Hi, welcome to my first ever guide, featuring Leona the Radiant Dawn! As just stated, this is my first guide and I probably won't end up doing much formatting, unless someone else wants to send me codes and stuff to make it look pretty. That being said, I'm still going to provide the meat and potatoes of any good build and I'll try to space and info enough so it is not simply a "wall of text".

Any complains or concerns, please PM me about then, rather than flooding the comments. I'd rather comments be discussion about the actual information in the guide, rather than trivial formatting matters.

Hope you enjoy!

09/08/11 - Edited rune choice, alternative runes, skill sequence, Alternative Items, Pros and Cons, and Gameplay section. Thanks Maartmann for critiquing and pointing out some mistakes.

Pros -

2 different stuns
Naturally tanky
Has a good "chase" ability
Great in team fights

Cons -

Difficult to farm without

Sunfire Aegis
Late game low damage output

The all important item section. I think having enough knowledge of items to be versatile in ANY situation is essential. This section will give you a good idea of what to build for most balanced situations, however, there is no item build that should be followed every single game. Items and sequencing of items have to be changed, as League of Legends is a very dynamic game.


Items and why I chose them -

philosopher's stone - I think this item is the best Gold per 5 item in the game. It helps out with Leona's somewhat weak early game by giving her enough lane sustain to hold out. This combined with [Eclipse] really allows Leona to move up to the creeps and get some farm. She can take some damage and then go back and regen. Also helps with the tank mana scaling so there is not as much worry with using abilities. Keep this item as long as possible to maximize benefits, but if you desperately need a certain item and selling the Philosopher's Stone will help you get it, by all means go on ahead.

Spirit Visage - This item is a great cost effective and gives Leona some great stats. The main reason I first considered this item is because of the CDR, but it also helps Leona tankiness with Magic Resist, Health, and increased Health Regen for even better laning. It is also fairly cheap so getting this item rather early is fairly beneficial.

Mercury's Treads - These, in my opinion, are the best boots in the game, especially for tanks. The magic resistance and tenacity are a must if you want to play an effective CDR Leona, because you need to be moving about the fight stunning key targets and give your team the upper hand. Despite the expense, these boots are just too good to pass up.

Frozen Heart - Keeping the the CDR theme, this item also provides some more great stats for Leona. It adds to her tankiness with 99 armor, an aura that slows down carry's attack speeds, and gives Leona more base mana. With the mana, Leona has no more worries about mana consumption, letting you use your abilities freely.

Warmog's Armor - Another great tank item, it gives Leona a fat chunk health, as well with a large amount of regen that is boosted by Spirit Visage. The max health also goes well with the regen on Force of Nature.

Force of Nature - Tank tank tank! This helps Leona deal with any magic damage coming in, gives her a slight boost in movespeed (which surprisingly can be very helpful) and some of the best regen in the game, which is once again boosted by Spirit Visage. I prefer this item on Leona rather than Banshee's Veil because it gives more all out tankiness, and the tenacity from Mercury Treads should be enough to keep Leona moving in team fights.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter - Sort of an interesting choice, I haven't really seen this item featured in most Leona builds, but I think it adds functionality, a slight bit of tankiness, and some more damage. The AoE slow from [Eclipse] can be helpful in team fights as well as chasing, even the line shot from [Zenith Blade] can be helpful for catching and enemy and keeping them slow for your team mates. The AP also give Leona's ultimate [Solar Flare] a surprising boost in damage, all the better to suppress squishies with.


Alternative items -

Sunfire Aegis - Having trouble farming? Then this item is for you! Good for AD heavy teams, and a very viable option with Leona's ability to stay on an enemy. The health bonus is not too shabby either. If anything, I would swap out Spirit Visage if you find yourself with low farm or it's late game and you need more health/armor or need more damage in team fights.

Randuin's Omen - Such a good item, high armor, some more health, slight CDR, an amazing passive and an amazing active. If this item had more CDR stat on it, Frozen Heart would have no place in this build. This item can destroy carries and is a great tool for chasing. Once again, I would swap this item out for Frozen Heart.

Banshee's Veil - This item has the best passive in the game, hands down. The magic resistance and health/mana bonuses are nice too. Really, choosing Banshee's Veil or Force of Nature is just preference because they are both excellent items.

Trinity Force - I've seen a lot of Leona's use this item, and have never personally used it, but seems like a very viable option. There's not a whole lot to dislike on this item, it boosts just about every stat, combined with the Sheen proc and Phage's slow chance. I would swap this item in instead of Rylai's Crystal Scepter but I would move it up to the second or third item on the build (after Philosopher's Stone and Boots).

Atma's Impaler - This item I don't feel is actually all that strong on Leona, but a lot of people use it so I feel like I should explain it's use. The only reason I can think to get this item is because of the passive attack boost, especially on high health builds on Leona. However, I feel like the item spot can be put to much better use, as it does not provide that much tankiness. I personally wouldn't use this item but if you had to, I'd swap out Frozen Heart for it.


If you feel like I missed any great items for Leona, leave me a comment explain why and I'll be happy to put it in the guide and cite you, if I feel it's viable.

For masteries I use a standard 9-21-0, making sure to grab Cripple and Sorcery in the offensive mastery as well as all the standard tankiness enhancing masteries in the defensive tree. I personally like Ardor , but you can easily put the points in Harden Skin and Strength of Spirit .

I prefer the offensive mastery tree to the utility tree simply because I hit a little bit harder and it gives me increased CDR while still being able to put 21 in the defensive tree.

For runes, I feel like my choices are fairly standard for tanks, the magic pen helps whatever damage you have, flat armor really helps out early and stays strong, and MR per level helps with AP carries and their progressive growth in power. I personally like AP Quints, but Greater Quintessence of Health are certainly a very strong choice also.


Alternative runes -

Greater Quintessence of Cooldown Reduction
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
Greater Seal of Evasion
Greater Seal of Replenishment
Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration

Summoner spells I feel are really personal preference (except for ones like Revive and Rally, they are far too pro and OP) and you can run almost anything on Leona and have it "work". However, I do think there is a tier list for her as far as effectiveness.


Tier 1 -

Flash - This is probably my favorite summoner spell simply because of how versatile it is. Flash can be used to escape, gank, help positioning. I really don't think you can find a summoner spell as effective at so many different roles.

Exhaust - Another great summoner spell, both offensively and defensively. Offensively it can be used to slow an escaping enemy so you can chase them down and put the hurt of them. Defensively, you can use exhaust on a target to cripple it's damage output, either saving your life or perhaps another. I feel it is most effectively used on carries in team fights to reduce their damage so your team can eat them alive.

Teleport - This summoner spell I feel is very underrated, especially for tanks and solo lanes. You lose out on less farm and levels during laning phases which can make a large difference late game. You can also be there in a flash if you need a tower defended or pop into a fight from base.

Ghost - A pretty good escape spell, I feel it pales in comparison to Flash in versatility, as the offensive use is fairly obvious and the defensive use can be stunted by any sort of slows. Still a viable option.


Tier 2 -

Fortify - Probably the most frustrating summoner spells out there, can help you defend a tower you are not by, you can bait enemies into towers and end up getting a kill. This should really only be used on tanks, but I feel like it is still not quite useful enough to make it into top tier.

Clarity - Can be useful early game if you really want to spam your abilities, but I feel like it really falls of late game and is largely useless once you buy your Frozen Heart. Still a viable option.

Ignite - Fed Swain raping your team? Ping him, throw this bad boy down, and focus him to nothing. Useful against a lot of regen/healing opponents and can seal the deal on some kills.


Tier 3 -

Cleanse - Useful against teams with high amounts of CC, but with Mercury Treads and enough tankiness, you really shouldn't have to use this.

Heal - Can be useful early game, but come on now, you're a tank. This small amount of health it will give you late game is just lame. Not to mention Regrowth Pendant should be enough for laning.

Clairvoyance - Vision is OP, but this is best left to the support.


Tier no -

Smite - Not a jungle guide/build

Revive - Lol no

Rally - Fake and gay

I feel like there are very few ways to sequence skill on Leona. I personally level Eclipse first to improve tankiness and farming, then Shield of Daybreak for more stuns, taking a point in Zenith Blade at level 4 for initiating and chasing purposes. I prefer Eclipse level 1 so I can start farming, but Shield of Daybreak is perfectly fine too.

As a tank, you have 2 majorly important jobs.
1. You initiate fights.
2. You protect your carries or disrupt theirs.

Zenith Blade with Eclipse active is a great initiation. Throwing in a stun on top of that can make for an even more deadly combo, especially for a carry caught out of position. Mark the most deadly target on their team, throw down your stuns on them, maybe Exhaust them, stun anyone the gets too close to your carries/squishies, and generally make life tough for the other team in addition to soaking up damage.

An important aspect of Leonas gameplay is getting accurate with Zenith Blade and learning to correctly lead/place Solar Flare. A failed Zenith Blade is a failed initiation. A failed initiation could easily turn into a failed team fight. Practicing against a friend in a custom game can do wonders for your accuracy with Zenith Blade. Line shots can be tough to hit, especially on high mobility champions. Try having a friend play a high mobility character (Yi, Janna, Ezreal, anyone with high movespeed or blinkstrikes). It's also important to note that if you activate Shield of Daybreak before you use Zenith, MAKE SURE YOU GET AN AUTOATTACK IN. Leona will automatically try to autoattack after casting Zenith Blade, but if you move her before she does so, your stun initiation will be wasted. Placing Solar Flare correctly can devastate the enemy team. In a closely clumped together teamfight, use your ultimate right on top of them. However, if they know anything about Leona they will space out. If this is the case, try to target in this order; Ranged AD Carry, AP Carry, Support, Offtank, Tank. Taking the main damage sources out of a fight can give you an easy team fight, and killing off any sort of support will also lessen their chances of survival. When chasing down an enemy that is out of range of Zenith Blade, but you can catch them with Solar Flare, be sure to place it far enough ahead of them so after the delay they will be in the center. Once again, practicing with a friend in a custom game can do wonders for really nailing these shots.

This Leona build, if played correctly, will be an incredible pain in the *** for the other team, as well as being a very strong and effective tank. Hope you enjoy the guide, feel free to leave any comments and criticisms in the comments, but please be mature an civil. If I disagree with you I will argue my point, I'll respect your opinion if you respect mine. If you have any concerns with formatting please PM me, and if there is anything you want me to flesh out or something I did not cover, feel free to let me know and I'll try to fix it.

Thanks for reading!