Yunara Bot Build & Guide — Patch 26.18

Overview

Yunara is a crit-based marksman whose passive Vow of the First Lands converts a slice of her critical strikes into bonus magic damage, so two damage types stack on the same right-click. Her early game leans on Cultivation of Spirit (Q) for attack speed and on-hit poke, Arc of Judgment (W) as a long-range (1150) slow, and Kanmei's Steps (E) for repositioning in lane. The kit looks simple — until Transcend One's Self (R) flips her into Transcendent State and her Q auto-activates, her W becomes a wider laser, and her E turns into a real directional dash.

Her game plan splits in two phases. Pre-6, play as a standard marksman: last-hit, use W to slow lockdown attempts from the enemy support, and trade only when your support is in lane. After R, you become a 5-6 second skirmisher with auto-attack uptime, mobility, and area damage — that is your window for objective fights and 2v2 all-ins. Bot lane suits her because the long bot wave gives her time to stack crit and the river offers tight side-line skirmishes where Transcendent State pays off.

Recommended Build

Starting items: Doran's Blade + Health Potion. The flat AD and lifesteal stabilise the early Q trades while you stack crit chance.

Core items (in order):

1. Infinity Edge — first item priority. Crit damage multiplier scales directly with your passive's bonus magic damage, so this is a double spike: more physical and more magic per crit.
2. Berserker's Greaves — the attack speed boots, now 30% attack speed instead of 25%; default for ADC unless the enemy team has 3+ hard CC, in which case swap to Mercury's Treads.
3. Yun Tal Wildarrows — 3000 gold since 26.15 (100 less) and 45% attack speed instead of 40%. Its Practice Makes Lethal passive banks crit chance permanently, up to a cap, every time you attack, and Flurry grants a burst of attack speed when you attack an enemy champion (on a cooldown your attacks shorten, and shorten more on crits). Pairs perfectly with Infinity Edge: once its stacks are full you sit at 50% crit chance, and Phantom Dancer takes you the rest of the way.
4. Phantom Dancer — crit + attack speed + the move speed buff fixes Yunara's biggest weakness: kiting power outside Transcendent State.
5. Lord Dominik's Regards — last item slot when the enemy front line has bought armor (Plated Steelcaps, Bramble Vest, Thornmail).

Situational items:

• Bloodthirster — vs poke lanes (Caitlyn, Varus, Xerath support). The lifesteal plus the overhealing shield gives you HP back without backing.
• Wit's End — vs AP-heavy enemy teams (e.g. Brand support + Syndra mid). The magic resist plus the on-hit magic damage stacks with your passive's magic component on crits.
• Guardian Angel — vs assassin dive comps (Zed, Talon, Rengar): the second-life passive turns your death into a peel window for your team.
• Mercurial Scimitar — vs hard single-target lockdown ulti (Malzahar R, Warwick R, Skarner R). Active cleanses crowd control, knock-ups excepted, and gives a move speed burst.
• Mortal Reminder — replace Lord Dominik's vs healing-stacking comps (Soraka, Aatrox, Dr. Mundo). Grievous Wounds (a debuff that cuts heals by 40% for 3 seconds) is essential when one of those is on the enemy team.

Boots: Berserker's Greaves is default. Mercury's Treads if enemy team has 3+ hard CC abilities you cannot dodge with the base Kanmei's Steps move speed alone.

Skill order: Max Q first (the attack speed steroid plus on-hit magic damage is your main DPS lever; it has no cooldown at all, it is gated by the Unleash your attacks build up), W second (the slow becomes harder to break out of), E last (rank 1 already gives the move speed you need; ranks add duration). Take R at levels 6, 11, 16.

Runes: Primary Precision with Press the Attack, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, Coup de Grace. Secondary Domination with Taste of Blood and Relentless Hunter. If the enemy support is a heavy lockdown threat (Leona, Nautilus, Blitzcrank), swap Domination for Resolve with Bone Plating (the next 3 hits you take from that champion within 1.5 seconds deal 30 to 60 less damage each, on a 55-second cooldown — buys time after a stun) and Overgrowth.

Key matchups

• Caitlyn: Range disadvantage in lane. Stand behind your minions to deny her 90 Caliber Net angles, and step up only when she has used Yordle Snap Trap (her W) on cooldown. Buy Bloodthirster second item if you fell behind.
• Vayne: Short range, and shorter on mana this patch: Tumble (Q) costs her 46 mana at rank 1 instead of a flat 30, so she has fewer free dashes before level 5. Use Arc of Judgment (W) on cooldown to slow her at 1150 — she cannot trade back from outside Tumble range. Save R for when she ults: invisibility does not break the slow if you already tagged her.
• Jinx: Damage race in mid-game. Both immobile, both crit-based. Yunara wins the all-in with Transcendent State because Jinx has no dash; force her to use Flash for Get Excited procs before you commit ult.
• Draven: Lane bully. Do not auto-trade level 1-3; he wins every short trade. Farm under tower, wait for jungle priority, and look for a counter-gank around minute 6-8 when his E (Stand Aside) is on cooldown.
• Lucian: Aggressive short-trade specialist. Hold W as your peel and E as your kite tool — his Relentless Pursuit (his E dash) gets him in, but he has nothing to disengage if you slow him with W and walk away.

Power spikes & win conditions

• Level 2: With Q + E you have your first real trade: walk in with Kanmei's Steps (move speed, higher while you walk at her), pop Q for the attack speed steroid, get one auto-attack rotation, and walk out. Strongest if your support has hard engage.
• Level 6: First Transcend One's Self unlocks the dash. Look for the all-in if their support is out of position or burned Flash earlier.
• Infinity Edge completion (~ minute 12-14): The first big DPS spike. Crit damage multiplier doubles your effective burst against squishies. Force a dragon fight or a 2v2 around this window.
• Yun Tal Wildarrows + Phantom Dancer (~ minute 22-26): Crit chance hits 75%, and the cheaper Yun Tal usually pulls this window to the early end of it. Now three auto-attacks out of four crit, and Phantom Dancer's move speed compensates for not having a base dash — your kiting becomes oppressive.

Common mistakes

• Using R as a panic button. Transcendent State is your all-in window, not your escape. Pop R before you commit — the dash on E comes from being in the state. Ulting after you are already CC'd wastes the timer.
• Auto-positioning at maximum range in teamfights. Yunara's natural attack range is 575, mid-table for a marksman and well short of Caitlyn's 650. If you stand at the back-line edge you cannot reach the priority target; step up one screen, kite with E dash on R, and accept that your second auto is what kills the target.
• Maxing W before Q. Some new players prioritise the long-range slow because the number is big. Q gives you raw attack speed and on-hit magic damage scaling — that is your DPS. Max Q first.
• Ignoring vision before Transcendent State. Once you ult you commit for 5-6 seconds. A flanking jungler (Hecarim, Lillia, Master Yi) ends that window before your dash is up. Buy a Control Ward every back into the mid-game.
• Wasting Untouchable Shadow on poke. The Transcendent State dash is your only real gap-closer. Save it for the all-in step, not for a small early-game move-speed boost.

Advanced tip

Layer the W slow under your team's hard CC, not on top of it. If your support is going for a Leona engage, hold Arc of Judgment until after the Leona Solar Flare (her R) lands. That way the slow extends the lockdown window rather than overlapping with it — the target spends maybe 2.5 seconds total stuck in place, which is enough to land 4-5 crit auto-attacks at full DPS.