Road to Ninja - Tsukuyomi Guide

Passive - Shingetsu & Mangetsu

Tsukuyomi wields Shingetsu in his left hand and Mangetsu in his right hand. When these weapons damage an enemy they become empowered. Empowered Shingetsu gains a 50% cleave and restores mana. Empowered Mangetsu deals bonus damage and restores health.

Note: This is a good passive, but all you have to remember is every other auto cleaves, which is useful for lane clear.

#1 - Dark Moon Shuriken

Tsukuyomi calls upon Shingetsu, summoning forth a Dark Moon Shuriken. The Shuriken damages enemies and stops on gods, sticking into them. If Tsukuyomi gets close to the god he retrieves the Shuriken and reduces its cooldown.
After casting this ability Shingetsu's next Basic Attack becomes ranged. This attack steals Movement Speed from the enemy hit.

Note: This is Tsukuyomi's best ability, it does not work as a standard slow so it bypasses everything that is normally associated with the slow debuff. It is very safe and does a lot of damage, it is also great lane clear. Do note that the movement steal is on the auto attack after and not on the actual shuriken.

#2 - Kusarigama
Shingetsu's and Mangetsu form themselves into a Kusarigama. Tsukuyomi swings the weapon to his left and right, damaging and disarming enemies hit. He then swings the weapon forward with more force stunning enemies hit. While channeling Tsukuyomi gains 25% Movement Speed.

Note: This is where most of Tsukuyomi's utility comes from. The disarm and a stun is incredibly useful when boxing, especially other top assassins like Arachne and Bakasura. This is also Tsukuyomi's best jungle clear and most damaging non ultimate ability.

#3 - Silver Moon Caltrops
Tsukuyomi holds Mangetsu aloft as it erupts into starlight, sending stars falling to the ground. As they land they become Caltrops, damaging enemies in the area and slowing them for 1.5s. Enemies who move inside this Caltrop field take damage and are slowed again.
After casting this ability Mangetsu's next Basic Attack becomes ranged. This attack deals bonus True Damage.

Note: A deceivingly good ability, if someone isn't paying attention Silver Moon Caltrops will rack up damage very quickly. It is also fantastic area denial and can indirectly lead to a lot of kills.

#4 - Piercing Moonlight
Tsukuyomi channels the power of the Full Moon, gaining Crowd Control immunity and 30% Damage Reduction. He fires forward 4 powerful piercing beams of moonlight. Enemies hit take damage and become marked. Each beam can hit up to 3 enemy gods. After firing all beams Tsukuyomi charges forward at light speed, dashing through all enemies in the order they were hit, dealing heavy damage. Tsukuyomi will end his dashing at the final enemy hit.

Note: This is Tsukuyomi's ultimate ability, and it really feels like an ultimate, but that relies on the player. This is both his best and worst ability, depending on the player. It can do a ton of damage, especially to one god, however it can put Tsukuyomi greatly out of position which can lead to even more deaths than kills if used incorrectly.

Pros: High damage at all stages of the game Excellent zoning with Silver Moon Caltrops Great chasing potential with Dark Moon Shuriken Good boxing with Kusarigama High poke damage with Dark Moon Shuriken and ranged basic attacks Good match-ups with other high tier junglers such as Mercury and Arachne He's really hot

Cons: Low mobility, only having increased movement speed from Dark Moon Shuriken Poor escape options, only have slows Highly susceptible to CC All-in ult in Piercing Moonlight, which can put Tsukuyomi in a bad position very quickly Low sustain, only having the slight HP and Mana restore on Shingetsu & Mangetsu . .

---

Soul Eater is absolutely Tsukuyomi's best item no matter what game mode you are playing. Every stat on the item is one he benefits from. It bolsters his low sustain, provides power, % penetration, cooldown, and ability lifesteal.

---

Hydra's Lament is a fantastic item on becuase of the amount of synergy it has with his kit. Both Dark Moon Shuriken and Silver Moon Caltrops give Tsukuyomi a ranged basic, which benefits from the Hydra's passive. The only time I would not recommend Hydra's Lament is if you were looking to build tanky, such as in the solo lane.

---

Serrated Edge did not benefit Tsukuyomi originally but with the reworked passive it is absolutely one of his best items. Providing basic attack power and lifesteal per non ultimate ability on cooldown, Serrated Edge synergizes with Hydra's Lament to make his basic attacks more powerful. His abilities bring this a step further by making those basic attacks ranged. Plus this item, Serrated Edge, along with Soul Eater makes a total of 30% penetration, almost the cap with two items!

---

The Sledge is my go to defensive option on Tsukuyomi. It provides good power and a lot of health, and provides both protections when fighting enemy gods. This is great for my OCD as only one type of defensive item bothers me. The Sledge also has Crowd Control Reduction, or CCR, which is a fantastic stat becuase it helps alleviate one of Tsukuyomi's cons, weakness to CC .

---

Void Shield is a great choice for a little of offense and defense. This item is excellent in solo, or just against a physically heavy enemy team.

---

Arondight is a really interesting item on Tsukuyomi. It provides a lot of power and some cooldown, which is good, but what it really brings is its passive. The bonus movement speed and power is great for quickly dispatching another target after using Piercing Moonlight. It has both offensive utility as well as defensive, by functioning as a repositioning tool.

---

Transcendence is actually an item I would mostly avoid on Tsukuyomi. While not the worst option, there is not really anything this item provides that Soul Eater does not do better. Transcendence has some use specifically in other game modes but I would strongly advise against it in Conquest.

---

I get that Golden Blade is a top tier item on Bakasura and Mercury, but Tsukuyomi is not an attack speed character. He has great jungle clear in his abilities, such as Kusarigama. It is not good on Tsukuyomi, do not buy it.

---

It's tempting to see big crits on a melee assassin, it really is. It is not good on Tsukuyomi for the same reason Golden Blade is not good. I have tried it, and while funny, it does not deliver any more than the average power build. Take my word for it on this one.

Jungle

Jungle I strongly believe is Tsukuyomi's best role, is is where you can realize his full potential and where I would recommend playing the him the most.

Rule of thumb: When jungling always be getting EXP or Gold somewhere, you should never be doing nothing, especially in high level games.

When jungling as Tsukuyomi you want to make sure you start the game with the items I highlighted in the jungle build to get you on the right track. You will start at the speed buff with your mid laner.

Once speed buff is cleared go straight to blue buff to help your solo laner clear the buff. From there, go to the closest back camp and use your Hand of the Gods for optimal clear. You want to get to mid as fast as possible.

Once you get near mid lane you have several decisions in front of you. If your mid laner has good clear, you could attempt to do the mid camps. However, it is risky as the enemy jungler could steal them on their way to mid lane, especially if it is Bakasura. If you picked up Blink Rune you could go for a kill on the enemy mid lane. However this works best with a mid lane you have strong communication with, so you may be unable to coordinate with a random effective to get the kill. Typically, you would clear the lane with your mid and go to your red buff. If you managed to kill either the enemy mid or jungler I would try to invade their red buff as long as your mid is on the same page. Tsukuyomi has an incredibly strong level 2, you should have both Dark Moon Shuriken and Kusarigama and very few characters can stand up to both those abilities in the early game. So picking a fight early is typically something you would want to do if you can get away with it.

Your next goal is to reach level 3. After clearing either your or your enemies red buff, you should do your back camps. If you took theirs, do your own red buff. From there you might look to see if a gank on duo or even solo is available, but typically you just start your jungle rotation over.

Make sure you do your speed buff on cooldown to avoid the enemy jungler stealing it, which would put you at a massive disadvantage. Otherwise, I would try and back at 900 Gold to get your Combat Boots for the movement speed to help your clear.

Before level 5, your priority should be farming. Only gank if the opportunity presents itself, ganking is significantly harder to pull off without Piercing Moonlight. Once you have your ult you can realistically gank any lane, look for punishing enemy gods who are pushed up in lane. You have more time to use your kit fully on pushed up enemy gods.

Ganks should almost always start with either Dark Moon Shuriken or Kusarigama. Surprising the enemy lessens the chance for your Kusarigama to be interrupted, leading to the high damage and a stun. Opening with Dark Moon Shuriken and the basic attack afterwards helps close the gap to engage the enemy god with Kusarigama faster.

Solo
In the solo lane Tsukuyomi is a bully, which means that his goal is to deal enough damage to make the enemy solo laners leave or die. Remember, in solo for the enemy to back is effectively the same as them dying, EXP and Gold denial is key.

When it comes to the solo lane, I usually try to hit the enemy solo laner before the game starts. Using the good range on Dark Moon Shuriken, I find them in their jungle or lane and hit them to get a bonus stack on my warriors blessing. Unless there are multiple gods there for some reason, you should be in no danger of dying.

In lane it is just a matter of managing your poke with theirs, the build I recommended has only the Chalice of Healing, so there is a decent chance they have more sustain than you do and you should pick fights knowing this.

Using your superior poke as Tsukuyomi is the key in winning the lane. Never take a melee fight unless you know you can win and wait for the the enemy to be low enough to go in for the kill. Hitting level 5 and immediately using Piercing Moonlight can sometimes catch the enemy solo off guard with the damage you deal and can result in a cheeky kill. I would only advise this is they are pushed up and you are confident you can win the fight after.

I would advise building into more defense in the solo lane as opposed to jungle. As solo you still have a role to fill to your team, which is usually diving the mage or back line, and for this you need to be slightly bulkier. Items like Void Shield and Mantle of Discord are good options that should keep you alive a little longer.

If all goes well you should be able to start rotating by the time you have your second relic, or level 12. Ideally your enemies tier 1 tower should be down and you have room to roam and push your solo EXP and Gold on the enemy team. Using the great damage and tools Tsukuyomi has at his disposal to help your team in the team fights.

Support
Though I honestly would not play Tsukuyomi in any other role than jungle and sometimes solo, there is an ever so slight support potential. The CC and control provided by Kusarigama and Dark Moon Shuriken is fairly high, and with the base damage can lead to some snowball in the duo lane. However this is mostly something that skilled players could get away with for fun and is not something I would do in any serious environment.

ADC
Ranged basic attacks means Tsukuyomi is basically a hunter right? Wrong, very wrong. Tsukuyomi does have really good poke and range with Dark Moon Shuriken.He also has good kill potential through the use of his kit, but that's just it, he needs his kit. In the early levels he lacks the pressure needed in the duo lane and will mostly be sitting under tower. Not to mention he simply does not have the DPS that a normal hunter would for objectives. I would not advise this as Tsukuyomi just doe not bring the same thing to the team that a hunter does.

Mid
The last Conquest role to talk about is the mid lane. Tsukuyomi mid has pretty much the same game plan as any assassin mid, get enough early kills on the enemy mid laner and snowball the game. It can work sure, but mostly its just a waste of Tsukuyomi's talents. A mage will almost always have better clear, leading to an EXP and Gold deficit that eventually the whole lobby will feel. Once again, I would not advise this aside to maybe have some fun in casuals with a confident team.

Other Game Modes
Tsukuyomi plays similarly in pretty much every other game mode. The goals is to quickly pick off weak or out of position targets with Dark Moon Shuriken and kusrigama to get a positive for your team. With Tsukuyomi's lack of mobility and range, you can play further back than other assassins and help your frontline with the constant damage from Silver Moon Caltrops. Once the teamfight is raging and a few targets get low use Piercing Moonlight to do damage and get into the backline to finish off the weak gods.

I think Tsukuyomi is worth of being on any team comp in any game mode. Just be wary of the more teamfight oriented gamemodes like Arena and Clash as it is very easy for Tsukuyomi's lack of mobility and CC vulnerablility to get punished, leading to him being a detriment. Stick close to your team and only fully commit to a fight if you are confident that you can win the fight and your team is with you. My last piece of advice is once again be careful using Piercing Moonlight, it is so easy to get forced out of position using his ultimate. Just know where you will end up and you will do fine.

---

---

---

---

The movement speed steal from Dark Moon Shuriken and the movement speed buff from Kusarigama stack! Use this to close the gap extremely quickly.

You can hold the ranged basic attacks from Dark Moon Shuriken and Silver Moon Caltrops forever! Use those abilities in base or before a fight to catch the enemy off guard with unprompted ranged basic attacks.

Use your Kusarigama right after ulting to potentially stop any counterplay with the disarm or secure the kill with the stun.

When in a melee boxing match, such as in the solo lane, put the Silver Moon Caltrops at your feet and kite the enemy in them for easy damage.

If you are fleeing an engagement, throw the Silver Moon Caltrops in front of you to dissuade the enemy from chasing.

A target that is directly in front of you will get hit by all 3 parts of Kusarigama without you having to move your camera!

Killing someone with Piercing Moonlight will give you the ranged basic attacks from Dark Moon Shuriken and Silver Moon Caltrops!

Even if you kill someone with the beam portion of Piercing Moonlight, you will still dash to where they died.

To dash to a god in Piercing Moonlight you must damage them with a beam first.

Sometimes it is best to use Piercing Moonlight as a defensive tool such as Purification Beads, do this by facing away from an enemy god when casting. Useful against Pillar of Agony and No Escape

When in a melee fight, keep using Dark Moon Shuriken and benefit from the cooldown reduction from picking up your shuriken!

Dashing in Piercing Moonlight makes Tsukuyomi untargetable, not damage immune!

It is possible to use Aegis Amulet on all 4 beams of Piercing Moonlight, negating his entire ultimate!

Save your Silver Moon Caltrops until after the enemy god uses their leap!