Rek’Sai ARAM Build and Guide

Updated for patch 26.22. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch; ARAM balance numbers come from the League of Legends Wiki’s champion data.

A Rek’Sai ARAM build is a bruiser build with Health, area damage and Ability Haste, so she can surface into the enemy team, knock them up and stay alive long enough to finish with Void Rush. On the Howling Abyss her numbers move the right way, with 105% damage dealt against 90% damage taken, and while tunnels matter less on a single lane, the burrow engage still works exactly as it should.

Our picks below come from reading her patch 26.22 kit against the item shop. We used no win-rate site.

How is Rek’Sai changed in ARAM?

Good news twice over. She hits 5% harder and shrugs off 10% of incoming damage. Why help her? Thing is, her biggest strength on the Rift, map control through tunnels and Prey Seeker reveals, barely exists on a lane with no jungle. The modifiers make up for a kit that loses half its job. What’s left is a bruiser with a knock-up and an execute-style lunge, and those still work just fine.

Why does Rek’Sai work on the Howling Abyss?

Because Unburrow knocks up everyone around her, and ARAM keeps enemies bunched. Her patch 26.22 abilities:

• Fury of the Xer’Sai (passive): Fury from attacks and basic abilities, spent while Burrowed to heal.
• Queen’s Wrath / Prey Seeker (Q): three empowered attacks hitting nearby enemies; Burrowed, a burst that damages and reveals. Cooldown 4/3.5/3/2.5/2.
• Burrow / Un-burrow (W): she digs in for speed and new abilities, losing attacks and some vision; surfacing knocks up and damages nearby enemies. Cooldown 4.
• Furious Bite / Tunnel (E): a physical bite, true damage at max Fury; Burrowed, a long-lasting tunnel that enemies can break by standing on it. Cooldown 6.
• Void Rush (R): marks enemies she damages, then makes her briefly untargetable as she lunges at one for damage based on maximum Health. Cooldown 120/100/80.

Burrow, move under the enemy frontline, surface in the middle and knock up everyone nearby. That’s the play (and it rarely gets old). Queen’s Wrath then cleaves the group for three attacks, and she marks every enemy she damages for Void Rush. The lunge is untargetable, so it’s a safe way to finish a fleeing carry. Honestly, Fury of the Xer’Sai is the hidden bonus: on a map without recall, a self-heal from burrowing is worth a lot.

What should a Rek’Sai ARAM build focus on?

Health, area damage and Ability Haste. Look, she does her work inside the enemy team, so the build has to keep her alive there.

Stridebreaker goes first. Its Cleave passive spreads her attacks to nearby enemies, and Breaking Shockwave deals physical damage around her while slowing by 35% and granting decaying Move Speed per champion hit. That’s a second area slow right after Unburrow, and 450 Health on top.

Spear of Shojin is second. Dragonforce gives 25 Basic Ability Haste, so Burrow, Queen’s Wrath and Furious Bite come back faster, and Focused Will stacks her ability and passive damage by 3% per hit, up to 4 times. More Furious Bites also means more Fury, which feeds the self-heal.

Third, Sterak’s Gage. When a hit would push her under 30% Health, Lifeline catches her with a decaying shield lasting 4.5 seconds, usually right as she surfaces among five enemies. Its 20% Tenacity helps her keep swinging through crowd control.

Death’s Dance finishes it. Ignore Pain delays part of every hit she takes over 3 seconds, and if a champion she damaged dies in time, Defy wipes the remainder and heals her. Void Rush kills tend to trigger that. Pick Plated Steelcaps into attackers and Mercury’s Treads into crowd control.

How do you play Rek’Sai on the Howling Abyss?

• Burrow toward the group, then Unburrow in the middle. It knocks up every enemy nearby.
• Hit as many champions as possible early in the fight. Void Rush can only lunge at targets she has marked by damaging them.
• Save Void Rush for a finish. It deals damage based on maximum Health, and she’s untargetable during the lunge.
• Burrow between fights to spend Fury and heal.
• Don’t bother with tunnels much. On one lane, enemies stand on the entrances and break them quickly.

How do no-recall shopping and Mark change Rek’Sai’s game?

Recalling doesn’t exist here; the fountain opens at the start and after each death. Fury of the Xer’Sai gives Rek’Sai something few champions have, a self-heal that works anywhere she can burrow, so she relies on relics less than most (in practice, burrowing between fights keeps her healthier than relics do).

With Mark, a snowball that connects opens a dash to the champion it struck. You pick it in the lobby and keep it all game. Rek’Sai can already reach the enemy underground, so Mark is a second engage: snowball the carry, dash in, Unburrow next to them. Is it better than Flash (the usual pick)? Maybe. To be fair, Flash plus Unburrow is a nasty surprise too.

Is Rek’Sai good in ARAM?

Yes. The 105% damage dealt and 90% damage taken modifiers both help, and a clumped enemy team is ideal for Unburrow’s knock-up and Queen’s Wrath’s cleave. Her weak spot is that half her kit, tunnels and reveals, matters little on a single lane, so she plays like a straightforward bruiser.

The junglers who beat her are in our Rek’Sai counters guide. Her usual job on the Rift is jungling, and our guide to League roles explains it. Every item number lives in the LoL item database, and her skins are on the Rek’Sai skins page.

Put together, the Rek’Sai ARAM build is Stridebreaker, Spear of Shojin, Sterak’s Gage and Death’s Dance: burrow in, knock them up, and keep Void Rush for the finish.

FAQ

Is Rek’Sai buffed in ARAM?

Yes. In patch 26.22, the League of Legends Wiki lists her ARAM values as 105% damage dealt and 90% damage taken.

What items should Rek’Sai build in ARAM?

Start with Stridebreaker, add Spear of Shojin, then Sterak’s Gage, and close with Death’s Dance. Boots depend on the enemy’s damage.

Does she have any self-healing?

Yes. Fury of the Xer’Sai builds Fury from her attacks and basic abilities, and she spends it while Burrowed to restore Health.

Are tunnels useful in ARAM?

Less than on the Rift. Tunnels last a long time, but enemies destroy them by standing on either entrance, and the single lane makes that easy.

How was this build chosen?

Every pick traces back to a line in Rek’Sai’s patch 26.22 ability text. Win rates were not used.