I don't play VG very much and I was always pretty low rank. I just math things out. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

I almost always save sprint boots for last. I mean, they don't give much to Taka. But if slots are full and you need defense, sure, why not get it earlier.

I pretty much always go Crucible and occasionally Aegis. Fountain doesn't really work on a guy who is only useful for two seconds, and then has to wait ten seconds to be useful again.

Also, I don't mention using Kaku aggresively because I like saving it as much as possible, until it is obvious that you would get a free kill if you used it. And at that point, most people will probably know they can use it without me saying so.

If you math it out Tyrant's Monacle is pretty terrible unless you have tons of weapon power.

I think a Tyrants Monacle would work well

Mate this guide is 100% spot on. Thank you and well done. I very recently saved up enough glory to purchase Taka and have come to the same conclusion on virtually every point you make.

I originally planned to play Taka with a weapon build - which looked like it would synergise awesomely with his auto-crit and lifesteal heroic perk. However I quickly realised that I was mostly just opening with X-Retsu, using Kaiten and getting in a couple of basic attacks before getting the hell out of there. Which meant the damage from all my weapon items wasn't really being utilised effectively.

I then started playing around with crystal builds, with the aim of maximising Taka's burst potential. Here is my 2c:
- Frostburn: a fantastic passive but generally unnecessary given Taka's fantastic gap-closing abilities. Plus the bonus energy and energy regeneration stats are largely wasted on Taka. Agreed that it's usually only worth buying to support teammates who have trouble sticking to their targets (eg Krul, Joule).
- Eve of Harvest: the lifesteal looks very attractive, but like the OP pointed out, Taka usually opens an attack at full health, in which case all that initial lifesteal goes to waste. Also, since he has the best evasive ability in the game, I'm happy to rely on Kaku to keep me alive and put the stats into offensive burst instead. Plus the bonus energy and energy regeneration stats are largely wasted on Taka. Having said that, it is useful in allowing you to get back into the fray at low health and perhaps survive long enough to help finish off those last enemy heroes.
- Alternating Current: deals a ton of damage in long fights when combined with Shatterglass(es) but as I mentioned, Taka usually lends himself to a "get in and get out" playstyle.
- Broken Myth: fantastic when the enemy team have counter-built shields. As the OP pointed out, unfortunately Taka usually opens at full health, but should he re-enter the fray after a Kaku retreat, he'll hit like a truck.
- Aftershock: essential item for dealing max burst damage. Still learning when I can space out my X-Retsu and Kaiten to get two procs. Remember, Kaku can be used offensively to get another proc.
- Shatterglass: the more crystal power the better, not much else to say.

Questions:
- How often and when do you upgrade your Travel Boots to Sprint Boots? Atm, I usually only upgrade mine after all my other slots are finished or if I have 900g and don't think I'll get a chance to upgrade anything else.
- I'm interested to hear how many and which defensive items you usually buy and in what circumstances (I'm still trying to find that offense/defense balance). Eg, when do you go Fountain of Renewal over Crucible?

Just recently there has been numerous accounts of Korean spam and advertising on VaingloryFire, all of which were under the guise of hero guides. Unfortunately they have not been removed from the 'updated' section of the website and are kept hidden periodically, using the 'Archive' function that can be accessed when editting guides. It is unknown if the moderators or Mowen herself knows about this.

Can someone ban fdsfdsf67? He's spamming an ad in a language we don't understand.