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Wild Rift: A beginner’s guide to Samira

Samira is a unique champion that switches between Melee and Marksman. (Photo: Riot Games)
Samira is a unique champion that switches between Melee and Marksman. (Photo: Riot Games)

It’s been almost a month since League of Legends: Wild Rift released Samira, and she’s already received a few buffs in the last patch.

Despite that, there don't seem to be many players of the Desert Rose who enjoy playing her.

She only ranks fourth among champions in the bot lane in the Southeast Asian servers, with a 50% win rate in Diamond+, according to wildstats.gg.

If you need a hand with playing Samira in Wild Rift, we’re here to give you a few tips on Samira’s kit, build, and the best teammates for her.

Read on to learn how you can dominate the Rift with Samira.

Not your typical marksman

Samira is not your typical marksman champion; she uses two weapons, switching between a pair of black-powder pistols and a custom-engineered blade, and she dances with death as she does so.

Riot may have said that LoL’s Nilah is the first melee AD Carry, but Samira has some melee capabilities too.

Maybe that’s why some players prefer other long-range bot lane picks.

However, this unique champion has great potential, and her recent buffs will also help her.

Once you master this champion, she has the potential to be an unstoppable force.

Abilities and Gameplay

Samira's ult doesn't have a cooldown but you need to hit enemy champions continuously for six times to rank up her skills from E to S. (Photo: Riot Games)
Samira's ult doesn't have a cooldown but you need to hit enemy champions continuously for six times to rank up her skills from E to S. (Photo: Riot Games)

Daredevil Impulse (Passive)

Samira builds a combo by hitting attacks or abilities unique from the previous hit. Samira's attacks in melee range deal additional magic damage. Samira's attacks against enemies affected by Immobilizing effects will dash her to her attack range. If the enemy is Knocked Up, she also keeps them Knocked Up briefly.

Basically, every time you hit an enemy in a combo, Samira’s style “increases” from E, D, C, B, A, to S grade.

On top of that, you get an additional 3.5% movement speed each time Samira’s style levels up a letter. Once she reaches S level, your ultimate is unlocked.

This means you’d want to keep hitting enemy champions to be more effective with your skills and to be able to use your ultimate often.

Flair (Skill 1)

  • Samira fires a shot or swings her sword, dealing damage. If cast during Wild Rush, strike all enemies in her path upon completion.

Flair is a great way to damage enemies from a safe distance.

Since Samira deals damage at such a short range compared to other carries, you’d want to ultilise this along with your basic attack during the laning phase when you want to make the most out of your farm.

This skill is also great for chasing down enemies with low HP.

You can use your flash at the last minute to get right in front of the enemy and take them down with skill 1.

Blade Whirl (Skill 2)

  • Samira slashes around her for 0.75 seconds, damaging enemies twice for 264 physical damage (80+80% bonus) each, and destroying enemy missiles that enter the area.

The cool thing about Blade Whirl is you can block ranged attacks with it.

Whether it be Ezreal’s first skill or Jhin’s ultimate, you can press skill 2 and the Blade Whirl will deflect the missile and protect Samira from damage.

Wild Rush (Skill 3)

  • Samira dashes through an enemy (including structures) slashing enemies she passes through dealing 45 magic damage (45 + 20% bonus Attack Damage) and gaining 25% Attack Speed for 3 seconds. If Samira scores a takedown, Wild Rush’s cooldown is reset. Tapping this ability mid-dash will cast Flair.

This is where Samira seems to live dangerously, because her dash puts her up close to the enemy.

Be careful when doing this, and ensure the enemy support’s crowd control is on cooldown so you can execute combos more effectively.

You can also coordinate with your support to use crowd control on them before using a combo with skill 3.

A good combination that will help you reach S and activate your ultimate is: auto attack, skill 1, skill 3, auto attack, skill 2, auto attack, then ultimate.

Inferno Trigger (Ultimate)

  • Samira can only use this ability if her current Style rating is “S”. Samira unleashes a torrent of shots from her weapons, reducing her Movement Speed by 30% while wildly shooting up to 5 enemies around her 10 times over 2.23 seconds, each shot dealing 37 physical damage (5 + 30% Attack Damage). Each shot can critically strike. This ability deals only 25% damage to minions.

Samira's ultimate does not have a cooldown, but it’s locked with levelling up her skills with letters.

However, if you use her combinations correctly, you can easily keep triggering her ult in a teamfight and even give her more kills.

Items

There's a custom build that seems to work best for Samira, but if you're still feeling your way through, go for the Stylish Desert Rose build. (Photo: Riot Games)
There's a custom build that seems to work best for Samira, but if you're still feeling your way through, go for the Stylish Desert Rose build. (Photo: Riot Games)

One of the best builds to consider for Samira is to combine the following in order: Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge, Black Cleaver, Mortal Reminder, Phantom Dancer, Stasis Enchant.

Both Bloodthirster and Infinity Edge will give you extra crit to make your attacks more powerful.

The Black Cleaver is especially useful for Samira’s ultimate, as you can easily shred everyone’s armour with this item since her ult shoots through enemies multiple times. Once you’ve built these two items, you can participate in teamfights more effectively.

You can then double down with Mortal Reminder for more armour penetration and anti-healing. Phantom Dancer will also give Samira extra crit, attack speed, and its unique passive, Lifeline, which provides a shield if you take damage that takes your health below 35% of your max health.

If you’re playing her for the first time, you can also opt for some of the premade builds in-game, like the Stylish Desert Rose build. This would include the Stormrazor, which will give her extra attack damage, crit, and attack speed, Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer, Bloodthirster, and Guardian Angel for a resurrect since Samira tends to play more dangerously with a shorter range.

If you’re going against a team with lots of crowd control, you might want to consider switching from Stasis Enchant to Quicksilver Enchant for an uninterrupted ultimate attack.

Runes and Spells

Conqueror, Fleet Footwork, and Triumph are some of the runes that work well with her, and Exhaust and Flash are crucial to help her chase and lock down enemies. (Photo: Riot Games)
Conqueror, Fleet Footwork, and Triumph are some of the runes that work well with her, and Exhaust and Flash are crucial to help her chase and lock down enemies. (Photo: Riot Games)

Samira's keystones and runes should improve her damage as a carry and sustain her because she dives into enemies. Here are the runes you can equip to maximise Wild Rift Samira's potential.

Conqueror is Samira's best keystone because she strings attacks and abilities. As she stacks S, she also simultaneously gains Conqueror. It gives physical/magical vamp at max stacks against champions.

Fleet Footwork is a good option for a bad matchup because it helps Samira stay alive. At max stacks, it heals her and makes her move faster.

Triumph is a good option too. Samira can restore her health after a champion takedown, ensuring her survivability in a team fight. It also increases damage to severely severed enemies.

Exhaust reduces an opponent's movement speed by a set percentage, making it less likely that they can retreat if they are cornered. At the same time, it lessens the damage the enemy does to you.

For Samira's 1v5 potential, this effect is helpful. Barrier and Heal are alternate choices that offer similar benefits by shielding Samira and restoring her health, respectively.

Best Support Champions for Samira

Support champions with crowd control and engage tools, and ideally can tank damage are great picks alongside Samira in the bot lane. (Photo: Riot Games)
Support champions with crowd control and engage tools, and ideally can tank damage are great picks alongside Samira in the bot lane. (Photo: Riot Games)

The best supports to go with Samira are champions that can either tank a lot of damage, have a lot of tools to engage, or both.

Leona, Alistor, Rakan, Thresh, and Galio are great choices in that regard. Yuumi may not have both, but she gives extra mobility, shields, and damage peel, potentially making Samira a 1v5 champion with the right combination.

Have you tried playing Samira? Hopefully, these tips will help you understand her kit more and pick her more in the bot lane.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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