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Playing Against Kalista

Bot

Patch 16.2.1

What They Do

Early game bully and objective specialist. She uses to hop around while attacking and stacks spears in you to execute with . She relies on her support for bonus damage from and late-game safety via .

Abilities (What to Watch For)

Ability	What You'll See	What It Means For You
	She hops a short distance after every basic attack or	She is extremely hard to hit with skillshots. However, her jump distance and speed scale with her move speed and attack speed. If you slow her, her dash speed slows too.
	A fast, thin spear skillshot	High poke damage. If it kills a target, it passes through and carries all current stacks to the next enemy hit. Don't stand behind low-HP minions.
	A ghostly soul patrolling a path; a mark above your head	Provides vision. If she and her Oathsworn support hit the same target, it deals significant % Max HP magic damage. Avoid fighting them when they focus the same person.
	Spears sticking out of enemies; a physical 'rip' animation	The core of her damage. Each spear increases the damage. If it kills at least one unit, the cooldown is fully reset and she refunds mana. If she misses the reset, she is vulnerable.
	The support turns into a ghost and is pulled into Kalista	A massive save or engage. The support can launch themselves at you for a knockback. Be ready to dodge the incoming support 'projectile' about 1 second after they vanish.

Respect

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spear stacking→The longer the trade goes, the more damage she builds. If she gets 5+ spears in you, she can likely execute you from 25% HP.
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stack transfer→If a minion has 10 spears and she kills it with and hits you, you now have 11 spears in you instantly. This is her primary way to one-shot in lane.
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Objective Control→Her has no damage cap on monsters. She will out-damage your Jungler's Smite every single time. Don't try to 50/50 Dragon or Baron.
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Level 6 Power Spike→ turns even the most immobile tank support into a heat-seeking Malphite ultimate. If she has a Nautilus or Leona, stay at max range.

Punish

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is on cooldown (14-8s early)→If she uses it to slow you but doesn't get a kill reset, she loses 60% of her threat. All-in her immediately before it comes back up.
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Attack Speed Slows (Exhaust/Abilities)→Since dash speed is tied to her attack animation, slowing her attack speed effectively roots her in place and makes her 'lag' between hops.
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Losing Vision→Kalista's basic attacks cancel if she loses vision of the target mid-hop. Step into a bush to force her to drop her stacks and cancel her AA.
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Early Game Range Disadvantage→She only has 525 range. ADCs like Caitlyn or Ashe can poke her every time she tries to last hit without letting her get close enough to start hopping.

Laning Tips

•Never stand directly behind a dying minion or you will eat a that transfers all previous stacks to you.
•Take short trades. She wins long ones because damage scales exponentially with the number of spears.
•If you are a support, pick someone with a reliable point-and-click slow or CC to cripple her mobility.
•Watch her mana bar. She relies on the mana refund to stay in lane; if she's low, she can't execute you.
•Kill her Sentinels. They take 2 hits and it denies her vision and information on your jungler.
•Steelcaps (Ninja Tabi) are incredibly effective against her as they reduce the damage of every single spear stack.

Teamfight Warning

⚠Prioritize her with Exhaust immediately. It guts her DPS and her ability to dodge skillshots via .
⚠Spread out when she has available; the support's impact area is quite large and can knock up your whole team.
⚠Don't chase her through a minion wave. She will use the minions to hop away and stack on you simultaneously.
⚠Check the ground for the mark. If she and her support are hitting different targets, their damage is significantly lower.
⚠Lock her down early. If she stays alive for more than 5 seconds, her will likely be enough to wipe your frontline.

AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached