How To Jungle Lee Sin Successfully

Introduction

Hey guys, thanks for checking out my Lee Sin guide. This is my main build, and it works well. Please feel free to customize to your personal preferences, you don't have to follow this to do the dot. Please thumbs this up, and hopefully this will help some newer players get better, understand, and play Lee Sin and for you more experienced players, please feel free to share your experience. This is a pretty basic build, but it's very effective. Again, please feel welcome to customize it depending on YOUR situation.

Pros / Cons

Lee Sin:

Pros/Cons

Clears Jungle Quickly

Requires skill shot for successful gank

Easy to gank with

Almost impossible to gank before level 3

Is very strong early game, even with few items

Ultimate requires precise aiming to do any good in teamfights

Has slow

Lee Sin is hard to master

Has shield/escape

Lee Sin is easy to counter

Awesome skins

Tricky to lane Lee Sin

Masteries

If I have one complaint about Season 2, it would be because of the Mastery Trees. And there is literally only ONE reason why: Because Smite got put into the defensive tree. This means that you don't get improved Smite from the offensive tree. You can choose to do 21/9/0 masteries, and getting improved Smite, but sacrificing improved Flash, or you can take standard 21/0/9 masteries, and getting improved Flash. It's up to you. If you take defense over utility, you'll lose the enhanced buff duration, but gain more survivability. I prefer improved Flash, just because that extra 15 seconds can SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Masteries

3/3

1/2

4/4

4/4

1/1

1/1

3/3

3/3

1/1

1/1

3/3

4/4

1/1

21/0/9 Masteries
This mastery setup is incredibly reliable. The 21 points in offense gurantees you a nice amount of damage, and the 9 points in utility grant you increased buff duration, which is AMAZING for junglers, and the Good Hands are just awesome for when you lose a teamfight, and need to get back SOON. Very reliable setup, best path in my opinion.

Masteries

3/3

1/2

4/4

4/4

1/1

1/1

3/3

3/3

1/1

1/1

3/3

2/2

2/3

1/1

21/9/0 Masteries
As I said before, I generally don't go this way, BUT, if you feel a little insecure about jungling, this is very helpful. Armor, health regen, and especially Bladed Armor is just amazing for jungling. Of course, the biggest downside to this is that you lose the whopping extra 20% extra buff duration, but it's your choice. Take your pick, these are the two most viable options.

Runes

Greater Mark of Desolation: These allow Lee Sin to clear the jungle more quickly and do more damage during ganks. These are simply the best marks for him, although another reasonable replacement could be Greater Mark of Strength or Greater Mark of Furor. However, in my experience, these are my favorite marks, and they work the best. Greater Seal of Resilience: More armor is always good, so you can absorb more damage. If you are against a heavy AP team, Greater Seal of Warding work well, but I find that the only other option. More armor= more survivability and more teamfight wins. Also, these compliment your Wriggle's Lantern and Atma's Impaler, which both give you armor. Greater Glyph of Warding: These are good, so you can take more magic damage. On anybody else, another viable option would be Greater Glyph of Intellect, or Greater Glyph of Intellectjust so you can use your abilities more often, but since Lee Sin runs off of energy, you could take Greater Glyph of Resilience for the extra defense. Greater Quintessence of Fortitude: You get more health, and thus, more durability. The best pick for Quintessences, this is good for any type of team. Greater Quintessence of Resilience: Another viable option, Lee Sin will get more armor and durability. You can never have too much armor, however this is really only used against heavy AD teams. This is the only other option for Quintessences.

Summoner Spells

Smite is just awesome for jungling. You can jungle without it, but it is just a lot faster and easier with it, especially if you take red buff at level 1.

Ah, Teleport. Awesome, but a little tricky to use on a jungler. You really want a spell that gives you offensive and/or defensive capabilities DURING a fight, and Teleport doesn't really give you that, although you can use Safeguard / Iron Will.

Flash is undoubtedly one of the best spells in the game, because you can chase, escape, or just get somewhere quickly with it. Awesome ganking tool.

I personally almost never use Ignite, simply because I prefer taking Flash or Ghost, although again, you can just rely on your Safeguard / Iron Will. Ignite is an awesome finisher, especially when you don't want to or can't tower dive.

Ghost is an amazing escape/chasing tool. Someone running away, with better boots with you? Pop Ghost and you win. Viable replacement for Flash.

I REALLY don't like taking Exhaust on Lee Sin, just because I REALLY like the safety of Flash and Ghost. But, if you want to help take down that carry, or slow them down, you can take Exhaust.

DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING LISTED BELOW. TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.

Items

Lee Sin is pretty flexible item wise. Just don't go AP on him. It doesn't work. My favorite build is very reliable, and works well against almost any type of team. Let's start.
STANDARD BUILD

This is a very reliable build. You get health, armor, and damage. I almost always do this. If you are facing a very tanky team, like Rammus for instance, consider switching out The Bloodthirster for Last Whisper. You will have excellent damage and survivability throughout the game. Wriggle's Lantern is an amazing jungling item. You get armor, attack damage, lifesteal, chance to do massive damage to minion or monster, and a free ward. Awesome item. Mercury's Treads are amazing, the tenacity is a must against any team, pretty much everyone has SOME crowd control. If it is an entirely AD team, consider switching these out for Ninja Tabi. Not much to say about Trinity Force, amazing AD item, a must have for Lee Sin. You should have at least 2k to 2 1/2k health by now, so you'll get some nice damage from Atma's Impaler, and the Warmog's Armor you get right after will compliment this nicely. Round off your build with either the bloothirster, Infinity Edge, or Last Whisper.
TANKY BUILD

I REALLY do NOT like going this path. You should have another tank, generally the solo top. Rammus, Dr. Mundo, Jarvan IV, Riven, the list goes on. You SHOULD NOT be your teams main tank. You won't have enough damage. You should be tanky enough from the standard build, while your main tank is doing his job. Do this build only under extenuating circumstances. Ninja Tabi and Mercury's Treads are both amazing tank or off-tank items. Warmog's Armor for health and health regen, Force of Nature for magic resist, health, health regen, and movement speed. Thornmail for armor and the 30% attack damaged returned is awesome, and Randuin's Omen for armor, a little health regen, and cooldown reduction.
DPS BUILD

If you feel you have enough tankiness from your other teammates, or that you are doing very well, or need more damage, this is the route for you. Berserker's Greaves or Mercury's Treads are both viable options. But everything else is built on straight damage. Trinity Force is an amazing item for EVERY AD character, and Lee Sin is no exception. Infinity Edge gives you tons of damage, and the critical strike chance is a big plus. The Bloodthirster is awesome, not much to be said here. Last Whisper is great, because everyone has armor, even if they don't build, which they probably will be. However, if you feel you don't need this, consider adding another The Bloodthirster

Ability Explanation + Ability Sequence

My skill sequence on jungle Lee Sin is pretty basic. I find that taking Tempest / Cripple at level 1 is the most safe route, because it deals damage AND gives a slow, which is really good for early levels, when you need as much health as you can against jungle monsters. Take Safeguard / Iron Will at level 2, for not only a shield, but also a second Vampiric Scepter, along with the first one you should have bought as your first item. At level 3, take Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike, and start looking for a gank. You pretty much NEED Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike for a successful gank, so make sure to have all three abilities before you gank. With these 3, you have: A ranged attack/gap closer; a shield/dash to ally; and an AD slow. Lee Sin is pretty easy to gank with, but you have to hit your skillshot. If you do that, you will probably have a successful gank with good coordination. Max your Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike by level 9, and your Safeguard / Iron Will by level 13. Max Tempest / Cripple last, by level 18, and of course taking your ultimate, Dragon's Rage, at levels 6, 11, and 16. Always remember that Lee Sin is a natural ganker. You simply hit your skillshot, which is really not that hard, and use Tempest / Cripple on them, slowing them, and you've got a successful gank, especially with good coordination from your teammates.

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Jungle Route

I actually have two different jungle routes for Lee Sin, both of which are very effective. The first, which is more safe, goes like this:
So you start at wolves, then go to wraths, Smite the big wraith, then go to golems. Wait 10-20 sec, then take red. This will allow Smite to come up, so that you can kill it easier. You CAN kill it without Smite, but it's kind of a waste just to have it up that long and not use it. Recall, then gank whichever lane needs it. Here is a video showing this:

This is not my video, all credit from this video goes to: DaHomieKay
The other jungle route is a bit riskier, just because you'll have less health when you start, but what you want to do is this:
Start at red buff, and get a leash from a teammate. Then take wraiths, and after that, golems. Recall, then go to wolves, blue buff, and gank accordingly. Pretty simple.
Also, this is what your ganks should look like. Just replace Garen with Lee Sin.

Gameplay

Now that you have finished your early jungling, it is time to start roaming. Don't roam like this.Roam like this:
Find a lane that is:
1. Overextended
2. Teammate struggling
3. Doing okay, but a gank would make them get ahead
When you see one of these three, go to the lane that you are going to gank. Get into brush near the lane, and look for the enemy champion to be open. Aim your Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike, hopefully land it, and jump them. Use Tempest / Cripple, slowing them, and hopefully, get first blood.
Afterwards, continue clearing the jungle whenever monsters respawn, and gank when needed. Go back to shop whenever needed, and remember to get Wriggle's Lantern ASAP. This is just such an amazing item, it's unbelievable. Sometime while you're building Wriggle's Lantern, buy some basic Boots of Speed. You'll need these to gank well, and they build into your Mercury's Treads. Those should be your early-early mid game items.

After that, you wanna start building your Trinity Force, starting with Sheen, then Phage, and taking Zeal last. Remember in teamfights, aim your ultimate well. Your ultimate, Dragon's Rage, can be the difference between winning and losing a teamfight. Make sure to use your passive, Flurry, to the best of its ability. That means spacing out using your abilities. And always remember that Lee Sin is an amazing chaser.

Late game you should start building your Warmog's Armor, Atma's Impaler, and The Bloodthirster. Remember that Last Whisper is a viable replacement for The Bloodthirster. That's pretty much all there is to playing Lee Sin. Just aim your ultimate well, make sure to use Flurry well, and get your items, and you're good. Remember to take Dragon and Baron when needed, the extra gold is a HUGE help, and Baron's buff is ridiculous. The last tip I can give you guys is this. Remember to use the ward from Wriggle's Lantern. Here's a picture showing good spots to put the ward.

Yellow:Spots to protect your jungler's buffs, you really don't want these taken
Blue:Ward the brush here, it'll help protect your lanes from enemy ganks
Red:Dragon and Baron. Guard these two jealously, they can and WILL turn a game around
Orange:To counter-jungle. Useful from knowing where they are when they're out of lane, and gives you an opportunity to steal them.

Summary

Well guys, this was my first guide, so I hope you're happy with it, please thumbs this up, it would mean a lot. I've taught you pretty much everything I know about Lee Sin, and hope more people start playing him. He's incredibly fun, and easy to jungle with. I find his ganking isn't too hard, he's just difficult to master. I find jungle Lee Sin the most viable option, but please, feel free to share your opinions. Also, feel free to customize the build to YOUR likings. I've given you almost everything I can about Lee Sin. Items, runes, masteries, summoner spells, tips, gameplay, and jungle route. Mastering him is up to you guys. Also, on a final note, huge thanks to jhoijhoi, for her Guide To Making A Guide She taught me all the coding, and it just helped me immensely. Thank you. Good luck, and see you on the fields of justice!