Leona, Blinded by the light

Authors Preface

*Edited 7/18/2011*

Ok so let me explain to you what and who Leona is before I start. In this build Leona is a tank; a tank and only a tank. Yes, she has potential to get a few kills here and there and that is ok, HOWEVER, you will NOT be taking kills from your carry. Now that I have that little thing out there let me explain why I like Leona.

She is an AMAZING tank (IMHO), she has great support and her defense is very good. But in my opinion the thing that makes her so fun to play is how she initiates a fight. Eclipse > Zenith Blade > SoD > Have ally screw over. Now her stuns are SO usefull (as most stuns should be ;P), I cannot tell you how many times I have used her ultimate to win team fights and to catch runners.

One last thing. You will NOT be the best player using this guide, you will NOT be invincible you will NOT win every game (However it is EXTREMELY helpful)

Now that this is over, lets down to business...wait thats a Xin Zhao build...

Leona's Story

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

Pros/Cons

Pros:
-Good HP
-Good Armor
-Great Support
-Low CD stuns
-In general, low CD's
-Good Early Game

Cons:
-Can be difficult to master your ultimate
-May be nerfed severely
-Not a great solo'er

Scores - Stats

Just wanted to mention these games were with two of my lvl 9 friends so I did a lot of saving lol xD

Runes

Eh, ok so this is how I prefer Leona's runepage


Marks, for marks you take pure armor marks. This is because although you will be getting a lot of armor later, a lot of champions dont have high AP early game which makes this a very useful thing to have, enabling you to be more offensive and take less damage.


Seals, Now with Seals I have found that people can experiment with them. I prefer Mana Regen per Level tho because I find myself having mana problems throughout the game, simple enough.


Glyphs, I take magic resist per level. The reason behind this is because like I said before more champions dont have much AP early game so increasing every level will help keep you on top of things.


Quintessence, pretty standard pure HP runes. Very helpful early game, and ontop of armor marks.

Masteries

I go

0/21/9

for masteries. Pretty standard, with the 9 in the utility tree for the EXP boost and the Mana/HP boost.

Items

Ok so your core items will be:


Ionian Boots of Lucidity
In my oppionion, the best boot choice for her.
The boots help a LOT with her, I dont find her needing any attack speed, more movement , possibly the CC reduction but she is a tank and I dont find that she needs that for herself since she can take a lot of damage. The CD boots help with her stuns and with her overall initiation in general, I like those boots the best for laning phase aswell.


Aegis of the Legion
Incredibly helpful if you are trying to support your team, I try never to play a tank without it.


Frozen Mallet
Pretty self explanatory, large HP increase, along with a slow whenever you attack somebody with a regular attack. This synergizes with Shield of Daybreak and Zenith Blade.


Sunfire cape
Once again a huge HP increase, and synergizes very well with your Eclipse and is overall very useful.

Depending on their team, Thornmail , Warmog's , or Force of Nature

-Okay so, if a high AD team, gives a lot of armor and an excellent passive.

- I do not not preferably get this unless you think earlier game with all your other items you have enough armor, this is good for a hige boost of HP.

- If there is a high AP based team, also gives great HP regeneration, but can be replaced if you think you can do well enough with Banshees Veil.

Banshees VeilBanshees Veil/Guardians AngelGuardians Angel
I prefer Banshees over Guardian's Angel because you already have enough armor and it has a bubble, but GA is useful too.
_____________________________________-

I find you can also switch out Aegis for one of the 3 choices too.

I ALSO recommend getting plenty of Health Potion throughout the game. When you return each time for items if you have some extra gold, you should buy some HP pots.

Summoner Spells

Good Spells:


Flash
- Great for escaping, or for helping to save a team mate and flashing out of there when done so.

Teleport
- My favorite for her, allows for transportation around the map > better team fights and faster brb's

Ghost
Same reason as flash!

Exhaust
Helpful early game, in team fights, for catching runners.

Cleanse
Helpful to replace Merc Treads if you think you absolutely need. ( See my reference to them in the item section.)
________

Okay Spells:


Ignite
Usefull for ganks, early game etc.. not my favorite spell but it can be the QQ point for some people
Fortitude
Fortitude
I honestly think I should move this to the DO NOT GET section, fortitude is used if your tower is being pushed. If that happens refer to my gameplay section. It's useful in last resort situations, so not entirely bad.

Heal
Can be useful for team fights and a table turner in some fights.

Clairvoyance
If your are good with placement of CV then its extremely helpful to check for ganks but I prefer leaving it to another champion.
___________

Do not get:


Revive
...Just no

Rally
Not that helpful throughout most of the game.

Clarity
You have MP regen runes so you should be fine, if you think your struggling a bit buy a Mana Pot.

Gameplay

Oooooh were finally getting to the good stuff eh? Well guess what...your right!

Ok so with my preface in mind make sure you dont steal ALL your partners kills.

Early Game:

Grab your Doran's Shield and head to your lane pretty fast. Try to be a bit aggressive while farming minions, and you should be farming minions. When the time comes to initiate your kill,
start off with activating Shield of Daybreak, and use Zenith Blade you charge in, MAKE SURE your laning partner knows your doing this. One this is done hit them with your activated Shield of Daybreak so they are pretty much helpless. If you have proper dps (most of which needs to come from your laning partner) you will probobly get a kill or atleast give them a run for they're money!

[UPSIDE]
Head back to the fountain and pick up your boots and a Ruby Crystal to start your Phage, run back into lane and push forward depending on how well your laning is going. You should also be watching for ganks because you should becoming a threat.

[DOWNSIDE]
If you are being pushed to your turret, this is nothing to worry about, try not to harass as much but instead try and get them under the turret. While farming they're minions try to stun one of them under the turret you can do this a lot with them usually running away because; 1. They either have already attacked you and have gotten aggro from the turret, or they will not attack you back in fear of the turret.

Mid Game

Okay, you should by now have your Ionian Boots of Lucidity, and your Aegis of the Legion. Mid game is pretty important so listen up. You are going to need to make good choices here. You need to initiate fights, and if necessary sacrifice yourself for you carries. This is mainly when your ultimate comes into play.

Example 1: You are starting, or are in the middle of a team fight, and your use Solar Flare to gain advantage

Example 2: You are done with a team fight and some people are running away, aim Solar Flarea littling bit in front of them to hopefully stun them and pick them off. If you dont think one stun is enough run up to them use Zenith Blade and Shield of Daybreak and stun them again!

Example 3: You unfortunately are losing the team fight and your team starts to run away, If it looks like they cant do it safely, use your Solar Flare on the people chasing your team, or if you have one choice your main carry.

Like I said before you need to decide when to use it. If you think your team can initiate a team fight okay without problems, if so use Solar Flare for EX. 2; If you are losing your team fight and need to save team mates and sacrifice yourself? Use Solar Flare for example 3

Late Game:

By this time you should be about 4-5 items into your build, this is pretty much (for you) the same as mid game, try and stay around your team as much as possible, dont let them die but dont unnecessarily kill yourself either. Its ok to turret tive to stun someone or finish off a kill, but be smart about it, dont do it if their whole team is there with most of their HP and dont stay under for too long.

Authors Postlude

Hey there just wanted to thank you for reading my guide and I will be sure to update as much as I can, including pictures (once I learn how lol). I hope you all do well using my build!

Updates

**Guide - Added to the item section to provide more explanation.**