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Leona Build Guide by

GrandmistressD's Leona - At Dawn, Look To The East

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Spells:

Flash

Exhaust

Ability Order

Leona Passive Ability

Chapter 1

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Leona is a very tanky support who possesses a respectable arsenal of crowd control. She has two ways of initiating and has the ability to soak a lot of damage without the excessive need of items to actually be capable of that. On top of all that she can make her allies deal additional magic damage to their targets which makes her very potent when combined with bursty champions.

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Quick Guide

Starting Items

Sight Ward

Sight Ward

Core Build

Philosopher's Stone

Boots

Support Items

Zeke's Herald

Tank Items

Synergies and Counters

Leona is good against:

Leona gets countered by:

Leona synergises with:

Summoner Spells

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Runes

This is the rune setup I prefer when I'm playing with my team. The movement speed and extra tankiness allow us to play more aggressive in lane and soak a little more damage early-game. Aggressive play requires communication so I wouldn't choose this setup in solo queue as communication is, well, sort of an issue there.

Now this is my solo queue setup. As we might play a little more passive (because we don't know if the carry will follow-up properly), we won't be needing an early-game tank setup. Hence, I choose to go for some GP10 to get some additional gold gain. Despite my usage for solo queue only; it is also perfectly viable for team play of course.

Masteries

1/15/14

Not a classic 9/21 setup but this setup trades a little bit of tankiness for a lot of utility. It allows us to be as tanky as possible while also picking up some utility. The maximum mana, movement speed, gold generation and extra starting gold masteries are a favorable tradeoff for , and . In the offence tree we do upgrade our of course. NOTE: If you take Heal, do not forget to improve it by exchanging one point in Tough Skin for the point in Summoner's Resolve !

What's your opinion?

If you have any suggestions, questions or simply good scores to post. You can do that here:

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Lore

On the upper slopes of Mount Targon, the warriors of Rakkor live and breathe only for war. However, Targon’s peak is reserved for a special group of Rakkor who answer to a “higher” calling. Members of this group, called the Solari, retire their mantles of war, choosing instead to devote their lives to reverence of the sun. According to legend, the Solari were formed by a warrior who could call the raw might of the sun down upon his enemies in combat. He claimed Mount Targon’s summit, the point on Valoran closest to the sun, for his solar devotion, a tradition which generations of Solari have preserved to this day. Though they maintain their reverence, no other warrior possessed the gifts of the founder – until Leona.

Leona’s parents were traditional Rakkor, both bred for the heat of battle. To them, Leona was a problem child. She was capable of fighting as fiercely as any other – including her childhood friend, Pantheon – but she did not share their zeal for killing. She believed that the true worth of a soldier lay in her ability to defend and protect. When it came time for her Rite of Kor, a ceremony in which two Rakkor teens battle to the death for the right to bear a relic-weapon, Leona refused to fight. For this, the Rakkor leaders ordered her execution, but when they tried to strike the fatal blow, sunlight burst forth, bathing Mount Targon in light. As it faded, Leona stood unharmed and her executioners lay unconscious around her. The Solari immediately claimed Leona, demanding that her sentence be repealed. She donned the golden armor of the Solari and they bestowed upon her the sword and shield passed down from the ancient sun-warrior of legend. The Solari helped Leona focus her abilities, and when she was ready she left to join the League of Legends.

“The sun's rays reach all of Runeterra, so too must the image of its champion.”
―Leona

Leona's Abilities

Sunlight

(Innate): Leona's spells charge any enemy unit damaged with Sunlight for 3.5 seconds. When allied champions deal any damage to those targets they consume the Sunlight debuff to deal 20 + 15/2levels additional magic damage. This additional damage is counted as the ally's damage and it will benefit from their magic penetration. Leona is unable to activate the additional damage herself.

Shield of Daybreak

(Active): Leona's next autoattack will deal additional magic damage and stun the target for 1.25 seconds.

Shield of Daybreak Details

Eclipse

(Active): Leona raises her shield to gain bonus armor and magic resistance for 3 seconds. When the effect ends she deals magic damage to nearby enemies. If any enemy was damaged by Eclipse, the defense buff is prolonged for an additional 3 seconds.

Eclipse Details

Zenith Blade

(Active): Leona projects a solar image of her sword, which deals magic damage to all enemies in a line. When the image fades, the last enemy champion struck will be immobilized for 0.5 seconds and Leona will dash to them.

Zenith Blade Details

Solar Flare

(Active): Leona calls down a beam of solar energy to a target location. After a brief delay, it deals magic damage to all enemies in it and slows them by 80% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies in the center of the area are stunned instead of slowed.

Solar Flare Details

Skilling Order

1

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Q

2
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E

3
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W

4
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W

5
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W

6
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R

7
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W

8

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Q

9
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W

10

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Q

11
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R

12

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Q

13

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Q

14
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E

15
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R

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E

18
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E

A fairly straightforward skill sequence which doesn't really require much explanation. Maxing first allows us to deal at least some burst damage and it grants an amazing amount of resistances; allowing to initiate and soak a lot of damage. is maxed to lower its cool down, allowing to stun more often in the teamfights. should always be maxed last since it is used to initiate fights so we won't be needing it as often when the teamfight actually started. Take a point in whenever possible as the lower cool down is incredibly powerful on such a great ultimate.

Item Builds

Leona is not an ordinary support as you might have noticed. Leona is a support/tank hybrid, a paladin you might say. This means she shouldn't be build like the classic aura support but much more tanky in order to be able to initiate fights.

Core Build Explanation

Strategy and Tactics

Playing Leona can be quite tricky at first, especially if you are used to the more squishy supports such as or . This can make it very intimidating to actually go out there and show them what you are made of! Well, you still got to that yourself but here I have listed some tips and tricks.

Initiating

Keep in mind that Leona has two ways to initiate: and . more often than not relies on your allies to follow-up, rather than yourself. is for shorter distances and is a direct gap-closer. It allows to set up individual targets to become easy kills for your allies. Try to "weave" your spells with your ally's attacks in order to get the maximum from .

Dealing with Harassment

Now let's not go about how Leona is a girl and that you can see her underwear in the game; it's true but this is serious business. A lot of people tend to become useless as Leona because they drop to too low health to be able to initiate as a result of high harassment. In order to deal with this you can reduce a lot by using in time, get s and get a when you've got the gold for it. You can also just get into their face when they try anything; this has to be possible though.

Losing the Lane? Now What?

As Leona, it can be very frustrating to lose your lane because you automatically become useless as you cannot go in and well, that's basically everything you have. A solution to this is to just go roaming. Gank the mid lane or even the top lane and help your jungler to gank the bottom lane. , s and are your best friends here!

Juking Around!

can be used as a very powerful juking tool when you're in a tough spot. Using the enemy jungler or other champion as a springboard to safety is a very neat feature of the spell. You can also just use it to get out of a teamfight instead of resorting instantly to .

Synergies

Leona has a good synergy with most of the bot lane carries as well with many other champions in the league. Champions she especially works well with are those with good follow-up abilities as well as bursty champs. , and are therefore ideal whereas and are lesser choices for bot lane.

Other champions who work well with her are , and as they have great gap-closers and their own CC to follow-up with. Amongst the AP carries; has amazing synergy with her due to his long range, has so as well.

Counters

Leona isn't countered by many champions in the league, which is what makes her such a good pick. Champions, however, which can undo her initiate can give you a hard time though. , and are extremely annoying when playing Leona and pretty much counter her.

Enemies who have very good escape abilities such as , and are extremely hard to lock down so they are some sort of counter. They do not make Leona's job impossible but they do give her a really hard time.

Epilogue

This is the end of my short, yet comprehensive, guide on Leona, The Radiant Dawn. Leona does definitely brighten up the gameplay of support, in my opinion and allows for a more PvP oriented bot lane; which is entirely my style. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to post them.

Go forth, and shine!
GrandmistressD

Special Thanks

GrandmasterD Leona Guide

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GrandmistressD's Leona - At Dawn, Look To The East

GrandmistressD's Leona - At Dawn, Look To The East