Pros:
-Very good at locking down, or peeling off enemies.
-2 stuns (3 if you count but it only lasts for .5 seconds)
-Great initiator
-Lots of armor and magic resistance

Cons:
-Lacking damage
-Can be squishy
-Frustrating to farm with early game

**Notes**
-I will be trying my best at keeping this guide 100% up to date!

-Please be honest when you down vote and don't just make second accounts to down vote. This isn't a fight for top guide. Guides are here to help people get better at champions.

-If you do choose to vote, whether it be + or -, please leave a comment explaining why! I would really love to make this guide the best it can be.

-I have added a lot more information to this guide since it has been released. I have added a few more build choices, along with skill sequences.

-If you want, I can make a video for this guide. Just let me know what you would like to see in it.


This is a complete Leona guide that I have thrown together from all my Leona games and advice from other players I have come across. My goal here is not to make you an amazing Leona, because I can't do that. But to help you better understand how Leona is meant to be played, built and utilized.

I strongly suggest you at least skim through the entire guide before leaving feedback or trying this in game..

I would like to first start off by saying Leona is not supposed to be built like a standard ability power nuke champion or any variation on that. Yes, all of Leona's moves work with ability power. But she is NOT meant to be built with a lot of ability power, and as an added bonus her ratio's agree with the above statement. She was designed to be a tank.

You will quickly see Leona is quite squishy for a tank early game. So be prepared to get a lot of assists, and maybe die a few times. You most likely won't be getting a lot of kills unless your the master of timing your moves for last hits. But I really don't recommend taking that extra gold from your carries.

There are many ways to build Leona, and how you build her all depends on the enemy's team make up. The items shown above are not 100% what you should get, they are just a quick guideline. If you feel the other team is more heavy on the ability power side, lean more towards a banshee's veil instead of a frozen heart or force of nature and so on. Remember, you can build however you want. You don't have to completely use this build. It is only here to help.

Here is a quick and brief description of Leona's moves:

- Q: This spell is pretty much just like a standard shield bash that stuns the enemy and does damage. This is the spell which you will use to stun an enemy while still dealing some damage. It is also very useful for peeling an enemy off one of your carries.

- W: This spell gives Leona a shield for a short period of time and while active increases her magic resistance and armor. When the duration of the shield ends, it causes an explosion around Leona. If the explosion strikes an enemy it will put the shield back on her for a few more seconds. This is your spell which you will be using to farm after you get a Sunfire Cape. Don't forget this shield adds a fair amount of magic resist and armor, so if heading into a big team fight always put it on.

- E: Leona shoots out a beam of light which looks like a sword that goes through everything but champions. It will attach to the farthest champion in its range, and pull you towards it. Picture Jarvan's flag drop + spear combo. This spell is very useful for engaging, getting in range for your entire combo, or saving team mates / peeling enemies.

- R: Pretty much just causes a small explosion in the radius shown. If enemies are hit in the center circle, it will stun them. If enemies are hit in the outer circle, it will slow them. This spell is very useful in team fights (IE: stunning/slowing a large group of people) or initiating on a gank.

I go with the standard tank set of runes:
Flat health red
Magic resist blues
Armor yellows
Flat health quintessences .

I go with all tank runes because having that little bit of extra survivability will definitely show early game, and even a little late game.

I realize runes are very expensive and not everyone can afford the runes shown. So with that being said, use whatever runes you have access to.

Now you have to realize there are two really strong mastery sets for Leona.
A)0/21/9
B)0/9/21
whichever you use depends on your play style or your preference.

You may be wondering why I am choosing to go 0/9/21, instead of 0/21/9. This may seem weird for a tank but, as Leona I like to let my items do the tanking for me (if that makes sense). Which is why I am not going deep into the defense mastery page.

I go deep utility masteries for two reasons.
1) That extra health per 5, and mana per 5 really help you out in the laning phase.
2) I find cool down reduction very crucial on Leona (at least early game). The quicker your stuns are up, the quicker you can save a allied champion, or get that gank set up.

If you do not agree with these masteries, no worries. Just choose whatever suits your playing style.

All items you build are dependent on what enemy team composition you are up against.

Core Items:
- This item is crucial for Leona to be able to farm. This combined with her W helps wrack up some extra cash along the way.

- I choose FoN over Banshee's mainly because of the extra regeneration and movement speed. If you have yet to notice, Leona is incredibly slow.
Why this over a Banshee's? It is 100% opinion based, depends on your play style and who you are up against. I like to have a lot of health regeneration and some resist as well.

- I always pick up a Frozen Mallet because of that bonus 700 life, attack damage, and slow that is applied from your melee hits and I believe your Q.

How I build:
-When you first spawn pick up a , a and head out to lane.

-After your first teleport home, you should have at least enough money to grab a Philosopher's Stone. And if you do have money remaining, grab or a sight ward.

-This step is optional: If you feel you are not gaining much gold because you are giving the creep score to your carries, pick up a . Just sell it later on, or upgrade it into a Randuin's if you really want it.

-Whenever you have reached enough to buy or (depending on your enemy team make up) teleport home, pick yourself up a nice pair of shoes, and head back into your lane.

-Next you are going to want to pick up a to make farming with your a whole lot easier.

-After that I like to get a . I explain briefly why I get this instead of a above.

-Next up is the . The added health really helps to complete you, as well as give a boost to your damage which makes last hitting minions a piece of cake.

Now you have the majority of the core of your build, you can choose to go whatever way you want with your items depending on who your up against.

-I either grab a:
A) (for the slow + armor/mana + getting that crucial cool down reduction)
B) (if the enemy team is heavy on ability power or just spell using champions)
C) If 100% required, a to completely shut down that over powered gangplank in your game (or any other physical carry).

-Finally I like to upgrade my Philosopher's Stone into either a:
A)
B)
depending on what you think you need more.

Other possible item builds if you need to swap it up for the enemy team:
-> ->Philosopher's Stone-> -> -> -> -> - For a solid AP enemy team.

-> ->Philosopher's Stone-> or -> -> -> -> -> -> - Might work in certain scenarios but can be a little expensive.

-> -> -> ->philosopher's stone-> -> -> -> -> -> Either sell your and buy something your team needs more, or upgrade it into a

There are two main Skill Sequences you should use when playing Leona. Whether you use option A or B is entirely up to you and your playing style.

A) R>Q>W>E
A) The first is maxing your and off leveling your The benefits of maxing option A) first is that you have a reliable stun on a moderately short cool down. I would recommend maxing option A) first when you are laning with someone who doesn't start with a lot of health and can be considered squishy. This is because your stun can help save them in the early laning phases.

B)R>W>Q>E
B) The second is maxing your and off leveling your The benefits of maxing option B) first is that you have a pretty decent damage out burst (for a tank) at lower levels and it really helps your farm + adds to your defense / magic resist. I would suggest maxing option B) first if you are laning with a character who has a lot of strength and base health. Someone who is not squishy and requiring your aid every two seconds.



How I like to level up my skills:
I start with (E), mainly because if you are going to try for an early level one gank. It is the best of all her moves at initiating.

I prioritize (Q) until maxed out at level 9, while off leveling . The reasoning for this is because at max level is a reliable stun, with a moderate cool down and little damage.

I choose not to max out first because I feel (however good for armor + magic resist and that little burst of damage) you would benefit more from a stun. Mainly to keep enemies off your allies, and to keep them shut down. By upgrading this spell first, you have a shorter cool down making it so you can use it more often.

Of course whenever you have the chance, get your ultimate.

And finally when both and have been maxed out. I finish with . I feel like it should not be leveled till the end because it really doesn't do that long of a stun, or damage. It is just mainly to get you into the fight or to peel of an enemy from your carries.

What I recommend:
+ I recommend using this set because helps you get into position for possible ganks and team fights. As well as saving you when you need to get out of a area quickly. I take because it helps me get to my team quicker, and catch up to running enemies to stun them for my team mates to finish.

Still quite viable:
+ Again another great choice, not top choice but still quite good. is chosen for the same reasons stated above, and is taken to get across the map quickly (enabling you to set up ganks) and possibly save a team mate or a tower.
+ A great setup for slowing down an enemy, moving in for the stun, and then letting your team mates clean them up. can also be used to peel a hard physical damage dealer off you allies.

Useable, but not 100% recommended:
+ I feel like if you take ignite, sure you will hurt that enemy. But what if you accidentally get the credit for the kill. Yay?! No. You want all your heavy damage dealers to get credit and gold for the kill. Because remember your a tank, not a nuke.
+ However Fortify is very useful for saving turrets, and possibly helping get a kill if someone dives. I feel like it's cool down compared to how long it lasts is just not enough for me, and that you would benefit more off of something else.
+ You can probably get away with using this combo, but to be honest. I like to leave to the support characters.

Don't even bother with these:
You will already have around 90-110 health regen if you follow the build, and you don't really need a small heal. It may benefit your team mates or safe your life once or twice. But I feel it is too much to give up for.
I just wouldn't bother with revive. Pretty self explanatory.
However it may be useful to farm minions and steal Baron / Dragon. It really isn't needed because your with do the farming for you.
I doubt the enemy would be focusing you, since you are a tank, so really no point in choosing.
You don't have a huge mana pool to begin with, so it really seems like a waste if you take it.
This in no way, shape, or form, will benefit you. It has such a long cool down for what it brings to the table. I feel it is not worth it.

Added Notes:
I have not really toyed around with all the possible summoner spells on Leona. But I have found from lots of previous games played, that and seem to be the best option to go. I feel and would also be a good pick.

This is all around my favorite summoner spell and arguably the most useful one of them all. It helps you do so many things: escape, catch up to someone, dive and get out of turret range, get over terrain, and that's not even the end of it. This is a must have for me on most of the champions I play.

-Edit 10/14/2011 - This guide and build are still working as strong as ever. Even though I haven't updated it in awhile, there appears to be no need too because it is still up to par.

This is not meant to brag, but simply to be used as a *This build does work!* kind of thing. All of these games were me either using the build shown, or a slight alteration on the above build. I most likely will not be adding onto this picture unless I have good reason to. I have had a few better games, I have had a few worse.

This picture has been uploaded by a user of the guide that goes by the name: DeadpoO1337.If you would like to see a video on this guide, please leave a comment telling me what you would like to see in the video.

I hope this guide will help better your knowledge and understanding of Leona and how to play her. Remember she is a tank, you will die and you have to be prepared to get assists. Your goal is to defend your team mates at all costs, and to make sure they get fed and ultimately win the game. If you have the chance to get a last hit on a enemy champion, try to let your damage dealers take it, if not go for it. Seeing as you don't really need to steal all that extra gold from your carries anyways.

I'd like to tank you if you took the time to read all of this. I understand a giant wall of text can be a pain sometimes.


This was my first guide that I actually put a lot of time into, so all feedback will be appreciated. I will try to keep this guide well updated and maintained. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment! I will definitely read all of them, hate or love <3.