Currently, there are many powerful champions appearing in the top lane, with the hot meta champions falling into three main categories: hyper carries, team supporters, and split-pushers. However, there are some champions at the top of the meta that can sometimes fulfill multiple roles in a match with their enormous strength.
Here are the strongest top lane champions in the 10.4 update:
Ornn
Advantages: powerful skills, free item upgrades, can burst down squishy champions quickly.
Disadvantages: skill shots, can run out of mana early game.
Ornn is one of the strongest and most viable tank champions in the current meta. His skill set meets all needs for himself and his teammates: hard crowd control, damage burst, wave clear, or percentage health damage. Even more amazing is Ornn’s ability to upgrade items for free, equivalent to 500 – 2000 gold. Therefore, as the game progresses, Ornn increasingly proves his strength.
The Resolve rune tree is essential for Ornn as it provides stable health. If the opponent is careless and backs off, Ornn can demolish turret armor with Demolish. The Inspiration secondary tree helps Ornn ease through the laning phase and safely progress to the super strong late game.
Skills
Ornn’s skill priority will be R > W > Q > E. Maxing W first as it provides Ornn with huge percentage health damage for fights and wave clearing. Q also helps clear waves quickly and creates terrain for Ornn to ram into. Finally, E is for escape or chase capability.
Playstyle
Ornn’s top goal is to farm evenly in the early game, steadily increasing his power over time with his unique item upgrade ability. Once he has a few essential items, Ornn can split-push or move with teammates and initiate fights easily with his ultimate, Call of the Forge God.
Aatrox
Advantages: extremely strong survivability, does not require many resources to enhance his skill set, contributes significantly in team fights.
Disadvantages: long cooldowns, many skill shots.
High damage output and healing are the ultimate weapons of this Darkin Blade. Additionally, Aatrox’s quick wave clear is a positive sign for helping the jungler invade the enemy jungle. Aatrox can also outplay enemies with unexpected skill + Flash maneuvers.
The Precision tree suits Aatrox best. Among them, the Conqueror rune helps Aatrox deal and heal significant damage. The remaining runes have straightforward purposes to help Aatrox survive more resiliently in fights. The secondary Resolve tree also helps Aatrox heal more and be slightly tougher.
Skills
Aatrox’s skill priority is R > Q > E > W. Since the Darkin Blade (Q) is Aatrox’s main damage skill, many jokingly say this is an upgrade from Riven’s Triple Strike. With the Q skill, you can poke, clear waves, knock up, kite,… very creatively. You should practice various combos with Q for maximum effectiveness. Next is E, as this skill helps Aatrox engage or escape from enemies. Finally, W, as it has the least impact.
Playstyle
Try to poke opponents with the passive, Deathbringer’s Stance, and Q whenever possible. This combo will be more effective if you combine it with E. Aatrox can also play freely because sometimes 1v2 situations are not difficult for him. Especially when Aatrox has his core items, this champion becomes a powerful split-pusher. At the same time, Aatrox will look for a good angle to Teleport and focus on taking down the backline of the enemy team.
Sett
Advantages: Strong 1v1, does not need many resources, extremely powerful in team fights.
Disadvantages: lacks quick engage skills, can be kited easily.
Sett’s skill set is incredibly strong with hard crowd control, percentage health damage, and his ability to “carry” enemies contributing significantly in fights. The weakness is the lack of blink or mobility skills, making him susceptible to being kited by mobile champions. This weakness can be mitigated by choosing the right angles to engage in fights.
The Precision tree is often chosen by Sett. In this tree, Conqueror helps Sett stack up quickly with his passive and Q. The other runes in both the primary and secondary trees aim to enhance Sett’s survivability.
Skills
Skill priority for Sett is R > W > Q > E. In which W is the main skill for farming and fighting. You need to hold this skill and use it at the right moment for maximum efficiency. Q is maxed second to ensure you can quickly activate the passive from Black Cleaver or Trinity Force and deal continuous damage.
Playstyle
Try to farm if possible in the early game because Sett is very strong even with just a few item components. If the opponent is a melee champion, execute the EQW combo quickly and back off so that target cannot retaliate. The primary goal is to build Trinity Force as soon as possible and then start split-pushing. Especially with Facebreaker (W), Sett can easily 1v2 while waiting for his own damage and shield. In team fights, if there is no Teleport, Sett needs to choose a very good angle to engage the enemy backline.
Darius
Advantages: strong 1v1, strong healing, can destroy immobile champions.
Disadvantages: lacks mobility, can become weaker in the late game.
Darius is a simple but very strong choice in the current meta, as he can deal enormous damage to melee champions. If matched against ranged champions or Pantheon, Darius will face significant challenges in lane. However, in the current meta, most strong top lane champions are melee, so there’s no need to worry too much. Darius is also one of the champions with the highest damage output in League of Legends at level 1, so he needs to snowball as early as possible.
The Precision tree is the most suitable for Darius. Among them, Conqueror will make Darius significantly stronger with its healing and damage capabilities. The remaining runes in the primary tree have very straightforward purposes. The secondary tree will mitigate Darius’s weakness in engaging enemies.
Skills
Darius’s skill priority will be R > Q > E > W. Among them, Q is the main poke and wave clear skill, with the important effect of healing and stacking Bleed. Next, max E because you need to engage enemies more than the slight added damage from W.
Playstyle
Darius is one of the strongest fighters in the early game. The passive Bleed + Conqueror combo can obliterate opponents whether they have support or not. Use E and the QW or WQ combo whenever the enemy wants to last hit, causing them to lose both health and minions.
In team fights, look for carries without escape skills to chase down; you can use Ghost or Flash to reach your target.