Umbral Glaive

Umbral Glaive is a Legendary Assassin item costing 2800 gold providing +60 Attack Damage, +15 Ability Haste, and +18 Lethality. It is the only offensive Legendary item in the game built specifically around vision denial and ward-clearing. Its passive BLACKOUT activates whenever the carrier is spotted by an enemy stealth ward or trap — immediately disabling all nearby stealthed wards, exposing and revealing nearby stealthed wards and traps within 400 units, and causing basic attacks to deal 2 bonus true damage to wards. BLACKOUT lasts 8 seconds on a 90-second cooldown. Its second passive NIGHTSTALKER empowers the next basic attack after being invisible for at least 1 second to deal 50 + (1.5 per Lethality) bonus true damage on-hit — and this empowered attack lasts 4 seconds after being seen by an enemy, not just while invisible. At 18 Lethality from the item alone, NIGHTSTALKER’s true damage is 50 + (1.5 × 18) = 77 true damage on the first attack. Umbral Glaive is the item for AD assassins who want to control vision while staying on an assassination power budget, and for any AD carry who regularly uses stealth and needs a true-damage execution tool for ward-clearing objectives.

Umbral Glaive is a Legendary-tier item available on Summoner’s Rift (5v5), ARAM, and Nexus Blitz. Disabled in Arena — it cannot be purchased or obtained via Prismatic Anvils in Arena mode. Categorized under Assassin menu. ID 3179. Limited to 1 Umbral Glaive per player. Sell value: 1960 gold.

📊 Stats at a Glance

💡 NIGHTSTALKER True Damage at Full Lethality Build: NIGHTSTALKER scales with total Lethality from all sources — not just Umbral Glaive’s 18. A standard two-lethality-item build (Umbral Glaive 18 + Youmuu’s Ghostblade 18 = 36 total Lethality): 50 + (1.5 × 36) = 104 true damage. Three lethality items (54 total): 50 + (1.5 × 54) = 131 true damage. At maximum practical Lethality build (Umbral 18 + Youmuu’s 18 + Serrated Dirk integrated items ~= 54–60 total Lethality): NIGHTSTALKER approaches 140–140+ true damage on-hit on the first attack after emerging from stealth. This is not on-ability true damage — it is on the next basic attack, making it a guaranteed execution component on the first auto of any stealth-approach burst sequence.

🔨 Recipe & Build Path

💡 Serrated Dirk or Caulfield’s First: Unlike other lethality items, Umbral Glaive’s best first-component choice depends on what the early game demands. Serrated Dirk (1000g) is the default choice — +30 AD + 10 Lethality is the highest early damage spike for kill pressure. Caulfield’s Warhammer (1050g) is the correct first-back component when ability cooldown reduction matters immediately — for assassins like Zed whose second W shadow rotation defines the 6-minute kill window, +15 AH from Caulfield’s has direct in-game impact faster than the additional lethality. The 60 AD total from the full item is the highest AD on any current lethality Legendary — 5 more than Youmuu’s and Voltaic Cyclosword, making Umbral Glaive the highest-raw-AD lethality item available.

⚡ Passive Effects

UNIQUE Passive — BLACKOUT

EFFECT: When spotted by an enemy stealth ward or trap, BLACKOUT activates (if not on cooldown) — immediately disabling surrounding stealthed wards, exposing and revealing nearby stealthed wards and traps within 400 units, and causing basic attacks to deal 2 bonus true damage to wards for 8 seconds. Disabled wards remain offline for 2 seconds after the carrier exits their 400-unit detection range. BLACKOUT affects all ward types including Shaco’s Jack in the Box traps.

💡 BLACKOUT’s Vision Control Value — What It Actually Enables: BLACKOUT’s combination of disabling + revealing within 400 units effectively creates a detection-free 400-unit radius for 8 seconds whenever it activates. The moment a ward spots the carrier and triggers BLACKOUT: that ward goes offline, every other stealth ward and trap within 400 units simultaneously goes offline, and any that were hidden are now visible for the carrier to manually destroy. An assassin who walks through the enemy’s warded corridors with BLACKOUT active is invisible to the entire ward cluster for 8 seconds — a full approach sequence to the backline in the time when those wards provide no information to the enemy team.

⚠️ The 90-Second Cooldown Strategy: BLACKOUT has a 90-second cooldown — meaning the vision-denial window is available roughly once per fight cycle. The strategic implication: BLACKOUT’s 8-second window of ward-blindness should be saved for the approach to the highest-value target of the fight rather than used incidentally on a patrol ward. Walking through a warded area to approach the priority carry with BLACKOUT active means the enemy support sees nothing for those 8 seconds — the assassin arrives without the enemy knowing the approach angle. Wasting BLACKOUT on a non-priority approach and then losing the 90-second cooldown for the kill attempt is the primary strategic error.

💡 Sweeper Drone Interaction: BLACKOUT does NOT trigger if the carrier currently has a Sweeper Drone (Control Ward) active. This is a significant mechanical note — players who buy a Control Ward and place it near the enemy ward cluster before walking into the area will find BLACKOUT doesn’t activate (because the Sweeper Drone already provides detection immunity). The intended use case is BLACKOUT activates when the stealth ward’s detection surprises the carrier — a Sweeper Drone prevents the surprise. This means placing a Control Ward first in a warded zone and then entering does not give BLACKOUT — walk in without the Sweeper first, let BLACKOUT trigger, then optionally use a Control Ward after.

UNIQUE Passive — NIGHTSTALKER

EFFECT: After being invisible for at least 1 consecutive second, the next basic attack is empowered to deal 50 + (1.5 per Lethality) bonus true damage on-hit. The empowered attack persists for 4 seconds after an enemy first sees the carrier — meaning the true damage fires on the first auto regardless of whether the carrier is still invisible at the moment of the attack. The 4-second window after being spotted ensures NIGHTSTALKER fires during the burst sequence even on champions who exit stealth before striking (like Rengar’s leap or Kha’Zix exiting Void Assault).

💡 The 4-Second Window After Being Seen: NIGHTSTALKER’s most misunderstood aspect is that the empowered attack does not require the carrier to still be invisible at the moment it fires. Once the 1-second stealth threshold is passed and the empowered state is active, the carrier has 4 full seconds from when an enemy first spots them to land the empowered auto. This means: Kha’Zix exits Void Assault → enemy sees him → 4-second window begins → NIGHTSTALKER fires on the first basic attack within that 4 seconds, even if Kha’Zix is now fully visible. Rengar leaps from brush (exiting stealth on landing) → spotted → 4-second window → NIGHTSTALKER fires on the first Savagery auto. The empowered attack is not cancelled by becoming visible — only by the 4-second timer expiring.

💡 NIGHTSTALKER True Damage vs Armor: True damage ignores armor and MR entirely — the 50 + (1.5 × Lethality) deals its full stated amount regardless of the target’s defensive stats. Against a 200-armor tank, NIGHTSTALKER’s true damage portion of the first auto deals the exact same 104 HP as against a 0-armor squishy. This is the opposite relationship of physical AD damage (which is dramatically reduced by 200 armor) — making NIGHTSTALKER specifically valuable against high-armor targets where the base physical damage is reduced but the true damage component fires at full power.

🎯 Who Should Buy This Item

Champion Archetypes

• Stealth Assassins Who Approach Targets Invisibly: The NIGHTSTALKER trigger requires at least 1 second of stealth — champions whose primary engage involves sustained invisible approach (Kha’Zix Void Assault, Rengar Unseen Predator brush approach, Shaco Deceive, Twitch Ambush, Evelynn Camouflage) naturally satisfy this condition on every kill attempt. These champions approach from stealth as standard gameplay — NIGHTSTALKER adds true damage to the first auto of every stealth-based engagement without requiring any behavioral change.
• Lethality Assassins Who Contest Vision: Any AD assassin who regularly participates in vision-clearing (sweeping wards before baron/dragon, clearing enemy wards in the side lane before a dive) benefits from BLACKOUT’s ward-disabling radius. For assassins who are frequently detected by wards during roam paths, BLACKOUT converts that detection into a tactical advantage — the ward that spots the assassin immediately goes offline, and every ward near it does too.
• Objective-Control Assassins and Junglers: BLACKOUT is specifically designed for the vision-contest phase around objectives (Baron, Dragon, Herald). A Kha’Zix or Rengar who walks into the warded objective pit triggers BLACKOUT on the first detecting ward, disabling the entire ward cluster in the pit simultaneously. For 8 seconds, the enemy team loses all vision of the objective area — the window for a smite-steal attempt or a pre-baron fight engagement without enemy knowledge is created by BLACKOUT’s detection denial.

Specific Champion Examples

⚠️ NIGHTSTALKER Does NOT Apply to All Invisible Champions Equally: NIGHTSTALKER requires invisibility — not just any stealth. Zed’s Living Shadow is a blink, not stealth — NIGHTSTALKER does not trigger from W use. Talon’s wall-vault is movement, not stealth. Champions who are specifically invisible (Kha’Zix Void Assault, Rengar brush approach, Shaco Deceive, Twitch Ambush, Evelynn Camouflage) satisfy the condition; champions whose stealth classification is ‚camouflage-while-moving‘ or ‚obscured‘ may behave differently. Always verify the specific stealth type before assuming NIGHTSTALKER activates.

⏰ When to Buy

As a First Item

First item Umbral Glaive is correct when vision control is the primary early game priority — specifically on jungle assassins who plan to invade the enemy jungle at minute 3–5 and need to clear wards from the enemy’s path. Kha’Zix and Rengar who plan an early invasion buy Serrated Dirk first at 1000g (standard first back), then complete Umbral as the full first Legendary when the gold allows. The 60 AD is the highest first-item AD on a lethality Legendary, making it competitive against Youmuu’s (55 AD) and Voltaic (55 AD) on pure damage metrics while adding the vision utility.

As a Second Item — After Youmuu’s

The most common second-item Umbral Glaive timing is after a first-item Youmuu’s Ghostblade. Youmuu’s provides the gap-close mobility (HAUNT + WRAITH STEP), Umbral provides the vision control (BLACKOUT) and NIGHTSTALKER true damage. Combined: +115 AD, +33 AH, +36 Lethality, WRAITH STEP mobility, BLACKOUT vision denial, NIGHTSTALKER true damage. This is the highest combined AD + Lethality + AH on any two-item combination for assassins, plus both items‘ unique utility effects providing non-overlapping battle values.

Situational — When Vision Is the Priority

Umbral Glaive is correct over Voltaic Cyclosword when the primary gameplay problem is vision control rather than kill-security. In games where the enemy consistently has deep vision in the enemy jungler’s approach paths, dragon/baron pit, and side lanes — specifically games where the oracle lens + control ward investment on the enemy team is preventing engagements — BLACKOUT’s 8-second vision-blind window enables approaches that would otherwise be warded and called. In games where vision isn’t the problem, Voltaic Cyclosword’s FIRMAMENT slow or Edge of Night’s spell shield provide more direct fight-impact value.

💡 Synergies

Best Paired Items

• Youmuu’s Ghostblade: The natural first-item pairing. Youmuu’s WRAITH STEP ghosting allows physical passage through units during approach; BLACKOUT disables the wards that would have spotted that approach. Together they solve the two obstacles between an assassin and the backline carry: the vision problem (BLACKOUT) and the body-blocking problem (WRAITH STEP ghosting). Combined stats: +115 AD, +33 AH, +36 Lethality — the highest two-item lethality offensive total alongside WRAITH STEP mobility.
• Voltaic Cyclosword: The GALVANIZE synergy applies separately from NIGHTSTALKER. If the champion has true stealth (Kha’Zix, Rengar), the stealth approach charges GALVANIZE stacks at 1.75 rate while simultaneously charging NIGHTSTALKER. When the attack lands: NIGHTSTALKER true damage fires AND FIRMAMENT (if fully charged) fires simultaneously — the first auto delivers both a true damage proc and the 100 physical on-hit slow. This is the highest burst-on-first-auto combination available to stealth assassins, at the cost of requiring two lethality Legendary item slots.
• Edge of Night: Spell shield protection complements NIGHTSTALKER’s stealth approach. Edge of Night absorbs the CC that would prevent the stealth-approach from completing (Lux Q, Syndra E, Morgana Q) while NIGHTSTALKER fires the true damage on the arrival auto. The combination creates the safest assassination sequence: invisible approach from stealth + spell shield absorbs the reaction CC + NIGHTSTALKER true damage on landing auto.
• Axiom Arc: NIGHTSTALKER provides a true damage front-load on the assassination sequence; Axiom Arc refunds ultimate cooldown on kills. Both items address different parts of the kill-rotation frequency: NIGHTSTALKER ensures the first auto in the kill sequence deals maximum damage (ensuring kills happen), Axiom Arc reduces the time before the next ultimate is available (enabling the next kill attempt). On Kha’Zix specifically, Axiom’s ult refund on kill + NIGHTSTALKER’s true damage on Void Assault approach is the tightest kill-to-kill timing in the jungle assassin category.

Champion & Ability Synergies

• Kha’Zix Void Assault + BLACKOUT objective clearing: Void Assault provides 2 charges of approximately 2-second invisibility each. The standard objective-control sequence: Kha’Zix enters the baron/dragon pit during Void Assault → first ward detects him → BLACKOUT triggers → all wards in the pit simultaneously go offline → Kha’Zix approaches the objective in a completely ward-blind zone for 8 seconds → smites the objective while enemy has no vision. This is a deterministic ward-clearing sequence that requires no Control Ward purchases and fires once per BLACKOUT 90-second cooldown during objective contest windows.
• Rengar Unseen Predator + NIGHTSTALKER timing: Rengar’s Unseen Predator activates from brush — he is invisible while in brush and transitions to visible on the leap landing. The NIGHTSTALKER 1-second timer begins from when Rengar enters the brush invisibly. After 1 second in brush, NIGHTSTALKER is armed. The leap fires, Rengar exits stealth on landing, enemy spots him — 4-second NIGHTSTALKER window begins. The first Savagery-empowered auto delivers NIGHTSTALKER true damage simultaneously. At 36 total Lethality: 104 additional true damage on the Savagery empowered auto in addition to the empowered attack’s normal physical damage.
• Shaco Deceive + BLACKOUT double interaction: BLACKOUT affects all stealthed traps including Shaco’s own Jack in the Box (when placed by enemies). More relevantly for Shaco as the carrier: Deceive provides instantaneous stealth — after 1 second inside Deceive’s invisibility, NIGHTSTALKER is armed. BLACKOUT’s ward-clearing disables wards in Shaco’s setup corridors, enabling the Deceive approach without ward detection. The combination creates a complete stealth control toolkit on a champion who already specializes in psychological trap-setting and vision manipulation.
• Evelynn Camouflage permanent NIGHTSTALKER state: Evelynn’s Demon Shade (passive) provides permanent camouflage after level 6 when out of combat. This means Evelynn permanently satisfies NIGHTSTALKER’s 1-second stealth requirement during every out-of-combat approach — NIGHTSTALKER is always armed before every engagement. Combined with BLACKOUT clearing objective wards during the camouflage approach, Evelynn’s entire late-game playstyle of silent objective-area control is directly amplified by Umbral Glaive’s both passives simultaneously.

❌ Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

• Assuming Zed and Talon benefit from NIGHTSTALKER: This is the most common Umbral Glaive misconception. NIGHTSTALKER requires true invisibility for at least 1 second — Zed’s Living Shadow is a blink with no stealth, Talon’s E is movement with no stealth. Neither champion can trigger NIGHTSTALKER. For Zed and Talon, Umbral Glaive’s primary values are the 60 AD (highest on any lethality Legendary), 15 AH, 18 Lethality, and BLACKOUT vision control — not NIGHTSTALKER. These are strong values, but if the purchase reasoning is based on NIGHTSTALKER triggering on W shadow or wall-vault, the build logic is incorrect.
• Placing a Control Ward before entering a warded zone — missing BLACKOUT: BLACKOUT explicitly does not trigger if the owner has a Sweeper Drone active. Using oracle lens or placing a Control Ward before walking into the warded zone means BLACKOUT never fires because the Sweeper prevents the ward detection. To use BLACKOUT intentionally, walk into the warded zone first without any active detection item, let the ward trigger BLACKOUT, then optionally use oracle lens or Control Wards after BLACKOUT is already active. The detection-triggered nature of BLACKOUT requires being surprised by the ward to activate it.
• Not accounting for the 1-second minimum stealth requirement on NIGHTSTALKER: A champion who exits stealth in under 1 second (brief Deceive-and-immediately-attack) does not trigger NIGHTSTALKER — the stealth must be sustained for a full second before the empowered state activates. On champions with very short stealth windows, NIGHTSTALKER may require a deliberate pause in the brush or during Void Assault before engaging. In practice, most stealth approach sequences naturally last 1+ seconds, but players who dash in and immediately attack from a half-second invisibility window will find NIGHTSTALKER never fired.
• Wasting BLACKOUT on non-priority approach paths: The 90-second BLACKOUT cooldown means it fires approximately once per objective timer cycle. Using it during a casual mid-lane roam when dragon spawns in 30 seconds wastes the cooldown on a non-critical vision window. Coordinate BLACKOUT timing with objective spawns and high-value engagements — a BLACKOUT that fires in the dragon pit at minute 14:45 with 15 seconds until dragon spawns provides dramatically more game value than a BLACKOUT that fires during a random ward sweep in the enemy’s blue buff corridor.
• Building Umbral Glaive in Arena: Umbral Glaive is disabled in Arena — it cannot be purchased from the shop or obtained via Prismatic Item Anvils. Attempting to build toward Umbral components in Arena will result in items that cannot complete into the final Legendary. Always verify availability before planning a build that includes Umbral Glaive.

⚔️ Counter Items & Playing Against Umbral Glaive

Countering BLACKOUT

• Oracle Lens + Control Wards in Multiple Locations: BLACKOUT disables wards within 400 units of the carrier — wards placed further than 400 units from the typical approach path provide detection outside BLACKOUT’s range. Placing wards in staggered positions (one at 400-unit range, another at 700-unit range) ensures at least the farther ward retains vision during the BLACKOUT window. Additionally, Control Wards are not stealth wards — BLACKOUT specifically disables ‚stealthed‘ wards. Pink wards (Control Wards) cannot be stealthed and cannot be disabled by BLACKOUT, providing permanent detection that BLACKOUT cannot turn off.
• Sixth Sense Rune: BLACKOUT explicitly does not activate on a ward detectable by the Sixth Sense rune when both are available. Running Sixth Sense as a rune prevents specific BLACKOUT triggers against detectable wards — though the exact interaction conditions are limited to the overlap case where both the rune and the ward are simultaneously relevant.

Countering NIGHTSTALKER

• Avoiding Solo Positions: NIGHTSTALKER fires on the first basic attack after exiting stealth. On a Kha’Zix or Rengar who approaches from stealth, the guaranteed true damage component fires regardless of armor. The most effective counterplay is never being alone — NIGHTSTALKER champions are primarily isolation-hunters. An assassin who approaches a grouped target with allies nearby faces 2–3 enemies who can peel, CC, and prevent the full burst sequence from completing even with NIGHTSTALKER’s true damage front-load.
• Stasis (Zhonya’s Hourglass / Stopwatch): NIGHTSTALKER fires on the first basic attack — stasis during the 4-second window after being spotted prevents that attack from landing during the 2.5-second invulnerability window. After stasis ends, the 4-second NIGHTSTALKER window may have expired (depending on precise timing), eliminating the true damage component from the follow-up attacks. Against Kha’Zix with Umbral specifically, Stopwatch absorbs the NIGHTSTALKER + Taste Their Fear first auto sequence.

FAQ

Q: Does NIGHTSTALKER trigger when Zed uses Living Shadow or Talon uses E?

A: No — NIGHTSTALKER requires true invisibility for at least 1 second. Zed’s Living Shadow is a blink/dash with no stealth component. Talon’s E wall-vault is movement with no stealth. Neither ability produces invisibility. For these champions, Umbral Glaive’s value is the 60 AD, 15 AH, 18 Lethality, and BLACKOUT vision control — NIGHTSTALKER is irrelevant for Zed and Talon. If the build plan relies on NIGHTSTALKER for these champions, reconsider in favor of Voltaic Cyclosword (which benefits from Zed’s W blink through GALVANIZE) or Edge of Night.

Q: Does BLACKOUT disable Control Wards (pink wards)?

A: No — BLACKOUT specifically disables stealthed wards. Control Wards are not stealth wards — they are permanently visible to all players and cannot be made invisible. BLACKOUT cannot disable Control Wards. This is the critical counter-information: an enemy who places Control Wards in the objective area has permanent, BLACKOUT-immune detection that cannot be removed by Umbral Glaive’s passive.

Q: How does the 4-second NIGHTSTALKER window interact with re-entering stealth?

A: The NIGHTSTALKER empowered attack window begins when an enemy first spots the carrier after stealth, lasting 4 seconds from that moment. If the carrier re-enters stealth during those 4 seconds (Kha’Zix’s second Void Assault charge), the window does not reset — the existing 4-second timer continues counting. If the carrier remains in stealth for another 1+ second and then exits again, a new NIGHTSTALKER charge is generated on re-exit, potentially providing two NIGHTSTALKER windows from a single engage sequence with double Void Assault charges.

Q: Is Umbral Glaive worth buying on champions without stealth if they only want the AD and BLACKOUT?

A: Yes — the 60 AD is the highest on any lethality Legendary, 15 AH is strong for ability-dependent assassins, and 18 Lethality is standard. BLACKOUT’s vision denial has meaningful value in objective-focused games even for non-stealth assassins who roam through warded corridors. The item without NIGHTSTALKER is still competitive — it just doesn’t provide the true damage empowered attack component. Against a champion like Youmuu’s + Voltaic Cyclosword comparison: Umbral provides more raw AD (+60 vs +55) and more AH (+15 vs +10) while sacrificing the mobility and GALVANIZE components. For assassins who don’t need gap-closing mobility, Umbral’s AD + AH + BLACKOUT is a legitimate build path.