How to Play Inkshadow — TFT Set 11: Inkborn Fables
Welcome to our TFT trait guide series, where I’ll be covering the Inkshadow trait and how to play it. I’ll be going over how Inkshadow works, analyzing each champion, and go through some potential team comps.
Inkshadow is a new trait coming to Set 11 that grants unique items for the team. Similar to the Zaun trait from Set 9, activating the trait will give you unique items to place on your champions.
Let’s get right into the guide.
If you haven’t checked out all of the Set 11 information yet, check out out Set 11 Reveal Page!
How Inkshadow Works
Inkshadow Trait Bonus
Gain unique Inkshadow items. Inkshadow champions gain bonus damage and damage reduction. Which Inkshadow items you get changes each game.
- (3) 1 Item, 5% bonus damage and damage reduction
- (5) 2 Items, 15% bonus damage and damage reduction
- (7) 4 Items, 20% bonus damage and damage reduction
Champions: Jax (1), Aatrox (2), Senna (2), Volibear (3), Kai’Sa (4), Udyr (5)
The Inkshadow trait grants you additional and special items that you can use. With these types of traits, the community will eventually figure out which items are the strongest, and play around that.
You also don’t need to activate to trait to check which items you will get. Simply hover over the trait on the sidebar to see which items you’ll get at each Inkshadow tier.
Inkshadow Items
There are currently 6 different Inkshadow items you can get from the trait. Here’s a rundown of the 6 items.
Tattoo of Bombardement
Every third attack fires bolts at two lowest percent health enemies which deal 60% Attack Damage as physical damage.
Tattoo of Force
Whenever the holder acquires a new target they run quickly to and briefly stun them, dealing 250 magic damage, and double the stats from this item for 4 seconds.
Tattoo of Fury
Deal 35% bonus damage to targets below half health. On takedown, gain 25% Attack Speed for 6 seconds.
Tattoo of Protection
Gain a 40% max Health Shield after casting the first time each combat. When it breaks, grant 40% of this shield amount to the two nearest allies.
Tattoo of Toxin
Damage applies a toxin that deals an additional 25% of that damage over 3 seconds and 44% Wounds the target.
Tattoo of Vitality
Attacks heal the holder for 3% of their max Health and deal the same amount as bonus magic damage.
Inkshadow Synergy
Here’s a list of the traits you can branch into from the Umbral units:
- Warden (Jax)
- Ghostly (Aatrox)
- Bruiser (Aatrox)
- Sniper (Senna)
- Duelist (Volibear)
- Trickshot (Kai’Sa)
- Behemoth (Udyr)
- Spirit Walker (Unique to Udyr)
There’s only 5 units in the Inkshadow trait, but there isn’t any overlap. We have three different frontline traits with Warden, Bruiser, and Behemoth.
As we look at the units, the damage type leans toward AD with units like Senna, Kai’Sa, and Udyr. The frontline units do deal magic damage with their abilities, but they likely won’t be carries.
Volibear can potentially be a carry, but that’s likely to be in a Duelist centered comp rather than an Inkshadow one.
Inkshadow Champions
Let’s briefly go over each Champion in the Inkshadow trait and what you can do with them. To check the updated stats and ability values, be sure to check each Champion Page.
Jax (1) — Inkshadow + Warden
[Link to Champion Page]
Jax is the first Inkshadow unit and he’s a straightforward tank with a defensive ability with some damage and a stun. The Warden trait will be useful for putting together a simple early game frontline. I doubt Warden will come in handy late game for Inkshadow, but it’s possible.
Aatrox (2) — Inkshadow + Ghostly + Bruiser
[Link to Champion Page]
Up next, we have Aatrox, who’s a solid 3-trait unit. His ability Shreds enemies (reducing MR), which is quite strong. However, Inkshadow appears to be a mostly AD based trait, so he likely will be better used in other comps.
Overall, he’s a solid pickup due to the ability to flex between comps in the early game.
Senna (2) — Inkshadow + Sniper
[Link to Champion Page]
Up next, we have Senna who is a 2-cost Sniper. While the Sniper trait doesn’t synergize with Kai’Sa, Senna’s ability will buff up adjacent allies to her left and right. This makes her a solid unit to play alongside Kai’Sa for the Inkshadow trait and AD buff.
Outside of Inkshadow comps, Senna can also be utilized to buff up other AD carrys like other Snipers.
Volibear (3) — Inkshadow + Duelist
[Link to Champion Page]
Up next, we have Volibear, a 3-cost Duelist. It’s possible that Volibear can be a reroll carry, but Duelist traits generally push levels for aggression rather than reroll to win out.
His ability empowers his attacks, dealing magic damage, so Shred effects like Aatrox’s ability can be useful. Overall, I don’t expect Volibear to be in Inkshadow comps, but will likely see play in Duelist comps.
Kai’Sa (4) — Inkshadow + Trickshot
[Link to Champion Page]
Kai’Sa is the 4-cost Inkshadow, and she likely will be the main carry of the trait. Her Trickshot trait helps her deal more damage, and the extra items from Inkshadow can empower her further or buff up other units.
Her ability is also mainly damage focused, so if her numbers are good, Kai’Sa carry looks to be a simple and straightforward comp to play.
Udyr (5) — Inkshadow + Behemoth + Spirit Walker
[Link to Champion Page]
Lastly, we have Udyr who will help Inkshadow comps hit their ceiling. Since the Inkshadow comps don’t overlap classes, you can simply replace a lower-cost unit to stay at (3) Inkshadow or use Udyr to reach a higher tier.
This will likely depend on what items you get from the trait, but overall, he’s a strong addition. His kit makes him a very capable late game carry with survivability and damage.
Inkshadow Best Augments
For this section, I’ll be covering some Augments that particularly synergize with the trait. Lots of Augments are universal, like economy based Augments or item Augments, but I’ll try to cover particular synergies to look out for.
The set has yet to come out on PBE yet, so I’ll only take a look at the trait specific Augments. I’ll definitely be back to add more as we learn more.
You can check out the full list of Augments here.
Passing the Canvas
Open an Inkshadow Tattoo armory. Gain a Jax and an Aatrox.
This Augment allows you to get an extra Inkshadow item, which may or may not be good. Since we don’t have enough testing, we can’t say for sure how impactful these items are.
If it’s anything like Zaun from Set 9, certain Inkshadow items can be very powerful. If we equate Inkshadow Items to Artifacts, this Augment is similar to opening an Ornn Armory.
Cybernetic Augments
Your champions holding an item gain 250 Health and restore 3 Mana per second.
Cybernetic Augments grant bonuses to champions holding items. Since the Inkshadow trait gives additional items, you’re able to easily spread items onto your entire board.
Furthermore, you can always take Inkshadow items off champions by benching the trait, allowing you to replace those items easily.
This helps negate the potential downside of spreading your items out in the early to mid game.
Inkshadow Team Comps
With the meta settled for the most part, here are some of the standout Inkshadow comps.
As the player base plays more and more games, stronger meta comps will definitely rise up or old comps may be nerfed. Be sure to stay up to date on the current meta at our TFT Team Comp Tier List.
Vertical Inkshadow
[Link to Full Guide]
This first comp uses a the Vertical Inkshadow trait and builds around carrys like Kai’Sa, Xayah, and Udyr. This comp can be risky since two of your secondary carrys are both 5-cost units, which are difficult to find consistently.
Your mileage will also vary depending if you’re able to get a strong Inkshadow item for Kai’Sa and Udyr.
Trickshot Bruiser
[Link to Full Guide]
Up next, we have a comp that doesn’t go deep into Inkshadow, but builds around Kai’Sa as the carry instead. With this, you can put more into traits like Trickshot, Bruiser, and Storyweaver.
Udyr is still a great late game unit, and this team comp has more high quality units instead of going vertical.
Senna Gnar Reroll
[Link to Full Guide]
This last comp uses Senna as the main backline carry. Gnar and the Warden units make up the frontline, with Inkshadow being a small splash into the comp.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out our meta team comps page, or head to our Team Builder to try and come up with your own comps.
