Skill Order

Default skill order: E > W > Q, taking R whenever available.

Main max: E. This is the cleanest all-around order for Renata in Mayhem. E gives you the safest repeat value in constant fights. You can poke from behind your team, keep allies topped with shields, and still contribute even when you cannot walk forward. If the enemy wants to trade health bars slowly, E is the skill that lets you keep pace instead of just waiting to be engaged on.

Second max: W. After E, W is usually the best place to put points. In nonstop teamfights, the bailout effect is never wasted if you have one carry or one diver who actually stays in range long enough to use it. Extra ranks make your best target more dangerous and harder to delete. If your team has a champion that wants to stay in the middle of the fight, W gets better fast.

Why Q is last in the normal order: one point in Q already gives you the pick threat you need. Extra ranks are nice, but they are not as reliable as E’s poke and shielding or W’s fight swing. Q becomes a priority only when your whole plan depends on catching one key target before the fight starts. If you are not building around that, leave it for last.

  • Take E first when you expect long trades, poke wars, or repeated skirmishes. It keeps you relevant even from the back line.
  • Put W second when your team has one high-value carry, a dive threat, or a champion that can safely keep the buff active.
  • Leave Q third unless your comp needs more pick pressure than protection.
  • Level R on schedule every time. It is part of your fight pattern, not a flex slot.

Augment-influenced skill order: the default stays strong, but augments can move W or Q up when they clearly change what your team needs from you.

Keep E first if the augments push you toward safe spam, shielding, or staying alive while contributing from range. That is the most common adjustment. If the augment plan makes your basic pattern stronger instead of replacing it, E still carries the most value because it lets you keep casting without stepping into danger.

Move W up earlier if an augment makes ally protection, revive pressure, or buffing one carry the best part of your kit. In that setup, your job is to keep the most important teammate alive long enough to win the brawl. If your team has one fed damage dealer, or the augments reward repeated ally support, W can become the real second max and sometimes the spell you want to lean on hardest after E.

Move Q up earlier if the augment setup rewards crowd control, repeated catches, or fight-starting picks. That matters when your team already has enough damage and only needs one clean lock to start the wipe. In that case, Q can jump ahead of W because a single target caught badly is worth more than a slightly stronger buff on a teammate who is not in position to use it.

  • E > W > Q when you want the safest, most consistent setup. This is the default for most games.
  • E > Q > W when augments or team comp turn you into a catch tool and your team can already protect its own carry.
  • W > E > Q only when augments heavily reward buffing one frontline or carry target and your team actually plays around that target.

Cost of the wrong order: if you max Q too early, you can end up with good pick threat but weak team presence. That hurts in long fights, because you are not doing enough to keep your back line healthy or your carry active. If you max W too early when no one can safely use it, you waste levels on a buff that never gets full value. If you delay E too much, you lose the safe poke and shielding that let Renata stay relevant while the fight drags on. The wrong order does not just lower damage. It changes whether your team can take a fight on your terms or has to back off every time someone steps up.