Let's take a walk down memory lane.. But with knives!

Hello, and welcome to my Taka guide! This is only my second guide so please don't hate! Taka is probably my favourite character to play, because he's very stealthy and deals heavy damage, especially in Crystal power (my personal choice is Crystal over Weapon, but it's personal choice. I think CP is a better way to go with Taka though).

To start with, Taka is definitely a jungler. He CAN lane..but only if he really needs to. He can't solo the jungle as his low health and defence don't do him well at all, so a roamer is definitely good to have on your team over 2 junglers. Let's look at his perk and abilities.

House Kamuha (Heroic Perk) Every 5 seconds, Taka's next basic attack is replaced with a Mortal Strike. Mortal Strikes deal 40 (+25% weapon ratio) bonus damage and grant Taka a burst of move speed. Whenever Taka Mortal Strikes or uses an ability, he gains a stack of Ki, which speeds up his Mortal Strike timer by 0.9 secs and grants 25% cooldown speed. (5 Ki stacks max.)

The cooldown reduction on the skills is a NECESSITY for a CP Taka. Also, the burst of move speed granted when Mortal-Striking is very useful at keeping up with fleeing opponents. It's hard for them to escape if you get one hit on them.

Kaiten (A) Taka flips over his target, cutting it with his switchblade. Taka is invulnerable to damage & damage while in mid-air. Overdrive: The ability costs no energy.

When at 5 skill points and 5 stacks of Ki, you can literally use this move over. And over. And over.. Very useful, and high damaging.

Kaku (B) Taka throws a smoke bomb at his feet, vanishing from enemy sight and gaining move speed. This illusion ends early if he strikes a target or he takes direct damage. Turrets, Scout Traps and Flare Guns will see Taka while invisible. This ability heals Taka while he is invisible.

Do NOT enter a battle with this ability! Use it 1. To check bushes, and 2. To ESCAPE. If you use it before a battle, and you're losing, your life is over. Literally. Other than that, smart roamers use scout traps and flares to catch an invisible Taka.

X-Retsu (C or Ultimate) Taka bursts through his target, carving an X with his switchblades for lethal damage. The target suffers a mortal wound, reducing its healing by 50% and taking damage per second over the next 3 seconds. Grants 3 stacks of Ki.

Not much to say on this ability, but it deals heavy damage when playing CP and it's very good for dashing in and dashing out to deal damage.

Taka's early game is not strong. Like, at all. Do not even try fighting anyone except someone equally weak as you in the early game. This is especially applicable to a CP Taka, because his skills don't do enough damage yet and neither do his basic attacks.

Do not attempt 1v1s until obtaining at least an Alternating Current, which is when your damage output becomes at least somewhat strong. Keep jungling with your Roamer and gank when required, until later in the match.

Mid is Taka's best spot - late is okay, but a little bit worse. In the mid game, don't hesitate to fight the enemy's sniper or assassin, as they're probably equally as squishy as you, but you can vanish. They can't (unless they're a Taka or a Kestrel too, obviously).

In fight scenarios the ideal situation is to:

1. Begin with Kaiten, basic attack a few times, X-Retsu and get out of there, or
2. Begin with X-Retsu, use Kaiten and get out of there.

The purpose in both of those situations is so that you can get up Broken Myth stats first before using one of your abilities, so it can deal more damage.
Broken Myth stacks aren't necessary though, of course, but it'll help a darn lot if you can get them up first.

Like I have already said earlier, it is especially vital that you only use your Kaku when you need to get away (for example, at low health) or you feel it's necessary to keep up your Ki stacks (which is a lot of the time, vital).

In team fights, unlike heroes such as Blackfeather, being conservative with your ultimate isn't at all necessary. If you have a Clockwork or an Aftershock, along with five stacks of Ki, it recharges so fast you shouldn't worry. Don't use it on the roamer/highest-health opponent! It's a waste, considering you can kill their main source of damage first.

This is where we can see what Taka does well and what he does the opposite.

Pros (Crystal) -

Abilities deal a LOAD of damage.
Damage amplification with Broken Myth.
Abilities recharge very fast.
Good sustain.

Cons (Crystal) -

Low weapon damage (moderate damage with the Alternating Current).
Sustain can run out, although not often.
Relies heavily on abilities.

Pros (Weapon) -

High basic attack damage.
Crit damage is off the charts compared to other WP heroes with 5 stacks of Ki.
Sustain isn't really needed.

Cons (Weapon) -

Abilities are almost useless..
No sustain.
Limited vanish times compared to CP.

Here we'll see why I chose the items I did, along with their individual roles and how they benefit Taka personally.

Crystal -

Alternating Current - Attack speed for CP players. The bonus damage on every second hit also makes his basic attacks almost a viable option.

Broken Myth - Shield pierce and the amplification, I have noticed on Taka, is like WOAH. His ability damage is insane!

Clockwork - 50% cool-down + 5 Ki stacks cool-down is so strong. Use abilities rapidly and have no worries about sustain either.

Shatterglass - Just to get the extra damage. Why else?


Weapon -

Tornado Trigger - Attack speed, duh. 20% crit chance + damage is also nice, especially paired with a Tyrant's Monocle.

Serpent Mask - Lifesteal obviously. Gain health so fast.. the dream..

Tyrant's Monocle - Crit chance and crit damage are boss, paired with Taka's Ki stacks.

Sorrowblade - Extra damage. Why else?


Utility/Defence -

Journey Boots - Movement speed. It's really personal choice as to whether you get the boots, but in my opinion, I think every character is too slow without them.

Aegis - Use one of these against a hero or team that relies very much on their abilities, such as another Taka, a Celeste or a CP Blackfeather. It'll probably save your life a lot of times, to be honest.

Metal Jacket - Firstly, don't make this your primary defence. It's not as strong as it sounds. Use it only if you're against a WP SAW or a WP Ringo, otherwise they will tear. You. Up. Seriously. You can alternatively get an Atlas Pauldron, which really wears 'em down.

Situational items are items that are not exactly part of the build, they are items that you buy which are reacting to what the enemy team is building or doing (such as buying an Atlas Pauldron to counter a WP SAW or Ringo).

Besides the example above, here are other situational items that come in handy:

1. The Crucible.

- +600 Health
- Activate: Trigger Reflex Block for yourself and nearby team-mates.

The Crucible is an extremely useful item. See Skye's ultimate raining down on an ally during a team fight? Reflex Block. Need to get through Ardan's Gauntlet wall? Reflex Block. The item itself also gives +600 health, and it is especially useful if your team is without a roamer. Most of the time, roamers will grab this item, at least from what I have seen.

2. The Bonesaw.

- +50% Attack Speed
- +30 Weapon Power
- On Hit: Your basic attacks shred 7% of the target's armour for 6 seconds. Max 7 stacks.

All there is to say about the Bonesaw is that it is only ever very useful if the majority of your team is weapon power, or you feel as though you aren't doing enough damage, or you can see that the opponent is building heavily on the armour. Besides that, it isn't something I recommend often.

Thanks for reading this far into the guide! It's only my second one, and I hope you both enjoyed it and learnt how to use Taka well.

Sorry for any typos or information errors I had, and feel free to let me know of how I could improve my guide writing skills.

Thanks!

- inVain.




As a side note, when I said I prefer Crystal Taka over Weapon, it isn't meant to discourage you from WP - try both! See which one fits you better.