Kindred Counters: Who Beats Kindred

Updated for patch 26.22. Ability descriptions on this page follow Riot’s official game data for the current patch.

Kindred counters are junglers who invade early, deny her Hunt marks, and jump on her before her range and damage scale. She’s a 500-range marksman jungler who grows stronger with every completed Hunt, so aggressive gankers and divers with hard crowd control keep her poor and fragile.

The five picks below are based on patch 26.22 kit text, not win rates.

How do Kindred’s Hunts work?

• Mark of the Kindred (passive): she marks targets to Hunt; each completed Hunt permanently empowers her basic abilities, and every 4 Hunts add attack range.
• Dance of Arrows (Q): a tumble that fires up to three arrows at nearby targets. Cooldown 9.
• Wolf’s Frenzy (W): Wolf attacks enemies around him; Lamb stacks up from moving and attacking, and a full stack heals on her next attack. Cooldown 18/17/16/15/14.
• Mounting Dread (E): a slowing shot; after two more attacks, the third sends Wolf to pounce for big damage. Cooldown 14/12.5/11/9.5/8.
• Lamb’s Respite (R): while it lasts, no living thing in the circle dies; when it fades, everyone inside is healed. Cooldown 160/140/120.

Kindred is a scaling marksman pretending to be a jungler. Every Hunt she completes makes her basic abilities stronger for good, and every fourth one stretches her attack range, so a Kindred who collects marks freely becomes a ranged carry from the jungle. Her early game is the gap. She’s squishy, her only mobility is a tumble, and Lamb’s Respite works on everyone in the zone, enemies included. Want to beat her? Take her camps, contest her marks, and dive her before she outranges you.

Which junglers are the best Kindred counters?

Rek’Sai

Rek’Sai roams underground. Burrow (W) gives her Move Speed and new abilities, and Unburrow knocks up enemies around her when she surfaces under a squishy marksman. Prey Seeker, her burrowed Q, damages and reveals enemies at range. Tunnel (E, burrowed) builds reusable paths, so she arrives at Kindred’s camps faster than Kindred can rotate. At full Fury, her bite adds true damage. Void Rush (R) makes her untargetable as she lunges at a marked target for max-Health damage. Honestly, a Kindred stuck in the air after Unburrow doesn’t get to tumble anywhere.

Rengar

Unseen Predator (passive) leaps from brush onto his target, and the jungle is full of brush around every camp Kindred clears. Thrill of the Hunt (R) Camouflages him and tracks the nearest enemy champion, then lets him leap from anywhere while lowering their armor. Bola Strike (E) slows, or roots at full Ferocity. Savagery (Q) adds a heavy stab, and Battle Roar (W) heals and, empowered, cleanses. Put simply, Kindred’s tumble isn’t enough against a hunter who arrives invisible.

Xin Zhao

Audacious Charge (E) dashes Xin onto a target with extra Attack Speed and a quick slow, and Three Talon Strike (Q) knocks up on the third empowered attack. Crescent Guard (R) is the clever part here: it makes Xin impervious to damage from champions outside its circle and knocks back those not challenged, so Kindred’s team can’t help her once he’s in. Wind Becomes Lightning (W) slows from range and extends his charge. Determination (passive) heals him every third hit, so trading back with autos doesn’t work either (yes, even for a marksman). Does Lamb’s Respite save her? Only until it ends.

Nocturne

His ult darkens the whole enemy team’s screen (smaller sight radius, no shared ally vision), and then he flies at whoever is closest. For a jungler who needs to see the map to collect Hunts, that’s a nightmare (literally the name of it). Unspeakable Horror (E) fears its target if they stay in range. Shroud of Darkness (W) blocks one ability, often Mounting Dread, and doubles his Attack Speed bonus. His Q trail gives him speed and damage while he’s on it. Umbra Blades (passive) cleaves and heals.

Elise

Elise is a level 2 and 3 ganker who also invades well. Cocoon (E, human) stuns the first enemy hit, which sets up her whole damage combo on a squishy target. Neurotoxin hits hardest on healthy enemies, and Volatile Spiderling explodes when it nears one. In spider form, Venomous Bite lunges and executes, Skittering Frenzy speeds up attacks, and Rappel lifts her out of danger. Spider Queen (passive) heals her through attacks in spider form. Thing is, Kindred has no tool to break a stun, and an early Cocoon gives Elise all the time she needs to finish the combo.

How should Kindred counters play?

• Contest her marks. Each completed Hunt makes her basic abilities stronger permanently.
• Invade early. She’s a squishy marksman whose only dash is Dance of Arrows.
• Step out of Lamb’s Respite before it ends. Nothing dies inside, then everyone gets healed.
• Track Mounting Dread. Wolf’s pounce comes on the third attack after it.
• Dive her after Dance of Arrows. At 9 seconds, it’s her only escape.

Which items help Kindred counters?

Her damage comes from attacks, so attack-reduction items pay off. Randuin’s Omen takes 30% off critical strike damage and adds 75 Armor, and its Humility active slows nearby enemies by 70% for 2 seconds, enough to catch a tumbling marksman. Plated Steelcaps cut 10% off every attack. Frozen Heart lowers nearby champions’ Attack Speed by 20%, a good pick on tanks who dive her.

When is Kindred weakest?

Early, before her marks add up. Without completed Hunts, her abilities are at base strength and her range is short for a marksman. That’s the window for invades.

Right after Lamb’s Respite, too. At 160 seconds on rank 1, a used ult means no team-wide save for a long time. Real talk, that’s when your team should force the next fight. Our explainer on LoL roles covers how junglers work, the Kindred ARAM guide has her random-mode build, and her skins sit on the Kindred skins page. In practice, Kindred counters steal her marks early and dive her after the tumble.

FAQ

Who are the best Kindred counters in the jungle?

Early invaders and divers with crowd control: Rek’Sai, Rengar, Xin Zhao, Nocturne and Elise.

How do Kindred’s marks work?

She marks targets to Hunt. Each completed Hunt permanently empowers her basic abilities, and every 4 Hunts increase her attack range.

Does Lamb’s Respite heal enemies?

Yes. Nothing inside the zone can die until it ends, and then all units in it are healed.

What is the cooldown of Kindred’s ultimate?

By rank: 160, 140 and 120 seconds.

How were these Kindred counters chosen?

From patch 26.22 ability text: each pick pressures her early, contests her marks, or locks her down before she tumbles away. Win rates were not used.