Heartsteel Elise Build

1. You play Heartsteel Elise.
2. You rush Heartsteel #1 and stack as much HP as possible.
3. You build items that scale and benefit from HP, then add Armor and MR depending on the enemy team.

Getting started

1. You rush Heartsteel #1 unless it is going to be hard to proc it - they are all ranged and just poke you. Then you start slow with Guardian's Horn instead.
2. Guardian's Horn is a surprisingly good item for its price. You can keep it for a very long time (or even have it as 6th item).

Item Order

1. Item Order after Heartsteel is flexible. You need to see what you need in particular game:
• Get Overlord's Bloodmail for more damage and AD.
• Get Warmog's Armor as anti-poke item (helps you stay in lane) and for some sweet HP.
• Get Unending Despair, if there are prolonged fights in which you can stay near enemies (or enemies near you). The items gets better, the more HP you get.
• Get various Armor and/or MR items to counter enemy team.
• Get Titanic Hydra for more fun, more damage and some survivability.

During fights

1. Your main damage and power comes from auto attacks - Grasp of the Undying and Heartsteel.
2. This is auto attack oriented Elise build, so do it! Especially if running with Titanic Hydra or Sundered Sky.
3. You can prioritize switching between champions in the fight, just to farm more Heartsteel procs.
4. Remember to consume your Heartsteel procs!

Adapting

1. You need to adapt your items to the game. Enemy team heavy on AP? Buy MR. They heavy on AD? Buy Armor. You need some damage? Well buy that.
2. Sundered Sky is very good damage item for this build (as #2-#4 depending on the game). It scales off your HP. It gives damage and pretty good sustain in fights. Remember to switch targets to maximize the effect!
3. You can use Bandlepipes to give your whole team an attack speed boost whenever you CC enemies. Great synergy with auto attackers.

Runes

1. Second Wind scales off with your HP, so it is going to be powerful sustain rune. You can use it by purposefully triggering it by letting enemies poke you a little or walking over some harmful spells.
2. Triumph is better (heal + gold), but if you want to have easier time with your mana, go Presence of Mind.
3. Remember to consume your Grasp of the Undying procs!

General

1. As Elise, you have your 'Ultimate' Spider Form (R) since lvl 1. You can lose track of enemy levels and get surprised by their level 6 spike and their ultimate. Watch out!
2. You can block enemy skillshots with your spiders! See a skillshot going your way? Just turn around and enter Spider Form (given you have any spiders)!
3. Elise Combo: Cocoon (E Human Form) -> Volatile Spiderling (W Human Form) -> auto -> Neurotoxin (Q Human Form) -> Spider Form (R) -> Venomous Bite (Q Spider Form) -> Skittering Frenzy (W Spider Form) -> auto -> then Rappel (E Spider Form) to chase or escape.

Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite (Q)

1. Neurotoxin (Q Human Form) scales primarily with enemy current Health, meaning you deal most damage when target is Full Hp. That means this damage still can deal good damage even without building any AP, especially against high HP tanks.
2. Venomous Bite (Q Spider Form) is execute ability. The less HP enemy has, the more damage it does. It has pretty high base damage, meaning even when playing off-meta builds without building any AP, you are still gonna have surprisingly high damage. Especially to low HP targets.

Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy (W)

1. You can use your Skittering Frenzy (W Spider Form) for bush control.
2. Elise W combo: cast Volatile Spiderling (W Human Form) in ANY direction. When you Venomous Bite (Q Spider Form), spider will fly to your target and explode.

Rappel (E Spider Form)

1. Use Rappel (E Spider Form) to dive safely, absorb turret shots, or escape after committing.
2. Do not waste it early in the fights, wait for the the good moment.
3. You can dodge a lot of skillshots with Rappel (E Spider Form). Even global ultimates, if you time it properly. Activate it just as the ability is about to hit you.

Human and Spider Form interactions

1. Elise is treated as melee in Spider Form and as ranged in Human Form. That means there are interactions with certain runes and items. Examples below.
• Grasp of the Undying - If you want to deal more damage, get more Health and heal for more with Grasp of the Undying - when auto from ranged, switch to melee (when animation is mid-flight)!
• First Strike - If you play Elise with First Strike rune, if you fire Human Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy (W) and change to Spider Form, you actually get the melee gold. This way you can farm and earn additional gold per minute by syncing W with First Strike. Credit: Nxal
• Hubris - if you score a takedown when in Spider Form, you get more Attack Damage (melee effect), than you would get in Human Form.

1. Spider Form is most effective at finishing off enemies with low health; Human Form's Neurotoxin does more damage to healthy foes.
2. When in Spider Form, Spiderlings will attack the target that Elise uses Venomous Bite on.
3. Elise's Spider Form and Spider Form abilities do not cost mana and can be prioritized when you are trying to conserve mana.