How to win lane as Darius against Locke · 50.67% win rate over 1,425 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Darius | Darius owns level 1 — your Q heal and E pull dominate exactly the melee range he needs to poke from. He pays HP for every attempt. |
| Level 2 | Darius | Level 2 stays yours: W Crippling Strike's slow makes every trade bleed in your favor and follow him out. |
| Level 3 | Darius | Level 3 is yours outright — full Hemorrhage stacking is online and the E pull turns his poke pattern into a death sentence. |
| Levels 4-5 | Darius | Levels 4-5 stay Darius-favored: he has no ultimate yet to answer your standing kill pressure, so keep the boot on his neck. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Level 6 is even — your Guillotine reset game trades blow for blow with his Purgatory execute. The all-ins become mutual. |
| First item | Locke | First item is Locke's: AP scaling lets his R threshold and W burst convert any Darius caught low. Stay topped up and respect the totem. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | Two-plus items settle even — the fight is decided by whether your E pull or his R execute lands first. Win the draw, win the game. |
You own his effective range: he has to come close enough to poke that your Q outer-blade heal and E pull are always live. Level 2's W slow makes every exchange bleed your way, and 3 completes it — full Hemorrhage stacking plus the pull means one grab is a kill threat. Zone him, deny farm, and make him choose between CS and health.
The full Darius vs Locke report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Locke vs Darius guide →
All Darius top lane matchups →