Allain — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Default: B]
Allain — Warrior Guide
Allain is the slayer lane's most deceptive tempo warrior. On the surface he looks like a straightforward diver: run at someone, press buttons, collect gold. In practice, managing the four-stack Howling Sword passive while weaving auto-attacks into your Q windows is what separates an Allain player who wins trades from one who just feeds a fed Butterfly. The goal is clean: build stacks in the bush, walk up on an isolated carry, lock them in Death at Sunset's brief vanish, then burst out with a fully-charged Meteor Strike that deals mixed physical-magical-true damage across all five hits. The combination of true damage on passive's fourth hit, true-damage scaling on R, and the natural armor penetration window his passive opens every attack means Allain cuts through tanky off-laners surprisingly well without itemizing for pure armor pen. He sits comfortably in A tier this patch because the meta's dominant front-liners are medium-health bruisers, the exact profile his R punishes hardest. He is held back from S tier by his reliance on hitting W's root to land anything else cleanly, and by the prevalence of blink-heavy junglers who can collapse on him mid-combo. Diamond and above players who want a slayer with a high mechanical ceiling but a clear, learnable skill priority will enjoy climbing on him.
Strengths
- +Howling Sword's dual physical-and-magical damage per auto-attack lets Allain deal relevant damage even when an opponent stacks one defensive stat, making him naturally hard to itemize against.
- +Death at Sunset's true-damage-on-current-HP mechanic makes Allain one of the only slayers in the game who can meaningfully threaten full-health, high-HP bruisers without needing a Slayer item pivot.
- +Two charges on Moonflash give him exceptional chase-and-escape flexibility in the slayer lane, where most warriors can only dash once before being kited.
- +The four-tier Meteor Strike is a genuine burst amplifier at max stacks, producing an airborne window long enough to chain into a root and then an ultimate for a nearly inescapable sequence on a single target.
Weaknesses
- −Allain's entire damage pattern depends on landing Moonflash's root; heroes with pre-emptive blinks or hard CC of their own can interrupt his combo before it reaches the Q channel.
- −Stack management creates a punishing tempo cost, arriving at a skirmish at zero or one Howling Sword stack means his Q fires at tier 1 or 2, dramatically cutting his all-in threat.
- −Death at Sunset's 1.5-second vanish commits Allain to staying near the target, so a well-timed disengage or displacement by a nearby enemy can leave him isolated deep in enemy territory.
- −His primary damage window is entirely melee range, meaning poke-heavy slayer-lane opponents (Florentino, Veres) can safely whittle him down before he ever reaches four stacks to trade back.
Abilities
PHowling Sword
Allain accumulates power from auto attacks, up to 4 stacks. Each auto attack deals both physical and magic damage (2 instances total) and grants 1 stack. The final attack deals true damage. With each attack, Allain takes reduced damage and gains 1 second of armor penetration. At the 8th attack, restore 8% of lost HP. At 16 attacks, restore 2x the amount.
1Meteor Strike
4-stage ability based on power stacks from auto attacks. Stage 1: Thrust sword in chosen direction, deal magic damage and knockup target. Stage 2: Attack 3 times, deal physical and magic damage and knockup. Stage 3: Attack 5 times, deal physical and magic damage and knockup. Stage 4: Attack 9 times, deal all damage types and knockup target. Allain is CC-immune during this ability and can choose direction for the final strike.
2Moonflash
Dash in chosen direction, deal physical damage and stun the first target hit for 1 second. This ability can be used twice.
RDeath at Sunset
Lock onto target and disappear for 1.5 seconds, then reappear and slash around you, dealing true damage based on target's current HP, increased by 25% per target hit (max 50%). If used on enemies: slow them and grant Allain a shield. If used on allies: grant them movement speed and a shield. If used on butterfly (NPC): grant ally benefits but also grant CC immunity.
How to Use Allain's Kit
Every auto-attack delivers two damage instances (physical and magical), which means on-hit items like Omni Arms effectively proc twice per swing, never skip autos between ability casts or you are leaving damage and the armor-pen window on the table. The fourth stack auto dealing true damage is your primary tool for punishing tanks, so count your stacks out loud until it becomes muscle memory; showing up to a trade at zero stacks is the single most common mistake at Diamond. The passive damage-reduction buff on each hit is brief but real, all-in when you have momentum, never poke-and-back.
This ability's power scales directly with your passive stack count, so never fire it at tier 1 when a two-second delay gets you tier 4's five-hit, airborne-extended combo that deals both physical and magical damage per strike. At tier 4 the consecutive hit-stun extends long enough to let you weave an auto-attack between the last hit and your W for the root, which is the backbone of your full rotation. The most common mistake is panic-canceling the cast animation early, commit to the full channel at tier 3 and above, because the later hits deal the majority of the damage.
Two charges stored passively makes this both a gap-closer and a safety net, save the second charge to escape after a bad R, not as a double-dash into a crowd. The one-second immobilize on the first enemy hit is the linchpin of every combo: if W does not connect, your Q channel and R become far easier to escape. Against targets with dashes (Butterfly, Murad, Nakroth), hold W until after they use their escape ability, then commit both charges if you need to stay on them.
The 1.5-second vanish on R is not just a cinematic moment, it is your window to reposition before the slam, and the slam's true damage scales off the target's current HP, so front-loading your combo before pressing R (to chip health first) actually reduces R's output; land R earlier in the combo on high-HP tanks, later on chunked carries. Critically, you can cast R on an ally to grant them a shield and a speed boost, in coordinated play, R-on-ally into a teamfight entry is a legitimate macro tool that most opponents never prepare for. The 25%-per-extra-target damage bonus (capped at 50%) rewards diving a tight cluster, so wait for enemies to group around an objective before committing.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Meteor Strike | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
2Moonflash | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
RDeath at Sunset | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Awake
Spirit
Dragon's ClawJungle
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Full Stack Burst
P21RThe standard all-in: build four passive stacks on a nearby minion or in a bush poke, W to root the target, immediately fire tier-4 Q (the airborne extends your follow-up window), weave one auto during the Q hits, then R to finish with true damage on a chunked target.
Hard Engage with Flicker
21RUse against a target sitting at max W range, dash W, Flicker mid-flight to close any remaining gap, fire a tier-3+ Q to airborne, auto once during, then slam R before they land.
Ally Ult Support Entry
R21Cast R on an initiating ally (Maloch, Arduin diving in) to grant them the shield and speed boost, then immediately W onto a priority target, Q to airborne, and clean up, best used when you have incomplete stacks and need utility over burst.
Double-W Chase
212RAgainst a target who flashes away mid-combo, first W dash to stick, Q at whatever tier you have, then spend the second W charge to close the re-gap, auto to rebuild, and R to close out.
Gameplan
Allain's first real spike is the moment he completes Soulreaver, which turbocharges the magical component of his passive autos and makes his tier-3 and tier-4 Q's visibly swing trades. His second and sharpest spike is Claves Sancti combined with Omni Arms. The crit chance on Claves is multiplied effectively by the passive's double-hit architecture, and Omni Arms' on-hit bonus procs twice. He is strongest in mid-game skirmishes at full items three through five. He is weakest before level 4 (before W has two charges) and in the very late game against teams that have built layered crowd control, which prevents him from ever stacking safely.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Spend levels 1–3 last-hitting under tower or in safe bushes — you want to reach level 4 (second W charge) before trading seriously, as W single-charge is punishable in an extended fight.
- →Use the W dash into minion waves (not champions) to stack Howling Sword to tier 4 before walking up for a level-4 all-in; the passive true-damage hit on the fourth stack is a lethal opener in an early solo kill.
- →If the enemy jungler shows top-side, back off immediately — Allain has zero hard CC to peel a two-versus-one before he has Soulreaver.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →After Soulreaver and Gilded Greaves, look to rotate to the nearest Dragon fight; Death at Sunset's AoE amplification (25% per additional target) makes Dragon pit skirmishes one of his best damage environments.
- →Split-push only when you have confirmed the enemy jungler's position — use W's double charge to test bushes safely and retreat; do not over-commit on a side wave when the enemy mid can rotate in under 10 seconds.
- →Coordinate with your jungler to stack Howling Sword on the lane minion wave right before a gank so you show up to the 2v1 with tier-4 Q already loaded.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →In full teamfights, your highest-value target is the enemy carry — do not waste R's true-damage scaling on a tank unless they are the sole win condition; identify and pre-plan your dive path before the fight starts.
- →Use Death at Sunset on an ally frontliner during the enemy's hard initiation to nullify their burst window with the shield, then pivot to the backline with both W charges.
- →If you are ahead, rotate between the slayer lane and the jungle camps to deny the enemy's frontliner recovery gold; Allain's W mobility makes him one of the better solo-clear warriors once Omni Arms is complete.
Matchups
Allain is not a safe first-pick in solo queue because Butterfly and Florentino, two of the slayer lane's most common options, both hard-counter his stack-generation engine. If those heroes are open, defer Allain and pick him only after they are banned or taken by your team. In the bad matchups, your strategy is purely farm-for-power: accept the lane deficit, hug tower, and reach Soulreaver plus Claves before looking for a fight. Once you are in a Maloch or Annette composition, Allain becomes aggressive first-pick material. The external lockdown removes his only real requirement (landing W unassisted) and lets you focus entirely on dive path and stack management. Draft around him when you can; play reactive when you cannot.
Allain gets countered by
ButterflyHer dodge passive causes Allain's physical auto-attack hits (half of his passive's double-hit) to simply miss, gutting his stack generation and Q tier progression mid-trade.
FlorentinoHis blink-on-kill and continuous poke can kite Allain to near-zero HP before he ever reaches four stacks, and his ultimate removes Allain from the fight before R can fire.
MuradMurad's ultimate displaces Allain into a separate dimension, cleanly interrupting any mid-combo state and resetting the fight on Murad's terms.
VeresHer extended poke range and lifesteal allow her to deny Allain safe stack-building in the lane bush, so he consistently arrives at skirmishes under-stacked and under-health.
Allain synergizes with
MalochMaloch's ultimate is one of the most reliable external CC sources in the game, his forced engagement locks enemies in place long enough for Allain to pre-stack and arrive at tier-4 Q with zero guesswork.
AnnetteAnnette's tornado ultimate pulls enemies together, stacking Allain's R AoE bonus to its 50% cap almost automatically, and her shields extend his survival in the post-R window.
GrakkGrakk's chain pull is a guaranteed W-landing setup, if Grakk hooks a carry out of position, Allain can W in before the target recovers and execute the full combo without needing Flicker.
LaurielLauriel's aerial ultimate clusters multiple enemies at a fixed point, giving Allain a free two-target R amplification and a safe entry that avoids the usual dive-into-CC risk.
Pro Tips
- →Against opponents who watch your passive stack count (experienced players at Diamond+), deliberately auto a minion to tier 3 in the lane bush, then walk up and bait an aggression with only tier-3 showing, immediately stacking to tier 4 during their committed animation to fire the five-hit Q they did not prepare for.
- →Moonflash's root is directional but the dash travels to the first enemy hit, not a fixed distance, aim slightly to the side of a dodging target rather than directly at them to compensate for lateral movement, especially against Butterfly.
- →You can store W charges safely during the Death at Sunset vanish window, decide your escape path before pressing R so that both W charges are available the moment you reappear, either to chase or to flee depending on how the fight evolved.
- →Omni Arms' on-hit bonus benefits from Allain's passive double-hit architecture, meaning the item effectively contributes damage on both the physical and magical auto instances, prioritize it over Hyoga's Edge if you are against a mobile, low-health composition where the slow from Hyoga adds less value than raw on-hit throughput.
Allain is the pick for slayer players who want genuine mechanical depth disguised inside a deceptively simple button layout. If you are willing to internalize stack management and W-timing, he rewards you with one of the cleanest one-versus-one kill patterns in the game. He thrives when drafted around reliable external CC and wilts against dashers who can escape mid-combo, so know your matchup list before locking him in. The single most important habit to build is arriving at every fight, whether a solo trade or a five-versus-five, with at least three Howling Sword stacks already loaded. Do that consistently, and Allain will carry you through Diamond.
Allain — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Allain good in the current ROV patch?+
Allain is solidly A tier on the Thai server this patch. A meta full of medium-HP bruisers suits him well, because his true-damage-on-current-HP ultimate punishes that profile hard. He is not the safest solo-queue pick since two popular slayer-lane counters (Butterfly, Florentino) are frequently played, but in a coordinated draft he is a genuine win-condition.
What is the best build for Allain?+
The core path is Soulreaver into Gilded Greaves, then Claves Sancti and Omni Arms as your damage foundation. Those two items interact exceptionally well with his passive's dual physical-and-magical auto-attack architecture. Round out the build with Hyoga's Edge for chase potential and Blade of Eternity as your survival insurance in late-game teamfights.
How do you counter Allain?+
Pick a hero who can interrupt his stack-building phase or dodge his W root. Butterfly's passive dodge, Florentino's blink, and Murad's displacement all prevent him from executing his combo cleanly. Positioning-wise, never stand still in a bush where he can silently stack Howling Sword to tier 4 before engaging you.
Is Allain hard to play / good for beginners?+
Allain is rated Medium difficulty. His buttons are not mechanically demanding individually, but managing passive stack count in real time while deciding when to commit a W charge is the kind of resource management that punishes new players heavily. Beginners will get value out of him in normal games, but the gap between a player who ignores stack count and one who optimizes it is enormous at Diamond and above.