Introduction
Hello everyone, It’s me again, Kyari! I’m the author of different “How To” guides from the Unbiased Gamer. This is another AD carry tutorial to help you win and climb through the ranks instantly. In my opinion, Caitlyn is one of the best solo queue champions because she can bully laners to death. If you want to learn how to master this champion and dominate the early game going into season 12, here is the “How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12” guide that will tackle her skills, laning, runes, counters, items, and combos. I hope that you like this guide, and best of luck in the fields of justice!
No one wants to jump into complex things right away, so let’s start with her skills first. Caitlyn is a powerful early-game champion, and she can shove waves quickly because of her kit. You will probably win 90% of the bot lane matchup when the enemy AD carry is inexperienced dealing with her abilities. And to make things better, Caitlyn is really fun to play, and I recommend her for starters!
Caitlyn’s Skills
Passive: Headshot
Caitlyn will fire a guaranteed critical strike every six auto attacks. The damage also scales with her critical strike chance. Caitlyn will also get guaranteed headshots and double attack range when attacking netted or trapped enemies. This passive is also used for combos in her kit.Â
Q: Piltover Peacemaker
Caitlyn will charge her rifle for one second then fire a penetrating bullet that widens when it hits an enemy. The bullet will deal less damage on subsequent targets. Piltover Peacemaker is usually used to harass and bully enemy laners. This will also be your primary wave clearing ability, and it depletes a lot of mana, so use this skill wisely.Â
W: Yordle Snap Trap
Probably the most irritating AD carry ability, Caitlyn will set a rounded trap around the map. Yordle Snap Trap is used to zone enemies during team fights and the laning phase. The traps are hard to see on some skins, making them more irritating.Â
E: 90 Caliber Net
Caitlyn will use her gun to fire a giant net that slows her enemies. She will get knocked back when she shoots. This is the main mobility skill in her kit. You can use these to escape and chase enemies due to the knockback. 90 Caliber Net is also used for combos because of the crowd control.
Ultimate: Ace In The Hole
As she always says, Caitlyn never misses. She will charge her gun and line up for the perfect shot. And after charging up for a few seconds, the bullet will deal massive damage at a huge range. This is a single target ability. However, allies can still intercept the shot for their allied champion to prevent them from getting damaged and/or dying. Ace In The Hole is usually used as a last resort to finish an enemy champion.
How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12: Runes
Lethal Tempo
This is my primary rune choice because of the attack speed bonus. Lethal Tempo will allow you to stack headshots faster and deal massive damage during team fights. The additional attack range from this rune helps during team fights, too, making it harder for your enemies to get to you.Â
Fleet Footwork
An excellent alternative to Lethal Tempo if you prefer sustain rather than attack speed. Fleet Footwork also provides additional movement speed for every energized attack, so it will make Caitlyn a very nimble champion. Though, I still prefer Lethal Tempo because of the damage potential during team fights.Â
Presence of Mind
Caitlyn usually runs out of mana because of the required mana from her abilities. This rune will solve that problem by providing additional regen by attacking or eliminating enemies. I run this rune on 90% of my games.Â
Overheal
The usual rune partner of Fleet Footwork because of the additional shield for excess healing
Triumph
A good alternative to Presence of Mind. Triumph will help you with sustain during the early parts of the game. Not only that, but the additional gold from takedowns will also make reaching your power spike much easier. However, because of mana problems, I always choose Presence of Mind.
Legend: Bloodline
Since Caitlyn usually does not build lifesteal items to maximize damage output, Legend: Bloodline is an excellent rune that provides you the sustain she needs.Â
Presence of Mind
As Caitlyn, this rune will also be a big help for sustain because you usually have to spam your abilities for wave clear or to harass enemy champions.Â
Cut Down
The best rune to finish your precision rune tree. Cut Down will help to deal with tanks in the late game.Â
Secondary Rune Tree
Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm
These runes are a great alternative if you prefer to empower your late game more. I still prefer the Precision tree because of the sustain it provides during the early game.Â
How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12: Combos
With the newest season fast approaching, we still don’t know if Riot Games is going to nerf Caitlyn’s combos like the past few seasons. Here are some of the combos that are probably still going to work in the upcoming patch 12.1:
E > Q > Auto Attack
E > Q > Auto Attack > R
E > W > Auto Attack > Auto Attack > Auto Attack
W > Q > Auto AttackÂ
E > Galeforce > Auto Attack
W > E > Auto Attack > Auto Attack
E > W > Auto Attack > Q > Auto Attack
Flash > E > Galeforce > Auto Attack
Trick E > QÂ
Headshot Auto Attack Cancel: W > Attack Another Player > Headshot
Trap Cancel: Auto Attack > W
Here is a video guide for all the combos:
How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12: Laning
Early Game
In my opinion, this will be the most straightforward learning phase for Caitlyn. Also, only a few champions can counter Caitlyn during the laning phase, which is a plus for Caitlyn players. I suggest shoveling all of the waves and harassing them under the turret if you are against an AD carry that has a very weak early game. And in doing so, you will be able to force recalls and prevent them from last hitting the creeps and gain additional gold and experience points.Â
Remember that it is still essential to be vigilant and stay safe during the laning phase, so instruct your support to place deep wards to avoid being ganked.Â
On the other hand, if you are against fellow bully champions like Lucian or Draven, it is best to use your range to your advantage, harass them carefully, and manage your waves perfectly. It might be better to control your waves near your tower, too, if you are against engage/tank supports like Nautilus or Leona.Â
Overall, it will still fall down on what kind of matchup you will be playing during the laning phase, so carefully create your game plan during champion selection.
Additional tip: Whenever your wave pushes, always put traps around the enemy turret to make it harder for the enemy AD carry to farm the minions. You will also be able to deal massive damage every time they step on the traps unconsciously.Â
Mid Game
Like all other AD carries, you do not have to do anything crazy during the mid-game. The late game is where ADC’s shine. Just earn gold as much as you can by clearing minion waves and farming camps to hit that power spike.Â
Mid-game is where the teams will look for opportunities for the objectives, like the Dragon, turrets, or Baron. So, the best way to play during this part of the game is to play smart and get lane priority for wards and control.Â
Additional tip: Use your traps throughout the mid-game to zone your enemies easily.Â
Late Game
This is the phase where you will be the most critical asset of your team because of your damage-dealing potential. Always stay/play with your team because it is EXTREMELY vital that you do not get picked off randomly on any part of the map.Â
Abuse your auto attack range and stay behind your team during team fights and attack the closest enemy you see. It is also crucial that you use all of your traps to zone out enemy tanks to prevent getting picked off by the enemy mage/assassin. Caitlyn also has self-peel potential because of her 90 Caliber Net (E) and Yordle Snap Trap (W). As the team’s carry, you should STAY ALIVE as much as possible.Â
How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12: Items
Mythic
Galeforce
I build this item 99.9% of the time. The additional movement speed that this item provides makes it a lot easier for you to kite enemy champions. Additionally, you can also use the unique active from Galeforce to cancel your animations and/or survivability.Â
Kraken Slayer
A great mythic alternative to the Galeforce. I usually build this item if there are two or more bruisers on the enemy team, like Mundo or Ornn. However, I still prefer building the Galeforce because of the additional movement speed and advanced combos I can perform by buying it.
Immortal Shieldbow
Like the Kraken Slayer, I rarely build Immortal Shieldbow because I will miss out on a lot of damage potential. You should only build this item if your opponent’s team has a lot of poke or burst potential.
Legendary
Stormrazor
The additional damage from energized attacks will help you burst enemy champions. Not only that, but the bonus attack speed and critical strike chance are also pivotal to your AD items.Â
The Collector
This would be my primary item choice if I snowballed the early game. You will delete squishy champions in the game with your combos if you pair this item with the Collector.
Lord Dominik’s Regards
A viable alternative to The Collector. If at least two bruisers are on the enemy team, like Ornn and Mundo, I will always build Lord Dominik’s Regards instead of The Collector.
Infinity Edge
This will be your main AD item. Infinity Edge (IE) provides tons of damage output for Caitlyn because her Headshot damage relies on critical strike damage. Not only that, but IE will also empower your other Legendary items that have additional critical strike chance, like the Stormrazor.Â
Guardian Angel
I build this item 100% of the time if the enemy team has an AD assassin like Zed or Blue Kayn. Because of the newest item, “Axiom Arc,” which makes assassins a lot stronger, this item will be more important, especially this upcoming season 12.
Rapid Firecannon
Ever thought Caitlyn’s auto attack range was pretty OP? Rapid Firecannon will make it even harder for your enemies by adding 150 bonus range to your energized auto-attack. Synergize this item with Headshot and Stormrazor to make your enemies rage quit.Â
Bloodthirster
This is one of those items that I rarely build, but Bloodthirster is an excellent choice if you often find yourself getting bursted by the enemy team. I still prefer building Rapid Firecannon most of the time.Â
Mercurial Scimitar
The go-to item of AD carries if the enemy team has a lot of crowd control. Build this item against Malzahar, Warwick, Zoe, and the like.Â
Boots
Berserker’s Greaves
Build this item 100% of the time. It is not worth building the other boots because you will miss out on a lot of attack speed.Â
How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12: Counters
Honestly, I feel there are no counters to Caitlyn during the laning phase other than Ashe. It can even be argued that going against Ashe will be a skill matchup. Still, to make you prepared for different scenarios, I will be explaining how to deal with different potential AD carry and support counters.
Ashe
Because of your slow movement speed, Ashe will make the laning phase even harder for you. Both of you will have the same goal going into the laning phase: to harass and deny cs. To counter Ashe in the early game, you just have to do what she does but better (denying CS).Â
Respect Ashe’s engage potential, especially when paired with a tank/engage support. It is tough to escape her once she uses her Enchanted Arrow (Ultimate). I also suggest scale since you will be better in the late game.
Samira
Samira is weak during the early levels, so abuse your range and harass her to death. Like the Ashe matchup, you just have to respect Samira’s all-in damage. That is why I recommend saving your .90 Caliber Net to prevent her from engaging you. It will only be a problem if Samira is paired with a tank/engage champion, like Pyke, Leona, or Braum.Â
She might be able to out damage and/or burst you during team fights, though, because of her ultimate. Just keep your distance and play smart to prevent this from happening.
Varus
Because of his Living Vengeance stacks, it is tough to win trades against Varus. Start taking fights before level three to take a massive chunk of his health and force him to recall. Just keep your distance and sidestep his abilities as much as possible.Â
I suggest taking Cleanse whenever you face Varus since you won’t be able to escape once he catches you with his ultimate. I also recommend engaging with your support because Varus does not have any self-peel abilities, so it’s an instant kill once you catch him off guard.
Conclusion
That ends the “How To Carry Bot Lane With Caitlyn In Season 12” Guide. Caitlyn is not a complex champion by any means, but she has arguably the strongest laning phase out of all the AD carries, so I suggest adding her to your champion pool to easily win your ranked games! Just remember all of the tips mentioned above, and I assure you that you will instantly improve! Good luck on the rift, fellow summoner, and make the enemy AD carry rage quit!
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