damage can be increased with increased Critical Damage effects like Infinity Edge.
- Rush Black Cleaver: it's the item that speeds up your clears and your ganks the most.
- Before an objective, reset and buy wards: fight it with full health and Smite ready.
- Gank the lane with crowd control: two stuns in a row are worth more than any damage.
Matchups
Strong against
Jack In The Box (fear) lets Shaco pin Gwen down before Skip 'n Slash gets them out.
Jack In The Box (fear) lets Shaco pin Ivern down before Rootcaller gets them out.
Jack In The Box (fear) lets Shaco pin Talon down before Noxian Diplomacy gets them out.
Weak against
Permafrost (stun) lets Sejuani pin Shaco down before Deceive gets them out.
Allure (charm) lets Evelynn pin Shaco down before Deceive gets them out.
Thundering Smash (stun) lets Volibear pin Shaco down before Deceive gets them out.
Changelog
- Guide created for patch 16.19.1.
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