Trait Ladder Cashout Table and Simple Guide in Set 18 TFT

Trait Ladder is a Prismatic Augment that rewards you for activating an increasing number of non-unique traits.

Unlike most prismatic augments, Trait Ladder gives you a large amount of its power over the course of the game rather than immediately.

Your goal is therefore to build a board that activates many traits while remaining strong enough to preserve HP and reach the next breakpoint.

Cashout Table

The most important breakpoint is 10 Traits. Since it gives +1 team size, everything will be easier from there. And from there, 11–13 Traits can provide increasingly powerful rewards for you to stabilize during Stage 4, while 14 Traits gives the ultimate reward --- Masterwork Upgrade, allowing you to itemize your carry with Radiant Item and secure the win.

14 Traits is very do-able realistically, we will get to it.

There are two main ways to play Trait Ladder:

• Standard Trait Ladder: Build around several 3-Trait champions and aim for 10 Traits at Level 8, then 11–13 Traits at Levels 9–10.
• Kha'Zix Trait Ladder: Use Kha'Zix's evolutions to dramatically increase your number of active traits and push toward 14 Traits.

Do not treat Trait Ladder as a race to activate every possible trait.

Your board still needs to be playable. A strong 10-Trait board is usually better than a terrible 12-Trait board that costs you 30 HP trying to assemble it.

The Core Concept: 3-Trait Champions

The easiest way to play Trait Ladder is to prioritize champions that activate three traits at once.

The most useful ones are:

• Rakan
• Tristana
• Fiddlesticks
• Diana
• Rammus
• Warwick

These champions create a highly connected trait web and allow you to activate 8 Traits as early as Level 7, while leaving several traits open to be completed by additional units.

The practical target is:

Level 7

~8 Traits

Level 8

Lv8 9-Trait Team Builder Link

~9 Traits

With an Emblem it would be 10 Traits. The emblem you need would be: Ravager Emblem, Lunar Emblem, Blackthorn Emblem.

After you reach 10 Traits, it will give you the +1 Team Size.

Then from there you can add in 9 units at Lv8.

Lv8 + 1 Team Size (from the 10-Trait Cashout or Augment)

11 Traits

9 Units 11-Trait Board link

From here, you can already start rolling for the 4-costs (At Lv8), to increase your board strength.

You can also switch Tristana to Aphelios and have the second variation, just in case you didn't hit Sivir.

Alternative Aphelios Board after Cashout

Because the 9 Traits Cashout guarantees you three 5-cost units, it can help you assemble this board with Maokai, Alune, and Ivern. They are extremely powerful. Both Maokai and Ivern are scaling champions, so the earlier you get them, the better. You should play them immediately.

Level 9 + 1 Team Size (10 units total)

12 Trait

Adding in Alune after the 11-Trait board will give you this 12-Trait board.

The 12-Trait reward is extremely powerful, 4 Lucky item Chests will allow you to itemize your 2nd carry (such as Alune, Ivern) and 2nd tank (such as Maokai) easily with ideal items.

By this point since you are already Lv9, you can just start rolling for you 5-costs and assemble a 9-5 board with your extra items.

9-5 Board after Cashout Example Builder Link

This is already a great spot. If you can upgrade most of your 5-costs, since you have +1 Team Size and so many extra items, you should very likely be able to win the game! GGs!

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When to Chase 14 Traits

Chase 14 Traits when:

• You are healthy.
• Your board is already stable.
• Kha'Zix is evolving consistently.
• You have an emblem that fits the trait web.
• You have access to additional board slots.
• You can reach the next breakpoint without sacrificing too much combat strength.

Stop chasing when:

• You are losing every round.
• Kha'Zix cannot secure takedowns.
• You need to roll for a real carry.
• You would need to replace strong units with terrible trait bots.
• The next breakpoint requires several expensive units you cannot realistically find.

Trait Ladder is an economy/cashout Augment, not permission to intentionally lose 40 HP.

How to Evolve Kha'Zix

The main requirement is getting Kha'Zix enough takedowns.

You are not necessarily playing Kha'Zix as your main carry.

Instead, you can use him as a trait engine.

Recommended approach

Ionic Spark

It helps Kha'Zix participate in fights and secure takedowns without requiring you to dedicate your best carry items to him.

Edge of Night

Use this primarily for survivability so Kha'Zix does not immediately die before collecting takedowns.

You generally want your actual carry to remain the main source of damage.

Kha'Zix can often complete his evolutions around Stage 5 when he is participating in fights consistently, although weak boards can struggle to generate enough takedowns.

14 Traits Level 9 Board

In this board example above, Kha'Zix needs to evolve "Executioner" "Rapidfire" "Speallweaver" and "Ravager" to fill-up the traits web. At Lv9, because of the 10-trait cashout gives you +1 Team Size, you can already put in 10 units and gain 14 traits.

Try to let Kha'Zix evolve "Executioner" and "Rapidfire" first, then if your Kha'Zix is not as evolved, you can simply put in Ahri or Karma at Lv10 for two extra traits. (Blossom and Spellweaver)

Then use the Masterwork Upgrade on your carry to upgrade all of tjeir most important item to Radiant item. And the 1st shall be yours! GGs!

That's the whole guide and please check out our tierlist to have a better and whole picture of the meta, it will help improve your gameplay. Thanks a lot! <3
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