Introduction
Pyke Support Build Guide: Mastering the Ripper in the Bot Lane Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper, is one of the most aggressive support champions in League of Legends. He thrives in the shadows, offering a unique blend of high damage, crowd control, and the ability to execute enemies with his ultimate, Death from Below. This guide will help you dominate the bot lane with Pyke, covering the best builds, runes, strategies, and tips to maximize your performance as a support assassin.
Why Choose Pyke as Support?
Pyke is a unique support champion in League of Legends, offering a playstyle vastly different from traditional supports. Here are several reasons why Pyke stands out in the support role:
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Aggressive Playstyle Unlike most supports, Pyke thrives on aggression and kill potential. He turns the support role into a playmaker’s paradise by punishing enemy mistakes with his crowd control and burst damage. If you enjoy high-risk, high-reward champions, Pyke is an exciting pick that allows you to carry games from the support position.
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Roaming Capabilities Pyke excels at roaming, helping other lanes snowball and gaining an advantage across the map. His stealth ability, W - Ghostwater Dive, lets him move undetected through the river to catch enemies off guard. With Pyke, you can extend your influence beyond the bot lane, pressuring the mid-lane and jungle while maintaining vision control.
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High Kill Potential Pyke's Q - Bone Skewer pulls enemies toward him, setting up easy kills for his ADC or other teammates. His R - Death from Below executes low-health enemies while granting kill credit and bonus gold to his allies. This makes Pyke a game-changer in team fights, able to turn the tide in your favor by eliminating multiple targets and boosting your team's economy.
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Snowballing Power Thanks to his passive, Gift of the Drowned Ones, Pyke converts bonus health into attack damage, enabling him to scale as an assassin while remaining durable. Pyke can turn small advantages into game-winning leads by executing multiple enemies and rewarding your team with gold, especially during the mid and late game.
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Versatile Engagement Pyke offers excellent engage and disengage potential. His E - Phantom Undertow stuns enemies while allowing him to retreat or follow up for kills. His kit provides flexibility in fights, whether you're engaging, picking off stragglers, or peeling for your ADC.
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Vision Control With items like Umbral Glaive, Pyke can dominate vision control by clearing wards swiftly and safely. This is crucial for map dominance, allowing your team to secure objectives and set up ambushes while denying the enemy team valuable information.
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Ultimate Finisher Pyke's R - Death from Below is one of the most satisfying ultimates in the game. It’s not just an execution tool—it can also snowball fights, as each successful hit refunds a portion of the cooldown, allowing Pyke to continuously execute multiple targets in quick succession.
Pyke Overview: The Bloodharbor Ripper
- Role: Support/Assassin
- Primary Damage Type: Physical
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Position: Bot Lane (Support)
- Champion Class: Playmaking Assassin Support
Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper, is a unique and deadly assassin in the support role. Known for his high burst damage, crowd control, and his ability to execute enemies, Pyke offers an aggressive playstyle that can turn the tide of any game. Unlike most supports, Pyke's focus isn't on healing or shielding allies but on setting up kills and securing them himself with his devastating ultimate, Death from Below.
Abilities:
Passive – Gift of the Drowned Ones: Pyke converts any bonus health into attack damage and regenerates a portion of damage taken from enemy champions when he's unseen by enemies.
Q – Bone Skewer: Pyke can either tap or charge this ability. Tapping allows him to jab forward, damaging enemies. Charging allows him to throw a harpoon that pulls the first enemy hit toward him, setting up kills.
W – Ghostwater Dive: Pyke becomes camouflaged, gaining bonus movement speed for a few seconds. This ability is perfect for roaming and ambushing enemies.
E – Phantom Undertow: Pyke dashes forward, leaving a phantom behind that returns to him after a short delay, stunning all enemies it passes through.
R – Death from Below: Pyke dives into an "X"-shaped area, executing all enemies within who fall below a health threshold. If he successfully kills an enemy, allies nearby also receive gold, and Pyke can recast the ability within a few seconds.
Pyke Strengths & Weaknesses:
Strengths:
- High Burst Damage: Pyke deals massive damage for a support, often functioning as a second assassin on the team.
- Kill Pressure: His hook (Q) and stun (E) combo allow Pyke to set up kills in the bot lane and secure them with his execution ultimate.
- Roaming Potential: Ghostwater Dive gives Pyke incredible roaming power, letting him gank mid lane or assist his jungler effortlessly.
- Gold Sharing: Pyke’s ultimate grants bonus gold to both himself and his allies, helping your team snowball faster.
Weaknesses:
- Squishy: Pyke has low base health and relies on positioning and mobility to survive. Misplays can quickly lead to his death.
- Vulnerable to Crowd Control: If locked down, Pyke has limited ways to escape unless his ultimate is available.
- Limited Utility: Unlike other supports, Pyke doesn’t offer heals, shields, or buffs. His primary contribution is through damage and crowd control.
Playstyle: Pyke thrives in aggressive lanes, especially when paired with a high-damage ADC like Draven or Jhin. His goal in the early game is to harass enemies with his Q and E, set up kills, and roam mid to help his team gain advantages. In team fights, Pyke looks for isolated targets to pick off, using his mobility and crowd control to secure kills and reset his ultimate for multiple executions.
Pyke Tips and Tricks
- Track the enemies cooldowns and use your Ultimate Death From Below (R) accordingly. If they have Flash, expect them to Flash away from your Ultimate Death From Below (R).
- Wait for the enemy to use any dash or mobility spells before initiating with your Bone Skewer (Q). This will severely reduce their ability to dodge your Hook Bone Skewer (Q).
- Pyke is a really good roaming champion. Don’t be afraid to leave your ADC alone in lane to help your Jungler or Mid laner.
- Use Q - Bone Skewer to poke or hook high-priority targets during lane phase.
- Roam frequently to catch enemies off guard and create pressure across the map.
- Coordinate with your jungler to set up plays and secure early objectives like the dragon.
- Don’t be afraid to dive into fights with R - Death from Below if you see an execution opportunity.
- Position carefully in team fights to ensure you can use your R effectively without being targeted.
Pyke Summoner Spells
Pyke Items
Pyke Runes
Pyke Abilities
Pyke Ability Combos
- Basic: Q + Flash
- Basic: E + Flash
- Basic: Q + E
- Basic: E + R
- Medium: W + Q + Reverse E
- Medium: W + Q + E
- Medium: E + W + Flash
- Hard: Q + Flash + E + R
- Hard: W + E + Flash + R
- Hard: E + W + Q + Flash + + R
A few things about Pyke's ultimate
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Applies raw damage to executed targets and area damage to targets above the threshold.
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Raw damage is a type of damage that ignores all resistances and shields active on target. Invulnerability, (e.g. Divine Judgment - R of Kayle) is only way to reduce raw damage, but Spell Shield (E - Sivir) will also negate its application where applicable. All current champion-sources of raw damage deal in excess of 100% of the target's current health, and so this damage type is often referred to as execution damage. By default, raw damage will also ignore minimum health threshold and resurrection effects. However, all current interactions between champion-sourced raw damage have been handled to not-kill protected champions. It is worth noting that for Undying Rage (R-Tryndamere) and Lamb's Respite (R-Kindred), the special-cased behavior to prevent affected champions from being executed will leave them on 1 health rather than the amounts specified by the ability.
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The following effects trigger a champion to enter in spell shield against Q and ( only for Nocturne, Sivir, Fiora, Pantheon* ) too R:
mounts specified by the ability.
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The following effects trigger a champion to enter in spell shield against Q and ( only for Nocturne, Sivir, Fiora, Pantheon* ) too R:
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Braum's Unbreakable (E) block Pyke's Q,E ( Pyke's Q,E are projectiles but R is not a projectile)
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Dr. Mundo's Goes Where He Pleases (P) block Pyke's Q, E
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Fiora's Riposte (W) block Pyke's Q, E, R
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Malzahar's Void Shift (P) block Pyke's Q, E
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Morgana's Black Shield (E) block Pyke's Q, E
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Nocturne's Shroud of Darkness (W) block Pyke's Q, E, R
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Samira's Blade Whirl (W) block Pyke's Q, E
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Sivir's Spell Shield (E) block Pyke's Q, E, R
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Yasuo's Wind Wall (W) block Pyke's Q,E (only in the direction of E on wall)
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Edge of Night block Pyke's Q , E, R
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Banshee's Veil block Pyke's Q , E, R
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Pantheon's Aegis Assault (E) block Pyke's E, R only if the shield is in the direction Pyke's R or E started.
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The following effects trigger a champion to enter in Unstoppable:
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Aurora's Between Worlds (R) block Pyke's Q,E (during cast time)
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Briar's Certain Death (R) block Pyke's Q,E
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Camille's Hextech Ultimatum (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Corki's Valkyrie (W) block Pyke's Q, E
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Hecarim's Onslaught of Shadows (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Illaoi's Leap of Faith (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Jarvan IV's Cataclysm (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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K'Sante's Path Maker (W) block Pyke's Q, E
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Kalista's Fate's Call (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Malphite's Unstoppable Force (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Nocturne's Paranoia (R) block Pyke's Q, E (recast)
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Olaf's Ragnarok (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Ornn's Bellows Breath (W) block Pyke's Q, E
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Rammus's Soaring Slam (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Rek'Sai's Void Rush (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Sett's The Show Stopper (R) block Pyke's Q, E, R (suppress him if pyke is in air)
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Shyvana's Dragon's Descent (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Tahm Kench's Devour (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Udyr's Blazing Stampede (E) block Pyke's Q, E
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Vex's Shadow Surge (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Vi's Cease and Desist (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Viego's Heartbreaker (R) block Pyke's Q, E
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Warwick's Infinite Duress (R) block Pyke's Q, E, R (suppress him if pyke is in air).
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Yone's Soul Unbound (E) block Pyke's Q, E (recast)
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The following effects trigger a champion to enter in Dodge but this effect Doesn't work on Pyke's Death from Below (R):
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Jax's Counter Strike (E) blocks basic attacks Pyke
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Nilah's Jubilant Veil (W) blocks basic attacks Pyke
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Shen's Spirit's Refuge (W) blocks basic attacks Pyke
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The following effects trigger a champion to enter in Invulnerability:
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Ekko's Chronobreak (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Kalista's Fate's Call (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Kayle's Divine Judgment (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Kindred's Lamb's Respite (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Lissandra's Frozen Tomb (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Taric's Cosmic Radiance (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Tryndamere's Undying Rage (R) nullify Pyke's R
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Xin Zhao's Crescent Guard (R) nullify Pyke's R (only invulnerable to champions a certain distance away)
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Pantheon's Aegis Assault (E) nullify Pyke's E, R (only invulnerable to non-turret damage coming from a specific direction)
How to Play Pyke
- Early game
- Get level 2 first and look for a favourable trade. Gaining an early health lead is key to getting a kill later on down the line. Level 2 in the bottom lane is the first minion wave followed by the next 3 melee minions.
- Your goal during the laning phase is to look for kills and abuse the enemy as often as you can. Try to play aggressive frequently to gain a lead.
- After destroying the bottom lane tower, rotate to the mid lane and try to take that tower. This will open up the map and give your team a gold lead.
- Mid game
- Keep a constant eye on what major objective is spawning next. If it’s spawning soon, make sure you place vision around the objective as quickly and as safely as possible before retreating to safety. Having vision around major objectives is key.
- Look for picks during the mid-game. If you can pick someone off with the help from your allies, you can abuse their death timer to earn more gold and possibly take a tower, an objective or get more kills.
- Move around the map and look to help your allies. Keep roaming from lane to lane while looking for executions with your Ultimate Death From Below (R).
- Late game
- Ward major objectives and place vision in high traffic areas in the late stages of the game. Keep them warded so you can see the enemy move around the map and see them starting the objective.
- Stay with your team at all times. Avoid moving around the map alone so you do not get caught out. Getting caught out will result in your team having to play 4v5. Do not ward alone unless you know where the enemy is.
- Peel for your allies as much as possible. Keeping them alive for as long as possible in team fights is a must in order to win the game.
Conclusion
Mastering Pyke as a support can be incredibly rewarding, offering a fast-paced, high-risk, high-reward playstyle. By following this build and strategy guide, you’ll be well on your way to dominating the Rift as Pyke, securing kills, and carrying your team to victory. Whether you're new to Pyke or a seasoned assassin, this guide provides everything you need to outplay your opponents and climb the ranks.
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