These builds are designed to help you explore Taka's possibilities and find the play style and build path that suits you best. Try each of the build options above (there's four of 'em), and then make your own optimal build based on what worked best for you. Better yet, make a VGF guide at that point!

This guide excerpts the Taka Tactical Breakdown article we recently published over on the official VG site.

As a Koshka main, I'm really excited to add this new ninja to my list of go-to heroes and see what team comps are most effective in the wild. glhf!

Taka is a slippery hit-and-run assassin with the ability to dodge enemy abilities, vanish into smoke and dash to a distant target with blinding speed. His critical-strike frequency makes him a weapon-build natural, but his midgame shines bright when buying crystal power. Let's look at some build options ...

Tension Bow Taka's first strike will often decide the outcome of a fight. Layering Tension Bow's proc damage on top of a critical strike makes him that much more lethal.

Clockwork I use Kaku primarily as a tool to keep my Ki stacks at five. I watch the dial in the lower-left and whenever it is about to expire, I drop the smoke bomb and then try to make the most of my invisibility and move speed. That might mean ganking lane, but it often means a quick jungle invade for more farm. Without both an Energy Battery and Clockwork, it's difficult to keep up this strategy.

Tornado Trigger It's strange to combine Tension Bow with Tornado Trigger, but Taka just feels much better in jungle after securing at least the Blazing Salvo. Take this to the full Trigger and you feel that much more dangerous in fights.

Aftershock Combined with Tension Bow, that first strike will floor the enemy.

Tyrant's Monocle Every critical strike grants 1 Ki stack, and every stack of Ki increases the frequency of critical strikes. That's what makes the CRIT-TAKA build so scary.

Travel Boots I'm extremely aggressive with counterjungling, so I like a little extra move speed. But if you feel fast enough with the smoke bomb move speed buff, then take your Energy Battery to a Frostburn or Eve of Harvest instead of selling it off to make room for a sixth item in the late game.

Situational defense: Taka is fragile. You can't afford to ignore enemy builds on the Scoreboard. If you see an "all blue" or "all red" enemy team, adapt. In general, Crucible is nice because it gives you an additional window of relative safety after emerging from your smoke cloud.

Goal of this build: Make your hands glow in at least three ways. Don't forget Weapon Infusion and Crystal Infusion for a couple extra effects!

Seriously, though ... Starting Tension Bow/ Aftershock makes your first strike hit like a Mack truck. Follow that with the additional crit from Tyrant's Monocle and you have a truly frightening Taka.

Again, every critical strike grants 1 Ki stack, and every stack of Ki increases the frequency of critical strikes. Make your match, build and play style revolve around this single premise. Hence, the double Tyrant's Monocle. Sorrowblade adds significant extra punch to your crits, and Tension Bow is insult to injury.

All the damage from this crystal build comes from using your X-Retsu ultimate. Use it early and often, especially if you can isolate a single vulnerable target. In the late game, you can try out being hyper-aggressive with X-Retsu even if it leaves you at low health ... because low health is what makes the reworked Broken Myth so dangerous!

Eve of Harvest is an interesting item to experiment with because the additional lifesteal feels so good combined with the health returning from your House Kamuha heroic perk. I'm sure some people will feature eve in their builds much more prominently.